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A Selection of London Booksellers
An exhibition of photographer Mike Tsang at the Biblion Gallery in Mayfair (London)
4th September - 2nd October
Opening hours: 10am-6pm Mon-Fri
At: Biblion Bookshop, 1-7 Davies Mews, London W1K 5AB
From towers toppling in cavernous basements to polished leather tomes in mahogany cabinets. This exhibition at the Biblion Gallery, housed within the antiquarian and rare bookshop Biblion, presents London booksellers in their natural habitats. One of the last havens of British eccentricity; the booksellers and their various environments are captured in this exhibition from photographer Mike Tsang, who is fast achieving renown for his evocative portraits. The exhibition, the first of its kind, serves to shed new light on the strange and rarefied world of the book dealer and to stand as a testament to a unique and very British breed.
Mike Tsang began his photography career freelancing in Tokyo after having received commissions across Asia. In 2009 he spent time in Africa on humanitarian and development commissions, culminating in a portrait project shot with the Dinka people of Sudan. Mike Tsang is now based in London and shoots a range of portrait and documentary photographs. Clients include BBC News Interactive, Tearfund, WWF, Lovebox.org and a range of Japanese and Mauritian governmental and cultural agencies. A Selection of London Booksellers is his first solo UK show.
A world away from ‘art as commerce’: The Biblion Gallery is a unique space within the renowned antiquarian bookshop Biblion, where art resides amongst cabinets of important and rare works of literature. Here the Biblion Gallery displays exhibitions of contemporary art that strongly resonate with the gallery’s remarkable setting.
The exhibition shows portraits of Adrian Harrington, Pom Harrington, Bernard Shapero, Jonathan Potter and many others.
details: www.miketsangphotography.com
“The London Book Trade”
By Sheila Markham
The Biblion Gallery may be found within Biblion Bookshop, and provides a most congenial, intimate and extremely well-lit space for what is believed to be the first exhibition of its kind. ‘The London Book Trade’ is also the first solo exhibition of emerging photographer Mike Tsang, who is fast achieving renown for his evocative portraiture.
The exhibition comprises twelve 16”x20” portrait studies of rare book dealers photographed in their widely differing working environments. The photographs are framed and mounted, each limited to twenty colour prints signed and numbered by the photographer. A further selection of 11”x14” photographs is displayed in a portfolio.
The idea for the exhibition was conceived by Ben Houston of Biblion Bookshop, who acknowledged the influence of Sheila Markham’s A Book of Booksellers: Conversations with the Antiquarian Book Trade by inviting her to write the following introduction to the exhibition.
“The rare book trade comes into focus in Mike Tsang’s wonderfully evocative series of portraits. A gift of a subject for a photographer, the trade is rich in individualists, united only by a love of books and a determination to preserve a certain way of life. For the rare book trade is more than an occupation; it is in today’s parlance a ‘lifestyle’ and one which has thrived largely unchanged since the Middle Ages.
The portraits capture in their sitters and settings a tremendous sense of resilience and strength, of permanence and continuity. There is no suggestion here of defeat in the face of the onslaught of modern technology. Indeed reports of the death of the book seem greatly exaggerated. The Internet has of course transformed certain aspects of bookselling. But it is only one of a number of recent challenges to confront the trade – the rise in high street rents, the fall in library budgets, the competition from charity bookshops... the list goes on. But as the exhibition reflects, there are still many different ways to sell rare books – old-established businesses, family firms, partnerships, and sole traders continue to serve the world of collectors, whose requirements remain unchanged - and not least of these is the age-old human desire for personal contact.
Book collecting is a highly visual and tactile activity. The quality of the binding, the paper, the printing and the illustration contribute to the appreciation of a rare book – and stimulate the desire, and certainly enhance the pleasure of reading a wonderful or important text. It is no doubt amazing that you can read a novel on a mobile phone, but perhaps more amazing that you would want to. These photographs reveal the richer pleasures that await the collector who hunts in the corners of bookshops, and not in the margins of LCD screens.
Where is the thrill of the chase in much of today’s online book buying? You can do a life time’s browsing in a few hours on the Internet, but surely this is the fast food equivalent of book collecting. Mike Tsang’s photographs reveal the book trade’s answer to the Slow Food movement. Here is a faithful documentary of the rare book trade as an appreciation of the finer things in life - the pleasures of connoisseurship, and the satisfaction of education through experience. While humanity still has a soul, there will always be a role for rare and beautiful books.”
Scholar interns at old bookstore
Scholar interns at old bookstore
Harvard literature major focuses on business of antiquated texts
By SETSUKO KAMIYA
Click here to read the full article.
Free! Dictionary of Abbreviations
Click here to download the Dictionary of Abbreviations commonly used by German and Italian Antiquarian Booksellers and Auctioneers.
By B. M. Rosenthal
Free! Dictionary of Terms and Expressions
Click here to download the Dictionary of Terms and Expressions commonly used in the Antiquarian Booktrade in French, English, German and Italian.
By Edgar Franco
48th Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair
Verband Deutscher Antiquare e.V.
Variatio delectat!
Masterpieces of Book Printing
The Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair is the first event in the bibliophile’s year and one of the most important European book fairs. So many illuminated manuscripts, incunabula and early prints are rarely seen in one place as at the 48th Stuttgart Fair from January 30th to February 1st, 2009. One of the highlights is a block book, printed in 1472. Der Antichrist und die fünfzehn Zeichen is decorated with 54 illustrations, more than half of them coloured in dark blue, green, red, pink and sepia. Dr. Jörn Günther offers this only known copy of the Antichrist for € 2.000.000. Heribert Tenschert shows three masterworks of medieval manuscripts: The Book of Hours of the young Willem Vrelant from Bruges was illuminated about 1450/60 and contains 21 doublepage illustrations, surrounded by coloured acanthus tendrils, animals and birds (€ 465.000). No less fascinating are the Book of Hours of Pierre de Foissy and Guillemette de Dinteville from the 15th century (€ 220.000) and MacCarthy’s Book of Hours from Rouen, illuminated by the “Meister der Schöffen” (€ 268.000).
Music incunabula are extremely rare, and due to the intricate setting process they are masterworks of early printing. Dr. Werner Greve offers the Processionarium ordinis fratrum predicatorum, printed 1494 in Venice for the Dominicans (€ 12.000). Three incunabula bound together are shown by Steffen Völkel, one of them is Johannes Ketham’s Fasciculus Medicinae (1495), the first printed book to contain anatomical illustrations. Thomas Balbus’s Catholicum, printed in Nuremberg 1486, is the first printed dictionary and thus a milestone of philology (Schumann, € 20.000). Dr. Paul Kainbacher presents one of the seminal works of modern scientific thought: Nicolaus Copernicus’ De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, Libri VI, which laid the foundation to the heliocentric system and was promptly forbidden by the Roman Catholic church. Only a few copies survived, this one can be bought for € 85.000.
From the Renaissance to the 20th century, from the sciences to the fine arts, the Stuttgart Antiquarian Book Fair promises variatio delectat. Remarkable early printings like Etterlin’s Kronica von der loblichen Eydtgnoschaft 1507 with the first woodcut of „Tell’s apple“ (Laube, 26.000 €) can be found cheek to jowl with Diderot’s and D’Alembert’s first edition of the famous Encyclopédie (Inlibris, € 75.000), autograph letters by Schiller (Kotte, € 39.000) or a “talking children’s book” from 1880 (Keune, € 1.800). Reiss & Sohn have a prosaic text on one important aspect of the art of making books: Schäffer’s very rare work Versuche und Muster ohne alle Lumpen oder doch mit einem geringen Zusatze derselben Papier zu machen explains how to make paper without using rags and was printed in 1765/67 (€ 45.000). Rembrandt’s Old man with a cleft fur cap from the year 1640 is the highlight of the old master prints offered by Helmut H. Rumbler (€ 55.000). Vömel Gallery draws the attention of the book fair visitors to Max Liebermann’s work. Hiroshi Sugimotos photographs exude “complete tranquillity and beauty”. Dr. Adrian Flühmann offers three de-luxe copies of the books Sea of Buddha, Time exposed and Theatres, which were only published in a few copies each, most of these were destroyed in an accident. Sugimoto is one of the most important artists of our times (€ 22.000). The i 10. Internationale Revue is one of the most fascinating journals of the Avantgarde. Published in Amsterdam between 1927 and 1929, it contains works by Baumeister, Kandinsky, Moholy-Nagy, Mondrian, Schwitters and Benjamin (Blank, € 20.000). André Levinsohn’s monograph on Léon Bakst, illustrated by Modigliani, was printed in a limited edition of 250 copies. One of them can be admired at Bernard J. Shapero’s booth. Norbert Donhofer impresses with the first novel ever written, Cervantes’ El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Published in Brussels 1607 this was the first edition printed outside the Iberian peninsula (€ 88.000).
Chess books and chess art are eagerly collected and hard to find. Eberhard Köstler offers a collection of over 100 postcards, letters, tournament programs, Christmas cards, charcoal sketches and photographs from Aljechin over Karpov and Kortschnoi to Boris Spassky. “Check mate” – this collection should find a buyer (€ 7.500). Löcker from Vienna is proud to present a collection of composition sketches and fair copies by Hanns Eisler from the years 1925 to 1928. These hitherto unknown jottings allow an insight into the creative process of the composer at the beginning of his career (€ 50.000).
Among cannibals: Heinrich Zimmermann, a German seaman who shipped with James Cook on his third circumnavigation, was actually present at the Captain’s death, being one of the crew of the boat that Cook could not reach from the famous beach on Hawaii. His memoirs were published shortly afterwards and are rarely seen on the book market. After Zimmermann’s return home he was made “Churfürstlicher Leibschiffmeister” on Lake Starnberg in Bavaria. Here he and his wife Barbara were portrayed, when a wealthy Munich book dealer started a portrait gallery containing pictures of noteworthy but not necessarily titled individuals of Bavaria. The pair of oil portraits is offered by Brockhaus/Antiquarium (€ 18.000). The first German edition of Cook’s three voyages by Hawkesworth, Forster and King can be seen at Ralf Eigl’s booth (€ 25.500), who has just published a catalogue with a large section devoted to Cook. Brockhaus/Antiquarium has the rare Kaschmir und das Reich der Siek by Carl Freiherr von Hügel in the original printed boards (€ 5.500). Eigl shows one of the most beautiful colour plate books on the Himalayas: James Baillie’s Views in the Himala Mountains with 20 handcoloured aquatintas. Pigafetta’s Relatione del reame di Congo et delle vellum, printed in Rome 1591, is one of the earliest and rarest works on Central Africa, presented by the Dutch dealer Forum (€ 63.600). The French author D’Albaret describes how to survive in tropical regions with his rare and famous study on colonial architecture: Différens projets relatifs au climat (Erasmushaus, € 18.500).
Views of nature: A picture says more than a thousand words – an thus artists were valued companions on voyages and at home, since they could delineate what was hard to describe: The flora and fauna of the whole wide world. We owe them the beautiful colour plate books that are so valuable and valued today: Weinmann’s Phythanthoza Iconographia 1737/1745 contains “several thousand indigenous and exotic plants, trees, shrubs, herbs, flowers, fruit and mushrooms from 4 continents” and is the first book with mezzotint plates. (Junk, € 127.000). Junk also presents Waldstein’s Descriptiones et icones plantarum rariorum Hungariae (1799-1812), the first and only edition of this monumental work on Hungary’s flora. Maria Sybilla Merian’s book of caterpillars Erucarum ortus, alimentum et paradoxa metamorphosis with 153 coloured plates (€ 22.000) can be admired at Max Neidhardt’s booth, as well as one of the most beautiful books on butterflies, Moses Harris’ The Aurelian: or, natural history of English insects (€ 9.800.). If you prefer parrots, however, don’t miss the beautiful books of Tresor am Römer, especially Souance’ s Iconographie des Perroquets 1857 (€ 19.500).
Interesting Days in Bangkok
I had a very interesting couple of days in Bangkok on the way home from the ILAB Presidents meeting.
There are three antiquarian booksellers there.
The first one I visited was Francois Dore who trades as Books of Siam.
Francois is a French national who has lived in Thailand for 30 years. He went there to study and married a local and stayed.
He speaks the language and also a couple of dialects as well.
He runs a travel agency and also acts for some European travel insurance companies in looking after travellers with special needs.
Francois is an extremely charming man who started the bookshop more than 3 years ago after a long time collecting and is very passionate about his books. He has lots of old books on Indo China and he suffers every time he sells one! Most but not all of his stock is in the French language. He travels to France twice a year to buy stock and would welcome any offers to purchase stock. He has a very good collection of literature in English and French of novels set in Indo China. This collection includes many colourful books of popular culture some of which are in local languages. We both enjoyed a few hours together while he showed off his interesting books. Of course I managed to spend a few thousand dollars on some good old books.
I am hoping that he will exhibit at the Hong Kong Bookfair. If any of you visit Bangkok make him your first call. He will make an ideal ILAB member one day soon.
The next shop I visited was Bangkok Rare Books which was started by an Australian man - Peter Hannan - about 3 years ago. I had dealt with him in Perth many years ago. His shop is very small and is situated in a shopping complex.
He has a very attractive website which may be viewed at:
www.bkkbooks.com
The books in his shop are a mixture of modern firsts and antiquarian books on Indo China but with an emphasis on Burma. The modern firsts mostly have a connection with Asia - Somerset Maughan, Graham Greene, Robert Van Gulik, W E Johns Asian titles, etc, although he does have Ian Fleming and a few others as well.
The antiquarian books are good copies of travel accounts of the region.
While I was there Peter received a catalogue of a private collection of books on Burma, owned by one of his customers from Mynmar. The catalogue has been produced by Peter on behalf of his customer who has had 300 copies made for presentation to Libraries within Mynmar and surrounding countries. Peter rang the customer and got permission to sell 2 copies of this work to me and I was told that these would be the only two copies sold.
The book is a hard back fully illustrated in colour and with all edges gilt; a very attractive publication indeed. It is based on the owner’s collection. The books are mostly in Western languages although there are some in Asian languages as well.
Peter is always looking for antiquarian books on the region and especially on Burma and his contact details are on the web site address given above.
He is 68 years old and has decided to sell the business and move on. The asking price seemed reasonable and he assures me that the lease is reasonable. He pays about $1000 per month rent for a small shop in a shopping complex - certainly a bargain by Western standards.
If any of you fancy retiring to the tropics well here is your opportunity - and I won’t even charge a spotter's fee.
I visited an antiquarian map, print and book dealer or at least I went to his premises twice but without meeting him. I spoke briefly to his Thai assistant and will follow up this visit with a phone call and email. His shop is in the River City Antique centre. This is a modern 4/5 floor building not far from the centre of the city and it contains all sorts of antique and fine art shops. His stock is well presented and he stocks antiquarian maps, prints and books about the area.
I also visited some second hand bookshops who stocked mostly paperback novels in English and other Western languages – e.g. Charles Bukowski published in Prague. There was another second hand bookshop stocking books and comics in the Japanese language only. I also went to a couple of shops selling second hand books in the Thai language. All of the second hand shops were particularly uninspiring. There are many second hand bookshops in Bangkok.
I am told that there are almost no antiquarian books in the Thai language. The first printing press in Thailand started in about the 1850s so there are none before then perhaps. Also it is a very tropical climate with extreme humidity and lots of interesting insects - more even than what exist in Australia - so the very few old books there are in terrible condition. Air conditioning came to Thailand in the 1950s so the books struggled. The National Library apparently is not active in collecting.
Francois told me that 30 years ago it was possible to buy old Buddhist manuscripts that were centuries old but this is no longer possible.
There is a new bookfair in Bangkok twice a year and about 10 of the second hand shops have stalls there but apparently they sell second hand books very cheaply. About 300,000 people attend this event. Obviously there is interest in books in Bangkok but the market is very unsophisticated.
One or two years ago we knew of no booksellers in the region and now we have established contact with antiquarian bookshops in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Taiwan, Shanghai and Beijing and I believe that we will find more booksellers in the greater Asian zone soon. Slowly over the next period there will emerge an antiquarian booksellers association that will promote the sale of antiquarian books in the region.
Paul Feain
Cornstalk Bookshop
(www.cornstalk.com.au)
ILAB - Breslauer Prize for Bibliography
The ILAB Prize for Bibliography was founded in the early days of the League. In 2008, its name was changed into ILAB - Breslauer Prize for Bibliography to honor a very generous gift granted by the Breslauer Foundation. The Breslauer Foundation was set up by Dr. Bernard H. Breslauer (1918-2004), an ILAB dealer who had a life-long passion for the field of bibliography.
This international Prize of $10,000 US is awarded every fourth year to the author(s) of the most original and outstanding published work in the broad field of bibliography. Any aspect of bibliography (e.g. enumerative, textual, history of the book, design, binding, book trade, etc.) is admitted. Certain categories are not eligible, notably catalogues of books (or exhibitions of books) intended for sale, catalogues of public libraries, and translations of works appearing in another language. Apart from the Prize, the jurors may at their discretion award Honorable Mentions to other deserving entries. The purpose of the prize is to draw attention to the best academic work being done in the field, to reward and honor it in appropriate terms, and to publicize the League's support for the original scholarship on which the book trade so much depends.
The panel of judges (or jurors) consists of three professional scholars or librarians and three antiquarian booksellers. All are chosen for their expertise in the field of bibliographical scholarship as it is on their standing and judgment that the reputation of the Prize itself depends. The judges represent the widest possible range of nationalities so that the panel is qualified to adjudicate on books in various languages and on all aspects of the field.
A book may be entered by the publisher, the author or any other interested party, simply by sending a single copy to the Prize Secretary (Arnoud Gerits of Amsterdam).
The awarding of this Prize and the encouragement of scholarship has always been an important cornerstone in the foundation of the ILAB. Georges Deny (of Brussels) was appointed as its first Secretary and he laid down the ground rules and supervised the first and second Awards. He was succeeded by Frieder Kocher-Benzing (of Stuttgart) who was the longest serving Secretary presiding over the third to eleventh Awards. The twelfth and thirteenth awards were overseen by Konrad Meuschel (of Bad Honnef). In 2002 Raymond Kilgarriff was appointed Secretary for the fourteenth Award which was presented in 2006. The 15th Prize will be awarded in 2010 to one or more bibliographies published between 2005 and 2008, with Mitsuo Nitta (of Tokyo) as Chair of the Prize Committee.
Report on the Russian Antiquarian Book Trade, 2008
By Eric Waschke, The Wayfarer’s Bookshop, West Vancouver, Canada
From the 17th till 27th of June 2008, I visited a total of thirty used and antiquarian bookshops in St. Petersburg (13) and Moscow (17). In my opinion, of the thirty shops I visited, at least fifteen are working at an ILAB equivalent level (three in St. Petersburg and twelve in Moscow).
The antiquarian book trade in Russia is in transition between the old Soviet style of bookshop i.e., people bringing their books in to be sold on consignment (komissionni magazin - commission store) and the newer style of high end bookshops equivalent to high end bookshops in Western Europe and North America.
The Soviet style (komis.) shops are similar in that: 1. The stock of books tends to be in poor to fair condition with many odd volumes; 2. The shops only have a few if any interesting higher value books; 3. Prices are moderate to low in comparison to Western Europe and North America; 4. The stock of books is mainly in Russian with less than 5% being in foreign languages; 5. Generally only Russian is spoken by the staff.
The high end bookshops are similar in that: 1. The stock of books tends to be in very good condition [although if this is the case, it must be said that the vast majority of the books have been recently rebound in a period style (the covers presumably not surviving the revolution and the two world wars in good condition)]; 2. Prices are comparable to high end shops in Western Europe and North America (although interesting Russian antiquarian books, especially if they are published before 1850, tend to be priced higher by a factor of two or three times in comparison to comparable books in German, French and English); 3. The stock of books contains many interesting higher value books; 4. There is a higher percentage of foreign language material but rarely more than 10%; 5. The staff often speaks English, and in some cases other languages.
The foreign language books found in Russian antiquarian bookshops are virtually always in German, French, and English, and in that order of prevalence. In the 19th century many books were published in German in St. Petersburg and some also in French in Moscow. The rarity of pre 1850 Russian books is most likely due to them being published in smaller print runs than comparable books published in Berlin, London or Paris, as well as to destruction through revolution and war. This increased rarity no doubt accounts for the higher prices put on interesting early books in Russian. Thus, in my opinion the price level for antiquarian books in Russia is similar to the price level in Western Europe and North America. As a matter of fact, several Russian booksellers expressed amazement at some of the prices paid at the Russian sales of Christie’s and Sotheby’s, noting that their clients in Russia would not be willing to pay them such prices for the same books.
The largest problem blocking free trade between Russian antiquarian booksellers and their international colleagues are the Russian customs laws. So far these laws have only been changed since Soviet times to allow the import of antiquarian books into Russia. The situation right now only allows the free export of books published in the last fifty years. For books published between fifty and a hundred years ago, one needs to get an export license from the Committee for Culture. Books published over a hundred years ago cannot be exported.
Moscow has held three antiquarian book fairs since 2005. The last of which took place at the Central House of Artists from November 28 – December 2, 2007 in conjunction with the 9th International Book Fair for High-Quality Fiction and Non-Fiction. This 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair had twenty-five exhibitors.
In the summer of 2007, ‘Pro-Knigi (Pro-Books),’ (www.aboutbooks.ru), a Russian magazine for bibliophiles published its first issue. ‘Pro-Knigi’ is a quarterly issued magazine devoted to antiquarian books, manuscripts, engravings and ex-libris. The magazine publishes articles about the history of books and printing, interviews with famous book collectors, publishers and librarians, memoirs and stories about historical Russian private libraries and reviews of Russian and international book auctions. When I was in Russia, issue four had just been published.
In 2007, a detailed guide booklet listing sixty-eight antiquarian and used bookshops in Moscow was published. Included in this guide book are two auction houses: LG Auction and Auction House Gelos (www.gelos.ru). However, Auction House Kabinet (www.kabinet-auktion.com), and Chapkin’s Paper Collections also hold regular antiquarian book sales. Gelos is the biggest and most known auction house in Russia, but each auction house is covering a slightly different segment of the market with Auction House Kabinet trying to focus on the high-end market segment.
Moscow State University of Printing Arts (www.mgup.ru) has for the last two years had an Antiquarian Book Trade Program at the Faculty of Publishing, Book Trade and Journalism. This program covers all aspects of the antiquarian book trade including: history of publishing, the book trade, and collecting (both private and institutional), bibliography, and historical printing and book production methods and materials. This five year program on average has ten graduates a year.
In conclusion, since the end of Soviet communism in 1991, the Russian antiquarian book trade has rapidly developed and expanded. In my opinion, Russia currently has at least fifteen antiquarian booksellers working at a very professional ILAB equivalent level. Also, Russia has had a rich history in bookselling and publishing and many important original works in literature and science were printed there. In addition, the Russian economy is booming and Moscow is the largest city in Europe while St. Petersburg is the third largest and the average Russian income has increased five-fold since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. All these factors would make Russia a very important and welcome addition to ILAB.
ILAB equivalent Russian antiquarian booksellers.
St. Petersburg:
Antiquarian Book Gallery Bibliographika, part of Akademkniga Magazin "Bukinist-1"
Liteynyy Prospect 57, St. Petersburg 191104, Russia
Propreitor: Alexey Dunaev
E-mail: bibliographika@mail.ru
Tel. 7921-967-8696
Estimated 30,000 new, used, and antiquarian (7,500 used & 7,500 antiquarian books)
Antiquarian books in generally good condition.
10% of stock in German, French and English.
Some English spoken.
Notes: Best stock of antiquarian books in St. Petersburg. Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair; sells 16th to 20th century Russian and foreign books, autographs, engravings, maps, photographs, and postcards.
Staraya Kniga (Old Books) 000 "Mir Iskusstva"
Nevsky Prospect 3, St. Petersburg 191186 Russia
E-mail: info@nevsky3.spb.ru (www.nevsky3.spb.ru)
Tel. 7812-315-1151
Estimated 10,000 used and antiquarian books; 3,000 antiquarian books.
Other shop at Svechnoy per. 5.
Estimated 5,000 new used and antiquarian books 250 antiquarian.
Antiquarian books in fair to good condition
5-10% of stock in German, French and English.
Some English spoken in both locations.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair; sells pre-revolutionary Russian and foreign books and engravings.
Antikvarno-Bukinist Magazin "Na Liteynom" Komis Magazin
Liteynyy Prospect 61, St. Petersburg 191104, Russia
Tel. 812-275-38-74
Estimated 15,000 Used and antiquarian books also photos, albums, postcards
3,000 Antiquarian books in fair to good condition.
10% of stock in German, French and English.
Some English spoken.
Notes: Best of the ‘komis’ shops in St. Petersburg.
Moscow:
‘Style’ on Frunzenskaya
Propreitor: Alexey Lukashin
48, Frunzenskaya nab., Moscow 119270, Russia
E-mail: antik-book@mail.ru
Tel. 7 916 808 1061
Estimated 5,000 quality antiquarian books in very good condition.
10% of stock in German, French and English.
English and German spoken.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair; sells 16th to 20th century Russian and foreign books, engravings and maps. Price range $500 - $300,000US.
Antique Store Bukinist On Sretenka
Antiquarian department head: Elena Gorskaya
9, Sretenka Str., Moscow 127051, Russia
E-mail: sretenka9@bk.ru
Tel. 7 985 763 9167
Estimated 3,000 high quality antiquarian books in very good condition.
15% of stock in German, French and English.
Some English and German spoken.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair; sells 16th to 20th century Russian and foreign books and engravings. Price range $500 - $50,000US. Oleg Lukashin is a partner in this shop.
‘Antik – LG’ Antique Salon
Propreitor: Oleg Lukashin (Alexey’s father)
Leninskiy prospect 69, Moscow 119304, Russia
E-mail: antiq@dol.ru (www.antikpodarok.ru)
Tel. 7 495 134 2378
Estimated 5,000 antiquarian books in very good condition, but most rebound in period style.
Less than 5% of stock in German, French and English.
Some English spoken.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair; sells antiquarian Russian and foreign books, engravings and maps. Has own bindery in basement which produces period style bindings.
Russkiy Bibliofil
Propreitor: Ilya Kamenskiy
Prokrovka 50, Moscow 105062, Russia
E-mail: info@rusbibliophile.ru (www.rusbibliophile.ru)
Tel. 7 495 723 6919
Estimated 10,000 quality antiquarian books in very good condition. Many rebound in period style bindings.
Stock mainly in Russian with only a few foreign language titles.
English spoken.
Notes: Is often in Paris to buy books and has an apartment there.
‘Biblio-Globus’ Trading House Co.
Bld. 1, 6/3 Myasnitskaya Str., Moscow 101990, Russia
E-mail: bukinist@biblio-globus.ru (www.biblio-globus.ru)
Tel. 7 495 781 1921
Estimated 5,000 used and antiquarian books (2500 antiquarian) in good condition, many rebound in period style.
10-15% of stock in German, French and English.
Only Russian spoken.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair; sells antiquarian Russian and foreign books. Antiquarian department is part of a very large new book store.
‘Moscow’ Trading Book House
8, Tverskaya Str., Moscow 125009, Russia
E-mail: buk@moscowbooks.ru (www.moscowbooks.ru)
Tel. 7 495 796 9416
Estimated 20,000 used and antiquarian books (10,000 antiquarian) in fair to very good condition.
10% of stock in German, French and English.
English spoken.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair. Probably the largest stock of antiquarian books in Russia. Antiquarian department is part of a very large new book store.
Two businesses at 23, Trubnaya Str., Moscow 127051, Russia:
1. Vishnevy Sad on Trubnoy
E-mail: info@antikbook.ru (www.antikbook.ru)
Tel. 7 495 628 4878
Estimated 3,000 high quality antiquarian books in very good condition.
5% of stock in German, French and English.
Some English spoken.
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair, sells 16th to 20th century Russian and foreign books and engravings.
2. Bukinist On Trubnoy
E-mail: info@bukinist23.ru (www.bukinist23.ru)
Tel. 7 495 625 3772
Notes: Took part in the 3rd Moscow Antique Book Fair. Oldest antiquarian bookshop in Moscow.
‘Akcia (Action)’ Antikvarno-Bukinisticheskaya
Bol. Nikitskaya, 21/18, Moscow 103009, Russia
E-mail: akcia-antique@list.ru (www.akcia-antique.ru)
Tel. 7 495 291 7509
Estimated 10,000 used and antiquarian books (5,000 antiquarian) in fair to good condition. 10% of stock in German, French and English.
Russian spoken only.
Notes: A hybrid shop in as much as books are taken on consignment (komis.) and also bought.
‘Arbamskaya Nakhogka’
Arbat Str. 11, Moscow 121019, Russia
E-mail: arbat@antiq.info (www.antiq.info)
Tel. 7 495 291 3606
Estimated 2,000 antiquarian books in generally good condition but most rebound in period style.
Stock mostly in Russian.
English spoken.
Notes: Antiquarian book department is on the first floor of an upscale antique shop.
‘Bukinist’
Arbat Str. 36, Moscow 121002, Russia
Tel. 7 095 241 3606
Estimated 4,000 antiquarian books in generally good condition but many rebound in period style.
5% of stock in German, French and English.
Only Russian spoken.
Notes: Nice bookshop on Moscow’s premier antique street.
‘Moskovskiy Dom Knigi’ (Moscow Book House)
8, Novy Arbat., Moscow 121019, Russia
(www.mdk-arbat.ru)
Tel. 7 495 741 9933
Estimated 10,000 used and antiquarian books (5,000 antiquarian) in generally good condition.
Stock mostly in Russian.
Notes: Some interesting high value books. Antiquarian department is part of a very large new book store.
Also worth mentioning, a purely internet antiquarian shop @ (www.rarebooks.ru)
Notes on other bookshops visited.
St. Petersburg:
Antiquariat
19 Rizhskiy Prospect
Estimated 10,000 used and antiquarian books (2,000 Antiquarian).
5% of stock in foreign languages.
General stock in poor to fair condition with many odd volumes.
Only Russian spoken.
Staraya Kniga technical books
29 Bolshoy Prospect V.O.
Estimated 10,000 technical books with less than 100 antiquarian books.
Stock virtually all in Russian.
Only Russian spoken.
Bookshop (Lavka Pisatelei)
Nevsky Prospect 66
New bookshop with an antiquarian section of about 200 books.
5% of stock in foreign languages.
Only Russian spoken.
Iskatel (Searcher)
51 Moyki reki nab
Estimated 5000 used books with less than 200 antiquarian books.
5% of stock in foreign languages.
Only Russian spoken.
Sova Bookshop
Marata 52
Estimated 5,000 used and antiquarian (750 antiquarian).
10% of stock in foreign languages.
Antiquarian books in poor to good condition.
Only Russian spoken.
Bibliofil
Livgovsky Prospect 120
Estimated 3000 used and antiquarian books (200 antiquarian books)
Less than 5% of stock in foreign languages.
Antiquarian books in generally in poor condition.
Only Russian spoken.
On Staronevskiy
122 Nevsky Prospect
Estimated 3000 used and antiquarian books (1500 antiquarian a few in foreign languages).
Books in generally poor to fair condition with many odd volumes.
Some English spoken.
Dom Knigi (House of Books)
Nevsky Prospect 28
Small (ca. 300 books) but nice antiquarian department.
Also worth mentioning Antique shop "Tersia"
Italyanskaya Str. 5
Estimated 200 antiquarian books, mostly foreign language, as well as engravings, maps and posters.
Antiquarian stock in fair to good condition.
Some English spoken.
Moscow:
‘Bukinist’Antikvarnaya Lavka (Book’s River Crossing)
Ostozhenka Str. 53
Estimated 5000 used and antiquarian books (2000 antiquarian).
Stock virtually all in Russian.
Books in generally poor to good condition.
Only Russian spoken.
Antikvar on Myasnitskoy
Myasnitskaya Str. 53
Estimated 5000 used and antiquarian books (2000 antiquarian).
10% of stock in foreign languages.
Books in generally poor to good condition. Many odd volumes, but some very good quality books.
Only Russian spoken.
Old Medical Books
Kamergerskiy per. 5/7
Estimated 3000 used medical books.
Stock virtually all in Russian.
Books in generally good condition.
English spoken.
‘Marina’
Mira Prospect 79
Estimated 5000 used and antiquarian books (1000 antiquarian).
Stock virtually all in Russian.
Books in generally fair to good condition.
Only Russian spoken.
‘Lavka Kinogoluba’
Trubnaya Str. 23
Estimated 1000 antiquarian books.
5% of stock in foreign languages.
Books in generally good condition.
Only Russian spoken.
‘Bukinist’
Bolshaya Gruzinskaya 60
Estimated 2000 used and antiquarian books (500 antiquarian).
5% of stock in foreign languages.
Books in poor to good condition.
Some English spoken.
ABA Summer Exhibition 2008: Women & the Book
The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association and the Women’s Library present a major selling exhibition on women and the printed word.
370 items have been consigned by over 50 members of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association, the oldest trade association of its kind in the world. We’ve also been delighted to welcome the participation of some of our overseas colleagues, making this a truly international event. Covering literature, women in the book-trade, science and medicine, politics, travel and children’s books, the exhibition will include books and related items by, for or about women, or printed, illustrated and bound by women: from an example of Dame Juliana Berners’ Boke of St Albans printed by Caxton’s successor Wynkyn de Worde at Westminster in 1496 to a 1997 proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. Alongside first editions by literary heavyweights such as Jane Austen, Mary Wollstonecraft and Virginia Woolf are ephemeral items such as Suffragette board games and presentation and association copies, such as a copy of Notes on Hospitals inscribed by Florence Nightingale. The price range is £40.00-£75,000. The Women’s Library will be displaying a selection of highlights from their special collections, and there will be a catalogue and two free lectures accompanying the exhibition.
Venue and times:
Friday 8th -Wednesday 20th August
Mon-Fri 10am-6pm; weekends 11am-5pm
The Exhibition Room, Bernard Quaritch Ltd
8 Lower John Street, Golden Square
London W1F 9AU
Admission: free
Contact: admin@aba.org.uk
Internet: www.abasummer.com
Lectures:
Tuesday 12th August 6.15pm:
Jolyon Hudson of Pickering & Chatto Ltd.
‘Understanding Booksellers and their Catalogues: an introduction to book collecting.’
Thursday 14th August 6.15pm:
Dianne Shepherd of the Women’s Library
‘Celebrating & Recording Women’s Lives: the provenance and development of the Women’s Library Collections.’
ABC for Book Collectors
ABC for Book Collectors is now on-line and searchable only at the ILAB site! This 8th edition written by John Carter and Nicolas Barker is considered the best one volume guide to the terms of the book trade. Click here to get started.
REPORT FROM THE 2008 GRAND PALAIS PARIS BOOKFAIR
Some 157 bookdealers (a third from outside France) and 30 print sellers were present at the fair. The Grand Palais location with its vast volumes and excellent natural light, presented almost ideal conditions for both exhibitors and visitors: 3m deep booths and wide alleys with rest areas, a concert area (with thrice daily chamber music concerts), a conference room, various displays (bindings and photographs) and demonstrations (restoration, binding and copper plate printing); and a spectacular exhibition by this year's guest library, the Bibiotheque Nationale de France.
The event was well relayed by the media and some 24000 visitors were registered. Although every visitor was not a buyer, the event undoubtedly sparked a new general public interest in the antiquarian book world at large (books, prints and manuscripts), with many first time visitors and the presence of the younger generation. In spite of the current french economic slowdown, sales statistics show the market is holding well, with some spectacular higher end sales, and most exhibitors seemed satisfied. The SLAM sees the venue as an essential tool in the promotion and development of the antiquarian book trade in France, Europe and abroad. Next year's guest library will be the National Library and Archives of Québec, for a very special exhibition on the history of the France – America relationship. This will also be the general theme of the next edition of the fair, to be held from 18th-21st June 2009.
38th International Congress and 21th International Antiquarian Book Fair in Madrid
Dear members of the ILAB-LILA:
I would like to express the honour and great pleasure that we have in the organization of the 38º International Congress of the ILAB LILA and the 21º International Antiquarian book fair at Madrid that will take place in the Congress and Exhibition Centre from September 8th to 13th 2008, with the Honour Presidence of the S.S. A.A. R.R. Principes de Asturias.
Madrid, a dynamic and changing capital, has an overwhelming offer in cultural activities, gastronomy and hotels for all tastes. Museums like the Thyssen Foundation, modern art Queen Sofia centre and the Prado make a triangle that is worth visiting.
This allows us to introduce to all participants at the Congress and the International book fair some of the singular treasures that holds the city of Madrid like the Lazaro Galdiano Foundation with one of the most important art collections and library in Spain donated to the Nation by this patron in 1949. The Royal Palace, one of the most striking buildings in Europe for its construction, location and the variety of collections housed inside its walls. We shall have the privilege to visit the library located at the North tower.
We´ll end this tour with the trip, 35 miles far from Madrid, to the palace-monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, in a magnificent landscape, from where the king Philip the second reigned over the destiny of the Hispanic Monarchy in the XVIth century. Among its matchless collections: the library, one of the most important in the world for the quality and rarity of its holdings, will be the place for a detailed visit by the ILAB Congress members.
All that we suggest makes of Madrid the ideal frame to attract many members of the ILAB-LILA who would like to take this opportunity and stay with us several days.
The meeting of the delegates of the ILAB and the international book fair, will take place in the Conference hall located at the business center with easy access by taxi, underground and bus. This well known building is the place where two antiques fairs are being held every year, which makes a suitable and spacious place for both events.
We have contacted with several hotels in order to get a quality lodging and reasonably priced. The visits and trips organized by professionals with a convenient schedule. The book fair prices are really competitive, what we hope will help to attract the interest of a large number of ILAB-LILA members.
I believe that I have presented you all the good reasons why it is worth coming to Madrid. The Spanish members of ILAB brought together in AILA are waiting to give you a warm welcome to Madrid and among all to get success for the Congress and the International Book fair.
With best wishes
Gonzalo Fernández Pontes
President of Aila
38th International Congress and 21th International Antiquarian Book Fair in Madrid
Oak Knoll Honored with 2008 APHA Institutional Award
Congratulations to former ILAB president Bob Fleck and his staff at Oak Knoll, who are to be honored with the 2008 American Printing History Association (APHA) Institutional Award for "a distinguished contribution to the study, recording, preservation or dissemination of printing history, in any specific area or in general terms." Well deserved!
41st CALIFORNIA INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR FEATURES TREASURES OF THE PRINTED PAGES FROM THE WORLD'S PREEMINENT RARE BOOKSELLERS
Los Angeles Event Also Gives The Public A Rare Glimpse into the Collections of California University Libraries in Special Exhibit: Great Books from Great Institutions
LOS ANGELES – Book lovers, collectors and scholars will have the opportunity to see and purchase the finest in rare and valuable books, manuscripts, autographs, fine graphics, prints, maps and more at the 41st California International Antiquarian Book Fair in Los Angeles at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel from Friday, February 15, through Sunday February 17, 2008. In addition, the public will have a rare opportunity to view treasures from the special collections of Southern California’s university libraries in a special exhibit,
Great Books from Great Institutions.
Sponsored by the Southern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), the Los Angeles Book Fair is recognized as one of the world's premier antiquarian book exhibitions and sales. Exhibits from over 200 pre-eminent members of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America will feature books from five centuries of printing, as well as rare manuscripts that predate Gutenberg.
Books will cover every imaginable area of interest -- from the history of travel and exploration, early science and medicine, technology, law and commerce to literature and the arts. Whether you are seeking a first edition of a favorite modern author or an historic book like a 17th century Shakespeare folio or the King James Bible, you’ll find it at the Book Fair where items range in price from a few dollars to more than six figures.
The special exhibit, Great Books from Great Institutions, will present unique and rarely seen books, manuscripts and other materials from the vast archives of Southern California’s university library collections – many of which exist nowhere else in the world. The exhibit will feature individual displays from libraries, including:
• University of Southern California, Edward L. Doheny, Jr. Memorial Library
• Occidental College, Mary Norton Clapp Library
• University of California San Diego, Mandeville Special Collections Library
• University of California Los Angeles, Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library
• University of California Los Angeles, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
• University of California Los Angeles, Charles E. Young Research Library
• University of California Irvine, Langson Library
• University of California Riverside, Rivera Library Special Collections Department
• San Diego State University, Malcolm Love Library
Free seminars will appeal to both the dedicated collector and those new to the world of rare books including “Rare Books 101,” which will provide an overview on how start collecting. On Sunday, February 18 from 1:30 to 3 p.m., “Discovery Day” is an opportunity for the public to present up to three items to experts for free examination. Admission to the California International Antiquarian Book Fair is $15 on Friday for a three-day ticket and $10 on Saturday or Sunday. The event will take place at the Hyatt Regency Century
Plaza Hotel, located at 2025 Avenue of the Stars, Los Angeles. Hours are Friday, February 15, 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday, February 16, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, February 17, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For further information, please visit www.labookfair.com or call the event hotline at (800) 454-6401.
A Bookseller Finds his Niche
If you're looking for a book about books, Bob Fleck is your man
If Johannes Gutenberg's first edition Holy Bible is today's Holy Grail for book collectors, then Old New Castle resident Bob Fleck is the Indiana Jones of the rare book community.
Read the whole article at delawareonline.com.
CBS's 60 Minutes visits the New York Antiquarian Book Fair.
Andy thinks books are one of the greatest inventions of all time. He recently visited the New York Antiquarian Book Fair where he learned how much some of the old classics sell for.
Click here or on the image above to play the video
ABAA member William Reese's very generous gift to Yale
Yale University Library receives a gift for the Map Collection
William Reese, President of William Reese Company, a firm dealing in rare books and manuscripts in New Haven, has donated $100,000 to the Yale University Library to support the future of the Map Collection in Sterling Memorial Library.
Mr. Reese, a 1977 Yale graduate who has given generous support to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library over many years, intends this gift to pay for essential cataloging and other work, and at the same time to form the foundation for a new fund-raising effort. In his letter to University Librarian Alice Prochaska, he writes:
"The Yale Map Collection is one of the extraordinary resources of the Yale Library and the University. Over the past year, in the wake of the apprehension of a thief who has now pled guilty to stealing maps both from the Beinecke Library and the Map Collection, I have worked with the Library to inventory the collections and to advise on the many issues which have arisen in the wake of those thefts. While we have come to realize that the
Map Collection is facing many challenges, I am convinced that, with sufficient nourishment, the remarkable collections and dedicated core of staff can blossom into a vital research center of the first rank. I look forward to continuing to work with you to realize this goal."
Alice Prochaska noted: I wish to offer profound thanks to William Reese for this gift, and for his unwavering support of the Map Collection during the difficult times that followed the recent thefts. He has given his time and expertise unstintingly, and this gift now supports our plans for a bright future for the Yale Map Collection. I am matching his gift with funds reallocated from the Library's own budget. With Mr. Reese's advice and support, the Library will now begin to raise additional significant funding. We will be seeking to endow the position of Map Curator, to support the creation of a full electronic catalog with digitized versions of the holdings of this great collection, and to support and extend the high-powered consultative service in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) that the staff provide. The Map Collection with its expert staff and wonderful contents is really one of the jewels in the crown of the Yale University Library's collections, and we intend that it should become renowned both for the maps it contains, and for the great services it provides to the scholarly community.
YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MAP COLLECTION:
The Map Collection has the largest collection of maps in Connecticut and one of the largest university collections in the United States. Its collections are geographically comprehensive and consist of over 200,000 map sheets, 3,000 atlases, and 900 reference books. The Collection receives maps and charts on deposit from the U.S. government agencies, and through gift and purchase. The Collection also houses approximately 15,000 rare (pre-1850) sheet maps. Though these cover many areas of the world, most pertain to North America, the United States, and New England. There is also a sizeable reference collection and a small, selective serials collection.
Yale University Library Press Release
August 16th, 2006
For more information: http://www.library.yale.edu/MapColl/index.html
FOURTEENTH ILAB PRIZE FOR BIBLIOGRAPHY
Two Winners for the ILAB-LILA Bibliography Prize
The winners of the International Prize for Bibliography were announced before two hundred guests at the ABA Centenary Ball held at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Presenting the judges’ verdict the Prize Secretary said:
‘I must say it sometimes seems there are rather a lot of Prizes. We have no sooner got over the Booker, the Whitbread and the Orange, when it’s time for the Baftas and the Oscars - and hundreds of others..'
But the League’s Bibliography Prize is different. It wasn’t invented last week by some spin doctor to promote a product. It was founded fifty years ago by the League to repay in a small way the debt the trade owes to the bibliographers - who toil away in libraries, largely unsung, to produce the reference books we need, and which help us to become better booksellers. This is the fourteenth Award. There have been around a hundred entries from all over the world and they cover every aspect of bibliography and the history of the book in its widest sense, as well as cartography and all the book arts. The criteria are originality and significance - and of course bibliographical rigour.
To pick a winner from such a field has not been easy - and of course there can only be one winner. But the judges have excelled themselves and produced two. After much consideration, discussion and debate they decided it was impossible to separate the claims of two outstanding books and determined therefore that there should be two joint winners and the $10,000 Prize be divided between them.
So here they are, in no particular order. First ‘John Payne Collier: Scholarship and Forgery in the 19th Century’ by Arthur and Janet Freeman. ‘It’s a big book, with big aims, and it succeeds magisterially’. Those are not my words, but those of the learned reviewer in The Library. It’s a bio-bibliography, consisting of a 1000 page Life of Collier linked and keyed to a 400 page bibliography. And it is a fascinating read from start to finish. Collier of course was an influential, prolific and highly respected scholar and writer - and at the same time the promulgator of a great body of forgeries. The Freemans among much else have sorted out the authentic books and the forgeries and the fabrications. This book does what it says on the title page: Scholarship and Forgery in the 19th Century. Could it start a cult on the scale of the T.J.Wise cult? Could Freeman become a household name like Carter and Pollard? Could there be Collier Fellowships and Seminars in universities around the world? We shall see, but it would be nice to think so. Published by Yale at £100 the two volume set, no more than the price of your ticket this evening.
And the other co-winner is: ’A Bibliography of 17th century Numismatic Books’ by Christian Dekesel, published by Spink (as you might expect) in London, though Dr Dekesel is of course a Belgian scholar. It is monumental and meticulous. The judges were impressed by its erudition - and also I suspect by its weight. This is just Vol I of 3 - and I won’t need to explain why the others are not here. But this heavyweight is an intellectual heavyweight. The author, assisted by Mme Dekesel, has not just examined every book but every copy of every book he has located in over 300 libraries and collections. Each entry has all the data and detail you could possibly want, with a facsimile of the title thrown in. And remember, numismatic writing occurs in history, travel, economics and portrait books, and much else too. This book follows the Dekesel volume on 16th century numismatics and will itself be followed by 18th century volumes, already well advanced. The whole will comprise the Dekesel Bibliotheca Nummaria, covering three centuries, a magnificent achievement.
President, I was once ticked off in the nicest possible way by an eminent historian of the book for applying the word ‘definitive’ to a bibliography. ‘Is anything ever definitive?’ she said - ever so sweetly. Well I guess not. But these two books come pretty close. They will still be standing when we have long been gone and the International League is proud to honour them with its Prize.’
The judges also nominated two books for their Specially Commended Award. First, from Germany, Bernhard Fischer’s ‘Der Verleger Johann Friedrich Cotta. Johann Friedrich was head of the great Cotta publishing house of Stuttgart and Munich in its most brilliant period, 1787-1832. Cotta published Goethe and Schiller and practically every other notable in literature and scholarship of the time. This is a detailed bibliography of the entire Cotta output of those years, with the printing history of every one of its publications - books, journals and graphics. A substantial work, published in three volumes by Saur of Munich.
And also Specially Commended was David Griffiths’ Bibliography of the Book of Common Prayer, the evening’s only single volume work, published by British Library in the U.K and Oak Knoll elsewhere in the world. It offers 450 years of publishing history, from Cranmer’s famous text of 1549 to date, some 5000 different editions (including 1200 different translations), all meticulously differentiated and described, with collations, as you would expect. In the trade we sometimes complain that academic bibliography is all about books we never see. Nobody will say that about the Book of Common Prayer. This excellent work will take its place alongside Darlow & Moule’s great Catalogue of Bibles.
So, one American author, one Belgian, one German and one British. An international result - and four books worth a permanent place on all our reference shelves.
ANNE AND DAVID BROMER ESTABLISH RARE BOOK FUND AT THE BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY
Boston antiquarian booksellers Anne and David Bromer, owners of Bromer Booksellers in Copley Square, recently established an endowment fund to celebrate and promote the rare books collection at the Boston Public Library. Proceeds from THE ANNE AND DAVID BROMER RARE BOOKS FUND will be used for guest lectures and performances, exhibitions, publications, and traditional and online presentations and finding aids.
According to Anne Bromer, the purpose of the endowment is “to make the public aware of the depth and scope, richness and importance, of the Library’s rare book collections.”
The establishment of the fund is a reflection of the Bromers’ long-standing interest in both rare books and the Boston Public Library. Anne’s first job in 1965, as a graduate of Simmons College School of Library Science, was at the Library; and in 2001 the BPL co-published her first book, Strings Attached, about the printer Dorothy Abbe. Currently, David serves as a member of the Board of the Associates of the Library.
Bromer Booksellers, Inc., has been located across the street from the Library in Copley Square for the past 26 years. The Bromers’ hope is that the new fund will encourage Bostonians to explore further the great treasures that reside within the beautiful edifice of their public library.
ILAB Virtual Book Fair, Everywhere and Nowhere
What if you held a bookfair and nobody came? Surely some fair promoters would lie awake at night worrying over that scenario. But imagine if you held a book fair and there was nowhere for people to go. Bob Fleck, owner of Oak Knoll Books and current president of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), envisioned just such a fair. A fair held everywhere and no place at once.
He proposed the idea last November at an ILAB Meeting in Potsdam, Germany.
Book 'em Ken! Ken Sanders' incredible adventures in the rare-book trade.
Ken Sanders has a multitude of friends, most of them long dead and on a shelf at his funky Salt Lake City bookstore.
He has enemies, too, the kind who call and make death threats. As chair of the security committee for the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA), Sanders knows the once genteel rare-book business has fallen prey to Internet fraud, credit card theft and e-auction forgeries. Even international cartels, not content to limit their business to arms and oil, drugs and extortion, have discovered that rare books are portable, can be moved quickly across several time zones, fetch huge sums from collectors and can be liquidated swiftly, when necessary, through an Internet auction site such as eBay. The kinder, gentler days of the book trade, where deals were sealed simply with a handshake, seem over.
It was Sanders' daughter, Melissa, who first heard the threatening message left on the bookstore's answering machine March 2003. Recorded shortly after 4 in the morning, a heavily accented voice said: "Ken Sanders ... this is David ... you may know me as David Holt ... I am very much looking forward to coming to Salt Lake City and cutting off your balls ... Goodbye now ..."
Melissa knew David George Holt was a convicted felon with a number of aliases whom her father had been chasing "forever", as she put it.
"He did time for securities fraud, then started defrauding booksellers," she said. "He offers something scarce at a really good price," Melissa explained. "Then he has the buyer wire 15 percent of the price to an associate in Russia. The book, of course, never arrives," she said. Sanders had just unmasked Holt twice in quick succession, blocking his efforts to bilk book dealers. It seemed Holt intended to retaliate.
Read the whole article here >>
The Rare Books Detective
The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is the oldest and most prestigious such event in the United States. Held each spring in the gargantuan Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the fair draws more than a hundred dealers from Vienna, Paris, London and beyond. Opening night is a gala preview. Red carpet divides the booksellers' aisles, and a tuxedoed band plays some vague, unobtrusive jazz while deals upwards of $100,000 are made between sips of wine and samples from the generous cheese platter. Major categories at the fair include modern first editions, English literature, science, and travel and voyages. But advertised specialties range widely: the occult and bibles; tennis and Maurice Sendak; books about books and Canadiana. The rare book business is a small, select world-the largest organization, the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, boasts about two thousand members worldwide; the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America about five hundred-and the fair is the apotheosis of the industry's stuffy charms.
Ken Sanders mingles happily with the crowd, if not quite inconspicuously. His bushy beard, which stretches to his chest, sets him apart from his rather staid-seeming colleagues; and though he is balding, remnants of the fifty-two-year-old's mostly grey hair are pulled back in a short ponytail. Still, Sanders, proprietor of a bookstore in Salt Lake City that specializes in Edward Abbey and the literary West, manages to engage his fellow bibliophiles. The rare book world, after all, is where Sanders has spent his life since he began collecting as a teenager.
There is another world, too, in which Sanders has grown adept at manoeuvring, a world filled with shadowy figures and deceit. In this world, Sanders is not merely a rare books dealer, but a rare books detective. As chair of the security committee for the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), Sanders spends between ten and fifteen hours a week poring over reports of theft and fraud, sending alerts to ABAA members and, as the situation warrants, conducting his own investigations. His tenure as security chair for the ABAA-a volunteer position-began in 1999 and has coincided with the rapid growth of Internet commerce and of its spawn, electronic fraud, to which the bookselling community has been especially susceptible.
Book dealers who have been defrauded know to turn to Sanders, as law enforcement agencies like the FBI and Interpol almost never take an interest in the jurisdictional complexity of tracking down rare-book thieves. Using a stolen credit card number and just enough literary knowledge, a typical thief can convince an unsuspecting dealer to ship a valuable first edition across several time zones. Rare books are small, easily portable, not overtly suspicious and, thanks to Internet auction sites like eBay, easily converted into cash. No one keeps track of total losses, but the most notorious thieves working the trade have made off with as much as $100,000 US each in books-taking care never to "spend" more than about $5,000 at a time so as to avoid rousing suspicion.
Reports of theft and fraud have shaken up the rare book trade, to the chagrin of many. "It's been a trusting, gentle business for most of its existence," says Sanders, "a handshake kind of business." Rooted deep within the culture of bookselling is a certain reticence, an essential genteelness that Sanders, with his hard-charging efforts, seems to have endangered. Booksellers seem dismissive of any talk about theft and scams and consider it a serious impediment to business. Steven Temple, security chair for the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, doesn't think that theft is necessarily increasing at all, only that it is now more commonly reported.
Sanders' investigations, however, have undeniably led to results. He has shut down gangs in Belgrade operating with stolen credit card numbers and eBay accounts-though not before they managed to scam dealers of about $40,000 in rare books. Sanders has also disrupted gangs of credit-card fraudsters based in Nigeria and Ghana, baiting them by accepting orders and then shutting down their stolen card numbers. Sanders takes pleasure in asking for another card, and then another, until the fraudsters realize he's on to their schemes.
Last year Sanders helped nab book thief John Charles Gilkey, who may have stolen as much as $100,000 in books. For months Gilkey-who was "brazen as hell," says Sanders-placed orders with booksellers over the phone, often chatting up dealers before using a stolen credit card to make the purchase. Before the charge could be disputed, Gilkey would call back to mention that a cousin or nephew was conveniently in town and able to drop by the bookshop. Then he or his accomplice-identified afterwards as his father-would leave with the book in hand. Gilkey later switched methods and asked booksellers to send books by overnight mail to hotels, where he had reserved a room with a different stolen credit card.
When Gilkey attempted to scam Ken Lopez, president of the ABAA, Lopez and Sanders worked with police in San Jose to set up a sting. Lopez, a Massachusetts-based dealer, let Gilkey go through with an order for a first edition of John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Though the asking price was $6,500, Gilkey actually talked Lopez down to a price of $5,850. He also asked Lopez to send the book overnight to the upscale Westin Hotel in Palo Alto. When Gilkey, dressed in rumpled slacks and a baseball cap, arrived to pick up the package, police were on the scene to apprehend him. After posting a $15,000 bail, Gilkey disappeared, eluding authorities for weeks until he was eventually caught in another sting. He is now serving a three-year sentence in California.
Why does Sanders pursue these white-collar criminals so relentlessly? "I have an innate sense of fairness," he says. His daughter Melissa agrees: "He takes [theft] so personally, not only when it happens to our store, but to our colleagues." Melissa, twenty-five, manages Ken Sanders Rare Books. Once, when a shoplifter at the store made off with a $1,500 painting of Jesus Christ, Sanders followed the thief to his car, denting a door and breaking a window before being knocked to the ground as the car sped away. "Dad," says Melissa Sanders, "is a volatile man." His hands bloodied, Sanders called the police with the thief's licence plate number, then got in his truck and searched the neighbourhood. The thief, perhaps intimidated, called Sanders later that day to say that he had left the painting at a nearby restaurant, where it was subsequently recovered.
One man, however, vexes Sanders above all others: David George Holt, aka Frederik Buwe, aka Professor Karl Fisher. Holt, a sixty-two-year-old Illinois native turned globetrotter, actually has many more aliases, all allegedly used in email and Internet scams that have plagued book dealers since the mid-1990s. "With Holt, it's personal," Sanders says grimly. Other thieves may have gotten away with more money, but Holt is notorious for his persistence, for his apparent duplicity and for a possible association with the Russian mafia that Sanders has brought to the attention of the FBI. If all this was not enough to place a dark cloud over the book trade, there is also the rumour of Holt's involvement in the disappearance of Svetlana Aronov.
Aronov-a popular New York bookseller known for her wit and style, as well as her collection of Russian avant-garde titles-was noticeably absent from the New York book fair. Five weeks earlier, Aronov, forty-four, had left her apartment on the Upper East Side to go for a walk with her family's cocker spaniel and never returned. Her relatives visited the fair to hand out flyers offering a reward for information leading to her return. Detectives visited the fair as well, intent on speaking with booksellers about Aronov and with Sanders about Holt. Sanders had already been in contact with the New York police and had posted email notices urging people with knowledge of either Aronov or Holt to contact authorities.
Sadly, Aronov's body was found in the East River across from Manhattan several weeks later. Police never named a suspect, and months later, there have still been no arrests in the case.
Holt has not taken kindly to Sanders' meddling. Early one morning, a heavily accented voice left a message on Sanders' voice mail threatening to visit Salt Lake City to "cut your balls off." Sanders recognized the voice as Holt's and simply rattled off an email to his nemesis: "Dave, no need to come all this way. Send me your address and I'll come and visit you." Sanders remains unfazed in the face of such threats. His rationale: if something were going to happen, it would have happened already. "Despite my aggressiveness, I'm not Superman," he says. "People do think I'm crazy for doing what I'm doing."
Whether or not Holt is dangerous, he certainly has a checkered past. According to FBI Special Agent William Hann, in 1991 Holt stole about $100,000 in US Savings Bonds from his grandmother and used the money to start a new life in New Zealand, abandoning a wife and five children in a suburb of Milwaukee in the process. From New Zealand, he allegedly began targeting booksellers in various schemes. At the urging of angry booksellers, Holt was extradited to the United States in 1997 on an outstanding charge of securities fraud. Hann said book dealers documented for him over $3,000 in losses from fraud, but he suspects the total to be much higher. Holt served an eighteen-month sentence for securities fraud and was released in 1999. Since his release, dozens of complaints have been made involving aliases that Sanders believes serve to cloak Holt. The hallmarks of Holt's alleged scams are emails written in broken English and deals too good to be true, which appeal to dealers' greed.
Sanders emails Holt whenever he catches wind of a new alias, and the pair go back and forth. Holt has emailed Sanders with a promise to commit future frauds "in our mutual good name" and signed it "Kennet Sanders Rarities." Through a computer expert, Sanders has tracked most of these email aliases to Volgograd, Russia. In addition, some of the scams have involved wire transfers to Russia, leading Sanders to believe that the Russian mafia has become interested in the rare book trade, with Holt perhaps merely serving as an agent in their crimes.
Holt has even been so bold as to be included as the contact person in an online listing for a bookseller by the name of Dr. R. Litchkovakha. A call to Litchkovakha in New Zealand about the listing was answered by a young woman with a strong New Zealand accent, who suggested calling back in about three hours to reach her father. A phone message and email outlining the accusations against Holt were answered with an email that sharply denied "any association with fraudulent activities [or] threats." The voice on the answering machine in New Zealand is that of a man, sounding cheery and very American, who identifies himself as Dr. R. Litchkovakha. The voice says, "If I'm not in, I'm probably out hunting for a book." Rest assured, Sanders is out there too, looking to catch a thief.
By Jaime Adame, republished on behalf of Maisonneuve Magazine, Click here for original article