2018 New York International Antiquarian Book Fair Press Clippings

A AAB

MANUSCRIPTS EPHEMERA AUTOGRAPHS

MAPS

ART PHOTOS

ILAB

The 58 th annual New York

international ANTIQUARIAN

BOOK FAIR March 8-11, 2018

PARK AVENUE ARMORY

PRESS CLIPPINGS

THE NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR GLOBAL MEDIA RECAP JANUARY – MARCH 2018 MEDIA OVERVIEW The obtained press audit that follows details global press results for The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair 2018 Edition. From January to March 2018, The book fair garnered a total of 53 national and international media placements, reaching an audience of 520,567,106 people globally.

ANALYSIS This year NJA secured coverage in the most respected literary, art and business publications, positioning the 58th Edition of the International Antiquarian Book Fair as a leading global book fair.

The book fair was prominently featured in three key pieces this year: The New York Times, Architectural Digest, and The New Yorker, which contributed and elevated the fair’s visibility among the art, culture, and NYC elite. The New York Times’s Sunday Style feature secured by NJA, spotlighted the fair as a fashion hot spot and an event that attracted a new generation of younger collectors.

Beyond press, NJA attracted VIPS such as Victoria Newhouse, Gay Talese, and Fran Lebowitz. Also in attendance was literary luminary Don Delilo, who was attracted by the programming (also secured by NJA) of the award winning author, Ben Taylor. The fair had overall a successful turnout bringing in positive feedback from audience members and press.

Challenges include receiving compelling visual assets and information in advance to secure coveted print placements. Out of 210 exhibitors, only 70 exhibitors managed to send materials.

BREAKDOWN  



Print 6 (8.83%) Online: 47 (91.17%) Total: 53

Pull Quotes 2018 “The New York Antiquarian Book Fair has never failed to amaze me.”

- Rebecca Rego Barry, Fine Books &Collectibles, March 13, 2018 “This is an astonishing and beautiful illustrated early Gothic English chronicle scroll is only one of the thousands of treasures here at the Antiquarian Book Fair.”

- Evan Bleier, RealClear Life, March 11, 2018 “If your anxious for spring the 19th-century botanical art at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair will cure your spring fever.”

- Catherine Romano, The Wall Street Journal Off Duty, March 9, 2018 “The lists of food and drink items at The New York Antiquarian Book Fair in these gastronomical books are like poems in themselves.”

- Elisa Wouk Almino, Hyperallergic, March 9, 2018

“The New York Antiquarian Book Fair will excite even the most jaded book collector at this year’s fair.”

- Isabelle Kellogg, The Epoch Times, March 9, 2018 “The most-awaited book fair.”

- Staff Writer, Blouin Artinfo, March 8, 2018 “This is so not your average book fair.”

- Christie Grimm, Guest of a Guest,, March 6, 2018 “The New York Antiquarian Book Fair transforms the Park Avenue Armory into a literature lover's dream with over 200 American and International exhibitors. Prepare to flip through the most fascinating collection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, ephemera, and more.”

- Christie Grimm, Guest of a Guest,, March 6, 2018 “The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is a wonderful way to get to know the specialty markets of book, manuscript, maps, autograph and ephemera collecting.”

- A. E. Colas, ZEALnyc,, March 2, 2018 “Abraham Lincoln, Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alexander Hamilton, Winston Churchill, and more at The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.”

- Staff Writer, Times Square Chronicles,, February 20, 2018 “A collection of the world’s largest rare booksellers, is attending the New York Antiquarian Book Fair this March with a selection of its finest rare books, manuscripts and photographs each of which has a fascinating history.”

- Staff Writer, Times Square Chronicles,, February 20, 2018 “A mecca for bibliophiles and seekers of the curious and quirky and a must-see event for seasoned connoisseurs and scholars.”

- Staff Writer, ArtDaily, February 20, 2018 “It doesn’t take a history or musical fan to recognize the great importance of the collections on display at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair.”

- Eustacia Huen, Forbes, February 15, 2018 “The Alexander Hamilton Collection, along with many others at this year's Antiquarian Book Fair, is so incredibly valuable.

- Eustacia Huen, Forbes, February 15, 2018

January 29, 2018

The Manhattan Vintage Book, Ephemera, & Fine Press Book Fair, Coming up March 10

By Staff Writer

New York, NY - Who Knows The Best Book Fairs In New York City? The Shadow Show Knows! Flamingo Eventz and Lamont Cranston step out of the shadows to celebrate Rare Book Week in New York City by announcing the return of The Manhattan Vintage Book, Ephemera,& Fine Press Book Fair! Known as The Shadow Show because it is held in conjunction with the well-known New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory, this year it will be held on Saturday March 10, 2018.

A few years ago we moved the show uptown, directly across the street from the Park Avenue Armory to The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, 869 Lexington Avenue at 66th Street, and everyone agreed; this was the smart move! We are pleased to be returning to St. Vincent’s again this year with another exciting field of exceptional Exhibitors.

This show has grown steadily since its inception in 2009 to present some of the finest Vintage & Antiquarian Book and Ephemera Dealers in America, Canada and Europe - many of whom are members of ABAA, ILAB, ESA, PADA, MARIAB, MABA, LIABDA and other professional groups - all gathered together for one fabulous weekend to offer an incredible Vintage Book & Ephemera adventure! The inclusion of The Fine Press Book Fair in 2014 added an exciting new dimension to the show and brought it to a new level of prominence. Now, with this move to the doorstep of the Armory and the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, we bring an unprecedented opportunity and ease of enjoyment to the Vintage Book World. https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/press/2018/01/the-manhattan-vintage-book-ephemera-fine-press-book-fair-coming-upmarch-10.phtml

As always, the fair will present an outstanding array of fine, rare & unusual old books, as well as poetry, prose, political, social, historical, children's series, maps, postcards, autographs, prints, posters, World’s Fair, and much, much more. A special feature found only at Flamingo Shows will be Antiques Appraisals by John Bruno and guest Appraisers 1-3pm at $5/item!

Exhibitor Specialties include: African American, Americana, Architecture, Art, Art Deco, Auctions, Autographs, Aviation, Baseball, Books, Bibles, Black History, Black Power, Calendars, Calling Cards, Christmas, Circus, Civil War, Cook Books, Charts, Children’s Books, Cocktails, Design, Dogs, Die Cuts, Documents, Engineering, Engraving, Ephemera, Erotica, Esoterica, Fantasy, Fashion, Fishing, Floridiana, Folklore, Folk Music, Foreign Language, Furniture, Games, Gardens & Horticulture, Graphics, Historic Documents, Horses, Hunting, Illustrated Books, Interior Design, Japan, Judaica, Letters, Logbooks, Manuscripts, Maps, Maritime, Medicine, Middle East, Military, Modernism, Music, Native American, Natural History, Nautical, Naval, New York City, New York State, New Jersey, Novelties, Olympic Games, Pacifica, Photographs, Photography, Pochoir, Polar, Pop-Ups & Moveable Books, Poetry, Postcards, Posters, Presentation Copies, Presidential Archives, Press Books, Prints, Pulitzer Prize Winners, Psychedelica, Puppetry, Puzzles, Railroad, Reference, Revolutionary War, Russia, Scholarly, Science, Science Fiction, Sports, Sporting, Technical, Theatre, Theology, Trade Cards, Trade Catalogues, Travel & Exploration, Travel Brochures, Typography, U.S. Coastal History, Vanity Fair Prints, Valentines, Voyages, Watercolors, Whaling, Wine, Yachting. These, and many other specialties, will be found at this event. Be sure to check our website, FlamingoEventz.com, and our Facebook Page, facebook.com/manhattanvintagebookfair for complete details and easily downloaded Discount Coupons.

Date/Hours: Saturday March 10, 10am-5pm.

Location: The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, 869 Lexington Avenue at 66th Street, New York, NY 10065 Admission: Adults: $15, Youths 12-21: $7, under 12: free w/Paid Adult.

Appraisals: 2-4pm, $5/item by John Bruno and Guest Appraisers.

Directions: Check our website: FlamingoEventz.com and our Facebook Page, facebook.com/manhattanvintagebookfair for easily downloaded point-to-point maps.

Miscellaneous: There are parking garages throughout the neighborhood & subway stops nearby.

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/press/2018/01/the-manhattan-vintage-book-ephemera-fine-press-book-fair-coming-upmarch-10.phtml

February 9, 2018

Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony Delivers Spectacle and Politics, #MeToo Gives Fashion Week Opportunity for New Political Messages, Harvey Weinstein Complicates Amfar Gala

By Ian Zelaya

1. WINTER OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY DELIVERS SPECTACLE AND POLITICS: The opening ceremony of the 23rd Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, offered a balance of pomp and politics on Friday. NBC News: “Some 35,000 spectators witnessed a tightly-choreographed performance unfold at the Olympic Stadium in near-freezing conditions at what could be the coldest opening ceremony in 24 years. It began with a spectacular show of lights in white, red and blue—the colors of the South Korean flag. The escalating tension over the Korean Peninsula has temporarily subsided to allow both North and South Korean athletes to march—and for the first time, compete together under a unified flag—even as both nations technically remain at war. Still, the eyes of the world were not only watching the traditional parade of nations: the United States has sent a delegation to be led by Vice President Mike Pence, while North Korea has dispatched Kim Yo Jong, the sister of authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un, along with his ceremonial head of state, Kim Yong Nam, to represent the isolated nation. But the idea that these games—the first in South Korea since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul—could bring goodwill and put the rival nations on a possible path to nuclear disarmament hasn't been overlooked by locals and visitors.

PyeongChang is just 50 miles from the North Korean border. ... The ceremony featured 2,900 athletes from about 90 nations. Erin Hamlin, who is competing in women's luge, was the U.S. flag bearer. While competition had begun earlier in sports such as curling and figure skating, the first medal events are set to take place Saturday." http://nbcnews.to/2nNvfRG

https://www.bizbash.com/february-9-2018-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-delivers-spectacle-and-politics-metoo-givesfashion-week-opportunity-for/miami/story/35290#.Wn3OIa6nGUl

2. #METOO GIVES FASHION WEEK OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW POLITICAL MESSAGES: The #MeToo movement has affected numerous major events, the latest being New York Fashion Week. Recent N.Y.F.W. seasons have been defined by a political message, and the latest is set to address sexual abuse in the fashion industry.

Glamour: “But what about the symbolic gestures—the tribute pins, the slogans, and other politically charged moments we've come to expect on the runway, in this postelection landscape? This season the response and reckoning is more personal. Myriam Chalek, a French-born designer, wants to draw attention to the #MeToo movement by casting sexual abuse survivors as models in a one-off NYFW runway show. In the past Chalek has used fashion shows as an opportunity to bring awareness to different issues and marginalized communities through the casting, from folks with dwarfism to blind people. Rebecca Minkoff is skipping a NYFW altogether this season (she’s about to give birth to baby number three) and instead unveiled her latest collection in a series of portraits featuring the organizers of the Women’s March, Zosia Mamet, and more—women who she sees as actively pushing forward in their fields. Other designers are weaving in female empowerment and #MeToo into the theme of their collections. Michelle Smith of Milly says her fall 2018 collection ‘will speak about equality and inclusiveness….

Over the past few seasons, I’ve been really inspired by what is happening in the world, and have allowed my emotions to influence my collections and the brand’s creative direction.’ Similarly Stacey Bendet, the creative director and CEO of Alice + Olivia, revealed she's pulling inspiration for her latest show from ‘the women’s movement past and present’ and the roles that women have played at key historical moments. http://bit.ly/2smrTtG 3. HARVEY WEINSTEIN COMPLICATES AMFAR GALA: The Amfar Gala, which took place Wednesday, is the latest high-profile event affected by Harvey Weinstein, as the producer is under investigation for a deal he made involving fund-raiser proceeds. Associated Press: “Lee Daniels, who was honored by amfAR on Wednesday, was reluctant to speak about the Weinstein link, saying only. ‘I wouldn’t know about that.’ Daniels earned an Oscar nomination for ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler,’ which was distributed by The Weinstein Company. Federal prosecutors are looking at links between Weinstein, amfAR and the American Repertory Theater, a non-profit theater that once produced the Broadway musical, ‘Finding Neverland,’ produced by Weinstein. W magazine editor Stefano Tonchi, who was also honored at the gala, was more candid on the issue, but felt it was important to remember the purpose of the charitable organization. ‘I think there has been a lot of mistakes, also on the side of the board of amfAR. But I think we are coming out of it, and we want to reaffirm how this organization is really about saving lives. And if they made some mistake they did it in good faith,’ Tonchi said. Fashion designer Kenneth Cole was the board chairman of amfAR at the time. Cole stepped down as chairman of board on Wednesday night.” http://bit.ly/2nMI6n3

* LOCAL NEWS * LOS ANGELES: My Friend’s Place will commemorate its 30th anniversary with a Jack Black-hosted gala on April 7 at the Hollywood Palladium. The nonprofit provides services to homeless youth in Los Angeles.

The annual Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards will be held at Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live February 24. Tippi Hendren, Carrie Ann Inaba, and Joe Mantegna will present.

MIAMI/SOUTH FLORIDA: The 30th annual Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry will take place April 27 at Ice Palace Film Studios.

NASHVILLE: Destination management company AlliedPRA, Inc. has agreed to acquire Destination Nashville.

NEW YORK: The International Restaurant & Foodservice Show of New York, sponsored by the New York State Restaurant Association, will take place March 4-6 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. https://www.bizbash.com/february-9-2018-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-delivers-spectacle-and-politics-metoo-givesfashion-week-opportunity-for/miami/story/35290#.Wn3OIa6nGUl

The 58th edition of the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair will take place March 8-11 at the Park Avenue Armory.

The National Stationery Show will take place May 20-23 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. More than 750 companies are slated to exhibit.

SAN DIEGO: The San Diego Convention Center has selected On Site, a division of On Services, as its provider provider of audiovisual services.

TORONTO: The sixth annual Toronto Black Film Festival will run February 14-19 at venues including Isabel Bader Theatre, Carlton Cinema, and Jackman Hall at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The Atlantic will host #MeToo: An Atlantic Exchange, a conversation focused on the movement, February 13 at the Watergate. TheAtlantic.com editor Adrienne LaFrance will lead a discussion with three journalists at the publication.

With contributions from Claire Hoffman in Los Angeles and Beth Kormanik, Michele Laufik, and Ian Zelaya in New York.

BizBash Daily is the must-read digest of event industry news from BizBash.com.

https://www.bizbash.com/february-9-2018-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony-delivers-spectacle-and-politics-metoo-givesfashion-week-opportunity-for/miami/story/35290#.Wn3OIa6nGUl

February 15, 2018

Why Do These Documents Cost $3.8 Million?

By Eustacia Huen Attention history buff, there's now a collection of rare documents on sale for $3.8 million.

Obviously, for something to command this value, it must be extremely rare and historical. And as the highlight of this year’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair on March 8 to 11, the Alexander Hamilton Collection certainly fits the bill.

Seth Kaller Inc. Signed letter by George Washington transmitting the Act establishing the Treasury Department

Among the 1,100 documents, some key features include: the first book printing of July 8, 1776 Declaration Of Independence, one of Hamilton’s most suggestive love letters to Eliza, George Washington’s letter transmitting the act establishing the treasury, Hamilton’s financial plans, founding Acts of Congress, the Bill of Rights, The Reynold’s Pamphlet, letters and documents written by George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Aaron Burr, the Schuyler Sisters, John Hancock, every signer of the U.S. Constitution, to name a few. There’s even a lock of Hamilton’s hair preserved by his family—which is a common way for people to preserve or share tokens of affection before photographs existed.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/eustaciahuen/2018/02/15/hamilton/3/#6d90a944ceaa

Seth Kaller Inc. A lock of Hamilton’s hair, along with an authentication note from his son, plus a Hamilton signature his son clipped from a personal letter.

Putting together this collection was an exciting challenge for Seth Kaller, a dealer in rare historic documents. For the last 30 years, Kaller had been one of the largest buyers of important Alexander Hamilton documents. Yet, it wasn’t until his children, who weren’t particularly interested in history, started begging him to take them to the musical in 2016 did he feel the urge to assemble this.

Seth Kaller Inc. In one of Hamilton’s most revealing love letters, he called Elizabeth Schuyler “a little sorceress” who bewitched and rendered him “restless and unsatisfied with all about me."

Along with colleague John Reznikoff of University Archives, the duo spent the next two years focused on sourcing more items and selling other pieces. In addition to their private acquisitions, some of the best purchases they made were at Sotheby’s last January, in which everything came directly from the Hamilton family.

Boasting many objects that had disappeared from the market for many decades, and more that had never been sold before, this $3.8-million collection is “unique and complete in itself,” said the rare-documents expert. But believe it or not, interested buyers can even go for a $10-million option if they wish to add George Washington’s inaugural leaves plus a set of letters and documents of the Signers of the Declaration, among other things.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/eustaciahuen/2018/02/15/hamilton/3/#6d90a944ceaa

Seth Kaller Inc. First edition of “Reynolds Pamphlet,” in which Hamilton admits to infidelity but vigorously denies financial crimes.

So while it doesn’t take a history or musical fan to recognize the importance of this collection, there are some major factors that determine if a document is worth $1,000 or $30.8 million.

Generally speaking, according to Peter Klarnet—Senior Specialist of Books and Manuscripts at Christie’s New York, the content’s importance is critical to the value of manuscript collections and single documents. For instance, letters written by Harry Truman with routine content, like a thank-you letter, can sell for as little as $200, while correspondence touching on his most important decisions (such as dropping the atomic bombs on Japan), have fetched well over $20,000 at auction.

Age and stature of the subject are clearly important as well. In contrast to a 20th century figure like Truman, routine content letters by George Washington can easily fetch $10,000.

Nevertheless, some of the most valuable documents were written by people you’ve probably never heard of. The reason for this is simple: Rarity. For instance, noted Klarnet, the rarest and most expensive American autograph is by a member of the Georgia delegation to the Continental Congress called Button Gwinnett—who signed the Declaration of Independence and was killed in a duel the following year. With only 51 examples left extant, his autograph was sold for $722,500 at Sotheby’s in 2010.

Then, there’s the swing factor—trends and fads. According to the Christie’s specialist, Unitarian ministers used to be a popular collecting category in early twentieth century, whereas today’s market sees significant growth in the value of scientific manuscripts.

As for Alexander Hamilton, said Klarnet, “[He] has seen his star rising in recent years, in large part thanks to Ron Chernow’s biography and the subsequent hit Broadway musical.”

Given all these considerations, it's no wonder why the Alexander Hamilton Collection is so incredibly valuable. Sanford Smith—a renowned art fair organizer—remarked, “The assemblage of the Hamilton collection—including letters, manuscripts and peripheral material signed by Hamilton and other major players of the period, is probably the single most important of Americana seen at the book fair—and, in fact, the market itself—in many years. https://www.forbes.com/sites/eustaciahuen/2018/02/15/hamilton/3/#6d90a944ceaa

The Declaration of Independence alone, with it’s impressive provenance, significantly increases the value of the collection. The letter signed by George Washington establishing the treasury department is another highly sought document that would treasured by any collector of 18th century American history. Further at this juncture in our history, it’s absolutely enlightening to be reminded of how our forefathers envisioned the country—and that’s priceless!”

Seth Kaller Inc. An extremely rare July 8, 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence (the first in book form) bound with Common Sense, the best edition, is likely compiled by Thomas Paine, and owned by a French nobleman who served as an aide-de-camp at Yorktown.

Lastly, it's important to point out the relevance of these two hundred-year old documents today, according to Kaller.

In light of the current political climate, he wishes people could learn from the Founding Fathers in their ability to "transcend their personal flaws and political conflicts to lay the groundwork" for the nation.

After all, he said, “By looking back, we often can find the way forward.”

A detailed catalog of The Alexander Hamilton Collection: The Story Of The American Revolution And Founding is available here.

Seth Kaller Inc. Catalog of the Alexander Hamilton Collection

https://www.forbes.com/sites/eustaciahuen/2018/02/15/hamilton/3/#6d90a944ceaa

February 20, 2018

New York International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to Park Avenue Armory March 8-11

By Staff Writer

GLATZ, Jakob: Die frohen Kinder, oder Erzählungen und Bilder aus der Kinderwelt - Die glückliche Jugend; dargestellt in Bildern und Erzählungen. Ein Seitenstück zu den frohen Kindern. 2 vols. 12 stipple engravings by Weise. Wien, Triest and Baden. Geistinger, J., (1806-1807). 17 x 22,4 and 17,6 x 23 cm. Pictorial boards (slightly dusty and rubbed). 132 pp.; 126 pp., 1 l. publisher's ad. Very Rare. $ 11.000,

NEW YORK, NY.- The beloved New York International Antiquarian Book Fair produced by Sanford L. Smith + Associates returns to the Park Avenue Armory for its 58th edition March 8-11, 2018. A mecca for bibliophiles and seekers of the curious and quirky, the fair will present a vast treasure trove of material - rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, fine bindings, illustrations, historical documents and print ephemera.

The Book Fair, widely considered the finest antiquarian book fair in the world, has been a must-see event for seasoned connoisseurs and scholars. In recent years, it has increasingly captivated young collectors with unique offerings at accessible price points. The specialties encompass art, science, medicine, literature, history, culinary culture, fashion, first editions, Americana, philosophy, children’s books and much more. From the historic and academic, to the religious and spiritual, to the bedrock of secular culture - sex, lies, rock-n-roll, money, politics – the fair has offerings in every conceivable genre and subject. NYIABF is officially sanctioned by Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).

http://artdaily.com/news/102618/New-York-International-Antiquarian-Book-Fair-returns-to-Park-Avenue-Armory-March-811-#.WowyvK6nGUl

In its 58th edition, NYIABF will present more than 200 exhibitors culled from the finest American and international antiquarian dealers. In addition to 115 U.S. galleries, NYIABF enjoys strong international participation with galleries hailing from the United Kingdom (33), France (19), Germany (9), Italy (9), The Netherlands (6), Spain (3), Denmark (2), Australia (2), Austria (2), Canada (1), Japan (1), Russia (1), Belgium (1), Sweden (1), Czech Republic (1), Hungary (1), Switzerland (1) and Argentina (1).

Additional highlights include: • Only edition (of 125) of Rudyard Kipling's The Book of the Jungle (1919) including 38 original drawings • Toulouse - Lautrec original prints of the most famous cabaret stars of the 19th century.

• A lost original Jane Austen poem • An original portrait of Warhol in black and white, made and printed by Marc Trivier • One of the first printings of the Petit Prince - Including a very rare drawing and autographed by Antoine de SaintExupéry • A beautiful large folio of Piranesi - one of the most stunning images of late baroque Rome!

First edition in a price-clipped yet unrestored first issue dust jacket of The Maltese Falcon - Perhaps the most influential single work in establishing the conventions of hard-boiled fiction.

A very rare collection of letters documenting the decay of the Medici dynasty..

*Pickup by Techten http://artdaily.com/news/102618/New-York-International-Antiquarian-Book-Fair-returns-to-Park-Avenue-Armory-March-811-#.WowyvK6nGUl

February 22, 2018

Abraham Lincoln, Shakespeare, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Alexander Hamilton, Winston Churchill, and More at The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair

By Suzanna Bowling A signed document by Abraham Lincoln; a Second Folio of Shakespeare’s plays from 1632; an excellent first edition of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald; a rare first edition of Das Kapital by Karl Marx; a first edition of The Federalist essays by Alexander Hamilton; signed photographs of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan.

First edition of Green Hills of Africa inscribed by Ernest Hemingway, 1935 ($28,000)

Peter Harrington, one of the world’s largest rare booksellers, is attending the New York Antiquarian Book Fair this March with a selection of its finest rare books, manuscripts and photographs each of which has a fascinating history.

Prices range from $5,00 to $385,000.

The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair is being held at Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York from noon-8pm on Friday March 9th, noon-7pm on Saturday March 10th and from noon – 5pm on Saturday March 11th.

Peter Harrington will be on Stand A8. http://t2conline.com/abraham-lincoln-shakespeare-f-scott-fitzgerald-alexander-hamilton-winston-churchill-and-more-at-thenew-york-international-antiquarian-book-fair/

Pom Harrington, the owner of Peter Harrington, says “We are bringing with us over one hundred and twenty rare books, manuscripts and photographs specially selected to be of interest to visitors to the fair. Do come and visit us to see some fascinating pieces of history if you can.”

Full details of the items Peter Harrington are bringing with them can be downloaded via the PDF attachment link at the top of this release and a series of videos about some of the items can be seen HERE – For more details about the Fair please click HERE Items on display will include:

A holograph document by Abraham Lincoln, 1851 ($28,000)

A fascinating deposition for a complex patent case entirely in Abraham Lincoln’s hand and signed four times by him, from the years when he was making his reputation as “Honest Abe”, in his adopted home state of Illinois.

A first edition of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1925 ($140,000)

http://t2conline.com/abraham-lincoln-shakespeare-f-scott-fitzgerald-alexander-hamilton-winston-churchill-and-more-at-thenew-york-international-antiquarian-book-fair/

This excellent first edition, in its original bright dust jacket, of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was published in New York by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1925.

Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies by William Shakespeare, 1632 ($385,000)

A tall and very fresh Second Folio edition of the collected Shakespeare’s plays Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, set page-for-page from a corrected copy of the First Folio. It is estimated that only 1,000 copies of the original edition were produced and it also contains Milton’s “Epitaph”, the first of his English language poems to be printed.

Das Kapital by Karl Marx, 1867 ($140,000)

This is a rare first edition of the first volume of Das Kapital of which only 1,000 copies were printed and it was the only volume to appear in Marx’s lifetime.

As Peter Harrington say “Das Kapital was the most important work published in his lifetime, a thorough critique of the classical economic theories espoused by the likes of Adam Smith. It was not seen at the time as a harbinger of revolution, but was read with interest by sober German bankers and financiers, and was even issued in serial form.

Marx would certainly have raised a thick black eyebrow at our price, although he understood perfectly that the capitalist system tended to produce high priced luxury goods. Marx spent most of his adult life in poverty, but he was a firm believer in the power of literature to change minds, being a prodigious writer whose collected works now fill fifty volumes.” http://t2conline.com/abraham-lincoln-shakespeare-f-scott-fitzgerald-alexander-hamilton-winston-churchill-and-more-at-thenew-york-international-antiquarian-book-fair/

The Federalist by Alexander Hamilton et al, 1788 ($275,000)

This first edition collection of the 85 essays by Alexander Hamilton and others, which became known as The Federalist is a very famous and influential American political work as it originated as America sought to ratify their new constitution. Hamilton was one of the Founding Fathersof the US and is the subject of the new musical. Only 500 copies of this first edition were printed and as the second volume was larger than the first most sets include a second volume which has been trimmed down making this uncut set in its original boards extremely rare.

A signed portrait photograph of Winston Churchill by Yousuf Karsh, 1941 ($45,500) and a signed photograph of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan standing in front of a portrait of Winston Churchill, 1984 ($28,000)

This unusually large famous “roaring lion” signed portrait of Churchill, captured within weeks of the US entry into World War II, is particularly sought after as bears the signatures of both Karsh and Churchill.

This exceptional photograph of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan standing in front of a portrait of Winston Churchill was signed by Reagan at Thatcher’s request. It was additionally signed by her and framed to hang at her official residence in Downing Street until her resignation, after which it was displayed in her home until her death.

It is a remarkably symbolic image of the Special Relationship and is one of the best pieces of Thatcherite memorabilia in private hands. *Pickup by Fine Books Magazine http://t2conline.com/abraham-lincoln-shakespeare-f-scott-fitzgerald-alexander-hamilton-winston-churchill-and-more-at-thenew-york-international-antiquarian-book-fair/

February 24, 2018

March Events Include Art, Love of The Green and Easter Surprises

By Suzanna Bowling

Looking for fun things to do with your loved ones in March? Look no future.

3/1, 8, 15 (4 to 9 p.m.): Buy a flight of five beers from different local breweries on tap each week and then vote for your favorite at Best Brews of NYC, with food for sale in the Winter Garden at Brookfield Place for age 21+. Free entry.

3/ 2 – 11: Flamenco Festival features an all-star lineup of contemporary dance innovators and members of legendary flamenco dynasties at New York City Center.

3/ 3 (7:30 p.m.): The Tibet House Benefit Concert at Carnegie Hall raises funds for Tibetan culture.

3/ 3 (12 to 10 p.m.): Taste 8 premium whiskeys with snacks on the NYC Whiskey Walk, which begins at Slainte Bar and includes eight Manhattan bars.

3/ 3 – 4: New York City Drone Film Festival screens short films shot using a drone and holds interactive panels and seminars at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on Saturday and Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, NJ on Sunday.

3/ 3 – 18: New York International Children’s Film Festival shows new, inspiring, and thought-provoking films about youth from around the world, suitable for families.

The Orchid Show

3/ 3 – 4/22: The Orchid Show fills the conservatory at the New York Botanical Garden with thousands of orchids in an amazing array of colors, shapes, sizes, and textures. http://t2conline.com/march-events-include-art-love-of-the-green-and-easter-surprises/

3/4: (4 p.m.): World champion dance troupe Dublin Irish Dance and the eight members of their traditional Irish band bring to life an exhilarating tale of Celtic culture at Lehman Center for the Performing Arts – CUNY. 3/5: BNP Paribas Showdown is an epic battle of champion tennis players at Madison Square Garden.

3/ 8 – 11: New York Antiquarian Book Fair has 200 dealers of rare books, maps, and manuscripts, plus lectures and panel discussions at Park Avenue Armory. New York City Book and Ephemera Fair March 10 is a mile away.

The Armory Show

3/ 8 – 11: See contemporary art from the world’s leading galleries at The Armory Show at Piers 92 & 94.

3/ 8 – 11: Clio Art Fair is a curated fair in Chelsea featuring artists without exclusive gallery representation. Free.

3/ 8 – 18: See the best of contemporary French films, including premieres, plus panel discussions at Rendez-Vous with French Cinema. All films have English subtitles.

3/ 9 – 11: Collective Design Fair displays curated pieces from dozens of galleries alongside experimental works from the next generation of global talent, with talks and tours at Skylight Clarkson Sq. 3/ 9 – 11: Art on Paper features galleries exhibiting drawings, paintings, photography, and even sculpture incorporating paper at Pier 36.

3/ 10: The NYC Winter Wine Festival features 250 wines, light hors d’oeuvres, and live jazz at PlayStation Theater in Times Square.

3/ 11 (12 to 4 p.m.): Enjoy games, craft-making, music, and dance at the St. Patrick’s Open Day at the Irish Arts Center. Free.

3/ 11 – 21 (7:30 p.m.): Watch the Brooklyn Nets play an exciting home game at Barclays Center.

3/ 14 – 18: CineKink NYC shows films and videos that celebrate and explore a wide diversity of sexuality at Anthology Film Archives. It also offers panel discussions, audience choice awards, a kick-off party, and an afterparty.

3/ 15 – 24: Asia Week New York includes exhibitions at galleries and museums, art auctions, sales, panel discussions, lectures, curator talks, and workshops.

http://t2conline.com/march-events-include-art-love-of-the-green-and-easter-surprises/

3/ 17: Billed as the world’s oldest and largest St. Patrick’s parade, New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade celebrates Irish culture and the Catholic faith on 5th Avenue from 44th to 79th. No alcohol or pets. Free.

3/ 17 (4 to 7 p.m.): Sober St. Patrick’s Day offers traditional Irish music, dance, song, and comedy for all ages without alcohol at 268 Mulberry Street.

3/ 20 (6 to 8 p.m.): Taste wine from dozens of wineries with appetizers, and meet the winemakers at NY Drinks NY Grand Tasting at The Altman Building.

3/21 – 25: Browse contemporary paintings, prints, sculptures, and photographs from 80 galleries at the Affordable Art Fair, with workshops and activities at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. Repeats in Sept.

3/ 22 – 25: Find inspiration for home improvement, shop for home products, and attend design seminars at the Architectural Digest Design Show at Piers 92 & 94. Children age 11 and younger are free.

3/ 23 – 29: Hump! is 22 short explicit films made by amateurs of all persuasions at Cinema Village for age 18+.

Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated with traditional Ukrainian folk designs using a wax-resist (batik) method

3/ 24: See artists make beautiful Ukrainian pysanky (eggs) using wax-resist batik, watch an excellent 14-minute film about pysanky, and visit the exhibition of pysanky at the Ukrainian Museum. Best to arrive by 4 p.m.

3/ 24: NYC Craft Distillers Festival has samples of 60 craft spirits, a 1920s jazz band, and a prohibition theme at The Bowery Hotel. http://t2conline.com/march-events-include-art-love-of-the-green-and-easter-surprises/

3/ 24 – 25: See films focused on humanitarian causes at New York Peace Film Festival at Unitarial Church of All Souls.

3/ 25 – 4/ 8: See spectacular arrangements of flowers from around the world and attend scheduled events at Macy’s Flower Show on Herald Square. Free.

3/ 28 – 4/ 8: See the work of emerging or not-yet-established international filmmakers at New Directors/New Films at Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art. 3/ 30 – 4/ 8: New York International Auto Show is billed as the nation’s first and most attended at Jacob Javits Center.

http://t2conline.com/march-events-include-art-love-of-the-green-and-easter-surprises/

February 27, 2018

A Fair on Books

By Staff Writer

From March 8-11, 2018 book lovers will find a fascinating treasure trove at the Park Avenue Armory. Over 200 American and international dealers will exhibit at The ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, bringing a vast selection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts and ephemera. The diversity of specialties includes art, medicine, literature, photography, autographs, first editions, Americana, and much more.

This book fair is officially sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. This means that the consumer can rely upon the experience and professionalism of participating dealers and the authenticity of the items available for purchase. Simply stated, all books, manuscripts and related material have been carefully examined for completeness and bibliographic accuracy. https://stateoftheartsnyc.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/a-fair-on-books/

About Sanford Smith For over 40 years, Sanford Smith has been known for initiating innovative niche art and design fairs that have generated international collecting categories.

He created the first All American Antiques Show at the Pier in 1980, when both the idea of an entirely American fair and any fair held at such a remote venue were nearly unthinkable. His second show, Modernism, was seminal; at that time, no other show had presented design material from 1860–1960 as a collecting category.

The fair enjoyed a successful run for over 25 years and spawned many number of shows exhibiting material from that period, but Modernism was indisputably the first and now The Salon Art + Design continues the tradition. Works on Paper followed Modernism, presenting a wide variety of watercolors, photographs, prints, drawings and pastels from Old Master to Contemporary. Again, Smith was the pioneer in the field which also generated more shows and even a magazine on the subject.

https://stateoftheartsnyc.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/a-fair-on-books/

March 2, 2018

Getting Up Close and Personal With History Through the New York Antiquarian Book Fair

By A. E. Colas

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair is a wonderful way to get to know the specialty markets of book, manuscript, maps, autograph and ephemera collecting. The fair has the official approval of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America as well as the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers ensuring that every single item available for purchase is authentic and fully documented. Over one hundred and fifty dealers from around the world will be in New York for this event, presenting items from as far back as the 15th century and as recent as last year. If you’ve ever wondered how to start a good collection or want to improve what you have, this fair is a great way to meet dealers and ask questions about your interests. On Sunday, March 11, from 1 – 3 pm, the fair runs an appraisal event, free with paid admission. The experts on hand will give valuation estimates on your item and answer basic questions.

Original color lithograph of La Gazette du Bon Ton, 1920; courtesy of Librairie Le Feu Follet, France.

The fair is located at the Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, between 66th and 67th Streets. For more information click here. https://www.zealnyc.com/getting-up-close-and-personal-with-history-through-the-new-york-antiquarian-book-fair/

Open Hours: Preview Night: Thursday, March 8: 5pm-9pm Friday, March 9: noon-8pm Saturday, March 10: noon-7pm Sunday, March 11: noon-5pm

Original Watercolor, Walter Elias Disney, signet. ca. 1929. 24,8 x 29,5 cm.; courtesy of Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner.

Admission: $60 Preview Night Pass (includes one other day’s re-admission) for Thursday, March 9 (5-9pm) $25 General $10 Students (with valid ID – at the door only) $45 Run of Show (at the door only) To purchase tickets click here.

Signed letter by Jackie Robinson; courtesy of Seth Kaller, Inc.

https://www.zealnyc.com/getting-up-close-and-personal-with-history-through-the-new-york-antiquarian-book-fair/

Special Event – Discovery Day: Sunday, March 11, 1pm-3pm Discovery Day gives ticketed visitors the opportunity to bring their own rare books, manuscripts, maps, etc.

Exhibitors will be on hand to offer expert advice and free appraisals.

Overpainted photographic cutout portrait by Salvador Dali; courtesy of Biblioctopus.

Cover: Signed photograph, both ‘Mark Twain’ and ‘S.L. Clemens’ 1899; courtesy of Lion Heart Autographs.

*Pickup by New York City Informer https://www.zealnyc.com/getting-up-close-and-personal-with-history-through-the-new-york-antiquarian-book-fair/

March 2, 2018

10 Things to Do in NYC This Week: February 23rd – March 8th, 2018

By Staff Writer

Image via The Park Avenue Armory

March has finally arrived, and with it comes a slew of events, which will unfold across New York City this weekend and into next week. See what’s in store, from exciting tours to book talks and more.

Friday, March 2nd Celebrate Brooklyn based literary artists at InspiredWordNYC, a diverse quarterly event that features poetry, prose and the spoken word.

Saturday, March 3rd The story of Grand Central Terminal is that of New York City itself: the structure embodies the social, cultural, economic and technological evolution around it. It is one of great men, feuding architects, ingenuity, rejuvenation, secrets and surprises. On this tour, we will tell you these stories – about what once was, what could have been, and what can be; about the struggle to save and restore Grand Central as a preserved icon of the past, and of challenge to ensure that it serves New York’s future.

Take a ride through the living history of the world’s largest rapid transit system (in area) by weaving in and out of the past and present transit hubs of lower Manhattan. This unique tour is designed to give a comprehensive history of the NYC Subway system, from its groundbreaking in 1901 up through the creation of the three different proprietary lines which were unified into the system we know today. We’ll uncover information and learn about spaces even the most seasoned commuter might not know about. This tour will stop in stations that are all open to https://untappedcities.com/2018/03/02/10-things-to-do-in-nyc-this-week-february-23rd-march-8th-2018/

the public. Using the 6 train as our own ten-car time machine, we will ride through and see three abandoned ghost stations that 4, 5, and 6 riders unknowingly pass through everyday.

Sunday, March 4th The abandoned Ellis Island Hospital complex—once the standard for United States medical care (and later transformed to the FBI headquarters when the island served as a detention center)—has been left to decay for nearly 60 years. Now, Untapped Cities is bringing you behind-the-scenes for a unique exploration of the abandoned facility; on this experience, you’ll visit the contagious disease wards, the autopsy rooms and have exclusive access to places usually closed to the public.

You don’t have to fly to Japan to watch Sumo matches. Taking place at the PlayStation theater this weekend is Sumo + Sushi, a viewing and dining event, featuring three sumo stars. Tickets for Saturday are already sold out, but there are still seats left for Sunday.

Monday, March 5th Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park is hosting a series of free community seminars around the history and current trends of Bushwick Inlet Park.

The Schomburg Center’s Annual Women’s Jazz Festival will feature some of the best-known and unsung female performers in jazz. The event will take place on four consecutive Mondays in March.

Tuesday, March 6th Untapped Cities founder, Michelle Young, will moderate a discussion surrounding Citymakers: The Culture and Craft of Practical Urbanism by Cassim Shepard, which sheds light on how cities are cultivated not just by planners, politicians, and power brokers, but by citizens working.

Wednesday, March 7th Join the “most kickass kick-off to International Women’s Day” at Caveat, the speakeasy for “intelligent nightlife.”

On March 7, Caveat will be hosting Yeah She Did: Stories About Women You Should Know, featuring a lineup of extraordinary comedians, writers, and storytellers.

Thursday, March 8th The 58th annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair kicks off today, and runs until the 11th! Bookworms and avid readers will find a treasure trove of works at the Park Avenue Armory, which will play host to over 200 American and international dealers.

https://untappedcities.com/2018/03/02/10-things-to-do-in-nyc-this-week-february-23rd-march-8th-2018/

March 2, 2018

Tefaf Maastricht highlights — Van der Helst and Artemisia Gentilischi An exhibition of Dutch 17th-century group portraits is a canny way to show off the range of objects at the fair

By Susan Moore When Bartholomeus van der Helst arrived in Amsterdam in 1636, Rembrandt van Rijn was at the height of his popularity. Within a decade, however, the Haarlem-born Van der Helst would become the most sought-after portraitist in the city. He made his name producing civic group portraits — a genre unique to Dutch art — recording the worthy citizens of the Republic fulfilling their duties as guards of the militia, guildsmen or governors of the city’s charitable institutions. His 7.5m-wide depiction of the militia of District VIII, for instance, dominated the arquebusiers’ meeting hall for which Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch” was also painted.

But when the “new” Rijksmuseum opened in 1885, it was Van der Helst who played a supporting role to Rembrandt, and the suave portraits of the former needed rehabilitation. Now, a subtle revaluation is promised again with the restoration of Van der Helst’s “The Governors of the Longbow Civic Guard”. At this year’s Tefaf Maastricht, visitors will be able to witness the final stages of the restoration of this long-disfigured but key work of 1653, the centrepiece of the fair’s loan exhibition of civic group portraits recently conserved by the Amsterdam Museum.

“This is a painting that has suffered more than the usual damage,” explains curator Norbert Middelkoop, pointing out the water damage as well as the losses due to the adhesives used when the artist added strips of canvas to extend his composition. “One of the three boys in the background was so badly damaged he had been completely repainted in the 19th century. No one had dared to touch it since.”

Unusually, the impetus for this restoration project came from silver connoisseurs and collectors associated with the museum who raised the first stage of funding. Their enthusiasm is explained by the fact that three of the guards’ precious 16th-century silver and silver-gilt treasures depicted still survive and are also held by the museum: the staff, chain and drinking horn. “Most of these ceremonial pieces were either melted down or adapted to changing tastes,” says Middelkoop. “The pieces belonging to the Longbow militia are probably the best preserved.” They are also on display at Tefaf.

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

A copy of Van der Helst’s ‘The Governors of the Longbow Civic Guard’ (1653). The original work, which is undergoing restoration, will be shown at Tefaf

To date, picture conservator Erika Metz has removed the yellowed varnish and the old retouching. “It looks much better already,” Middelkoop says. “There are a lot of losses, but they are beginning to be filled, imitating the craquelure as well as the colour of the surrounding pigment.” Fortunately, there is a contemporary copy of the painting to guide Metz, who will be working on the painting at the fair on March 15 and 16.

For art historians, however, the importance of the painting lies not only in the accidental survival of the works of art it records. One of the greatest portrait painters of the Dutch Golden Age is also recording some of its most illustrious personalities. To the left is the former burgomaster Frans Banninck Cocq, previously immortalised after commissioning and taking the starring role in “The Night Watch”. Holding forth on the right is the famous cartographer Joan Willemsz Blaeu.

Middelkoop believes the composition to be the earliest use in a Dutch portrait of a dramatic sotto in su perspective — that is, a worm’s-eye view from the vantage point at the bottom edge of the painting. Hung high on the chimney breast of the hall, we view it by looking up past the paws of the dog in the foreground — a useful intermediary device — and through the feet and legs of the sitters to the outdoor archery ranges beyond, where the governors’ boys are taking a break from their practice.

It is easy to understand why these sitters — if not posterity — might have preferred Van der Helst to Rembrandt. He was a man who understood his brief, and his clients, and he set out to please. All four principal players are distinct likenesses, and there is no dramatic tenebrism to mask them. He succeeds in arranging his figures with a naturalism that suggests ease and conviviality.

The artist is also a consummate technician, a master of the material world. In the background is a cupboard laden with gleaming silver cups, tazzas and spoons. The men examine the prized treasures in their keeping; the servant flourishes the huge silver-mounted drinking horn. Both the ebony staff and the chain bear the gilded birds that represent the wooden parrot targets used in the guild’s shooting contests.

The theme of this loan exhibition is a canny choice for Tefaf. It makes the point that there is no other fair in the world, not even its New York offshoot, that can offer just about every kind of luxury object that might appear in a 17th-century — or any other — portrait or still life. It is the abundance of the arts of the goldsmith and jeweller, armourer, potter, glassmaker and founder that marks out this vast Maastricht fair.

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

Maastricht exhibitors similarly seem to offer every kind of portrait — and every kind of sitter (including another Amsterdam mayor, Hendrick Hooft, depicted by a little known pupil of Rembrandt, Adam Camerarius, and shown at the fair by Bob Haboldt, priced at €85,000). Among the earliest is a marble of the frowning and battle-hardened Vespasian of around 80AD presented by Cahn, although Roman imperial portraits were more official constructs than likenesses. Two of the latest portraits feature Jimi Hendrix — captured in watercolour by Patrick Procktor in 1973 (Christopher Kingzett, around €30,000) — and Andy Warhol, snapped by Robert Mapplethorpe in 1986 (Keitelman Gallery, $175,000).

Certainly one of the most extraordinary is the pastel on vellum profile head of a toga-wearing William Ponsonby, Second Earl of Bessborough, whom the Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard depicted in 1754 as if the Englishman were one of the antique gems that he so avidly collected (Lowell Libson & Jonny Yarker, €340,000). It comes fresh from the family collection, where it has been for the last 220 years.

Jean-Étienne Liotard’s 1754 portrait of the Earl of Bessborough

Fresh to the market, too, after its restitution to the heirs of the Jewish art dealer Jacques Goudstikker, is the halflength of the Antwerp priest and theologian Adriaen Moens, painted by Van Dyck, the Flemish master who must have influenced Van der Helst. Dating to his best “second Antwerp” period, about 1628, the picture has the dubious distinction of having belonged to Hermann Goering (Dickinson, price on request).

A far more flamboyant personality is the subject of one of Artemisia Gentileschi’s rare portraits, a similarly dated bravura full length of the splendidly outfitted French military engineer Antoine De Ville, who appears to wear the silver initials of the artist around his neck. Anyone thinking that black was chosen for sobriety should bear in mind that this most difficult of dyes was also the most expensive. Here the sitter’s crisp white chemise spills from the slashes in his doublet and sleeves (Robilant + Voena, $3m-$4m). Overshadowing even this sumptuary display is the richly embroidered English court costume worn by Duchess Elisabeth of Saxony for her full-length portrait of 1615

by Heinrich Bolland, acquired directly from the royal house of Saxony and unveiled by Rudigier (€385,000).

If the full-lengths steal the show, it is the more intimate portraits of family and friends that steal our hearts — whether the fresh-faced little boy in his cap by the court painter to Marie Antoinette, Joseph Ducreux (Derek Johns, €45,000), Sorolla’s compelling 1887 portrait of his friend and fellow painter Francesco Santoro (Jean-Luc Baroni, price on request) or William Orpen’s tender account of his wife and daughter on the cliff at Howth in 1910 (Stephen Ongpin, £160,000).

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

Over his lifetime, Rembrandt produced more than 100 self-portraits including an extraordinary series of 32 etchings, of which Helmut Rumbler will offer at least two. For searing self-scrutiny, Rembrandt has no rival.

‘L’île du Levant’ (1981) by Baltasar Lobo, at Connaught Brown gallery

Upcoming fairs and auctions The Medici and Westminster Pietre Dure Table Tefaf Maastricht,March 10-18

Robilant+Voena are bringing a table designed by Giorgio Vasari for Francesco I de’Medici in c156877 to the fair this year. It has been sold just four times in its long life,most recently in the 1970s. The tabletop is made exclusively of hardstones, which were more difficult to obtain and to cut than coloured marbles, making it a very rare example of Renaissance pietre dure. The only comparable table was commissioned for Philip II of Spain in 1587, and is now in the Prado.

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

Antony Gormley’s ‘Angel of the North’ (1997) Sotheby’s London, March 7

This 2.6m-wide maquette for the iconic sculpture is estimated to fetch £1.5m-2m Antonio

Zatta’s Atlante Novissimo New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, Park Avenue Armory, March 8-11

Il Cartiglio Snc is bringing this important 18th-century Italian atlas to the fair.

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

Arnaldo Pomodoro’s ‘Rotante a otto fori’ Bonhams London, March 7

The 1967 bronze is estimated to go for £80,000-£120,000

Jean-Michel Basquiat’s ‘Multiflavors’ Christie’s London, March 6

This 1982 canvas (estimated at £10m-£15m) comes up for sale when interest in the artist is high, following the Barbican’s survey

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

Takuma Nakahira’s For a Language to Come (1970) New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, March 8-11

This first edition Japanese photography book is $4,500 with Harper’s Books

https://www.ft.com/content/b375891a-1570-11e8-9c33-02f893d608c2

March 5, 2018

International ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR

By Polly Guerin A mecca for literary cognoscente, bibliophiles and a haven for the curious seekers, the NEW YORK ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR (NYIABF) in its 58th year lands at the Park Avenue Armory, Thursday, March 8 and stays on through Sunday, March 11th. I'm giving you this heads up on the Fair to provide you with plenty of time to view the exceptional offerings spanning the history of the written word that ranges from pre-Gutenberg to the 21st century.

So why do ancient books and ephemera matter? As one scholar remarked, "The story of books is almost the story of civilization itself."

Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts

While the Fair is considered a "must see" for seasoned connoisseurs and scholars, it has offerings in every conceivable genre and subject---something for everyone. The FAIR is not for the faint of heart, however, it is wise to invest more time to browse and linger over works that interest you. There is a vast treasure trove of material--rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, illustrations, historical documents and print ephemera. The dealers welcome your inquiry and some have unique offerings at accessible price points. Now in its 58th edition the FAIR presents more than 200 exhibitors culled from the finest American and International antiquarian dealers. For instance, illustrated herewith is an example of a rare book you will find at the dealer, Phiillp J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts. Over the years their business has gravitated toward historical artifacts that are physically attractive in some way---illuminated material, fine bindings, beautiful typography and paper, impressive illustrations and much more.

http://pollytalkfromnewyork.blogspot.com/

Salvador Dali at Biblioctopus

DALI fans may be interested in Biblioctopus, a multi-faceted book dealer which specializes in such diverse offerings as cuneiform tablets of 3000 BC to a wide range of first editions of the classics of fiction and diverse print material.

This rare and amazing image of Dali, the surrealistic artist, illustrates his incredible ability to create weird and wonderful works of art. This is an over-painted photographic cut out portrait, painted and signed.

Ah, what joy it must be to hold the first edition of a famous author's book and then to own it. Then, too, there is Royal Books, a rare bookstore specializing in Cinema, Film Ephemera, 20th Century Literature and Arts and Culture.

Among items this dealer intends to exhibit at the Fair THE MALTESE FALCON, by Dashiell Hammett, is perhaps the most influential single work in establishing the conventions of hard-boiled fiction. This first edition is a price clipped, yet un-restored first edition dust jacket. Another one-of-a-kind offer is Y0JIMBO, the original shooting script for Akira Kurosawa's legendary 1961 film based thematically on

Dashiell Hammett's novels, "The Glass Key" and "Red Harvest." It is a working copy, with annotations throughout.

The adventure continues with far too many worthy dealers (200) to include here, except to mention one more.

Eric Chaim Kline Judaica and Rare Books tugged at my interest with this Marc Chagall Lithograph complete with twelve original lithographs signed. But there is much more to their story; like some other dealers, they take books on assignment and do appraisals for estate insurance.

http://pollytalkfromnewyork.blogspot.com/

What's in Your Attic? Special Event-DISCOVERY DAY, Sunday, March 11 offers a FREE event with paid admission. Ticketed visitors the opportunity to bring to the FAIR their rare books, manuscripts, maps, etc. (up to 5 items). Exhibitors will be on hand to offer expert advice and free appraisals. Daily admission is $25, students with ID $10. And I just know a one day visit is not enough there is a Run of Show at $45. LOCATION: Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York. The FAIR is produced by Sanford L. Smith + Associates. www.nyantiquarianbookfair.com.

Ta Ta Darlings!!! You will know where to fine me this weekend...total immersion at the Fair. Don't you have a rare treasure to bring to Discovery Day?

http://pollytalkfromnewyork.blogspot.com/

March 5, 2018

NY International Antiquarian Book Fair 2018

By Staff Writer Featuring more than 200 of the finest US and international dealers (representing 19 countries), the fair will present a treasure trove of diverse material for seasoned connoisseurs and new collectors spanning rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, historical documents and more. Prices range from $25 to $2M. Thursday, March 8; 5pm – 9pm Friday, March 9; 12pm – 8pm Saturday, March 10; 12pm – 7pm Sunday, March 11; 12pm – 5pm

Start Date March 9, 2018 End Date March 11, 2018 Hours 12:00 PM - 07:00 PM Address Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at 67th Street New York, NY Event Type Public More Information Purchase tickets

https://artzealous.com/events/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-2018/

March 3, 2018

Where Art Thou: Greek Tragedy Edition

By Riva Weinstein New York City is packed with amazing culture and inspiring art, but sometimes it’s difficult to break the Morningside-bubble and experience it all first-hand. “Where Art Thou” is a weekly guide to interesting and notable lectures, events, and performances for the literary/musically/theatrically-inclined on campus.

On Campus  Tuesday at 6 pm, see pianist and percussionist quartet Yarn/Wire at the Miller Theater. Described as “restlessly curious” (Time Out NY), Yarn/Wire will perform the US premiere of a work by the young, pioneering composer Catherine Lamb. Curvo totalitas is a 45-minute tour de force that seamlessly shifts perceptions, allowing the listener to get lost in its unique sound world. 

This Wednesday, March 7 in the Lerner Party Space, celebrate International Women’s Week with Columbia University HeForShe and KCST’s production of Electra. The play will run three times consecutively at 8, 9, and 10 pm. The minimum $5 donation goes to benefit UN Women and its Flagship Initiatives.



Also on Wednesday, see Performing the Library: the Exhibit at 6 pm in Butler 301. The exhibit explores the stories, ideas, lives, and creative works bound together on pages in Butler Library. The works on display reflect student engagement with the library – all are a result of inspiration and reflection. Reserve your seat here.

Off Campus  This Thursday, March 8, it’s time for the Antiquarian Book Fair at Park Avenue Armory! Over 200 American and international dealers will exhibit at the 58th Annual ABAA New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, bringing a vast selection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, and ephemera.

http://bwog.com/2018/03/03/where-art-thou-greek-tragedy-edition/

March 6, 2018

Armory Week 2018: Your Go-To Guide for All the Art Fairs Here's everything you need to know.

By Sarah Cascone

Armory Show 2017. Photo courtesy of Sean Zanni/PMC.

It’s official: Armory Week is upon us, bringing with it a full slate of gallery openings, museum exhibitions, parties, and other events. For those fearing art fatigue, however, take heart: This year’s schedule is slightly lighter than usual, thanks to a snag in scheduling that saw the Armory Show and the ADAA Art Show spread across two different weeks the first time since 2009. Further lightening the load, Salon Zürcher—which usually holds two New York editions—will only take place in May. The only new addition to this week’s offerings is Collective Design, which is effectively taking over the slot of Armory Week regular Moving Image New York, as it shifts to Frieze Week for 2018.

https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/armory-fair-week-guide-2018-1205237

Salvador Dalí, Overpainted Photographic Cutout Portrait. Courtesy of Biblioctopus.

9. New York International Antiquarian Book Fair With the ADAA scheduled for a week earlier than usual, the Park Avenue Armory will hold the 58th edition of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair. A book lover’s dream, the offerings include rare books, maps, manuscripts, and other ephemera, with work by artists including Oskar Kokoschka, Salvador Dalí, and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, to name just a few.

Dates: March 8–11 Time: Thursday 5:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.; Friday 12:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m.; Saturday 12:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.; Sunday 12:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m.

Location: Park Avenue Armory, Park Avenue at East 67th Street Price: $25 general admission, $45 run of show

https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/armory-fair-week-guide-2018-1205237

March 6, 2018

Your Concise Guide to Armory Week 2018 From the main attraction on the West Side piers and Spring Break’s Times Square free-for-all, to specialized fairs of paper art, design objects, and antiquarian books, there’s something for everyone.

By Hrag Vartanian

The interior of the Armory Show art fair (photo by Benjamin Sutton/Hyperallergic)

Why, you might ask, does a city with one of the world’s highest concentrations of contemporary art galleries also need to host seasonal extravaganzas where hundreds more galleries pour into the city to share their wares? Good question, but there’s no time to ponder it now, because it’s Armory Week! There are a few changes to the lineup this time around: the typically concurrent ADAA Art Show happened last week; the video-centric Moving Image fair has jumped ship for Frieze Week in May; the Collective Design fair has done the opposite, joining Armory Week; and the New York Antiquarian Book Fair happened to land this week. Here’s a look at what’s in store.

As you tear around town, don’t forget to stay hydrated, dress warm — there’s a winter storm watch in effect for Wednesday, which is the day all the VIPs will trek to the Armory Show — and follow Hyperallergic on Instagram for photos from the fairs all week.

https://hyperallergic.com/430460/concise-guide-to-armory-week-2018/

New York Antiquarian Book Fair When: March 8–11 / Thursday, 5–9pm ($60); Friday, 12–8pm; Saturday, 12–7pm; Sun, 12–5pm ($25) Where: Park Avenue Armory (643 Park Avenue, Upper East Side, Manhattan) A must for lovers of fine books, the New York Antiquarian Book Fair brings together some of the leaders in the field to showcase their rare and precious volumes. Whether you’re looking for the first edition of Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations (check Whitmore Rare Books) or even original photographs by Andy Warhol (Librairie Le Feu Follet has some), you’re sure to whet your literary (and artistic) appetite here.

*Pickup by Epeak

https://hyperallergic.com/430460/concise-guide-to-armory-week-2018/

March 6, 2018

This Is So Not Your Average Book Fair...

By Christie Grimm

For just four short days - March 8th through 11th, to be exact - the Park Avenue Armory will transform into a literature lover's dream. Boasting books as far as the eye can see, The Annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair is back, and in its 58th year, you better bet this isn't your average book fair!

With over 200 American and International exhibitors stationed in their jewelry box booths, prepare to flip through the most fascinating collection of rare books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts, ephemera, and more.

Personally, we're most excited about this year's treasure trove of miniature books. Proof that people have been shrinking things down to pocket size long before the iPod Mini.

Flip though for a handful of the coolest pieces on display and up for sale - and be sure to check out the full collection this weekend for yourself!

http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/books/this-coolest-finds-to-catch-at-the-ny-antiquarian-book-fair-this-week

[1/7] Salvador Dali. Overpainted Photographic Cutout Portrait, Signed Twice

Salvador Dali. Overpainted Photographic Cutout Portrait, Signed Twice (NY, 1970) Exhibitor: Biblioctopus Booth Number: C11

[2/7] Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Englished, Mythologiz’d, And Represented in Figures

OVID. Ovid’s Metamorphosis. Englished, Mythologiz’d, And Represented in Figures. [with] An Essay to the Translation of Virgil’s Æneis. By G.S. [George Sandys].

Oxford: Printed at Oxford by John Lichfield, 1632.

Exhibitor: Bow Windows Bookshop Booth Number: D10

http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/books/this-coolest-finds-to-catch-at-the-ny-antiquarian-book-fair-this-week

[3/7] Andreas Cellarius. Harmonia Macrocosmica Seu Atlas Universalis et Novus, Totius Universi Creati Cosmographiam Generalem, et Novam Exhibens Amstelodami

Andreas Cellarius.

Harmonia Macrocosmica Seu Atlas Universalis et Novus, Totius Universi Creati Cosmographiam Generalem, et Novam Exhibens Amstelodami.

Apud Gerardum Valk & Petrum Schenk, Anno 1708.

Exhibitor: Librairie Camille Sourget Booth Number: C29

[4/7] Unique Artist's Book and Binding by Mark Cockram, Inferno

Unique Artist's Book and Binding by Mark Cockram, Inferno.

London: Mark Cockram, 2017. Unique. Nine full spreads of original art Exhibitor: Abby Schoolman Books Booth Number: A32

http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/books/this-coolest-finds-to-catch-at-the-ny-antiquarian-book-fair-this-week

[5/7] A famous miniature book which held the record for the smallest printed book in the world until 1897.

A famous miniature book which held the record for the smallest printed book in the world until the year 1897. The little book is in Dutch and titled ‘Bloem-Hofje’, which can be translated as ‘Little Flower Garden.’

Exhibitor: Antiquariaat De Roo Booth Number: D24

[6/7] A Miniature Book of Hours

A Miniature Book of Hours on Vellum in Latin and Dutch, with Charming Historiated Initials, ca. 1460.

Exhibitor: Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Manuscripts Booth Number: A14

http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/books/this-coolest-finds-to-catch-at-the-ny-antiquarian-book-fair-this-week

[7/7] Guestbook of the MD of the Novembergruppe

Guestbook of the MD of the Novembergruppe. With 17 expressionist artworks.

Exhibitor: Fรถldvรกri Books Booth Number: C33

http://guestofaguest.com/new-york/books/this-coolest-finds-to-catch-at-the-ny-antiquarian-book-fair-this-week

March 6, 2018

People Round-Up, Early March 2018

By Staff Writer

PEOPLE Fritz Foy has become the new President and Publisher of Tom Doherty Associates, while Tom Doherty moves into the role of Chairman. At Holt,Michael Signorelli has left his position as Senior Editor and can be reached at signorelli.michael@gmail.com. And Holly Ingraham, formerly Editor at St. Martin’s, is leaving that role to launch Holly Ingraham Editorial.

Richard Johnson has stepped down from his position as Group CEO of UK-based Bonnier Publishing, a subsidiary of Sweden’s Bonnier Books, after nearly nine years in the role. Jim Zetterlund, who is currently COO and CFO of Bonnier Books, has been named Acting CEO. Bonnier Publishing USA, headed by Shimul Tolia, reports into the UK company.

Rachel Rosenfelt will join The New Republic as VP, Publisher on March 12. She has worked as Creative Director for Verso Books and is the cofounder of The New Inquiry.

Michael Green will leave his position as President and Publisher of Philomel on March 12 to pursue his own writing. He has worked with Penguin for twenty-seven years. At Random House Children’s, Shaughnessy Miller joins as School & Library Marketing Coordinator.

Michelle Montague joins Holiday House as Director, Trade Marketing. She was previously Executive Director, Marketing & Publicity, Adult at Abrams Books.

At Eriksen Translations, Will Lach joins as Director of Sales. Most recently, he was Editorial Director at Abbeville Press.

In agency news, Carrie Pestritto has joined Laura Dail Literary Agency as Agent. She was previously Agent at Prospect Agency. And Kevin Lewis, formerly Executive Editor at Disney-Hyperion, joins Erin Murphy Literary Agency as Agent.

Amanda Pelletier joins Scribner as Senior Publicist on March 12. She was most recently Publicist at HarperCollins.

Sarah Stanton joins Shambhala Publications as Editor, having worked previously as Executive Editor at Rowman & Littlefield.

http://www.publishingtrends.com/2018/03/people-round-up-early-march-2018/

At Chronicle Books, Emily Malter has joined as Sales Assistant, Special Markets. Previously, she was Research Assistant at Sunset Magazine.

PROMOTIONS At Tor Books, Devi Pillai has been promoted to VP, Publisher. Patrick Nielsen Hayden becomes VP and Editorin-Chief. Irene Gallo, Creative Director of Tom Doherty Associates, will take on the additional responsibility of Publisher for Tor.com.

Jessica Schmidt has been promoted to VP, Associate Publisher for Running Press, while Frances Soo Ping Chow moves up to Creative Director for all Running Press imprints. Frank Sipala is now Senior Production Manager and Manager of Product Development, Shannon Connors Fabricant becomes Senior Editor, Amy Cianfrone moves to Marketing and Publicity Manager, and Kara Thornton is now Senior Publicist, focusing on Black Dog & Leventhal. At Viking Penguin, Sara Chuirazzi, Jessica Fitzpatrick, and Theresa Gaffney have all been promoted to Associate Publicist. Kristen Fisher becomes Associate Publicist at DK. At Portfolio/Sentinel, Merry Sun has been promoted to Associate Editor; Vivian Roberson, to Assistant Editor; and Katherine Valentino, to Assistant Marketing & Social Media Manager.

Shawn Foster has been promoted to Executive Director, Children’s Sales for Hachette Book Group.

At Orbit, Alex Lencicki moves to VP, Marketing and Publicity Director, while Ellen Wright has been promoted to Associate Publicity Director. Ann Kirchner becomes Designer at Basic Books, in addition to the promotions of Connie Capone to Associate Publicist, Brian Distelberg to Senior Editor, and Carrie Napolitano to Assistant Editor. At Da Capo Press, Justin Lovell and Miriam Riad have both been promoted to Assistant Editor. At Little, Brown, Lauren Harms has become Art Director, Nicky Guerreiro has become Assistant Editor, and Lauren Passell has become Director of Social Media. Sabrina Benun is now Associate Marketing Director, James Patterson/Jimmy Patterson, while Sasha Henriques moves up to Assistant Editor for the same. At Little, Brown Children’s, Deirdre Jones moves up to Senior Editor; Nikki Garcia and Daniella Valladares, Associate Editor; Stefanie Hoffman, Senior Marketing Manager; Jen Keenan, Associate Art Director; and Angela Taldone, Assistant Designer.

At Andrews McMeel, Patty Rice has been promoted to Executive Editor, while Julie Phillips moves to Executive Design Director, Ben Accardi to Senior Editor, Calendars, and Melissa Rhodes to Associate Editor. Lucas Wetzel moves over from AMU’s syndication division to become Editor.

Accompanying the integration of shared production, marketing, and publicity services for Chicago Review Press and Triumph Books are a number of promotions. Andrea Baird has become Director of Marketing, Chicago Review Press and Triumph Books, and Allison Felus is now Director of Production for the same. Caitlin Eck becomes Director of Publicity for Chicago Review Press and Trafalgar Square Publishing. Noah Amstadter becomes Associate Publisher of Triumph Books. Mitch Rogatz, Publisher at Triumph, has stepped down to pursue other opportunities.

Meredith Vilarello has been promoted to Associate Publisher at Touchstone, while at Simon & Schuster Children’s Jasmine Ye has been promoted to Associate Production Editor.

Jenna Homen has been promoted to Content and Community Manager at Chronicle Books.

At Wattpad Studios, Ashleigh Gardner moves up to Deputy General Manager, Publishing.

DULY NOTED Amazon Publishing has announced a new imprint, Topple Books, which will publish “the voices of women of color, gender-nonconforming, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer writers.” Jill Soloway, writer, filmmaker, and creator of Transparent, will serve as Editor-at-Large. http://www.publishingtrends.com/2018/03/people-round-up-early-march-2018/

In light of global market volatility, Springer Nature is accelerating plans for their IPO. Reuters reports that, rather than the planned July listing, Springer will announce their IPO for listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and May and will launch the offering itself in June. Proceeds are expected to go towards paying down the company’s €3 billion debt.

Jennifer Egan will succeed Andrew Solomon as President of PEN America. She will be the first to oversee the newly-consolidated PEN America and PEN Center USA. Sizzle Press, an imprint of Bonnier Publishing USA, has changed its name to BuzzPop. Beginning September 1, Longleaf Services will provide fulfillment, marketing, and publishing services to Baylor University.

America’s Test Kitchen has extended their global sales and distribution partnership with Penguin Random House Publisher Services.

Chelsea Green Publishing has moved its warehouse operations to Books International. Its new return address is Chelsea Green Publishing, c/o Books International, Attn: Returns Department, 22841 Quicksilver Drive, Dulles, VA, 20166. After March 31, returns will no longer be accepted at the old warehouse. The office and remittance address in White River Junction, VT remains the same.

EVENTS March 1-10 Emirates Airline Festival of Literature Dubai, UAE March 7-10 AWP 2018 Tampa, FL March 8-11 The ABAA New York Antiquarian Book Fair New York, NY

http://www.publishingtrends.com/2018/03/people-round-up-early-march-2018/

March 7, 2018

Treasures to Look For at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair The fair features a fascinating array of rare books, maps, manuscripts, first editions, and other materials

By Katherine Mcgrath

Every year, the arrival of the Armory Show sets New York City aflurry with satellite fairs, art parties, events, and more. Chief among the shows not to miss is the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, a celebration where book lovers can browse a vast selection of rare books, photographs, maps, manuscripts, first editions, and other materials at the Park Avenue Armory. The subject matter is diverse, featuring a broad array of topics including medicine, art, literature, Americana, photography, autographs, and more. The fair is sanctioned by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, meaning you can have trust that each item at the fair has been carefully vetted for authenticity and completeness. Now in its 58th year, the fair is produced by Sanford L. Smith and Associates, and will run from March 8 through the 11th. Ahead, the fair's executive director, Sanford Smith, shares his favorite picks for art, architecture, and design lovers with AD PRO. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

WILLIAMS, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire. (New York: New Directions, 1947).

Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$8,500 Exhibitor: Whitmore Rare Books Inc Booth Number: C4 A first edition of Tennessee Williams' Pulitzer Prize–winning play.

Russell Maret

Maret, Russell. Interstices & Intersections: Thirteen Euclidean Propositions... [ New York ]: Russell Maret. 2014.

Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

Price Upon Request Exhibitor: Boreas Fine Art Booth Number: A11 Artist Russell Maret drew inspiration from Euclid's The Elements of Geometry, using one proposition from each of the 13 books in Euclid's work. He then created commentary and illustrations for each that have been called "a tour de force of colon printing" by the Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division at the Library of Congress.

Drawing by Pablo Picasso

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

Linogravures [Linocuts] An original black ink drawing by Pablo Picasso of a faun’s head, with an autograph inscription signed and dated by the artist to “Sergueï, son ami Picasso le 4.5.57” [Sergey, his friend Picasso], on a leaf laid down on the endpaper.

Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$22,000 Exhibitor: Librairie Le Feu Follet Booth Number: A31 An original drawing of a faun's head in black ink, likely made for the choreographer Serge Lifar, for whom Picasso designed costumes and sets.

Le Mur by Jean-Paul Sartre

SARTRE Jean-Paul. Le Mur [The Wall] Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$28,000 Exhibitor: Librairie Le Feu Follet Booth Number: A31 This first edition is in a special black calf binding by C. and J.P. Miguet, and features an inscription from Monsieur Sartre himself. The book's spine is blind-stamped with the book's title, and and the covers are crafted in a mosaic of perspective geometric patterns in red, orange, and burgundy calf.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

Le Café-Concert print, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

TOULOUSE-LAUTREC Henri de. Jeanne Avril – Le Café Concert Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$1,800 Exhibitor: Librairie le Feu Follet Booth Number: A31 A very rare print from Toulouse-Lautrec's "Le Café-Concert" series that features his friend the cabaret singer Jeanne Avril.

Six Photographic Views of the Pyramids by Francis Frith

FRITH, Francis (1822–1898). "A Series of Six Photographic Views of the Pyramids." First Edition of one of the most renowned 19th-century Photobooks, (The Photobook). Mammoth Plate Albumen Prints.

Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

Price Upon Request Exhibitor: Roland Belgrave Vintage Photography Booth Number: E30 https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

Produced in the 1800s, these prints were considered groundbreaking at the time, showing off the medium's ability to render forms and textures of the world. The collector notes that it is particularly unusual to come across the opportunity to acquire six mammoth photographs of the Pyramids by Francis Frith, as they are normally only sold as part of a larger set.

Overpainted Photographic Cutout Portrait by Salvador Dalì

DALI, Salvador. Overpainted Photographic Cutout Portrait, Signed Twice (NY, 1970) Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$20,000 Exhibitor: Biblioctopus Booth Number: C11 A one-off multimedia self-portrait by the surrealist painter that shows off his vision and whimsy.

Portrait of Andy Warhol by Marc Trivier

WARHOL Andy & TRIVIER Marc. Original black-and-white photograph, n. p. 1981– 1982, 220 x 220 mm (8 11/16 x 8 11/16 ”) on Ilford paper 300 x 400 mm (11 13/16 x 15 3/4 ”), made and printed by Marc Trivier Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

$5,000 Exhibitor: Librairie Le Feu Follet Booth Number: A31 It was customary for Marc Trivier to leave most of his works unsigned, and this photo of Andy Warhol is no exception. Trivier photographed a plethora of subjects, both famous and unknown, but approached each with the same intensity and passion.

On My Account by Keith Haring

Keith Haring, 8 1/2 x 11 inches On My Account – Keith, 1989 Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$6000 Exhibitor: Harper’s Books Inc Booth Number: A21 Handwritten notes and drawings on Keith Haring, Inc., letterhead, as well as a signature from the artist.

The Rubaiyat by Omar Khayyam

Closeup of a design binding by Jackie Cooksey for O. Khayyam’s Rubaiyat Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

Price Upon RequestExhibitor: Lux Mentis Booth Number: E3 Hansel and Gretel by Arthur Rackham

Design binding by Gabby Cooksey on Rackham's Hansel and Gretel Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

Price Upon RequestExhibitor: Lux Mentis Booth Number: E3 Liberté J'´Ecris Ton Nom by Paul Eluard, design by Fernand Léger

LEGER, Fernand. Liberte J'Ecris Ton Nom. Text by Paul Eluard. Broadside, 117 x 290 cm. (11 3/8 x 44 inches), with brightly colored pochoir design by Fernand Léger. Paris: Editions Seghers, 1953.

Image courtesy of The New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

$22,500 Exhibitor: Ursus Books LTD Booth Number: A1 An extremely rare broadside with bright colors that features text from Eluard's celebrated poem with pochoir design from Léger.

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair

March 7, 2018

The Most-Awaited Book Fair NYIABF Returns With Its 58th Edition on March 8, 2018

By Staff Writer

"Atlante Novissimo," Antonio Zatta (1757-1797). 4 volumes, Folio (mm 390x265). First and only edition of the most important Atlas published in Italy in the XVIIIth century (Courtesy: Il Cartiglio Snc (Booth Number: B35))

The New York International Antiquarian Book Fair (NYIABF) will be held from March 8 through 11, 2018 at the Park Avenue Armory.

Returning for its 58th edition, the fair will host more than 200 exhibitors from around the world. Produced by Sanford L. Smith + Associates, the fair is known for its wide array of offerings, including rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, fine bindings, illustrations, historical documents, and print ephemera, making it one of the most coveted destination for bibliophiles. A favored venue to the seasoned connoisseurs and scholars for decades, the fair has recently caught fancy of the young collectors as well with their unique trove of affordable materials.

Officially sanctioned by Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) and International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), the fair offers materials in every genre and subjects, with specialties in art, science, medicine, literature, history, culinary culture, fashion, first editions, Americana, philosophy, children’s books, and much more. Along with 115 galleries from the United States, this year’s edition will see participation of a strong contingent of international galleries from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Australia, Austria, Canada, Japan, Russia, Belgium, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, and Argentina — with an offering across the history of literature from Pre-Gutenberg to the 21st Century.

The fair will take place from March 8 through 11, 2018 at the Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA. For details, visit: https://www.nyantiquarianbookfair.com/ http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

Les Fleurs du Mal,” Charles Baudelaire, Paris: Poulet-Malassis et de Broise, 1857 Exhibitor: Whitmore Rare Books Inc

“Overpainted Photographic Cutout Portrait,” Salvador Dali, Exhibitor: Biblioctopus Book Number: C11

“The Dreaming Boys,” Oskar Kokoschka, Wien. Wiener Werkstätte, 1908, Exhibitor: Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner

“Archive of New York Street Photography,” Walter A. Friedman, Exhibitor: Harper’s Books Booth Number: A21

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

For a Language to Come,” Takuma Nakahira, Exhibitor: Harper’s Books Booth Number: A21

“La Vie secrète de Salvador Dali,” Michel Déon& Salvador Dali, Exhibitor: Librairie Le FeuFollet Booth Number: A31

“Foirades/Fizzles,” Samuel Beckett, London: Petersburg Press, S.A. Exhibitor: Boreas Fine Art Booth Number: A11

“THE EINSTEIN BIBLE | Superbly Inscribed by Albert Einstein,” Albert Einstein, Exhibitor: Estates of Mind Booth Number: B22

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

“The Adventures of Oliver Twist,” Charles Dickens, Exhibitor: Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner Booth Number: D22

“John Brown,” E. Dentu&Dusacq, Exhibitor: Librairie Le FeuFollet Booth Number: A31

“History of Alexander Quintus Curtius Rufus

the

Great,”

“LETTER OF INDULGENCE - BONIFATIUS VIII,” Nicola Beati, Exhibitor: Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner Booth Number: D22

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

“A Modest Proposal,” Jonathan Swift, Exhibitor: Lux Mentis LLC Booth Number: E3

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” BertoldLöffler, Exhibitor: Librairie Pierre Coumans Booth Number : D7

“Porgy and Bess,” George and Ira Gershwin, Exhibitor: Lion Heart Autographs Booth Number: E27 Lyndon

“Songs of Innocence,” William Blake, Exhibitor: John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller Booth Number: A33

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

“Original Watercolor DISNEY,” Walter Elias, Watercolor, signet. ca. 1929, 24,8 x 29,5 cm.

Exhibitor: Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner Booth Number: D 22

“AESOP - AppologisiveMythologi,” Sebastian Brant, Exhibitor: Whitmore Rare Books Inc. Booth Number: C4

“Original color lithographs of La Gazette du BonTon,” Exhibitor: Librairie Le FeuFollet Booth Number: A31

“A Streetcar Named Desire,” Tennessee Williams, Exhibitor: Whitmore Rare Books Inc. Booth Number: C4

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

“The Making of Americans,” Gertrude Stein, Exhibitor: Triolet Rare Books Booth Number: D31

“The Two Noble Kinsmen,” William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, Exhibitor: Sokol Book LTD. Booth Number: E23

“Metamorphoses,” Ovid, Oxford: Printed at Oxford by John Lichfield, 1632.

Exhibitor: Bow Windows Bookshop Booth Number: D10

“The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam,” Edward FitzGerald/Omar Khayyam, Exhibitor: Imperial Fine Books Booth Numbers: D33

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

“Hansel and Gretel,�

Design binding by Gabby Cooksey Exhibitor: Lux Mentis Booth Number: E3

http://admin.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/2896508/the-most-awaited-book-fair-nyiabf-returns-with-its-58th

March 7, 2018

Women in antiquarian bookselling: interview with Heather O’Donnell and Rebecca Romney of Honey & Wax Booksellers

By Richard Davies

Heather O’Donnell (left) and Rebecca Romney from Honey & Wax

To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March and that March is Women’s History Month, we asked Heather O’Donnell and Rebecca Romney of Honey & Wax Booksellers in Brooklyn, New York, about the current situation for women in antiquarian bookselling. Heather and Rebecca are experienced booksellers, who have both worked for Bauman Rare Books in the past. Heather founded Honey & Wax in 2011 and Rebecca joined the business in 2016.

In 2017, they launched a book collecting contest specifically for women book collectors in the United States aged 30 or younger. Visitors to the 2018 New York Antiquarian Book Fair can meet Heather and Rebecca in person at booth E9.

AbeBooks: What are the challenges facing women wishing to get into antiquarian bookselling?

Honey & Wax: Antiquarian bookselling is a tough trade to break into, no matter who you are. Women who deal in rare books face some particular challenges: the assumption (by both men and women) that you’re a shop girl, not in charge; the continual need to prove your expertise while male colleagues are taken at face value as authorities; customers who want to flirt instead of collect. But we believe a positive cultural shift is happening within the trade today, and we are encouraged by the changes we’ve seen over the past few years.

AbeBooks: How are things changing? https://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2018/03/06/women-in-antiquarian-bookselling-interview-with-heather-odonnelland-rebecca-romney-of-honey-wax-booksellers/

Honey & Wax: The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA) has been leading on this issue. In 2016, during the presidency of Mary Gilliam, the membership approved a Code of Conduct clarifying and strengthening the organization’s policy against discrimination and harassment of all kinds. Later that year, the ABAA launched its Women’s Initiative, founded “to promote greater involvement and participation of women in the book trade.” Claudia Strauss-Schulson of Schulson Autographs is the chair of that committee, which continues its work under current ABAA president Vic Zoschak and executive director Susan Benne.

The ABAA Women’s Initiative has organized a series of networking events for women interested in the trade, drawing librarians and collectors as well as booksellers. The committee hosts the Facebook group “Women in Rare Books and Manuscripts,” which includes over 600 members; celebrates the achievements of influential women in the trade (honoring the great California bookseller Carol Sandberg last month); and will be sponsoring a panel discussion on “Collections and Women” at the 2018 New York Antiquarian Book Fair.

Bookseller Liz Young at the 2017 London Antiquarian Book Fair

We’re also seeing more women holding leadership positions within the trade. More women are serving on the ABAA Board of Governors than in years past, and Australian book dealer Sally Burdon of Asia Bookroom just became president of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB). The annual Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, which provides an intensive introduction to the trade for new booksellers, has increasingly foregrounded questions of diversity and representation, in large part because the students insist on raising them.

Perhaps the biggest change, over the past few years, has been a greater awareness from male booksellers of some of the challenges facing their female colleagues. That recognition has created allies who make a point of crediting the contributions of the women who work with them, and who speak up when they witness something obnoxious.

https://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2018/03/06/women-in-antiquarian-bookselling-interview-with-heather-odonnelland-rebecca-romney-of-honey-wax-booksellers/

A 1927 photo of Sylvia Beach

AbeBooks: Which female sellers from earlier generations inspired you?

Honey & Wax: There are so many! Where do we start? When do we stop? We think of the legends: Sylvia Beach, the American expatriate in Paris most famous for publishing Joyce’s Ulysses when others were too afraid to take the risk, and her partner Adrienne Monnier, one of the first women in France to own her own independent bookshop.

We think of Madeleine Stern and Leona Rostenberg, “an institution in the world of antiquarian bookselling,” whose bestselling books introduced the trade to countless bibliophiles. Or Kit Currie, who quietly made herself indispensable within some of the great firms of the 20th century, like Bertram Rota and H.P. Kraus. And we think of Frances Steloff, whose Gotham Book Mart did so much for readers of literature on both sides of the Atlantic.

AbeBooks: And who inspires you today among the latest generation of sellers?

Heather O’Donnell: The London dealer Sophie Schneideman was a role model for me before I even knew her, as someone who had left one of the most venerable English firms, Maggs, to strike out successfully on her own as a specialty dealer in fine press and artists’ books. I’m continually inspired by Sophie’s business acumen, her encyclopedic knowledge of the material she sells, and the thoughtfulness she brings to every interaction with her colleagues and customers.

Rebecca Romney: Just over a week ago, one of the titans of our trade passed, Helen Younger, of Aleph-Bet Books.

I’ve felt this loss keenly, even though Helen and I were only acquaintances. But it’s because I deeply admired her.

The expertise she wielded in her chosen field, children’s books, brought a truly exceptional degree of breadth, depth, and taste to Aleph-Bet. Moreover, she is one of the great examples of the “work hard and don’t complain” school; she always strove to excel, despite significant health issues. When I think of my inspirations in the trade, Helen’s example pulls at me like gravity, gently but insistently.

AbeBooks: Does Honey & Wax attract female customers because it has two high profile female booksellers?

https://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2018/03/06/women-in-antiquarian-bookselling-interview-with-heather-odonnelland-rebecca-romney-of-honey-wax-booksellers/

Honey & Wax: Not that we are aware. We do, anecdotally, seem to have more regular women customers than many of our colleagues in the antiquarian book trade, but that’s likely due to our focus on literature, the arts, and education: fields in which women have long played an active role, both as creators and collectors.

AbeBooks: If you could change one thing about the antiquarian bookselling business what would it be?

Honey & Wax: As we’re being interviewed for International Women’s Day, we’d like to see more men take an active interest in addressing the gender imbalance at the top of our trade, which is no one’s fault, but everyone’s responsibility. The progress women are making in the book trade is part of a larger, overdue cultural shift, and men are as fundamental to that shift as women: in some sense, even more so, because men control so many of the most powerful firms, and can do the most immediate good in terms of hiring, training, and promoting young women booksellers. The antiquarian book trade is slow to change, and in truth, we don’t expect to see gender parity in the ABAA for many years, but we’d like to live to see it.

AbeBooks: Who is a female author you believe is underrated?

Heather O’Donnell: I’ve really enjoyed discovering the German writer Irmgard Keun, who published a series of sharp, swift satires during the 1930s. In novels like The Artificial Silk Girl (1932), blacklisted for its “anti-German tendency,” and After Midnight (1937), written after Keun had fled the country, the ugliness of the Nazis is revealed in flashes and glimpses, felt by the distracted characters rather than truly understood, as it must have been experienced at the time.

I’m also a fan of Kennedy Fraser’s writing for The New Yorker in the 1970s, collected in The Fashionable Mind (1981). In essays like “Fitness,” “Recession Dressing,” and “The Executive Woman,” Fraser pays steady, respectful attention to American fashion, and it pays her (and her readers) back. I also love the Australian writer Helen Garner’s recent collection, Everywhere I Look (2016), which includes the only essay I have shared with both my mother and my daughter: “The Insults of Age.” Rebecca Romney: After we acquired a couple books by Ann Petry, I decided to read her masterpiece The Street (1946). After having read it, I am flummoxed as to why this book isn’t commonly read in high school literature classes right along with Invisible Man and To Kill a Mockingbird. It is a powerful narrative of a well-educated, hardworking single mother’s struggle with poverty that offers both rational and emotional arguments against class and racial prejudice.

https://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2018/03/06/women-in-antiquarian-bookselling-interview-with-heather-odonnelland-rebecca-romney-of-honey-wax-booksellers/

I’d also like to mention Octavia Butler, not as The Great Black Woman Science Fiction Writer (although the exploration of race and gender in her work is second to none), but as one of the greatest science fiction writers of the past 50 years, period. Yes, her star has certainly been rising steadily since her death – but I believe it has a much higher elevation yet to reach in order to reflect the true importance of her work.

https://www.abebooks.com/blog/index.php/2018/03/06/women-in-antiquarian-bookselling-interview-with-heather-odonnelland-rebecca-romney-of-honey-wax-booksellers/

March 8, 2018

Rare Book By Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus Being Sold for $2M

By Daisy Prince

ILLUSTRATION: COURTESY OF JONATHAN A. HILL

A rare 1543 Nuremberg Press private copy of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus’ On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres is for sale at the 58th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, which opens Thursday. Considered to be the defining tract that ignited the scientific revolution, it is one of only a dozen or so volumes in private hands, although about 150 to 200 copies exist in libraries. Dealer Jonathan A. Hill purchased this particular copy from a private collector in Spain in November.

“It is the most important book in the history of science and one of the great texts of Western Civilization,” Hill says.

Special features include: A contemporary binding in good condition (meaning than it hasn’t been restored), intricate gold detailing with gilt fleurons in the corners and gilt floral tool in the center of each cover of a hand holding flowers.

Other highlights from the fair being held at the Park Avenue Armory in Manhattan include: One of the first printings of Le Petit Prince, including a very rare drawing and an autograph by author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry; a collection of highly intellectual works once owned by Napoleon’s second wife, Empress Marie Louise; a first edition of Simone De Beauvoir’s celebrated The Second Sex; a collection of letters documenting the decay of the Medici dynasty; and a first edition of the History of Alexander the Great, "Quintus Curtius Rufus” (circa 15th century).

https://www.barrons.com/articles/rare-book-by-astronomer-nicolaus-copernicus-being-sold-for-2m1520532698?mg=prod/accounts-barrons

“What we are seeing now is a regrowth of the book business, more and more small bookstores are opening up again,” says the fair’s executive director, Sanford Smith. “Many of them are specializing in different areas, for example, there were always travel bookstores but now we are seeing science fiction bookstores. People of the younger generation seem to like going back to books. They like the feel of the book, the paper and even the smell.”

Another explanation for the rise of book collecting might be a hunger for authenticity. Hill says he has noticed that, “collectors want to get as close to the true documents of history as possible.”

Part of the reason for this renewed interest might be explained by the scarcity of the products and the fact that the rare book market has never been as volatile as other areas of collecting, like the art market. “The rare book world doesn’t have booms and busts,” Hill says, “The price of rare books just keeps on going up and up. The last fall was in the Great Depression in 1930s.”

Featuring over 200 European and international galleries (spanning 19 countries), the fair spans a diversity of specialties, including art, medicine, literature, photography, fashion, philosophy and children’s books. Prices range from $25 to $2 million dollars, and whoever is willing to buy the book at the price the dealer sets will walk away with a great work.

The 58th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair runs from March 8 to 11 at the Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Ave. in Manhattan. Hours on Preview Night, March 8, is from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Daily hours: March 9, 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.; March 10, 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.; and March 11, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.

https://www.barrons.com/articles/rare-book-by-astronomer-nicolaus-copernicus-being-sold-for-2m1520532698?mg=prod/accounts-barrons

March 8, 2018

New York Today: Story of the Snowman

By Alexandra S. Levine and Jonathan Wolfe

Spotted in Central Park: the sweetest little snowman we ever did see.

Good morning on this warming Thursday.

We survived the thundersnow, but now comes the slush. For updated information on your commute, check the schedules for the subway, Metro-North, Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit and NYC Ferry before heading out.

Do you want to build a snowman?

Do it while you still can.

Up to 26 inches of snow fell in some areas, enough to sculpt a frosty friend, but this season, we’ve had only one other snow substantial enough to even entertain the idea.

“The snowman can be a symbol of global climate change and how serious it’s gotten,” said the snowman expert Bob Eckstein, author of “The History of the Snowman.” (“The Illustrated History of the Snowman,” an update of the original, will be on bookshelves in September.)

“How many more times will we all get a chance to make a snowman in New York City? You don’t know now.”

Mr. Eckstein, a New Yorker cartoonist, has spent years traversing the world investigating snowman mysteries, including who made the first snowman and who thought to use a carrot as a nose.

Though much evidence has melted, the earliest trace he could find was at the Royal Library at The Hague — an illustration in the margins of a manuscript dated 1380. With the help of historians and archaeologists, Mr. Eckstein became convinced that snowman-making was an activity that we share with our prehistoric ancestors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/nyregion/new-york-today-snowman-history.html

Credit Cartoon by Bob Eckstein

“People are under the impression that cave men always made cave paintings, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” he said. “It was the best way to preserve their artwork, so that’s the only artwork we have left to see.”

The snowman was a serious symbol in the Middle Ages, Mr. Eckstein discovered, an early form of pornography or political commentary at a time when most people could not read or write. During the Miracle of 1511, an enormous storm in Brussels, “it snowed, and it was like art supplies dropped on everyone’s doorstep,” he said. Locals sculpted provocative scenes dealing with sex and political angst with the government and the church.

These elaborate snow scenes evolved into fine art during the medieval era and later, with the help of Michelangelo (who in 1494 sculpted a snowmanfor the courtyard of the Medici Palace in Florence), Larkin Meade (who in 1856 created a world-famous snow angel in Vermont) and other artists.

(Mr. Eckstein, though, is no fan of Frosty, whom he cites as one reason the art of making snowmen is, in modern times, “not really considered with much respect.”)

Now he fears that rising temperatures are putting the very pastime in danger. “The snowman is like the duck-billed platypus of global warming,” he said.

He wondered: Will Times Square panhandlers dressed as characters from “Frozen” be among the last snowmen we’ll see in New York City?

Coming Up Today • Explore the wares of the book dealers at the Antiquarian Book Fair, through Sunday, at the Park Avenue Armory on the Upper East Side. 5 to 9 p.m. [$25 to $60] • An evening of live Beatles music at the Tompkins Square Library in the East Village. 6 p.m. [Free] • Celebrate International Women’s Day at the opening of “Women in the Heights: Resistance,” an exhibition by female artists of northern Manhattan, at Rio II Gallery in Harlem. 6:30 p.m. [Free] • Bring on the Bard. The New York Shakespeare convention kicks off with theatrical performances, music and workshops through Sunday at the Center at West Park on the Upper West Side. 7 p.m. [$20] • Nets at Hornets, 7 p.m. (YES). Devils host Jets, 7 p.m. (MSG+). Rangers at Lightning, 7:30 p.m. (MSG). Islanders at Oilers, 9 p.m. (MS+2). https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/nyregion/new-york-today-snowman-history.html

• Alternate-side parking is suspended for snow removal.

• For more events, see The New York Times’s Arts & Entertainment guide.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/nyregion/new-york-today-snowman-history.html

March 8, 2018

15 awesome things to do in NYC this weekend

By Jennifer Picht

Fri 9 Sonder: An Art Show for Vivid and Complex Minds at various locations; 6pm; free Teenage arbiters of culture Emma Orland and Carolyn Hallock launch the second edition of their youth-focused multimedia exhibition, which features zines, paintings, photography and other personal work from over 50 developing artists. The opening reception on Friday March 9 features drinks, vittles and music. 164 Orchard Street.

Nerd Nite Littlefield; 7pm; $10–$14 Brooklyn’s most badass dorks convene at this rad night of trivia and presentations. Test your knowledge (and maybe win a prize) with trivia at 7pm, or grab a ticket for the presentations alone and show up at 8:05pm to hear wellresearched lectures on galactic travel, video game preservation and parks.

The 24 Hour Game Rockefeller Center; 4pm; free Before their season officially opens, the New York Football Club welcomes 500 New Yorkers to the field for a full day's worth of kicking the ball around. Coaches and players from the team will be on hand to help you through a constantly-rotating five-on-five game, along with a DJ to keep the crowd in high spirits. Pack snacks—you're in for a wild, sweaty night.

BAM Radio Love Fest Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM); 7:30pm; $25–$65 Podcast lovers, here's your chance to see how the sausage gets made. BAM presents its fifth annual celebration of outstanding radio programs, kicking off Wed 7 with fantasy-fiction icon Neil Gaiman discussing his creative process with NPR's On the Media host Brooke Gladstone. Thu 8 features a behind-the-scenes look at investigative journalism show S-Town and Fri 9 welcomes science superstar Neil deGrasse Tyson to the stage. To close things out, spend an evening with This American Life host Ira Glass or take in stories from talented tellers with The Moth. https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/15-awesome-things-to-do-in-nyc-this-weekend-030818

New York Antiquarian Book Fair Park Avenue Armory; noon; $25, run of show $40, students $10 If you’ve got a thing for musty old books, this is your fair, with literary works from approximately 200 vendors displayed inside one of NYC’s grandest halls. Look out for tomes dating back to the 14th century, including illuminated books of hours and other hidden gems.

Pregame Your Brain Caveat; 6pm; free This brainy happy hour invites experts to gather around the bar to share knowledge, games and trivia centered on a fascinating—and often esoteric—topic. At March 16's "Your Brain on Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll" edition, learn how your favorite vices stimulate your brain.

Tune-Yards + Shabazz Palaces Brooklyn Steel; 8pm; $31 Merrill Garbus—an Afrobeat-inspired pop experimentalist whose vocal gymnastics never fail to impress—airs inventive tunes from her recent LP, I Can Feel You Creep Into My Private Life, with some sure-to-be-fabulous stagings. Though the artist describes the new record as turning “inward,” we nonetheless anticipate a sweaty dance party to ensue.

Sat 10 A Very Buffy Prom The West End; 10p; $20 plus two-drink minimum, cash only Embrace full ’90s glamour at this sendup to the devilish denizens of Sunnydale, California, courtesy of the Campy Cabaret. Witness outrageous musical performances and burlesque acts inspired by Buffy's demon-slaying exploits, try some spiked Prom punch, and enter the costume contest for the chance to win a class protector award. Make sure you still fit in your leather pants.

Celebrity Autobiography The Triad; 7pm; $40–$60 plus two-drink minimum The only thing thing better than reading a celebrity's innermost thoughts is having a comedian read them to you.

Major comedic actors prick the bubble of autobiographical puffery by performing droll, verbatim readings from stars' memoirs in Eugene Pack’s acclaimed series. The cast on March 5 comprises John Fugelsang, Janeane Garofalo, Jackie Hoffman, Susan Lucci, Eugene Pack, Dayle Reyfel and Alan Zweibel; the March 10 edition also includes Fugelsang, Garofalo, Pack and Reyfel, joined by Cady Huffman and Ralph Macchio.

Trump Lear Under St. Mark’s; 2pm; $20 You may know David Carl from his portrayal of Gary Busey in his standout one-man comedy show, David Carl’s Celebrity One-Man Hamlet. Now Carl plays an actor named Carl David (try to keep up), who evokes the wrath of the President by depicting Donald Trump in a solo version of King Lear, Shakespeare's portrait of a senescent ruler whose vanity tears his country apart. Count on an uncanny performance from this virtuoso.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark Terminal 5; 7pm; $30 The ’80s new-wave stars Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark returned last year with The Punishment of Luxury including The Punishment of Luxury: B-Sides/Bonus Material. Catch the English electronic rockers in action at Terminal 5 on March 10.

Postmen: An Hour of Sketch Comedy Union Hall; 10pm; $8, at the door $10 Come delight in the giddy, glorious gooniness of the Postmen—Matt Barats, Carmen Christopher and Anthony Oberbeck—as they return with hilariously off-putting sketches at their delightful monthly hour-long show.

Jacqueline Novak joins in on the high jinks. Count on nonstop laughs from these seasoned comics.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/15-awesome-things-to-do-in-nyc-this-weekend-030818

Sun 11 Annual St. Patrick’s Day Open Day Irish Arts Center; noon; free The Irish Arts Center opens its doors for an Irish extravaganza, filled with authentic music, dances, craft workshops and delicious tea. Learn to play the tin-whistle, get your face painted, experiment with tap-dancing, or simply sit back and watch the artists perform at this celebration of Irish culture.

Shady Ladies of the Met Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art; 2:15pm; $59 Discover the true stories behind the muses of some of the Met's most fabulous artworks, including nude models in Ancient Greece, Venetian poets and courtesans, and the true identity of John Singer Sargent's Madame X. Free Puppies: A Stand Up Comedy Show for People Who Like Puppies The Lantern Comedy Club; 6pm; free At this undeniably chipper show, some of our favorite comics wreak dark havoc over a range of topics (including puppies). This month, host Laurel Cummings invites Katie Hannigan, Tom Thakker, Dan LeMorte, Tim Dillon and Drew Michaels to the mic.

https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/15-awesome-things-to-do-in-nyc-this-weekend-030818

March 9, 2018

Sick of Winter? Jump-Start Spring With One of These Books Two books of floral art—one $70, one $60,000—vie for your bibliographical budget

By Catherine Romano

PHOTO: F. MARTIN RAMIN/ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

If you’re anxious for spring, and the daffodil nubs poking through the soil don’t satisfy, you might be in the market for a nature fix from 19th-century botanical art. This month offers two notable books at either end of the monetary spectrum: a bound folio of original British watercolors dating from 1884, priced at $60,000, or Taschen’s collection of reproductions of copper prints by French artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840), a mere $70. Both have their virtues.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/sick-of-winter-jump-start-spring-with-one-of-these-books-1520609047

The Real

Pages from ‘Flowers of the Bombay Presidency,’ a bound collection of original 19th-century watercolors on display at this weekend’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

The former, “Flowers of the Bombay Presidency,” can be viewed at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, booth E20, through March 11. Its creators, Mary and William Butt (she drew, he painted) recorded the 202 pages of flora while living in British India.

New York artist-retailer John Derian, who has built a small empire by transforming 19th-century ephemera into home goods, said of the renderings, “They are beautiful, authentic, naive and historical, like [the work of] explorers documenting their finds.” Though he, like the seller’s representative, Alessandro Bisello, hopes a collector or institution buys the book and keeps it intact, Mr. Derian said he would buy any one of the renderings without a thought if they were individually priced at $300.

The Deal

The Book of Flowers’ (Taschen) includes more than 500 reproductions of Pierre-Joseph Redouté copper prints. PHOTO: F. MARTIN RAMIN/ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

A far more accessible tome, “Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Book of Flowers” offers readers more than 500 reprints of illustrations by a man who painted, printed and cataloged the flowers of Paris’s royal and aristocratic gardens.

Napoleon reportedly used one of Redouté’s publications as a diplomatic gift of state.

Mr. Derian refers to Redouté as a god of botanical artistry. Still, he irreverently recommends, as he did with 2016’s “John Derian Picture Book,” that buyers disassemble the volume and frame the prints. Even more irreverent: “Wallpapering a foyer or hallway with them would be really fun.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/sick-of-winter-jump-start-spring-with-one-of-these-books-1520609047

March 8, 2018

22 Art Exhibitions to View in NYC This Weekend

By Staff Writer

The cover of a 16th-century book by Copernicus, which is available for $2 million at the Antiquarian Book Fair. Credit Jonathan A. Hill, New York International Antiquarian Book Fair

ANTIQUARIAN BOOK FAIR at the Park Avenue Armory (through March 11). You could spend $25 at this book fair, but you could also spend $2 million. This sprawling fair has taken over the armory for the weekend, as more than 200 vendors from around the world set up stations with manuscripts and illustrations from across the centuries.

You can browse children’s texts, illustrated poems or books about religion, medicine and rock ’n’ roll. A first-edition copy of Tennessee Williams’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” is going for $8,500. And that $2 million crown jewel?

It’s a first edition of the 16th-century text by Copernicus in which he argued that the sun, not Earth, was at the center of the universe. (Andrew R. Chow) 212-777-5218, nyantiquarianbookfair.com

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/08/arts/design/art-and-museums-in-nyc-this-week.html

March 9, 2018

New York Antiquarian Book Fair Opens Old-time page-turners on view

By Isabelle Kellogg

This plate, a classical Greek engraving representing a fifth-century red-and-black Greek-style vase, appears in a four-volume portfolio given to the king of England to showcase the antiquities in the British collection. The portfolio is part of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, running through March 11, 2018. (Antiquariato Librario Bado)

For the bookish or just plain curious, this year’s 58th edition of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, March 9–11, offers some of the world’s most beloved, first-edition best sellers and sought-after rare editions.

Not every book fair gets bragging rights, but this one is accredited by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ of Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, which examine every single book and manuscript for authenticity before a dealer can offer it for sale at the fair.

A perfect backdrop for this book fair is the historic Park Avenue Armory where more than 200 bookdealers from 19 countries have lovingly laid out their antique books, manuscripts, maps, and ephemera dating back, in a few cases, farther than the 16th century.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-opens_2461537.html

Astronomers and celestial followers will likely croon over the first edition copy of Copernicus’s “De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium IV,” one of the most important scientific texts of the 16th century (valued at $2 million). As Jane Austen’s works are beloved by many, romantics-at-heart will be able to read a long-lost original poem she wrote (valued at almost $140,000). Print-maker Piranesi’s folio of late Baroque Rome will delight architects and city planners (valued at $35,000). And Broadway fans will be able to hum a few bars while taking a glance at the firstedition score of America’s greatest musical opera, “Porgy and Bess,” signed by George and Ira Gershwin ($19,000).

There are also several seminars taking place throughout the duration of the fair, such as the award-winning memoir author Ben Taylor, reading at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 11 from his book “The Hue and Cry at Our House.”

(Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner)

Other outstanding highlights include dealer Antiquariat Winfried Geisenheyner’s very rare 1298 “Letter of Indulgence,” created under the pontificate of Pope Bontifatius VIII by 12 bishops who granted blessings and forgiveness to sinners visiting the Scheyern monastery during the religious holidays.

(Antiquariato Librario Bado)

Dealer Antiquariato Librario Bado is presenting a 1603 folio by Johann Bayer, consisting of 51 copper plates. It’s considered one of the most important early pictorial representations of all the constellations we know today, based on a Bayer’s study of 2,000 stars, and data available at the time.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-opens_2461537.html

(Antiquariato Librario Bado)

Also, from Antiquariato Librario Bado, a classical Greek engraving representing a fifth-century red-and-black Greek-style vase. It is the first of 180 plates assembled by Hon. William Hamilton in a four-volume portfolio (1801– 1808) to showcase for the king of England the Etruscan, Greek, and Roman antiquities that the Hamilton had collected for the empire. Many of the pieces which appear in this series are now housed in the British Museum.

(Librairie Amelie Sourget)

“Covarrubias,” considered the first Spanish dictionary, published in 1611, shown by Librairie Amelie Sourget.

(Antiquariaat Forum bV)

Antiquariaat Forum bV is a dealer showing Johannes de Laet’s “Beschrijvinghe van West-Indien,” 1630. It is a second edition of the important account of the Americas by the director of the Dutch West India Company, Johannes de Laet (1581–1649). The maps illustrate the Western Hemisphere from New France, New England, Virginia, and https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-opens_2461537.html

Florida to far South America. The text illustrations are chiefly of biological or botanical specimens that the sailors found in the New World.

(Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books)

A miniature book of hours, containing the prayers or offices to be said at the canonical hours of the day, on vellum in Latin and Dutch from approximately 1460. It is presented by Phillip J. Pirages Rare Books.

There are plenty of interesting books whose topics and print-making details will excite even the most jaded book collector at this year’s fair.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-opens_2461537.html

March 9, 2018

Eight Unexpected Highlights from the Antiquarian Book Fair

By Sarah Funke Butler

The fifty-eighth New York Antiquarian Book Fair, organized by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB), opened March 8 at the Park Avenue Armory and runs through Sunday.

Some of the items on display include Shakespeare folios and quartos and ephemera, Einstein’s Bible and his letter on “God’s secrets,” a manuscript poem by Jane Austen, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s copy of the Odyssey, and the four-million-dollar Hamilton Collection, complete with a lock of his hair. There are also far stranger items, such as the “first salad monograph,” an instructional needlepoint from Shakespeare, and a shooting script from the Kurosawa classic Yojimbo.

Here is a deeper look at some of the unique items on view at the fair:

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

1) Moses Seixas and George Washington:

On August 18, 1790, on behalf of the Newport Jewish congregation (then numbering about three hundred), Moses Seixas welcomed George Washington, expressing support for his administration and hope for his advocacy of religious freedom. Washington’s letter in response, published in the Newport Mercury that September, not only echoed Seixas’s sentiments but also employed much of his rhetoric (indicated below with italics): The Citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy: a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of, as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people, that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support.

This is the only known copy of the earliest obtainable printing of Washington’s letter ($125,000, Seth Kaller, Booth A40).

2) Harriet Taylor Mill and Twenty-Two Other “Women Philosophers”:

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

Harriet Taylor Mill was the wife of John Stuart Mill and the uncredited coauthor of his foundational book On the Subjection of Women. She is one of the nearly two dozen female “intellectuals of the first order” showcased by Athena Rare Books, which is run by seller William Schaberg (most editions range in the three to four figures; Booth D19).

Athena’s catalogue of “Women Philosophers” includes household names like Mary Wollstonecraft, Margaret Fuller, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Simone de Beauvoir. Others are less well-known, such as Anna Maria van Schurman (1607–1678), the first woman to attend a European university (she sat behind a curtain, out of view of the men).

William Schaberg’s seventeen-year-old assistant and protégée, Lucy Rose DaSilva, wrote more than half the catalogue. Of psychoanalyst and author Lou Andreas-Salomé, she writes, “It is all too easy to define her by the men she entranced.” Andreas-Salomé was Rilke’s lover, the object of Nietzsche’s persistent affection, and Freud’s first female student of psychoanalysis, but her works reveal her revolutionary independence. DaSilva appreciates these physical objects and their back stories as opportunities to “humanize our gods.” She found a book at Athena (an inscribed volume of Nietzsche) she wanted to “take home and hug.” This is how young collectors are born.

3) From the Collection of: Many historic collections are in evidence at this year’s book fair. Here are just a few examples:

Frances Mary Richardson Currer (1785–1861) amassed twenty thousand volumes in her lifetime, partially through inheritance but primarily through devotion and insight. Dispersed at Sotheby’s in 1862, pieces of that collection still appear on the market. Currer’s copy of The Comedies of Aristophanes (1820, 1822) with her engraved bookplate is on sale at the fair ($1,250, Honey and Wax Booksellers, Booth E9). If you’d like to know what else was in Currer’s library, you’ll have to spend a bit more for a copy of the 1833 second catalogue she issued of her collection ($7,500, Jonathan Hill Rare Books, Booth B15).

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

Estelle Doheny (1856–1935) built her collection–just under ten thousand books and manuscripts–from scratch. Many of her acquisitions were based on bibliographies such as One Hundred Books Famous in English Literature, by the Grolier Club, the New York City–based society for book collectors. The pace and breadth of her acquisitions eventually justified a private librarian, Lucille Miller, who wrote a three-volume catalogue of the collection between 1940 and 1955. Doheny donated much of her approximately seven thousand books and 1,300 manuscripts to a memorial library in her husband’s name, but it was later sold in a series of sales at Christies between 1987 and 1989.

One such item is a nineteenth-century manuscript choir book with borders taken from a medieval illuminated manuscript ($2,300, Sanctuary Books, Booth B2).

Alfred Edward Newton’s famed collection of about ten thousand volumes, was dispersed shortly after his death in 1940. It included a copy of the 1676 Davenant sixth-quarto edition of Hamlet ($75,000, Manhattan Rare Book Company, Booth B20).

4) James Joyce’s copy of Madame Bovary: Not all readers are necessarily collectors, and “association copies”—volumes that are signed, inscribed, or annotated—show the ways in which books were held and used.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

A nineteen-year-old James Joyce acquired this edition of Madame Bovary in 1901 and signed it in his juvenile hand ($25,000, Honey and Wax Booksellers, Booth E9). Flaubert would prove a formidable stylistic influence on Joyce’s early work. This copy, which includes transcripts of the Bovary trial, was later picked up in a used bookshop by the Irish critic Ernest Boyd and bears his signature as well.

Joyce’s signature here looks quite different from his later spidery hand you’ll see elsewhere at the fair. Honey and Wax proprietor Heather O’Donnell explains: Joyce’s early signature is very different from his midcareer “James Joyce” signature, familiar to us from the signed limited Ulysses. Slocum and Cahoon, in their list of volumes from Joyce’s library before 1905, note that he typically signed “Jas. Joyce” or “Jas. A Joyce” during that period. As a very young man, Joyce was given to curlicues like those in the Bovary signature … By 1901–1902, Joyce begins to drop the decorative flourishes, but the lines of the signature remain.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

5) Women in the book business:

THE COVER WITH THE WOODBLOCK (LEFT) AND WITHOUT (RIGHT).

If Virginia Woolf is a god to you, one way to humanize her is to look closely at the books she printed and bound with her husband, Leonard, at Hogarth Press. They are often just a mess. Katherine Mansfield’s Prelude (1918) was only their second attempt at printing and binding. Mansfield had originally wanted a woodblock stamped on the cover, but after printing the first batch of copies, Woolf decided she did not like it and removed it. The version for sale is sans woodblock. The page header title changes on page 21 from “A Prelude” to “Prelude.” Despite such flaws, common to Hogarth Press productions, this copy holds delights: it is signed on the cover (faintly) and front endpaper (more vibrantly) by Mansfield’s friend, the literary patron Violet Schiff, and it later went into the library of Mansfield’s—and Woolf’s—bibliographer, Jean Kirkpatrick ($8,000, BAS Books Ltd., London).

A more aesthetically inspiring production is this 1550 missal printed by Yolande Bonhomme, the widow of renowned printer Thielman Kerver. After his death in 1522, Yolande carried on their publishing concern for another thirty-odd years. “Her long and flourishing career illustrates the independence of widows in the Parisian book business from the sixteenth century,” notes Flavie Loizon, of Librairie Camille Sourget.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

This is still evident three centuries later, as shown in an early-nineteenth-century bookseller’s license made out to a sixty-five-year-old widow named Anne Catherine Siméon Cadennée (Missal: $44,000, Librairie Camille Sourget, Paris, Booth C29. License: $1,200, Leo Cadogan, Booth C26).

6) A letter from Susan B. Anthony:

Letters by Susan B. Anthony are not uncommon, but in this one she is particularly incisive in her call for coeducation.

Working on National American Woman Suffrage Association letterhead in 1903, Anthony writes to the Greek scholar E. M. Tomlinson, professor and trustee of the coed Alfred University. She writes: Alfred was one of the first places that I visited in 1852 and I have watched your institution with a great deal of interest ever since … I do not suppose the question of segregating the sexes has ever been thought of in your college.

It is pitiful to see how Chicago University with Dr. Harper [University of Chicago’s first president, William Rainey Harper] at its head is setting an example of segregation. Did you notice that instead of increasing the number of young men of the city and from the East he is 700 short of as many as he ha[d] last year? I should think that would be a lesson to him; but none are so blin[d] as those who will not see, so I suppose he will not charge the lessening of the number of students to his invidious action with regard to women.

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

Anthony agrees to complete Tomlinson’s set of her four-volume History of Woman Suffrage and also suggests he acquire her two-volume Life and Work: “you ought to have it so every student could find it on your shelves when he comes to the inevitable moment of writing a composition on the question of woman’s rights” ($5,250, Claudia Strauss-Schulson at Schulson Autographs, Booth B17).

7) T. E. Lawrence’s working manuscript of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom:

Also on display is the only surviving working manuscript material of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Lawrence’s tenvolume memoir of the Arab Revolt. The history of the manuscript is quite complicated. Lawrence famously lost the first draft, which was 250,000 words long, at Reading station. He wrote it out again, from memory, at a length of 400,000 words. That manuscript is now at the Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin. From that manuscript, he worked on a polished version of 335,000 words. That handwritten manuscript is now at the Bodleian.

In 1922, to protect himself from loss, he had that version typed up, and eight copies were printed. Those are referred to as the Oxford Text, as he had them printed at Oxford Press. He hand-corrected five of them and had them bound. They were essentially private proof copies. Finally, he agreed to prepare the manuscript for publication—in a subscription edition of a hundred copies. He worked from the printed bound copies, editing by hand directly onto them. He destroyed the other volumes with his hand edits but sent this one to D. G. Hogarth, which is how it survived. For sale is volume eight, which he rewrote substantially, effectively making this “heavily annotated proof copy” a working manuscript ($275,000, Maggs Bros. Ltd., London, Booth E2).

In an accompanying letter from the mid 1920s, Lawrence notes that this is “an example of the more drastic revision which some of my sections have had, especially Books VIII and IX.” Those books cover the period between the capture of Jerusalem and then Damascus. He describes his 1922 version as “dull … The final effort didn’t come off very well in print, because I’m not very good at vigorous writing.” Bookseller Ed Maggs notes that “significantly the only paragraph in the whole of Book VIII which bears no revision is that in Chapter 103 (Chapter 94 in the 1926 edition), recounting the deaths of both Daud and Farraj, Lawrence’s young servants.”

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

8) Margaret Thatcher’s Musings:

In a complimentary notebook from a Concorde flight in the late nineties, Margaret Thatcher jots down Thomas Carlyle’s dictum that “history is the biography of great men” and adds a rejoinder in a strong hand: “and women” ($35,000, Peter Harrington, Booth A8).

*Pickup by Scribd

https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/03/09/eight-unexpected-highlights-antiquarian-book-fair/

March 9, 2018

NY Rare Book Week Kicks Off With International Antiquarian Book Fair

By Staff Writer

NEW YORK CITY — Bibliophiles have taken over Manhattan in what is unofficially known as New York Rare Book Week, March 8-11. It began the evening of March 8 when the “pinnacle of book fairs — Sandy Smith’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair — opened with a preview at the Park Avenue Armory. Featuring more than 200 of the finest US and international dealers (representing 19 countries), the fair presents a treasure trove of diverse material for seasoned connoisseurs and new collectors spanning rare books, maps, illuminated manuscripts, historical documents and more. Show hours are Friday, March 9, noon to 8 pm; Saturday, March 10, noon to 7 pm; and Sunday, March 11, noon to 5 pm. The Park Avenue Armory is at 643 Park Avenue. For information, 212-7775218 or www.nybookfair.com.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-rare-book-week-kicks-off-with-international-antiquarian-book-fair/

March 9, 2018

Culinary Delights and Other Fine Finds at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair From a book about a cat’s ghost to vintage French recipes, there are plenty of unusual — and expensive — finds at this fair.

By Elisa Wouk Almino

WaterFilm’s booth at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)

“It’s dangerous to collect books as a seller,” said Michael Laird, one of the rare books sellersat the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, currently at the Park Avenue Armory. “Because then you have to sell them.” And they’re not exactly an easy sell — the average price of most books at the fair is in the thousands of dollars.

At first glance, a copy of J.D. Salinger’s Nine Stories might not look so different from one you might find at a used bookstore, until you discover its “exceptional” condition will cost you $6,500. Every book on display is accompanied by a label filled with flowery adjectives to whet the buyer’s appetite. The Innocent Abroad, by Mark Twain, is described as “a very bright copy … with the scarce publisher’s prospectus,” and priced at $9,500, while “a lovely copy” of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is going for $12,500. Among the cheapest items I could find at the fair was a woman’s suffrage broadside, “Taxation Without Representation is Tyranny,” for $125.

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

Michael Laird displays the 1767 book The Revenge of Ghost Kitty

Michael Laird shows manuscript account records from 1892–1901

While most of the booksellers are as overwhelmingly reserved, white, and male as most gallerists at art fairs, there are some sellers who are eager to share their knowledge, even if you aren’t buying anything. Laird, for instance, excitedly pulled out a delicate book from 1767 about “the revenge of Merner the kitty” — an animal who goes to hell for not being buried properly. And, he says, if one item were to win the “geek contest prize” it would be his 1814 sales catalogue from the library of a “noted Dutch theologian.” Equally delightful is the business card of Electibles, a collection that specializes in childhood ephemera and books; one side of the card cites a poem titled “Book Flirtation,” from a series of Victorian “flirtation cards,” in which the first line reads, “Holding upside down, Do you love me?”

Electibles’ business card

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

Childhood ephemera at the Electibles booth

The obvious show-stopper at the fair is the first edition of Copernicus’s 16th-century text in which he argues for his heliocentric theory — going for no less than $2 million. My personal favorite, however, are the culinary offerings of Ben Kinmont’s collection.

The lists of food and drink items in these gastronomical books are like poems in themselves, from the types of wine listed in a 1829 treatise on the Art of Making Wine (gooseberry, currant, brisk, leaves and tendrils, cowslip, and apricot) to the 12 kinds of pâté listed in a 1791 French restaurant’s menu, which is described as “a truly astonishing survival.” Other highlights include Joseph Berchoux’s 1801 poem on “the pleasures of the table” that is thought to have popularized the term “gastronomie” and a 17th-century French cookbook in which “the author provides directions for folding napkins in twenty-six different forms, including one for a turkey.” One of the most surprising items is a medical manuscript from 1670-90 on eating disorders, in which the author recommends wine and absinthe as cures.

A silk menu from 1970 at Ben Kinmont’s booth

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

A watercolor manuscript of Jacques Normand’s Les Ecrevisses at Ben Kinmont’s booth

The Antiquarian Book Fair is overwhelming, with dozens of books to discover at each of the 200-plus booths. Many of the exhibitors come from either the US or France, and a lot of the time you’ll see familiar, big-name titles, from vintage copies of Ulysses to various ephemera related to Catcher in the Rye. If you dig deeper, however, you’ll find the true treasures, like a book solely dedicated to colorful silk tassels.

A book with colored silk tassels at David Bergman’s booth

George Grosz, group of eight humorous buffet signs made for Erich and Lene Cohn (1940–45) at Douglas Stewart Fine Books

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

Méot, Restaurateur menu (1791), at Ben Kinmont’s booth

A Treatise on the Art of Making Wine (1820) at Ben Kinmont’s booth

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

A French-Russian menu from 1893 at Ben Kinmont’s booth

An album of recording retailers at Marlborough Rare Books

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

An illustrated manuscript on the harmony of sounds according to colors at Librería de Antaño

David Bergman’s booth

https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory

The New York Antiquarian Book Fair continues at the Park Avenue Armory (643 Park Ave, Upper East Side, Manhattan) through March 11.

*Pickup up by Literary Hub https://hyperallergic.com/431656/new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-park-avenue-armory/

March 9, 2018

Could the Children's Books in Your Attic Fetch a Price at New York's Antiquarian Book Fair?

By Sarah Harrison Smith “The New York Antiquarian book fair is pretty much the premiere book fair in the world. It’s the planet around which the satellite of my business revolves,” said Brian Cassidy, a bookseller based in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was opening night, and he was standing by his booth in the huge hall of the New York Armory on Park Avenue and 66th street. All around him, booksellers from Japan, Germany and everywhere in between were sipping Champagne, chatting to colleagues and collectors, and showing off the very special selection of books, maps, artwork, and prints they had brought to this year’s fair.

The fair’s catalog contains a twenty-page, alphabetized list of the different categories of items on display, starting with “Africa” and ending with “Whaling,” so visitors can search out which of the 200 booths offer, say, “Slavica,” and head directly there. This year, I decided to focus on books for children. After all, many readers cherish and keep their children’s books long after childhood is past. Could the kids' books on your shelves -- or mine -- warrant a place at the fair?

If there’s one thing antiquarian booksellers have in common, it’s this: they’re all born raconteurs, with a genius for describing what makes their books special and worth their often (but not always) high asking prices. As I walked the aisles, I stopped in at booths featuring children's books, to get a sense of this year's range.

What if you have an old copy of that high school classic, The Catcher in the Rye, and wonder how much it is worth?

At least two examples were on view at the fair, though priced differently, for different reasons. Ken Lopez, from Hadley, Massachusetts, had a first edition, first printing, with an interesting provenance: the book’s publisher, Alfred A. Knopf, had given it to a young writer who came over to dinner at his house. That writer, Susan Sheehan, eventually went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for her book, Is there No Place on Earth for Me? Her husband, Neil Sheehan, won a Pulitzer too, for A Bright Shining Lie. So this particular edition has some added literary luster from its former owners.

Lopez pointed out a photo of author J.D. Salinger’s face on the back cover. That photo added to the book’s rarity, Lopez explained: “As you know, Salinger was a very private man, and he took great exception to having his photo being used on the jacket, so only the first three printings of the book have the photo on the back.” The asking price? $12,000.

https://www.amazonbookreview.com/post/83d102c8-3b0c-43bf-a656-48bf69a977d1/could-your-children-s-books-fetch-aprice-at-the-world-s-premier-antiquarian-book-fair

Raptis Rare Books, out of Palm Beach, Florida, also had a lovely edition of The Catcher in the Rye at its booth.

Matthew Raptis explained that this was a very pristine copy of this first printing of the first edition – it had probably never been read. Raptis bought for a good price from a man in Vermont who paid “about ten cents for it in 1970.”

The asking price now? $24,000. Among the other treasures of children’s literature offered by Raptis Rare Books: a beautiful first edition of Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach, signed by Dahl and by the renowned illustrator Nancy Eckholm Burkert. The dust jacket noted this was the first book Dahl wrote for children, and the first book Burkert illustrated for them. Lots of firsts make this a very sought-after volume, which could be yours for $20,000.

The catalog for Raptis Rare Books contained a listing for a signed set of Ursula LeGuin’s Wizard of Earthsea trilogy.

Would LeGuin’s recent death make these books more appealing to buyers? At John W. Knott's booth, I asked Warren Bernard about how such events effect sales. He’s the editor of Cartoons for Victory, a book of World War II-related material designed to encourage support for the war on the home front, and his collection includes propaganda cartoons and books aimed at children.

When asked whether the anniversary of the Russian Revolution, for instance, might create a surge of interest in warrelated books from that time, Bernard said, “I’ve never seen an anniversary or a new movie trend toward an uptick in sales.” However, he added, that there were exceptions. He saw sales in Tolkien editions rise with when the Ring Trilogymovies came out, and Black Panther, currently in cinemas, seems to be boosting prices for Fantastic Four and Black Panther comic books.

It’s not just first editions of famous children’s books that are on display at the fair. Brian Cassidy, the bookseller based in Silver Spring, has several books at his booth that were handmade by children simply for their own enjoyment. “I call these vernacular or folk books,” he said. One, a large-format, hand-drawn-and-illustrated manuscript called Down Home with the Bailem County Kids dates from the early 1970s and recounts the adventures of a group of ethnically diverse friends. He thinks the book originated in Texas. The asking price: $4,500.

Another one-off, created by eleven-year-old twin brothers in the 1960s, is a book-length murder mystery they wrote and illustrated with black-and-white photos of the two boys acting out scenes from the story. Cassidy said that he hadn’t advertised the book on his website because he wanted to present it for the first time at the fair. “I like to have marquee pieces that are inherently unique,” he said, and he likes his booth to have an entirely new set of books on display each year.

https://www.amazonbookreview.com/post/83d102c8-3b0c-43bf-a656-48bf69a977d1/could-your-children-s-books-fetch-aprice-at-the-world-s-premier-antiquarian-book-fair

As I walked through the last aisle of the fair, I was feeling a little sad to be leaving empty handed. But then I caught a glimpse of a beautiful edition of a children’s book illustrated by Jessie Willcox Smith, an American artist from the "golden age" whose pictures I loved as a child. This was a first edition of a particular format of Willcox’s Mother Goose, dating from the 1920s. What made it unusual was that it had all its color plates intact and was in excellent condition.

Terry Johanson, of Johanson Rare Books, told me she had bought this Mother Goose from the private collection of a family who lived near her shop in Baltimore. The original price ($2.50) was penciled on the inside cover. I desperately wanted it, but I feared the new price, almost a century later, would be out of my range. Huge relief -this big, gorgeous book could be mine for $100.

So though in the end I didn't think that any of the books in my own collection could really find a home at the fair, there was the chance that I could take something from the fair back home. Whether I would keep my purchase as pristine as its previous owners had was another question. Precious as untouched books may be, their real value -- to me at least -- is in reading them.

(Illustration from James and the Giant Peach courtesy of Raptis Rare Books)

https://www.amazonbookreview.com/post/83d102c8-3b0c-43bf-a656-48bf69a977d1/could-your-children-s-books-fetch-aprice-at-the-world-s-premier-antiquarian-book-fair

March 9, 2018

FRI-SUN, 3/9-11: SKINT WEEKEND

By Staff Writer FRI-SUN, 3/9-11: SKINT WEEKEND scroll all the way down to the ‘all weekend’ section to find events that occur all weekend (some start friday), including a 10 big art shows, high line open studios, film fests, brain awareness week, itzhak perlman in person, and more. all weekend fri thru sun: the annual armory arts week brings 10 big art shows with hundreds of galleries to manhattan, including spring/break, independent new york, nada, art on paper (discount tickets available here), and more. various locations and prices. >> fri thru sun: book on over to the 58th annual new york international antiquarian book fair (fri thru sun, park avenue armory, $25 general, $10 students) and/or the 4th annual new york city book and ephemera fair (sat, sheraton times square hotel, $5-15 general, free for students). fri thru sun: the annual shakescon new york shakespeare convention returns with performances by artists and companies that use shakespeare as a source of creativity, plus auditions, workshops, trivia and more. the center at west park (uws), $20 general, $10 students. >> sponsored fri thru 3/14: get tickets to ‘free speech firestorm’ education at 59e59 theaters for $15 with promo code ‘skint’ (reg. $35). >> fri thru 3/14: the 10th annual reelabilities film festival promotes awareness of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different abilities. various locations and prices (several events are free). >> fri thru 3/18: voilà! the 23rd annual rendez-vous with french cinema festival returns with two dozen new works and filmmakers in person at select screenings, plus two free talks, and more. film society of lincoln center (uws), $17 general, $12 students/seniors (opening night $20-25). >> fri thru 3/18: learn about the brain, interact with neuroscientists, and more at lectures, workshops, and fairs both serious and fun during the annual brain awareness week. various locations. >> fri thru 3/26: manhattan theatre source’s 18th annual estrogenius festival features 10-minute plays, music, solo shows, teen performances, visual art, and dances created by women and gender non-conforming artists. the kraine theater (east village), $15 general, $10 students. >>

https://theskint.com/fri-sun-3-9-11-skint-weekend/

March 9, 2018

Best Things To Do This Weekend In NY: March 10 And 11

By Jessica Allen

From Spanish dance to a nicely brewed cup of tea or a winter wine festival, we’ve got you covered this weekend.

Flamenco Festival Various venues New York, NY www.flamencofestival.org Can we get an “olé”? The Flamenco Festival celebrates flamenco and all its manifestations. Scheduled performers include the dancers of Ballet Nacional de España and Rosalía & Raül Refree. In many cases, your ticket not only nets you the opportunity to admire the possibilities of this Spanish dance and the human body, but you can also receive free lessons. Check out the classesand talks, including one on how the body itself might be an agent of social change. Now through Saturday, March 24, see schedule for details and ticket info.

Spring Revolution National Sawdust 80 North Sixth St. Brooklyn, NY 11249 (646) 779-8455 nationalsawdust.org Spring may have yet to, well, spring, but Spring Revolution nevertheless concludes its annual celebration of “The Rite of Spring” this weekend. The festival’s composers and performers take as this instrumental music by Igor Stravinsky, then head into new, exciting directions. Organized by a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, the Pan-Asia Sounding Festival, a shorter festival within the larger festival, puts the spotlight on music and dance from Bhutan, China, and elsewhere. Now through Sunday, March 11, see schedule for details and ticket info.

New York Antiquarian Book Fair Park Avenue Armory 643 Park Ave. New York, NY 10065 (212) 777-5218 www.nyantiquarianbookfair.com The 58th annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair offers bibliophiles the chance to hobnob with some of the world’s foremost experts of old books. You won’t find musty, dusty tomes here, but instead a rich array of lusciously designed manuscripts and books from decades (or centuries) past. Sunday is Discovery Day, a chance for mere mortals to bring their oldest books in for evaluation. You just might have a treasure in your stacks! Now, through Sunday, March 11, see schedule for details, tickets required. http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/03/09/best-things-to-do-this-weekend-in-ny-march-10-and-11/

Coffee & Tea Festival Brooklyn Expo Center 72 Noble St. Brooklyn, NY 11222 (631) 940-7290 www.coffeeandteafestival.com If you believe caffeine to be a gift from the gods, then the Coffee & Tea Festival is for you. More than 75 exhibitors from the world over will be on site, bringing their beans and their brews. Also on hand will be roasters, growers, and baristas, along with savory and sweet treats meant to compliment your cuppas. The 13th annual event also features a number of talks, including The Terroir of Tea and Coffee Brewing Perfection. Saturday, March 10, and Sunday, March 11, see schedule for details, tickets required.

NYC Winter Wine Festival PlayStation Theater 1515 Broadway New York, NY 10036 newyorkwineevents.com The annual NYC Winter Wine Festival transforms Times Square into a sun-dappled vineyard, replete with tasty grapes and vintage varietals. Carefully curated by Vintry Fine Wines, the festival offers participants access to some 250 wines from around the world, accompanied by live jazz. (There’s also a special emphasis this year on wines from our very own New York State.) We’re talking unlimited tastings and a free custom-etched souvenir wine glass. Saturday, March 10, 3 to 6 pm or 8 to 11 pm, tickets required, must be 21 or older.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/03/09/best-things-to-do-this-weekend-in-ny-march-10-and-11/

P2JW069000-4-D00100-1--------XA

Fall fashion preview: Capes, kilts and the world’s biggest coats

Neil Patrick Harris on how to pay good money to get locked in a room

D4

D11

EATING

|

DRINKING

|

STYLE

© 2018 Dow Jones & Company. All Rights Reserved.

|

FASHION * * * *

|

DESIGN

|

DECORATING

|

ADVENTURE

|

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

TRAVEL

|

GEAR

|

GADGETS

Saturday/Sunday, March 10 - 11, 2018 | D1

And Your Destination Is...

BY MATTHEW KRONSBERG AT 8:25 ON A MIDWINTER Friday morning, I’m in Terminal B of New York’s LaGuardia Airport with a small bag, a large envelope and no idea where I’m about to fly off to. About a month earlier, I booked a long weekend trip for myself with Pack Up + Go, a two-year-old Pittsburgh-based travel company that plans “surprise” vacations, sending travelers to destinations unknown—until the last possible minute.

This is the last possible minute.

My phone alerts me to an email from Jordan Tobe, the director of travel operations for Pack Up + Go. The subject line reads “Open Your Envelope! *Do NOT open this email until your envelope is open!*” Feeling a little like a finalist on a game show, I take

a deep breath, tear into the envelope and pull out a sheet of heavyweight paper. In made-for-Instagram teal script, it says: “You’re going to Chicago!”

My studio audience—a pair of heavily armed National Guardsmen standing nearby—didn’t seem to share my enthusiasm, but maybe they’ve seen it all before. After all, this is becoming something of a familiar scene in airports across the country. Companies like Magical Mystery Tours and the Vacation Hunt, both based in Washington, D.C., have made surprise vacations their specialty, while more traditionally oriented operations like Rustic Pathways, which focuses on teen travel, and London-based luxury outfitter Brown + Hudson have added mystery trips to their already robust lineups.

I snapped a picture of my placard and sent it to my Please turn to page D8

[ INSIDE ]

WHY MEN CAN’T QUIT GINGHAM Are you America’s 56,024,001st guy in a checked shirt? Consider other options D3

DINNER-PARTY HEARTY A manifesto on the joys of festively feeding a crowd D5

ROME IF YOU WANT TO An indulgent getaway whether you spend $2,000—or less than $400—a day D7

SLUMBER LIKE NO OTHER How to design a unique bedroom in a tract house D10

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, PAPER SCULPTURE BY DANIEL SEAN MURPHY

The latest in travel? The ‘surprise trip,’ where you don’t know where you’re going until just before takeoff—and someone else handles all the worrying logistics

P2JW069000-4-D01000-1--------XA

D10 | Saturday/Sunday, March 10 - 11, 2018

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL.

****

DESIGN & DECORATING ANATOMY LESSON

Sleep Uniquely

Let Your Walls Talk

In the bedroom of an architecturally lackluster 1960s ranch, an interior designer conjures an anti-generic sanctuary

Top With Brass

“The headboard was such a statement, I wanted something visually interesting so your eye didn’t go just there,” Ms. Lewis said of her sconce pick, which pops proudly against the wall. The brass back-plate of this version, inspired by vintage pharmacy lights, livens up the dark metal arm. Flynn Single Wall Sconce, $198, serenaandlily.com

BY KATHRYN O’SHEA-EVANS THE CHALLENGE FOR homeowners not lucky enough to score a finely detailed brownstone or an A-plus midcentury abode: escaping the doldrums of an architecturally featureless room. Los Angeles interior designer Amber Lewis faced such a tabula rasa in a client’s vacation getaway, a 1960s ranch house in Ojai, Calif. “We’d gutted the whole thing, and the homeowner didn’t want it to feel new and shiny, like a spec house,” she said.

Ms. Lewis infused the bedroom with personality by introducing her take on what she calls California eclectic. She imported varied textures,

starting with olive grass-cloth walls. “Any kind of wall treatment and rug that can absorb sound and make a space feel warm and cozy is how I design inherently,” said Ms. Lewis. She avoided standard-issue elements, gravitating toward collected, offbeat pieces for their nonconformist value. A clever custom move: After spotting a pile of the upholstery webbing usually hidden within sofas and chairs at one of her vendors, she decided to sheath the custom-made headboard in it. Antique throw pillows and timeworn side tables mitigate the room’s newness.

“I like spaces with personalities and stories,” the designer said. “A space should convey who you are.” Here, how she created a narrative.

And let them say nice, hospitable things. “Grass cloth is texturally beautiful and warm,” Ms. Lewis said of the wall covering she hung, adding that it also brought the lofty ceiling—which she’d painted a warm white for coziness—down to earth.

Fifth and Foster’s black and green grasscloth wallpaper will similarly swaddle.

Lepeka Dark Green, $40 per roll, fifthandfoster.com

Master the Mix

Layer in History

A 1950s dresser adds the flavor of a different era and supplies storage.

“Midcentury stuff was smaller,” Ms. Lewis said. “Their dressers are the size of a side table today.” A similar model: Peter Hvidt Tall Boy Dresser, $5,500 for two, 1stdibs.com

Benefit from Fringe

Nod to Granny

For a distinctive look, Ms. Lewis topped the bed in unconventional layers, including a handwoven patterned cotton blanket she’d purchased in Mexico. Its tasseled edges subtly separate the blanket from the similarly hued bedskirt. This look-alike, also Oaxaca-made, was woven on a foot loom. Oaxacan Tassel Blanket, $120 for a Twin, artisanrevival.net

Duvet covers with feminine crocheted edges add a note of tradition—and a bit of loveliness every time you crawl into bed. “It’s a little Old World-y,” said Ms. Lewis. “I felt a plain duvet in linen would go flat.” For a similar dose of doily chic, try this cotton import: Crochet Trim Duvet Cover, $89 for Queen, urbanoutfitters.com

Pull Up Some Floor

Fake a Fade

The bench, upholstered in carpet that’s slightly more vibrant in color and pattern than the oushak rug, adds depth.

“It’s all about layering,” said Ms. Lewis, who makes these benches from vintage carpets (often mahal rugs) and custom brass bases. The Chautauqua Ottoman, $3,295, shoppe.amberinteriordesign.com

Muted hues help soften a rectangular rug’s geometry, ideal for a bedroom. “Vintage rugs have beautiful tones with undertones you can pull out for drapery and pillows,” noted Ms. Lewis. Try this washedout wool version, less dear than the real thing. Finn Hand-Knotted Rug, from $499, potterybarn.com

TESSA NEUSTADT (ROOM); F. MARTIN RAMIN/THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (PILLOWS, DUVET COVER, BLANKET, WALLPAPER)

Pillows of vintage textiles make a space feel lived-in and comfortable, said Ms. Lewis, who often pairs a striped pattern with a floral in the same color family. Of these throw pillows, she said, “the patterns aren’t overwhelming, and they pull in the colors of the rug and ottoman.” These from Hollywood at Home approximate the larger middle pillow at left. $600 each, 310-273-6200

! ’The Book of Flowers’ (Taschen) includes more than 500 reproductions of Pierre-Joseph Redouté copper prints.

THE DEAL

Pages from ‘Flowers of the Bombay Presidency,’ a bound collection of original 19thcentury watercolors on display at this weekend’s New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.

WHICH BUD’S FOR YOU? Two books of floral art—one $70, one $60,000—vie for your bibliographical budget IF YOU’RE ANXIOUS for spring, and the daffodil nubs poking through the soil don’t satisfy, you might be in the market for a nature fix from 19th-century botanical art. This month offers two notable books at either end of the monetary spectrum: a bound folio of original British watercolors dating from 1884, priced at $60,000, or Taschen’s collection of reproductions of copper prints by French artist Pierre-Joseph Redouté (1759–1840), a mere $70. Both have their virtues.

The former, “Flowers of the Bombay Presidency,” can be viewed at the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, booth E20, through March 11. Its creators, Mary and William Butt (she drew, he painted) recorded the 202 pages of flora while living in British India.

New York artist-retailer John Derian, who has built a small empire by transforming 19th-century ephemera into home goods, said of the renderings, “They are beautiful, authentic, naive and historical, like [the work of]

explorers documenting their finds.”

Though he, like the seller’s representative, Alessandro Bisello, hopes a collector or institution buys the book and keeps it intact, Mr. Derian said he would buy any one of the renderings without a thought if they were individually priced at $300.

A far more accessible tome, “Pierre-Joseph Redouté: The Book of Flowers” offers readers more than 500 reprints of illustrations by a man who painted, printed and cataloged

the flowers of Paris’s royal and aristocratic gardens. Napoleon reportedly used one of Redouté’s publications as a diplomatic gift of state.

Mr. Derian refers to Redouté as a god of botanical artistry. Still, he irreverently recommends, as he did with 2016’s “John Derian Picture Book,” that buyers disassemble the volume and frame the prints. Even more irreverent: “Wallpapering a foyer or hallway with them would be really fun.”

—Catherine Romano

F. MARTIN RAMIN/ THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (BOOK COVER AND SPREAD)

THE REAL

March 11, 2018

The Top Items at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair From an Alexandar Hamilton collection to a book by Copernicus, the fair's executive director picks the best.

By Evan Bleier This weekend in New York City, the 58th edition of the New York Antiquarian Book Fair will be open for business at Park Avenue Armory.

Running through Sunday, the fair will host more than 200 American and international dealers exhibiting a selection of books, maps, manuscripts, illuminated manuscripts and, in one case, a lock of hair.

All of the pieces at the fair have been “carefully examined for completeness and bibliographic accuracy” so consumers can be confident anything they purchase at the fair will be legit.

Not being experts, we asked executive director Sanford Smith to detail some of the fair’s top pieces so we could get a better sense of the rare treasures that will be available this year.

Most expensive collection: The Hamilton Collection ($3.8 million)

Lock of Hamilton’s hair, and his signature, with a seal and note penned by a descendant in 1868.

Over 1,000 items by Alexander Hamilton and other founding fathers. Included: A very rare July 8, 1776 Declaration of Independence imprint – the first book printing – bound with the best early edition of Common Sense and several other significant pamphlets of the American Revolution and a lock of Hamilton’s hair, preserved in his family for generations. http://www.realclearlife.com/books/the-top-items-at-the-new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-as-told-by-an-expert/#1

Most expensive single item: De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium IV ($2.8 million)

First edition, and a very fine and crisp copy; the most important scientific text of the 16th century.

By Nicolaus Copernicus, this tome is considered the defining epiphany that began the Scientific Revolution.

Rarest book: Ain kunstreich un[d] bewert Kochbuch

The Only Known Copy MAYR, Georg. Ain kunstreich un[d] bewert Kochbuch.Dating to 1577, this work by Goerge Mayer is the only known copy of one of the rarest/oldest cookbooks in the world

Rarest item: First printing of the Petit Prince

Le Petit Prince [The Little Prince].Valued at $95,000 the sale of this painting includes a very rare drawing autographed by Antoine de Saint-ExupĂŠry.

http://www.realclearlife.com/books/the-top-items-at-the-new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-as-told-by-an-expert/#1

Oldest item: Peter Poitiers Scroll

The Peter Poitiers Scroll was originally intended to teach Europeans in the thirteenth century how biblical history was anchored in the Middle East.

This is an astonishing and beautiful illustrated early Gothic English chronicle scroll, originally intended to teach Europeans in the thirteenth century how biblical history was anchored in the Middle East.

Other notable item: Jackie Kennedy’s letters

A letter Jackie Kennedy wrote to Roswell Gilpatric.

Lion Heart Autographs is bringing three of the famous “purloined letters” Jackie Kennedy wrote to Roswell Gilpatric: confidante, possible lover, and President Kennedy’s Deputy Secretary of Defense, which caused an international sensation.

http://www.realclearlife.com/books/the-top-items-at-the-new-york-antiquarian-book-fair-as-told-by-an-expert/#1

March 12, 2018

16th Century Copernicus Book Is On Sale For $2 Million: Hill

By Pimm Fox and Lisa Abramowicz Bloomberg Markets AM with Pimm Fox and Lisa Abramowicz.

GUEST: Jonathan Hill, Founder and Owner of Jonathan A. Hill Booksellers, on pricing rare books, and highlights from the annual Antiquarian Book show, where a Copernicus was on sale for $2 million.

Running time 05:36

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/audio/2018-03-12/16th-century-copernicus-book-is-on-sale-for-2-million-hill

March 13, 2018

Favorites from the NY Book Fairs, 2018

By Rebecca Rego Barry It’s not an easy job, but someone has to do it: I spent Friday and Saturday in New York City browsing the antiquarian book fairs. This was my ninth year at the fairs, and they have never failed to amaze.

It’s simple enough to name my personal favorite from Friday at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair: the impossible-to-miss Jules Galet’s El Cuerpo del Hombre...1843-1846, illustrated with 193 striking lithographs, priced at $4,000 in the booth of Deborah Coltham Rare Books. There it was, face out, so to speak, and absolutely stunning.

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2018/03/favorites-from-the-ny-book-fairs-2018.phtml

Another favorite was a pristine, signed first US edition of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, in Fred Marcellino’s iconic dust jacket, brought by Caliban Book Shop. It was $500, and it looks like it was sold before fair’s end.

Under the glass at David Brass Rare Books, the gorgeous blue morocco Tina Miura binding of Bernard C. Middleton’s A Catalog of the Thirty-Three Miniature Designer Bindings of You Can Judge a Book By Its Cover (1998), with varicolored onlaid morocco “books,” prompted me to stop and take a closer look. The asking price was $8,500.

Two more that tempted: a copy of famous book hunter and author Vincent Starrett’s Brillig(1949) with a neat bookplate, seen in Jeff Bergman’s booth, and the advance reading copy of the first British edition of Nicholson Baker’s novel, A Box of Matches (2002), complete with a promotional book of matches, admired in Ken Lopez’s booth.

On Saturday, the NYC Book and Ephemera Fair at its new Times Square location was hopping (pictured above).

Great offerings all around, and dealers seemed happy with the new space. It was biblio-déjà vu for me and my collector husband, who turned up a publisher’s dummy of John Muir’s My First Summer in the Sierra--one of his favorite books--at Colebrook Book Barn’s booth. (At this fair two years ago, we unearthed another very cool dummy.) We also picked up a few treasures with Adrienne Horowitz Kitts at Austin Abbey Rare Books, one of which is a relatively inexpensive, little illustrated book titled Gutenberg and the Art of Printing (1871), in a beautiful decorated publishers’ binding. The author is one Emily C. Pearson, perhaps a research topic for another day. Prints Charming Soho, Inc. took a novel approach, exhibiting piles of vintage paper suited for framing. https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2018/03/favorites-from-the-ny-book-fairs-2018.phtml

Images: (Top) courtesy of Rebecca Rego Barry; (Middle, upper) courtesy of Caliban Book Shop; (Middle, lower) courtesy of David Brass Rare Books; (Both at bottom) courtesy of Brett Barry.

https://www.finebooksmagazine.com/fine_books_blog/2018/03/favorites-from-the-ny-book-fairs-2018.phtml

March 14, 2018

How a Rare Book Appraiser Passes Judgment in 30 Seconds or Less A discerning eye often means a disappointed collector.

By Jessica Leigh Hester

An original dust jacket can be the difference between a prize find and just another old book.

SYD WACHS ON UNSPLASH

ON THE MAIN EXHIBITION FLOOR of the 58th Annual New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, sprawled across the 60,000-square-foot drill hall of New York City’s Park Avenue Armory last weekend, a buzzing grid of vendors peddled books and ephemera. The oldest item was an illuminated scroll dating to the 13th century, and the priciest—a first edition of Copernicus’s study of the heavens—held an astonishing $2 million price tag. All of the thousands of items for sale were guaranteed by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, meaning that buyers could return their purchases for a full refund within 30 days if they spot unexpected defects or feel like they were misled.

In the hallway outside the entrance to the fair, there was a table full of appraisers, there to help put a value on any book brought to them. Dozens of bibliophiles queued up over the course of a two-hour appraisal blitz, bearing books and magazines with uncertain pasts and unknown values. These weren’t necessarily big-ticket antiquarians—rather, many were folks who hoped that they had chanced into a lucky find in grandma’s attic or a yard sale.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-much-are-rare-books-worth

Sunday Steinkirchner, one of the experts on appraisal duty, knows how easy it is for people to get their hopes up.

She has been selling rare books and manuscripts since 2003, and incorporated her business, B & B Rare Books, in 2005. People often call her for appraisals, either because they’re preparing to sell something or planning to insure it.

She’s no stranger to working carefully but quickly, and either making someone’s afternoon or dampening their dreams of a quick payday.

Alex Artaud was in line, holding items he hoped to have appraised. Some people lumped their books into totes and others packed them into rolling suitcases, but Artaud had his tucked inside a plastic sleeve. In particular he wanted to get a pair of trained eyes on his copy of a Weimar-era journal called Die Schönheit, a publication (the name translates to “The Beauty”) celebrating “free expression, and that includes not wearing any clothing, I guess,” he said. “But I wouldn’t call it a nudist journal.”

Cool as it is, this 1926 German periodical wasn’t worth a whole lot.

JESSICA HESTER/ATLAS OBSCURA

The 1926 issue is a tribute to Rudolf Laban, an important figure in the history of dance, and features exuberant spreads of his outdoor pageants, with dancers crouching or leaping across meadows like stags. Artaud nabbed it for a dollar at a flea market in Berkeley, California. “It was just there on the pavement, it wasn’t even protected—it wasn’t in a sleeve or anything,” he said. “I just think it was something in the house and they took it out because nobody knew what to do with it, and they figured, ‘Well, it looks old and interesting.’”

Artaud, who works as a theatrical technician, knew that Laban had worked on a robust system of dance notation, an important codification of a language often communicated through show-and-tell. He had a hunch that the periodical might be worth something when he couldn’t find any other copies online. “This one is somewhat distressed,” he said, gesturing to its distressed cover and binding, flaking like the layers of a croissant.

When his turn arrived, Artaud splayed the magazine out in front of Steinkirchner. “Right off the bat, I deal in mostly modern, first-edition English and American, so this is not my speciality,” she said. She nodded toward a colleague, who was busy with another appraisal. “I might ask Adam to help with this one, especially if it’s in German.”

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-much-are-rare-books-worth

An interior spread of Die Schönheit depicting cavorting dancers.

JESSICA HESTER/ATLAS OBSCURA

The line was sizable, the time pressure pronounced, but Steinkirchner said later that it’s pretty standard to make swift work of an appraisal. “We’ve had years and years, some of us decades, of practice,” she said. “You can usually tell right away what type of book is valuable, and what is just an old, used book.” She estimated that it takes about 30 seconds to take stock of the cover, condition, publisher, date, binding, and signature, and then hazard an educated guess about the value. (Magazines, in general, tend to be worth much less than books, with a lot depending on condition.)

A book is more likely to be valuable if it retains its original binding and dust jacket—that flimsy cover can contribute as much as 90 percent of a book’s worth, Steinkirchner explained. “People sometimes say, ‘Oh, why do you get so excited about a little piece of paper,’” she said, but “collectors want to compile objects the way the publisher issued them.” At the event, she was especially excited about a copy of Thomas Wolfe’s 1929 novel, Look Homeward, Angel, with its original dust jacket. Given its condition, with minor chips and creases, but no repairs, she appraised the volume at $2,500.

Casual collectors don’t always know exactly what to look for, she pointed out. They might dismiss inscriptions that are made out to someone specific, for example, because they’re under the impression that a note—“To Jim, thanks for reading”—detracts from the value. Quite the opposite. Inscriptions are often preferable to a pristine leaf, especially if they’re made out to somebody significant, because that makes provenance easier to track. But even an anonymous recipient is better than none at all, because the additional lettering gives appraisers evidence for establishing authenticity and sniffing out forgeries. Signature, letters, and the way the ink is pressed—all factor into to the process. “The more the author wrote, the better,” Steinkirchner said.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-much-are-rare-books-worth

An original binding adds to a book’s value.

ROMAN KRAFT ON UNSPLASH

As Artaud launched into his practiced description of his magazine, there was a lot of nodding. “Okay, great, mmmhmm, absolutely,” Steinkirchner said. “I tried finding another copy of this, and wasn’t able to,” he explained.

“I found a reference to it in a library, but that was about it.”

As he spoke, Steinkirchner quickly searched databases on her phone. “There’s two places we can look, generally, to find value,” she said. “One is the current market—what’s available now—and then we also check the auction record of what books have historically sold for.” (Rarebookhub.com is accessible via subscription, and Abebooks.com is open to the public.) Being old, or even rare, isn’t enough to make something worth a lot or money, she added.

Nothing has value without a market. In general, magazines were designed to be ephemeral and in wide circulation, and that puts a cap on their value, Steinkirchner warned. “The only reason I’m checking is because it could be something I just know nothing about, and all of a sudden, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s the one that is.’”

At events like this one, hope and reality don’t always find common ground. Rapid-fire appraisal events are needlein-a-haystack scenarios, Steinkirchner said. “One out of every 10 or 15 things has any value whatsoever, and maybe throughout the entire day we’ll see a couple things that have value in the four or five figures,” she said. That means that appraisers are most often in the business of bearing bad news.

Casual collectors often don’t know what to look for in an old volume.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Steinkirchner appraised Artaud’s find at a little less than $150, because it hasn’t weathered the years as well as some other copies in Germany, which are finely bound or in perfect condition.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-much-are-rare-books-worth

He didn’t seem disappointed. He hadn’t been hoping for anything specific—he just liked the magazine, and paid almost nothing for it. As an antidote to the things he scrolls by on his phone and the beautiful stage sets he strikes, physical objects with at least a little sense of permanence feel nourishing, he says. “When there’s something right there that has beauty,” he stretched out the words, “like handmade beauty, just one-of-a-kind things that have the care and love, that restores your faith in things.”

Even when the hopefuls handle a letdown gracefully, appraisers don’t take any pleasure conveying the news. “Most of the time, we’re saying, ‘I’m so sorry, this doesn’t really have any value—it might look old, it might look important, but, you know, really it’s this,” Steinkirchner said. She thinks accurate information is the best someone can ask for, even when it’s anticlimactic.

And then there are those rare occasions when something turns out to be as special as the owner hopes, or even rarer and more valuable. Rapid-fire appraisals are a good way to remind people that, while it’s not a good way to get rich, sifting through stuff can be rewarding for any number of reasons. “People sometimes bring stuff in and say, ‘I got rid of a house full of books, and this is what I have left,’” Steinkirchner said. “And I’m like, ‘Why did you get rid of them if you didn’t know what they were worth?’”

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/how-much-are-rare-books-worth

March 23, 2018

What 7 Book Lovers Wore to the Antiquarian Fair

By John Ortved The 58th New York Antiquarian Book Fair brought 210 sellers of rare books to the Park Avenue Armory earlier this month. Attendees included such literary luminaries as Gay Talese, Jay McInerney and Fran Lebowitz, who came to inspect precious manuscripts like a first edition of Copernicus’s “On the Revolutions of Heavenly Spheres,” on sale for $2 million. Here’s what some of them wore.

Gay Talese Age: 86 Occupation: Journalist and author What brings you here today?

I’m an antique, a walking antique among the antiques. I grew up with the printed word and I’m still part of the printed word. I don’t own a cellphone. I don’t do anything in the digital realm. I’m in the spirit of this place.

You’re famously dapper. Where’s your suit from?

This suit was made in Paris. My father was an Italian tailor. He trained under a famous uncle of his. This is a Cristiani suit: Rue de la Paix. I must have a hundred suits.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

And the shirt?

From Addison on Madison. The store is not there, but they have a factory. I know the guy.

Is that an old or new hat?

I have about 50 of these hats. It’s a fedora made for me in Colombia. In the wintertime I don’t like to wear darker colors.

I just wore black today.

Well, you’re young and handsome.

Oh stop.

I’m going to go peruse.

Nina Musinsky Age: 62 Occupation: Owner, Musinsky Rare Books What books are your specialty?

I try to find books that were produced by more marginal parts of the population.

I love your red leather jacket.

I bought this many years ago in Florence at a market and it’s been a running joke in my family, because I never wear it. I had something else planned, but it was quite cold and I went into the closet and thought, This is perfect. I can put it over my blue dress.

What about your shoes?

Harry’s Shoes on Broadway. They’re Italian. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

What are you thinking when you dress up to sell books?

Well, for this fair I dress up a little more than usual. I want to appear professional and elegant, like most women do.

Ian Kahn Age: 50 Occupation: Bookseller, Lux Mentis Booksellers You were once a lawyer?

I’m a recovering attorney. I sell what I broadly refer to as esoterica. I do a considerable amount of work in occultism, demonology, fetishism — challenging material.

What do you call glasses that attach like that at the nose?

These are from a company called Clic. When you were young, did your mother ever knit you mittens on a string?

These are the “I’m getting old and feeble” equivalent to mittens on a string.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

Are you wearing a kilt?

This particular kilt is a utilikilt, which in my not remotely humble opinion is the best of the nontraditional kilts. I am not a small man. I started wearing kilts years ago when flying long distance, because it’s orders of magnitude more comfortable.

Those are some colorful Dr. Martens.

Dr. Martens began teaming up with museums. This is their most recent: William Blake, Satan Smiting Job.

Matthew Usukumah Age: 26 Occupation: Fashion planner; street style photographer What are you looking for?

The idea is to see what books are here to enrich my own endeavors in street style photography. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

Are you wearing a three-piece suit?

No. The blazer and sweater, from J. Crew, are different shades of navy blue.

Very risky.

Yeah, I know.

You have a smart-looking bag.

Funny you should say that. It’s from Timbuk2, actually.

You’re quite a bit younger than most of the collectors here.

It’s a new collection. I feel as if having a collection is very important. I’m starting a wine collection as well.

You sound rich.

Thank my parents.

Megumi Hill Age: 56 Occupation: Bookseller, Jonathan A. Hill Bookseller You joked that it’s hard to find well-dressed people at a book fair.

Was a little bit of a tease. Most of the people coming in, their priority is different.

Your blazer really stands out.

There used to be this French tailor and fabric maker, Dormeuil, and they had a boutique here. He was a book collector. We were friends and wanted some custom-made jackets, and we asked him to create it for me. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

And the bright blue shirt underneath?

Ascot Chang. This one I like because it’s a simple, tough cotton. I wear tight cigarette pants or tight skirts, so I like the top sort of stiff and crisp.

Where do you find your kitten heels?

Don’t quote me, because I feel like a name dropper: Manolo Blahnik.

Your earrings.

These are actually a gift from another beautiful bookseller’s wife. From Paris.

Sanford Smith Age: 78 Occupation: Producer of art and antique fairs, including the New York Antiquarian Book Fair My grandfather had a joke. You’d ask him, “What’s new?” and he’d say, “I bought an antique store, nothing’s new.”

Good joke. I’ve heard that for a long time.

Your jacket and scarf combo — it’s not subtle.

No. It’s quite blatant. I found this at a craft fair in Massachusetts. It fit me right off the rack, which hardly anything ever does.

And you matched it with your scarf.

I wear scarves because I refuse to wear ties. Plus it hides my stomach.

Are those suit pants?

Normally I would wear slacks, but I was really rushed today so I wore dungarees, in navy blue. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

Where are your shoes from?

They’re Cole Haan,but bought at the outlet store.

What’s the most money anyone has ever spent on a book here?

Over a million dollars. I believe it was a leaf from the original Gutenberg Bible.

John Crichton Age: 66 Occupation: Bookseller, Brick Row Book Shop What’s your specialty?

I sell mostly 18th-century and 19th-century first editions of English and American literature.

How do you dress for something like this?

Casually. Comfortably. You’re here for a long time.

But you’re still in a jacket and bow tie.

Bow ties are comfortable.

Your bow tie is cute.

Thank you. This came from a store in San Francisco called the Hound.

Are you loyal to a particular brand of oxford shirt?

I just bought this yesterday from J. Press here in New York.

I’d call your look library chic. Is that fair?

Yeah, I like that. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

*Pickup by Wew News *Pickup by Pulse

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/23/style/what-7-book-lovers-wore-to-the-antiquarian-fair.html?login=email&auth=login-email

March 27, 2018

NY International Antiquarian Book Fair Marks 58th Edition

By W.A. Demers

Matt Westerby, archivist and specialist at Les Enluminures, examines an illuminated manuscript comprising a collection of medical recipes and health regimens for the king and court, circa 1515–25. It was bound in a contemporary red velvet binding over wooden boards.

NEW YORK CITY -“Pinnacle” is one of those thankfully rarely used sobriquets to denote a peak experience. It is not misused when it comes to the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair, sponsored each year in Manhattan by the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. It is simply the finest book fair that the world has to offer, attracting more than 200 exhibitors from across the United States and international locales to the Park Avenue Armory to offer their best examples of rare books, manuscripts, ephemera, autographs, maps, art and photography.

The show, managed by Sanford L. Smith and Associates, is the anchor for Rare Book Week, opening with a preview on March 8 and up for three days, closing on this year on March 11. During those three and half days, an amazing amount of high-quality, scarce and fine bibliographic material is laid out in a literary and historical smorgasbord for collectors, dealers, scholars and institutions.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

“It was the best book fair that I have had in my 30 years managing the show,” said Sandy Smith, who noted that it was also the highest attendance that they have ever had. “It was up in attendance and sales, and the armory was packed to the extent that we had to add a second coatroom. You know it’s a great show when dealers are busy up until 4:30 on Sunday afternoon.”

Among the slew of collectors, librarians, scholars and museum representatives streaming into the armory at the preview were about 18-20 West Point cadets, all dressed in uniform, who were apparently on a field trip into the city as part of a book course they were taking at the academy. It was a heartening sight to Smith, who said he delighted in their addressing him as “sir.”

Show regular and front-of-the-hall exhibitor Donald Heald concurred with Smith’s assessment of this year’s event.

“The show was very successful, with record-setting attendance,” said Heald. Specializing in illustrated works from the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, including Americana, natural sciences, travel and voyages, photography and others, he filled his showcases with rare treasures like John Abbot’s earliest illustrated monograph devoted to the butterflies and moths of North America, London, 1797; an 1814 first edition of a history of the Lewis and Clark expedition in North America, complete with large, folding map, and a complete portfolio of Thomas Moran’s color plates of landscape scenery of the American West.

Nancy de Bruin shows a rare illustrated book at Antiquariaat de Roo, Zwijndrecht, Holland.

This year, Antiquariaat De Roo was exhibiting for the second time, J.B. “Bart” de Roo and his sister-in-law Nancy de Bruin showing a selection of the company’s finest books and related items. Established 2004, the firm specializes in bibles, theology, history, church history and hand colored works.

One of their highlights was a pair of rare Hondius globes published by Johannes Janssonius (1588-1664) at Amsterdam in 1623 and 1648. The globes were prepared by Jodocus Hondius the younger (1597-1651), and included both a terrestrial and celestial globe with a diameter of 17 inches each.

De Roo also brought a miniature book, which, until 1897, held the record for being the smallest printed book in the world. The little book is in Dutch and titled Bloem-Hofje, which can be translated as “Little Flower Garden.” It contains an anthology of Christian phrases by C. van Lange. The binding measures .51 by .35 by .20 inches. Despite its size, the work is completely typeset, the text printed on double spreads on one side of the paper only and then stuck together to give the impression of normal leaves. Benedikt Smidt, who printed/published the work in 1674, had just moved to Amsterdam in 1673 and probably produced it as a showpiece to demonstrate his technical abilities.

He succeeded in doing so and produced this tiny but impressive masterpiece that held the record for the smallest printed book for more than 200 years.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

For visitors interested in the Reformation, there was a first edition of one of Martin Luther’s (1483-1546) polemical works titled Von der winckelmesse und Pfaffen Weihe, published in 1533 by Nickel Schirlentz Wittenberg. It contains one of Luther’s fiercest attacks on the Catholic church, especially on the subject of the Mass.

Asked about the double colons employed in her company’s name, Franklin Gilliam : : Rare Books : :, Charlottesville, Va., dealer Mary Gilliam explained that early on when her late husband was seeking a logo design, he simply used the symbol on the then ubiquitous typewriter. “I have been doing this show for about 20 years and since the new dates in March, the crowds have become larger and are more engaged with the material. Sales have also been brisk for most dealers. The armory is a wonderful location for the show – the perfect venue,” she said. Among the highlights Gilliam brought to the show were a 1771-72 printing of Virginia laws revealing a rare example of colonial cooperation between Maryland and Virginia in maintaining a lighthouse on Cape Henry; a self-portrait of Sir William Rothenstein in charcoal and white chalk; a gouache and watercolor by Ethel Bennett Schiffer, “Kneeling Little Girl with Frog,” and a collection of 21 watercolor drawings in an 1887 travel journal featuring the low countries and Heligoland.

In the rare and antiquarian book business for more than 40 years and drawing on a family avocation that began in 1876, David Brass said the collecting category is in his blood. The Calabasas, Calif., dealer had many excellent volumes on display, including a rare Cosway binding by Riviere featuring ten oval and round miniatures by Sir Edwin Landseer, RA, well-known for his paintings of animals, particularly horses, dogs and stags.

New Haven, Conn., book dealer William Reese has since 1975 been an international source for collectors of rare books and manuscripts with a burgeoning cataloged inventory that exceeds 40,000 and a general inventory of more than 65,000 items. On view here, of course, was a just select tip of the iceberg, and emphasizing the firm’s leading position in the fields of Americana and world travel spanning the Eighteenth to Twenty-First Centuries was an exceptional plate book on Mayan monuments, Views of Ancient Monuments in Central America, Chiapas and Yucatan, by Frederick Catherwood, published in London in 1844.

In a spectacular art binding by Robert Wu, this specially commissioned first edition, second issue of the 1866 D. Appleton & Company edition of Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland was a choice item in Justin G. Schiller’s booth.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

There was so much to see at the booth of London dealer Peter Harrington – a signed document by Abraham Lincoln, a second folio of Shakespeare’s plays from 1632, a first edition of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, a rare first edition of Das Kapital by Karl Marx, a first edition of The Federalist essays by Alexander Hamilton and signed photographs of Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan for starters. Pom Harrington, the firm’s owner, said that he had brought more than 120 rare books, manuscripts and photographs specially selected to be of interest to visitors to the fair. One example that he personally thought most interesting was a first edition, first impression of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, with a rare first issue jacket and a frontispiece by Graham Robertson, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1908. “Look at the price on the jacket,” he said. “Six shillings!”

More than 100 years later, today’s price for the book was in excess of $60,000.

“This year’s fair was fantastic,” reported Andrew Langston of Bauman Rare Books. “Turnout was phenomenal, and we had the pleasure of showcasing some exceptional items – most notably, a book from Thomas Jefferson’s library: The Laws of the United States, containing major legislation related to the Louisiana Purchase and marked by Jefferson’s own annotations and marginalia.”

“The fair was busy with a very good and engaged crowd. We sold well,” said Daniel Crouch Rare Books partner Nick Trimming. Among the firm’s main pieces was John Cary’s first map of the United States, issued under his own imprint, and one of the first maps in English to name the United States. Published in August 1763, it was titled An accurate Map of the United States of America with Part of the Surrounding Provinces agreeable to the Treaty of Peace of 1783.

Said Laura Light of Les Enluminures, “In general, it was a very successful fair; it seemed very well-attended – it always is, but a number of dealers commented on how busy it was. Great to see so many book lovers.”

“The show was very well-attended and sales were brisk all week,” agreed Scott DeWolfe of DeWolfe and Wood, Alfred, Maine. “Sunday the aisles were very crowded and even in the last half hour of the show we had two strong sales, and several of my neighbors also did well during the waning hours of the fair. We sold to dealers, collectors, library curators and the general public.” One of DeWolfe’s sales was to a library, which purchased Narrative and Confessions of Lucretia P. (Patty) Cannon… New York: 1842, an account of the leader of a racially mixed gang that used various methods to kidnap free African Americans in Delaware and Maryland and sell them South to the slave trade. She was eventually convicted of murdering several people and died in prison before she was scheduled to hang.

Just before the preview opened, Seth Kaller, White Plains, N.Y., was still putting the finishing touches on his stand featuring select pieces of a larger collection of rare Alexander Hamilton documents and George Washington’s draft of his first inaugural address comprising three leaves – six pages – and two fragments. Only 13 leaves are known to survive, seven are already in institutions and three in separate private collections.

The show will be back for its 59th edition March 7-10, 2019. For information, 212-777-5218 or www.nybookfair.com.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Sandy Smith has been at the helm, managing this show for 30 years.

In addition to three medieval rolls that attracted a lot of attention in the booth of Les Enluminures was this Sixteenth Century history of the Kings of England: Roger Of St Albans, Progenies regum Britanniae [The Progeny of the Kings of Britain] in Latin, an illuminated manuscript roll on parchment, circa 1505–25.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Celebrating the New York City eponymous bookseller’s 40th anniversary with a champagne toast at the fair were father and son, James Cummins II and James Cummins III.

Julian Mackenzie of Shapero Rare Books, London, checks out a recent acquisition, a collection of mid-Nineteenth Century watercolor illustrations.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Looking for old, rare and out-of-print material related to America’s historic maritime trade? Gloucester, Mass.-based Greg Gibson, Ten Pound Island Book Company, is your man.

Bibi Mohamed of Imperial Fine Books, New York City, brought a choice selection of decorative and special editions of leather-bound sets and single volumes.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Seth Kaller, White Plains, N.Y., with a display of George Washington’s draft of his first inaugural address, penned by Washington himself, comprising six pages and two fragments.

Bill Reese, New Haven, Conn., holds the Aitken Bible, the first English bible printed in America, Philadelphia 1781–82.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Richard Wagner’s signature was on offer at Schubertiade, the Boston-based firm specializing in antiquarian music, books, autographs, art and ephemera.

Cosway bindings are the undisputed peacocks of the rare book world. Traditionally bound in leather with miniature paintings inset into the covers, these beautiful bindings are named after Richard Cosway, the acclaimed English miniaturist portrait painter from the Regency era.

David Brass of Calabasas, Calif., had a choice example by Riviere featuring ten oval and round miniatures by Sir Edwin Landseer, RA, well-known for his paintings of animals, particularly horses, dogs and stags.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

John Crichton, The Brick Row Book Shop, San Francisco, with John Donne’s first book, Pseudo-Martyr, published in London, 1610.

Andrew Langston of Bauman Rare Books, New York City, with a first edition, first issue of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, signed by both the translator and the author.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Big price for a little book - $28,500. Antiquariaat De Roo brought this famous miniature book that held the record for the smallest printed book in the world until the year 1897.

At Daniel Crouch Rare Books, John Cary’s first map of the United States, issued under his own imprint, and one of the first maps in English to name the United States was on offer.

Published in August 1763, it was titled An accurate Map of the United States of America with Part of the Surrounding Provinces agreeable to the Treaty of Peace of 1783.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

A shelf of the Writings of Henry David Thoreau shown by Karen Griffin, Bartleby’s Books, Chevy Chase, Md., in a 1906 Houghton Mifflin published set known as the “manuscript edition” that consisted of 600 numbered sets with a leaf of autograph manuscript by Thoreau.

DeWolfe & Wood Rare Books sold to a library this copy of Narrative and Confessions of Lucretia P. (Patty) Cannon…New York:1842, 23, [1] pp.

The second edition was in poor condition, but only two other extant copies have been located, said the firm’s co-principal Scott DeWolfe.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Appledore Books,Waccabuc,NY, was showing an oversize photo of Moondog, New York City’s homeless musician, composer, theoretician and poet, along with a signed 1966 Andy Warhol shopping bag silkscreen and a collage by KaSoundra KaSoundra of the Rolling Stones in their late 1960s Atlamont phase and early 1970s Exiles on Main Street phase.

Another highlight brought by Mary Gilliam was Ethel Bennett Schiffer’s “Knelling Little Girl with Frog,” a gouache and watercolor, 3 ½ by 5 ¼ inches, initialed below the images. “EB | S.”

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

This self portrait of Sir William Rothenstein in charcoal and white chalk on a sheet of brown paper, 15 ¼ by 11 ¼ inches, is similar to one at London’s National Portrait Gallery and was shown by Franklin Gilliam Rare Books.

Donald A. Heald, New York City, with his showcase full of rarities.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

The “Man of the Darkest Hour,” Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), was everywhere to be seen at the show, including in the booth of Lion Heart Autographs, New York city, where David H. Lowenherz was showing a Cartier printed menu from the Waldorf Astoria where Churchill spoke in 1946 at a dinner honoring him. I has the famous Yousef Karsh (1908-2002) image of the British statesman and author and its cover is crowned by the red, blue and gold embossed coat of arms of the United Kingdom, and Karsh’s photogravure signed by Churchill.

One of 21 watercolor drawings in an 1887 travel journal featuring the low countries and Heligoland on display at Franklin Gilliam Rare Books.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

There were three medieval scrolls getting a lot of attention at Les Eluminures, Chicago. This one illustrates biblical history from Adam to Christ and was created circa 1230 – 50.

Britian’s notable prime minister Margaret Thatcher collected Christmas cards sent to her by US presidents and vice presidents between 1977 and 1995. Among examples offered by Peter Harrington were the cards of Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, Vice President George H.W. Bush (1985) and as president (1990, Bill Clinton and Hilary Clinton.)

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Printed in 1771 and 1772, Virginia laws, shown by Mary Gilliam of Franklin Gilliam Rare Books, Charlottesville, Va., reveal a rare example of colonial cooperation between Maryland and Virginia in maintaining a lighthouse on Cape Henry.

A novel presentation by Athena Rare Books, Fairfield, Conn., paired author’s head shots with their works offer.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Nick Trimming, a partner at Daniel Crouch Rare Books, London, with the firm’s centerpiece, Qianren Huang’s “Blue Map” of the World, which in Saul Steinberg fashion imagines the complete geographical map of the Everlasting Qing Empire in 1811 as a cartography including only China’s important trade partners at the time.

At Bauman Rare Books, a book from Thomas Jefferson’s library, The Laws of the United States, contains major legislation related to the Louisiana Purchase and marked

by Jefferson’s own annotations and marginalia.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Thomas L. McKenny (1785 – 1859) and James Hall’s (1793-1868) History of the Indian Tribes of North America, with biographical sketches and anecdotes of the principal chiefs, was a choice offering at Donald A. Heald Rare Books, Prints and Maps. The volumes were embellished with 120 portraits, from the Indian Gallery in the Department of War, at Washington.

Maggs Bros of London brought a complement of eight specialists to the fair due to the nature of how the firm is structured, explained its head John Maggs, shown here with Fuschia Voremberg at their booth.

The other six staff members mysteriously disappeared when the phrase “group photo” was uttered.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Justin G. Schiller was representing both Kingston, NY – based Battledore and his eponymously named firm. Theodore S. Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss, was best known for his children’s books and zany illustrations, but he also dabbled in sculpture, and here Schiller holds one of only five known original painted clay/plaster heads illustrating The Mulberry Street Unicorn, 1938.

From the collection of the late American heiress and philanthropist Huguette Clark, Barry Lawrence Ruderman, La Jolla, Calif., was presenting this whimsical pictorial view of Paris painted by the French artist and illustrator Joseph Pinchon in 1951 for Clark, who was his New York Patron.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/

Sheryl Jaeger, Sclectibles, Tolland, Conn., with an herbaria, a handmade album of pressed flowers from 1877.

Scott DeWolfe, DeWolfe and Wood, Alfred, Maine, has obtained a large archive of Walker Evans images that were once by Ernest Hemingway, The photos, he said, were apparently given to Hemingway as collateral.

Pom Harrington, Peter Harrington, London, with a first edition, first impression of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, with a rare first issue jacket and a frontispiece by Graham Robertson, London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1908. It was originally priced at six shillings and today would command northward of $60,000.

https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/ny-international-antiquarian-book-fair-marks-58th-edition/