Just released: Howl, a new film centered on the 1957 obscenity trial in which Beat poet Allen Ginsburg and City Lights bookstore founder Lawrence Ferlinghetti fought to guarantee First Amendment rights for literary works. The movie stars James Franco, Mary Louise-Parker, David Strathairn, and Jeff Daniels. In limited theaters now and into next month, the film is also available through cable video on demand service. Take two minutes to watch the official trailer:


Or you could read the poem, here.
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With the 2010 Census happening all around us here in the states, Bonhams & Butterfields' has seemingly chosen a good time to auction the very first US census from 1790, bearing the signature of then Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson (his John Hancock, seen here at left). Estimated at $80,000-120,000, this book with manuscript notes and corrections (e.g., someone scratched out the "one" in seventeen ninety-one on the title page, even though the book was published in Philadelphia in 1791) was formally titled Return of the Whole Number of Persons within the Several Districts of the United States, According to "An Act Providing for the Enumeration of the Inhabitants of the United States." This first edition was held by the family of Gideon Granger, Postmaster General under Jefferson, and is thought to be his copy.

The auction will be held in Los Angeles (and simulcast to New York) on October 4th. Another piece of Jefferson will be on the block for a much smaller sum. His signature, clipped from a larger document, is estimated at $800-1,200. 
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The collection of Helen and Michael Selzer--founders of Bibliofind--is up for grabs at New England Book Auctions on Tuesday. Cool provenance aside, there are several pieces worth noting, such as a signed 1925 edition of Faust featuring illustrations by Harry Clarke (one seen here at left). The estimate is $400-600. There's also an original Leonard Baskin watercolor portrait of Benjamin Disraeli, also estimated at $400-$600; a first edition of John Harris' Lexicon Technicum: Or an Universal English Dictionary or Arts and Sciences for $600-900; a signed first edition of Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead estimated at $3,000-5,000; and a group of Philip K. Dick novels for $300-500. We're only seeing the highlights here, so it looks a bit miscellaneous, but an interesting sale nonetheless. 
Book collectors come in all shapes and sizes.  Some of us collect genre fiction (mysteries, for example).  Others collect topically (e.g., books about gardening). Yet others collect a favorite author or authors (Dickens, perhaps, or Herta Müller). Very few book collectors, though, seem to try to collect everything that is published by a particular publisher.

Of course, there always are exceptions.  Lots of folks try to collect everything published by The Folio Society.  Others make an effort to collect everything published by The Olympia Press.  But I've never encountered anyone trying to collect everything published by the likes of McGraw-Hill or HarperCollins.  The larger and less specialized a publisher is, the less likely it is that folks will have the interest, time or money to collect everything that the publisher has on offer.  (The Folio Society strives to publish finely printed, finely bound illustrated books at near-trade prices.  Olympia Press focused on publishing authors and topics that other publishing houses wouldn't touch.)

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I have discovered that I frequently am able (when wandering about some dusty labyrinth of a bookstore) to spot a specialty publisher simply by searching out odd and/or quirky titles.  If, for example, I spot a run of titles like

  • The British Milkman
  • Beach Huts and Bathing Machines
  • Peat and Peat Cutting
  • The Archaeology of Rabbit Warrens
chances are I've stumbled across a specialty publisher.

It was in just such fashion that I recently discovered, to my great delight, the specialty titles published by Shire Publications. Founded in 1962 by John Rotheroe, this British publisher has, over the past five decades, issued some 1000+ attractive paperbacks devoted to topics long ignored by most larger publishers: rural histories, mechanical and electrical bygones, household bygones ... what larger publishers often denigrate as "nostalgia" or "heritage" titles.  

As Steven McClarence noted in an appreciative 2008 article for The Times of London, up until fairly recently one was more likely to encounter a Shire title at collectors' fairs, country shows, local history conventions, re-enactment weekends and vintage transport rallies than in a bookshop.  This has changed with the company's recent sale to Osprey Publishing, a change seen most readily in the publisher's attractive, easily navigated new website.

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Despite a recent facelift for most of its bookcovers, Shire still rarely publishes more than a few thousand copies of each title.  The aim is to remain focused on "the interests of ordinary people, however unusual or obscure their passions might be."  As McClarence observes, [t]he resulting books are pocket celebrations of enthusiasm, erudition and eccentricity, pitched somewhere between the academic expert and the weekend hobbyist.

(Folks interested in trying to collect all Shire titles, most of which--despite being long out-of-print--remain quite inexpensive in the aftermarket, might want to start with Rotheroe's own 1992 title 30 Years of Shire Publications: A Bibliography for Collectors 1962-91, depicted above.  This was updated in 2007 with the online only publication of 45 Years of Shire Publications: A Bibliography for Collectors 1962-2007.)
What would you like to ask an author at Saturday's National Book Festival? 

I'll try to serve as a personal backstage pass for some Fine Books & Collections readers if you send me questions. 

Here's how this will work: I'll step into the media tent off and on throughout the day with notebook and i-phone in hand. You send me a question via Twitter @chrislancette. I'll pick some of the most interesting questions and see if I can ask them to the author of your choice on your behalf. In your Tweet to me, simply start with the author's last name and ask your question. Throw in the hashtag (#NBF) for the festival so everyone can follow the kinds of questions that you propose. Your Tweet would look like this once you Follow me:

@chrislancette: Remnick: What most surprised you about researching Obama biography? #NBF.

That's all there is to it. I'll do what I can to get some answers for you, sharing them in a blog post I'll write after the event. If authors give me answers short enough for a Tweet, I'll respond as soon as I get the answers and can use the Twitter app on my phone. If you're not a Twitter user, visit Twitter today and check it out. It's a lot of fun.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for a series of Tweets from the festival. To help you get started forming your questions, check out the National Book Festival blog post I wrote the other day.

Look for me in person if you're at the event. I'll be the guy wearing a gray t-shirt with the bearded face of Henry David Thoreau on it. I'll see if I can hit our editor up for a little gift or two for the first few people who spot me and mention Fine Books & Collections magazine.

Tweet away, loyal readers.

Jonathan Shipley

Jonathan Shipley is a freelance writer living in Seattle. He’s written for the Los Angeles Times, Gather Journal, Uppercase, and many other publications.


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You can now have Shakespeare at your fingertips. Literally!
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Superheroes in Court! Lawyers, Law and Comic Books, a new exhibit at the Lillian Goldman Law Library at Yale Law School, displays the more playful side to library exhibits (and collecting in general) that is a breath of fresh air. In a year during which comic collecting seems to have spun wildly into the mainstream, Yale's exhibit has perfect timing, as well. It is guest curated by Mark S. Zaid, Esq., a Washington, D.C. attorney who specializes in national security law and is also a major comic book collector and dealer. Pictured here at right is a comic from his collection, Crime Detective Comics no. 8 (Jay-June 1949).

Worth reading (and not replicating) is the New York Times review that ran last week. National legal correspondent John Schwartz surveys the evidence, pronounces a good verdict, and interviews the witnesses. From the article: "Tons of lawyers are collectors," he said. Like Mr. Zaid, they might have read and collected comics as children but let the hobby lapse as they made their way through college and started their working lives. "They come back to it once they settle into a career and a family and they have disposable cash," he said -- though he added that many are "closet collectors" who ask, "Can I be a professional and still play with comic books?"

Good question -- but I won't comment without my attorney present.

The exhibit runs through December 16.  
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The countdown clock on the official home page of the National Book Festival shows me (as I write) that I have to wait 3 days, 14 hours and 43 minutes for the launch of this year's event on the National Mall. That's too long: The Mall is the planet's literary hot spot for only one day each year and it's a day that just doesn't come soon enough.

Even the Librarian of Congress is fired up.

"We are delighted to be celebrating this 10th anniversary of a beloved event for book lovers of all ages," James H. Billington said. "We will have a lineup of authors to thrill festival-goers."

The nation's book-lover-in-chief is talking about thrilling people but he's not exaggerating. There is something for everybody this Saturday. I've learned from past mistakes that the key to getting the most out of the event (it's not too late for out-of-towners to find hotel rooms) is to make a good plan in advance. Check out my blog post "Confessions of a 2008 National Book Festival Rookie" so you don't repeat my errors.

If you remember nothing else, absorb these tips: 

  1. Plan to spend the whole day there because you'll be mad at yourself if you stroll in late. I suspect I'll arrive a little before the official opening at 10 a.m. and organizers will have to throw me out at the 5:30 p.m. closing time.
  2. Study the official Web site from the Library of Congress in the first paragraph above so that you can decide which of the some 70 authors you most want to see. Buy the books of highly popular authors long before you need to get in their line for an autograph.
  3. Determine your purchase transportation strategy: I put saddle bags on my bike and can carry many pounds of books there, plus more on my back. If you're taking Metro, bring a backpack and know how much weight you can carry.
  4. Bring your smart phone and follow my Tweets from the event. You can follow me on Twitter @chrislancette. If you're not coming to D.C., live the event through me vicariously. I expect to send no shortage of Twitter missives about #NBF.
  5. Be kind and patient with the authors and volunteers. Organizing the National Book Festival is no easy trick. 
You want best-selling authors? The Mall is going to be flooded with them. How about the internationally acclaimed Isabel Allende, Jane Smiley and Scott Turow. Need a thriller to pump some adrenalin into your day? Brad Meltzer will be waiting for you. Prefer something for younger readers? Katherine Paterson will be there. Seeking great new insight on President Barack Obama? Biographer Remnick won't let you down.

Love history? Don't even get me started (and good luck edging me out for a spot in those autograph lines!).

Wait ... I know that Fine Books & Collections' fans have the most sophisticated tastes of all the biblio-nuts. You want something a little more high-brow -- the top-shelf stuff. Satisfy that craving with Orhan Pumuk. The Turkish author won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006.

I'm too fired up to sleep tonight -- and I've still got 3 days, 13 hours and 57 minutes to go.



Guest Blog by Lillian Cole, Twelfth St. Booksellers

In less than a year, I've lost two of my favorite bookseller colleagues. Jean Marie Parmer of Parmer Books, San Diego, California, passed away November 27, 2009 at age 72, much too young at heart to leave us so soon.

She was a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA), the San Diego Booksellers Association, and founding member of TomFolio, an international co-op of independent dealers. She was often seen at antiquarian book fairs, buying and selling, frequently triumphant with a mountain of rare first editions in hand, she wrote articles for various bibliophilic websites, and participated as panel member of the Antiquarian Book Seminar in Denver.

Jean started her own rare book business, Parmer Books, which husband Jerry and later, Robin Nosan, joined full time within a few years. Her interest in polar books was ignited by a visit to the Old Globe Theatre where she saw Ted Tally's play, Terra Nova, the tragic story of Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in 1912. Parmer Books specialized in polar, travel and exploration, nautical, and Americana.

Early on, Jean and Jerry embraced the rapidly developing technology, the computer and the Internet and created Book Stacks, an inventory software for the Macintosh. Because my mind was stubbornly closed to the encroaching powers of the Internet, they offered to help me find books and are responsible for opening me up to the great possibilities of finding the huge variety of gem and jewelry books that I have since accumulated for my own business. This selfless act of friendship is just a hint of the deeply generous spirit that I was so privileged to know.

Jean's warm and gracious spirit nurtured her garden, her family, and her friends with her very big, loving heart. She was a bookseller's bookseller, fair, knowledgeable, honest, and brought that same gift to her creation, Parmer Books.

Henry Polissack, antiquarian bookseller and antique jewelry seller and specialist, in Northampton, Massachusetts, died May 5, 2010, just short of his 71st birthday, too young, too soon.

He was a member of the Massachusetts & Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers and the British Society of Jewellery Historians. His passion for collecting beautiful things started with his early collection of antique pens, and within ten years, built one of the largest collections in the United States, which when completed was sold, en bloc. While searching for these beautiful pens, he became fascinated with antique jewelry, which he ultimately turned into a business where he was well known and loved as evidenced by the moving tribute by Diane Singer in the Newsletter of the American Society of Jewelry Historians. His passion for the jewels led him to build a library on the subject and his book business was a natural result of his soon overflowing collection of books on jewelry, gems and related topics. Henry pursued books with a passion, and found me listed in a book trade directory as a specialist in books on gems and jewelry, and was usually the first caller when my yearly catalog was mailed out.

He formed the La Prima Jewelry-Book Collectors' Club specializing in books about jewelry, gems, history of jewelry, engraved gems, crown jewels, noted jewelers and goldsmiths, travel and adventures related to them, and created twelve catalogs between 1999-2007. During our many long telephone conversations about our books of our special interest, he confided his decision to build the finest, most comprehensive collection of books in the field in the United States and vigorously pursued them nationally and internationally, building a collection of over four thousand volumes. He loved building collections, and when satisfied that he had the best, the scarcest, the rarest, the most significant and important books in the field, he offered them at auction with Swann. They advised him that because of its size, there should be two auctions, and so there were, the first on March 20, 2003, and the second scheduled for May 27, 2004. The first took place the day after the United States bombed Iraq; nevertheless, though sparsely attended, there was much phone bidding activity and the auction was successful. The two catalogues of Books on Gems and Jewelry, The Henry Polissack Library are a great source of reference and are in my own reference library, together with all twelve catalogues issued between 1999-2007.

Another remembrance of Henry written by Mary Murphy Hammid in the Journal of the Geo-Literary Society tells of her visit with him at his home in Northampton, where she saw the enormous volume of books in his private collection as well as the inventory for his book business, evidence of the overflow of his obsession, his "splendid addiction," his "gentle madness." Henry was honest, knowledgeable, a lovely man, a wonderful friend and colleague who I admired and respected with deep affection.

--Thanks to Lillian Cole for this homage to two great bibliophiles. 

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Climate control, computer chips, and closed-circuit cameras: The Vatican Apostolic Library reopened today after a three-year renovation. Before (pictured here the Sistine Hall, courtesy of Wikipedia), and After -- click to see a slideshow of some breathtaking photos of the library's interiors and treasures, though the captions are terrible ("Old Books are displayed in the reading room," yes but what is it?!).