Once in a while a serious literary novel comes along that appeals to the very bookish among us, even if it doesn't focus on academic manuscript sleuths (for example, Possession) or book dealers (The Cookbook Collector), or medieval scribes (The Name of the Rose). The recently published debut novel, Mr. Chartwell, by Rebecca Hunt is one such book.

The premise of the book is, at first, hard to swallow. It's England, 1964, and Esther Hammerhans, a young library clerk at the House of Commons, has advertised for a boarder. What shows up on her doorstep is a big black dog who calls himself Mr. Chartwell. He walks, he talks, he drinks gin; little by little, Esther lets him in.

Winston Churchill enthusiasts will understand the 'black dog' reference, as the great man once characterized his depression as such. Indeed the 89-year-old Churchill plays a prominent role in the novel, and it is in portraying the struggle and desperation of these two characters--Winston and Esther--that Hunt is at her best. She certainly takes risks with this novel, which she pulls off for the most part. Her agility with language is impressive, and Mr. Chartwell can be a very satisfying read for those willing to play along.

Published first in the UK, Mr. Chartwell was praised as "daring," "quirky," "original, tender, and funny," by the national papers. Here, reviews seemed mixed. Publishers Weekly found it "very original" and "clever," while Tadzio Koelb for the New York Times Book Review thought it "strained."

Judge for yourself. To read an excerpt published by the New York Times earlier this month, go here.

I've always been a big fan of Stephanie Bruno's weekly newspaper column the "StreetWalker." An architectural historian and preservation consultant, R. Stephanie Bruno is a contributing writer for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. In her recent guidebook titled New Orleans Streets: A Walker's Guide to Neighborhood Architecture, she assembles her best work and explores the true culture of the Big Easy. Imagine a memoir for a city so full of life that it can only be told through its architecture and the people who live there. Bruno has a whimsical appetite for the city she loves, and her prose will delight both locals and tourists alike. From vivid descriptions of the storied streetscapes to chatting with curious neighbors...beyond the obvious...beyond the iron-laced balconies, it's an intimate look inside our sacred neighborhoods.

At the upcoming Heritage auction in New York City on April 7-9, rare Charles Dickens manuscript material, serialized parts, first editions, theatrical broadsides, and period photographs will find new owners (of course, if you want to get a head start or won't be in NYC, you can place bids online). Ten years in the making, this is an amazing collection, and I've taken the opportunity to talk with the collector, Victor Gulotta, about how he built the collection and why it's time to divest.

RRB: Victor, I know from your work with Nicholas Basbanes that you have a literary profession. Tell us about yourself and how you came to be a collector.

VG: My background is in book publishing. After studying literature in college, I landed a position with a small, scholarly publisher, where I edited manuscripts and promoted books. As a promotion specialist, I went on, over the course of sixteen years, to head publicity departments at several trade and scholarly publishing houses. Later, I started my own company, Gulotta Communications, Inc., a full-service PR firm for authors and publishers. As a literary publicist, I continue to represent fiction and nonfiction authors.
 
While the authors I represent are very much alive, the ones I collect are decidedly dead. Looking back at the genesis of my collecting, I'd have to say that it was in grade school when I began a systematic effort to acquire books. I loved our local library in Brooklyn, but found returning books a bit frustrating: I wanted to keep the books I'd read, so I could refer back to them at my convenience. The solution was in the copies of Scholastic and Tab books I would order through my school. Each month, our teachers, most of whom were nuns, would announce to their respective classes that a shipment had arrived. Then they would bring in the boxes of books and dispense them to the beaming students who had placed orders. I always felt sorry for the kids who emerged empty-handed.
 
I chose books from different genres, including American and English lit (which included Dickens novels), history, biographies, science, and science fiction. Now I had books I could read, reread, and cherish. I began to assemble a nice collection of paperbacks, eventually supplementing or replacing them with hardcover editions. Much later on, I discovered the joy of first editions. Thus began my collecting.
 
RRB: Your focus has been Dickens, and that's the collection up for auction in April by Heritage. Why Dickens, and how long did it take you to put this collection together?

VG: Dickens has long been my favorite English novelist. I suppose it's his treatment of social injustice that I find most compelling. Then there are all the other reasons to love Dickens--too numerous to go into here. Suffice it to say that I never grow tired of his fiction, nor of accounts of his life.

I began collecting Dickens in earnest in 2001, shortly after selling my Longfellow collection, a fourteen-year project, to Harvard. The connection between Longfellow and Dickens, who were trans-Atlantic friends, was in the back of my mind when I shifted gears. I've saved a letter in which Longfellow reflects on his 1842 visit with Dickens in England.

It took me ten years to build my Dickens collection. It reflects my deep appreciation for the life, not just the works, of this great novelist.

RRB: What are your buying methods -- visiting shops, perusing catalogues, attending fairs, searching online? Has one dealer been especially helpful?

VG: When I collected Longfellow, there were several dealers--people like Jim Randall at Ahab Rare Books in Cambridge and David O'Neal in Boston--who always kept me in mind for special material. In the early stages of collecting Dickens, I relied in part on Heritage Book Shop in Los Angeles (not to be confused with Heritage Auctions in Dallas). They were legendary Dickens specialists, and I acquired a number of parts issues from them. As I advanced in my collecting, I drew from a multitude of sources.

I continue to buy from diverse sources, in particular because my interests are more varied these days (in addition to nineteenth-century literary material, I collect early printed volumes and medieval manuscripts). When I can, I visit shops, but I buy primarily from auctions and online listings, fairs when they're in town, catalogues, and occasionally from individuals.

RRB: For many book collectors, the best part of collecting is the chase. Which of these items was the most fun to "find"?

VG: Undoubtedly, the most satisfying find was the Autographed Quotation Signed (AQS) of Little Nell's death scene in The Old Curiosity Shop. Dickens penned this piece while in Boston during his first American tour, in 1842. Dickens AQsS rarely come on the market; I acquired this piece some years ago at a small local auction. It had not seen the light of day for decades before.

RRB: Why have you decided to sell the collection?

VG: Collections are fun-filled, intellectually stimulating projects. I collect a lot of historical--mostly literary--material. Collecting fuels my interest in, and knowledge of, a particular subject, whether it's an author, a genre, or a period. When I reach the stage of accomplishing what I've set out to achieve--and that usually means a collection has been formed to my satisfaction--I move on. In the case of Longfellow, that meant finding an appropriate institution to house the collection.  With Dickens, I've chosen to go the auction route, in part because he was more of a public figure--it seems appropriate that his letters, portraits, first editions, and other material should be made available to his many fans, especially on the eve of the bicentenary celebration of his birth (2012).

RRB: Do you have a favorite piece, one that's most difficult to part with? (I just love the red wax seal with Dickens' crest -- it seems so personal.)

VG: Besides the aforementioned Little Nell manuscript item, I'd have to say that I will most miss the photographs. Comprising several lots, there are two dozen cartes de visite, a couple of cabinet cards, and a large albumen photo, each a contemporary image of Dickens. Like the autograph material--and the wax seal you mention--these images provide a personal connection to Dickens. Yes, you can read a Penguin paperback copy--or better yet, a first edition--of David Copperfield, his most autobiographical novel; or treat yourself to the meticulously detailed 1952 biography of Dickens by Edgar Johnson, and you'll make a deeply personal connection with the great novelist, but spend some time with these photos, taken from life, and you'll add a new dimension to your appreciation for Dickens.

To read more about the Gulotta Collection, read this article written by HA's rare books manager Joe Fay in the company's January newsletter. Our thanks to Mr. Gulotta for spending some time with us.

Catalogue Review: Peter Harrington 75

One of FB&C's contributors sent Peter Harrington's most recent catalogue to me this week with a ringing endorsement. Many of you will recognize the name of this London rare books firm and bindery, which has been in business since 1969. Catalogue 75 runs 117 pages, showing 75 lots of manuscripts, incunabula, and first editions, in a glossy paperbound format. Indeed it is better looking than most publishers' paperbound books.

A first edition of Robert Burton's The Anatomy of Melancholy... (1621) is one of the first items in the catalogue that slows my flipping. The popular title is in handsome sprinkled calf with an ownership inscription of civic leader W. Whiteway from the year following publication (£32,500).

Just a few pages later my flipping hits a dead stop. This time caused by a manuscript record kept by Rev. H. S. Cotton of the convict executions at Newgate prison in 1812. An amazing piece of history, macabre and illicit, almost the basis for a good screenplay (£5,000). Take a look at some interior pages on Harrington's website.

The spread showing a first edition of Gray's Anatomy, twice presented to eminent doctors (£12,500), shows off the solid design of this catalogue. The images are attractive, and the well-written descriptions lengthy enough to give rich details.

There are so many high points here that a peruse feels luxurious. A Cromwell document with his autograph, the Doves Press Bible of 1903-1905 together with a specimen page from the press, a full set of the 1797 (third edition) Encyclopedia Britannica bound in diced russia, the first edition in English of Nostradamus' True Prophecies, Mary Wollstonecraft's major work uncut in original blue boards, and many others. The 1759 first edition of Candide offered near the end of the catalogue is bound in the most gorgeous mottled calf with gilt decoration on the spine (£60,000). See it here.
 
To download a PDF version or view the catalogue, click here.

My thanks to Peter K. Steinberg for bringing this to my attention. 

That's the question recently posed by the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

From the piece...

The library/sunroom in Jim Noble's 19th-century Minneapolis house is all about the books. Leather-bound volumes, many of them antiques that have been in his family for generations, fill floor-to-ceiling shelves that line an entire wall. "It's nice to have books around. They add so much ambience," said Noble, a principal with Noble Interior Design. "I hope we never live to see the day that books are eliminated from the home."

Michael Jones also loves books. But his loft condo in Minneapolis doesn't have space for a traditional library. He still buys books but downloads a lot of his lighter reading material on his Kindle. Recently he added a custom built-in bookshelf to his living room -- mainly to display his art collection. "I was running out of wall space," he said.

The two homes illustrate the role books have traditionally played in the American home -- and the role they may play in the future, as e-readers continue to revolutionize our relationship with the printed word.

Say you love Henry David Thoreau as much as I do and that you would like to join me in lending his legacy a hand? Outstanding. Here's how.

The Alexander House Booklovers' B&B in a historic district on the eastern shore of Maryland is up for sale. Owner Elizabeth Alexander, who has successfully run the literary-themed inn for eight years, gaining national attention from BudgetTravel, The Today Show, Fodor's, and The Washington Post, must leave the business for health reasons, she told me by email earlier this week. The Victorian house has four bedrooms and four bathrooms (plus a shop within that sells antiquarian books).

For an asking price of $445,000, almost everything is included (antique furnishings, linens, cookware, dishes, etc.), even a week of innkeeper training. A photo tour, a property map, and more details are available on a website specifically set up for real estate purposes.  

Over the next week or two, three auctions that might be off your radar should merit your attention. One is a complete surprise, from the University of Michigan. They announced today a closed-bid auction of more than three hundred lots of duplicate or donated material. "The material offered for sale is representative of the collecting strengths of the Special Collections Library and includes books, serials, and pamphlets in the following broad subject areas: American Literature, English Literature, Children's Literature, History, Mathematics, Social Movements, and Transportation History." Proceeds will benefit the UM Special Collections Library. Can I just say how delighted I am by this auction? It is so heartening to see material like this--some ex-lib, some not--being offered to book lovers, collectors, and other institutions who will treasure it. In the past (and even in the present), libraries might have pitched this stuff. Other topics include Fine Press & Bibliography; Early Books; Anarchism; Classics; Picture Books; etc. You will need time to peruse the list before the deadline of March 25, so get started.

Stair Auctioneers & Appraisers of Hudson, New York, has an interesting two-day auction this weekend, beginning with paintings, works on paper, and architectural drawings on March 19, and followed by furniture, Americana, silver, and carpets on March 20. So what's so interesting to me? Slipped in on March 20 is the "partial library of the late Louis S. Auchincloss." Auchincloss was a fine historian and novelist, who portrayed the upper classes with wit, biting at the heels of Henry James and Edith Wharton. He passed away in January of 2010. The short list contains some historic documents, leather bindings, books inscribed to him, and random literature, all worth a look. A video preview is here.

Lastly, from March 17-April 7, Christie's International is holding a "Bid to Save the Earth" Green Auction. The categories are broad--entertainment, music, travel, sports, etc., but the art & collectibles category proves fun to browse. Limited edition prints and posters, private tours at galleries and museums, and "experiences," such as a session with a professional photographer, are all up for bidding. To read more, go here.