Penguin does it again.
The upcoming Penguin Threads collection were designed and embroidered by artist Jillian Tamaki. Booklicious has a small gallery of what's in store, here.
Penguin does it again.
The upcoming Penguin Threads collection were designed and embroidered by artist Jillian Tamaki. Booklicious has a small gallery of what's in store, here.
Catalogue Review: Brian Cassidy, No. 5
After a brief break for the NYABF coverage, I'm back to Catalogue Reviews on Fridays. This week, a catalogue I picked up at the NYABF. For those of you who don't know Brian Cassidy (here he is in the Washington Post last fall), he's a young bookseller who has carved out a niche in pop culture, poetry, the avant-garde, little magazines and small presses, and "outsider books of all kinds." He gravitates toward items that are "intrinsically fascinating," which means that a look through his catalogue is sure to surprise (and sometimes shock!).
In this catalogue, for example, you run the gamet from five transcripts of spiritualist medium messages from sessions held in Brooklyn, NY, in 1904-1905, during which the medium channeled Disraeli ($375) to the first visitors guide to Disneyland printed in 1955 ($125). A mimeographed flier for a Columbia University sit-in in 1969 is another intriguing find ($125). A "special galley" of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest signed by Wallace will surely find an owner quickly ($750).
For modern poetry collectors--particularly The Beats and the New York School--Cassidy has many items of interest in this catalogue, and many with great associations. Michael Palmer to Diana Di Prima; Adrienne Rich to Louise Bogan and May Swenson; Theodore Roethke to his wife; Charles Bernstein to Ray Di Palma. The highpoint here may be a copy of Charles Bukowski's If We Take with a long inscription and illustration by Buk to Harold Norse. Cassidy calls it "one of the closest Bukowski associations we've seen" ($5,000).
At the NYABF, Jeremy Dibbell pointed out one of Cassidy's curiosities to me: a beautiful manuscript that very skillfully recreates two seventeenth-century Puritan tracts. Produced in the mid nineteenth century for an unknown purpose and bound in a leather journal, Cassidy describes it as "bibliographic trompe-l'oeil." It's very cool to see ($2,000).
Kurt Cobain and Neil Armstrong as bedfellows? Yes, in Brian Cassidy's No. 5. Download the PDF here.
After a brief break for the NYABF coverage, I'm back to Catalogue Reviews on Fridays. This week, a catalogue I picked up at the NYABF. For those of you who don't know Brian Cassidy (here he is in the Washington Post last fall), he's a young bookseller who has carved out a niche in pop culture, poetry, the avant-garde, little magazines and small presses, and "outsider books of all kinds." He gravitates toward items that are "intrinsically fascinating," which means that a look through his catalogue is sure to surprise (and sometimes shock!). In this catalogue, for example, you run the gamet from five transcripts of spiritualist medium messages from sessions held in Brooklyn, NY, in 1904-1905, during which the medium channeled Disraeli ($375) to the first visitors guide to Disneyland printed in 1955 ($125). A mimeographed flier for a Columbia University sit-in in 1969 is another intriguing find ($125). A "special galley" of David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest signed by Wallace will surely find an owner quickly ($750).
For modern poetry collectors--particularly The Beats and the New York School--Cassidy has many items of interest in this catalogue, and many with great associations. Michael Palmer to Diana Di Prima; Adrienne Rich to Louise Bogan and May Swenson; Theodore Roethke to his wife; Charles Bernstein to Ray Di Palma. The highpoint here may be a copy of Charles Bukowski's If We Take with a long inscription and illustration by Buk to Harold Norse. Cassidy calls it "one of the closest Bukowski associations we've seen" ($5,000).
At the NYABF, Jeremy Dibbell pointed out one of Cassidy's curiosities to me: a beautiful manuscript that very skillfully recreates two seventeenth-century Puritan tracts. Produced in the mid nineteenth century for an unknown purpose and bound in a leather journal, Cassidy describes it as "bibliographic trompe-l'oeil." It's very cool to see ($2,000).
Kurt Cobain and Neil Armstrong as bedfellows? Yes, in Brian Cassidy's No. 5. Download the PDF here.
Photolucida is a non-profit arts organization that holds what it calls a Portfolio Reviews Festival every other April. The 2011 event begins today, April 14, and runs through Sunday. At this event, gallery owners, curators, critics, collectors, and publishers gather in Portland, Oregon, to review fine-art photography from professional, mid-career artists.
This year, Lauren Henkin, who has produced two photobooks in the last two years, will be giving a talk on Saturday during lunch. The title of her talk is, "Turning Toward Books: Shifting Focus."
In our current (spring) issue, writer Nicole Pasulka took at a look at the strengthening market for artists' photobooks. The recent publication of Publish Your Photography Book by Darius D. Himes & Mary Virginia Swanson is likely to add more muscle. So says the first line of copy on the interior flaps of that book: "We live in the golden age of photography books."
This year, Lauren Henkin, who has produced two photobooks in the last two years, will be giving a talk on Saturday during lunch. The title of her talk is, "Turning Toward Books: Shifting Focus."
Silence is an Orchard, Henkin's second photobook, was released earlier this year. It exhibits fourteen images from Maine's Acadia National Park. Limited edition of thirty, plus five artists' proofs. $650.
In our current (spring) issue, writer Nicole Pasulka took at a look at the strengthening market for artists' photobooks. The recent publication of Publish Your Photography Book by Darius D. Himes & Mary Virginia Swanson is likely to add more muscle. So says the first line of copy on the interior flaps of that book: "We live in the golden age of photography books."
The American Library Association has declared today to be National Bookmobile Day. How many readers and collectors out there got their start with a bookmobile passing through town? Novelist and book artist Audrey Niffenegger is the honorary chair. She wrote a graphic novel last year called The Night Bookmobile, featuring a mysterious bookmobile that "contains every book she has ever read, from her childhood diary to college textbooks to Gravity's Rainbow, complete with bookmarks."
Another bookmobile to follow today--the gypsy wagon bookmobile belonging to Wandering Book Artists Peter and Donna Thomas.
For those of you who enjoyed reading about Greg Boehm's collection of bartending and cocktail books in our spring issue (or those of you who are still in a New York state of mind), here's a great video tour of Greg's Cocktail Kingdom. He shows off the oldest book in his collection, discusses jacket art, and talks about how his books are shelved and why.
Yesterday was another full--productive, surprising, humbling--day of looking at books. I started off at the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair, otherwise known as the 'Shadow Show,' and I'm so glad that I did. It's a smaller and more casual atmosphere (also more affordable) than the show uptown, with about fifty dealers. For younger and beginning collectors who might be intimidated by bigger, flashier shows, this is a perfect fair to get one's feet wet.
I was happy to meet new bookseller Daniel B. Whitmore of Whitmore Rare Books, Pasadena, CA, who specializes in modern firsts and whose catalogue has a good amount of first editions from which popular films were made. Melissa Sanders told me that they already sold the Tim Burton manuscript we featured on the blog last week. I enjoyed poking around in the booths of Wilfrid M. de Freitas of Montreal, Richard Mori of Mori Books of New Hampshire, and The Country Bookshop of Vermont. John and Tina Bruno of Flamingo Eventz are very welcoming hosts too.
I was happy to meet new bookseller Daniel B. Whitmore of Whitmore Rare Books, Pasadena, CA, who specializes in modern firsts and whose catalogue has a good amount of first editions from which popular films were made. Melissa Sanders told me that they already sold the Tim Burton manuscript we featured on the blog last week. I enjoyed poking around in the booths of Wilfrid M. de Freitas of Montreal, Richard Mori of Mori Books of New Hampshire, and The Country Bookshop of Vermont. John and Tina Bruno of Flamingo Eventz are very welcoming hosts too.
Mention the city of New Haven to most bibliophiles, and they will immediately think of the world-renowned Yale University Library, or perhaps the antiquarian bookselling firm William Reese Company. Fair enough: even many of us book people who call New Haven home are completely unaware that the only remaining membership library in Connecticut is tucked away on the upper floors of a building on Chapel Street, where it has served members since 1878.A long, fun day at the New York Antiquarian Book Fair! One of the best parts of a major book fair such as this is meeting up with old friends, or new friends with whom you've only corresponded via email. Here we all are, book people.
I saw many amazing things today. At Ken Lopez's booth, I was so pleasantly surprised by a galley of Nicholson Baker's The Fermata coupled with John Crowley's manuscript notes, taken while he was reviewing Baker's book. Very cool! At PRB&M, Cynthy Buffington Davis showed me a handful of treasures, the one that comes quickly to mind is a microscopic edition of the Declaration of Independence printed on card stock in 1836.
I saw many amazing things today. At Ken Lopez's booth, I was so pleasantly surprised by a galley of Nicholson Baker's The Fermata coupled with John Crowley's manuscript notes, taken while he was reviewing Baker's book. Very cool! At PRB&M, Cynthy Buffington Davis showed me a handful of treasures, the one that comes quickly to mind is a microscopic edition of the Declaration of Independence printed on card stock in 1836.
And now for the grand finale of our Preview Week here at the FB&C blog: 9 Items Not To Miss at PADA's Spring Show on Sunday. Looks like music and politics are quite popular this year!
1. Herndon-Lincoln letter (seen above, courtesy of the Raab Collection). You've seen Lincoln letters before, you say? This one is "a newly discovered primary resource," says Nathan Raab. Just this week, Raab announced this special find. The letter, written by Lincoln's law partner, William H. Herndon, sheds light on the president's religious beliefs, calling him "a Theist & a Rationalist." The letter will be on display at both the NYABF & PADA. $35,000
1. Herndon-Lincoln letter (seen above, courtesy of the Raab Collection). You've seen Lincoln letters before, you say? This one is "a newly discovered primary resource," says Nathan Raab. Just this week, Raab announced this special find. The letter, written by Lincoln's law partner, William H. Herndon, sheds light on the president's religious beliefs, calling him "a Theist & a Rationalist." The letter will be on display at both the NYABF & PADA. $35,000
In addition to the two auctions we previewed earlier in the week and the NYABF at the Armory this weekend, there is one more (small) auction & two other shows going on in NYC this weekend. Wow! Who has the energy for it all?
On Friday evening, over at the Center for Book Arts on West 27th St., Richard Minsky will be toastmaster and auctioneer at the Center's Annual Benefit and Silent Auction. According to the CBA site, "This year's theme is "Signs of Life," inspired by a Victorian naturalist's desk." The evening features live music, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and gourmet cake, besides, of course, the work of many wonderful contemporary artists. To view some of art up for auction, click here.
The CBA event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. To read more or buy tickets, click here.
On Friday & Saturday, the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair (a.k.a the 'Shadow Show') will be held at at the Altman Building on W. 18th St., and on Sunday, the Professional Autograph Dealers Association (PADA)* will hold its annual fair at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South.
What dealers will exhibit at the Shadow Show? James Arsenault & Co., Lame Duck Books, and Whitmore Rare Books, to name just a few. Click here to see a longer list.
Melissa Sanders of Ken Sanders Rare Books told us about a really neat Tim Burton manuscript that they're bringing. Seen above, it's an early treatment for Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton wrote the seven-page document on a legal pad and pitched it to ABC as a television special in the early 80s, but they declined. A highly original item, offered at $15,000. I'm hoping to see it when I visit on Saturday morning.
*In tomorrow's preview, we'll look at the 9 Items Not To Miss at Sunday's PADA show.
On Friday evening, over at the Center for Book Arts on West 27th St., Richard Minsky will be toastmaster and auctioneer at the Center's Annual Benefit and Silent Auction. According to the CBA site, "This year's theme is "Signs of Life," inspired by a Victorian naturalist's desk." The evening features live music, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and gourmet cake, besides, of course, the work of many wonderful contemporary artists. To view some of art up for auction, click here.
One of the items up for bid is Composition by Candace Hicks, which Minsky blogged about while at the Codex Fair back in February and wrote about in his column for our spring issue.
The CBA event runs from 6 to 9 p.m. To read more or buy tickets, click here.
On Friday & Saturday, the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair (a.k.a the 'Shadow Show') will be held at at the Altman Building on W. 18th St., and on Sunday, the Professional Autograph Dealers Association (PADA)* will hold its annual fair at the Helmsley Park Lane Hotel on Central Park South.
What dealers will exhibit at the Shadow Show? James Arsenault & Co., Lame Duck Books, and Whitmore Rare Books, to name just a few. Click here to see a longer list.
Melissa Sanders of Ken Sanders Rare Books told us about a really neat Tim Burton manuscript that they're bringing. Seen above, it's an early treatment for Nightmare Before Christmas. Burton wrote the seven-page document on a legal pad and pitched it to ABC as a television special in the early 80s, but they declined. A highly original item, offered at $15,000. I'm hoping to see it when I visit on Saturday morning.
*In tomorrow's preview, we'll look at the 9 Items Not To Miss at Sunday's PADA show.
