After a well rehearsed tour of the historic Palmer House in Stonington, Connecticut, I felt compelled to take pictures of a rambling stone fence. Taking advantage of the early morning light and a fresh coat of morning dew, my lens spied an odd shaped building with slanted roof. Shaped like an ark with a long wall of windows, the Richard W. Woolworth Library pays tribute to the brave souls who sacrificed everything to help build their new America.

Catalogue Review: Peter L. Masi, #213

Peter L. Masi is a bookseller out of western Massachusetts, a member of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers and The Ephemera Society, and a generalist with a broad selection at affordable prices. He calls his most recent catalogue a "basic mixed bag," which is always fun to rummage through.

As he points out on his blog, his stock is "primarily American, primarily non-fiction." Here he has more on textiles than usual, due to a deaccession from the American Textile History Museum. The rest runs the gamut from advertising to Yale University. And speaking of Yale, he seems to have a fair amount of college and university-related material, especially from New England schools.

In the books about books category, I was excited to see a New York Public Library commonplace book--published for its "Literary Lions" in 1990--with the bookplate of Annie Dillard. Surely a bargain at $25. For library lovers, he also has a 1905 leaflet, A Village Library, from the Brimfield, MA, public library for $15.

In regional books, he has both Massachusetts Beautiful ($25) Connecticut Beautiful ($20), written and illustrated by the famous artist/furniture maker/antiques expert/collector Wallace Nutting. The contain photos and drawings of scenery and homes in the area.

A neat find resides in his medicine section -- a stapled booklet from 1969 called Narcotics: the Communist Drug Offensive. It's a ten-page article from American Opinion magazine (John Birch Society) that links drug proliferation to a Communist plot ($10).

Few items are priced over $100, which means you can browse AND buy from this catalogue. Always a good thing.

The New England Chapter of the ABAA is holding an "unseminar" at Dartmouth College on September 14, 2011 entitled New Tools: Marketing Approaches, Platforms, & Technologies for Antiquarian Booksellers.

Take a look at the beautiful cover of John Piper in the Watkinson: An Illustrated Checklist -- it is letterpress printed and features a stylized representation of the baptistry window of Coventry Cathedral, designed by Piper.

This slim catalogue was just published in an edition of five hundred to honor the gift of William J. McGill, who donated his collection of books and ephemera related to the British artist John Piper to the Watkinson Library at Trinity College. McGill's essay about Piper and the collection explains why he--"I am not an art collector, but a book collector"--should be so interested in a British artist. By way of example, he discusses Brighton Aquatints, a folio of twelve etchings and aquatints, as well as Piper's collaborations with poet John Betjeman. An annotated checklist of some two hundred items follows.

This production is an example of the continuing good work of Richard Ring, head curator and librarian of the Watkinson Library at Trinity College and author of The Bibliophile's Lair blog (also a former FB&C book review editor!). In his introduction, Ring says he hopes the publication rallies students, that McGill's collection and donation might be an "inspiring model."

The twenty-four-page paperbound book can be purchased directly from Oak Knoll.

A common complaint in the rare book trade is the lack of young collectors.  In America, we have the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest to draw some attention, and offer some support, to young collectors just starting off.  Our northern neighbors offer the Canadian National Book Collecting Contest for collectors under 30.

Seventy antiquarian booksellers--Adrian Harrington Rare Books, Between the Covers, Brian Cassidy, and Quill & Brush, to name a few--will be on hand at this year's Baltimore Summer Antiques Show coming up Aug. 25-28 at the Baltimore Convention Center.

Imperial Rare Books is bringing this very handsome set of Twain in twenty-five volumes (seen above). It is the autograph edition of which this is #260 of five hundred with a tipped-in signed note by Twain. Bound in full olive green calf with gilt edging. The price tag: $22,500.

M.S. Rau Antiques is highlighting its leatherbound six-volume set of books that catalogues the collection of George and Florence Blumenthal, well-heeled Jazz Age collectors of paintings, sculptures, furniture, drawings, and more. Printed in 1926 in an edition of two hundred, this is #162. Priced at $3,850.

Beyond books, five hundred other exhibitors will show furniture, silver, art, porcelain, jewelry, glass, textiles, and more. A full exhibitor list is here: http://www.baltimoresummerantiques.com/Exhibitor_List_2010.asp

Guest Blog by bookseller Garry R. Austin

The Searles Castle Book Fair was held the last weekend of July in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in the heart of the Berkshires. This fair has been run for a number of years by Bernice Bornstein who also produces the "Shadow Show" to the Boston ABAA Show in November. Bernice is a good-hearted bundle of energy, frenetic, dedicated and has a memory for people's names and business history that is nothing short of amazing. Years ago she and her late husband Hal, ran the "Woburn Antique Show" three times a year, with about 400 dealers in each show with a waiting list as well. Today in the "Castle," the number of dealers is about sixty, the floor plan is fluid given the nature of the rooms in this late 19th century mansion, columns here and there, large pieces of furniture that can't be disturbed, a Veranda that is utilized, a stage and a lovely painted ceiling in the Music Room. The price of admission is worth the walk through in this remarkable facility that now houses the John Dewey Academy, a private school. And it's the Berkshires in high season!

This fair has a very good mix of dealers and there are always a number of finds that make the weekend fulfilling and profitable. This year's event was no exception. What was noteworthy was that amidst a time of depressing economic news, high unemployment numbers, passionate debate on debt ceiling deals, debt downgrades, and what market analysts term uncertainty, this fair seemed to be immune to those pressures. There were interesting books to be found. The trade was engaged and buying, and the public that attended also contributed to a healthy "handle" for the affair. Without naming names, at opening there was a line, and on that line were some of the more well known, sophisticated, high-end booksellers of the ABAA. One of the great tell-tale signs of a vibrant fair is the number of patrons carrying packages. Folks were browsing and clutching their previous purchases. One dealer was observed folding up a case from his table mid fair, he had sold all the books in it. I'm not claiming that everyone had a successful show, that rarely happens, but the stars seemed to be aligned and there were plenty of buyers there, both from within and without the Trade. The material was a cut above the average regional fair, was reasonably priced in most cases and was moving. It was a very good weekend, and many of us left in an optimistic mood. So I'll be back next year as I assume will most of this year's exhibitors too.

Garry R. Austin
Austin's Antiquarian Books
Wilmington, VT

Abebooks has a cool feature up on their website displaying twenty-five of their favorite retro monster covers.  As a confirmed lover of pulp covers, I enjoyed browsing through the lurid illustrations and sensational titles.  It got me thinking about my own childhood and some of my favorite monster illustrations from children's books; in particular the ones that stuck in my head and crept back in the nighttime to haunt my dreams.

If you're off to Italy this fall or just thinking about it, there are two events to put on your itinerary. The 8th Annual Artelibro Art Book Festival will be held September 22-25 in Bologna. Antiquarian booksellers, contemporary publishers and printers, artists, and collectors gather here to celebrate the art of the book with lectures, special events, and, of course, opportunities to buy. It sounds like a dream vacation. Last year, Artelibro attracted 55,000 attendees.

The theme of the 2011 fair is archaeology/archaeologies. To read more about this year's specific events and dealers, go here: http://www.artelibro.it/en/introduction/

Stay on in Italy for an extra week or so to attend the 27th Florence International Antiques Fair (a.k.a. the Florence Biennale), which will be held October 1-9 this year at the Palazzo Corcini. Not only is it one of the most important art exhibitions in the world, about ninety dealers will be on hand with fine art, antiques, and books.

The French gallery, Les Enluminures, will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary by participating in the Biennale for the first time. One very special item they will show is a 'Gradual,' an illuminated choir book in Latin (pictured above, courtesy of Les Enluminures) in its original binding, metal hardware, and leather decoration from the Olivetan monastery where it was made and used. Les Enluminures also plans to bring manuscript leaves and cuttings, miniatures, paintings, and a thirteenth-century signet ring.

Then, you can go see David!