Wait, another book on Paris? Mais oui, mes amis. This one doesn’t need translation, however; photographer Nichole Robertson’s lighthearted visual tour of the City of Lights highlights the various bookstores, libraries, and cafes infused with a rich literary history—think the Abbey Bookshop, Librarie Jules Verne, and les Deux Magots. Peppered throughout are witticisms opined by the likes of Gustave Flaubert: “Do not read as children do, for amusement, or as the ambitious do, to educate themselves. No, read to live;” and British poet Renée Vivien: “I’m infected with the romantic fever. It began in my teens when I read Baudelaire in secret.”

Literary Paris includes the exact locations of every spot photographed in the book, as well as an excessively abridged timeline of the literary history of Paris, which ends in 1964 with the posthumous publication of Ernest Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast. Has nothing happened in Parisian literary society since? Surely, Patrick Modiano’s 2014 Nobel Prize win deserves a mention, as should Lélia Slimani, whose The Perfect Nanny was a national bestseller in both the United States and France. That said, Robertson is a devoted Francophile—her previous works include Paris in Color, and Paris in Love (both Chronicle Books)—and her photographs here will entice anyone to book a weekend flight to this most wonderful and resilient city.

In 1866, a teenage Bram Stoker lurked in the shadow of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. What was the future author of Dracula up to? He was headed to Marsh’s Library to present his letter of recommendation from his Trinity College tutor, G.F. Shaw, gaining him entrance to the stacks. He consulted about twenty volumes there over two years, according to the new exhibition, Bram Stoker and the Haunting of Marsh's Library.

Stephen King’s first published novel, Carrie, about a bullied high-schooler who uses telekinetic powers to exact revenge, was released in hardcover in 1974 and met with moderate success. But it was the mass market paperback that appeared the following year and sold over a million copies that launched King’s decades-long reign in the world of horror and speculative fiction.

Coming to auction next month in New York is the original cover art for that mass market edition, a watercolor and acrylic illustration on paper collaged over board by James Barkley. Signed twice by the artist, the piece is titled A Girl Possessed of a Terrifying Power. For many of King's fans, it is the image that offered an entrée to the King of Horror. One imagines that that would make it beyond desirable for his collectors, too. The auction estimate is $4,000-6,000.

Five auctions to watch this week:

At ALDE in Paris on Tuesday, May 28, Reliures Originales & Livres Illustrés Modernes, in 343 lots. Rating the top estimate is a copy on vellum of Marcel Schwob's Vies Imaginares (1929), at €12,000–15,000. André Malraux's Et Sur la Terre (1977), with illustrations by Chagall, could fetch €8,000–10,000. A copy of Hégésippe Moreau's Le Myosotis (1893), accompanied by an album of original artwork and correspondence relating to the publication of the book, from the library of the publisher, is estimated at €4,000–5,000. 

Chiswick Auctions sells Rare Books & Works on Paper on Wednesday, May 29, in 308 lots. A first edition of Rumphius' D’Ambionsche Rariteitkamer (1705) could sell for £10,000–15,000. Estimated at £8,000–12,000 is a first edition in book form of Collodi's Le Avventure di Pinocchio (1883). Quite a good mix of lots in this sale, making the catalogue worth a browse.

On Thursday, May 30, Forum Auctions sells Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper, in 540 lots. A 1790s manuscript map of Upper Canada by Joseph Bouchette shares the top estimate (£20,000–30,000) with an ex-library copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997). A copy of the 1500 Augsburg edition of the Nuremberg Chronicle is estimated at £10,000–15,000, as is a set of the first book issues of Dickens' Sketches by Boz (1836–1837).

Also on Thursday, Fine Books & Manuscripts – Food & Drink at PBA Galleries in 429 lots. Expected to lead the way at $20,000–30,000 is a collection of 219 engraved plates from Johann Christoph Volkamer's works on citrus (1708–1714). A set of Churchill's The World Crisis (1923–1931) inscribed by Churchill in the second volume to H.H. Asquith is estimated at $10,000–15,000. A copy of the earliest American issue of Huckleberry Finn (1885) is estimated at $5,000–8,000.

Rounding out Thursday's sales is a 276-lot auction of Autographs & Memorabilia at Chiswick Auctions. An 1803 letter from Charles William Stewart to his father the Marquess of Londonderry about his introduction to Napoleon is estimated at £6,000–8,000. An ink drawing of Mary Poppins with her umbrella (pictured above) by costume designer Tony Walton could sell for £3,000–4,000.

 

On June 12, New York’s Lion Heart Autographs, Inc. will offer at auction the prison diary kept by a British Royal Air Force Officer imprisoned by the Nazis during World War II.

As part of a 175-piece sale, this diary belonged to Joseph Gueuffen (1914-2009), a POW held at the Luftwaffe’s Stalag Luft III camp. The Belgian-born Gueffen was shot down by the Germans three months after he joined the RAF.  He spent the remainder of the war at Stalag Luft III until being returned to England in May 1945.

Gueffen’s grey-blue, linen-covered diary, issued by the Red Cross and the international Young Men’s Christian Association, includes pencil sketches of pin-ups, a man (presumably Gueffen) in uniform, cartoons, and drawings of Block 109 where Gueffen was held. History buffs may recall that the detainees of that ward were some of the masterminds behind the “Great Escape” of March 1944, when fellow RAF POW Roger Bushell developed a plan to tunnel to freedom. Of the nearly 600 prisoners who participated in the tunneling, only 76 escaped and 73 were recaptured. One entry includes the list of the fifty men executed after attempting to escape. The 1963 film, The Great Escape, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Charles Bronson, was based on the event.

The bidding starts at $3,500 and will be live-streamed at www.invaluable.com. See this and other lots, including a note from spy Mata Hari, here.

The unofficial kickoff to summer is upon us! Whether you will find yourself in London or Edinburgh, Chicago or Portland this summer, there are many antiquarian book fairs and book festivals to keep in mind, including: 

Granite State Book and Ephemera Fair (now known as the Northern New England Bookfair). June 2. Everett Arena, 15 Loudon Rd., Concord, NH.

Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair. June 7-9. Battersea Park, London.

Printers Row Lit Fest. June 8-9. South Dearborn Street, Chicago, IL.

Nantucket Book Festival. June 13-16, 2019.

Rose City Book & Paper Fair. June 14-15. Doubletree Hotel, 1000 NE Multnomah, Portland, OR.

Chicago Book & Paper Fair. June 15. Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Union Hall.

ANZAAB Australian Antiquarian Book Fair. July 12-14. Wilson Hall, The University of Melbourne, Australia.

GonzoFest (a Hunter S. Thompson celebration). July 20. Louisville Free Public Library, Louisville, KY.

Detroit Festival of Books. July 21. Eastern Market, Sheds 5 and 6, Detroit, MI.

Newberry Library Book Fair. July 25-July 28. Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., Chicago, IL.

Tennessee Antiquarian Book Fair. July 27-28. The Factory, 230 Franklin Rd., Franklin, TN.

Rocky Mountain Book & Paper Fair. August 2-3. Denver Merchandise Mart - Expo Building, I-25 at 58th Ave., Denver, CO.

Edinburgh International Book Festival. August 10-26. Address: Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland.
 
PulpFest. Aug. 15-18. DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, 910 Sheraton Dr., Mars, PA.

Baltimore Summer Antiques Show. Aug. 29-Sept. 1. Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, MD.

The Library of Congress National Book Festival. Aug. 31. Address: Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.

Our Bright Young Librarians series continues today with Courtney Asztalos, Curator of Plastics and Historical Artifacts at Syracuse University.

What is your role at your institution?

I am the Curator of Plastics and Historical Artifacts at the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) at Syracuse University Libraries (SUL). I maximize student and faculty engagement with SCRC holdings of rare plastics artifacts and collections by creating and delivering interactive instructional sessions and curating exhibitions. I photograph and inventory artifacts for inclusion in the Libraries' Plastics Collection Website and arrange for optimal storage of the objects. I also work with donors to further develop the collections.

Tell us about the plastics collection:

The Plastics Collection at Syracuse University Libraries serves as a research and programming resource to advance the study and understanding of plastics in modern society, including its role in chemistry, technology, industry, marketing, health, art, design and other fields. The Plastics Collection includes books, periodicals, manuscripts and over 5,000 plastic objects produced from the late 19th century to the present day. The collection holds a variety of early plastics made of celluloid, thermoset plastics such as Bakelite and Catalin and plastics made popular after WWII. The archival collection contains material related to important plastics companies and pioneers in the field of Plastics. The collection expanded dramatically in 2008 when the National Plastics Center and Museum located in Leominster, Massachusetts closed and transferred its collections of artifacts, books and manuscripts to Syracuse University (SU). This acquisition expanded the Libraries’ already significant holdings in industrial design, science, and technology.

How did you get started in special collections?

As an artist, my own work has been collected by several Special Collections libraries before being employed in this field. I remember admiring Special Collections as spaces that supported artists actively through artist book collecting. My undergraduate education in Studio Art and Photography at Florida State University frequently brought us to the Special Collections there. I was always so inspired when handling and seeing the materials. Prior to graduate school, I worked in various roles, ranging from art handler to Curatorial Assistant for Performing Arts Curator Raelle Myrick-Hodges at the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC) in New Orleans. I left New Orleans to pursue a Master's degree in Art Photography from the Transmedia Department at SU. Before, during, and after graduate school I often coordinated, curated and organized contemporary art exhibitions in a variety of spaces. I was awarded the opportunity to teach courses both as a TA and as the sole instructor of record during my graduate program and post-graduation when hired on as an adjunct. This teaching experience was invaluable. While in graduate school, I was awarded a semester-long artist-residency program in Los Angeles, where I gained experience at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) as a curatorial intern working with Edward Hayes Jr., Curator of Exhibitions. Working in these various roles at both the CAC and MOLAA prepared me to thrive in an environment where staff at smaller institutions wear many hats. After the semester residency program in Los Angeles, I was especially drawn to SCRC as a grad student researcher because it was a hybrid between a museum and a library—notably with the Plastics Artifacts Collection and photography collections. I completed a semester of independent study as a research assistant for our former SCRC Director, Dr. Lucy Mulroney. Post-graduate school, I was hired as a media preservation assistant working with describing, photographing, and rehousing the physical media collections at SCRC's Belfer Audio Archive. I also began to teach history of photography instruction sessions at SCRC. Once my contract was up for the media preservation assignment, I was then hired to photograph artifacts for inclusion in the Plastics Collection website before being hired on in my current position. I’ve been in this role for a year now and am so grateful to be here—SCRC is such a vibrant place to work. On top of having such amazing collections, the staff here are so friendly, helpful and knowledgeable about the unique collections here—their enthusiasm is energizing.

Favorite rare book / ephemera / plastic that you've handled?

Favorite plastic artifact from the Plastics Artifacts Collection? There are so many—it's so hard to choose! I love anytime I can interact with the Albany Billiard Ball Company billiard balls, union daguerreotype cases, celluloid combs, Bakelite Corp. artifacts, Henry Ford’s soybean-based fiberboard license plates and many of the historical plastic samples with unique packaging. I enjoy reviewing plastics product literature—i.e., Catalin product pamphlets and Lucite Boudoir catalogs. We are also just digitizing for inclusion in our online collections the Antique Comb Collectors Club Newsletters, written and edited by a rotating group of dedicated and curious antique comb collectors from 1987 to 2014. The network of "combers" is fascinating and shows a truly unique community that gathered around the history of hair ornaments. For teaching, I love pulling our Baby Brownie Kodak camera designed by Walter Dorwin Teague and "Residential" saucers designed by Russel Wright. Teaching with these artifacts allows me to also share materials from both Teague's and Wright's manuscript collections and talk about how the Plastics Artifacts Collection intersect with our Industrial Design collections.

What do you personally collect?

8-track tapes! I love the combination of image, sound, and (plastic!) form.

What do you like to do outside of work?

I love working on creative projects—individually and collaboratively. I love listening to music, traveling, reading, and cooking.

What excites you about special collections librarianship?

Teaching with the collections and fostering curiosity and creativity. I love empowering students to investigate, interpret and explore plastics' material culture—it is such a crucial time to connect with how our cultural relationship with plastics began and evolved. By illuminating, sharing, uncovering, and encouraging hands-on instruction with our materials, each session is an opportunity for students to consider how this material shaped the 20th century and reflect on their relationship to plastic.

Thoughts on the future of special collections librarianship?

As technology advances, there is so much potential to work with departments across campus in new and exciting ways. As VR and 3D printing technology advances, I look forward to seeing how the field will combine this technology with instruction and digitization. I've enjoyed a partnership with SU Art Instructor Jacob Riddle in collaborating with his Digital Fabrication students to 3D scan plastics artifacts and "remix" them in VR and 3D printing. I've also been very excited to partner with Syracuse Chemistry of Artifacts Project (SCOAP) from SU’s Department of Chemistry. SCOAP is identifying the chemical composition of our plastics artifacts using the nondestructive technique of Raman spectroscopy. There is still much to figure out in the future on how to integrate plastics conservation in a Special Collections context.

Any unusual or interesting collection at your Library you'd like to draw our attention to?

I’m a huge fan of our fabulous collections and could go on… For now, I will point to the plastics-related Foster Grant Collection—it includes product literature, catalogs, photographs, as well as early correspondence related to the Foster Grant Heart-Lung Pump between Dr. Sigmund Wesolowski, Dr. Herman Sugarman, and Robert Ward. If you like the Foster Grant Company, then you can also find in our Plastics Artifacts Collection many Foster Grant sunglasses, molds, and material samples used in the manufacturing process of eyewear.

Any upcoming exhibitions at your Library?

Syracuse University is celebrating its sesquicentennial next year, and our University Archivist Meg Mason is curating “150 Years of Tradition at Syracuse University” to open Fall of 2019! I'm currently working on an exhibition about Edwin Bushman—a Plastics Engineer and pioneer in the fields of acrylic and fiberglass products—for our Plastics Pioneers Reading Room.

The first paparazzo? Jerome Zerbe may have some claim to the title, as the New York Times noted in his 1988 obituary, “He was one of those who in the 1930's pioneered the type of photography adopted decades later by the paparazzi: candid shots of socialites and entertainers out-on-the-town and eager to be seen.” Yet Zerbe wasn’t hounding celebrities for their photographs, they were posing for him, often with the blue-and-white zebra decor of New York City’s famous El Morocco supper club in the background.

Zerbe became the former speakeasy’s first official staff photographer* in 1934, and he snapped thousands of shots there over five years. About three hundred of his blue duotone images were published by the club’s owner in a volume titled John Perona’s El Morocco Family Album in 1937. Zerbe later became the photo editor at Town & Country magazine and did some commercial photography; glamorous parties and beautiful people remained his subjects of choice.

A trio of auctions this week:

Bubb Kuyper holds a massive sale from Tuesday, May 21 through Friday, May 24, totaling 6,126 lots. See their Order of the Sale page for information what will be sold when, and their Invaluable page for the full catalogue. An eighteenth-century manuscript map of Timor could fetch €15,000–25,000, and a manuscript songbook from around 1600 is estimated at €12,000–15,000.

Vintage Posters at Potter & Potter on Wednesday, May 22, in 724 lots. This sale catalogue certainly makes a fun browse! The top estimate goes to a ~1895 poster for "The World's Greatest Psychic Sensation," Samri S. and Miss Baldwin ($4,000–6,000). Lots of interesting Disneyland and airline posters.

On Thursday, May 23, Graphic Design at Swann Galleries, in 273 lots. At $40,000–60,000 estimates we find two 1919 posters by Wladyslaw Strzeminki, "[Create the 'Week of the Red Gift' Everywhere]" and "[The Organization of Production is Victory over the Capitalist System]" and a 1926 Peugeot poster by Charles Loupot (pictured). Another Loupot poster, for Twining tea (1930), is estimated at $30,000–40,000.

After the 2013 publication of Nick Basbanes’ On Paper, book artist Tim Ely called the author and requested the unbound sheets of the book, just as they appeared off the press. Basbanes’ editor kindly obliged, and off On Paper went to Washington State to Ely's art studio where he forges one-of-a-kind, handmade books that have been compared to illuminated manuscripts for their impeccable detail and expression.

Basbanes didn’t hear from Ely for five and a half years, but considering that Ely's work is found in private collections as well as the Library of Congress, Yale University, Smith College, The Victoria and Albert Museum, the Lilly Library, and the Boston Athenaeum, there was hardly any rush. Then, earlier this spring, the artist sent Basbanes a note saying the book was ready, and had it shipped to Massachusetts under the most careful of conditions.

Unwrapped, Basbanes came face-to-face with his book, now clad in a creamy off-white clamshell box with marbled borders. The book itself is now bound with strips of handmade Japanese paper, papyrus strips, and leather. Peppering the front and back boards are Ely’s own glyphs--symbols the artist calls “cribform” that take on different meanings depending on their placement and the tool used to create them. It is, said Basbanes, “a most exquisite piece of art.”

Ely, who had been doing what he called “a slow deep read of On Paper,” set himself a goal to “require every self-proclaimed book artist to read it and know it,” likening the use of paper to the “idea of drawing as a major expression,” finding inspiration in using paper as “a medium for telepathy.”  

“Beyond deep reading, I have found that the best way to become informed about an event or gather a bit of enlightenment is to make an expressive book,” Ely said a few years back. Indeed, his work is a kind of bookmaking alchemy, fusing the ancient art of monastic manuscript binding with contemporary expression.