Fine Books News: Recent

A life-size bronze of writer Sylvia Townsend Warner has been unveiled in Dorchester her home county…
Decorations and holiday trees inspired by poems, traditional tales, and children’s books are on…
Auctions
New York — On Tuesday, October 27, Swann Galleries brings back its standalone offering of Early Printed Books, returning with Senior Specialist Devon Eastland at the helm.
Rare Books
Anything with Jane Austen's imprimatur is destined to generate interest, and independent Paris-based publisher SP Books has just released a limited facsimile edition of Austen’s least known novel, Lady Susan.
Book People
October feels like the right time to feature the books of author, publisher, and book collector Marc Hartzman, who first caught my attention back in 2015 with his novel, The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell. Hartzman, aka the Weird Historian, enjoys the odd and unusual--as do I.
Exhibit
New York — The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is pleased to make several announcements in celebration of its 40th Anniversary in 2020: the opening of its Windows for Chinatown exhibition and its new temporary space MOCA Workshop replacing the MOCA Collections and Research Center that was…
Auctions
Boston — A rare handwritten letter by Edgar Allan Poe sold for $125,125, according to Boston-based RR Auction.
Current Events & Trends
The Bibliographical Society in London has released details of its new lecture series, covering the rest of 2020 (via Zoom, starting 5.30 p.m. UK time) and into 2021 (when they hope meetings can start up again at the Society of Antiquaries in Piccadilly). The Zoom talks are:
Book People
Last week, the Library of Congress added the 2020 National Book Festival videos to its website. You can peruse them all here. The one I’ve selected for today’s Video Friday is a four-minute clip showing Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announcing Colson Whitehead as winner of the 2020 Library of…
Washington, D.C. —  The National Woman’s Party (NWP) announced the gift of its historic collection spanning women’s suffrage and the movement for women’s equality to the Library of Congress and National Park Service. This gift comes as the country celebrates 100 years of women's constitutional…
Visual Art
At auction on Tuesday night, Femme dans un fauteuil, a painting by Pablo Picasso of his muse, fellow artist, and photographer Dora Maar, sold for just under $30 million.
Auctions
New York — Swann Galleries’ Thursday, September 24 sale of Printed & Manuscript Americana brought an 82% sell-through rate by lot, totaling over $600k with at least 23 institutions purchasing a total of 93 lots in the sale. The sale was “evidence of continued stability in the book and…