California — Most great collectors started when they were young, and most great collections started with a passion for a particular object or subject. When these objects are books and manuscripts, the collectors are called bibliophiles, or lovers of the book.

The purpose of The California Young Book Collector’s Prize is to nurture the next generation of bibliophiles. The competition is open to collectors aged 35 and under who are living in California. All collections of books, manuscripts, or ephemera are welcome, no matter their monetary value or subject. The collections will be judged on their thoroughness, the approach to their subject, and the seriousness with which the collector has catalogued his or her material.

To participate, submit the following materials as a pdf file to either of the chapter chairs: Jen Johnson (jen@johnsonrarebooks.com) or Laurelle Swan (laurelle@swansfinebooks.com ). The jury will be comprised of the executive committees of the Southern and Northern California Chapters of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America.

• Your age and contact information, including mailing address, telephone number, and email.
• A list of no more than twenty entries from the catalogue of your collection. Note that all items in the collection must be owned by you, the collector.
• A statement of no more than 1000 words concerning your collection. This should include:
  • A summary of your collection
  • Your reason for forming the collection
  • A description of one or two of your most prized items (supported by photographs)
  • A description of a few desiderata, those works that you lack, but hope to find one day to add to your collection.

The deadline for receipt of submissions is January 15th, 2021, and the winner will be notified by February 15th, 2021.

This year three prizes will be awarded, as follows:

• First Place: the winner of the first-place prize will be awarded:
  • Gift certificate of $500 to spend at the 2021 ABAA Virtual Book Fair (date TBD)
  • Virtual exhibition of the winner’s collection to be presented at the virtual book fair.

The online exhibit will be featured as a part of the website for the virtual book fair, with the winner responsible for providing the photographs and written commentary for the online exhibit.

• Second Place: the winner of the second-place prize will be awarded:     
  • Gift certificate of $300 to spend at the 2021 ABAA Virtual Book Fair (date TBD)
• Third Place: the winner of the third-place prize will be awarded:     
  • Gift certificate of $200 to spend at the 2021 ABAA Virtual Book Fair (date TBD)
• All three winners, in addition to the above, will receive the following memberships/ subscriptions:
  • Year’s subscription to The Book Collector
  • Year’s subscription to Fine Books & Collections magazine
  • Year’s membership to The Book Club of California
  • Year’s membership to the Bibliographical Society of America

Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England — A small pen and ink sketch of Christopher Robin by E.H. Shepard is one of the top lots in Tennants Auctioneers’ Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Photographs Sale on 18th November, which will be an online sale. The sketch, in which Christopher Robin faces away, is signed by the artist and is accompanied with a manuscript note on headed paper reading ‘with [heart] and xx from Christopher Robin’. Both the sketch and the note are mounted in an autograph book compiled by Miss Joyce Cartmell from 1937 onwards, which also contains the signatures of John Buchan and Gracie Fields (estimate: £2,000-2,500 – all estimates exclude buyer’s premium).

A further lot from the collection of Miss Joyce Cartmell is a signed note from Arthur Ransome on notepaper printed around the margins with illustrations from Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons books. The note explains that ‘Titty is short for Tittymouse which is what she was called when she was a baby. Nobody ever calls her anything but Titty now’, and that ‘Windermere is the lake, a bit disguised’. It appears he has been asked for a photograph, to which he responds, ‘Too ugly’. The note is sold in the original envelope addressed to Cartmell, postmarked 1939, and accompanied by a small card signed by Ransome with a pen and ink sketch of a sailing boat which has been taken from her autograph book described above. The lot is sold with an estimate of £1,000-1,500.

An outstanding collection of early aviation photographs are on offer in two lots. The first lot, being sold with an estimate of £500-800, comprises forty-seven photographs recording what is believed to be the first air race or aviation meeting on the continent of Africa, which was held at Heliopolis in Egypt 6th – 13th February 1910. Aircraft both on the ground and airborne are shown in the photographs, as well of scenes of spectators. Each photograph bears a blindstamp signature of O. Diradour, Cairo. The meeting drew large numbers of the European residents of nearby Cairo; flying conditions were difficult, and there were several crashes, however, the meeting saw the awarding of the first pilot’s license to a woman – ‘Baronesse’ de Laroche. Also on offer, with an estimate of £300-500, is a group of twelve glass positives recording a very early French air race, the Semaine d’Aviation de Lyon, which took place from 7th – 15th May 1910. The images depict aircraft grounded, airborne, and one crashed.

A small collection of books on Middle Eastern History are on offer with an estimate of £600-1,000. The collection, which is accompanied by a small archive of letters, postcards, press cuttings and a photograph, are all signed by Violet Dickson, the author of two of the books and contributor to the others. Violet Dickson lived in Kuwait for 61 years, having moved to the country with her husband who was a colonial administrator. She published several books on the country, and was an amateur botanist; indeed, she sent wildflowers she collected to Kew Gardens and had a plant named after her having first introduced it to the scientific community. Dickson was fluent in Arabic and lived as a widow in the country for thirty years. She remained a vital resource for British diplomats in the region due to here knowledge of and connections in the region. Included in the collection of books are Dickson’s own ‘The Wild Flowers of Kuwait and Bahrain’, 1955, and ‘Forty Years in Kuwait’, 1971, and her husband’s ‘Kuwait and Her Neighbours’, 1956.

Further interesting lots in the sale include Transactions of the Guild and School of Handicraft, Vol. 1, 1890, with manuscript inscriptions by the volume’s editor and founder of the Guild C.R. Ashbee. Ashbee, who was one of the leading figures of the Arts and Crafts movement, inscribed on the flyleaf is a verse from Rudyard Kipling’s The Conundrum of the Workshops (estimate: £600-1,000). From a collection of early 20th century art books in the sale comes volumes relating to The Vorticists, on offer with an estimate of £600-1,000. The lot comprises two volumes of Wyndham Lewis’ Blast, Review of the Great English Vortex and Ezra Pound’s Gaudier-Brzeska, A Memoir. Also of note are two volumes of the Vanity Fair Album, A Show of Sovereigns, Statesmen, Judges and Men of the Day by Juhu Junior from 1870 and 1871, which are composed of rare proof copies of the Vanity Fair cartoons (estimate: £1,000-2,000).

A fully illustrated catalogue will be available at www.tennants.co.uk.

New York — Furthermore grants in publishing, a program of the J. M. Kaplan Fund, is pleased to announce the 2020 Alice Award Short List:

London — Peter Harrington has launched its new catalogue for Sharjah International Book Fair 2020 – curated specially by the leading rare book dealer for collectors from the Arabian Gulf, whose dedicated community of antiquarian book collectors and experts has grown steadily over recent years.

The catalogue offers some of the most essential and sought after works of interest to the region, and contains 85 books and manuscripts split into two sections - the first a showcase of highlights from the Islamic and Arabic-speaking worlds and the second a selection of notable books and manuscripts from the Western canon.

Pom Harrington, owner, said: “Our catalogue for the 2020 Sharjah International Book Fair reflects the incredible breadth of interest of collectors from the Arabian Gulf and has been curated over several months to showcase works from the Islamic and Arabic-speaking worlds, as well as a selection of rare items from the Western canon.”

“We are delighted that this year’s fair is able to go ahead with new safety measures in place, and the opportunity it will afford us to see some of our customers from the Middle East who remain among our most prolific international buyers. There is a significant tradition of book collecting in the Middle East - it’s certainly not a recent phenomenon but we have seen increasing growth in recent years. Most of the interest we see is in books about the Arabian Peninsula – particularly first-hand travel accounts from the 16th to early 20th century. Additionally, manuscripts and maps which document the development of the peninsula in the early and mid-20th century are also highly sought after – this includes maps on trade and shipping routes, political developments, oil exploration and so on.”

“There is also a strong interest in early photography of the region. Works that document Mecca and Medina or early city infrastructure continue to be very popular. Additionally, the region has a highly and broadly educated population and a significant amount of institutional patronage, so landmark economical, philosophical or literary works from the Western canon are also sought after by Middle Eastern collectors.”

Within this catalogue, there are many works of geographical and military interest, including a photographic archive of original photographs illustrating the earliest years of commercial aviation in the Gulf, comprising over 550 images captured by a British official in Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, and Iraq. There are also several works relating to the development of the region, including maps on defence and meteorological charts and information on political developments and oil exploration.

Collectors will find several notable editions of the Qur’an, including a highly unusual manuscript prepared for the last Mughal Emperor, containing the entire text across a single writing surface painted to evoke an embroidered silk wall hanging. Further examples include three magnificent illuminated manuscripts and a notable 17th century Latin translation.

A highlight with particularly significant provenance is a rare first Latin edition of Varthema’s influential account of his undercover travel through the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Persia, and India. Documenting the first recorded eyewitness account by a European of the Islamic holy cities, and to the best of knowledge, the first account of Mecca in print by any author, this edition is from the library of the highly cultured imperial secretary Jacopo Bannisio, signed with his contemporary ownership inscription.

The catalogue also includes a selection of naturalist works, including two works on falconry, an Ottoman hippological study with a section on Arab horses and a near-complete run of the Journal of the Saudi Arabian Natural History Society.

As well as books relating specifically to the region, Peter Harrington caters to collectors with an interest in the western canon, with the latter section of the catalogue containing rare and inscribed works of international prestige by authors including Charles Darwin, William Shakespeare and J.K. Rowling.

Peter Harrington attended the Sharjah International Book Fair in 2019 and has been a regular exhibitor at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair since 2016. The Middle East region currently accounts for between 15-20 percent of Peter Harrington’s international sales, with the majority of the buyers from the region made up of institutional buyers for libraries, government departments and private collections of patrons of the arts and culture.

The UAE accounts for the largest share of Peter Harrington’s Middle East business, with collectors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain regularly contacting the rare book dealer to assist with curating, appraising and acquiring items for private and institutional collections. The cost of single book acquisitions ranges from the early thousands to more than a million dirhams.

Peter Harrington’s Sharjah International Book Fair 2020 catalogue presents books of compelling provenance and scarcity, almost all of which are rare first editions, copies bearing the inscriptions of authors and owners, or sumptuously illuminated and illustrated works.

Full highlights include:
        ●  A pair of photograph albums illustrating the earliest years of commercial aviation in the Gulf , the fascinating personal archive of a British official comprising over 550 images taken in Bahrain, Doha, Kuwait, Iraq and Persia (1948-55) – £65,000.
        ●  A rare first edition of Ptolemy’s Cosmographia , the most celebrated geographical treatise of classical antiquity. Well-known in the Arab World by the ninth century, this monumental achievement of geographical knowledge was forgotten in the west until brought to Italy from Constantinople around 1400 (1475) – £450,000.
        ●  A monumental and highly unusual Qur’an displaying the entire text across a single manuscript, honouring the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah II Zafar (1288 ah 1870/1 ce) – £125,000.
        ●  The working manuscript of Falconry in the British Isles, a landmark of falconry literature by Francis Henry Salvin , with watercolours and lithographs by William Brodrick (1855, revised in 1872) – £45,000.
        ●  Rare first Latin edition of Varthema’s influential account of his undercover travel through the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Persia, and India, including the first written account of Mecca in print (1511) – £150,000.
        ●  The earliest printing of William Shakespeare ’s major poetry, combining the complete uncorrupted text of the 1609 Sonnets with The Rape of Lucrece and Venus and Adonis (1710-11) – £22,500
        ●  First edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, one of a 500-copy first print run in hardback (1997) – £110,000.
        ●  First edition of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, the most influential scientific work of the 19th century (1859) – £85,000

New York -- “Our market continues to be dynamic and varied,” said Deborah Rogal, director of the photographs and photobooks department, of the October 22 sale of Fine Photographs at Swann Galleries (the first for Rogal as head of the department). “We saw strength in the FSA and other Depression-era photography as well as in other classical material. The bidding was also lively for Mexican photographers, and of course, the vernacular material continues to attract both niche and fine art collectors.”

The house offered a selection of works from the Estate of Evelyne Daitz, a pioneering photography gallerist who helped set the foundation for the market and the ways in which the medium is considered and collected today. Top offerings from the collection included the portfolio Robert Doisneau, complete with 15 silver prints of Doisneau’s humanist photographs. The portfolio led the sale at $37,500. Edward Weston Portfolio, complete with nine silver prints and one dye transfer print of Weston’s extraordinary images brought $15,000; and Barbara Kasten’s 1980 Polaroid Construct III-A saw $9,375.

Additional portfolios of note included Man Ray’s Éliectricité, 1931, with 10 photographs after the artist’s rayographs, at $22,500; and André Kertész’s A Hungarian Memory, 1914–24, printed 1980, complete with 15 silver prints of Kertész’s homeland, at $16,250.
          
A custom case of 11 iconic Walker Evans FSA photographs documenting the effects of the Great Depression throughout the United States, each taken 1930s, printed 1970s, sold for $18,750. Paul Taylor’s circa 1935 portrait of Dorothea Lange on a shoot in Texas, printed circa 1980, brought $12,5000.

Mexican photographers drew significant interest from collectors with a signed and inscribed deluxe edition of Manuel Álvarez Bravo’s Fotografías, Mexico, 1945, with three silver prints, earned $20,000. Each of the three of Flor Garduño and Graciela Iturbide lots on offer found buyers. Top lots from the run included Iturbide’s 1990 silver print Cholos, Harpys, East Los Angeles, selling for $5,000 over a $800 to $1,200 estimate, and Garduño’s Retrato de Familia, Guatemala, silver print, 1989, printed 1991, which brought $2,500.

Vernacular highlights included an 1861–64 half-plate ambrotype of an unidentified Confederate officer, attributed to C. R. Reese & Co., that garnered significant interest from bidders bringing in $16,250 over a $3,000 to $4,500 estimate. A 1930s album on quilt making showcasing quilts made by women across the Midwest earned $2,500, and a 1937 album featuring photographs of the Sante Fe Railroad Super Chief train sold for $2,375.

Additional photographs of note featured Josef Koudelka’s Czechoslovakia, silver print, 1968, printed 1990s ($30,000); Alma Lavenson’s Shadowed Wall, Biltmore Hotel, Santa Barbara, 1929 ($15,000), and Rigging, silver print, 1932 ($10,000); Minor White’s Easter Sunday, silver print, 1963 ($10,000); and Helen Levitt’s N.Y. (Children with a Broken Mirror), silver print, circa 1945, printed 1970s ($8,125).

The house is currently accepting quality consignments for the February sale of photographs and photobooks. For the house’s most up-to-date auction schedule please visit swanngalleries.com.

Additional highlights can be found here.