Capote’s edits on the manuscript (image via Toronto Star)

Truman Capote‘s typed Breakfast at Tiffany’s manuscript was sold at auction late last month for a whopping $306,000. The 1958 manuscript contains Capote’s handwritten edits, which number up to a dozen changes per page. Perhaps the most significant change is the heroine’s name: originally Connie Gustafson, Capote crossed out every mention of the name and replaced it with Holly Golightly. (Good call, Capote!) More than a hundred different names were used in various drafts before Capote settled on Golightly. The character, of course, was immortalized in popular culture by Audrey Hepburn’s portrayal in the 1961 film adaptation.

The story was originally commissioned for Harper’s Bazaar magazine but was pulled at the last minute because of the sexual nature of Golightly’s lifestyle. It was published in the November 1958 issue of Esquire magazine and shortly thereafter was published by Random House along with three other short stories by Capote.

The manuscript was sold to a Russian billionaire, Igor Sosin, by RR Auction. The auction house reports that Socin plans to display it in Moscow and Monaco.

The movie is great, but if you haven’t read the novella do yourself a favor and pick up a copy. It’s a wonderful story and beautifully written.

Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s manuscript goes to auction [Toronto Star]
Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s manuscript sells for $306K at auction to Russian billionaire [Toronto Star]

Willa Cather (image via Wikipedia)

Willa Cather was a famously private writer. She destroyed many literary manuscripts, personal papers, and letters, and her will forbade the adaptation of her works into plays or movies and the publication of her personal letters. Cather’s will expired two years ago, however, after the death of her nephew and the will’s executor. This left her remaining personal letters up for grabs, so to speak, and a new book publishes over 500 of Cather’s letters.

Released last month, The Selected Letters of Willa Cather is co-edited by Andrew Jewell, an associate professor  at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraires and the editor of the Willa Cather Archive, and Janis Stout, the author of nine scholarly books and editor of two other books on Cather. Jewell and Stout acknowledge that they have gone against Cather’s will and personal wishes, but justify doing so with the best intentions for the public good, so that everyone can “read and interpret her letters” for themselves. Their introduction states that:

“Cather is now a part of our cultural history. Her works belong to something greater than herself. It is time to let the letters speak for themselves.”

Tom Perrotta, who reviewed the book for the NY Times, said that he didn’t disagree with the editors, but that he “[found] the reading experience uncomfortable, especially when [he] bumped up against one of Cather’s frequent declarations that she considers her letters ‘entirely personal and confidential.’”

Although I am intrigued to have a glimpse at one of America’s foremost writers through the lens of her letters, I imagine I would feel the same way. I am interested in hearing what others, especially those in the scholarly field, think about this quandary: is there a point at which an author’s own wishes for their letters, papers, personal effects, etc. are superseded by a cultural or scholarly need? Where and how do you draw the line, if you were to do so at all? Do great authors owe the public anything more than the works they produce?

‘Wonderful Words’ In Willa Cather’s No-Longer-Secret Letters [NPR]
Entirely Personal: ‘Selected Letters of Willa Cather’ [NY Times]

Pay attention to our debut winners. You’re going to be hearing their names, reading their books, and seeing them on best lists for years to come.

Congratulations, Greg!

A few items fro the collection (via Duke Today)

The Southern Poverty Law Center‘s Intelligence Project, which monitors and reports hate and extremist groups in the U.S., has donated its 30 year collection of extremist materials to the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University. The 90 boxes of periodicals, pamphlets, flyers, and other documents will be added to the Library’s Human Rights Archive. The mission of the Human Rights Archive is to “identify, collect, and provide access to materials generated by organizations and individuals working within and having significant social impact on the field of human rights.” This donation will be a significant addition to the Library’s already extensive collection of American social movements and its collection on Ku Klux Klan materials that documents the group from the 1860s to the present day.

The SPLC’s collection extends beyond the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis, including materials on a variety of other hate groups such as border vigilantes, black separatists, and white nationalists. Once the library prepares the documents for use they will be available to researchers and scholars to examine the histories of extremist organizations and the efforts to monitor them.

“We are especially pleased that these relatively rare materials will finally be made available to scholars who research America’s radical right. We look forward to learning from their scholarship,” said Heidi Beirich, Director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project.

Southern Poverty Law Center Donates Extremist Literature Collection to Duke [Duke Today]

The Benevolent Fund provides financial aid to booksellers in need, whether or not they are members of the ABAA. It is administered by three Trustees and chaired by the immediate Past President of the ABAA, and the Benevolent Fund is separate from all other Association funds. All applications and disbursements from this fund are held in strictest confidence. The ABAA actively solicits tax-deductible contributions to help the effort. If you would like to learn more about the Benevolent Fund or make a contribution, please visit the following link.

Full Member

Alex Hime, Biblioctopus

Alexandre Hime, Biblioctopus (Century City, CA)

I was born into the antiquarian book trade. My father had been a member of the ABAA for three years by the time I was born. Some of my earliest memories are linked to book fairs around the country, and many of the people I’ve known the longest are other booksellers. I became one of the youngest associate members of the ABAA several years ago, and with the experience that came my interests and knowledge of the trade grew considerably. Biblioctopus has always had a somewhat specialized stock–classics of fiction and pop culture (though it always typically spans hundreds of years), so my basis of knowledge had a good foundation. Ultimately, though, I wanted and needed to know more. With a few good professors providing inspiration a whole new world was opened, and the non-fiction side of Biblioctopus has, recently, started to evolve as a result. The ABAA is continually changing, and I hope that my abilities, insights and interests will will help sustain both Biblioctopus and the ABAA well into the future.

Associate Members

Jeremy Markowitz, Donald A. Heald Rare Books

Jeremy Markowitz, Donald A. Heald Rare Books (New York, NY)

After getting a Master’s in History from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998, and with the encouragement of Clarence Wolf, Jeremy began in the book trade working for Swann Galleries. He stayed at Swann for 9 years, running the Americana and Autograph sales and cataloguing maps, atlases, plate books, and natural history. In 2007, Jeremy left Swann to be Head of Americana at Bloomsbury Auctions in New York. Since 2009, he has worked at Donald Heald Rare Books, with specialties in Americana, travel and voyages, maps and atlases, color plate books and natural history. Jeremy is married with 2 boys (Eli age 8 and Evan age 5) and lives in Summit, NJ.

Ryan J. Parks, Krown & Spellman

Ryan J. Parks, Krown & Spellman, Booksellers (Culver City, CA)

Ryan Parks has been involved in the bookselling business for over twenty years. He worked part-time at his mother’s used bookstore in Gardena, CA, Coni’s Pocket Books, shortly after high school and then in 2000 began his career with Krown & Spellman Booksellers in Culver City, CA. Ryan has been the manager of Krown & Spellman for the past three years and is in charge of bibliographic reference, descriptions, cataloging, sales, internet and shipping. He has been representing the shop at ABAA book fairs for the last seven years. Ryan lives in Harbor City, CA with his wife Saundra (his assistant at fairs) and their two teenage sons, Zack and Tony. Ryan is also a musician, a chef, an Angels baseball fan, and a collector of horror, sci-fi & fantasy art, literature, and memorabilia. He is also a long time member of the Western Pyrotechnics Association.

Elizabeth Young, RoYoung Bookseller, Inc.

Elizabeth Young, RoYoung Bookseller, Inc. (Ardsley, NY)

After spending many years in the kitchen, Elizabeth Young has jumped out of the fire and into the steamy world of antiquarian book selling. Elizabeth has gained a tremendous amount of knowledge through working with her father, Roy Young of RoYoung Bookseller Inc., as well as attending Rare Book School and Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (2012). Elizabeth also has her own small company on the internet specializing in anything and everything associated with the wonderful world of food and drink.

Emeritus Member

Patricia Ahearn

Patricia Ahearn, Quill & Brush (Dickerson, MD)

Patricia and her husband Allen started collecting and cataloging books in the early 1960s and established their business in 1976. She became a full member of the ABAA in 1995. Patricia has co-authored several books with her husband: Collected Books: The Guide to Values (4th revised and enlarged edition, 2011), Book Collecting 2000 (Putnam: 2000), and more than 200 individual Author Price Guides. Although Patricia is now retired from bookselling, Quill & Brush is still active in the trade.

To find out more about membership in the ABAA or to start an application, please visit apply.abaa.org.

Festivities kicked off Wednesday night at the grand opening of B & B Rare Books, Ltd.’s new gallery. The space, located in a historic building on East 20th Street, was lovely and filled to the brim with excited booksellers, which made for a delightful party. I even managed to take a few moments to look at the books and was especially impressed with the inscribed copies B & B had to offer.

Attendees queued up early for the Thursday night preview and with good reason. There was quite a buzz about the quality of material

Papier-Maiche ape offered byLibrairie Alain Brieux

exhibitors had on display and there were some truly remarkable items, like the life size papier-mâché ape. Not to mention that there were four Kelmscott Chaucers on the floor (!). A rainy and cold day made the Park Avenue Armory the perfect place to be on Friday. Magician and author Ricky Jay visited and examined a deck of cards from the 1700s in Donald Heald‘s booth. I got the chance to take a break from the ABAA booth and walk the floor on Friday, and was seriously impressed by what I saw. I am always a sucker for prints and hand-colored books and illustrations, and there was no shortage of them at this fair. I was especially taken with a number of watercolors of 1920s fashion designs and boldly colored French cover art. After dinner and drinks, a good number of booksellers headed downtown to the East Village to hear Dear Althea, a band headed by Between the Covers employee Ashley Wildes. Suffice to say that much fun was had by all.

Life size anatomical engravings (1781) offered by Ursus Rare Books

On Saturday the ABAA held its Annual Meeting in the Tiffany Room of the Armory. Shortly after the fair opened, Brad and Jen Johnson of The Book Shop, LLC  held a Book Collecting 101 seminar for any interested attendees. Participants in the seminar had the advantage of then heading out to the show floor to put their new knowledge to use. On the last day of every ABAA fair we hold a Discovery Day, where several exhibitors volunteer their time to give free oral appraisals on books attendees bring to the fair (due to the popularity of this event, there is a limit of 3-5 books per ‘customer’). I wasn’t able to attend the appraisals myself, but word was that there was some interesting and attractive material. Lucy Lui attended on Sunday afternoon, which added a little distraction from the sad realization that the fair was coming to a close.

And now the countdown to next year’s NYABF has begun…already less than a year away!

You can always find some charming miniature books in Bromer Booksellers’ booth

The next ABAA Antiquarian Book Fair will take place in Boston from November 15-17, 2013. 

Please pass along this information to any interested parties!

“A Count With Taste, and Sticky Fingers” surveys the life and infamous career of Count Guglielmo Libri, “one of the most audacious book thieves in history.” (You can read a NY Times review of the exhibition at the link.) It will be on display until May 25 in the second floor gallery.

Booksellers setting up this morning

We are only a day away from opening night of the NY Antiquarian Book Fair, an event not to be missed by anyone who has a passion. You’re probably thinking: You forgot to finish your sentence; surely you mean a passion for books. No, you read it correctly the first time.

ABAA book fairs offer a chance to purchase a piece of history and every field is represented. Everyone can find something fascinating at the shows, no matter what their passion or interest may be– just take a look at the drop-down list of specializations on our member search page to get an idea of the breadth of fields our sellers deal in. What’s more, it may be called a book fair, but there is much more on the show floor than books– manuscripts, prints, maps, ephemera, sketches, letters, photographs…almost anything you can think of. As I posted last year, ABAA fairs are truly living, breathing museums and they give you the unique opportunity to take home part of the exhibit. (Read last year’s post after the jump.)

Just writing and thinking about the fair has gotten my adrenaline pumping– I can’t wait to get to the Armory! I hope to see you there.

New York Antiquarian Book Fair
April 11-14
Park Avenue Armory @ 67th Street
Thursday preview: 5pm-9pm
Friday: Noon-8pm
Saturday: Noon-7pm
Sunday: Noon-5pm

Events:
Book Collecting 101, Saturday at 1pm
Discovery Day, Noon-3pm

***

Why Visit an Antiquarian Book Fair?

For many readers of this blog, the answer is obvious, but based on the responses I occasionally receive when I tell people who I work for or about one of our fairs (blank stares and sometimes an “antiquari-what?), it’s very clear to me that not everyone is ‘in the know’. The most evident reason– to buy rare books– can be easily deduced, but it overlooks the pure pleasure of attending, whether you leave with books in hand or not, and what I consider to be the true spirit of the show: a celebration of books, history, and intellect.

I attended my first antiquarian book fair here in New York two years ago, before I had any idea what the ABAA was.  Literature has always played a central role in my life, both academically and personally, so when my aunt, also a bibliophile and minor collector, invited my boyfriend and I to attend the show with her we accepted eagerly. We were unsure of what to expect, but figured that if there were lots of books involved then it couldn’t be that bad.

Armed with no real expectations, I was staggered to arrive on the show floor and behold the immensity of the Armory and its current inhabitants– first editions of every classic I had ever read, texts from the Renaissance, maps and prints I had only seen the likes of in galleries and institutions.  I was overwhelmed, albeit in a good way, and before I had even begun to look around I realized that I wanted to spend more time there than I had allowed for that evening.

I wandered through the aisles in silent wonderment. (It sounds cheesy, but it’s true.) My memories of what I saw that night seem dreamlike– Ulysses with illustrations by Matisse, The Grapes of Wrath in its original dust jacket, illuminated manuscripts, Janis Joplin’s handwritten letters back home after her arrival in San Francisco…

The biggest impression left on me was not something I saw, however, but something an exhibitor said.  My aunt and I were in a booth excitedly peering at a book behind glass when the exhibitor offered to take the item out so we could have a closer look.  We explained that, although enthralled with the book, we weren’t planning on purchasing it and didn’t want to waste her time.  The exhibitor immediately shrugged off our concerns and took the book out of the case, allowing us to flip through the pages and providing us with more detailed information on the copy.  She encouraged us: “The fair is like a living museum– take advantage of it!”

That sentiment stuck with me and during my past two years with the ABAA it’s rung more and more true.  A “living museum” is the perfect way to describe an antiquarian book fair.  Each booth has its own curator, a seller with intimate knowledge and understanding of the items offered, and the best part is that you can take home parts of the exhibit!

Come visit NY’s living museum this weekend, I promise you won’t be sorry that you did and you may even leave with a pretty kick ass souvenir.