Archive for August, 2012

2012 National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest Winners Announced!

Monday, August 27th, 2012

National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest logo

 

The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America is delighted to announce the winners of the National Collegiate Book Collecting Contest!

 

First Prize: Jordan Haug, University of California San Diego, “Mormon Fundamentalism & Polygamy”

Second Prize: Jessica Anne Kahan, University of Michigan, “Romance Novels in DJ, 1925-1935″

Third Prize: Andrew Ferguson, University of Virginia, “Bibliography & Puzzle of R.A. Lafferty”

Essay Prize: Kevin Baggot Roberts, Johns Hopkins University,  ”Cheap Thrills:  Sex in American Publishing, 1924-1970″

Congratulations to the winners!

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Vacation!

Friday, August 24th, 2012

The blog will be silent until after Labor Day as I will be enjoying a little vacation. In the meantime, please visit our Facebook page to get your bookish fix.

Enjoy the last days of summer!

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Rare Nazi Artifact Found at Illinois Library

Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann-Göring-Werke

A photo of the book, ’1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann-Göring-Werke’, courtesy of La Grange Park Public Library

Like many libraries, the La Grange Park Public Library in Illinois happily accepts donations. Last spring they received a rare Nazi artifact that may have been trashed had it not been for a sharp librarian. Circulation Services Director Ursula Stanek grew up in Germany, so any donated German books end up on her desk. A few months ago a book marked “Geheim!”, German for ‘secret’, caught her eye. Upon further examination Stanek realized the library had a rare Nazi text in its possession.

Entitled 1938-1941: Vier Jahre, Hermann-Göring-Werke, the book detailed the Nazi’s four-year economic blueprint for (more…)

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You Can Smell Like a Book

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

Here’s a way to take your bibliophilia to a whole other level. Fashion icon Karl Lagerfield, publisher Gerhard Steidl, Wallpaper* magazine, and perfumer Geza Schoen have collaborated to produce a perfume that smells like a book. (On its website, Steidl says the perfume allows you to “celebrate all the gloriosensuality of books”.) The idea for the perfume arose last year at a Wallpaper* party in Milan.

Lagerfield commented that “the smell of a freshly printed book is the best smell in the world”. No argument there (although I always
balk when something is touted to be the “best”), but Schoen quickly realized that reproducing the scent would be a little tricky. “It was hard,” says Schoen. “The smell of printed paper is (more…)

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Martin Luther King Jr. Rare Audio Interview Found in Attic

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, 1964

A rare 1960 interview with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was recently discovered in an attic in Nashville, TN. Stephon Tull was going through boxes in his father’s attic when he came across an audio reel labeled: “Dr. King Interview, Dec. 21, 1960″. Tull borrowed a friend’s reel-to-reel player and was amazed to hear his father conducting an interview with Dr. King. His father, who is now in hospice care, was an insurance salesman and intended to write a book during the civil rights movement about the racism he had encountered throughout his life in the South. The book was finished, however, and the elder Tull’s conversation with Dr. King, as well as other interviews conducted for the book, ended up in his attic.

In the recording Dr. King talks about (more…)

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Margaret Mitchell’s Estate Gifts Literary Rights to the Archdiocese of Atlanta

Tuesday, August 21st, 2012
Margaret Mitchell, Gone With the Wind (photo circa 1938)

Margaret Mitchell holding her book, circa 1938 (Image via Library of Congress)

The estate of Margaret Mitchell has made a multimillion dollar donation to the Archdiocese of Atlanta that includes a 50% share of the trademark and literary rights to Gone With the Wind, Mitchell’s Pulitzer prize-winning novel. The donation was the result of a bequest made by Joseph Mitchell, Margaret Mitchell’s nephew and last direct descendant. He passed away last October. Along with his late brother, Joseph had inherited a trust that a share of the literary and trademark rights to Gone With the Wind. (The remainder of the rights are held in trust for Joseph’s late brother.)

Also included in Joseph’s inheritance, and his subsequent gift to the Archdiocese, are a collection of signed first editions of the bestseller published in various languages (more…)

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Rare Chinese Medical Book Published During the Song Dynasty Discovered in Japan

Monday, August 20th, 2012

A copy of Ling Shu published during the Song dynasty. (Not the recently discovered text.) Image via Bejing Digital Musuem

A very rare Chinese medical text published during the Southern Song Dynasty period (1127-1279)was recently found in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Historians believe the three volume, 38 page book was originally written by a Chinese doctor in the seventh century. It contains prescriptions for the treatment of 30 different ailments and includes precautions about each remedy. The covers of the book are missing but officials at the Tateyama Municipal Museum report that the text is clearly legible and the pages of the book are devoid of damage.

The book was referred to in a 14th century Chinese bibliography, but this is the first time a copy of the text has been found. No originals are known to exist in China.

The book was discovered in a storehouse owned by a well-known samurai family and it contains the ex-libris stamp of Kanazawa Bunko, the library of another samurai family that was established circa 1275.

Rare China medical book discovered [The Japan Times]

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…And I’m back!

Monday, August 20th, 2012

My apologies for the lack of recent posts. I spent a week at the amazing Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and have been catching up since then. CABS was a ton of fun and provided an abundance of information, but more on that later. Now back to rare book and literary news and items of interest!

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NPR Holds ‘Poetry Games’

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012

Ancient Greek ArtIn a nod to ancient Greece, where poetry was considered as much of a sport in the Olympics as wrestling, NPR has been hosting the ‘Poetry Games‘. Poets from all over the world were invited to write an original piece celebrating athletes and athletics and submit the poem into the games. Each morning on Morning Edition a poem is selected and read, and then posted on the Poetry Games site. It is then up to NPR’s audience to vote for their favorite poem.

Love this! Here’s a link to today’s poem, Once More by Ales Steger, and you can cast your vote here. Be sure to check back at the Poetry Games section of the NPR site for a new poem each day!

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Gore Vidal (1925-2012)

Wednesday, August 1st, 2012
Gore Vidal 2009 New York City

Gore Vidal, 2009 in NYC (image by David Shankbone via Wikipedia)

Sad news this morning: Gore Vidal, 86, has passed away as a result of complications from pneumonia. The witty, sardonic writer had a prolific career that included the publication of more than 25 novels, 8 plays, 14 screenplays, and numerous works of nonfiction and essays. The NY Times called him an “Augustan figure who believed himself to be the last of a breed, and he was probably right.” Vidal was also a well known political activist and critic. Besides his accomplishments as a writer and intellectual, Vidal was a popular public figure whose sharp tongued sound bytes were reminiscent of Twain. (“Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little.”) It’s hard to choose, but I think my favorite Vidal quote is: “Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.” Words to live by.

After the jump are links to obituaries, interviews, and quotes. RIP, Mr. Vidal.  (more…)

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