For a book collector a catalog often signifies the beginning
of a journey or the culmination of a quest. November’s intimate meeting was the
perfect venue in which to share some of the catalogs in our respective
collections. Mike Marell, who collects
broadly, treated us to an 1890 catalog of Books Relating to Aaron Burr- a focus
of his main collection. A 1938 fine
foods catalog from Charles & Company provided a look at the brands being
sold at the time in America and an illustrated 1881 Shoe & Leather
Directory furnished us with a look back at an industrial United States. A Catalog and Price List from the famed toy
soldier manufacturer W. Britain Ltd. representing a rich source of detailed
information for students of military history, theatrical costumers, artists and
illustrators, as well as collectors of toy soldiers documents a company that
has been in business since 1893 now has a Web site and two online collector’s
clubs; one in the U.S.A and one in Britain.
We had the pleasure of looking at a few Sotheby’s Catalog’s
listing prices for rare book sales; each one beautifully printed and
illustrated: A Private Collection of Illustrated Books and Fine Bindings-June 2001 and
Modern French Bindings and Illustrated
Books-June 2002, and Six Centuries of
Book Bindings.
Catalogs of children’s books from Bauman and Swann and PBA
Galleries are always informative. Jo Ann
Reisler, Ltd.’s Catalog ’69 printed on glossy paper with an insert by Hague is
a gem in itself. In tribute to LIBC founders,
David King shared catalogs from the past:
Herman Abramson’s Catalog of the Christopher Morley Collection, Esther
and Leonard Geller’s ElGen Books, Scientific
and Medical Books, Beatrix Potter, and Dictionaries, and
Paulette Green’s Mysteries and Art
Books. To mark this election year David brought an historic presidential
catalog: J.F.K. 1917-1963: A President of
Youth and Courage, Of Charm and Wit, of Promise and Hope.
Two catalogs
representative of both art and writing were a Juliao Sarmento exhibition
catalog from a Parrish Art Museum gallery talk on Artists and Writer and a
catalog of The Morgan Library’s permanent collection.
Antiquarian Book Dealer, Collector and Appraiser, Lee
Temares led our December discussion on the de-accessioning of book collections
when age, infirmity or a move necessitate a sale.
Key questions that each collector must answer before making
a decision include: How Is the collection organized? How much of it is for
sale? How much of it is ephemera to be sold separately? How can the value be
correctly assessed at the time of sale or donation? Do you want to sell or do
you want to donate? Are you willing to break up your collection on your own,
prior to offering it to a University, a Library, an individual Book Collector or
a Rare Book Dealer?
LIBC’s members hold collections of between 2,000 and 16,000
books. The conversation turned to the problems of getting a written agreement
from a buyer or an institution upon acceptance of your collection. Lee Temares recommended AddAll.com as a
reliable Website for checking current book values in ascending order with an awareness
of the dealer in order to see whether the dealer is offering more than one copy
of a given title. Rule of thumb: If a dealer pays you less than 15% of the
average going price, you are accepting too little. In general there was
agreement that listing books as a charitable donation on one’s income tax
return for under $5,000.00 was prudent.
It was agreed that the limitations of shelf-space and staff
in University Libraries and Public Libraries make it impossible to ensure that
one’s books will be a priority or that they will be put on display or that they
will not be sold by the institution. For
many of us, our collections have been acquired for the pleasure of owning them,
displaying them, and reading them—what happens to them after we are no longer
alive is secondary. In conclusion we did
agree that the most valuable books should be marked and cataloged so that heirs
will be able to make an informed decision. For those determined to sell or
donate as much of their collections as possible, the process is likely to be
labor intensive and one cannot start too soon!
At present it is likely that a collection will be easier to
sell or to donate if it is broken up. It
is more difficult to sell a collection in its entirety. Large auction houses
are only interested in books worth $500.00 or more. Even smaller auction houses
(Swann Galleries) are reluctant to have shelf sales. It is important to note
that in a shelf sale, you will be charged for picture taking and cataloging.
The death of Bob Wilson, author of Modern Book Collecting was noted. (New York Times Obituary December 11, 2016) as well as the special
NYT Travel Section in Sunday’s paper
featuring independent bookstores around the globe and across the United States.
On a January evening members of
LIABDA and LIBC gathered to listen to a lecture by Mike Silver, author of Stars
in the Ring: Jewish Champions in the Golden Age of Boxing by Mike Silver. For more than sixty years—from the
1890s to the 1950s—boxing was an integral part of American popular culture and
a major spectator sport rivaling baseball in popularity. More Jewish athletes
have competed as boxers than all other professional sports combined; from 1901
to 1939, 29 Jewish boxers were recognized as world champions and nearly 200
others were ranked among the top title contenders in their respective weight
divisions. The author spoke about boring’s significant role in the
Americanization process for an immigrant population struggling for acceptance
into the social and economic mainstream in the early decades of the last
century.
In February Myron Sywack, posited
that as time goes by a book often becomes a memento. By way of example, he shared a book on Gustav
Mahler by Henry Louis de la Grange (unread).
When he took it off the shelf and opened it, he found that it was signed
by the author and dated Dallas, 2000. The
rediscovery of the book, lead him back to a wonderful evening spent in Dallas
with his son seventeen years ago. In some ways, books return us to ourselves;
giving us an opportunity to relive and savor events that might otherwise have
been forgotten.
A Seinfeld script for “The Contest”
episode of the successful sitcom signed by cast members was shown. We enjoyed leafing through a limited edition
of A Dish of Apples that including
inlays and prints illustrated by Arthur Rackham ; Invitation Strictly Personal: 40 Years of Fashion Show Invites, a
sumptuous catalog of graphic art invitations to the fashion shows of stars like
Vivienne Westwood, Jean Paul Gaultier, and John Galiano; Manifold Destiny: The Guide to cooking on Your Car Engine, a catalog titled The Michelin Man and Aeronautical
Aviation Bookplates (limited edition) containing bookplates illustrated
with vintage airplanes and balloons. An 1898 edition of the bestselling
children’s book Sanford and Merton
printed with chromo lithos by McLoughlin Brothers; Before the Animation Begins:
The Art and Lives of Disney’s Inspirational Sketch Artists (including the story
of Tyrus Wong who came to America as a Chinese “paper son” incarcerated on
Angel Island with his father—endured hardship but gained recognition later in
his life as an artist and painter best known for his background illustrations
for the Disney film Bambi; an exhibit Rembrandt’s Century, Robyn Lea’s
Dinner with Jackson Pollock filled with the artist’s family recipes and photos,
and a small beautifully produced 2016 book by A.S. Byatt Peacock and Vine on William Morris and Mariano Fortuny published by
Knopf with attention to photos, endpapers, and cloth boards—even in this
paperless era.
Foremost collector of American Pulp
Fiction, Joe Rainone treated LIBC to a selection of original books, newspapers,
broadsheets and facsimiles chronicling the first 100 years of detective and
mystery fiction published in pre-twentieth century America. To better
understand the original source of these stories, Joe referenced the first
appearance of an organized police force (Samurai) in 1603 Japan, London’s Old Bailey
Criminal Court in 1674, the Bo Street Runners in 1749 and the prefecture of the
French police in 1800.
IN 1774 The Terrific Register based on stories of criminals who got their
just deserts was published. The five volume set became the most widely collected
book in the world based on crime and punishment. The 1825 version contains the
first appearance of Sweeney Been who later became the inspiration for Sweeny
Todd.
In a May meeting of officers of Long Island Book Collectors
(LIBC) and the President and Vice President of Antiquarian Book Dealers
Association of Long Island (LIABDA, LTD) was held. In September 2017 the two groups will merge
in an effort to preserve the presence of book collecting in Long Island in
Nassau and Suffolk counties. The newly formed organization will be called
LIABDA, LTD. / LIBC. Members of both groups will be invited to all meetings.
At
our June luncheon, writer and Sherlock Holmes expert Gary Lovisi guided us
through the careers of both the fictional Sherlock Holmes and the talented
nineteenth century British doctor and advocate of deductive reasoning, Joseph
Bell on whom the character is based. Arthur Conan Doyle based Watson on
himself—an easy leap as Doyle was a young physician who served as assistant to
the formidable doctor.
Mr.
Lovisi’s latest book, Sherlock Holmes
& Mr. Mac contains two crime novellas, inspired by the detective Mr.
Mac mentioned by Holmes in The Valley of
Fear. As an avid reader of books by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Henry Kuttner, Jack
Vance, Isaac Asimov, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and C. S. Forrester Mr.
Lovisi became a writer of detective stories.
Over the years he became a collector of pulp and vintage
paperbacks. This led in turn to
publishing essays on this collections and bibliographic work. His annual NYC Pulp Fiction and Paperback Expo is
now in its twelfth year.
Mr.
Lovisi spoke candidly of his two-phase writing process—editing his own work and
then having it edited professionally. He
described the pressures of conforming to a predetermined page count that can at
times involve cutting thousands of works from a text. While he relishes the editorial control of
independent publishing, he is appreciative of the guidance, prestige and pay
provided to writers by mainstream publishers.
A
writer for over forty years, Mr. Lovisi is ever brimming with excitement at the
thought of the next story based on a Holmesian villain or a small subplot in
one of the original novels. His audience
is ready and waiting.
LIABDA,
LTD. /LIBC wish all fellow bibliophiles a summer full of excellent reading and
collecting.
