First Impressions - 2014 April - March

                                                                             

First Impressions - March 2014

Events:

Washington Antiquarian Book Fair
Booth #13

Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge, 1900 North Fort Myer Drive, Arlington, VA

33nd Annual Florida Antiquarian Book Fair
Booth #43

St. Petersburg Coliseum, 535 Fourth Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL

 

 Book Collecting News:

Book Arts, January – March 2014 

The dawn of 2014 has marked an exciting time in the field of book arts, which, like the larger book industry as a whole, is expanding its boundaries to remain relevant in an increasingly digital age. Just as libraries have transformed from book warehouses into dynamic learning centers, books and the people who work with them are taking on new roles as educators, technologists, and researchers. The book arts are an excellent microcosm for this development, as the fields of “art” and “books” are no longer thought of as mutually exclusive. By looking at some of the recent events held throughout the US, we can see how these two fields are borrowing from one another; books are being created in more aesthetically pleasing ways, while art and its metadata are becoming more available on user’s terms, in the same way the library movement brought education to the masses.

 Check out these Book Arts events that are going on right now, locally and globally:

What: Database: “Getty Publications Virtual Library”
Who: Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Research Institute, J. Paul Getty Museum
When: January 21 – indefinite
Where: http://www.getty.edu/publications/virtuallibrary/ & Los Angeles, CA

 On January 21, 2014, the Getty institutions based in Los Angeles, California, launched their Getty Publications Virtual Library, which boasts 250 digitized editions of original publications from the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Research Institute, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. In addition to reading these publications online, users can search for publications by author, title, keyword, institution, publication type, subject, and series. The Getty Publications Virtual Library represents the Getty’s larger plans to increase transparency and accessibility through digital endeavors; in 2013, the Getty began this process by making over 4,600 of their digital images of artwork available online, and joined the ranks of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

What: Project: “This is What a Librarian Looks Like”
Who: Kyle Cassidy
When: Photographed January 24 – 28, Project available online now http://www.slate.com/blogs/behold/2014/02/11/kyle_cassidy_photographs_librarians_at_the_american_library_association.html
Where: American Library Association Midwinter Meeting – online & Philadelphia, PA

“This is What a Librarian Looks Like” is a project by Philadelphia-based photographer Kyle Cassidy, whose portfolio includes similar projects of portraits of underrepresented Americans, including firearm owners and tattooed military servicemen. For this project, Cassidy attended the ALA Midwinter Conference and photographed librarians whom he considered to “look different from the ones I know from my public library and from school.” The photographs negate many stereotypical images of librarians, who are usually depicted as old, stuffy, strict, and boring. Instead, Cassidy presents young, dynamic and engaging librarians whose fields of interest are as diverse as their clothing styles. Interestingly, the photographer claims he left with the knowledge that “the field was broader than [he] had gone in there thinking;” rather than meeting just librarians, Cassidy encountered researchers, technologists, and archivists.

 What: Course: “The Art of Leather Onlay”
Who: The Center for Book Arts
When: March 8 – 9
Where: The Center for Book Arts - New York, NY
http://www.centerforbookarts.org/classes/classdetail.asp?classeventID=1520

 “The Art of Leather Onlay” is a course taught by Gavin Dovey through the Center for Book Arts. The course teaches the various styles of leather onlay and the tools and production processes necessary to create each different type. In addition to this practical element, “The Art of Leather Onlay” explores the design aesthetics of onlay, specifically the different stylistic effects achievable through this bookbinding technique. Although this course is intended for individuals with previous experience with leather paring, The Center for Book Arts offers a variety of specialized courses on different topics, including illuminated manuscripts, letterpresses, clamshell boxes, tacket bindings, among others.

 What: Course: “Conservation Enclosures”
Who: The Center for Book Arts
When: March 15 - 16
Where: The Center for Book Arts - New York, NY
http://www.centerforbookarts.org/classes/classdetail.asp?classeventID=1541

 Protective enclosures can serve as an extension of the books you create, enhance their presentation, and provide an additional surface where one can customize the box to reflect the contents. Learn to make three archival enclosures that enable you to store your books in a protective environment. Learn how to make the archival enclosure used by the Library of Congress, as an alternative to the clamshell box, a case wrapper and a self-closing wrapper. Discussion will center on conservation principles of archival materials, importance of customized enclosures, recognizing problems, prevention and other helpful hints. For the book artist, librarian and collector, taught by Maria Pisano. No experience necessary, just come with your books.

What: Course: “Artist Book: Tradition and Experimentation”
Who: Museum of Fine Arts
When: March 24, continually offered through June 9
Where: Museum of Fine Arts – Boston, MA

From traditional single-sheet constructions, accordions and sewn binds to more experimental hybrids, learn techniques to create personal artists' books. Go beyond the traditional methods and push your creative limits in this exciting new class!Instructor Renato Riccioni is a recognized abstract painter and sculptor in the Italian contemporary arts community. He works with oil, acrylic, terracotta, stone, metal, concrete, paper, and plastic in an abstract and minimalist style. He spent over twenty years as an award-winning director of experimental theater in Rome, where he realized over eighty full-scale theatrical productions. Renato also conducts group and individual sessions on art as therapy. He is the principal teacher for the Boston Public School/Museum of Fine Arts Scholarship Program.

 What: Course: “Focusing on Photographs: Identification & Preservation”
Who: Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA)
When: March 27 – 28
Where: The Historic New Orleans Collection - New Orleans, LA http://www.ccaha.org/education/program-calendar/2014/03/27/focusing-on-photographs-identification-and-preservation-new-orleans-la

"Focusing on Photographs," hosted by the esteemed CCAHA of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a crash course in how to identify and preserve different types and forms of photographs, including but not limited to: daguerreotypes, glass negatives, silver gelatin prints, and polaroids. Often simultaneously the most accessed and most fragile parts of any institution or individual's collection, photographs present a unique preservation challenge in which they must remain highly accessibly while being protected from potential damage. Furthermore, unlike other art mediums, different types of photographs and negatives need to be treated and stored differently, increasing the importance of proper identification. The CCAHA hosts this event periodically around the United States along with other important courses related to collection and preservation.

                                                                             

Home Office - Forbes, March 27, 2014

Entrepreneurial Horror Stories: Evaluating the Unexpected Risks

 The road of entrepreneurship can often be bumpy, and there is rarely a map that will help you to anticipate all the turns. The best entrepreneurs, however, can embrace the unexpected and learn from their experiences—even the horror stories. Can your business survive the unpredictable? Can you roll with the punches?

While no one can prepare you for the unexpected (that’s the very nature of the word, after all), here’s how flexibility and an open mind can help every entrepreneur:

CAUTION! Dealing With The Public – We are finally passing off the job of answering the telephone to our new hire. ‘Congratulations!’ I told her. ‘You now get to deal with the public!’ All kidding aside, I am truly excited for her to have this opportunity, because now she’ll have to learn to think on her feet. In business for over 10 years now, I feel as though we’ve gotten every strange inquiry under the sun—from ‘Can you patch me through to the CIA?’ to someone asking if we sell funerary urns (we sell rare books.) Aside from the weird requests, we’ve also had to field questions from people of all different walks of life looking to buy or sell all different types of books.

Lesson: Hearing from the public at large can certainly be much more unpredictable than conversing with colleagues or other professionals, but learning how to answer questions and solve problems in real time will do wonders for your customer service. The more experience you gain, the better equipped you’ll be each and every time you talk to a new customer. And yes, sometimes you’ll be able to share a chuckle with your staff.

 

CAUTION! Something Beyond Your Expertise – When we first started our rare book business, we had a small inventory and limited cash flow with which to buy more. To try to get ahead, we advertised online and in local papers that we would give free book appraisals on any books, assuming that the words FREE and ANY would be enticing. Were they ever–while this was a good idea in some respects (we were able to learn about books outside our specialty of 19th & 20th century literature), there was simply not enough time for two people with limited experience in the book trade to be able to deal with what came out of the woodwork. We ended up spending twice as much time researching books that had little or no value, and it was hardly worth the few books that we ended up buying. Our tiny New York City apartment also became a dumping ground for everyone in the world who wanted to get rid of their unsellable books. It was a good learning experience, but mostly we learned to advertise what our specialty was.

Lesson: While confidence and the willingness to do anything to succeed is necessary in any business, a certain amount of restraint will go a long way as well. When you have limited experience, knowledge and resources, it’s no use pretending that you do. Opening yourself up to too many opportunities may cast the net a little too widely and be counterproductive.

CAUTION! Uncomfortable Situations – We received a call to buy books from a grandmother’s estate. The family related that a few booksellers had already visited the collection, but no offers were made. This was probably a bad sign, but we agreed to look anyway. We were shown to the basement…which was so full of cobwebs, it was reminiscent of the catacombs in the Indiana Jones movies. The smell of mold was nauseating, and we literally couldn’t see more than two feet in front of us at a time. We dove in anyway—we wrapped scarves across our faces and clawed our way through the mess, taking breaks every 10-15 minutes for fresh air. After calling it quits in the basement, we followed the family to the bedroom. The smell in there was nauseating as well, but distinctly different—perhaps a litter box that had never been emptied? Close—there were countless boxes on the floor that contained original manuscripts and letters, but they were all completely covered with years of cat urine. Nevertheless, we found disposable gloves and dug in, again, taking breaks every 10-15 minutes. Eventually, we unearthed a signed copy of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, a rare find. While this doesn’t happen every time, it does make all the unsuccessful attempts worth it.

Lesson: When working for yourself, many times you’ll be operating in an unpredictable environment under circumstances that are less than ideal. If you can push past the unpleasantness and envision the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, you might be able to source something that your competitors couldn’t.

CAUTION! Catastrophic Events – When we first went full-time with our business, we lacked health insurance during the interim of quitting our day jobs and becoming eligible for insurance we could afford through a union. As practically anyone who has ever been uninsured can attest, the time when one is without insurance is the time when something goes very wrong. Indeed, my appendix ruptured while I was uninsured, and I had to be admitted to the hospital for surgery— an unexpected tragedy that nearly bankrupted us.

Lesson: Avoiding insurance is a tempting way to save money, but only if nothing bad happens. Before you take a chance, seriously consider the fallout of what would happen in an emergency or accident. Could you deal with it and move on? If you have some other safety net or ‘Plan B’ underneath you, you might be able to risk it, but skimping on insurance of any kind is, of course, never truly advisable.

It’s obvious to consider the financial risks of entrepreneurship, but what about the unexpected, the unreliable, and the downright weird? The unexpected can be scary, but if you can handle the twists and turns it will help propel you toward success.

                                                                             

First Impressions - April 2014

What's New:

 Sunday’s 2 Year Forbes Anniversary! 

Sunday celebrates 2 years of blogging on Forbes.com! Her blog, HOME OFFICE, features posts on small business strategy, entrepreneurial advice, and anecdotal stories from the rare book trade.

Find Home Office here:

http://blogs.forbes.com/sundaysteinkirchner/

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/

To follow Home Office, click on 'Follow Me' beneath Sunday’s photo- you have the option to follow via social media or with an account on Forbes.com.

 Events:

Upcomming Book Fairs

 

New York Antiquarian Book Fair

Booth #E7 (It’s our 5^th NYABF – come celebrate with us!)

The Park Avenue Armory
643 Park Avenue at 67^th Street
New York, NY

 

Book Collecting News:

54^th Annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair

 First editions, fine bindings, and illuminated manuscripts – oh my! Please join us next week in Booth E7the New York Antiquarian Book Fair, April 3-6 at the Park Avenue Armory!

One of the largest and most prestigious book fairs in the world, the NYABF attracts collectors, librarians, and bibliophiles alike to peruse the esteemed collections of over 200 international booksellers. Come spend the weekend with fellow book enthusiasts to see a wide range of rare materials, including modern literature, early printed books, maps, manuscripts, and other works on paper.

Have some rare books you’d like to have professionally evaluated? Come to Discovery Day on Sunday, April 6^th, to get a free informal appraisal on up to 5 books.

                                                                             

Home Office - Forbes, June 18, 2014

Holy Shakespeare! A Rare Find Shakes and Industry

 George Koppelman and Dan Wechsler may have found the Holy Grail of rare books—a dictionary they claim was owned and annotated by William Shakespeare. If their assertion is true, this book could provide amazing insight into how Shakespeare crafted his plays, poems, and sonnets, all of which feature his highly inventive wordplay and have thus shaped how modern English is used today. Even if the scholarly community does not back their claims, their find will undoubtedly inspire further research and vigorous debate, and the book, Baret’s Alvearie (1580), will still be considered an important 16th century artifact with valuable Elizabethan-era annotations.

Anticipating skepticism from academics and laypeople alike, Koppelman and Wechsler spent the last six years researching Shakespeare’s works and connecting with other experts. They have completed a careful analysis of the handwriting, paying special attention to “personal markers” left by the annotator. The majority of their claim for Shakespeare’s dictionary lies in their analysis of the linguistic elements, the annotations that show uncanny correlations to the Bard’s body of work.

As booksellers, this is the kind of find Koppelman & Wechsler have been waiting for– an important discovery that will put them at the forefront of Shakespeare research (and hopefully bring a big payday). For any entrepreneur, here’s a how a great find or new invention within your industry can impact your business:

It Changes Everything

For the world of rare books, finding Shakespeare’s dictionary would be akin to the invention of the compass: it would provide guidance and a point of reference for something we previously thought we understood. To continue with the invention reference, consider the impact of the printing press, widely considered to be one of the most important inventions of mankind. When the first book was pressed, the Gutenberg Bible around 1450, it represented a faster and cheaper way of disseminating knowledge. When information can travel faster and cheaper, expect revolution. The examples are almost endless: Rousseau’s Social Contract and the French Revolution, Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the American Civil War, Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front and WWI, just to name a few. In a more recent example, who can deny the impact Twitter and bloggers have had on political debates? And when discoveries change everything, they in turn lead to more discoveries: the inventions of the telephone, radio, television, semi-conductor electronics, personal computer, and the Internet were all fundamentally borne out of the invention of electricity.

Onward and upward, entrepreneurs! If you’re not forging ahead, you’re probably falling behind.

Your Industry Becomes A Part Of Cultural Consciousness

Booksellers have been waiting a long time for rare books to get the fair share of the collectibles limelight. TV shows like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, and American Pickers have highlighted art and antiques, but until now, rare books have only been shown modest attention. If Shakespeare’s dictionary has been found, this will all change. Koppelman and Wechsler are using their discovery not only to benefit themselves, but to also shed light on the entire rare book trade, make a valuable contribution to Shakespeare research, and educate the public at large on the important cultural contributions rare books make to our society.

When your industry is in the spotlight, take advantage of it—but also keep in mind that it is bigger than yourself.

There’s Money To Be Made

Regardless of its reception among the scholarly community, Koppelman & Wechsler’s Alvearie is sure to fetch a high price. To put this book in context, consider what the Codex Leicester, containing the scientific writings of Leonardo DaVinci, sold for: Bill Gates paid $30.8 million for this relic in 1994, the highest price ever paid for any book. More recently, the Bay Psalm Book, the first book printed in British North America, sold for just over $14 million in 2013.

 

A rising tide raises all ships: with your industry in the spotlight, it’s a great time to maximize profits, or reinvest profits into new R&D.

It Will Inspire Future Research And Fuel Debate

It remains to be seen how scholars will respond to Koppelman & Wechsler’s claims, but one thing is for sure: it will be hotly debated for some time to come. Their book and website, Shakespeare’s Beehive and www.shakespearesbeehive.com, cannot provide the “smoking gun” many will clamor for in order to be fully convinced of the authenticity of their find. Instead, the finders of Shakespeare’s dictionary provide expert analysis, scholarly research, and convincing probabilities—a mountain of circumstantial evidence in absence of direct proof. They have also provided a complete digital scan of their Alvearie on their website, inviting not only academics, but anyone interested in this unique book to comment, ask questions, and keep the conversation going.

Even if you can’t convince everyone of the importance, relevance, or authenticity of your discovery, if you exercised due diligence, it will surely become part of the canon of information currently available, and perhaps inspire further inquiry or become a stepping stone for something greater.

It Will Inspire Confidence And Hope

How this book was found (eBay? really?) will keep the buzz alive about making rare finds at local yard sales and flea markets. And the fact that Koppelman and Wechsler found it gives hope to anyone who is just like them– intelligent, hard-working people, not starting out with a particularly large fortune or strong society connections, but who with a little luck and a lot of persistence are attempting to prove the impossible. If you’ve been seeking entrepreneurial inspiration, look no further than the discovery of this heavily annotated dictionary. Indeed, finding an old, tattered copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland 10 years ago at a street sale inspired me to start my own rare book business.

Inspiration is out there everywhere; keeping our eyes and mind wide open will help you to recognize it.

The idea of finding Shakespeare’s dictionary seems impossible. But where would we be without dreamers like Johannes Gutenberg, Benjamin Franklin, and Steve Jobs? Where would the English language be without Shakespeare? As entrepreneurs, it is our job to innovate, discover, and inspire. Onward and upward!

                                                                             

First Impressions - Important News in Rare Books - April 2014

Lost & Found:
William Shakespeare’s Dictionary?

George Koppelman, of Cultured Oyster Books, NYC, and Daniel Wechsler, of Sanctuary Books, NYC, claim they have found a dictionary that was owned and annotated by William Shakespeare. Read below for this incredible story, as well as exclusive Q & A with Koppelman & Wechsler, two booksellers we are proud to call colleagues, fellow ABAA members, and friends.

Koppelman and Wechsler purchased a copy of Baret’s Alvearie, or Quadruple Dictionarie (1580), on eBay in 2008. While other books have more famously earned the designation of Shakespeare source texts, works by Florio and Holinshed’s Chronicles of England (1587) among them, Baret’s Alvearie has been somewhat overlooked. While they initially believed their dictionary to be important and valuable because of the Elizabethan-era annotations it contained, Koppelman and Wechsler soon found themselves making the case for Shakespeare himself as its owner and annotator.

Knowing their find would be met with both excitement and skepticism at once, Koppelman and Wechsler spent the last six years researching the life and times of Shakespeare, studying his canon, and connecting with Shakespeare scholars. Through their devoted study, they have unearthed evidence through careful analysis of the paleography and “personal markers” of the annotator, such as stylized “W” and “S” letters, and biblical “IHS” monograms penned next to entries for yew tree. The majority of their case for Shakespeare’s dictionary lies in their analysis of the annotations themselves, a dense network of interrelated references that show shocking parallels to the unique and inventive language of Shakespeare, the words as they appear in his works.

Koppelman & Wechsler’s research is available to the public in the form of their book, Shakespeare’s Beehive. A 342-page single-item catalogue, it was written for the academic and layperson alike, and provides their analyses of the linguistic elements along with text citations, the annotator’s marks easily identifiable in red. They have also made available a complete digital scan of their Alvearie, and intend for their website, www.shakespearesbeehive.com, to become a home for further inquiry and lively debate.

As booksellers, Koppelman and Wechsler have been waiting for this day for their entire careers, having independently spent over 20 years in the antiquarian book trade. They embody the characteristics of quality booksellers-- intelligent, persistent, hard-working experts who through erudite research have made a case for their important discovery. They have demonstrated due diligence, going about their investigation with remarkable skill, sensitivity, and scholarship, ultimately intending to provide guidance to all interested in this unique book. While this find means a great deal to Koppelman and Wechsler themselves, they are ever mindful of its importance to the rare book trade, researchers, and the public at large, all of whom cannot deny the importance of Shakespeare’s writings.

Undoubtedly, every bookseller dreams of the day they will make an important and valuable discovery. This is the day we’ve spent our careers waiting for-- the day the world will share our excitement for rare books, learn about Shakespeare and his canon, and appreciate the important cultural contributions rare books continually make to our society.

Q & A with George Koppelman & Daniel Wechsler, exclusive to B & B Rare Books

Q: What was your first clue that the annotations in your Alvearie were penned by William Shakespeare?

GK & DW: There was not one clue, really. It was more a combination of clues. I think it's important to emphasize that our conclusions came after a considerable amount of time. We're talking years! If you try to find Shakespeare at a glance when looking at the annotations, it's going to be disappointing. But we've yet to encounter someone who has read our book, Shakespeare's Beehive: An Annotated Elizabethan Dictionary Come to Light, that has come away disappointed. The whole of what's in there, we believe, makes a very compelling argument.

Q: Will this discovery change our perception of Shakespeare and his works?

GK & DW: We think it actually reinforces much of what already is either known or has been speculated. The known would be that Shakespeare relied heavily on sourcebooks, borrowed from texts, occasionally in such a way that by today's standards would constitute plagiarism. Of course, what he does even with these bits and pieces that are extracted is highly original. Incredibly, a few of the scant bibliographical details regarding Shakespeare we believe you can actually find in our annotations if you look carefully. A speculation was once made that Shakespeare worked as a proofreader for Henry Denham. This speculation was made without ever having seen the copy of our Baret with its signs of proofreading (printed by Henry Denham), and would go a long away in explaining how intimately familiar Shakespeare was with Holinshed, the most famous of all his sourcebooks. Shakespeare as proofreader in his early days in London! How cool would that be?

Q: Do you think that other books belonging to Shakespeare are still out there, awaiting discovery?

GK & DW: We think it's quite possible. The perception has always been that if marginal notes from a sourcebook were discovered, the marginal notes would be in an English secretarial script, as opposed to an italic or a mixed hand. But that remains speculation in a world without a single accepted book wherein we find Shakespeare's marginal notes. How someone signs their name is often completely different from how they would annotate a book. That was true at the time and it remains true today. One book that is particularly intriguing to us is a copy of a book signed "William Shakespeare" that is already in the British Library. It's a copy of Florio's Montaigne. The signature has gone in and out of favor over the years (there is not a lot of current support for it, to be honest), but the book has some marginal notes that could conceivably be in the same hand as our annotator. That would be quite a coincidence.

For more information on this amazing story, click on the links below:

Shakespeare’s Beehive – official website

The New Yorker – article by Adam Gopnik

Folger Shakespeare Library – official statement by Michael Witmore & Heather Wolfe

Forbes – article by yours truly, Sunday Steinkirchner of B & B Rare Books

The Blog of the ABAA – articles by Janine Moodhe & Sunday Steinkirchner

Sydney Morning Herald – article by Mark Tewfik of Maggs Brothers

A summary of news regarding Shakespeare’s Beehive is compiled by Garrett Scott, ABAA, on his blog: Bibliophagist

                                                                             

 
~ Sunday & Josh
B & B Rare Books, Ltd.
(646) 652-6766

info@bbrarebooks.com
www.bbrarebooks.com
Members: ABAA, ILAB & PBFA (UK)


Questions? Comments? Please email info@bbrarebooks.com