Articles

Articles by our staff and guests on all aspects of the rare book world.

March 21, 2007

What Future for Rare Books

by Alain Marchiset

The speech which follows was given at the SLAM headquarters where a press conference was convened at the end of November 2002, and which was attended by journalists specializing in the Art World, as well as French public officers from the Ministry of Culture, the "Direction du Livre," the Archives and Public Libraries. The theme chosen was "What future for rare books," and the main object was to make the guests aware of the difficulties arising from the complex European regulations concerning cultural property.

As we move forward into the twenty first century with its electronic digital and virtual revolution...

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February 21, 2007

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

by Tom Congalton
A standard annual ritual for American children is the first-day-of-school assignment of an essay about what each student did on his or her summer vacation. What better way to make the transition from the indolent days of Summer to the industrious busyness of the school year than a fond reminiscence of one's past pleasures and experiences? Summer is now long over, but in order to provide a little light in the depths of winter, I have assigned myself that theme for this issue of the magazine.

Before I talk about this Summer, I'll need to talk about the Summer of...

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December 13, 2006

Young Booksellers, Young Books: The Prospects of the American Rare Book Trade

by John Wronoski

Note:

The following article that I ran across on the ILAB.Org website is by John Wronoski of Lame Duck Books, and is reprinted here with the author's permission. I first met John in the mid-1980s, when he owned a scholarly bookstore in Philadelphia, near the University of Pennsylvania, just across the Delaware River from our own location. It was always a temptation to visit John, buy his books, and like as not to consume many libations and consume vast quantities of Ethiopian food at the restaurant down the block from his store.

In the late-1980s, John, Ken Lopez, and I....

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June 5, 2006

Aging Ungracefully in the Rare Book Trade

by Tom Congalton

On Saturday morning before the opening hours of the Los Angeles Book Fair, I found myself seated on a raised dais with a microphone propped in front of me, part of a panel with four other veteran booksellers. We were addressing the subject of the past, present, and future of the antiquarian book trade, before a crowd of something a little less than 100 people, almost all of them booksellers.

Despite the fact I have been a fulltime bookseller for about twenty years, it was with some chagrin I realized that the majority of the attendees were booksellers whose experience...

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June 4, 2006

The Past, Present, and Future of the Antiquarian Book Trade

by Tom Congalton
In February 2006, at the Los Angeles Book Fair, Tom was asked to join four other distinguished booksellers in a panel discussion on the antiquarian book trade. Below are his notes for the discussion.

1. In your experience how has the antiquarian book trade changed in the past twenty-five years for small, medium and large antiquarian book firms? In your response please take into account the economic conditions of the trade for these years.

First of all I must say that twenty-five years ago I could have never predicted where I'd be today, let alone where an entire industry would...

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April 29, 2006

The Messiah Factor in Bookselling

by Tom Congalton
A version of this text was originally delivered as a speech before the Fellowship of American Bibliographic Societies (FABS) at the Rowfant Club. The text is also reprinted in Book Talk: Essays on Books, Booksellers, Collecting, and Special Collections, edited by Robert H. Jackson and Carol Z. Rothkopf, published by Oak Knoll Press, and available through Between the Covers.

My first real entry into the antiquarian book world, was in the early 1970's, standing on line for library sales, where treasures could be purchased for a quarter or less. It was during the tedious hours of waiting where I had my...

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April 28, 2006

Memoirs of a Lazy ABAA President

by Tom Congalton

When I began my term as ABAA President in April 2000, despite much helpful advice from several of my predecessors, I was a little unsure of what to expect, and from a personal viewpoint concerned how the time devoted to the position was going to effect my own business. I knew from six previous years on the Board that too much devotion to ABAA business could have a real effect on one's own income. With most ABAA member firms being sole proprietorships, or small corporations, with at best, small staffs, could a small business stand the extended loss of its...

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April 27, 2006

A First Time Exhibitor at Olympia

by Tom Congalton

Between the Covers Rare Books exhibited for the first time in the U.K. at the 2004 Olympia London Book Fair. The jury is still out as to whether we will return any time soon. I had previously visited the fair in 2002 while serving as president of the ABAA, the American booksellers association, in part to participate in an informal meeting of national presidents convened by then ILAB president Kay Craddock. This served as a perfect excuse to shop the fair, the London dealers, and the several PBFA fairs being held in conjunction with the big fair.

At that time...

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March 30, 2006

A Visit to the St. Petersburg, Florida Book Fair

by Tom Congalton
If one were forced to provide a list of the best book fairs in the U.S., predicated on the quality of commerce, ambience, and the merchandise exhibited, it is pretty much axiomatic that the three annual fairs sponsored by the ABAA: New York, Boston, and California (which alternates bi-annually between Los Angeles and San Francisco) would easily top the list.

However, while the U.S. does not have a PBFA-type organization to sponsor regional book fairs, various state and regional bookseller-run organizations, and independent promoters provide more than ample opportunity for the peripatetic bookseller to peddle his wares. This article is, I....

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January 15, 2006

A Look at the American Antiquarian Book Trade

by Tom Congalton

At years end, the state of the American antiquarian book trade can best be described as unsettled, and in what has become an increasingly global marketplace; I suspect that the American experience is little different from that of our overseas colleagues.

Although some areas of the American trade remain robust with children's books, American colorplate books, some Americana, and some literary highspots most conspicuous among them, the trade in general continues to undergo a rapid and continuous shift. The ease of finding books on the Internet has contributed to the increasingly rapid decline of the open shop. Those unwilling to adapt...

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