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Applications for ABAA's Diversity Initiative Discovery Program are now Open

The Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America is yet again providing a opportunity for those curious about the rare book trade to come to Boston, hang out with amazing book people, and learn about the business of rare books.

If you've been curious about rare books or the book trade but haven't been sure where to start, or you've seen rows and rows of old guys in suits standing behind glass cases of expensive stuff and felt a little intimidated, this program meant to help break the ice and make the whole thing less mysterious.

All you need is to be available during Nov. 5-9 and willing to travel to Boston.

Details are here, and if you have any questions, you can shoot me an ask or email Xin, who has contact info in the application.

See you in Boston!

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Colorful depictions of battles from the Spanish-American War. The war lasted a little under a year and resulted in America establishing itself as a significant colonial power in the Pacific.

From The story of the war of 1898 told by W. Nephew King... 1898

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This Rube Goldberg looking plate depicts a collection of experiments on the conduction and generation of electricity by the early electrical experimenter Jean-Antoine Nollet. His Lettres sur l'électricité was published in 1753, one year after Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment!

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Vintage sensationalism. Ann Saunders was one of six people rescued at sea after weeks adrift. They had survived by consuming the bodies of those who died, and lurid details of this story were covered heavily by the press at the time.

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Happy Indigenous People's Day! Please enjoy this poem from  Kahnawakeronon Poet Peter Blue Cloud, from his book Sketches in Winter, With Crows

Fire Tale

A knot of cedar the flames lick to dancing ancient fingers rub time the polished staff of tales bedded in sage myths our tongues taste tomorrow.

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Progress personified strides across the American plains in this plate from Crofutt's new overland tourist and Pacific coast guide. The intended impression was unrelenting positivity, but on the left we see the consequences of this Manifest Destiny, as native people are driven away and depicted in the same vein as the wild beasts.

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One of the qualities of vellum bindings is that they tend to want to warp. A lot of times this just means curling, but in this case we've ended up with a skrunkly, Necromicon looking book.

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The Dianshizhai Pictorial was the oldest and most influential illustrated news periodical in China. It served as an 8-page newspaper supplement from 1884 to 1898, and covered news about crimes, disasters, war, scandals, and other exciting happenings both in China and abroad, with each report featuring a double-page lithograph to illustrate it. The subject matter and format reflected the changing times in China, as the culture absorbed and modified western technologies and approaches. The images themselves reflect an adoption of western perspective and often mimic the line values of engraving, but maintain Chinese image grammar and sense.

These are some pictures from the facsimile edition, published in 1983. It consists of 44 volumes, and has something around 4000 images!

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What do you think these pills do? (wrong answers only)

An ad on the back of Williams dictionary of the English language and calendar, aka the advertising fridge calendar of the day.

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A handsomely printed little keepsake book between friends.

Includes contributions by Mary Russell Mitford, W. H. Harrison, and John Bowring. The Forget Me Not for 1823 was the first such annual published in England. "Mr. Ackermann was the father and originator in England of those elegant bijouteries of the festive season, the Annuals, which was a spirited attempt to rival the numerous publications issued in France and Germany. It is well known that his successful attempt to furnish in the Forget Me Not, a worthy offering to an object of kindness and affection, has generated in this country a new class of elegant works" (Timperley, Dictionary of Printers and Printing, 1839). (sold)

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I'm a big fan of the delicacy and care in which these humble grasses have been illustrated. They are unironically some of my favorite flowers.

From: Practical observations on the British grasses, especially such as are best adapted to the laying down or improving of meadows and pastures. (Sold)

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This remarkable history quiz manuscript from early 19th century France combines detailed scenery with little stick figures to depict important scenes from antiquity and what was then modern events. An educated French youth would be able to identify each of the events depicted. 

Speculation about why the artist chose to use stick figures has resulted in two possibilities. Some people think that an attempt has been made to abstract the gruesomeness of many of the scenes. I suspect some artists might look at these images and nod their heads in commiseration with whoever decided that the occasional beard was enough and called it a day.

Can you guess what scenes these pictures were meant to depict? Some are very hard if your European history isn’t up to snuff!

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This guy looks familiar...

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Is your heart full of turtles, peacocks, and the devil? Or are ladders, Jesus and shirts more your thing?

From The heart of man: either a temple of God, or a habitation of Satan. ca. 1842

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Zine covers of the 60s and 70s. I admit I like them better than the poetry inside.

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Spoooons.

Including a memento mori spoon. What's that about?

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These simple but elegant pages were printed Leonard Baskin using ornaments once owned by Bruce Rogers. According to Baskin:

"The Arts of the Book division of Yale‘s Sterling Memorial Library, held a collection of ornaments, devices, culs de lamps, etc. that had belonged to Bruce Rogers; they were venerated, if entirely unused. The keeper of these reliques, these printers' flowers & decorative elements had the bright notion of making a display book from the photo-mechanical & leaden ornaments. I have ever been interested in those marvelous flowers, that grow in the hidden garden of printers' cases, & their usage, both scant & profuse, by earlier printers. I was delighted when asked to arrange & order the Yale Rogers' fleurons, rosselins, vignettes, & to tie apothegms & mottos to them & render them sentient. The book is a 'tour de force' of typographic play; one page passed through the press nine times to achieve its diversity of color and gold."

This copy is one of 50 specially bound by Arno Werner and numbered in Roman numerals, this being Roman numeral no. II.