Book Collecting 101 Info for Book Collectors and Book Readers

NY Art Book Fair, November 5–7 at MoMA, Long Island City, Queens

By Debra on August 27th, 2010

Printed Matter presents the fifth annual NY Art Book Fair, November 5–7 at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, Queens. Free and open to the public, the Fair hosts over 200 international presses, booksellers, antiquarian dealers, artists and publishers from twenty countries, offering the best in contemporary art-book publishing.

Philip Aarons, Chairman of the Board for Printed Matter, said: “The NY Art Book Fair is the premiere venue to find what's new in art publishing. While it has spawned the next generation of independent art book fairs world-wide, it remains the biggest, the best, and by far the most fun.”

The NY Art Book Fair includes special project rooms, screenings, book signings, and performances, throughout the weekend. Other events include the third annual Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference and The Classroom, a curated series of informal conversations between artists, together with readings, workshops and other artist-led events.

A list of exhibitors, event schedule, and more information is available at www.nyartbookfair.com.

HOURS AND LOCATION

Printed Matter, Inc. presents The NY Art Book Fair
November 5–7, 2010
Preview: November 4, 6-9 p.m.
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Ave at the intersection of 46th Avenue
Long Island City, NY

Free and open to the public:
Thursday, November 4, 6-9 p.m.
Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday, November 7, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

SPECIAL PROGRAMMING

Artist’s Project
Leidy Churchman takes over the lobby with a large set of facsimile book paintings on wood. Drawing upon the stacks at the Museum of Modern Art Library Library with friend and librarian David Senior, Churchman traces a unique and fetching portrait of artists’ publications from the last hundred years.

Special Project Rooms
Select exhibitors take over entire galleries: AA Bookstore with Bedford Books (London), Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI; New York), Fillip and A.AAAARG.ORG (Vancouver; Los Angeles), and Picturebox (Brooklyn). Andrew Roth (New York) exhibits a retrospective of PPP Publishing. Goteblüd (San Francisco) presents an exhibition of more than six hundred Riot Grrrl zines, with a working photocopy station. Werkplaats Typografie (Arnhem), the Dutch super-school, brings its entire student body to design, produce, and sell books while you watch.

The Classroom
The Classroom is a curated series of informal conversations between artists, workshops, readings and other artist-led events, with continuous enrollment for all fair-goers throughout the weekend. Participants include: Casco (Utrecht), f.ART magazine (New York), Golden Age (Chicago), J&L Books with Jason Fulford (Atlanta), Kodoji Press with Erik Steinbrecher (Zurich), Little Joe (London), The New Dreamz with Rose Luardo and Andrew Jeffrey Wright (Philadelphia), Onomatopee (Eindhoven), Roma Publications with Jo Baer (Amsterdam), Seems (San Francisco), Sumi Ink Club (Los Angeles), Swill Children (Brooklyn), Triple Canopy (New York and Los Angeles) and Alexis Zavialoff of Motto (Berlin), among others. The Classroom is organized by David Senior, the Museum of Modern Art Library.

Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference
The Contemporary Artists’ Books Conference is a dynamic, two-day event focused on emerging practices and debates within art-book culture. This year’s sessions address a wide array of subjects, including: experimental libraries, the so-called zine renaissance, fusion of art and design in typography, contemporary criticism, and new pedagogical approaches to the ever-expanding field of artists’ books. The first day of the conference ends with a lively pecha kucha, a rapid-fire event in which invited speakers have just five minutes to comment on an artwork. Full-conference registrants receive a specially commissioned book by Emily Roysdon, an interdisciplinary artist and writer who examines the intersections of choreography and politics. Roysdon's book is a meditation on vintage photographs of the New York piers by queer photographer Alvin Baltrop.

HIGHLIGHTS

Featured Countries
This year, the NY Art Book Fair celebrates eighteen cutting-edge publishers from The Netherlands, including a project room by Kunstverein Amsterdam (Amsterdam) and Witte de With (Rotterdam), together with a variety of book launches and informal presentations in the Dutch Pavilion. Other countries represented include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and United States.

Antiquarian Dealers
Exhibitors present collections of rare Conceptual Art, Minimalism, Fluxus, and the avant-garde from Japan, Europe, and North America. Exhibitors include: John McWhinnie @ Glenn Horowitz (East Hampton), Harper’s Books (East Hampton), Marcus Campbell (London), Steven Leiber (San Francisco), Sims Reed (London), Stefan Schuelke (Cologne) and others.

Artists & Activists
This diverse group of politically minded artists and collectives focus on the intersection of art and activism. Exhibitors include: Journal of Aesthetics and Protest (Los Angeles), GuerrillaGirlsBroadBand (New York), The Yes Men (New York), Bread and Puppet (Glover, Vermont), Center for Urban Pedagogy (Brooklyn), and Temporary Services (Chicago), among others.

Zines by Artists
A lively selection of international zinesters will represent independent publishing at its most innovative and affordable. Exhibitors include: The Holster (Brooklyn), Nieves (Zurich), Ooga Booga (Los Angeles), and ZINE’S MATE (Tokyo), among others. A special section of queer zines includes our favorites, from Original Plumbing (San Francisco) and Girls Like Us (Amsterdam) to PINUPS (Brooklyn).

EDITIONS

Printed Matter presents new limited editions by artists Rachel Harrison, Christian Holstad and Misaki Kawai, published on the occasion of the NY Art Book Fair 2010. Purchase of these editions supports the Fair, ensuring the event remains free and open to the public.

“Smart, weird, engrossing, beautiful…”
–The New York Times, 2009

“Bigger and better then ever…time and a sturdy bag were essential accessories.”
–Artforum, 2009

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Antiques Dealer Sentenced for Possession of Stolen Shakespeare Folio

By Debra on August 27th, 2010

pictures william shakespeare 5 Antiques Dealer Sentenced for Possession of Stolen Shakespeare Folio

Source: Art Loss Register - Excellent worldwide service to recover stolen items, register collections or research that potential buy that sounds a bit too good to be true.

Antiques dealer Raymond Scott received sentences totalling eight years after being found guilty of handling a stolen copy of Shakespeare's First Folio and removing the stolen document from Britain.

The rare 17th century compendium of Shakespeare plays was stolen in December 1998 from Durham University. The document was recognized in June 2009 by the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. when Scott offered the work for sale. Suspicious staff quickly contacted local law enforcement, the British Council and the FBI. Though Scott was found innocent of the theft, evidence suggests he was responsible for or had been party to the removal of several parts of the folio in a bid to "hide its true identity". The damage sustained, described by Judge Richard Lowden as an act of "cultural vandalization," is believed to have reduced the value of the folio by approximately £1.5m.

In an interview with the BBC World Service, Julian Radcliffe, chairman of the Art Loss Register, stated "Persistent criminals like Scott deserve eight year sentences for irreparable damage to national heritage."

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Voynich Manuscript, The Most Mysterious Manuscript in the World

By Debra on August 15th, 2010

Source: socyberty.com

Voynich Manuscript, The Most Mysterious Manuscript in the World

AT THE BEINECKE RARE BOOK and Manuscript Library at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, hardly a day passes without an inquiry about a small volume known as the Voynich Manuscript.

Voynich Manuscript, The Most Mysterious Manuscript in the World

The Beinecke contains countless rare books. What makes the Voynich Manuscript of particular interest is that no one has yet been able to read it in full; the text is written in a code that some of the world’s greatest cryptographers and linguistics experts have failed to decipher.

387043891256191b80bc2 1 Voynich Manuscript, The Most Mysterious Manuscript in the World

The manuscript measures 53/4 by 81/2 inches and is some 200 pages long. Its vellum leaves are covered with extraordinary flowing writing – extraordinary because its author has used a completely unknown alphabet. The illustrations accompanying the text are equally odd – they seem to represent plants, women, and astronomical configurations. Since neither the words nor pictures are easy to interpret, the book has been called the most mysterious manuscript in the world.

Taschen Releases New Signed Limited Book on Pucci

By Debra on August 12th, 2010

Signed Limited Edition Book

Pucci, the pioneering Italian fashion brand

Featuring hundreds of photographs, drawings, and candid shots from the archives of the Emilio Pucci Foundation, this XL tome captures the breathtaking elegance and drama of a unique brand. Vanessa Friedman's text places Emilio Pucci's achievements in the context of fashion history, and provides insight into the remarkable Pucci dynasty.

This Vintage Art Edition is limited to just 500 signed and numbered copies. Each book is bound in one of a selection of vintage cotton/silk/wool original print fabrics from Emilio Pucci's collection (late 1950s-early 1990s), packaged in a protective acrylic slipcase, and accompanied by four art prints of original drawings by designer Emilio Pucci.

Click here to see the four prints and for more information.

Subscription price until August 15, 2010:

$ 850
Thereafter: $ 1,000

BUY NOW and SAVE $ 150!

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Why Collectible Investments Today Can Mean Profit Tomorrow

By Debra on July 28th, 2010

Source: Paul Frasier Collectibles, a great source for very fine books, manuscripts and other collectibles.

When it comes to investment in a recession, there is little to rival collectibles for sheer growth

According to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the wealth of the average Briton has taken quite a hammering in recent years...

And the effects have been even worse for those groups with greater disposable income. Degree educated individuals have reportedly suffered a £17,600 ($26,400) drop in wealth, while citizens aged 55 to 74 endured a drop of £25,000 ($37,500).

On balance, the recession has dealt a blow of £11,300 ($16,950) to the average Briton's wealth.

Downturns in the property and stock markets, along with a fall in the value of defined pension contributions, have had a significant effect on the wealth of UK households.

In 2007, the value of the FTSE 100 was set at around 6700 points. Two years later, it had dropped to just under 4,000. The UK housing market has also experienced problems. In 2007, the average house price was set at £184,070, but today that figure stands at £167,802 - a loss of 8.7%.

But, while traditional asset values have fallen leading to a loss of wealth, it's a very different story in the world of collectible investments. A similar period has seen investors all over the world turning what has been a £11,000 loss for traditionalists into a profit for collectors.

For starters, some of the world's most sought after autographs have seen incredible short term returns.

An Albert Einstein letter dated January 1954, from Einstein to a Dr Oliver Ford in England, sold at Bonham's in October 2009 for £1626 ($2,440).

Yet just four months later, the same letter reappeared at an online auction with bids reaching £1,810 ($2,716). That's a return of 11% in 16 weeks.

Paul Fraser Collectibles has experienced this phenomenon first hand. After the recent sale of Scottish poet Robbie Burns' Bible for £25,000 ($41,250), international interest around the piece continued resulting in one collector offering us £37,500 ($61,875).

Had the new owner parted with the treasured collectible, he would have seen a profit of over 50% in one week.

Meanwhile, the stamp market has also seen impressive short term gains.

In China, this has led to world record prices. In September 2009, a collector paid £221,110 ($331,671) for one Chinese Red Revenue stamp, only one of 32 left from the 1897.

Yet, just over three months later, another of the Red Revenue stamps sold for £474,400 ($711,600). That is over double the amount paid just four months earlier.

Stamps are also increasing in value at the lower end of the market. Recently, a rare 1d orange-vermilion went up for auction with a £3,500 ($5,250) presale estimate.

The stamp sold for £13,000 ($19,500) - nearly four times the estimated price.

And such value appreciation hasn't been limited to more traditional collectibles either.

A 1960 Green Lantern Comic issue #1 was auctioned in 2003 for £12,650 ($18,975) which was considered an excellent price at the time. This year, the same issue of the comic, sold for £33,250 ($50,787): an increase of 123.9% in seven years.

The world of art and celebrity has also seen high short term profits. In a 2005 Los Angeles auction, one of the Mick Jagger paintings created by Andy Warhol sold for £13,300 ($19,975).

Just two years later, the same painting sold at a similar auction for £26,000 ($39,000.)

Elsewhere, a bathrobe, once belonging to Marilyn Monroe was purchased for $6,000 in 1999. Ten years later, at the height of the recession, this same robe sold at auction for $120,000. That equates to an increase in value of 1,900%.

The long term investment potential for collectibles is equally impressive if not better.

In the world of rare collectible stamps, the GB30 Rarities index, which charts the value of the top 30 rare British stamps for investment over the past 40 years, has shown an overall increase of 6,403% in value. This equates to a compound average annual increase of 11% per annum.

More importantly, at the height of the recent recession, the GB30 Rarities index saw an increase of some 38.6% in value from 2007 to 2008, while the following year recorded a further 45.6% growth.

Collectibles, like autographs have seen equally impressive gains. The PFC40 autograph index, which charts the value of the top 40 most sought after celebrity autographs on the market, recorded an average increase of 335.9% over the last ten years. That's an average compound increase of 15.86% per annum.

And luxury collectibles are seeing even better returns than an investment with Warren Buffett. According to figures, if you had invested in Buffett's famous Berkshire Hathaway Group over the last 20 years you'd have seen returns of 18.83% per annum.

In comparison, in 1986, one avid collector bought Andy Warhol's 200 One Dollar Bills for £256,600 ($385,000). Earlier this year, the same painting was sold for £29,200,000 ($43,800,000) at auction in New York. That's a return of almost 23% per annum.

Ultimately, the recession dealt a £11,300 blow to Britons because their wealth was directly correlated to the traditional investment markets of shares and property.

But unique collectible values hold little correlation with other traditional financial investments. Furthermore, they are tangible: you can hold them, and they will always hold value.

With an estimated 200 million serious collectors worldwide underpinning the market, and early projections forecasting this consumer base to double in the next twenty years, the future looks good for investment grade collectibles.

Book News, Collectible Book, RARE Books for Sale No comments yet

Kate Moss by Mario Testino Limited Edition

By Debra on July 27th, 2010

Kate Moss by Mario Testino Limited Edition book available for preorder from Amazon. I have been hearing about this book for months. I am not big on fashion but I do know who Kate Moss and Mario Testino are. So do millions of folks. This book has been much anticipated. If this is your thing, do NOT wait. Order yours while they are still available.

Mario Testino’s personal choice of his photographs of Kate Moss

The unseen Kate: the most intimate photos of todays biggest international fashion icon by the fashion world's favorite photographer. Limited to 1,500 copies, each numbered and signed by the artist.

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Revised Story About "Bloody Book"

By Debra on July 27th, 2010

We reported recently about a new limited edition book that was to include the blood of Indian cricket player Sachin Tendulkar. Here is updated info about the story. I can't understand the mix-up. Did the publisher SAY the book was to include blood?

Source: MTV Iggy

Last week, media around the world reported the curious news that Indian cricketeer Sachin Tendulkar was in the works to release a limited-edition book that included… wait for it… a page in it that was dyed red from Sachin’s own blood. Our first thought after ‘Ew, gross!’ was to wonder who would want to pay thousands of dollars for such an item and what twisted, Twilight-loving vampire publisher would commission such an idea. After all, it’s one thing for fans to call for your blood when you mess up a play, but quite another for them to want it for memory’s sake.

According to last week’s Guardian:

Only for the most dedicated of fans, the “blood edition” of the Tendulkar Opus, which also includes unpublished family pictures and Tendulkar’s thoughts about his career, weighs 37kg, measures half a metre square and stretches to 852 pages edged in gold leaf, costing $75,000 (£49,000). Out next February, only 10 copies are being printed and they have all already been pre-ordered. “The signature page will be mixed with Sachin’s blood – mixed into the paper pulp so it’s a red resin. It is what it is – you will have Sachin’s blood on the page,” said publisher Kraken Media’s chief executive Karl Fowler. “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s not to everyone’s taste and some may think it’s a bit weird. But the key thing here is that Sachin Tendulkar to millions of people is a religious icon. And we thought how, in a publishing form, can you get as close to your god as possible?” As well as taking blood from the cricketer, Kraken asked for a sample of his saliva and used this to create his DNA profile, which will be printed on a two-metre gatefold in the book. “What you’ll be looking at is his genetic makeup,” said Fowler.

But the latest news is that Sachin has no plans of donating any pints for purposes of painting his autobiography crimson. He claims the Guardian’s report was misinformed:

“There is no truth in my blood being part of the book,” Tendulkar told a leading daily in comments published on Saturday. Kraken chief executive Karl Fowler was quoted by the British broadsheet as saying 10 copies of the book would be printed using Tendulkar’s blood. Fowler, who had been earlier cited as saying Sachin’s blood would be “mixed into the paper pulp so it’s a red resin” said that his comments had been “misunderstood.” “The Opus will not carry any blood as mentioned in the several articles/TV reports that have appeared over the past few days,” Fowler was quoted as saying. “I believe my thoughts on this matter have been misunderstood,” the publisher added.

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Publisher Mixes Cricket Star's Blood With Paper Pulp For Limited Edition Book

By Debra on July 21st, 2010

Source: Wall Street Journal
By ALEXANDRA ALTER

For $75,000, you can buy a piece of Indian cricket star Sachin Tendulkar.

Luxury publisher Kraken Opus mixed in a pint of Mr. Tendulkar's blood with paper pulp to create the signature page for a book celebrating the renowned batsman's career. The 10 limited-edition copies, which comes out in February, cost $75,000 each and have already sold out.

Kraken is one of a handful of high-end publishing houses that are pushing the boundaries of extravagance and novelty in the luxury book market. Such books are being treated as investments and sometimes commanding prices usually reserved for original art works.

WK AU664 ARTBOO DV 20100715200503 Publisher Mixes Cricket Stars Blood With Paper Pulp For Limited Edition Book

From 'Tendulkar Opus,' $75,000

Earlier this year, Taschen Books sold pieces of the moon with 12 copies of its massive photography book on the lunar landing (one of the lunar-rock editions sold for $112,500). Taschen previously published a $7,500, 800-page book on Muhammad Ali, "GOAT" (for "greatest of all time"), that comes with four signed photographs of the boxer and a sculpture by Jeff Koons.

"No one says, 'I want to download the e-edition of this book,' " says book analyst Michael Norris of research firm Simba Information. "If it's a physical object that's beautifully done, people see the value."

Kraken plans to charge $40,000 for a forthcoming book about the Ferrari automobile—a sum that could purchase an actual car, albeit a more prosaic one. The book features rare images of Enzo Ferrari's villa and action inside Formula One racing pits, plus the signatures of all living Ferrari champion drivers. A hedge-fund manager has ordered 20 copies (just 399 will be issued) and is paying Kraken a quarterly fee to store the books in a climate-controlled facility, says Karl Fowler, CEO of parent company Opus Media Group.

WK AU665 ARTBOO DV 20100715200635 Publisher Mixes Cricket Stars Blood With Paper Pulp For Limited Edition Book

The 'Enzo Edition' of 'The Ferrari Opus' for $40,000.

This summer, Taschen is releasing a $50,000 collector's edition celebrating the work of the installation artists Christo and his late wife, Jeanne-Claude. The 754-page tome, designed by Christo, comes with a 1965 lithograph, and an original sketch depicting one of his installations.

Taschen recently published a $2,000 book of surreal erotic photographs by French photographer Bettina Rheims, which comes with a signed original print and a DVD of a film based on the photos featuring supermodel Naomi Campbell and Italian actress Monica Bellucci. TeNeues Publishing Group is coming out with several $3,000 collector's editions with original signed prints this fall, including titles on fashion designer John Galliano's work at Dior and Michael Poliza's Africa photos.

Man Has Over 2 Million Books

By Debra on July 14th, 2010

Source:ABC Local

I think I will stop saying how my books are taking over my home. This fellow has a barn and three homes full of books... Now THAT is collecting!

A Mid-Michigan man has indulged his passion for buying and selling books for nearly 60 years.
His inventory and his personal collection have to be seen to be believed. His home and store are stuffed.
Berry picking isn't the only thing to do at Russell's Blueberry Farm and Book Barn near Freeland. Some folks come to browse through his collection of 500,000 used books.

"I've always been selling books," said book collector and seller Carl Russell. "I've always sold books when I was in the military. Thirty years in the military and I was always buying and selling."

And don't give up if you don't find what you're looking for in the store. Russell has three houses nearby and they're all stuffed with books.

"I have in excess of two million, I would say. I don't count them all," he said.

Russell not only collects books to sell, he's also an avid reader. He'll have as many as 10 different books going at one time -- history, biography, fiction, it doesn't matter.

"I read every day, every night," he said. "If it's 2 a.m. I read for 30 minutes to an hour."

Organization is not Russell's strong suit. In the Book Barn there are general categories, but the Dewey Decimal System is not in effect.

READ MORE

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Bonhams Invites Entries for Upcoming Books/Manuscript Auction

By Debra on July 14th, 2010

Just received notice today from Bonhams & Butterfields that they are accepting entries for the fall Books, Maps, Manuscripts and Historical Photography auction. The auction is to be held Monday, October 4, 2010 in New York & Los Angeles.

If you have rare books or manuscripts that you can bare to part with contact:

Lucy Carr
books.us@bonhams.com
+1 (323) 436-5487