Antiquarian Book News

25th Chelsea Antiquarian Book Fair 2015

The Famous Antiquarian Book Fair, Chelsea, opens its doors for the 25th time on November 6th.  The Fair provides the ideal setting for bibliophiles of all age and shape to browse the shelves of 88 dealers (a record number) from all over Europe, and one from Canada.  The range of books on offer is what marks out the Fair from others. From Shakespeare to Ian Fleming, books costing a few pounds to many thousands, 15th century illuminated leaves to a book published last year, there would appear to be something for every taste and pocket.  Travellers' tales, the novels of Jane Austen, children's books, glamorous bindings, decorative prints, maps, ephemera, Bibles, atlases, coloured botanical plate books, medicine, law, fine printing and private press, cricket, cookery, gardening, county history, if you can think of it we'll have a book on it. 

This year's highlights include a fine, important letter from King Charles I dated Bagshot,1632; a first edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; a 1589 New Testament in English; a collection of candid photographs of Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn; a First World  War photographic archive of the East Kent Regiment in Egypt; Shackleton's Heart of the Antarctic; Sowerby's Coloured figures of English Fungi or Mushrooms; Jacky Klein's Grayson Perry limited edition; a 1760 Latin manuscript on the Astrolabe; Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventures, and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes first editions – a rich panoply of pleasures that goes on and on…  As fair manager Graham York of the ABA comments, “The annual Chelsea  book fair is now firmly on the King’s Road shopping calendar.  We cater  for buyers of all ages and tastes, whether they are looking to fill a gap in a collection or get inspired to start a small collection of book they love  and wish to own forever.  "The opening hours fit in well with most people’s shopping and working   patterns, and we maintain a friendly and relaxed atmosphere through the  fair. Indeed, “See you at Chelsea” is now a familiar phrase to everyone plugged into the rare book trade."

“This is the most sophisticated and relaxed fair of its kind,” said one   visiting American book buyer. “Each time I come over to Chelsea, I meet   someone new offering me a fresh angle on what to buy or some fresh   advice on how to grow my collection. It’s such a kick to see such a huge   array of wonderful books on sale in one place. And at my age, saving leg   power is a big deal!”  Many of the exhibitors are leading experts in their fields and are only too happy to share their knowledge. We are all members of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association or the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and bound by their codes of conduct and guarantee of authenticity, so you can feel confident in your purchases.  This year we have the one and only Bernard Middleton signing copies of his new book "A Bookbinder's Miscellany, Essays on Fine Binding" on Friday  evening, and on Saturday we will continue our popular series of guided tours of the fair – a relaxed and informal introduction for book buyers led  by some of the exhibitors to aid new collectors or inspire the curious. 

 Friday 6th November 2pm – 7pm, and Saturday 7th 11am – 5pm.

 Admission is £15 for two, or complimentary tickets are available from the  Antiquarian Booksellers' Association.

 Take a look at www.chelseabookfair.com or phone the ABA on 0207 421 468

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Joannes Blaeu's First Edition of Atlas Major

Sotheby’s London will offer the first complete edition of the most luxurious atlas in the history of printed maps: Joannes Blaeu’s Atlas Major. The largest and most expensive book when published in the 17th-century, the Atlas Major remains the most magnificent work of its kind ever produced. Published in 1662, this first edition of the legendary atlas is one of the true masterpieces of the Dutch Golden Age. Estimated at £240,000-320,000, the Atlas Major leads Sotheby’s auction of Travel Atlases, Maps and Natural History in London on 17 November 2015.

The Atlas Major covers the entirety of known world in the 17th-Century, with particular emphasis on Europe, but with separate volumes dedicated to America and China. At the time of its production, the atlas’s cartography, geographical scope and craftsmanship were unprecedented. Comprising 11 large folio volumes, containing 594 engraved maps, plans, and views, all finely coloured by hand in exquisite detail, and nearly 3,000 pages of text, this massive atlas took a team of printers and binders craftsmen many months to produce.

Only 300 sets are believed to have been produced, many of which were presented to Europe’s most influential figures as a tangible symbol of the artistic, intellectual and commercial power of the Republic of the United Netherlands. A coloured version of the atlas would have cost 450 guilders when first published, the same amount as would needed to buy a painting by Rembrandt at that time. 

Joannes Blaeu succeeded his father Willem Blaeu as the head cartographer of the Dutch East India Company at a moment when Amsterdam was at the centre of the map-making world. Exploration in the preceding centuries, led by the likes of Columbus and Vasco de Gama had opened the door to new worlds. This geographical expansion in the great era of discovery had unlocked the possibility for an Atlas Major (Great Atlas), with Blaeu’s masterpiece standing as the ultimate symbol of one of the great epochs in human civilization. 

Each of the 11 Volumes focuses on a different geographical region. Volume VI, for example, focuses on England and Wales and comprises 58 maps along with illustrated views of views of Stonehenge and Avebury. 

The Atlas Major is being offered from the collection of the late Paul Fentener Van Vlissingen, who died in 2006. Vlissingen was a Dutch entrepreneur and philanthropist, known for his dedicated support of conservation projects throughout the world. 

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"We will remember them": An Exhibition of First World War Materials
from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection

This electronic exhibition assembles materials from the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection, on loan to the University of Delaware Library, that were first displayed on 1 November 2014 as part of "Remembering the Great War," a symposium sponsored by the UD Office of Alumni Relations.

Although the Mark Samuels Lasner Collection is usually associated with first editions, periodicals, works on paper, manuscripts, correspondence, etc., from the middle to the end of the nineteenth century in Britain, it is also rich in material from the period of the First World War, some of it with transatlantic connections.

Divided into four sections, the exhibition presents a range of literary and visual responses to life during wartime, whether intended for public consumption or for private circulation. Most of the items are rare, and many are unique, including a number of unpublished letters and manuscripts, along with previously unknown variants of published works and inscribed copies of books.

The Exhibition is curated by Margaret D. Stetz, PhD, Mae and Robert Carter Professor of Women's Studies and Professor of Humanities, Department of Women and Gender Studies, University of Delaware 

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