Webb Howell

Beyond the Basics has the study of litearry fragments,, boy do I miss Joel Silver. Basbanes, in another otherwise obscure article does quote John Hill Burton from the 'Book Hunter', 1862. "Certain people develop a skill and subtlety to enable them, in the midst of a heap of rubbish, to put their fingers on those things which have in them the latent capacity to become valuable and curious." This statement is fundamental to the business of books. There is coverage on the importance of burial show more ledgers, saving on mid-western Japanese book collection, a handful of craftspeople still casting metal type, a surrealist photographer on the frontlines during WWII, a valuable cache of Alan Turing's serendipitously saved from the shredder, the Magna Carta at 800 and how a Harlem journal changed the world. show less

Howell covers the demise of 'Firsts' magazine and that through an arrangement with Kathryn that Fine Books plans to merge Firsts readers into the magazine. (Will I eventually see something extensions on Fine Books to make up for what I lost on Firsts?) A new column was added to the magazine in this issue, 'Modern Firsts'. Basbanes discusses working with Moser on a new version of Gilgamesh with Moser illustrations. Markham's third book on conversations with the antiquarian book trade is show more welcomed, but mostly British dealers. Exhibitions on the Declartion of Independence and mail art are planned. The crazy prices for fantasy art, especially Frazetta warrants a whole page. There is thorough article on the self-published of the Cold War era. A colorful interlude on collecting the world's fair memorabilia and the raw photojournalism of Jun Fujita is pictured. Three modern fiction writers to collect now are highlighted by Firsts magazine writer Peter Coveney. In 'Beyond the Basics' a Tibetan Library is highlighted. The rest is a collector's guide, which I usually don't mention due to its limited usefulness. show less

A solid issue with a Basbanes interview with Finkel, a cuneiform expert from the British Museum who likes to collect miniature books as a hobby, a new look at letterlacking, a mention of eccentric author Royale and a discussion of the poisons inherent in some of the dyes used in medieval manuscripts. There is an article on the Green Book for safe travel for blacks, the resurgence of colorful endpapers, including marbling and a travelogue of Portugals' bookstores. Next there was a show more transcontinental photography book, a Lewis Carroll collection given to Christ Church, Oxford, and the importance of maps to collecting Route 66 material. some auction highlights and some rarities from the world of magic. show less

As usual, diverse offering, including the old Scholastic Book Club and others, Penzler's re-issues of classic bibliomysteries, the decoding of unreadable texts, Palm-leaf manuscripts and Matisse's late career adventure, 'Jazz'. There is a page on Harvey's 'De Motu Cordis', some Egyptian rarities, an informative coverage of some modern European bookbinders, and an article on 'The Society of Illustrators'. The photographic alternative to drawing and painting in picture books, lots of auction show more news, a Chicana printmaker's archive and collecting modern fiction on the Iraq war. show less