Wicked Plants is wicked good...

Amy Stewart (co-owner of Eureka Books (with husband Scott Brown)) has just published her most recent book, Wicked Plants. 

From the back of the book:

A tree that sheds poison daggers; a glistening red seed that stops the heart; a shrub that causes paralysis; a vine that strangles; and a leaf that triggered a war. Stewart takes on over two hundred of Mother Nature's most appalling creations in an A to Z of plants that kill, maim, intoxicate, and otherwise offend.

Menacing botanical illustrations and splendidly ghastly drawings create a fascinating portrait of the evildoers that may be lurking in your own backyard. Drawing on history, medicine, science, and legend, this compendium of bloodcurdling botany will entertain, alarm, and enlighten even the most intrepid gardeners and nature lovers.

I've grown more than one poison garden and am greatly looking forward to adding some plants from these pages... Can be ordered signed at retail cost directly from the author

[Note to Mother: Page 143-Purple Loosestrife (under "Destructive"). The battle continues...

Arguably better than brownies...printing on meat

Printeresting has a great post on a company using a 150 watt CO2 laser to create business cards/marketing material.

Per Meatcards.com:

Unlike other business cards, MEAT CARDS will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards.

As some of you know, we occasionally bring LM branded brownies to book fairs...clearly will now have to think about branded jerky (or not). More significantly, can a Hickory Smoked Shakespeare Edition be far behind?!?

A caution regarding forgeries being offered for sale...

ABAA dealers Jeffrey Marks and Peter Stern have just released a statement regarding what appears to be at least 15 forged Hemingway inscriptions.  These are apparently of extremely high quality and there is evidence that there are other "high point" inscriptions being offered. Forewarned is forearmed. 

Their release follow, reprinted with permission from P. Stern:

Jeffrey H. Marks Rare Books and Peter L. Stern & Co., Inc. would like to caution our colleagues and the public regarding what we believe to be a substantial fraud involving forged Hemingway inscriptions. We purchased three of these last year from a European colleague but had only catalogued one, which we subsequently withdrew from sale. Four more showed up at the recent New York fair with European colleagues who had recently purchased them in Italy. Careful examination of these by Jennifer Larson and others revealed clues that led us to conclude that they, along with three we had in stock (but which were not with us in New York), contain forged inscriptions apparently by the same hand.

On being informed of this conclusion, our colleagues did not display these at the fair. We have found several similar inscriptions elsewhere (now, better late than never, that we know what to look for), for a total of at least 15 books. We are concerned that more such books have either been sold or are being offered for sale. We have some reason to believe that there are additional forgeries purporting to be by Fitzgerald, Salinger, Faulkner and others advertised for sale, although whether these are the products of the same forger remains undetermined. Thus far, we have no evidence of these being other than of recent manufacture.

We are seeking the cooperation of our colleagues to investigate the source of these forgeries. As required by the ILAB Code of Ethics, as well as by our own standards of conduct, we have always unconditionally guaranteed autographs as genuine. We have never provided "authentication" for so much as a single scrap of paper. That said, we are willing to examine any inscriptions that our colleagues might feel queasy about, and will provide our opinions so long as it is understood that, should we suspect these to be forgeries, we will be furnished with full and complete details of their origin.

Peter L. Stern
Jeffrey H. Marks

Book thief's sentence halved...

The Iranian/Brit who stole leaves from an untold number of books at the British Library and the Bodleian Library has had his sentence cut in half by the Appellate Court...and his deportation order was reversed.  

Mr Justice Blake, giving the court's judgement, said: "This was not a case of someone stealing to improve his library then preventing scholars from accessing those books in the future. All the books have been recovered and so have the pages.

Apparently, the court was swayed by his "charitable work". Sad commentary...good thing he did not steal beer from the market, the penalty would undoubtedly be harsher.

For other elements of this tale, please see this and that.

47 B. Franklin letters "discovered" in London

An American professor doing research in London stumbled across a series of previously unknown letters written by, to, and about Benjamin Franklin, a stunning find that sheds new light on early U.S. history.

The collection of 47 letters are hand-written copies made 250 years ago, when Franklin lived in London. That they were filed under the copyist's name, not Franklin's, may explain why they were overlooked by historians until now, said a curator at the British Library, where the letters are held.

Amazing when things like this appear from the ether....but to have 47 "new" letters fall from the sky is quite remarkable.

Following in the footsteps of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies...

Following the release/success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, the Usual Suspects over at Stinque started an open source "Zombie Bible". This project has been progressing nicely and, according to their recent post, stands as second in an onslaught of similar project. Upcoming works, per the post:

• The Portrait of a Lady and Vampires (Henry James and Laurell K. Hamilton)
  
• Crime and Punishment and Werewolves (Feodor Dostoevsky and Stephen King)
  
• War and Peace and Alien and Predator (Leo Tolstoy and Jeff VanderMeer)
  
• Silas Marner vs. The Lizard Men (George Eliot and Paul Di Filippo)
  
• Three Men in a Boat and Sea Serpents (Jerome K. Jerome and Connie Willis)
  
• The Demons at the Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad and John Shirley)
  
• Moby Dick vs. Cthulhu (Herman Melville, H. P. Lovecraft, August Derleth and Brian Lumley)
  
• Portrait of the Artist as a Young Terminator (James Joyce and Aaron Allston)
  

I do think this is the first of many...we shall see which roll out first. I'm just annoyed I did not think of Moby Dick vs Cthulhu.

RIP Judith F. Krug: Read a Banned Book in her memory...

Judith Krug passed away April 11th, 2009. A librarian and a powerful voice for library's "right to choose", she was the Director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom since it was founded in 1967. She also started Banned Books Week in 1982, promoting the right to read, write and shelve stories and books without the interference of various censors.

"She was a force of nature, fiercely determined to make sure that censorship wouldn't triumph in the library or the larger world," said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, deputy director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom."

True to her convictions, she was a strong opponent of content blocking on library internet connections ("Blocking material leads to censorship. ... [E]very time I hear someone say, I want to protect the children, I want to pull my hair out.").

She also created quite a stir (particularly by librarian standards) when, shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, she criticized the Delray Beach Florida librarian who reported to the police the library use of one of the attackers...contrary to a Florida law that guarantees confidentiality to library patrons. Said Krug, "I would have felt better if she had followed the Florida law. I suspect most people faced with the same situation would have done what she did."

She was a great standard bearer and I regret I never got to meet her. I hope whoever picks up her reins will have the same vim and vigor.

Bad blogger, no bisquit...

Sorry for the dirth of posts. The NY fair has been very busy before,
during, and after. Will post details later, until then, enjoy a pic.
of NYPD pipers in the pub where we had dinner. Too much fun.

Set-up: Day One

All set up. Setting up half a booth is arguably *more* time consuming than setting up a full booth. In the end, it seems to have come together. I even managed to sell a book or two. My booth mate, Harteveld Rare Books, did not show up until very late afternoon. I was getting worried... Turns out they were held up for 2.5 hours in Customs. They were *far* more bemused by it than I would have been. They managed to get everything at least unpacked before we were all kicked out for the evening. I'll post images tomorrow.

Went to a great party at Bibi's shop (Imperial Fine Books). It was great fun. Many/most of the usual suspects were in attendance. People seem reserved but very hopeful about the weekend.

Will attend the Swann's auction tomorrow morning. There are a handful of things I may pursue. The gem of the sale (I think), is the Golden Cockerel Press edition of The Four Gospels (designed by Eric Gill). It is one of the 12 copies printed on vellum. Every element of this book is stunning. It is simply an exceptional piece of work. He (Gill) was a genius. I hope it goes to a covetous home.

It was a very nice day...a room full of book dealers is really all together too much fun...

Arrived at show...

Image shows loose line for photo badges. From a process standpoint,
having those able (read: nearly all) send images for badges would
greatly streamline the process.