The literary world was rocked this past Tuesday with the news of the passing of Cormac McCarthy. The New York Times printed a lengthy obituary. Literary journals spread the news far and wide. Booksellers everywhere shared stories with each other...
A collector contacted me recently, saying he was ready to begin selling his Bukowski collection. Sigh, I thought to myself. Poetry? Sure, I....
To return to Wales, a country I first visited – if memory serves – thirty-five or so (egads) years ago.
Everyone asked me, “why Wales?” As with so many things in life, there was the long...
read more about Being a “save the best for last” kind of a person….
I had intended (what is that old saying about the road to Hell???) to write a longer blog entry on Firsts London. Which clearly did not happen. Suffice it to say that –...
...the big book fair, “Firsts London”, would open on the morrow.
Which left me an entire free day. What to do, what to do...
Teaming up with...
read more about Whatever shall I do with a free day in London?
...antiquarian booksellers, from all over the world, whose national associations each belong to ILAB – the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.
A conference, in which we visit museums and private collections. We eat and we drink. We renew acquaintances...
read more about Congress….no, not the United States Congress but…
I paused, midway to having my martini glass raised to my lips. An unexpected and overwhelming sense of loss washed over me.
The Queen is dead.
Being an American, while I have a great deal of respect for the institution of...
It’s probably been – my goodness, at least fifteen years since my last visit, if not twenty. So much water has gone under the proverbial bridge in those years. It was time for me to return.
I love...
In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (and likely earlier) it was not uncommon for a woman to publish her work either under a pseudonym, such as Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880) publishing as George Elliot; or anonymously such as Jane Austen (1775-1817) whose incredibly popular...
Not necessarily a particular rare book, but keeping one’s eyes open for the unusual, the heretofore-unseen, the (perhaps?) last remaining copy of…well, just about anything.
During my...
The few side alleyways still paved only with old cobblestones glisten with the wet, inviting the unwary traveler to a tumble or two. It’s no wonder that eighteenth-century ladies needed pattens to negotiate these streets in their thin silk shoes…
But there is nothing like walking...
But before I allow myself to rest, I must capture the first few fleeting moments of thought upon arrival.
Thoughts tumbling through my brain, cascading, one on top of the other...
Ernest Taylor Pyle (1900-1945) covered WWII often telling stories about "ordinary American soldiers". Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1944, he was killed by enemy fire during the...
It had been years – decades? – since I was last in New York City. And then only because a February blizzard stranded me there after a business meeting, with no flights out for...
By my count, over 200 book artists from around the world gathered together to share their latest works with the public. It was a visual feast, with imagination and...
This sketch was in one of...
read more about Missing Darwin Sketch - Returned to Cambridge University!
Over 100 antiquarian booksellers from around...
read more about In-Person Book Fairs Have Come Roaring Back!
One of the great joys of selling books online is the new friends one makes from around the world.
Several months ago an inquiry arrived in my email inbox regarding a prospectus we had listed online which, we were careful to...
As many of you know, when we closed our shop on Locust Street last May, we had planned to move into the vintage Railroad Station near to Broadway Plaza.
However, as the old saying goes, the only constant is...
Most great collectors started when they were young, and most great collections started with a passion for a particular object or subject. When these objects are books and manuscripts, the collectors are called bibliophiles, or lovers of the book.
...
Born thirty years apart, these two had more in common than one might think.
Sara Bard Field (1882-1974) was dedicated to liberal causes and civil liberties. Born into a staunchly religious household (her father was a Baptist whose "puritanism spread like a cloak...
read more about Sara Bard Field and Charles Erskine Scott Wood
How complicated we all are. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) loved poetry and art, and lived his life to the fullest in pursuit of such. While most of us remember Wilde today for his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (published...
How much the world has changed in the past three months.
While we see hopeful signs that we are beginning to climb out of the worst of the effects of the coronavirus, there is no doubt that...
The entire world - at least, most of it - is "sheltering in place". Whoever would have thought it...
And, while many of us have used group gathering software...
During these very strange and difficult times, it's more important than ever for the bibliophilic community to reach out and support each other; the above picture came to us through the hands of several friends, but I've been told the credit goes to "the clever librarians at UC...
Our thanks to all of you who have been kindly keeping up with our plans to move the shop into the old Walnut Creek train station, located at 850 S. Broadway Street (across the street from the back...
by Liz McCall
Meet Mark Sarigianis, Oakland-based printer and publisher of fine press editions at The Prototype Press. We first became aware of The Prototype Press through the acquisition of two lovely books, An Ocean Between Us and Me, Myself, and the Monkeyface...
by Liz McCall
Answer: they were both written by Emily Hahn (1905-1997), a woman of independent spirit who led an unconventional life full of extensive travels which inspired her life-long career as an author. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where...
By: Laurelle Swan
“You really need to go”, he said over a glass of wine. “You really NEED to take this course. Now”.
It was February, and I was speaking with one of the staff of Rare Book School (Virginia) during a short break...
by Liz McCall
This year marked the one hundredth birthday of Bay Area poet and proprietor of City Lights bookstore Lawrence Ferlinghetti; a prominent writer during the San Francisco Renaissance, Ferlinghetti also worked to publish and promote the work of the Beat poets...
by Liz McCall
The artist’s book has faced many evolving definitions over time, but at its core is the question What is a book? Often sculptural, the artist’s book is a unique way of presenting information, and can take the form of a traditional case-bound (‘hardback’)...
by Cassie Dowd
Our favourite contemporary Russian book artist!
There are many Russian fairy tales that begin with three brothers set upon a task. Often the youngest brother, being the most naive and pure of heart, is the hero who rises from the challenges of the journey. In...
by Cassie Dowd
Swan’s Fine Books has been fortunate to acquire recently a small collection of books published by the inimitable Allen Press. Herewith a few thoughts on the Press by our redoubtable cataloguer, Cassie Dowd.
A fine press book should be simple. Its overall composition building...
by John Randle (Publisher, The Whittington Press)
Matrix is known throughout the Bibliophile world for its quality and presentation of printing and illustration arts. John Randle, publisher and owner of the Whittington Press, shares some thoughts regarding how it got its start.
The seeds of Matrix were...
In literature, the kiss of death for a piece of writing can be anything from poor grammar to overuse of cliches. Today, we would like to focus on one cliche that everyone here knows, that will make many...
Arthur Rimbaud, a young French poet in the second half of the 19th century, is known as one of the "grandfathers" of Surrealism, and yet - we don't hear about him often enough. Today we would like to highlight this very singular literary mind and bring attention...
Last month, we began a journey into the much respected and revered literature of the First World War. Whether it was written during the war, directly after its ending, or twenty years later, literature of this time holds a universality that makes...
In one year the world will mark its 100 year anniversary from the end of The Great War. The First World War captivated the attention of people all over the world for many reasons, as did the literature which sprang from the...
The name Eric Gill can be a controversial subject for bibliophiles and artists to speak on. Certainly Gill's life is something of the extraordinary - an intense study of multiple art forms, excelling at each, a full workload and recognized talent in his day, and even...
Though Shakespeare's works are notoriously difficult to date, scholarly studies show that his works Titus Andronicus, The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew and The Two Gentlemen of Verona were works of Shakespeare's earliest portfolio and possibly influenced by...
Shakespeare is a household name in almost every country around the world. Why? His work is some of the best examples of Elizabethan writing that have been preserved through the years. However, his life has become something of a....
The upcoming California book fairs are a great place to hunt for treasures, learn about the antiquarian book trade, and find like-minded folk who love what you love... books! However, going to the fairs can be a daunting endeavor...
As countless collectors know, there are many different kinds of bindings in the book world. At times, the sheer number of binding styles and types can be almost overwhelming… is it leather, or some other kind of animal skin? Was type of cloth is that? Being able to...
Many of us know so little about this very complicated man. For most of us, all we know is what was presented to us in the four-hour cinematic epic that hit the big screen in 1962, starring Peter O’Toole. The dashing...
When you hear about "The Victorians" - what do you think of? Long white dresses, prim and proper etiquette... children held in esteem as angels? There was, of course, much emphasis on what was proper and improper, but there was also a....
We recently were fortunate to acquire a large collection of fine press books, and in talking with some of our customers about them, I realized how few people are aware of these lovely books living in our midst. Therefore...
An immediate success upon publication in November of 1865, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, remain enduring favourites today.
Why do the Alice stories continue to fascinate, generation after...
Recently at an auction, we purchased a box of books – there were one or two titles that were familiar, so we took a chance and bid $50 for the box, desperately hoping we...
My apologies to all for not having sent out a newsletter for – well, about a year now. Yikes. Keeping the shop open and looking great, evaluating and buying books, arranging and holding our evening discussion groups, beginning the Book Club (only classics...
Some of you who visited the shop during the first week of August may have noticed something missing - your proprietor, Laurelle Swan. She was attending "CABS" - the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar.
The Seminar was taught by a faculty consisting of...