Old & Rare : Thirty Years in the Book Business

by Rostenberg, L. & Stern, M.B

Price: $35.00
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Book description: Abner Schram, New York, first edition, 1974. Cloth, 8vo, 24 cm,. Two bookplates on front pastedown endpaper, Very Good in Very Good price-clipped dustwrapper. 234 pp, ills. The scholar-partners of the firm of Leona Rostenberg - Rare Books have produced a lively, informative memoir of their years in the rare book trade. From the Renaissance archives of Strasbourg on the verge of Nazi occupation, to a refugee-bookseller's Manhattan office, to an old house in the Bronx, the authors trace the engrossing and sometimes hilarious story of the founding of the business and partnership that were to bring them lasting and fruitful associations with booksellers, librarians and collectors throughout the world. Armed with a keen eye for detail and the insider's knowledge and sympathies, the authors are able to present portraits of a wide circle of book-world figures in Europe, England and America. Antiquarian book- sellers, collectors and librarians from New York to London, from Milan to Amsterdam, from Paris to 1'okyo form the colorful and sometimes eccentric dramatis personae who come alive in these pages. The authors vividly convey the fascination of the search. Through persistent digging and skilled detection, and guided by their wide knowledge and expertise, the partners have made many unusual finds, from an entire library of Italian Renaissance books in a suburban house to single rarities or “sleepers”: modest calfbound volumes printed at clandestine, subversive presses; flimsy-looking pamphlets that once shook the world; political manifestoes; reform and revolution, psychiatry and “modern” science - a panorama of “new” ideas in dust-laden books published between 1500 and 1800. The pains and joys of bringing out a first catalogue are described, the excitement of the first sales, and the continuing excitement of the seasoned dealer at auctions and bookfairs. The authors devote their final chapter to personal appreciations of rare volumes that have, in their view, a special significance for Western Humanism. In addition, they have compiled a valuable bibliographical checklist providing descriptions of some of their most interesting acquisitions over a period of thirty years.£ - from the blurb.

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