Sanford L. Smith and Associates, organizers of the 2010 New York Antiquarian Book Fair, today released official attendance numbers for this year, the Fair's 50th anniversary.Last weekend, 5100 book lovers made the pilgrimage to the Park Avenue Armory to hunt for treasure, up from 4800 attendees in 2009, an increase of 6.25%.In 2008, at the height of the speculative bubble in the rare book world, attendance was 5800. Clearly, attendance took a dive from 2008 to 2009, a 12% drop into an abyss. Attendance this year recovered over half of that loss. This is welcome news.The numbers seem to be...
Paper Your Walls With Books
"Library" wallpaper design by Tom Slaughter. Cavern is a New York and Los Angeles-based boutique wallpaper and textiles design firm that invites us to re-imagine our living environment. Their hand silk-screened, eco-friendly designer wallpaper draws inspiration from the natural world and urban landscape. The design patterns are graphic and stylized, yet maintain an expressive, organic aesthetic that enlivens any space.Pre-Fair installation set-up.Last weekend's 2010 New York Antiquarian Book Fair at the Park Avenue Armory featured a special installation of one of Cavern's Artist Editions, Tom Slaughter’s wallpaper design, Library, that certainly enlivened the Fair, providing an appropriate gateway with panache...
Bloom Returns to Rare Books at 2010 New York Antiquarian Book Fair
Reporting 36,000 miles above somewhere in the Western United States: The long winter that has kept the rare book trade chilly has passed; Spring is in the air, the sun is out, the temperature is warming, green has returned to leaves and dealer bank accounts. The parting clouds observed at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair last February appear to have completely opened and moved on. The weather inside and outside the Fair was classic New York Spring. The season of renewal and growth is upon us.While a few dealers complained of slow starts, low attendance, and lack of excitement,...
Will True Anarchy Reign at 2010 Anarchist Book Fair?
New York City Anarchist Book Fair, 2009.The 4th annual NYC Anarchist Book Fair, a one-day exposition of books, zines, pamphlets, art, film/video, and other cultural and very political productions of the anarchist scene worldwide, will take place on April 17, 2010, at Judson Memorial Church in Manhattan, New York City, a center of anarchist life, culture, struggle, and ideas for 150 years, In addition, there will be two days of panels, presentations, workshops, and skillshares on April 17 and 18 to provide further opportunities to learn more and share your own experience and creativity. The goal of the book...
Charles Dickens’ Model for the Modern Rehab Facility: Victorian Health Care Reform
On November 29, 1842, London’s Morning Chronicle published a short, unusual piece by Charles Dickens, already a celebrated writer and novelist, titled The Sanatorium.Written shortly after Dickens’s return from his first American tour, it reflected both his deep and lasting interest in public affairs and his fascination with medicine and the medical profession, particularly mental illness, detailed descriptions of which form central passages in several of Dickens’s novels. Thomas Chapman was chairman of the Sanatorium Committee and a personal friend of Dickens (the character of Mr Dombey was supposedly based on Chapman). Chapman asked Dickens to write a brief piece...