Criminals or Patsies? Bartolomeo Vanzetti (left), Handcuffed to Nicola Sacco. Dedham, MA Superior Court, 1923.(Courtesy Boston Public Library)It was a crime so sensational that the label "crime of the century" was inevitable. What else would you call a case featuring anarchists, communists, socialists, terrorists, politicians, celebrity protesters, global crusaders, innocent victims, scapegoats, Jingoism, Xenophobia, a payroll heist, two murders, and executions in the electric chair? April 15, 2010 marks the 90th anniversary of the day of the events that set it all in motion. And the town where it happened, Braintree, Massachusetts, is remembering by holding a three-day event, "Sacco...
The World’s Most Expensive Inexpensive Bible
Our friend, Maurice Earp, bookslinger at Blackwell Rare Books in the U.K., enjoys sending reports of bizarrely priced books found on Advanced Book Exchange (ABE). I love receiving them yet I never know whether to laugh, cry, or call the book police. This is a job for Tombstone's favorite sheriff, Wyatt Earp, with whom Maurice shares nothing but surname and sharp aim.Today’s episode of Have You Lost Your Mind? concerns the the large-print edition of the Life Application Study Bible NLT, published by Tyndale House in 2009.On ABE-UK, there are seven copies being offered by the same dealer, Beagle Books,...
Attendance Numbers For 2010 New York Antiquarian Book Fair Released
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...
Thomas Hardy Stays At Home, Thanks To 104 Year Old Friend.
Norrie Woodhall has a new claim to fame when it comes to Victorian novelist Thomas Hardy. She's just provided the inspiration for a successful campaign to keep some valuable Hardy manuscripts in his native Dorset. At 104 years-of-age, Norrie might seem an unlikely muse for Dorset's die hard Hardy fans. But she's been connected with the writer since before she was born: Norrie Woodhall says her mother was the inspiration for Hardy's tragic heroine, Tess of the D'Urbervilles.Augusta Noreen "Norrie" Bugler Woodhall is one of the last people alive who actually knew Thomas Hardy. When she was but a lass...