The Oldest Living Rare Bookseller in the World November 25, 2009

Muriel Craddock, 97, with daughter Kay in their family book storein Melbourne, Australia. Photo: Joseph Feil. Muriel Craddock, at age 97 1/2 surely the oldest living rare bookseller in the world, has announced the re-opening of Kay Craddock Antiquarian Bookseller, her family business in Melbourne, Australia. Muriel, known as the Queen of antiquarian booksellers, and her late husband, Les, established the business forty-four years ago as The Treasure Chest. As the business grew it morphed…

Old Books Fresh Eggs November 19, 2009

Between Muddy Gap and the Lander, Wyoming lies Sweetwater Station home of the Mad Dog and the Pilgrim Booksellers. Population of Sweetwater Station: 5Inventory of Mad Dog and the Pilgrim: 75,000 In addition to the books Lynda “Mad Dog” German and Polly “The Pilgrim” Hinds operate an “eccentric working farm” featuring two dogs ; four cats; 62 chickens; 26 sheep; two llamas; one milk goat; four pea fowl, and two ducks. The roadside sign above…

Picturing the London Book Trade November 4, 2009

Bernard Shapero “Bookdealing must be amongst the most wonderfully eccentricprofessions on Earth” – Mike Tsang Photographer Mike Tsang had recently returned to London from a demanding project in the Sudan when he popped in to visit his friend who was then manager of the Biblion bookshop in London. By the time he left the seeds for “The London Book Trade” project were planted. Tsang would go around town photographing booksellers in their domain with the…

On the Length of Subtitles in Many Old, Rare and Antiquarian Books, October 6, 2009

Or, the Custom of Publishers of olde to Load the title page with a Reader’s Digest condensed version of the Contents so complete that when finished perusing one’s need to Read the Actual Book is obviated and further Exploration Unnecessary; title pages as Cliffs Notes, Advertisements, Promotional material, Infomercials, and other forms of Ballyhoo meant to capture the Prospective Reader’s imagination and Cash at a time when there were no attractive Dust Jackets or other…

Subversive Book Asserts Rule By Law, Not King August 21, 2009

In 1644, Samuel Rutherford, a Presbyterian theologian, published Lex, Rex, the now excessively scarce, enormously important treatise on limited government and constitutionalism. Only four copies have fallen under the hammer within the last thirty-five years. Lex, Rex is the first treatment of rule by law, not by men, based upon the separation of powers and covenant between king and subjects, (foreshadowing the social contract). It laid the foundation for the later thinking of political philosophers…