Category: Updates

American book collectors, librarians, archivists and bibliographers need an American Book Trade Index. I’ve tried to get a skeleton database together to start answering the questions of what it should include, what kind of information will we want to be able to find, how should it be structured… etc. Being more of a printing press guy than a computer guy, I did not get far. I tired bribing friends. That helped, but again didn’t get far.

One thing that should be included in the American Book Trade Index [ABTI], is images. That is one feature lacking from the efforts I discuss below. I’ve started to collect trade cards, bookseller labels, advertising covers, from the book trades and gather images available online. All 1000+ images are now here, awaiting the ABTI, and spurring research and info sharing. Love it!

I’ve mentioned the British Book Trade Index [BBTI] before, but thought it was time to give them a review. The BBTI has been around since 1983, but online since 2002. Their purpose as stated at their website:

“BBTI is a database which aims to include brief biographical and trade details of all those who worked in the English and Welsh book trades up to 1851. There is a separate Scottish Book Trade Index at the National Library of Scotland, so BBTI includes only those Scottish book trade people who also traded in England or Wales at some point in their lives. BBTI includes not only printers, publishers and booksellers but also other related trades, such as stationers, papermakers, engravers, auctioneers, ink-makers and sellers of medicines, so that the book trade can be studied in the context of allied trades. BBTI is, however, only intended as an index to other sources of information. It is not intended to be a biographical dictionary of book-trade people.”

There is one difference between the BBTI and what I hope the ABTI can be: An encyclopedia of book-trade people. Entries will not only include when and where some one did business, but photos of the building, their trade cards, and a link to their digitized memoir at archive.org.
Apparently, in 2005, many “behind the scenes” updates to the BBTI website were finished, and more entries added. Another important update is the inclusion of Prof. John Feather’s Checklist of the English Provincial Book Trade before 1850: http://www.bbti.bham.ac.uk/Feather.asp. I’m working on a similar list for the US. Does one already exist somewhere? I thought so, but I can’t find one.

The British trail cools in 2005. There is this hopeful statement, however:

“The long-term future of BBTI is guaranteed by the commitment of both the University of Birmingham and the Arts and Humanities Data Service. ” It remains unclear if that means the BBTI will continue to exist as it is, or if it will be updated again once more money is available.

The British Book Trade Index has a lot of information, and seems to have filled in from many standard sources. However, the search capablities are fairly limited. Searches are only successful if you know what you’re searching for. If I wanted a list of all booksellers who issued tokens, this is nearly impossible. My queries were not anwered at the email address provided for questions. It seems abandoned, but what is left online is still useful in other respects.

The National Library of Scotland has compiled a Scottish Book Trade Index. From their website: “The Scottish Book Trade Index represents an index of printers, publishers, booksellers, bookbinders, printmakers, stationers and papermakers based in Scotland, from the beginnings of Scottish printing to ca. 1850. The Scottish Book Trade Index is very much a work in progress, and is periodically updated. Comments and suggestions for additions are always welcome.”

The Scottish entry is nice, but has no searching capability. You must know the name of the business or person you are searching for. Granted, that is often the only information you have, however, if I wanted all the book trades people in Perth, I’d have to go through each page and copy it out from there. Not very efficient.

Our third entry is from American shores: The Nineteenth-Century American Childrens Book Trade Directory, compiled by the good people at American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. From their website:
“Based upon the unparalleled collection of Children’s Literature held at the American Antiquarian Society, this comprehensive directory contains 2,600 entries documenting the activity of individuals and firms involved in the manufacture and distribution of children’s books in the United States chiefly between 1821 and 1876.”

The ACBT Directory has a much more useful, fast search engine. One of my critiques is that they do not cite their sources. The BBTI and SBTI both have reference lists. However, for our purposes, this Directory will prove to be the most useful tool for an inclusive American Book Trade Index.

So, take a good look over these three amazing tools and think of how an American version should look, what kind of information it should contain, and how people would use it. In the mean time, get over to the ABTI group at Flickr and join in.

Well, today was a good day at my house. I got home from a *gross* experience (more on that later) to find a damp cardboard box on my stoop. Lo and behold, some very cheap books arrived! Lucky for me, they were all dry. They’re all ex-library, but I couldn’t pass up the prices. Nothing collectable, just solid reference type stuff. Sorry, but it’s still a secret where I got them as I haven’t bought everything I want just yet from the seller. They didn’t have very good descriptions, and of course no photos, but only one turned out to be a real dud. Not bad out of six or seven books.

One I’m looking forward to browsing is Historic California in Bookplates by Clare Ryan Talbot. I don’t have a very big collection of bookplates, but I love learning about them. I hope to have a couple made. Heck, I may even have a whack at doing it myself. Also got an early Madeline Stern book on Mrs. Frank Leslie. Also, Vol. 13 (1799-1800) of Charles Evans’ American Bibliography. This could be an extremely useful tool in the American Book Trade Index cause. I also got an index of Printers found in Evans. And, until archive.org uploads the rest of Evans, I’ll have to dig up copies of vols. 9-12. Also, I don’t think this index is the index from the set. Hmmm.

Ah, the update on Mr. Deming? He’s listed in Charles Evans’ American Bibliography, Vol. 13, (1799-1800) pg. 163.

“Sold wholesale and retail, by L. Deming, no.1 Market Square Corner, of Merchant’s Row, Boston.” Broadside 4to. Item 37772.

This places him another 30 years previous in Boston. It seems this guy sold books for 50+ years!

In 1830, Leonard Deming not only sold books, stationary, ballads, songs and pamphlets, but wanted to let readers know he also gave haircuts.

According to the American Antiquarian Society (AAS), “Leonard Deming is listed at this address in Boston directories for 1829-1831.” On one of the songs he published at this location (“The Bloody Brother”) is this jolly jingle: “If you’d like a good song to dissipate care–pray call at L. Deming’s, no. 1, Market Square;–where you’ll find a collection the best in the city …” In all of the items in their collection from this period, no records at the AAS record the barbershop.
However, our good friends at the AAS did the leg-work and say later publications of Leonard Deming’s were issued imprinted from “[Boston] : Sold, by L. Deming, wholesale and retail, no. 62, Hanover Street, 2d door from Friend Street, Boston., [Deming was at this address from 1832 to 1837].” According to the AAS, Leonard Deming lived 1787-1853.

Looking for Mr. Deming through Google Books, I noticed an item dated 1851 coming from a Leonard Deming in Middlebury, VT. I wondered if it could be this same gent publishing in Boston from 1829-1837. Further digging revealed all, barbershop included. “[Boston] : Sold wholesale and retail, by Leonard Deming, at the sign of the barber’s pole, no. 61, Hanover Street, Boston, and Middlebury, Vt., [Leonard Deming was at this address from 1837 and 1840].” Emphasis mine, of course. He must have opened a branch office/shop in Middlebury sometime between 1837 and 1840, and by the 1850s Deming transferred his full efforts there. Why the move? I remember there was a terrible fire in Boston that gutted many bookseller and printing operations in the 19th Century. Was that during the late 1830s? Where did I read that? Also, is Deming buried in Middlebury, Vermont?

Through the fog a vague little photo begins to emerge. I’ve seen this odd combination before. The good folks over at Fine Books & Collections ran a photo of a stamp from another bookseller/ barber from an Arkansas book shop called Roy Bean’s Used Book Center and Barber Shop. That stamp includes a 5-digit zip code, which places Roy Bean’s in the latter half of the 1900s. Also, it is described as being found in a vintage paperback. See for yourself in the reader’s letters section toward the front of your July/August 2006 issue. Seeing another bookseller/barber got me curious how common this combination is. How long do bookseller-barbers go back? At least to 1830, I guess. Anyone know or heard of others?

Enjoy book history or Book Trade history? Check out the 1,000+ images related to the pre-1900 American Book Trade at the American Book Trade Index Flickr group. Help us grow a fun bibliographic tool.

Photo above is by permission of Philenor Rare Books. Book is currently listed on eBay here. Item number 190164124426, if the link breaks. I have no connection whatsoever with Philenor Rare Books and have recieved no compensation for posting their image here.

I love the month of October! The changing leaves, the cooler weather. How do we spell relief in Oklahoma? O-C-T-O-B-E-R. I grew up in Nebraska. There, it was typically Octo-brr-rrrrr. Confession: another big plus for me is College Football. I digress.

October seems to be a bookish month. Am I the only one who feels this way? I don’t know if it’s because school is in full swing, if the cooler weather slows us down, but it seems like more people read now than in the summer. Autumn makes me think of reading and libraries. I ran across some great WPA artists and thier posters somewhere on the internet. This little gem is probably my favorite. Does anyone know what “Bright Blue Weather” means? I have no idea, but this poster is just fantastic. I have some other very nice scans of WPA library related posters and will post them in the appropriate months. Pinky swear. Proof? Look below for one for September.

In other news, we at the American Book Trade Index group at Flickr, are now up and over 1000 images! Hooray! Also, please note: I said “we”. That’s right, there is now membership. Of course, I belong (who wouldn’t?), but more importantly, a gentleman with interests in the history of Michigan has come aboard.

So, let me extend the invitation again: Enjoy this most-bookish month and get in on the ground floor of what could be an amazing tool for researching the history of the book in America: The American Book Trade Index.

Isn’t this gorgeous? I love the layout, the image, the typography. It all comes together very nicely. I’ve seen it described as a trade card and a voucher. Isn’t it a bit long for a trade card? If it was a voucher of some kind, wouldn’t it say something to that effect, or give a value? Is there anything on the back? Is it supposed to look like currency? Anyway, trying to nail down some years on this little gem. The capitol dome was completed with the statue on top by 1869. Wikipedia says 1863, but photos on the Library of Congress page dated 1864 show an uncompleted dome. Also, the dome looks a little tall and skinny in this photo. That could just be the artist’s interpretation. I wonder when you could no longer drive your horse and buggy up to the front steps. A completed auction cites it to 1862, as part of a lot of souvenirs from DC from that year. In that case, the completed dome would be pure imagination, or based on another sketch.

Thanks to the Lincoln Log (http://www.thelincolnlog.org/view/1862/5) I know they were in business May 7, 1862, as President Abraham Lincoln (a documented bibliophile) ordered some books: “Library of the Executive Mansion” orders books from William F. Richstein, bookseller and dealer in foreign and American stationery, 278 Pennsylvania Ave. “1 set Hood’s Poems $6.50, 1 Goldsmiths Poems $5.00, 1 Homes of American Authors $6.00.” [Thomas Hood, Poems; Oliver Goldsmith, Poems; Homes of American Authors: Comprising Anecdotical, Personal, and Descriptive Sketches, by Various Writers . . ., New York, 1853.] Last item is paid for by President; others out of annual appropriation of $250 for books for White House per Benjamin B. French, Commissioner of Public Buildings.” Pg. 180. (Pratt, Harry E. The Personal Finances of Abraham Lincoln. Springfield, IL: The Abraham Lincoln Association, 1943.)

I wonder if Benjamin B. French is the same French of French & Richstein…

Discovered an article on collecting book trade labels today. Written from the Australian perspective, it is interesting to hear more about this quiet hobby. It got me wondering how many collections already exist, perhaps even in institutional collections. Elizabeth June Torcasio, the author, also seems to have an especially keen interest in 20th Century Australian radicals, which I can respect. To whet your appetite:”Collecting book labels is clearly an eccentric occupation. A cursory glance at the inside the cover of an old book, then on to the next until a label is spotted. Other customers may wonder about the object of the search. Enthusiasm, however, makes one obvious to public reaction. All too often there is a pale space where a label has been removed…”

read more | digg story

1808, Boston, Joseph Bumstead, book dealer, handbill. Click on the handbill and it should take to you larger versions. I do have it as a .tif file so it can be read properly. The long s (which look like f’s) can make for funny reading. I particularly liked “bookfellers”.

From this handbill offering book auction services: “Many Books which now lie sleeping on shelves, or buried in obscurity, may in this way be put out of the hands of those who want Cash more than Books- and into the hands of others who want Books more than Cash.” And, at no cost to the book owner!

1808, nice and early. I did find more through the Library of Congress to be added to the US Book Trade Index. They have high res scans of these, but the files are too large to upload into Flickr. I’ll keep you updated.