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  • New IOBA Members: Second Quarter 2026

    IOBA is happy to admit and welcome the following applicants to full membership: Ian Barfield, Peak Dragon Books Alfreton, Derbyshire UNITED KINGDOM Jim Collette, Collette's Books Flagstaff, Arizona USA Martin Frenette, MFLIBRA Antique Books Montreal, Quebec CANADA Fowler Jones, About Those Books Overland Park, Kansas USA Donald Prescott, Circle City Books, LLC Tucson, Arizona USA Brandon Purvis, The Book Rapport Rare Books Springfield, Virginia USA Michael Slicker, Lighthouse Books, ABAA Dade City, Florida USA Philip David Treece, CollectingMagicBooks.com Sheffield, South Yorkshire UNITED KINGDOM Sara Winn, Sutter & St. P Booksellers San Antonio, Texas USA

  • Shop Cat – Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company

    As told by Blake to Colleen Barrett, Cataloguer Blake joined the staff of the Philadelphia Rare Books & Manuscripts Company (PRB&M), an antiquarian bookstore in northeast Philly, in late 2011. This loveable tabby cat had big paws to fill as her predecessor Sessa had many admirers, his own email address, and even his own division of the business: “SessaBks,” which continues to offer good used, “medium rare,” and simply serendipitous stock complementing our core early books of Europe & the Americas. After much thought, PRB&M’s proprietors Cynthia Buffington and David Szewczyk decided to name her after the English poet, painter, and printer William Blake, a surprisingly fitting name considering the variety of activities in which Blake participates — not to mention that some people say she’s a “tiger”! Blake spends her days here at The Arsenal patrolling the bookstore, which served for over 100 years as U.S. Army officers’ quarters before it became home to PRB&M’s stock and offices. Her lack of opposable thumbs prevents her from greatly contributing to cataloging efforts, but she makes up for it through her phenomenal public relations skills. She often greets visitors at our Saturday Open Houses, occasionally contributes to emails, and “helps” employees with their daily work by cleaning their desks of notes with her tail or demanding attention when they need a break. Her most famous appearance in print to date has been in the Lifestyle section of Cat Fancy, where she was a featured cool cat, but she is even more enthusiastic about being featured in a truly bookish publication. Save

  • On the Importance of Antiquarian Book Fairs

    I would like to take a moment to talk about antiquarian book fairs: what they are; who attends them; where they have been and where they are going; why they are important; and how I as a bookseller fit into all this. My hope is that this will provide a touchstone for various groups: those who are unfamiliar with book fairs should be able to read this, understand their purpose, and decide whether they are interested in visiting one; those who have shopped at book fairs before should learn a few handy tips to make their next fair more enjoyable and successful; booksellers who have not exhibited at fairs in the past may be encouraged to give it a whirl; and booksellers who have hundreds of book fairs under their proverbial belts may be inspired to encourage those just starting out to explore them. Like many booksellers, I have attended numerous book fairs, and exhibited at a decent number as well, from local and regional book fairs like Rochester, Cooperstown, Buffalo, and Albany, to major national fairs like Boston and New York City. These each have their own specific personalities which are formed based on a number of factors: the dealers exhibiting, the geographic location, the organizers in charge of planning and advertising the show, etc. But before we get into that it’s important to give some working definition of a book fair; i.e., what is the same about each of these? For my purposes here, I’ll use the following: Who attends these fairs — are they only for advanced collectors and high-end dealers? Not at all. While there are certainly fairs geared towards wealthier clientele, most book fairs feature a wide variety of material at diverse price points. So, while serious collectors, special collections librarians, book dealers and book scouts are among those you would expect to see at an average book fair, be assured that you will feel right at home if: you are an avid reader hunting for something you can’t seem to find at your favorite shop; you are interested in a particular subject and want to meet booksellers who can help you find new material; or you want to learn more about books by talking to experts. What sorts of dealers exhibit at book fairs? This tends to be a diverse group as well. At a given fair you might see: specialists in modern first editions, vintage children’s book dealers, postcard dealers, sellers of early photographica, experts in incunabula and early printed works, map dealers, purveyors of Americana, literature, the sciences, exploration, etc. Other dealers will bring a miscellany of works on various subjects. What you won’t see is an array of flea-market-style sellers with dog-eared, musty paperbacks; even the less expensive material offered at these fairs will often be in exceptional condition, and generally items that show significant wear, if exhibited, are present because they are particularly scarce. This goes for book dealers as well: If you are considering exhibiting at a fair, do a bit of digging to see who has exhibited in the past. Perhaps attend this year to get a lay of the land, with plans to exhibit the following year if it looks like a good venue for your material. Remember that, for a bookseller, book fairs are useful for both buying and selling, so getting to know which dealers regularly attend a show can be a good way of knowing how to be successful there. In the heyday of antiquarian bookselling (or as some have taken to saying, ‘before the internet’), book fairs were essential events in the trade. They provided centralized locations at which to browse stock from numerous dealers, without the travel expenses associated with visiting each of these colleagues individually. They also provided customers with opportunities to do business with booksellers they would not otherwise have occasion to meet. Sometimes getting on that one dealer’s customer list was the difference between tracking down that first edition Steinbeck or Hemingway, and missing out; or, conversely, the difference between selling it or not. At first, the assumption was that the internet and other modern forces like e-books would have a negative impact on book fairs, because they facilitated the location of all sorts of material without the need to leave home. The same were made in regard to the future of used bookstores. What we have seen in the last several years, though, is a continual uptick in interest in used bookstores. Numerous book fairs throughout the United States (not to mention London and Paris) continue to thrive. So, what does that mean for the future of book fairs? In my opinion, it is a bright one, and I don’t merely say this as a starry-eyed idealist, or as a spectator. This year will be my first as head organizer of the 44th Annual Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair, one of the longest continually-running regional book fairs in the country. It is a fair that has treated me well as an exhibitor in the past, and I am excited to work towards its continued success, and to introduce innovations designed to make it even better. These new efforts are designed to capitalize on what continues to make book fairs important and necessary events: the direct interaction of people. My hope is to bring together even more booksellers, and facilitate their interaction with local librarians (both public and collegiate), local literary societies, and with one another. An important element in a strong book trade is a strong literary community, and book fairs are an excellent way to bolster that community on a local level, and to form and foster relationships regionally and nationally. Below are a few resources that should prove useful to those interested in learning more about attending or exhibiting at book fairs, including a link for the Rochester (NY) book fair, to be held Saturday, September 10. Bookfairs.com Antquarian Booksellers Association Of America Events Page International League of Antiquarian Booksellers Events Page Rochester Booksellers Jonathan Smalter, Yesterday’s Muse Books 32 W Main Street, Webster, NY 14580 Yesterday’s Muse Inc. is an independent used & rare bookseller located in Webster, NY. Owner Jonathan Smalter is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America (ABAA), and former vice president of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA), both of which are trade organizations created to promote ethical online selling practices, and to encourage continuing education among fellow booksellers. He is also a 2011 graduate of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS). He has over fifteen years of experience in the book trade, during which time he has become adept at evaluating used and collectible books. #BooksFairs #collecting

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Pages and Profiles (998)

  • IOBA Member Desk | IOBA

    MEMBER DESK IOBA FILTER BY CATEGORY CATALOGUING AIDS KNOWLEDGE BASE REGULATORY SALES AIDS JUMP TO TITLE SALES AIDS April 16, 2026 SELLING ON IOBA TRADEBOOKS As many of you know, I post somewhat prolifically on IOBA's Tradebooks listserv. I've noticed over the years that relatively few members post on Tradebooks and I've never really understood why. We all have books to sell, and it is a worthwhile venue to sell them… VIEW POST SALES AIDS November 19, 2024 iPhone Photography for Booksellers Presented by Ed Lefkowicz In this visual culture, great photos will help you sell books, manuscripts, and ephemera. This webinar will help you up your photographic game using just your iPhone. (And if you have an Android phone, don't worry—this webinar applies to either platform.) Topics… VIEW POST KNOWLEDGE BASE August 20, 2021 Useful Links A part of our collective knowledge comes from knowing how to makes use of the wide variety of resources that are now available on the Internet. This note will list some of those sources of information related to books and bookselling. FEdPo.com : First Edition Criteria and… VIEW POST KNOWLEDGE BASE August 20, 2021 Bookjacking [ Andrew Langer, Andrew Langer, Bookseller (Editor)]: Bookjackers are a part of the world of Internet selling for booksellers. These are sellers that work with data describing books and not with the books themselves. They use databases with basic information about books and use automated pricing to offer… VIEW POST SALES AIDS August 27, 2021 Garry Austin's Guidelines for using Trade Lists to SELL books Editor's Note: I first met Garry at the 2013 edition of the Colorado Antiquarian Bookselling School. He was from the opposite side of our country and very much seemed to know what he was doing. We struck up a conversation that lasted on occasion until his… VIEW POST CATALOGUING AIDS January 13, 2023 Watermark identification using catalogs, databases, and library holdings A watermark is a distinguishing mark or design incorporated in paper during the making. The mark may be incorporated by die impression or rolling, or by variation in the mesh used for making laid paper. The mark varies in thickness and is thus translucent and visible when… VIEW POST REGULATORY March 7, 2022 US HARMONIZED TARIFF CODES FOR BOOKSELLERS The following quick guide to the codes most likely to be used by booksellers has been provided by Nathan Barker of Kayleigh Books. Before he was a bookseller, Nathan was a licensed import/export broker so if you have questions not answered below, he has offered to… VIEW POST KNOWLEDGE BASE April 23, 2026 ASSOCIATIONS ON ABEBOOKS VIEW POST CATALOGUING AIDS June 23, 2026 Special Character Keys The Easy Way to Insert Special Characters into Your Descriptions Booksellers frequently encounter accented letters, ligatures, fractions, currency symbols, and other typographic characters in titles, author names, publishers, and bibliographic descriptions. Entering these characters correctly improves accuracy, professionalism, and searchability in online catalogues and marketplaces. The… VIEW POST

  • ArchBooks, Inc.

    Continue VISIT WEBSITE ArchBooks, Inc. OWNER: Richard Hendrickson Member since: 2025 Perhaps we can renew an old book friendship for you! (only displayed to logged-in members) MEMBER-TO-MEMBER DISCOUNT: 15 % COUPON CODE (if applicable): Texas dealers must provide a Texas Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate Form 01-339 Rich@archbooks.com 2144352821 2144352821 143 Private Road 3823, Springtown, TX, 76082, United States More about this bookseller 1/1 1/1 1/1 1/1 Featured Items Terms of Sale Books are returnable within 30 days if not as described. Out of state sales are not taxable. If you have nexus in the state of Texas please submit the Texas Sales and Use Tax Resale Certificate along with your order.

  • BUDGE, Ernest Alfred THOMPSON WALLIS - Amulets and Superstitions

    BUDGE, Ernest Alfred THOMPSON WALLIS - Amulets and Superstitions PRICE $ 950 PURCHASE / MORE INFO View Member Profile Publisher: London, Oxford University Press and Humphrey Milford, 1930. FIRST EDITION. In-8, XXXIX-543 pp, red canvas decorated in gilt from the publisher on the spine AND cover (Most copies are blind-stamped). Original edition of this treaty relating to the amulets and superstitions of ancient peoples such as the Babylonians or the Egyptians as well as their various religious and mystical rituals. It is illustrated with 22 plates in black and 300 illustrations in the text, also in black. It contains reproductions and translations of the original texts. He is interested in the cabal, astrology and religious signs such as the cross (Christian and pagan) and the swastika. Orientalist and Egyptologist, Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (1857-1934) was in charge of the Egyptian and Assyrian collections of the British Museum, he notably acquired the copy of the Museum's Book of the Dead. He is the author of many books, many of them on religion in Egypt, such as his translation of the Book of the Dead, which in the society adept of the occultist who was his had a notable impact on authors such as William Butler Yeats and James Joyce. Former stamp on the title page of the High Commission of the French Republic. Some mild Rubs on the caps and wear at the tips, but an appealing copy now mylar protected and housed in a custom red slipcase. PURCHASE / MORE INFO More items from Reginald C Williams Rare Books LLC NIETZSCHE, Friedrich -The Case of Wagner. Nietzsche contra Wagner, Twilight of the idols, The Antich See Item VIRCHOW, Rudolf - Cellular Pathology as based upon Physiological and Pathological Histology See Item BUDGE, Sir Ernest Alfred Wallis - From Fetish to God in Ancient Egypt See Item POE, Edgar Allan - THE WORKS OF THE LATE EDGAR ALLAN POE, WITH A MEMOIR AND NOTICES OF HIS LIFE.. See Item HUBBLE, Edwin - The Realm of the Nebulæ See Item PASTERNAK, Boris - Doctor Zhivago. Russian edition (Cyrillic). PUBLISHERS ARCHIVAL COPY with stamp. See Item MAYNARD, Nettie Colburn - Was Abraham Lincoln a Spiritualist? or, Curious Revelations from the Life See Item BUDGE, Ernest Alfred THOMPSON WALLIS - Amulets and Superstitions See Item CLARKE, Arthur Charles - Interplanetary Flight: An introduction to astronautics See Item GODWIN, William - Lives of the Necromancers. or, an Account of the Most Eminent Persons...... See Item FLEMING, Ian - From Russia With Love See Item ELLIS, Havelock - Studies in the Psychology of Sex See Item

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