Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers - by Donald C Dickinson (Hardcover)

About the Book

The first published reference source to bring together biographical information on American antiquarian bookdealers, this book provides librarians, dealers, and collectors with useful information on those dealers who were prominent in securing and distributing used and rare books, manuscripts, maps, autographs, documents, and ephemera. The book covers 205 notable dealers who died before August 1, 1997. Prominent dealers are identified as those who carried quality stock, issued carefully documented sales catalogs, participated in professional organizations, and helped develop important private and institutional collections.

The book considers such well-known figures as Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach, Charles Sessler, and Hans Peter Kraus. Each profile describes the dealer's subject specialities, the style of catalogs and sales lists issued, the dealer's impact on private and institutional collecting, professional activity, and, when relevant, the final disposition of the dealer's stock. Entries conclude with a selected bibliography of sources. The information, drawn from both primary and secondary sources, will be useful to library reference workers, bookdealers, collectors, and anyone interested in the history of the American antiquarian book trade.

Book Synopsis

The first published reference source to bring together biographical information on American antiquarian bookdealers, this book provides librarians, dealers, and collectors with useful information on those dealers who were prominent in securing and distributing used and rare books, manuscripts, maps, autographs, documents, and ephemera. The book covers 205 notable dealers who died before August 1, 1997. Prominent dealers are identified as those who carried quality stock, issued carefully documented sales catalogs, participated in professional organizations, and helped develop important private and institutional collections.

The book considers such well-known figures as Abraham Simon Wolf Rosenbach, Charles Sessler, and Hans Peter Kraus. Each profile describes the dealer's subject specialities, the style of catalogs and sales lists issued, the dealer's impact on private and institutional collecting, professional activity, and, when relevant, the final disposition of the dealer's stock. Entries conclude with a selected bibliography of sources. The information, drawn from both primary and secondary sources, will be useful to library reference workers, bookdealers, collectors, and anyone interested in the history of the American antiquarian book trade.

Review Quotes

"It is a job beautifully compiled and carefully executed. The sketches are not only informative but interesting."-Madeleine Stern Rare Book Dealer

"This outstanding compilation...will, inevitably, become a standard reference book in the history of antiquarian bookselling."-Bernard M. Rosenthal, Bookseller

.,."[a] valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demostrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchers who require biographical information about members of the book trade."-Rare Books & Manuscripts and Librarianship

"Dickinson's Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers, like any dicitonary, is not the kind of book one is likely to read cover to cover, but which is a pleasure to open often and to read at random. Each entry contains in turn useful, informative, always enjoyable data presented in Dickinson's lively, readable style....It is fascinating to mine Dickinson's Dictionary for odd nuggets--interesting, too, to note how one entry leads you to another which in turn leads to another....[A]ny dealer worth his salt...will find Dickinson's Dictionary not only an inspiring read but a worthwhile investment--I've even found it helpful in tracing the history of a particular document. Anyone addicted to the chase after rare books and manuscripts will find it intoxicating."-Manuscripts

?...[a] valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demostrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchers who require biographical information about members of the book trade.?-Rare Books & Manuscripts and Librarianship

?[A] valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demonstrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchs who require biographical information about members of the booktrade.?-Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarianship

?[I]t is well-designed, attractive, and entertaining reading....This title is highly recommended for any reference collection.?-Reference & User Service Quarterly

?A useful reference for American studies collections and interesting for anyone who has ever bought a secondhand book.?-Choice

?A variety of people will find this volume of interest....this book will repay dipping into for quick information and regular reading to gain an education....library historians will quickly come to appreciate this reference work and will want to have it handy.?-Libraries & Culture

?Dickinson's Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers, like any dicitonary, is not the kind of book one is likely to read cover to cover, but which is a pleasure to open often and to read at random. Each entry contains in turn useful, informative, always enjoyable data presented in Dickinson's lively, readable style....It is fascinating to mine Dickinson's Dictionary for odd nuggets--interesting, too, to note how one entry leads you to another which in turn leads to another....[A]ny dealer worth his salt...will find Dickinson's Dictionary not only an inspiring read but a worthwhile investment--I've even found it helpful in tracing the history of a particular document. Anyone addicted to the chase after rare books and manuscripts will find it intoxicating.?-Manuscripts

?Donald Dickinson has produced an enormously useful volume that should be on the reference shelves of anyone interested in the history of American bookseeling or book collecting.?-Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America

?Surveys the lives and careers of more than 200 deceased bookmen in as clear and intelligent a way as one could wish for.?-Firsts

?The book achieves its purpose admirably as it is well-designed, attractive, and entertaining reading....This work fills an important void in the study of the history of the American book trade and collecting....The work offers useful information with a variety of access points....This title is highly recommended for any reference collection. It is a must for serious students of the book.?-Reference & User Service Quarterly

?The greater part of this book...is devoted to booksellers of more recent vintage, whose careers have not hitherto been gathered between the covers of a single volume. Dickinson's coverage...is quite comprehensive....At times, in fact, I found the coverage astonishing.?-The Book Collector

?There has long been a need for a concise overview of American antiquarian bookselling. The profilic Donald C. Dickinson...has now fulfilled that need....Donald Dickinson has produced an enourmously useful volume that should be on the reference shelves of anyone interested in the history of American bookselling or book collecting.?-Bibliographical Society of America

?This is a book that should be of much interest to the trade, as well as to librarians and collectors.?-ABAA Newsletter

?What the author has...given us in a readable, informative, and delightful glimpse of antiquarian bookselling in America, and we are grateful for it.?-Northern Ohio Bibliographic Society

..."Ýa¨ valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demostrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchers who require biographical information about members of the book trade."-Rare Books & Manuscripts and Librarianship

"ÝA¨ valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demonstrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchs who require biographical information about members of the booktrade."-Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarianship

"ÝI¨t is well-designed, attractive, and entertaining reading....This title is highly recommended for any reference collection."-Reference & User Service Quarterly

..."[a] valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demostrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchers who require biographical information about members of the book trade."-Rare Books & Manuscripts and Librarianship

"[A] valuable contribution to a neglected area of scholarly research....Dickinson has demonstrated that this is an area of the book trade worthy of scholarly research and has created an essential resource for bibliophiles, collectors, librarians, and researchs who require biographical information about members of the booktrade."-Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarianship

"[I]t is well-designed, attractive, and entertaining reading....This title is highly recommended for any reference collection."-Reference & User Service Quarterly

"A useful reference for American studies collections and interesting for anyone who has ever bought a secondhand book."-Choice

"A variety of people will find this volume of interest....this book will repay dipping into for quick information and regular reading to gain an education....library historians will quickly come to appreciate this reference work and will want to have it handy."-Libraries & Culture

"Donald Dickinson has produced an enormously useful volume that should be on the reference shelves of anyone interested in the history of American bookseeling or book collecting."-Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America

"Surveys the lives and careers of more than 200 deceased bookmen in as clear and intelligent a way as one could wish for."-Firsts

"The book achieves its purpose admirably as it is well-designed, attractive, and entertaining reading....This work fills an important void in the study of the history of the American book trade and collecting....The work offers useful information with a variety of access points....This title is highly recommended for any reference collection. It is a must for serious students of the book."-Reference & User Service Quarterly

"The greater part of this book...is devoted to booksellers of more recent vintage, whose careers have not hitherto been gathered between the covers of a single volume. Dickinson's coverage...is quite comprehensive....At times, in fact, I found the coverage astonishing."-The Book Collector

"There has long been a need for a concise overview of American antiquarian bookselling. The profilic Donald C. Dickinson...has now fulfilled that need....Donald Dickinson has produced an enourmously useful volume that should be on the reference shelves of anyone interested in the history of American bookselling or book collecting."-Bibliographical Society of America

"This is a book that should be of much interest to the trade, as well as to librarians and collectors."-ABAA Newsletter

"What the author has...given us in a readable, informative, and delightful glimpse of antiquarian bookselling in America, and we are grateful for it."-Northern Ohio Bibliographic Society

About the Author

DONALD C. DICKINSON is retired Professor Emeritus at the School of Information Resources and Library Science at the University of Arizona, Tucson. His teaching specialities included reference services and bibliography, and he is the author of Dictionary of American Book Collectors (Greenwood, 1986) and Henry E. Huntington's Library of Libraries (1995). He has a longstanding interest in the antiquarian book trade, particularly in the background and achievements of members of that trade.