News, Features & Interviews

Our News page includes interviews with librarians, book dealers and others from the book trade, as well as details on events, announcements and developments from the literary world.

View the latest Stories below, or search for past entries.

  • Bookshop.org : Rebel Alliance

    News Story

    2020 has been an especially hard year for independent retailers. The new November lockdown in the UK is yet another blow to shop owners, hitting their peak sales period in the run up to Christmas.

    Huge online retailers however, like Amazon.com, are booming in this crisis. One can just imagine the directors, Bezos, Olsavsky, Jassy, Reynolds,...

  • Decoracha Font

    News Story

    In 2017 Odysseas Galinos Paparounis, a designer from Athens, launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indigogo through his company Høly, for a new font design named ‘Futuracha Pro’.

    He was just one of hundreds of designers looking for investment at the time, but what made this quirky font really special was that it could magically re-adjust as you...

  • Catalogue in Focus: CTRL+P

    News Story

    You may remember that the beginning of Covid lockdown saw a fair few joint catalogues appear in the rare book world. Good friends and colleagues - Ben Kinmont, Justin Croft, Heather O'Donnell and Simon Beattie - issued one of the first collegial catalogues aptly titled At Home with Books. They enjoyed the project so much that, encouraged by the...

  • The Feltham Book Theft

    News Story

    On the evening of the 29th January 2017, three thieves climbed onto the roof of a postal transit warehouse in Feltham, West London under cover of darkness. They bored holes through the reinforced glass-fibre skylights and rappelled down 40ft of rope, avoiding the many motion sensor alarms. The thieves then located their loot, piled it into 16...

  • The Heart Sutra, Providence Press

    News Story

    Providence Press in California is publishing a new translation of one of the most profound and revered texts in Buddhism, The Heart Sutra.

    Understood to be "the most frequently used and recited text in the entire Mahayana Buddhist tradition" (Brunnhölzl, Karl, September 29, 2017) The Heart Sutra has been translated into English dozens of times...

  • Special Guests at The International Rare Book Fair in Paris

    News Story

    The ABA's second virtual fair of 2020, Firsts Online, is returning this week from 10-14th September.

    Over 110 exhibitors from 16 countries will each offer up to 20 highlights on the Firsts website which will be live from 2pm on 10th September, through to midnight on 14th September.

    New items will be added throughout the event so the ABA...

  • National Trust restructuring plans cause a storm

    News Story

    A recent internal document issued by The National Trust’s Visitor Experience department entitled ‘Towards a Ten-Year Vision for Places and Experiences’ has caused quite the stir since being leaked by The Times

    Below we share some of the opinions and comments from collecting institutions and the media, since this document came to light.

     ...

  • HALL (T.) The Queen's Royal Cookery, 1713 £ 700 - 900

    News Story

    During lockdown many of us have probably tried some new recipes and looked through cookery books for inspiration. I have to confess, I am always tempted by an antiquarian cookery book, although when it comes to actually attempting any recipes from it, my success rate is rather low.

    Bonhams Knightsbridge is now selling a stunning, and...

  • Oscar Wilde Confessions

    News Story

    This week Sotheby’s is to offer a questionnaire completed by Oscar Wilde as he sat on the cusp of stardom in 1877.

    It is a fascinating recording of the young writer's passions and preferences across thirty-nine questions..

    Wilde was in his early twenties when he contributed to the album of “Mental Photographs” in 1877. He was still at Oxford...

  • Firsts London moves to Saatchi Gallery for 2021

    News Story

    The Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association announced yesterday that its annual flagship event Firsts – London’s Rare Book Fair will move to a brand new venue at Saatchi Gallery next year, with an expanded event schedule taking place from 20th-23rd May 2021. The UK’s most prestigious rare book fair expects to call the contemporary exhibition space...