Last week, JK Rowling finally let fans on the secret: the much anticipated Pottermore would not be a Harry Potter game, but rather an interactive website. The site means that avid Potter fans can continue to enjoy the series, even without new books to read.
Rowling said that she has no plans to write any more Harry Potter books, but she will be sharing plenty of “bonus material” through Pottermore. She has over 18,000 words of background information and special details about Harry’s world to share.
The purpose of Pottermore is to create a “safe and friendly” place where fans can share Harry Potter content they create on their own, said Rowling. This novel approach to fan interaction represents an exciting opportunity for readers.
Meanwhile, Pottermore will also be the only place to get Harry Potter e-books. These will be released one at a time. The site will launch July 31 to one million registered beta users. The full launch will happen in October. (For collectible first editions and signed Harry Potter books, check out our selection!)
Hear more of what Rowling had to say about Pottermore:
Forget looking in the medicine cabinet—we all know that the best way to learn about someone is to peruse his bookshelves! And what better way to find inspiration for your own reading? If you’re looking for a new source of summer reading inspiration—or at least a good laugh–take a peek at what a few literary greats had in their own libraries.
ee cummings
Aside from surprises like Cooking with a French Touch and a poetry anthology that (naturally) included his own work, cummings had an extensive collection of letters from other illustrious authors. Other eccentric standouts from cummings’ collection:
Communism with the Mask Off
“Dance Index: A New Magazine Devoted to Dancing”
The Cultivation of Christmas Trees
The Dot and the Line: The Romance of Lower Mathematics
F Scott Fitzgerald
Would you have pegged Fitzgerald for a hopeless romantic? If you saw The Best American Love Stories of the Year and From Ritual to Romance, you might suspect that Fitzgerald would love a Nicholas Sparks novel. Here’s what else you’d find on his shelves:
Favorite Recipes of Famous Women
Mystery Men of Wall Street: The Power behind the Market
History of the United States in Words of One Syllable
Cream of the Jug: An Anthology of Humorous Stories
Ian Fleming
When he wasn’t busy crafting 007 novels, Fleming explored a wide variety of interests from science to architecture. Inspiration, perhaps, for all those James Bond gadgets?
X-Rays and Electrons: An Outline of Recent X-Ray Theory
The Garden of Kama, and Other Love Lyrics from India
Birds of the West Indies
The Laws of Ping Pong
If you could peruse a famous author’s library, whose would you choose?
Summer has officially arrived, and along with all that sun comes the joy of summer reading! But the sun can cause irreversible damage to your skin—and your books. It’s important to protect your rare and collectible books from heat, humidity, and sunning.
Sunning occurs when books are exposed to light. Although the UV rays of sunlight are by far the most harmful, any kind of light can cause damage. Light triggers chemical changes in paper, leather, and cloth, resulting in deterioration. Signs of sunning include the following:
Bleaching of paper
Discoloration of paper (usually yellowing or browning)
Color changes in leather
Fading of fabric
Over time, the pages, cover, and dust jacket may become brittle or delicate due to breakdown in the fibers. This chemical reaction continues even after the book has been removed from the sun, although at a much slower pace. Spines are particularly susceptible to damage because they are the most frequently sunlight-exposed parts of the book.
To preserve your investment in rare books, it’s important to store your books properly. Unfortunately we’ve seen many collections that have been virtually destroyed by sun, with dust jacket damage from lightly faded to virtually burned through, cloth spine and edges being faded as well.
Total dark storage is ideal for preservation, but this isn’t a practical option—after all, you want to enjoy your collection! Instead, store your books and paper out of direct sunlight.
Choose a room/library that receives minimal direct sunlight or has small, no, or UV protected windows. One caveat: basements and attics certainly restrict light, but they may also expose books to moisture or extreme temperatures.
Avoid using unshielded fluorescent lights where you store your books.
If possible, use a UV filtering product such as UF-3 Plexiglass or Acrylite OP-2 on windows and fixtures.
Apply dust-jacket protectors with modern first editions. Archival dust-jacket protectors have built-in UV protection and provide at least a basic level of sunlight protection to the dust jackets.
So this summer, enjoy books at the beach, but leave your collectible books at home! Protecting them from the sun will increase their longevity and also protect their value.
This week we are happy to welcome Bruce Levy, a renowned book conservator. Since 1980, Bruce has worked with high-end rare book dealers, collectors, and institutions throughout the United States.
Q: Tell us a little about what a book conservator does.
A: A book conservator is someone who works to preserve and/or repair damaged books, usually rare books. I work with rare book dealers, collectors, and academic institutions. Our goal, stated loosely, is always to return the book as close to the original state as possible. In some cases (especially early books) original structural elements may be as important as the text itself. Written, and sometimes photo-documentation are always included with treatment to allow future conservators, curators, and owners to be able to make subsequent treatment decisions from a point of knowledge of past treatments.
Q: What are some of the most common repairs you’re asked to make?
A: Most damage is caused by mishandling. Treatment can address the binding, the text block and sometimes both. The spine or tail of the book might need repair, the joints and hinges might be weak or broken, or the boards (the covers) may be detached completely. Corners also take a beating and may need some TLC. Text block treatments can be as minor as torn leaf repairs or as major as complete text washing, deacidification, repair and re-sewing. Binding repair can be as simple as japanese paper repairs of small splits of binding material, and repair and consolidation of exposed, delaminating board corners, or be as extensive as complete binding restoration, retaining all possible original material.
Q: How do you decide which materials to use when you restore a book?
A: I always strive to match the new material to the old as closely as possible. Granted, wear and aging sometimes make it impossible to achieve a perfect match, but the repairs should be as unobtrusive as possible. A skilled craftsman should be able to provide adequately strong, appropriate and often virtually invisible repairs that are sympathetic to the original “book as object.”
Q: Do you ever tell someone that a book is not worth repairing?
A: In some cases, the cost of restoration might exceed the value of the book, so a dealer might not be interested in doing that, but private collectors and institutions may have other motives and criteria for preserving their books. University libraries, for instance, may have pieces that simply cannot be replaced, so proper conservation is critical. “Intrinsic value” varies significantly with the owner, institution, collector, or dealer, so it’s important for the conservator and client to understand and communicate clearly so the proper treatment options are presented and decided on.
Q: What do you wish people knew about caring for rare books?
A: It’s all about proper handling and climate control. Although collectors might not be able to use book preservation technologies like dew point calculators or specialized HVAC systems, they can be sure to store their books in a cool, dry place, away from sun exposure. And handling your rare books gently will certainly extend the life of their spines, joints, and bindings.
Bruce will be blogging with us quarterly. Check back soon for insights on book preservation, advances in conservation, and more. Visit him at Biblio.com or reach him via email at levybooks@email.com.
Before taking to the skies, a pilot learns the inner workings of an airplane. Rare book collectors should do the same with books; it’s important to understand how a book is put together so it’s easier to recognize the signs of fine craftsmanship, to spot reproductions, and to assess the value of potential additions to your collection. Here are the basics of book assembly.
Modern Book Construction 101
Before a binding or cover is ever added to the book, the individual pages, or leaves, must be attached to one another. There are two methods for leaf attachment: sewn and adhesive.
Sewing the pages together creates the strongest binding, but this method is also more expensive. With this method, multiple gatherings (called signatures) are sewn through the folds of the pages. Books bound this way usually open very well. Oversewing may also be done for children’s books and books that have a library binding.
On the other hand, if adhesive is used, it is applied directly to the pages, on the side where the binding will be placed. This is called the text block. Adhesive may be applied while the text block is closed, or while the pages are fanned out.
To hold the book to the spine and cover, books have joints and hinges. A joint attaches the spine to the cover on the exterior of the book. A hinge attaches the pages to the inside of the cover. Note that paperback books don’t need hinges or joints because the paper cover is attached directly to the pages.
Handling a book properly will extend the life of the joints and hinges. Check back soon for more insight on book preservation and restoration from some special guest bloggers!
