AB Bookman's Weekly

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AB Bookman's Weekly
AB Bookman's Weekly, October 27, 1986.jpg
Cover of the October 27, 1986, issue
CategoriesTrade magazine
FrequencyWeekly
FounderSol. M. Malkin
Founded1948
Final issue1999
CountryUnited States
Based in Newark, New Jersey
LanguageEnglish
ISSN 0001-0340

AB Bookman's Weekly was a weekly trade publication begun in 1948 by Sol. M. Malkin as a publication of the R. R. Bowker Company, publisher of Books in Print and other book trade and library periodicals. In its glory days between the early 1950s and the early 1990s, AB was "the best marketplace for out-of-print books in North America." [1] Nicholas Basbanes called it "the leading trade publication in the antiquarian world." [2] In addition to publishing long lists of books wanted and for sale, it included trade news, reference lists, conference announcements, and various special features concerning the book trade, librarianship, and book collecting. [1] The magazine was headquartered in Newark, New Jersey. [3]

Contents

Origins

The magazine began as a column in Publishers Weekly called "Antiquarian Bookseller"; in 1948, it spun off as a separate publication, at a time when there was a flourishing mail-order business in out-of-print and second-hand books. [4] Malkin purchased the magazine from Bowker in 1953. It first appeared under its final title in 1967. [5] For more than four decades, it was essential reading not only for used and rare booksellers, but also for acquisitions and rare book librarians, book collectors, as well as those interested in the history of books and printing. Malkin was assisted by his wife, Mary Ann O'Brian Malkin, universally known as "[mam]," whose interest in embroidery was reflected in her many AB reviews of needlework books. In 1972, when Sol. Malkin sold the magazine to Jacob L. Chernofsky, AB Bookman's Weekly had a subscription list of more than 10,000 subscribers. [6] In 1985, an annual lecture in bibliography was established in Sol. M. Malkin's honor at Columbia University's School of Library Service. Sol. M. Malkin died in 1986. [7] In 1992, the Malkin Lecture site moved with Rare Book School to the University of Virginia, where it continues as the annual Sol. M. and Mary Ann O'Brian Lecture in Bibliography.

Spin-offs

In December 1977, Chernofsky and Margaret Knox Goggin, dean of the University of Denver's School of Librarianship, organized a seminar on used and antiquarian books, aimed at booksellers and librarians. The Workshop/Seminar in the Out-of-Print and Antiquarian Book Market (the eventual title of the seminar) became an annual event in 1979; in 2008 (as the Colorado Antiquaran Book Seminar), the seminar celebrated its 30th anniversary. [8]

Decline

Under Chernofsky's direction, AB Bookman's Weekly flourished into the early 1990s, but it began to falter because of competition from online listings of used and rare books. AB Bookman's Weekly ceased publication at the end of 1999. [2] Efforts by Publishers Weekly to revive it as an Internet online magazine in 2004 were unsuccessful. [9]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is bibliophilia, and someone who loves to read, admire, and a person who collects books is often called a bibliophile but can also be known as an bibliolater, meaning being overly devoted to books, or a bookman which is another term for a person who has a love of books.

<i>Publishers Weekly</i> American weekly trade news magazine

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Rare Book School (RBS) is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based at the University of Virginia. It supports the study of the history of books, manuscripts, and related objects. Each year, RBS offers about 30 five-day courses on these subjects. Most of the courses are offered at its headquarters in Charlottesville, Virginia but others are held in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. Its courses are intended for teaching academics, archivists, antiquarian booksellers, book collectors, conservators and bookbinders, rare book and special collections librarians, and others with an interest in book history.

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Books+Publishing is a news outlet reporting on the Australian book industry. Published as a website with daily newsletters and a print magazine, the outlet produces industry news about publishing, bookselling, libraries, rights sales, literary awards and literary festivals, as well as author interviews and pre-publication reviews of Australian and New Zealand books.

R. R. Bowker LLC is an American limited liability company domiciled under Delaware Limited Liability Company Law and based in Chatham, New Jersey. Among other things, Bowker provides bibliographic information on published works to the book trade, including publishers, booksellers, libraries, and individuals; its roots in the industry trace back to 1868. Bowker is the exclusive U.S. agent for issuing International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs). Bowker is the publisher of Books in Print and other compilations of information about books and periodical titles. It provides supply chain services and analytical tools to the book publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in Chatham, New Jersey, with additional operational offices in England and Australia. It is now owned by Cambridge Information Group.

The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America (ABAA) is an organization in the United States for dealers in rare and antiquarian books. The association is a member of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB).

The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers is a non-profit umbrella organization of bookseller associations, with its legal location in Geneva, Switzerland. It federates 22 National Associations of Antiquarian Booksellers, representing nearly 2000 dealers in 32 countries. Antiquarian booksellers affiliated to the League adhere to the ILAB Code of Ethics, and the League aims to server as a global network for the rare book trade.

The antiquarian book trade in the United States is an aspect of book collecting and publishing. The term antiquarian, in general, refers to antiquities and collectible items usually considered old and rare, usually in reference to books, but is not limited to books. The word antiquarian could also be used to describe a person who collects rare books or other antique items.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Belanger</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Sabin</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin G. Schiller</span>

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References

  1. 1 2 Shurtleff, Jane E. (1987). Robert D. Hale; Allan Marshall; Ginger Curwen (eds.). A Manual On Bookselling: How to open and run a bookstore, Fourth edition . New York: Harmony Books-Crown Publishers. ISBN   0-517-56888-8.
  2. 1 2 Basbanes, Nicholas A. (2002). Among the gently mad: perspectives and strategies for the book hunter in the twenty-first century. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 151. ISBN   0-8050-5159-7.
  3. "AB bookman's weekly: for the specialist book world". NLA. Retrieved December 1, 2015.
  4. Margalit Fox, "Mary Ann Malkin, Journal Editor and Rare-Book Collector, Dies at 92." New York Times, 14 August 2005.
  5. Reitz, Joan M. (2004). Dictionary for library and information science. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited-Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 1. ISBN   1-59158-075-7.
  6. Fox, "Mary Ann Malkin."
  7. Jacob L. Chernofsky, "Sol. M. Malkin, 75, succumbs after lengthy illness";AB Bookman's Weekly, March 2006.
  8. Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminars: 2008 brochure; see also the Seminar's website "Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar" . Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  9. "AB Bookman to be reborn on the net". Internet Business News-M2 Communications LTD. Retrieved September 18, 2011.