Aldus Society Notes Winter 2006-2007 Volume 7, No. 2 Aldus Still Collects Aldus Calendar January brought everyone together for another “Aldus Collects” program, February where members share their collecting interests through brief presentations 3 (First Saturday) — Kassie Rose will be sharing that highlight interesting items or experiences they have encountered as information on two of central Ohio’s celebrated authors, they pursued their passions. This installment’s participants included: Bob Mt. Gilead’s Dawn Powell and Mansfield’s Louis Bromfield. Bennett with stories about some of his more serendipitous finds over the 8 (Regular Meeting) — To honor Black History Month, years; Paul Christenson, who shared his interest in collecting Science Fic- Aldus Society member Charles Cole will speak on “The tion; Christine Hayes, who obviously left her heart in San Francisco; Dave Literary Legacy of African-American Authors in Ohio Reiff with tales and original letters from the Oregon Trail; Laralyn Sasaki before 1860.” Charles has presented before, and each time with a variety of books about Hawaii; and Geoff Smith with some sage he brings to light some new facet of the history of Ohio. advice about collection building. March The event was moderated by George Bauman, who started off with some 3 (First Saturday) — John Bennett will be introducing members to OSU’s Avant Writing Collections. comments about his recent sojourn to Paris and his adventures at Shake- 8 (Regular Meeting) — “March madness” doesn’t speare and Company (the subject of his “Bookstore-y” in the current issue necessarily just mean basketball. The Aldus Society version of Aldus Society Notes.) Here’s the whole gang, except for Geoff Smith, will feature Diana Britt Franklin speaking about her recent who ducked out just before the camera appeared. book, The Good-Bye Door. Nicknamed “the Blonde Borgia,” Anna Marie Hahn was a cold-blooded serial killer who preyed on the elderly in Cincinnati in the 1930s. When the State of Ohio strapped its first woman into the electric chair, Hahn became the nation’s first female serial killer to be executed in the chair. Ohio history, writing and research, and a good story … all in one evening. April 12 (Regular Meeting) — April is the month for the ninth chapter of the Aldus Society History of Text & Image series. Professor Jim Unger, Chair of the Far Eastern Languages at the Ohio State University will be speaking on the early Japanese language and books. May 10 (Regular Meeting) — Our final regular program of the season is usually a special one, and this year should be no different. Details will be announced on the Aldus Society website when they become available. Y Y Aldus Society Meetings Regular meetings of the Aldus Society are held at 7:30 PM on the second Thursday of the month at The Thurber Center 91 Jefferson Avenue Visit the Aldus Society web site for up-to-date information about Columbus, Ohio our programs and activities, in-depth articles about many of our speakers, and links to other book related organizations. \ [ Socializing Begins One-Half Hour Before www.AldusSociety.com 1 The Aldus Society 2006 – A Reader’s Year Bill Evans TRUSTEES, 2006-2007 One of the things I value most about The Aldus Society is its diversity. Collectors, artists, printers, writers and, lest we forget, readers all gather to celebrate the thing we call the book. Sometimes our PRESIDENT notion of “book” is challenged, as it was today in the latest of Geoff Smith’s First Saturday events. Bill Evans Bob Tauber led us through an incredible array of artist’s books and private press editions - books MEMBERSHIP that represent the finest of the traditional book form and others whose very naming as books chal- Ron Ravneberg lenges many of us to pause, consider, perhaps rethink and maybe come to appreciate artistic inno- SECRETARY vation at work. Book or not, the works that Bob, Debra Fink Bachelder and Marcia Preston pre- Christine Hayes sented were truly amazing. If you have yet to find time for one of these First Saturday gatherings TREASURER you are missing out on a very special benefit of Aldus Society membership. Dave Reiff PROGRAMS Helen Liebman Bill Rich ARCHIVES Geoff Smith (Non-Trustee) MEMBERS AT LARGE Willkie Cirker Genie Hoster Jay Hoster Ken Marantz Aldus membership has also given me a great opportunity to discover new authors. One of the Laura Masonbrink questions I hear most often at our monthly meetings is “Read any good books lately?” Like many Jim Patterson of you I read a lot and, although I am not an especially fast reader, I do make time every day to feed my addiction. My book collecting has almost always begun with reading an author and then finding Joe Perko I want to read more. Eventually, I want better copies, first editions, signed first editions, and, well, Laralyn Sasaki you know… That’s how I began my modest collections of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson (has anybody ever collected one and not the other?), Jeannette Winterson, Beat Poetry, Roddy Doyle, Julian Barnes, Nick Hornby, Diane Wakoski, et al. Aldus Society Notes is published quarterly by the 2006 was a great reader’s year. I keep threatening to begin a reading diary so I can actually remem- Communications ber what I’ve read(!), but so far that resolution has met with the same fate as the one to catalogue Committee of The Aldus Society. If you have my books. Radio and print reviews, book lists, book jacket blurbs, a submissions or ideas for chance book sighting – Our Mutual Friend – on the TV series Lost, the articles, please contact Thurber House “Evenings with Authors” series and most importantly, Ron Ravneberg at tips from friends all led me to some great reading. Books by Charles (614) 457-1153 or [email protected]. Dickens, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Jack Matthews, Michael Dirda, Lord Dun- sany, William Boyd and Pete Dexter stand out from dozens of others. With special thanks to Bill Rich for mentioning A Christmas Carol in our The Aldus Society last newsletter, I decided to read that short novel on Christmas day – a Mailing Address real holiday treat. Marley might be dead, but the biting social commen- P.O. Box 1150 tary of Dickens is very much alive and unfortunately still relevant. Worthington, Ohio 43085-1150 Finally, although reading goals can be helpful, I love to “wander.” Geoff Smith says he’s reading his Web Site way through Charles Dickens chronologically! My more modest goal is simply to finish the last twelve www.AldusSociety.com hundred pages of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time by spring (if I can find the time.) However, … I always have time for a side trip. Ron Ravneberg can be Read any good books lately? contacted at: (614) 457-1153 or [email protected]. Bill 2 Barry Moser Supports OSU Library Renovation with Don Quixote Print Artist and author, Barry Moser has generously donated his time and talent to create a special printed edition of his image of Don Quixote in support of the Thompson Li- brary Renovation. Moser, whom Nicholas Basbanes calls “the most important book illustrator working in America today,” was hosted by the Aldus Soci- ety and the Friends of the OSU Libraries when he was a featured speaker at our 2004 Celebration of the Book in Columbus. It was during his visit that Barry offered to authorize an edition to help with the renovation project. The image, which has never before been the subject of a printed edition, was released at the end of 2005 to coincide with the 400th anniver- sary of the publication of the first part of Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. The Talfourd P. Lynn Cervantes col- lection in OSU’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Library is one of the world’s most significant collections of publications by Cervantes, and includes a copy of the extremely rare first 1605 Madrid printing of Don Quixote. Moser’s Don Quixote is printed on Mohawk Let- terpress Superfine, off-white, eggshell finish 80# stock. The print size is approximately 12.5" x 19" and the centered image is approximately 8" x 12.5". The print is be available in a signed and num- bered edition of 100 prints at $250 each. An additional 125 unsigned prints are available for $150 each. Both versions are available exclu- sively through the Aldus Society and the Friends of the OSU Libraries. Proceeds from the prints will benefit the Thompson Library Renovation Campaign. Several Aldus Society members have already added the print to their collections. If you are Don Quixote de la Mancha and his faithful horse Rocinante, interested in acquiring one or more print(s), a limited edition print by Barry Moser, available exclusively through the please contact the Aldus Society at (614) 457- Aldus Society and the Friends of the Ohio State University Libraries. All proceeds will benefit the renovation of OSU’s Thompson Library. 1153 or at [email protected]. You can also contact Friends of the OSU Libraries office at (614) 292-3387. Y 3 surprised at the number of bookstores – mostly second- Bookstore-ies hand/antiquarian – to be encountered, including some of George Cowmeadow Bauman the 300 picturesque bouquinistes (riverside booksellers) along the banks of the Seine River. Bookstore-ing in Paris (Part 1): I planned to visit many bookslingers – both those housed Folio-sized adventures are bound to happen while booking inside restored centuries-old buildings, and the ones outside in Paris, The City of Bookstores. along the river. I have several vintage postcards of these al \ [ fresco bookdealers, and wanted to photograph them myself.