Pages & Proofs

Take a look at this beautiful prohibition-era cocktail book, Americana, that is listed for sale by British bookseller Paul Foster. It contains eight hand blocked, hand coloured cocktail napkins mounted into the book. The words “non-alcoholic” are inserted after every alcoholic ingredient, according to Foster’s description.  The book is “Dedicated to serious drinkers everywhere” with history and recipes for the following cocktails – Manhattan, Blue Blazer, Deadwood Duck, Rip Van Winkle Sleeper, Belmont Park, Alabama, Barbary Coast, New Orleans Drip.

Prohibition in the United States existed from 1920 to 1933. The book is priced at £5,000.

All the concern about government surveillance inspired us to revisit 1984 by George Orwell. It’s been 20 years at least since I read that novel and I’d forgotten about just how scary and how relevant that book is. On Reddit, I saw an interesting debate where people were discussing whether the ending matters. It does not. The substance lies in the environment where Winston and Julia exist.

The Hobbit bandwagon rolls on. The Desolation of Smaug is set to open on December 13.

Two first editions of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four have sold this week on AbeBooks as surveillance by our governments continues to be the No.1 news story around the world. A first edition, first printing in a green dust jacket sold for $3,000 (about £1,913) and a first edition, first printing in the red dust jacket sold for $2,845 (about £1,814).

It is uncertain whether the green or red version came first, so it’s common to see both books listed as the true first edition. The book was published in 1949 by Secker and Warburg and, of course, is one of the most important novels of the 20th century. It seems remarkable that a man who wrote so few books should have so much impact with his writing. Orwell died of Tuberculosis in January 1950.

Nineteen Eighty-Four, and its themes of Big Brother and state censorship, has never been more pertinent. In April of this year, AbeBooks sold another first edition, in a red dust jacket, of the book for $10,000 (£6,438) – easily the most expensive copy of Orwell’s masterpiece that we have ever sold.

Like many British avid readers, I read a lot of Iain Banks’ books during the late 1990s. I cannot remember if I read The Wasp Factory or The Crow Road first. I think I watched the 1992 BBC adaptation of Crow Road and that put me on to his books. Both are very good reads for completely different reasons. The Wasp Factory puts the reader on edge like few other novels can – what an amazing book to write for your debut novel.

After these two books, I moved on to Canal Dreams, Dead Air and Espedair Street. I also read his non-fiction book, Raw Spirit, where he tours Scotland’s whisky distillers, and he was kind enough to grant AbeBooks an interview to promote this book. (He talked as much about Scotland and his love of cars as whisky.) I will remember him for these books but many other folks will always recall him for his extensive science fiction writing.

Banks’ death, from gall bladder cancer, was announced yesterday. Fifty nine is no age at all. Lots of tributes have been made – Irvine Welsh, Neil Gaiman, Ian Rankin. His signed copies won’t last much longer.

The BBC Horrible Histories children’s TV show does Charles Dickens in style of The Smiths. Very funny. Surely, this gag is for the parents?

The Seattle Public Library is one of the great modern libraries. Take a look at its world record attempt at a book domino chain. And while we are talking about dominoes, take a look at this lovely book from 1913 that describes everything you need to know about playing the game.

AbeBooks has sold a rare 1931 book filled with paintings of shop signs in Peking. The Shop Signs of Peking, with a preface in English by H.K. Fung and produced by the Chinese Painting Association, sold for £3,615 ( $5,500) earlier in May.  It contains 101 hand-coloured illustrations of the merchant signs with captions in English and Chinese. Peking is, of course, now known as Beijing. The book was sold by Bjarne Tokerud, a bookseller in Victoria, British Columbia, who specialises in rare Chinese books.

Historically, Chinese shops used pictorial signs because of a low literacy level among the population. Gold indicated a jeweler, silver a seller of pewter, a silver jar indicated a wine shop and a lantern designated a lantern shop. Fung writes: “The wine flag can be recognized from a great distance, when one wants to satisfy his thirst, he will not have to strain his optic nerves to get what he wants; they are as conspicuous as the barber poles in Western Countries.”

Fung predicts, quite correctly, in the preface that these highly visual signs would relics as the Chinese educational system became more established.

“The only explanation that I can give for the existence of these pictorial signs is that in the former times the percentage of illiteracy among the people was very low. I am sure with the establishment of the new public school system that most of the Chinese people can read the written language of the country. Therefore it is plain to see that these signs will gradually disappear as they are no longer necessary. Eventually they will become nothing but relics of the ancient Chinese Customs. So it is very advisable for those who are interested in things Chinese to add a copy of this album to their collection in Orientalia. October first 1931.”

One other copy is available on AbeBooks for £5,442 / $7,995.

Locus is reporting the death of fantasy, science fiction and mystery writer Jack Vance. The author was 96 and died earlier this week in Oakland, California. He is well known for producing series of novels, including the Dying Earth, the Demon Princes books, the Planet of Adventure series, the Durdane trilogy and the Lyonesse fantasy series.

In 2009, he published an autobiography called This Is Me, Jack Vance!, which is surprisingly scarce.

He’s also written as John Holbrook Vance, Ellery Queen, and several other names, including Ian Wade, Peter Held and John van See.

Christopher Priest wrote an obituary in The Guardian.

I met him once, when in 1981 he was guest of honour at a science-fiction convention in Rotterdam. He was at that time the best-loved and highest-selling SF writer in the Netherlands. His fans were eager to meet him. A genial but private man, he appeared on the platform bearing a ukulele and a kazoo. He said he would answer one question only – from the floor someone asked if he ever used personal experience in his books. He replied “I am not an egotist!” and started strumming.

Liberace Cooks! Of course, he did. Every celebrity worth their salt has a cookbook and Liberace was no exception. Enjoy this gem from 1970 – Liberace Cooks! Hundreds of Delicious Recipes for You from His Seven Dining Rooms. The cookery book is illustrated with pictures of the great man’s home.