Pages & Proofs

The author of The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970 reveals why he loves artwork from this era. A former illustrator, Martin Salisbury is a professor of illustration at the Cambridge School of Art in the Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. He is the author of a book called The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970, which showcases […]

The 2018 PBFA Christmas Fair is just days away. It takes place on Saturday, 1st December, from 10:30am to 4:30pm, at the Holiday Inn London in Bloomsbury, Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT. It’s the second successive year that the fair has been staged at the Holiday Inn in Bloomsbury and it is expected to attract […]

 One of our favourite books of 2018 has been The Illustrated Dust Jacket 1920-1970 by Martin Salisbury. This is a book for anyone who loves beautiful dust jackets. It traces the evolution of the book jacket from its functional origins as a plain protective covering. Salisbury celebrates the work of more than 50 artists […]

Anna Burns has won the 2018 Man Booker Prize, becoming the first writer from Northern Ireland to take home the award. She wins £50,000 for Milkman, a novel set in the Troubles in Northern Ireland about a young woman being sexually harassed. People are describing Milkman as “experimental” and it was an outsider to win. […]

Our latest podcast addresses the importance of Paddington Bear as he approaches his 60th birthday. From marmalade sandwiches to really hard stares, we look at why this children’s book character is so special. 

People who love antiquarian books, atlases, old maps, fine prints, manuscripts, first editions and the written and printed word in general should plan to be in the Netherlands on October 6-7 for the 2018 Amsterdam International Antiquarian Book Fair. After the last year’s successful event, the fair will be held again in the Marriott Hotel. […]

We’re seeing tremendous interest in the books of Marthe McKenna (1892-1966) after the New York Times ran an “overlooked” obituary. A nurse, McKenna, who was Belgian, spied on the Germans for almost two years in World War I. Her book I Was a Spy! became a massive bestseller after the war. It’s still in print […]

Probably the best book about a bookshop is 84 Charing Cross Road, but what about fiction? There is actually a mini-genre of novels set in bookshops dating back 100 years to the books of Christopher Morley. Romance, mysteries, and tales about life-changing events seem to be the main themes. John Dunning, who still owns an […]

In our latest AbeBooks Behind the Bookshelves podcast we go beyond Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle to recommend books set in London. From a genre-defining non-fiction book about Arsenal to fictional descriptions of the immigrant experience by Zadie Smith and Hanif Kureishi, we cast our eye across a wide selection of books. For more […]

Alexander Jamieson was an 18th century schoolteacher who wrote textbooks on the side. His books included A Grammar of Universal Geography, A Grammar of Logic and Intellectual Philosophy and the Mechanics of Fluids for Practical Men, and you can be excused for giving these three a miss. But you cannot turn your back on Jamieson’s […]