Behind the Bookshelves
158 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 year ago - ★★★★ - 27 ratingsA podcast from AbeBooks. This series is dedicated to telling the stories behind books and the people who love them. We'll salute classic novels and famous authors, investigate long-forgotten books, and discuss publishing houses, libraries, bookshops, and anyone else with a bookish story to tell.
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Episodes
Burnside Rare Books in Portland
November 03, 2020 19:56 - 13 minutes - 12.4 MBWe return to Portland, Oregon, and speak to Rachel Phillips and Roger Hucek from Burnside Rare Books. They specialize in 20th century literature and signed books, and they have been selling books together since 2006. We discuss their bookselling evolution, the importance of photography, book fairs and much more.
Collecting Baseball Books
October 05, 2020 11:00 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MBWe're at the ballpark, talking baseball. Bookseller Bobby Plapinger, from Ashland in Oregon, joins us. Bobby is a specialist baseball book dealer. Babe Ruth, early baseball books, cards vs books, and the belated interest in the Negro Leagues are just some of the topics we discuss.
Shakespeare Discovery
September 25, 2020 11:00 - 18 minutes - 16.8 MBLearn how John Stone, from the University of Barcelona, discovered a rare 1634 edition of Shakespeare's play The Two Noble Kinsmen, co-written with John Fletcher, in the library of a small Scottish college in Spain.
Gladstone's Library
September 22, 2020 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MBToday, we are Flintshire in the UK, visiting the UK's only residential library. We speak with Peter Francis who is the Warden and Director of Gladstone's Library in Hawarden, which is a few miles west of Chester. William Ewart Gladstone served 4 separate terms as Britain's prime minster between in 1868 and 1894. Today his personal library is available to the public, housed in a building where you can also spend the night. Join us to learn more about this remarkable library.
Bookselling in County Mayo
September 09, 2020 11:00 - 11 minutes - 10.8 MBToday, we head to County Mayo on the west coast of the Republic of Ireland and speak to Roger Grimes, who is the co-owner of a bookshop and antiques business located in Mulranny. Vanessa Parker Rare Books and its sister business Greenway Antiques share a beautiful white-walled cottage. Vanessa does the books and Roger sells the antiques. Join us to hear about life and business in this beautiful part of the world.
Book of Trespass
August 31, 2020 11:00 - 27 minutes - 24.9 MBWe are joined by author and printmaker Nick Hayes, who has written a book called The Book of Trespass. Nick takes us into some of England’s grandest country estates… as a trespasser. He writes about how easy it to trespass and what he encountered while trespassing. He also writes at length about the history of trespassing in England – from the years following the Norman Conquest to today’s campaigns over the right to roam through the British countryside. We discuss the history of land ownersh...
Bookselling in Bulgaria
August 25, 2020 11:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBWe are talking about bookselling in the Balkans with Ian Dodds, who is an AbeBooks bookseller based in Bulgaria. Ian and his wife left the UK in 2007 to live and work in Bulgaria, and we hear about how they established an online bookselling business in a mountain village close to the border with Greece.
Travels with a Stick
August 19, 2020 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBIn our latest podcast, we speak to Church of Scotland minister Richard Frazer, who is the author of Travels With a Stick, a book about walking the Camino de Santiago. We discuss blisters, Robert Macfarlane’s influence on walking literature, John Muir’s dislike of the word 'hiking', and why pilgrimages are important.
Things Found in Books Part 2
August 13, 2020 11:00 - 21 minutes - 19.6 MBWe return to the subject of things found in used books. Our guest is Emma Smreker, a school teacher from Oklahoma City, who collects secondhand books in order to discover the forgotten things left inside. When she comes across something particularly poignant, such as a letter or a photo or a poem, she researches the item and tries to return it to the original owner. Learn about the remarkable connections that Emma is making through these forgotten objects.
Death by Shakespeare
August 11, 2020 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22 MBWe visit the theatre and discuss Shakespearean deaths with author Kathryn Harkup, who has written a book called Death by Shakespeare. Kathryn looked at how the Bard killed off his characters and asked if these deaths were realistic. She considered science, medicine, disease, weaponry, poisons, crimes and punishments, and Elizabethan history. We discuss Shakespeare's bloodiest play, how he didn't always get it right, the Bard's stagecraft skills and how he probably got some assistance from hi...
Art of Advertising
August 08, 2020 11:00 - 22 minutes - 20.3 MBWe are joined by Julie Anne Lambert, who is the Librarian of the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, to discuss the Bodleian's Art of Advertising exhibition. We talk about the origins of the Johnson Collection, what ephemera tells us about history, the importance of soap, and the early advertising posters.
Artist Jo Mora
July 22, 2020 11:00 - 33 minutes - 30.9 MBWe’re discussing the American artist Jo Mora (1876-1947) with Peter Hillier from the Jo Mora Trust. Mora should be much better known than he is. He worked across many mediums, including books and maps, and dedicated much of his work to the American West and particularly California. Mora was a cartoonist, a sculptor, a painter, a photographer, an author and an illustrator. He traveled and lived in Arizona and California where he recorded, through his art, the lives of the Hopi and Navajo Nativ...
Botanist Joseph Banks
June 24, 2020 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.2 MBWe are discussing the legacy of pioneering botanist Joseph Banks with Mark James from Type & Forme, a rare bookselling firm in the UK. Banks traveled to Australia with Captain Cook on a voyage that began in 1768 and ended in 1771. Along the way, Banks and his colleagues discovered and recorded around 1,300 previously undocumented botanical species. We learn how Banks revolutionized botany and yet failed to publish a book of his work during his lifetime.
Cultivated Elements of Floral Style
June 10, 2020 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.5 MBWe are joined by Christin Geall, the author of Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style - a new book about floral design. With almost 100,000 followers on Instagram, Christin is a designer, writer, gardener, and photographer. Her book features stunning photography of arrangements and offers advice to anyone who wants to get creative with cut flowers.
Worlds of JRR Tolkien
June 06, 2020 11:00 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBToday, we are going on a journey to Middle-Earth. We speak to John Garth, the author of The Worlds of J. R. R. Tolkien: The Places That Inspired Middle-earth. John's book identifies the real places that inspired the fictional locations of The Shire, Rivendell, Mirkwood, and Mordor. Learn about Tolkien's childhood, his WWI experiences in the trenches, and his dislike for Oxford traffic.
The Book of Black Magic
May 22, 2020 21:34 - 9 minutes - 8.78 MBThe Book of Black Magic, written by mystic A.E. Waite, was first published in 1898. A prolific author, Waite was a member of a secret magical society devoted to the occult and he also co-created one of the most popular of all tarot decks. Discover the story behind Waite's Book of Black Magic.
Capers of Bookseller Johnny Jenkins
May 12, 2020 11:00 - 31 minutes - 29.1 MBOur guest is Michael Vinson, the author of Bluffing Texas Style: The Arsons, Forgeries, and High Stakes Poker Capers of Rare Book Dealer Johnny Jenkins. A bookseller who blazed a trail through Texas and the rare book world, Jenkins ended up dead through a gunshot to the head as his debts and crimes spiraled out of control. Listen to our interview and learn more about the capers of this poker-playing rare book dealer.
Zen and Robert Pirsig
May 09, 2020 13:00 - 6 minutes - 6.23 MBThey always say that you should try, try and try again. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M Persig, has sold more than 5 million copies since being published in 1974. And yet, it was rejected by 121 publishers before finally being printed. Discover how this book became one of the most unlikely bestsellers of the 20th century.
Daniel Crouch on Rare Maps
April 30, 2020 11:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBDaniel is a specialist map dealer and co-owner of Daniel Crouch Rare Books, which offers antique atlases, maps, plans, sea charts and descriptions of voyages. The business has galleries in London and New York. We discuss the importance of knowing the story behind a rare map, data visualization maps, pictorial maps, and why collectors are drawn to historical maps and atlases.
Angling Books
April 28, 2020 11:00 - 28 minutes - 26 MBToday, we are going fishing… in a podcast way. We’re joined by Jim Dixon, who is a bookseller on AbeBooks and located in Derbyshire in the UK. Jim specializes in antiquarian books about the English countryside, including the pastime of angling. He also has an exceptional collection dedicated to The Compleat Angler, the most important of all angling books.
Dawn Treader Book Shop Appeal
April 25, 2020 11:00 - 19 minutes - 17.9 MBThe Dawn Treader Book Shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, needs help after being forced to close due to Covid-19. It has launched a GoFundMe appeal to raise funds. Africa Schaumann, the shop's manager, explains how the Dawn Treader serves the local community and what they are doing to stay afloat.
Robert E Howard Museum
April 17, 2020 11:00 - 30 minutes - 27.9 MBConan the Barbarian was created by pulp writer Robert E Howard and we are joined by Arlene Stephenson from the Robert E Howard Museum in Cross Plains, Texas. We discuss Howard's pulp fiction writing career, the enduring popularity of Conan, the author's tragic death at just 30, and how this small museum attracts Howard fans from around world.
Lawbook Exchange interview
April 15, 2020 11:00 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBWe’re talking about law with bookseller Greg Talbot from the Lawbook Exchange. Founded in 1983, the Lawbook Exchange specializes in all aspects of law and the history of law. We learn how the business began and its international scope. Greg reveals the historical importance of law books from the Magna Carta to Napoleon and the Federalist in the US. Did you know there’s also legal poetry?
Brian Cassidy interview
April 09, 2020 11:00 - 24 minutes - 22.4 MBWe are joined by bookseller Brian Cassidy who, in 2019, launched a bookselling firm called Type Punch Matrix, along with Rebecca Romney. Brian describes his journey from poet to bookseller, and reveals why he teaches at bookseller education events. Our conversation ranges from modern duplicating technologies to Sex Pistols flyers.
Les Enluminures
April 07, 2020 16:46 - 30 minutes - 28 MBWe are joined by Sandra Hindman, the owner of Les Enluminures, a business dedicated to selling manuscripts and miniatures from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Sandra describes her transition from the academic world. She talks about her galleries in New York, Paris and Chicago, and her customers around the world. She explains why Books of Hours were so important in the Middle Ages and what it is like to handle a book once owned by a French king.
Emily St John Mandel interview
April 02, 2020 21:36 - 14 minutes - 12.9 MBWe speak to Emily St John Mandel about her latest novel, The Glass Hotel. You may remember her worldwide bestseller, Station 11, from 2014. Emily tells us about her fascination with the shipping industry, her journey from ballet to New York, and how a financial scandal inspired The Glass Hotel.
They Also Wrote Childrens Books
March 10, 2020 11:00 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBWe speak to book collector John Blaney about famous authors who wrote for adults but yet also wrote children’s books. Examples include James Baldwin, Truman Capote, William Faulkner and Graham Greene. An exhibition at the Grolier Club in New York showcases some of John's modern first editions where he has selected 40 children’s books from his collection and paired each one with a famous novel from that particular author’s work for adults.
Collecting Origami Books
March 05, 2020 12:00 - 18 minutes - 17 MBWe are joined by David Pacheco, who is a creative director at Disney. David collects books and journals about origami. We learn about the history and traditions of origami, the cultural significance of origami in Japan, and the most prized item in David’s extensive collection.
NASA Nonfiction Tudor Fiction
February 28, 2020 12:00 - 8 minutes - 7.51 MBIn this episode, we look at Margot Lee Shetterly's book Hidden Figures following the death of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, and we also ask if Hilary Mantel can win a third Booker Prize with her latest Tudor-era novel about Thomas Cromwell. Plus we remember adventure author Clive Cussler.
True Grit and Outlander Tourism
February 21, 2020 12:00 - 7 minutes - 6.92 MBIn this short episode, AbeBooks looks at some of the things making headlines in the book world this week, including the loss of author Charles Portis, the effect of Outlander on Scottish tourism, an unusual tribute to Iain Banks, and the most expensive item to sell on AbeBooks last week.
Sherlockians
February 20, 2020 12:00 - 21 minutes - 19.5 MBSherlockian is the American term for someone who is devoted to Sherlock Holmes. We interview Denny Dobry from the Beacon Society – an organization dedicated to providing educational resources about Sherlock Holmes to schools and libraries. We discuss Sherlock’s first appearances in print, why Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories are still relevant today, and how the stories have remained popular thanks to Hollywood, television and Sherlockian societies like the Beacon Society.
Canterbury Tales App
February 13, 2020 12:00 - 19 minutes - 17.7 MBWe speak to Peter Robinson from the University of Saskatchewan about how his team has just launched an app that brings us Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the original colloquial Middle English. The free app is the first edition in a planned series. It features a 45-minute audio performance of the General Prologue from the Tales along with the digitized manuscript and supporting content. We discuss Chaucer's influence on the English language, his social status in the 14th century and his other w...
Passages Bookshop in Portland
February 10, 2020 12:00 - 30 minutes - 28.2 MBWe are joined by bookseller David Abel who owns Passages Bookshop in Portland, Oregon. David discusses his life in bookselling from being a book scout to running bookshops in New York, Albuquerque and now Portland. We also learn how a break-in recently affected Passages Bookshop and how a famous bibliophile offered to help.
Amelia Island Book Festival
January 31, 2020 12:00 - 14 minutes - 13.4 MBBestselling author David Baldacci speaks to us about the Amelia Island Book Festival, which occurs in February. David, honorary chair of the 2020 festival, explains the appeal of Amelia Island, why he supports book festivals, and reveals the most unusual question that he's been asked at a festival.
NYC Literary Walking Tours
January 27, 2020 12:00 - 22 minutes - 20.4 MBIf you like pubs and literary history then you will enjoy this podcast. We interview Eric Chase. His company offers literary pub crawls and walking tours around New York's Greenwich Village and Brooklyn too. We discuss Dylan Thomas and the White Horse Tavern, Washington Square's long history, and numerous authors from Edith Wharton to Jack Kerouac. We also discover who is most likely to over-indulgence on a literary pub crawl. Buckle up for a books and beer podcast.
Business of Medieval Manuscripts
January 25, 2020 12:00 - 23 minutes - 21.3 MBWe are joined by Erik Kwakkel, a professor in book history at the University of British Columbia. Erik explains the commercial trade behind medieval manuscripts, including the role of scribes in the period before the invention of movable type. We learn how these tradesmen advertised their services, where you'd find them, and about their customers.
American Alpine Club Library
January 20, 2020 12:00 - 24 minutes - 22.5 MBWe're talking about mountaineering books with Eric Rueth, the library manager of the American Alpine Club in Golden, Colorado. The library has more than 50,000 books covering mountaineering history, mountain culture, and climbing routes. We discuss George Mallory, Everest, Into Thin Air, and the origins of mountaineering books.
Bison Books in Winnipeg
January 10, 2020 12:00 - 17 minutes - 15.9 MBWe are joined by Aimee Peake, who is the owner of Bison Books in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in Canada. This antiquarian bookshop opened in 2000 and Aimee took over the business in 2010. It offers around 20,000 books for sale. We discuss Aimee’s start in bookselling aged 19, her mentor, the infamous Winnipeg winters, her bookstore dog-in-training, and the joy of Kitchen Confidential.
Shakespeare's Library
December 11, 2019 12:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBWe are joined by author & bibliophile Stuart Kells, who has written a book called Shakespeare’s Library. He investigates the mystery of what happened to Shakespeare’s library. For centuries, people have searched for it – but there has been no trace of the Bard’s manuscripts, books, or letters. We also touch on booksellers, fraudsters, actors and the vital question of who actually wrote the Shakespeare plays.
Conjuring Arts Library
December 07, 2019 12:00 - 29 minutes - 26.8 MBWe are joined by William Kalush, who is the director of the Conjuring Arts Research Center in New York. The Center is dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of performance magic, including the history of playing cards, ventriloquism, juggling, deception, and sleight of hand tricks. The Center offers an extensive library of books and periodicals. and aims to provide the world’s most expansive collection of material relating to conjuring. We discuss Ricky Jay, Tommy Cooper, Houdini, ...
Lisa Unger Baskin Collection
December 05, 2019 17:27 - 31 minutes - 29 MBWe interview collector, bookseller and activist Lisa Unger Baskin, who has amassed a vast collection of books and printed material dedicated to showing women in work over the centuries. Now placed with Duke University, highlights from the collection will be exhibited at the Grolier Club in Manhattan. Lisa describes how she put the collection together, and how humble objects can shed light on women’s role in work and society.
Collecting Books about Rockets
November 12, 2019 19:33 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBMichael Ciancone works as a NASA engineer. In his spare time, he collects early books about rockets and spaceflight. His collection spans more than 600 books published prior to 1958, including many hard-to-find titles from Russian authors. In our latest podcast, Michael discusses his collection and the challenges of collecting books on such a specialist subject.
Moe's Books in Berkeley
November 06, 2019 12:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBWe interview Doris Moskowitz, owner of Moe’s Books in Berkeley. With four floors of books, Moe’s has been a bookselling institution since the 1960s when Berkeley was at the heart of America’s free speech movement. We discuss her father, Moe, her mom, Barbara, cigars, hippies, the 1960s, being a working mom, being fired, the nearby university, millennial confusion, and why Moe’s has a huge philosophy section.
Movable Book Society
November 01, 2019 18:30 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBWe are joined by Shawn Sheehy from the Movable Book Society. The society was founded in 1993 to share enthusiasm about pop-up and movable books. Shawn is a book artist and a paper engineer. Discover how pop-up books are created, their long history, and why paper engineering fascinates children, collectors and people who love books when the art that literally pops up off the page.
Food History
September 12, 2019 11:00 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBWe are joined by Sadie Hirst, a food historian from Lincolnshire in the UK. Sadie is a collector of antiquarian and vintage cookbooks. She also speaks about food history at numerous events and runs historical cookery workshops. We discuss what cookbooks tell us about history, Georgian recipes, butter-making kitchenalia, and other mouthwatering topics.
Collecting Film Scripts
August 29, 2019 11:00 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MBWe’re at the movies and talking about the growing phenomenon of collecting film scripts. Bookseller and author Kevin Johnson reveals why film scripts are so desirable, how studios and production teams have created and used scripts over the decades, the most expensive script he has ever sold, and why scripts from Night of the Living Dead are so difficult to find.
Voynich Mystery Continues
August 21, 2019 11:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBWe are joined by Lisa Fagin Davis, who is the Executive Director of the Medieval Academy of America, to discuss the on-going mystery of the Voynich Manuscript. Housed in the Yale library, this 15th century manuscript is written in a language that can't be decoded. Lisa explains why so many theories about its meaning and creation just don't add up.
Book Restoration
August 14, 2019 11:00 - 29 minutes - 27.2 MBWe are joined by bo0k restorer Sophia Bogle, who has just written a book called Book Restoration Unveiled. Sophia now teaches book restoration. Her book explains the craft through case studies, illustrations, and interviews with clients and people in the industry. Our interview tackles the tools, the terminology, the most common forms of damage, the pros and cons of restoration, and some of the remarkable repair jobs that have come her way in the past 25 years.
Dance of Death
August 08, 2019 11:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBThe Dance of Death is a grim art genre, found in books and art, that began in the 15th century where Death appears in the living world in order to claim its next victim. Professor and author Elina Gertsman from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio explains the origins of these grisly illustrations where Death can never be avoided.
Vancouver's Mobile Bookshop
July 30, 2019 11:00 - 26 minutes - 24.1 MBIron Dog Books is a red van - a mobile bookshop that brings affordable books to many parts of Vancouver. We speak to Hilary Atleo who runs, and drives, this bookselling business with her husband Cliff. We discuss the van's connection to boat-building, city bylaws, and how people react to a bookshop on wheels.