Welcome!
Bibliomania is an antiquarian book business located just outside Schenectady, NY. "Where browsers are always welcome" was our motto when we first opened our doors in September, 1981, and we extend this invitation to you, our online customer. Our site is updated almost every day, making a stop here the next best thing to visiting the shop, which was located on Jay Street for twenty-seven years before moving online. Our online sales, along with research and catalogs, takes up most of our time making our 35 years of experience in the book business now available to more readers. It is our goal to create an internet site that compares to a store experience. It's not the same, of course, but has its convenience, that in browsing our listings you are likely to find books that you have wanted for years, as well as treasures you never knew existed. We invite you now to check our highlights below, follow one of our many category links to see our listings, or visit our Blog, where our owner talks about books and collecting. If somehow you do not see what you were looking for, please give us a call (518) 495-1067, or send an Email to Bill and we'll check the shelves for you.
Highlights from Our Inventory:
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ML-51. Saroyan, William. THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE. Covelo: Yolla Bolly Press, 1984. No. 23 of 220 copies (200 for sale). Designed by James and Carolyn Robertson, printed by letterpress, and bound at the Schuberth Bookbindery. Afterword by Herbert Gold, woodblock illustrations by Bill Prochnow; signed by both. Brown cloth; fine in its original slipcase. $650.00
LT-81. Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain). THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER. Washington: Georgetown University Library, 1982. 2 volumes, blue cloth, slip case. Edition of 1,000 copies. Introduction by Paul Baender. First facsimile, holographic edition, containing a facsimile reproduction of Twain's original manuscript. This was Twain's first book where the manuscript survived intact. A fine copy in the blue cloth slip case. $400.00
NH-24. Godman, John D. AMERICAN NATURAL HISTORY - PART 1: MASTOLOGY. Philadelphia: Key & Mielkie, 1831. 2nd edition. Three volumes, full calf. Illustrated with numerous engraved plates. An important early survey of North American mammals; about half of the third volume is devoted to the practice of whaling. All three volumes have been competently repaired or rebacked on the spines, making a nice set. Very good. $300.00
NY-6. Chapin, Lt. L.N. TO SACRIFICE, TO SUFFER, AND IF NEED BE TO DIE: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT N.Y.S.V. Little Falls, 1998. Reprint of the 1903 edition, made available by the efforts of the Capt. Henry Galpin Civil War Round Table. Includes a roster of all officers and enlisted men; the regiment fought in many battles including Antietam and Fredericksburg. New in dust jacket. $30.00
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AD-95. Watson,
Winslow C. THE MILITARY AND CIVIL HISTORY OF THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, NEW
YORK. Albany: J. Munsell,
1869. 1st edition. 504 pp., green cloth. Physical geography, mines and minerals,
commerce, military history, etc.; with an account of the northern wilderness.
Plum 685. Another cornerstone of an Adirondack library. Inside the front cover
is a signed presentation from Augustus C. Hand, to whom the book is dedicated, to his
two sisters. Spine ends worn; very good. $300.00
AM-33. Douglass, Frederick. MY
BONDAGE AND MY FREEDOM. New York and Auburn, 1855 1st edition. 464 pp.,
embossed brown cloth. The author= s
great story of his lives as a slave and as a free man, and a cornerstone in
the literature of the Abolitionist Movement. Covers worn along the edges.
Good-Very good. $450.00
MP-3. Weiman, Christopher (1946-1988). Large Flower with a Clear Background. 9 1/4"x 12 1/4". Weiman was a great authority on marbled papers, particularly those in India, and made a few papers to test his theories. Originally sold by Dawson's Book Shop in Los Angeles. Secured with mounting corners to a sheet of mat board. Background has a bit more blue than shown in the illustration. Near Fine. $300.00
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BB-10. Evelyn, John. ACETERIA: A DISCOURSE OF SALLETS. Dallas: Still Point Press, 1985. No. 12 of 300 copies. Quarter leather and paste-paper boards. With an introduction by Kit Currie. Illustrated by Tottoroto. Printed by the Bird & Bull Press at Newtown, PA. Composed in Caslon types by Mackenzie-Harris Corp., printed on mouldmade Arches text paper, and bound by Gray Parrot. With the prospectus for the book laid in . Fine. $200.00
HD-5. (Conway, Henry Seymour) British Naval Ordinance Document. H.M.S. Venus. Ds, for William Prato, gunner on the ship, for payment of expenses of Gunner’s Stores on the ship from July 27, 1768 to July 31, 1769. Signed by Charles Frederick and H(enry) S(eymour) Conway, the distinguished military officer and member of Parliament. A clean, attractive document, 12 1/4"x 7 3/4", tipped into a larger (11"x 15") sheet, a common practice in 19th century autograph collections. Near fine. $350.00
AD-46. Healy, Bill. THE ADIRONDACKS: A SPECIAL WORLD. Utica: North Country Books, 1986. 1st edition. One hundred full page color photographs of the Adirondacks, showing sights throughout the park. Signed by the author, of course. Near fine in dust jacket. $45.00
AD-47. Healy, Bill (ed.) & O.S. Phelps. THE HIGH PEAKS OF ESSEX: THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS OF ORSON SCHOFIELD PHELPS. Fleischmanns: Purple Mountain Press, 1999. 2nd printing. "Old Mountain" Phelps, the noted Keene Valley guide to Seneca Ray Stoddard, Verplanck Colvin, Charles Dudley Warner, and many others ‑ this is his story of the Adirondacks, taken from a manuscript written by Phelps probably in the early 1870s. After guiding many writers, Phelps wanted to put his own ideas on paper, and this work offers not only the noted guide's unique perspective of early Adirondack history, but as far as I can tell it is the only 19th century writing by an Adirondack resident. A few pieces of the manuscript were published in the early Stoddard guides, but the entire work was never published in his lifetime, and disappeared in the years following his death. It was originally recovered by an Albany book collector and eventually brought to the attention of the editor in the early 1990s, to finally be first published in 1993. NEW, in paperback. $12.50
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LT-252. Root, S.B. MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. Albany: Weed, Parsons, and Company, 1881. 1st edition. 16mo, 127 pp., green cloth. Poems on various subjects by a resident of Galway, NY, many of which capture the character of his area. Includes "Reunion Poem," addressed to the veterans of the 77th Regiment, NYS Volunteers, and read at their annual gathering in Ballston Spa in 1880. Light wear; very good. $65.00
AM-73. Nott, Eliphalet. MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. Schenectady: Ryer Schemerhorn, 1810. 280pp., marbled paper wrappers. Six sermons and addresses delivered by the longtime President of Union College, including one occasioned by the death of Alexander Hamilton, with additional material on the Hamilton‑Burr duel. An early Schenectady imprint, no. 26 on Douglas McMurtrie's checklist. Wrappers chipped on the spine; very good. $100.00
LT-123. Halleck, Fitz Greene. ALNWICK CASTLE, WITH OTHER POEMS. NY: George Dearborn, 1836. 1st edition. 99 pp., decorated and patterned blue-green cloth. Includes several poems not published before. One poem is on the battlefield at Saratoga, one on Red-Jacket, and another on Connecticutt. Covers a bit worn on the edges, with chips on the spine, but a good copy. $85.00
DP-1 . Japanese Katagami Fabric Stencil, mid 19th century. The image is 8.5" x 14.5," overall size is 12.5" x 17.5." The stencil is made on handmade mulberry paper sealed with persimmon tannin, making it waterproof and reusable. These were used to print on textiles, particularly kimono. The delicate patterns - this one showing birds in flight - are cut with thin knives and fine punches. These stencils appear to be reinforced with fine silk strands that replaced the human hair used earlier in the century. This stencil appears to be in excellent condition, showing no breaks or loss of material. The stencil is backed with tissue. An incredibly delicate and elegant piece of artwork. $275.00
DP-2. Japanese Katagami Fabric Stencil, mid 19th century. The image is 7.75" x 14.5," overall size is 12.5" x 17.5." The stencil is made on handmade mulberry paper sealed with persimmon tannin, making it waterproof and reusable. These were used to print on textiles, particularly kimono. The delicate patterns - this one showing flowers or leaves - are cut with thin knives and fine punches. These stencils appear to be reinforced with fine silk strands that replaced the human hair used earlier in the century. This stencil appears to be in very good condition, showing only one break with a little loss of material (visible on the left side of the full photo). The stencil is backed with tissue. An incredibly delicate and elegant piece of artwork. $200.00
Check our Ebay store and auctions for special reductions and savings on many of our items. Search for "mrbook" among the sellers.
To check our online inventory, please
check the Site Map Webpage, our Search Engine below, or start with one of these categories:
BOOKS Books in more than twenty categories
AUTOGRAPHS Signatures, letters, and documents, American & international
MAPS American and foreign historical maps
ART Original paintings, prints, drawings, and posters - and a new page for Marbled Paper!
PHOTOGRAPHS Historical images of the Adirondacks and elsewhere
EPHEMERA Historical and cultural paper items, advertising, sheet music, broadsides, and unusual paper items
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS Guitars, mandolins, violins, and other stringed instruments for sale
CURRENT CATALOG
View our current mail-order catalog online
For items not on our web site and special prices on selected items, please check our ebay store at http://stores.ebay.com/mrbook
What's New?
For years we have sold books in our shop, by mail-order catalogs, at shows, and on this web site, but we have finally faced the modern era and started listing some of our books on Abebooks.com. Check our listings at www.abebooks.com/home/bookhunter52 Those listings will include some books not found on this web site (although they are in our shop). It's another way to serve our customers. We now also take payments through Paypal in addition to VISA, Mastercard, and of course the usual cash, check, or money order.
Would a picture help? Many
customers have requested scans or photos of items listed on our site when
considering a purchase. If you haven't thought of it, please ask; we can
usually e-mail a photo or scan of almost any item to you in a day or so.
We are almost finished setting up a new online ordering
and payment system with a shopping cart to eliminate lost and misdirected
orders. In the meantime, feel free to give us a call if you find something of
interest.
What is my old book worth? We get that question a lot, and while we do not appraise items we cannot personally examine, we can try to answer some of your questions. If you live near Albany, NY, Bill Healy, Bibliomania's owner, periodically gives a one-night seminar on that subject for the Knowledge Network (www.knowledgenetwork.org). The next class will be on Wednesday, February 11, 2009. Check their web site for enrollment information.
Serving the book community
Last September
we celebrated our 26th year in business - we never doubted it
would happen when we opened, but our business has developed over the years in
ways we never imagined. One of my first
equipment purchases was a good typewriter to produce catalogs. I never dreamed
of using a computer, and could not even conceive of the internet or a web site.
We still think of ourselves as a real book shop, though, even though we are no
longer open to customers at the moment. Since not everyone can make it to
Schenectady, you can view some of our best offerings on this site. These are only some of our better items; in the evening, when I
update the site, I am surprised at the number of good books we have sold that do
not appear on these pages. I'm working as fast as I can, however.
We were once featured in an article in
The Capital District Business Review,
where an editorial called us "the internet done
right." As I struggle with computer
glitches and other problems I have my doubts,
but we will try to make your internet experience with us as pleasant as
a visit to our shop.
CATALOG No. 108 is coming next month! If you are not on our mailing list or do not receive one
in the next few days, please e-mail us to receive a copy -
or click here to view our last catalog now.
This is also the first online listing with a shopping cart, so you can order
immediately if you find something of interest. In addition to this
site and our shop, we issue fairly regular catalogs in various
subjects. In 2002, we reached our longtime goal of issuing one per month, and
have mostly continued the practice in 2003, 2004, and 2005. To request a copy, please e-mail your address to
us at info@rare-books.com
We may still have copies of some past catalogs available on request. Many
items have been sold, of course, but some very fine ones are still in stock. You
will usually find them on this web site, since available items are listed in
their appropriate subject categories.
Please feel free to order on line with us or send us your
order. You can still call and talk to us on the telephone as always, but our order page is
now ready for orders with your VISA or MasterCard. We are also happy to accept payments by Paypal,
especially from international customers (it seems to work best of any method).
Information can be found on our order form.
What we sell
Bibliomania offers a wide selection of good used books in
most fields, as well as first and rare editions of literature and
Americana. Bibliomania is particularly
well known for its books and materials on the Adirondack Mountains and New York
State history. We usually have strong
holdings in literature, photography, music, biographies, and books about books.
In the past few years this store has also acquired some interesting autographs,
trade cards, photographs, pamphlets, prints, bookplates, illustrations, and
other antiques & ephemera. Our stock changes daily, and while more of our
offerings will appear online, it will be a while before most of our items appear
online. Only a small portion of our stock is available here, but we try to add new
items every day.
Bill
Healy, the owner, is the author of two books, The Adirondacks: A Special World (Utica: North Country Books, 1986, 1998) and The High Peaks of Essex: The Adirondack Mountains
of Orson Schofield Phelps (Fleischmanns: Purple Mountain Press, 1992).
Join in the conversation at Bibliomania's Blog. (below)
See a preview from our Blog. (below)
In June of this year, we finally closed our shop to concentrate on mail-order and online sales. The book world has changed since I first entered it in 1974. I won't comment on whether it is better or worse, for the important point is that it is different. Bookhunting used to be an adventure, and every weekend collectors would travel to several shops (sometimes traveling a hundred miles or more) to browse the shelves for new acquisitions. Rising gas prices have affected travel, but the rise of the Internet over the last few years has allowed collectors to stay at home and browse on their computer screens. As I worked late at night adding items to my website, I discovered customers making purchases at 2 or 3 am...see more on Bibliomania's Blog.
Add our Blog to your reader. (below)
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