When last month began, with much of the world under lock down, we didn't know what to expect. With storefronts closed, and people shut in their homes all day, would booksellers issue more catalogues to reach customers where they were and with time on their hands? Would they, instead, cut back on the expense of printing catalogues as their own income declined, and many people lost their jobs? We now have our answer. They cut back, drastically. This month we have but two new catalogues. In reality, only one is new. The one from Shapero was actually published a couple of months ago, but was received with some other of their catalogues reviewed earlier. The printed catalogue has seemingly disappeared. Will it come back as the pandemic drags on? Will it come back once the crisis is over? We don't know. Time will tell. Meanwhile, electronic catalogues are still alive and well.
The one newly published catalogue comes from The Veatchs Arts of the Book. Its title is New Acquisitions, Books Printed in Greek, Leaf Books, Typographic Treasures, Etc. The Veatchs' catalogues are filled with material pertaining to the book arts. The other newly reviewed catalogue comes from Shapero Rare Books. It has a much shorter title – Ottomania. It pertains to lands of the old Ottoman Empire, or as the subtitle explains, Travels through the Levant and the Middle East.
You will find both of these reviews if you click here now.
