Private Libraries Association
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Private Libraries Association
The Private Libraries Association (PLA) came into being in 1956 when 18-year-old Philip Ward wrote a letter to the ''Observer'' inviting booklovers and book collectors to attend a meeting to discuss the setting up of an association whose aims would be:- *To help readers in the organisation, cataloguing and fuller enjoyment of their personal collections; *To cover every subject field by voluntary organised specialisation, and to record locations for loans. Although the membership has always included distinguished experts, it largely consists of ordinary collectors who share their enthusiasms and their knowledge. Since its foundation, the PLA has published a quarterly journal, originally called ''P.L.A. Quarterly'' but quickly renamed (from 1958) ''The Private Library''; since Spring 1968, the journal has appeared in a standard format of some 40-50 pages containing two or three illustrated articles. It also publishes a members’ book every year or two years. The articles and books are ...
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The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. History Origins The first issue, published on 4 December 1791 by W.S. Bourne, was the world's first Sunday newspaper. Believing that the paper would be a means of wealth, Bourne instead soon found himself facing debts of nearly £1,600. Though early editions purported editorial independence, Bourne attempted to cut his losses and sell the title to the government. When this failed, Bourne's brother (a wealthy businessman) made an offer to the government, which also refused to buy the paper but agreed to subsidise it in return for influence over its editorial content. As a result, the paper soon took a strong line against radicals such as Thomas Paine, Francis Burdett and Joseph Priestley. 19th century In 180 ...
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Book Collectors
Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someone who loves to read, admire, and a person who collects books is often called a ''bibliophile'' but can also be known as an ''bibliolater'', meaning being overly devoted to books, or a ''bookman'' which is another term for a person who has a love of books. Book collecting can be easy and inexpensive: there are millions of new and used books which are available in brick and mortar bookstores as well as online bookstores. Large book sellers include AbeBooks, Alibris, Amazon, and Biblio.com, and there are independent booksellers that can be found online by searching key words such as: books, books for sale, bookseller, bookstore, rare books, collectibles, etc. Books traditionally were only printed on paper and then pages were bound togethe ...
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Private Press
Private press publishing, with respect to books, is an endeavor performed by craft-based expert or aspiring artisans, either amateur or professional, who, among other things, print and build books, typically by hand, with emphasis on design, graphics, layout, fine printing, binding, covers, paper, stitching, and the like. Description The term "private press" is not synonymous with "fine press," " small press," or "university press" – though there are similarities. One similarity shared by all is that they need not meet higher commercial thresholds of commercial presses. Private presses, however, often have no profit motive. A similarity shared with fine and small presses, but not university presses, is that for various reasons – namely quality – production quantity is often limited. University presses are typically more automated. A distinguishing quality of private presses is that they enjoy sole discretion over literary, scientific, artistic, and aesthetic merits ...
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Small Press
A small press is a publisher with annual sales below a certain level or below a certain number of titles published. The terms "indie publisher" and "independent press" and others are sometimes used interchangeably. Independent press is generally defined as publishers that are not part of large conglomerates or multinational corporations. Many small presses rely on specialization in genre fiction, poetry, or limited-edition books or magazines, but there are also thousands that focus on niche non-fiction markets. Definitions In the United States, this has been mentioned as publishers with annual turnover of under $50 million, or those that publish on average 10 or fewer titles per year. Other terms for small press, sometimes distinguished from each other and sometimes used interchangeably, are small publishers, independent publishers, or indie presses. Independent publishers (as defined above) made up about half of the market share of the book publishing industry in the US i ...
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Children's Books
A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor (law), minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority. Children generally have fewer Children's rights, rights and responsibilities than adults. They are classed as unable to make serious decisions. ''Child'' may also describe a relationship with a parent (such as sons and daughters of any age) or, metaphorically, an authority figure, or signify group membership in a clan, tribe, or religion; it can also signify being strongly affected by a specific time, place, or circumstance, as in "a child of nature" or "a child of the Sixties." Biological, legal and social definitions In the biological sciences, a child is usually defined as a person between birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of ...
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Illustrators
An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicated concepts or objects that are difficult to describe textually, which is the reason illustrations are often found in children's books. Illustration is the art of making images that work with something and add to it without needing direct attention and without distracting from what they illustrate. The other thing is the focus of the attention, and the illustration's role is to add personality and character without competing with that other thing. Illustrations have been used in advertisements, architectural rendering, greeting cards, posters, books, graphic novels, storyboards, business, technical communications, magazines, shirts, video games, tutorials, and newspapers. A cartoon illustration can add humor to stories or essays. Tec ...
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Publishers
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newspapers, and magazines. With the advent of digital information systems, the scope has expanded to include electronic publishing such as ebooks, academic journals, micropublishing, websites, blogs, video game publishing, and the like. Publishing may produce private, club, commons or public goods and may be conducted as a commercial, public, social or community activity. The commercial publishing industry ranges from large multinational conglomerates such as Bertelsmann, RELX, Pearson and Thomson Reuters to thousands of small independents. It has various divisions such as trade/retail publishing of fiction and non-fiction, educational publishing (k-12) and academic and scientific publishing. Publishing is also undertaken by governments, civi ...
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Printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The earliest known form of printing as applied to paper was woodblock printing, which appeared in China before 220 AD for cloth printing. However, it would not be applied to paper until the seventh century.Shelagh Vainker in Anne Farrer (ed), "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", 1990, British Museum publications, Later developments in printing technology include the movable type invented by Bi Sheng around 1040 AD and the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century. The technology of printing played a key role in the development of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution and laid the material basis for the modern knowledge-based economy and the spread of learning to the masses. History Woodblock printing Woodblock p ...
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Bookplates
An ''Ex Libris'' (from ''ex-librīs'', ), also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. Simple typographical bookplates are termed "book labels". Bookplates often bear a motif relating to the book's owner, such as a coat-of-arms, crest, badge, motto, or a design commissioned from an artist or designer. The name of the owner usually follows an inscription such as "from the books of..." or "from the library of...", or in Latin, "". Bookplates are important evidence for the provenance of books. The most traditional technique used to make bookplates is burin engraving. The engraved copper matrix is then printed with an intaglio press on paper, and the resulting print can be pasted into the book to indicate ownership. Ink stamps directly stamped on the books are not considered as bookplates by bibliophiles since they degra ...
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Bookbinding
Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book of codex format from an ordered stack of ''signatures'', sheets of paper folded together into sections that are bound, along one edge, with a thick needle and strong thread. Cheaper, but less permanent, methods for binding books include loose-leaf rings, individual screw-posts (binding posts), twin loop spine coils, plastic spiral coils, and plastic spine combs. For protection, the bound stack of signatures is wrapped in a flexible cover or is attached to stiffened boards. Finally, an attractive cover is placed onto the boards, which includes the publisher's information, and artistic decorations. The trade of binding books is in two parts; (i) stationery binding (vellum binding) for books intended for handwritten entries, such as accounting ledgers, business journals, blank-page books, and guest logbooks, and notebooks, manifold books, day books, diaries, and portfolios. (ii) letterpress printing and binding deals with ...
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Bookselling
Bookselling is the commercial trading of books which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, bookpeople, bookmen, or bookwomen. The founding of libraries in c.300 BC stimulated the energies of the Athens, Athenian booksellers. History In Ancient Rome, Rome, toward the end of the Roman Republic, republic, it became the fashion to have a library, and Roman booksellers carried on a flourishing trade. The spread of Christianity naturally created a great demand for copies of the Gospels, other sacred books, and later on for missals and other devotional volumes for both church and private use. The modern system of bookselling dates from soon after the introduction of printing. In the course of the 16th and 17th centuries the Low Countries for a time became the chief centre of the bookselling world. Modern book selling has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet. Major websites s ...
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James Freemantle
James Freemantle (born 1979) is an English bibliographer, private press historian, printer and book-collector. His official posts include as Chairman of the Private Libraries Association, Trustee and Honorary Secretary of Milton's Cottage, and Member of the Double Crown Club, for which he is also Dinner Secretary. He has written for journals and magazines including The Private Library', Double Dagger', Parenthesis', Illustration' and Matrix', amongst others and has published a book on the ''History of the Caradoc Press''. He has been a Judge at the Oxford Fine Press Fair, curated an exhibition on the Private Press editions of Milton'Paradise Lost engaged in speaking engagements on the history of the book, including at thCourt Barn Museumand before thOxford Guild of Printers and been interviewed bPrintweekFine Books ...
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