Today we’re talking about trends in book collecting and the ways that they reflect larger cultural changes. Newly nostalgic millennials aren’t shopping for their parents’ rare books—Horatio Alger is out, and Harry Potter is in. Books on science and space exploration have seen their prices skyrocket thanks to an influx of tech-money collectors. Works of LGBTQ+ history, poetry by Black authors, and environmentalist classics like Silent Spring are becoming more valuable, while the prices of Confederacy-adjacent collectables plummet. Join us for a trendy #brattlecast on what’s new in novels.
Brattlecast #127 - Travels in Space
In the studio with us today we have a somewhat surprising volume: Travels in Space: A History of Aerial Navigation, published in 1902, a year before the Wright Brothers’ historic flight. Although it may seem that the history of aviation had yet to be written at the time, people had already been taking to the skies for over 100 years, in hot air balloons, zeppelins, gliders, and a host of other more dubious—and sometimes fatal—contraptions. In this aeronautical episode we’ll talk about Travels in Space, early works of science fiction, a rare pamphlet by the Wright Brothers themselves, and much more.
Brattlecast #122 - Ken's Amazing Notes
A fun grab-bag episode of some of Ken’s favorite stories to tell at lectures and on chat shows. Topics include the JFK assassination, a J. D. Salinger sighting, a narrowly missed Red Sox milestone, and more. Speaking of lectures, we’re delighted to be scheduling live events again. If you’d like to have an item appraised and hear these and other stories in person, you can catch Ken at one of his upcoming speaking engagements throughout New England. View the full lineup here: https://www.brattlebookshop.com/events.