No pressure...

We have a wonderful bibliographic group based here in Portland, the Baxter Society. Members include collectors, dealers, librarians, artists and more...the binding factor being a love of books and/or book arts. I spoke at the monthly meeting last night on evolving issues in collecting and, more specifically, the last bastion for the hunter/collector, esoterica.

I know most of the memebers and was looking forward to the event. Talking about books, collecting and such things with a group of people book junkies is great fun.

I have to admit that I was a tad nervous when I realized there were some special guests attending. When you are a relatively young dealer, finding yourself speaking about books to the current Curator of Rare Books at Harvard and the ex-director of Special Collections at the Huntington Library can be a bit intimidating. The President of U. of Maine Press was also there, as was one of the Head Librarian for the Center for Maine History Library (Maine Historical Society).

It is a wonderful feeling to have people you respect a great deal come to hear you speak. It is an even better feeling when they do not throw tomatos and seem to genuinely enjoy themselves. Overall, it was a great night.