Auctions in the hinterland...

I love finding auctions in the middle of no where (or so). I saw a little sign a few weeks ago as I was driving announcing an "Auction Today". As it turned out, there were a lot of books...a solid working library. Many at the iffy end of the spectrum, but many very nice architecture volumes and, as luck would have it, several reasonably significant titles/associations copies. Just far too much fun.

On a related note, box lots can be so much fun. Usually, I pursue a given box because there is a title or two I've noticed (that, with luck, others missed) and want. Most of the contents of the box either gets lotted off to someone with a shop or donated to the library sale(s)...but every now and then I discover that something in the box that I had more or less ignored is an even better gem than that which I pursued the lot for in the first place. It's like x-mas every time...presents from people you don't know.

On a slightly related note, I was chatting this past weekend with a book dealer who told a great story of noticing, at the bottom of a large box lot, a near fine copy of Catcher (years ago, but still a major find). He pursued it, but there was another there who was seeking to take every lot and he ended up giving up. At the end of the auction, the dealer who took the lot approached and asked him if there was anything in particular he wanted in the box (which was otherwise related in a completely different area). He said, yes, the Catcher...and the other dealer said, "Sure, $75". The moral, I guess, is sometimes you don't need to win the lot to win the...er...lot. I wish this would happen to me....