A great day in Boston...

We woke up far too early and made it to the fair around 715 or so. I went in and finished up setting up the booth while Suz fulfilled an absolutely critical mission of finding some really good coffee (double espresso in a large cup filled with black coffee (depending on whom you talk to, a depth charge, red eye or a shot in the dark)).

We had signed up for a booth and a half, but there was a problem with the space and I was asked if I would mind having the booth I had the first two years (single) and they would try to get me an "extra" table to make the "half"...and managed to do it. So I had a booth on the end and the "annex" against the wall (images show the annex and the booth from two angles).

The Show started promptly at nine...with was seemed like a really nice, large crowd waiting to pounce. As is typical with this show (and most shadow shows), most of those waiting for the gates to open are dealers at "the big show" shopping for stock...with the English dealers heavily represented.

The day started a bit slowly for us with a lot of looking and some genuine interest, but that was about it. That changed mid-morning. Sales were strong and we had great "stickiness"...good conversations and interest. As is typical with this fair, after about noon, it was quite...plenty of people about and action still happening, but calm relative to the chaos of the first few hours. David Bergman (who always has wonderful things, particularly nice natural history material) and Suz left for a bit to get Chinese (or, in the case, Vietnamese) food for lunch for a bunch of people. It was very, very good...and much needed.

Joyce, recently re-vehiclularized, made the journey into town and we had a nice chat (or chats) about books things. We saw a lot of our old friends...always fun.

Buying continued to be very good. I picked up a handful of additional items for various clients and it is always nice to be able to do so. There were some really wonderful items at the show in many areas. I heard the same thing from several others, that is, good buying and strong sales. Just like it should be...

Tomorrow we will spend the day at Hynes Center. With luck, I can return the favor and find some good things to purchase...in between chatting. I really love these fairs, you get to meet and/or catch up with dealers from all over and you get to see books that you just don't see all in one place anywhere else. More to follow tomorrow.