Media update. [or "I am a media [insert adjective of choice here"]

As I think I mentioned earlier, I will be presenting one of the seminar's here at the Balt. Summer Antique (and Book) Fair. That will be on Sunday at 1pm...plenty of time to get that plane ticket and be here for this not-to-be-missed event.

The promoters of this fair have been doing a truly outstanding job of PR/marketing. Inexplicably, they have included me in a number of their efforts and we are extremely honored, flattered and amused. I was very pleased to be interviewed by a local Balt. paper and the local NPR station and pretty much assumed that would be the end of my humiliation until I actually speak on Sunday...but NO.

Yesterday, I was asked if I would appear on the local CBS Saturday morning program that is being shot on site tomorrow morning. I, of course, said yes...and am hoping for the best. Saturday morning at 630ish at the start of Day 3...I should be in rare form. If you are local, be sure to watch. I recommend you do not eat/drink while watching. It really hurts when cereal (or coffee) comes out your nose.

While involving me may not be indicia of great judgment, I think the promoters have done a truly great job with this show. It is great to see a show so well run and so well promoted [more on this with the next post or two]. I'm going to go to sleep in hopes that I might be close to sentient tomorrow morning...hope springs eternal.

Baltimore Show News and Update

Well, we are done with Day 2 of our 4 day. The drive down was smooth and fun. Listened to Snow Crash (which I have read and/or listened to far too often). We spent a night in Annapolis at my in-laws', which was great as it made it very easy to get into Baltimore nice an early on set up Tuesday.

Set-up was interesting. We were able to get in quickly and were setting up by around 930 or so in the morning. Sadly, I finished about nine hours. Really quite pathetic. We did take our time and a fair bit of chatting. The booth looks pretty great...which is nice given it is a four day show. My feet were already hurting (wearing Tevas) by the end of the day.

On the plus side, our neighbors across the isle are these wildly great men from Paris. I set up an overly complex booth that takes a long time to set up...but looks nice at the end. These guys make it appear that I pull things out and put the in piles. They have built, effectively, a formal estate greeting room. The picture does not do them justice, but I hope gives a good sense. They moved in 15 foot oak panel walls and *huge* gas lite lanterns...FOUR of them (they sold in the first 10 minutes...for $32K each). If you are going to spend four days looking across the aisle at someone/something...well, suffice it to say that they have set a bar I do not expect to be met anytime in the near future.

Traffic has been really quite high. Lots of people in the aisles, lots in the booth. We have a great location...one we will try keep going forward (assuming they keep the layout as it is). Sales have been really sold, as has been the buying. Right now, I think we are about status quo...bringing home new stuff in near equal amount to what we have sold (though, to be fair, most of what we have purchased will go out in the next two weeks to clients).

The small John Waters shine has been getting a great deal of attention. There are some fun things and some dealers have added additional material to it. Very fun.

We have had outstanding feedback from people. Some very nice comments about the booth...which we always like to hear. Better still, however, is the number of people who have said how much they enjoy our ads in Fine Books and several who specifically said they were "so pleased we were sponsoring the Collegiate Collecting Competition. We also had a number of people who said they either heard the interview on the local NPR station and/or read the interview in the Balt. Examiner. Just a great deal of very positive feedback.

My feet are destroyed. I am all but paralyzed. I have two days to go.

Packed and ready to go...

Well, as surprising as it may be, at 10:30pm on the night before our planned departure for the Baltimore Summer Antiques (and Book) Fair, I have finished packing the van (shhhhh, if you listen closely, you can hear it whimpering). I have, as usual, brought way too much...but we have a 10x10 foot booth and some extra space...so it should work.

We are really looking forward to this show. I was interviewed on local Balt. radio last week and by a very charming reporter from the Balt. Sun earlier today. The promoter appears to have done a spectacular job with the pr and marketing. Other than their decision to ask me to speak on Sunday, they have done a great job. Please come by and see us (Booth 620) and/or on Sunday to hear my seminar (no sucking lemons in the front row).

We will be (re)listening to Stephenson's, Snow Crash on the drive down. With luck, my back will stop spasming just in time to unload and set up (and start spasming again). 550 antique and book dealers for four days in Baltimore...hope to see you.

If you travel with books, do I have a case for you...

If you are not a techy/geeky/hardware junkie kind 'o human, you should probably skip this post...it revolves around my new-found love of some injection molded plastic cases...you have been warned:

I am heading to Seattle in October for the Seattle Book Fair. This naturally led me to find shipping cases that I can either bring on a plane with me or ship to a show. I looked at ATA cases that seem to be pretty ubiquitous and was leaning that way. However, they are pricy (on the order of $350/case for what I was looking for) *and* I have heard at least one horror story where an ATA case was set by UPS in a puddle and the case, which is "moisture resistant" wicked the water up and destroys over $100K of books.

Luckily, I remembered the case company that all the engineers and hard science types used to use back when I spent too much time around HazMat sites. The company is Pelican, they make cases and flashlights. In addition to the hard science and camera set, they do a lot of military cases (I could be wrong, but I think their motto is, "Your iPod or your M16, we'll keep it safe, dry and dust-free").

Actually, their motto is, "You break it, We replace it, Forever". Their cases are unbreakable water tight (not "resistant"), corrosion proof, dust proof, and chemical resistant. They are rated from -10 to 210 degrees. I picked up one 1510 and four 1620s. OH, and I forgot, they all have this very slick little one way valve so they can equalize pressure (without letting moisture in).

The big cases are guaranteed to float in salt water with 149 pounds in them and the carry on bag will float with 64 pounds. They have some very slick custom foam ("pick and pack", so you customize it to your uses). And wheels.

I shopped around pretty hard (Pelican does not sell directly, so you have to find a disty). After talking with nearly a dozen different distys, I settled on CaseClub in CA. They do not have the sexiest website, but they had the best prices I could find (and a guarantee to beat any other you find lower by 5%). More importantly, they were a pleasure to work with. In addition to having the best prices, they knocked another $20/case off because I bought 5 at once and carved some out of the shipping as well (and threw in a pair of slick little Pelican flashlights).

The best quote I received for ATA cases would have would have been well over $1200 for the volume of these cases *not* including the very sexy carry one bag (for particularly special volumes) *and* they are not as tough (or water proof). I was able to get all five cases from CaseClub for under $1K (including shipping). I can not recommend CaseClub highly enough...great cases, great prices, great customer service.

The only problem I have is that my wife is getting very cross about my sleeping with them under my pillow.

Wired Lux Mentis...

I've been late in posting this...crazy summer. A few months ago, Wired Magazine included a note with an issue that if you submitted an image to their specs and were within the first x number (I think it was 800), they would custom print "your cover" that month. So we sent them a picture and, lo and behold, received a nice note indicating that we had been selected, blah, blah, blah.

Well, guess what...they really did it. It was slightly strangely cropped (lost the "Lux", so to speak) but it was pretty fun to get our copy of Wired with phrenoman on the cover. Here it is, in all its glory.

Two great resources:

Two sites worthy of your time:

Bookshop Blog: There tag line is, "...to help you be a better bookseller" and that seems to sum it up nicely. I must admit that they had missed my radar until they responded to a recent post. I am very pleased to have found them and wager you will, too. Organized, cogent and topical...on bookselling, by booksellers.

Gutenberg Bible Census: For those who have ever wanted to know where every known copy of the GB is hiding, Clausen Books has a page for you. Includes 1950 and 2007 variations.

Posting this makes me realize that I have not updated the list at the right in far too long. Urgh.

Professional niceties: Addendum

I have received *many* responses to the parent of this post, thank you for all your thoughts. I completely agree that this information needs to be "out there" for people to know/learn/discuss. From the responses, a clarification and several additions [N.B. posts in response to the original are not included, only emails sent directly]:

• Clarification: It was noted (by several people) that I did not note that the traditional tithe to a dealer who refers a collection to you is 10% of the price paid (or, if take on consignment, of the price realized).
• Representing another dealer at auction: If you represent another dealer at auction and succeed in securing the lot(s), it is traditional to pay the dealer (your agent) 10% of the hammer price (pre-buyer premium). Remember, this is often a small price to pay to have a live body reading the room and acting on your behalf. It can also be tactically very efficient, in that you can retain someone you know will *otherwise* bid against you to bid on your behalf...the most famous example of this is arguably Rosenbach's retaining Quaritch to represent him at auction in pursuit of a Gutenberg Bible that Quaritch would otherwise have undoubtedly secured for himself.
• Covering postage on returns: If a book is returned because of an error *on your part* (description, wrong book, etc.), it is customary to cover the cost of the return postage.

Others will be added if and when they arrive.

Bibliomulas

A university in Venezuela has rolled out (or walked out, as the case may be) an alternative to the venerable bookmobile. In order to get books out to remote mountain villages, the University of Momboy has enrolled the sure feet of Chiquito and Cenizo, two very special mules.

The bibliomuas (book mules) make their slow and steady way up rutted trails where, it is assumed, vehicle traffic is difficult or impossible. They are warmly welcomed by the villages:

Anyone who was not out working the fields - tending the celery that is the main crop here - was waiting for our arrival. The 23 children at the little school were very excited.

"Bibilomu-u-u-u-las," they shouted as the bags of books were unstrapped.

The full story can be found here.

Query: Professional Niceties, relevent or arcane

I have just learned another "professional nicety", of which I was previously blithely ignorant. It has come to my attention that when a book dealer brings a client of theirs into your shop/booth and said human purchases from you, you owe the introducing dealer a 10% commission. This makes sense, I think, though it was news to me. [N.B. there is an argument that you owe this commission to the other dealer on *all* purchases from such a client *forever*...which also makes sense, but I have heard conflicting opinions...].

This has led me to think about professional courtesies, generally, and what has been happening to them specifically. Changes in the business, particularly the flood of new "dealers" with little or no background in the profession, seems to have resulted in an erosion of some of the niceties of the profession, as perhaps has the growth of web business. The following are the niceties that are front of brain for me...please post or email me with any that I have overlooked:

• The granddaddy, of course, is the reciprocal discount. Typically 20% (10% in the UK, it appears), most dealers who take the business seriously discount stock to other dealers. It is nice when one is purchasing for stock...all but necessary when acting as an agent. When I purchase material for clients, my margin is generally the discount (I do not believe a client should pay more when I secure a book for then than they would getting it from another directly)...as a result, it is very seldom I will purchase a book from a dealer who chooses not to offer a discount. It seems as if this one remains very strong. There is clearly some erosion among internet-only dealers...but most of those who refuse to extend discounts are not "really" book dealers (exceptions, as always, exist).
  
• Not "doing business" in another dealer's shop/booth. This is largely a book fair issue, though one that applies to shops as well. It is just common courtesy that you do not enter another dealer's booth and pitch a book/strike up a conversation with a potential client of that dealer. It is just plain rude. You do not see it often...but it does happen and is almost always a good way to get someone seriously pissed off at you (and talking about it with all other dealers).
• The aforementioned, "tithe to those who bring you clients". This is straight-foreword and makes good business sense. This is, particularly in certain areas, very much a "networked" profession. A fair number of collectors will not buy from dealers they do not "know" and a personal introduction by one dealer to another can go a tremendous way to in starting a relationship. In my experience, such introductions tend to be limited to "good" customers only...all the more reason to thank the introducing dealer. As I mentioned before, there is a traditional view that such an introduction obliges the introducee to pay a commission to the introducor for the life of the client (or other dealer). Again, I think this makes sense...though the logistics seem to get tricky in time...
• A related, "tithe to those who bring you business". This is also pretty straight forward. If a dealer sends someone to you who sells/consigns material with you, you owe that referring dealer 10%. Again, this is just good business...as you want other dealers to feel comfortable introducing you to their "good clients", so do you want those dealers to feel comfortable referring sellers who do not fit their stock. The best transactions are ones where everyone is happy.
  
• Do not make an appointment with a dealer and not buy anything. This applies largely to appointment only dealers and falls under the rule of: if you are going to take someone's time, compensate them for it. Obvious exceptions exist for friends (and, perhaps, enemies) but generally if you call and make an appoint to see someone's books, you should buy *something*. It does not have to be much...though bigger is generally better.
• Don't "cut and paste" other's work product. This is obviously a rather recent addition...though it existed pre-web as the more specific "don't copy verbatim another's catalogue description". This practice, again pursued mostly by...er...flakier members of the art, is really more of a nicety issue than an ethical/legal one. While some are attempting to "copyright" their book descriptions (and the issue generates a fair bit of gnashing of teeth), I suggest that one would be hard pressed to succeed in pursuing such a claim and guarantee it would not be worth the time and effort. That said, while "imitation" may be the sincerest form of flattery, copying verbatim another's description is...er...tacky and rude. I've had people ask me if they could quote large parts of some of my more verbose descriptions and I have never said no. I've had others *clearly* cut and paste my descriptions...I keep a little list. Mind you, there is very little truly original work out there...most "good" book descriptions are so good because interesting bits were pulled out of published bibliographies (or earlier catalogues, etc.). I guess the rule might be "don't be verbatim".

[This last should be noted for a future post...there are some wonderful examples of "bibliographic errors" where a mistake was made in a very early bibliography (e.g. early 17oos) and still appears, two, three and seven generations later, because subsequent bibliographers relied on the first bibliographic description and did not bother to handle the book itself. Admittedly, these things may only interest geeks like me...]

Again, if you know of other "nicety" rules that I have failed to include, please let me know. I am also curious to receive feedback (emails will be kept confidential) as to opinions about specific rules and/or issues around the evolution of such rules in "modern times". I am toying with an article on this subject at some point in the distant future...

Some of these issues seem to break over the "trade" versus "profession" views of the art of book dealing. I am a very strong advocate of the "profession" argument. I know there are a reasonably wide variety of business models that are, to varying degrees, equally viable in the marketplace and this adds complexity at times in having people play well together. That said, I also believe (?know?) that the business as a whole is best served when we treat each other with the highest degree of respect and professionalism possible. Thoughts? Comments? Pissy rants?

Evidence of a tainted youth...

My father just forwarded this image, circa 1969. I am two years old and already attempting to pull Ulysses off the shelf for a quick read. I thought my downfall was writing a book report on Finnegan's Wake at 15 (cyclically and using Joyce's style/language).

It begs an interesting question, are bibliophiles born or taught? Both, I think.

To tie back to the dealbreaker/dealmaker post, this reminded me of going to an acquaintance's house one, long ago. He was a very strange egg, very serious code monkey and math genius. His bookshelves were packed with math and programing volumes with one exception. The *only* fiction in his house (and out of approx. 1000 volumes) was one long shelf, dead center, with a copy of pretty much everything Joyce produced between boards. It was, of course, arranged chronologically...as I recall, "Holy Office" through "Finnegan's Wake" with the three volume set of Joyce's letters finishing the shelf. Absolutely and completely changed my opinion of him...we have been friends ever since.

Dealbreaker books...

Hang Fire Books has a great post asking about "dealbreaker books", books on the shelf of a friend or acquaintance that make it difficult to continue taking them seriously. It's the likes of Sparks and Steele for me, could be Rand or Buckley (the elder) for others. You get the picture. Give it a read and post your twitchiness.

Fine Books announces Collegiate Book Collecting Champions

Scott Brown and the fine folks at Fine Books have announced the winners of the 2007 Annual Collegiate Book Collecting Championship. This contest is open to winners of any college/university collecting contest and, this year, has become quite international. Lux Mentis is extremely pleased to be a sponsor of this event. The future of this profession rests with emerging collectors...and if this year's crop of entrants is any example, there are some brilliant collections (and collectors) in the making.

I have copied the Fine Books press release below (a bit more information is available at their blog):

World-Champion Book Collectors Named
The passion for books is alive and well
on college campuses

(Eureka, Calif.) – Fine Books & Collections magazine announced the winners of its second annual Collegiate Book-Collecting Championship today. The international coterie of winners include a British classics student, a New Zealand citizen studying in New York state, and a young mathematician from Los Angeles.
With a collection of ancient Greek and Roman writers in editions dating back to 1515, Cambridge University student David Butterfield took first place in the championship and a $2,500 cash prize. Diana Looser, a New Zealander studying drama at Cornell University, earned second place for her collection of plays written by Pacific Island natives. She wins $1,000 for her efforts. The $500 award for third place goes to Craig Citro, of UCLA, for his collection exploring the works and influence of mathematician Emil Artin. Each winner also receives an expense-paid trip to Seattle for the awards ceremony to be held on October 12. Fine Books & Collections magazine, which started the competition in 2006, will also make a donation to each student’s college library.
The Fine Books & Collections Collegiate Book-Collecting Championship is open to the winners of all college contests held anywhere in the world. It’s a runoff among the best of the best student collectors. The judges consider how well the students pursued their particular theme, not the monetary value of their collection.
The first place winner, Butterfield, 21, built a collection of several thousand antiquarian books in just four years, using money received from scholarships and for co-editing the forthcoming Penguin Latin Dictionary. Looser assembled her second-place collection, a library of the plays of Oceania, on a more modest budget. “Most of her books and manuscripts are not terribly expensive or rare,” Fine Books & Collections’s editor Scott Brown said. “But as a group, they comprise the most significant collection of such material in the mainland United States. Her collection preserves an indigenous art that otherwise might have been lost precisely because they have little monetary value.”
The tradition of book-collecting competitions began in the 1920s, when the first contest was held at Swarthmore College. Today, more than three dozen universities in the United States, Canada, and Great Britain hold contests. While the rules vary from place to place, students typically write a brief essay describing their collection and provide an annotated list of their books. At Yale, which has one of the oldest competitions, the judges still visit the competing students in their dorm rooms. Many leading librarians, book historians, and antiquarian dealers won book-collecting contests as undergraduates.

Congratulations to all the winners. We look forward to meeting you (and seeing all who are inclined to join us) at the awards ceremony during the Seattle Book Fair.