Amusing book references in law....

I was reminded by todays news of one of my favorite cases from law school. In this famous (among law students, at least) case, the judge explores whether the court has jurisdiction over Satan and in pertinent part writes:

While the official records disclose no case where this defendant has appeared
as defendant there is an unofficial account of a trial in New Hampshire where
this defendant filed an action of mortgage foreclosure as plaintiff. The
defendant in that action was represented by the preeminent advocate of that
day, and raised the defense that the plaintiff was a foreign prince with no
standing to sue in an American Court. This defense was overcome by
overwhelming evidence to the contrary.

This is, of course, a reference to the brilliant 1937 Stephen Vincent Benet short story, The Devil and Daniel Webster. Great story and a great, now passed, judge.

:-) Happy 25th Birthday :-)

Read all about it. 25 years ago, Carnegie Mellon Univ. prof Scott Fahlman proposed the now ubiquitous ":-)" as a means to denote humor for online communications. :-)~~ Happy Birthday.

Eye-candy for bibliophiles...

Curious Expeditions has posted a lovely collection of some of the great libraries of the world (here being Queen's College, Oxford). I clearly need to do more traveling.

Baltimore Antique Show Addenda [and a great lit blog]

Jed Birmingham (passionate and articulate Burroughs collector) runs a great Lit/Burroughs blog and the "Burroughs Community" RealityStudio. Jed just posted on his thoughts and reactions to the Baltimore Summer Antique Show. More broadly he offers some interesting thoughts on changes profession. In full disclosure, he says some very nice things about me, but this should not be held against him...his judgment, opinion and writing seems on all other matters cogent, incisive and engaging.

Fair warning, if you have even the slightest interest in Burroughs, you will lose hours at RealityStudio until you catch up...you are warned.

Pilgrimage...

Well, as we wander back toward Maine, we stopped to make a visit to the Rosenbach Museum & Library. It is truly one of the sacred places of the book world (at least of my book world). We took the tour with a lovely docent and had a great time. I have a feeling we will be back soon, as I would really like to see the Dracula event they are planning.

There are two lovely row houses on the same block currently on the market. It would be far too much fun...though I just heard that the Bauman's are renovating a house on the block already. In short, between the RM&L, Bauman's (and others), the Mudder, and the Phil. Library, it is really and amazing book town. Sorry so brief, still on the road...urgh. With luck, photos and cogency might follow...

Balt. Addendum...Mark Your Cal.s for Next Year...

The dust has settled. We are meandering our way back to Maine, making bookish stops here and there. I wanted to put down some final thoughts about Balt. before they are lost in the ether that fills my head...

First off, it was not just a great show for us. We heard from at least two dealers that it was their "best show ever" and from another that it was his best non-ABAA show ever. It was among our best as well. The show had, I think, great "stickiness", in addition to solid sales. Lots of great conversations, interest and genuinely engaged humans. We have already had 4-5 follow-up calls.

The promoters are among the best I've had the pleasure to work with. They have a huge marketing budget and know how to use it. They did a great job getting not just warm bodies in the hall(s), but bodies with interest and a willingness to buy. My involvement with them was very minor, and yet I did newspaper, radio and TV spots with/for them. They are second to none on the PR front. Admittedly, that the show is the largest of its kind in the US certainly helps.

All these positives notwithstanding, I hope they succeed in drawing another 1-2 dozen book dealers. I'd like to see the number of dealer hover just north of 60 or so and I think they were a bit low. There have been changes in the last two years (fee increases and the added day) that drove away some dealers. Personally, I still think this show is a very cheap date for the traffic and market it draws. There should be a waiting list for dealers to get in...that said, I hope they continue to draw a reasonably wide range of types of dealers...as it makes for a more interesting show (for both dealers and regular humans).

We will be back next year (already registered...with luck, we will keep our very nice location). I can't wait to get back (though my feet could wait a good long time).

Day Four and out...

Sunday started a bit slow and then picked up a great deal. It was, I think, the busiest Sunday at any fair we've done. I had a client (one of my favorites) I was expecting show up with her husband and she and 3 or 4 others made it yet another solid day in Baltimore.

I did my seminar at 1pm and it was well received (no one fell asleep and no one threw anything, so it was a success). I had a number of people tell me afterward that it they enjoyed it and a dealer who I respect a great deal (and who has been in the business about as long as I have been alive) told me he learned something...which was pretty much the nicest thing he could say to me...

The show closed at 6pm. We were packed an ready to go by about 830ish (not bad for us, sadly). Unfortunately, by that time the line to get it was so long that it was about 10ish or so before Suz was able to get the car into the hall (400 plus vehicles takes a very long time...). We made it back to Annapolis around 11:30.

It was a great show and a great weekend. We are already signed up for next year. I think I will be doing another post on the "meta" of this show...there is a lot about this show that I would love to see integrated into others...genuine PR efforts being a biggie.

We are taking the slow path back to Maine. We are planning to stop by the Bradywine Museum and make our pilgrimage to the Rosenbach Museum (I am, as usual, way too excited about this).
Then one more meal at Rein's Deli and be home... Updates to follow as connections allow...

Day Three...

Well, I was up at 5:45 to get ready for my 49 seconds of fame on the local Sat. morning show. I did the wee interview with the antique dealer George Subkoff (a wonderful gentleman with simply stunning items). We both showed off a bit of wares and spoke (very briefly) about collecting. It was pretty fun.

The day started a bit slow, but was very busy overall. I think a lot of the DC/PA (and perhaps NY) folk wrap up work and head to Balt. on the weekend. It was pretty much as busy yesterday as it was on the first day. Great interest, some potentially strong leads and very solid sales (and the buying remained good too...the longer the show lasts, the more books one finds...).

Suzanne trekked off to visit Royal Books and Kelmscott Books shops...conveniently located next to each other. There she found Brian of Appledore Books and Joe Maynard (book dealer, artist and raconteur) and The Colonel (Robert) from Blue Ridge Books and they all did some damage at both shops (Joe and Brian having left their long suffering partner to fend for themselves among the teaming bibliophiles at the show for 3.5 hours...if you listen closely, you can almost hear the gnashing of teeth).

We finished the day by going to dinner with Brian, Joe, Robert, Ira (Prints Charming), Ian and a friend/client of mine (and respective spice) all went to dinner together at Salt. The company was great fun and the food was simply outstanding. I had our wonderful waitress (Teresa) write me a note as to what I had because it was so good I wanted to be certain I would miss nothing in describing it. I started with their "Trio of Soup" (three perfect servings of Cream of Asparagus with goat cheese, Roasted Red Pepper and Crab Bisque, Cool Yellow Tomato). For an entree I had one of the last two plates of the venison special: Grilled Venison Tenderloin with caramelized endive, a cassolet of fingerling potatoes with goat cheese, parmesan, bacon and caramelized onion finished with a juniper berry demi-glaze. It was, with no exageration, the best meal I have had in months and months. I would recommend a trip to Balt just to eat here.

Sunday should be long and painful (I have blisters on my feet). I am speaking at 1pm. We run until 6pm and then have to pack up. I expect to get to Annapolis to night around midnight or so. Urgh.