Report from the trenches: Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair 2009 (and related bits)

The dust has finally settled on the 2009 Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair and I am back in Portland and more or less recovered. I'll start with an apology for not posting while there, but the days were very long and I was stretched a bit too thinly.

We headed down on Thursday to drop our cases off, check into our hotel, check out the preview at Skinner and attend the cocktail event at the Boston Athenæum. The highlight of the day was unquestionably the wonderful even at the Athenæum.

I've included two images of from the BA's remarkable fifth floor. Membership (an extremely reasonably deal) is entirely justified by the privilege of spending some quite time in Boston in this extraordinary space. One image tries (and fails) to capture the beautiful design and execution of the bowed room at the end of the hall. The other shows one of the several alcoves and upper areas (this with Ken Sanders gazing down upon all he commands). Note the stairs built into the alcove face...there are many of these.

The evening at the BA was co-sponsored by the BA and the New England Chapter of the ABAA. Rum punch, various wines and (thankfully) water was served in copious amounts and the food was wonderful. Little mushroom puffs, Peking duck, smoked salmon, and lobster on endive were a few of the options. The food was, in fact, so good (and plentiful) that Suzanne and I ended up heading back to the hotel without going out for dinner (a real treat, as it allowed us about 2 or so extra hours of sleep...much needed over the next few days).

We arrived early (around 8ish) the next day at the Hynes Convention Center for set up. Kelmscott Bookshop and we merged two full booths into one 24 foot long booth. This makes a huge difference in the "feel"of the booth...with a trophy case at each end and two counter cases centered at the front, it allows for a very open and inviting space for people. Every bit as importantly, it allows for people to more or less "flow" in and out and avoid having people pass by because a booth is too crowded. Fran and I have similar enough tastes that everything hangs together nicely while different enough that I do not think we have ever had duplicative material.

While I managed to bring some wonderful things, the bell of the ball (I think) was in James Cummins booth, an 1813 edition of Hans Holbein's, Dance of Death bound in human skin. There were, needless to say, countless other gems.

We were surprised and pleased at how the fair went. Last year, we started Friday with a lot of interest, but no immediate sales and things picked up Saturday and we trickled through Sunday. This year, Friday had every bit as much interest with the lovely side benefit of several good sales. Saturday was strong on all fronts and Sunday proceeded as Sunday's usually do...interest and follow-ups. The comparison to last year was quite striking. Suz summed it up best, last year at this time, people were still shell shocked...that seems to have, at least in part, passed. That said, many of the institutional collectors are still/increasingly reeling and this has major implications for many of us.

We picked up some interesting things at both our fair and the Shadow Show at the Radisson. A nice copy of Gaylord Schanilac's Farmers; a wonderfully strange little volume on automatons, and a great Dada item with a long inscription/critique by G.E. Picabia. My personal favorite is a copy of Paroxysmes inscribed by Musidora (the pseudonym of silent film star Jeanne Roques, aka Irma Vep (an anagram of vampire)). We tried to be very good about our buying...limiting ourselves to items for clients and/or with the San Francisco and LA ABAA fairs in mind.

The New England Chapter of the ABAA also hosted a very nice brunch on Sunday. In many ways, the highest and best use of these fairs is to meet or remeet not just customers but also one's compatriots in the trenches. This brunch is always a nice place to do the latter (particularly as Suz tends to seek out a table where I/we don't know anyone ).

We had one other better than average meal during the weekend. On Saturday night Lisa and Hosie Baskin, Ken Shure, Jessie Rossa, Suzanne and I took all the tables across the back of Cafe Jaffa and ordered a fair bit of the menu. The food was good, the company was better and it was a great way to wrap up the day.

Overall, it was a very good weekend for books in Boston. I have yet to decide if we are going to do NY in January...our next definite show is in San Fran followed the next weekend in LA. Chaos reigns supreme.