Day 1: errands, clients, previews and dinner...

Of my. Great day in the city [ignoring a minor tech issue that has me
limited to posting via email]. Managed to get a wonder cluster of
books catalogued this morning. I've a Moby Dick en route from a client
that should be a wonderful addition. Mind you, I've already got too
much here. Oh well, I'll figure it out during setup tomorrow.

Suz and I walked over to Swann's for the preview of Thur. auction.
There are some nice things there...I'm not holding my breath. Personal
highpoint was examining a 4 Gospels printed on vellum by Golden
Cockerel (one of 12 copies so printed)...and there is a lovely Baskin.

Stopped by the Nintendo World store, just to torture the boys. Many
cool things brewing in Pokemon land...and a midnight release event on
Saturday night for the new DSi.

Dinner in Brooklyn at Lunetta. An old friend, Adam Shepard, is an
owner and the chef. It was a great meal...the lamb meatballs were
amazing...as was the bruschetta with house made ricotta, honey and
lemon. Highly recommended if you're in town.

My dropoff time is 9am. Long day, it appears...though ending well at
Imperial's party. [I'll edit this later to add links...].

Judging a book by its title...the votes are in.

NYTimes has an article on the winner of this year's Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Book Title of the Year (sponsored by The Bookseller magazine). The winner for 2009 is “The 2009-2014 World Outlook for 60-Milligram Containers of Fromage Frais”. A special collections librarian summed the win up aptly, stating, "As a collector of books on fromage frais, I'm elated that this award will help jack up prices for cheese container books!"

On the other hand, Dr. Brooks D. Cash, who was a runner-up with his “Curbside Consultation of the Colon,” said that while he was “honored to be in such august company," also added, “I think being beaten by someone with that title is really cheesy.”

Elegant wordplay springs up in the most unexpected places...

Stinque posted some Selections from the London Review of Books classifieds for March 12, 2009. The list included:

Fanciable sylph, 52, seeks diversion.

Leading the ever clever TtWS to post:

Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket
6:46 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
I dunno, I think a tryst with a fanciable slyph, 52, would be kinda delightful if I were in her age range and inclined that way.

Compelling the Wrong Coast Legal Eagle to query:

SanFranLefty
6:54 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket:
Is a slyph a slutty sylph?

And here our exchange takes a turn to the wonderful, as TtWS responds, a mere 30 minutes later:

Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket
7:32 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@SanFranLefty:
Surely a “slyph” is a slut of a sylph,
Sure as “soot” after sweeping is “toos”,
Or the sleeve of a sluice can combine to make sluve,
and the sound when a cat flees is “mewve”.

If we dun ourselves in to the spelling of words,
or dole them out only by what they might mean,
We miss out on some funderful combomakeshuns,
And our use of the language is lean.

So celebretype words of the neolodge sort!
And forgive me my lapses in art,
and if my lackodaise use of orthograpy hurts,
I apolomake stryght from my heart.

SFL, clearly smote, responds:

SanFranLefty
7:37 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket:
Wanna play Scrabble?

TtWS, recognizing genius as well as crafting it, responds:

Tommmcatt the Wet Sprocket
7:39 PM • TUESDAY • MARCH 24, 2009
@SanFranLefty:
That was a practically perfect response in every way, darling.

My day is made. It can not get better. I am going to bed.

Huge archive of medical illustrations and photos created by HMHM

The National Museum of Health and Medicine [part of the National Library of Medicine] has just created a massive archive of medical illustrations and photography. Best yet, it is *all* free and housed at flicker.

Per a very good Wired article:

An Army archivist is undertaking a massive project to digitize and make public a unique collection of rare and sometimes startling military medical images, from the Civil War to Vietnam.
This previously unreported archive at the Army-run National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C., contains 500,000 scans of unique images so far, with another 225,000 set to be digitized this year.
Mike Rhode, the museum's head archivist, is working to make tens of thousands of those images, which have been buried in the museum's archive, available on Flickr. Working after hours, his team has posted a curated selection of almost 800 photos on the service already.
"You pay taxes. These are your pictures," Rhode said. "You should be able to see them."

It is a remarkable collection. All images are being provided for free under a Creative Commons Attribution license. I look forward to see how this project evolves. 

Thanks to CD at BoingBoing for the heads up.

3 Lists of 10 Novels...

The Times Online has just posted three rather good lists of Novels. I offer the bare lists for your consideration...there is a bit of supporting theory at TO. 

10 Literary one-hit wonders

1. Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
   
2. Margaret Mitchell - Gone With the Wind
   
3. Emily Bronte - Wuthering Heights
   
4. J.D.Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
   
5. Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray
   
6. John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy of Dunces
   
7. Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar
   
8. Anna Sewell - Black Beauty
   
9. Boris Pasternak - Dr Zhivago
   
10. Arundhati Roy - The God of Small Things
    

10 Cursed second novels

1. Something Happened- Joseph Heller
   
2. The Almost Moon- Alice Sebold
   
3. Barbary Shore- Norman Mailer
   
4. The Little Friend- Donna Tartt
   
5. Marabou Stork Nightmares - Irvine Welsh
   
6. Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier
   
7. Shirley- Charlotte Bronte
   
8. Valperga- Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley
   
9. Walking on Glass- Iain Banks
   
10. Dead Babies by Martin Amis and That Uncertain Feeling by Kingsley Amis
    

10 Spectacular second novels

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
   
2. Ulysses - James Joyce
   
3. Midnight's Children- Salman Rushdie
   
4. Vile Bodies - Evelyn Waugh
   
5. Oliver Twist -Charles Dickens
   
6. Girl With a Pearl Earring -Tracy Chevalier
   
7. The Golden Notebook - Doris Lessing
   
8. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
   
9. The Beautiful and Damned - F.Scott Fitzgerald
   
10. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
    

Additions? Subtractions? What the hell are they thinkings?

Tragic loss in PA - Humans fine, books and cats less so...

As some may know, David and Cynthy of The Philadelphia Rare Books and Manuscripts Company suffered a tragic loss recently. On March 9, 2009, a fire tore through the shop consuming books and taking their two shop cats, Sessa and Thalia. The silver lining is that no humans were hurt, many of the books were unharmed and/or will be salvaged and the building itself appears to be structurally sound.

Our thoughts and best wishes go out to them. I can thinks of few things worse and hope all goes as well and as smoothly as possible. 

Please note, they have indicated that their internet connection is currently flakey. That said, words of support and commiseration are seldom a bad thing and can be directed here.

A short article, image and video can be found here.

AOL video can be found here.

Online Paper Airplane Museum...too much joy

Absolutely one of the best sites I've discovered in a long time (admittedly, I have two young boys). Most importantly, the have 800 different instructions for making various paper airplanes (all free). They have an archive of reviews, newsletters and you can sign up for a newsletter that promises a new airplane design each week.

Hours and hours of fun...until someone looses an eye. Fold like mad and be careful. Enjoy.

Day One, Two and after...

[Day 1] The show was very nice. A good number of seemingly interested and engaged visitors. Lots of minor things seem to be moving and a reasonable number of bigger items. Mind you, not from me .

I did manage to find a great set of 57 of the 64 Rivers of America series...all first editions and all in very nice DJs. Pretty much made the day. Oh...and a nice copy of Sweet Dreams by Twelvetree Press (many pictures of dead people).

[just realized I did not post this last night...so just added]

[Day Two] Started nicely with a breakfast courtesy of of the SE Chapt. of the ABAA. Another strong crowd of interested humans. A handful of nice sales...interestingly, including the lovely copy of Sweet Dreams I had purchased the day before. It was innocently sitting on the chair, where I had been reading it, when it was snapped up by a new and interesting client. 

I bought more good stuff...it really has been a good buying show. Picked up a great set of all three of the Wrightson portfolios of Frankenstein. Have my eye on some other material. We shall see.

The end of the day was great. A young couple, engaged and interested. "We're not collectors"....shortly after telling me that they are converting a bedroom to a library to make room for their books . I love young collectors. 

Dinner for the third night in a row at the tapas place. Pitcher of their wonderful sangria outside. Life could be much worse.

Done...ready for the show.

Finished at 145...about 6 hours (I even had lunch!!!). Plenty of time
to show and change back at the hotel. 2 pairs of hands and heads (N.B.
Only one apiece there) makes things faster (and more fun).

Before...

Everything in by 730am... I should be asleep.

Killing time made east and effecient.

I am in the Cell Phone Waiting Lot at TPA. Unlike most I've visited,
this one has a ginormous sign with useful data rotating regularly.
Additionally, there is free wifi and bathrooms. I should have brought
a picnic.

Lovely place in St. Pete

This is our hotel. Single key (shared), recently reno-ed, art deco and
beautiful. Half a block from the pier.

How Good a Bookman Are You?

How Good a Bookman Are You?
Publication unknown, October 21, 1968

By Charles B. Anderson
Anderson’s Book Shop
Larchmont, New York

This is a test designed to determine your bookman’s I.Q. A score of 20 right should entitle you to consideration as the editor of the next edition of “The Bookman’s Glossary”; 18 or 19 right makes you a super-bookman. If you get 16 or 17 right, you are a top-flight bookman; 14 or 15 right, a competent bookman; 12 or 13 is fair; 10 or 11, a conditional-pass. No matter what your score, you can add to your bookman’s vocabulary and background by owning and referring frequently to the latest edition of “The Bookman’s Glossary.” (Bowker).

(1.) incunabula
a. pirated editions
b. early medieval manuscripts
c. writings of the Incas
d. books printed before 1501 A.D.

(2.) half-tone
a. a line-cut
b. a photo-engraving
c. an en-space in type measurement
d. a semi-quaver

(3.) Bodoni
a. an Italian antiquarian
b. a typeface
c. an Italian bookseller known as “Bold-face Bodoni”
d. a Swiss printer of chap-books

(4.) bibelot
a. a decorative book
b. a small Bible
c. paraph
d. vellum

(5.) bowdlerized
a. pied (as type)
b. expurgated
c. illegible
d. laminated

(6.) perfect binding
a. glued binding
b. extremely durable binding
c. hand-tooled leather binding
d. side-stitching

(7.) colporteur
a. a traveling book agent
b. an American song writer
c. a French pamphleteer
d. a medieval songbook

(8.) palimpsest
a. hieroglyphic or cuneiform writing
b. folio editions of the 16th and 17th centuries
c. papyrus made from Nile River reeds
d. parchment written upon two or three times

(9.) fore-edge painting
a. the illustration on the front of a book jacket
b. pictures painted on the outer edges of a book
c. the actual illumination of a manuscript
d. a color process in printing known also as fourflushing

(10.) font
a. a hairline rule
b. a base for pamphlet binding
c. the manufacture of foolscap paper
d. an assortment of type

(11.) bibliophile
a. a bookseller
b. a Slavic bible
c. a collection of rare bibles
d. a lover of books

(12.) intaglio
a. one of six basic principles of printing
b. an Italian flat-bed press
c. a seraglio
d. an object pressed into the cover of a book

(13.) hornbook
a. an encyclopedia
b. a book about musical instruments
c. a primer
d. a dictionary

(14.) Jean Grolier
a. an early French bibliophile
b. a French encyclopedist
c. a 19th century French-Canadian publisher
d. the founder of Librairie Hachette

(15.) Grub Street
a. “Publishers’ Row” in London
b. Rotten Row in London
c. literary hacks
d. book-worms

(16.) holograph
a. sans-serif
b. a manuscript wholly in the handwriting of its author
c. a manuscript for which the author receives no royalties
d. silk-screen printing

(17.) recto
a. an expression used by printers meaning “O.K. to print”
b. the correction of a printer’s error
c. the right-hand page of a book
d. the last page of a book

(18.) Mathew Carey
a. a type designer
b. an early American bookseller and publisher
c. a partner in the early American publishing firm of Carey-Thomas
d. a Scottish publisher

(19.) Pica
a. a serif
b. twelve-point (type size)
c. a stencil
d. a tight-fisted bookmaker

(20.) variorum edition
a. any book of varied contents
b. a book of the hours
c. any anthology
d. a book with notes by various editors

Answers: 1, d; 2, b; 3, b; 4, a; 5, b; 6, a; 7, a; 8, d; 9, b; 10, d; 11, a; 12, a; 13, c; 14, a; 15, c; 16, b; 17, c; 18, b; 19, b; 20, d.

Thanks to Brad Johnson for this.

Arrived and registered

Problem posting...

Don't seem to be able to post from laptop. Show wrap-up and LoC Day
will be up shortly.

Fun in DC....or, my day at at the LoC

Suzanne and I spent Tuesday having fun about DC. We went to Union Station for lunch (very good Greek food) and picking up some silly things for friends and family. 

We arrived at the Library of Congress in early afternoon. When we visited last year, they were in the midst of some major renovations, technological and otherwise. The results are quite spectacular. 

One of the biggest/most interesting changes is the evolution/integration of "myLOC.com". When  you go in you can get a "passport"...placing it in one of the many kiosks, you enter your contact info, etc. and create an account (tied to the bar code on the passport). As you tour the LoC, there are many kiosks into which you can stick your passport, logging the exhibit, getting additional information and playing library games. 

myLOC allows you to "take the library home" with you. You can engage in virtual tours, create your own collections, etc. It is really quite the biblio-geek playground. I will dig about with it more deeply after Road Trip 2009 and post a more cogent review of it.

The interactive displays are exceptionally well done. I've included an image of the one for the Gutenberg Bible. The virtual tour (link) is pretty good...but the kiosk is extremely cool...the closest you can come to playing with a GB...no gloves necessary. 

The new(ish...it opened April of last year) exhibit of Jefferson's Library is amazing. it is an open circle...you can stand in the center and be surrounded by his library...the core of what became the LoC. There are placeholders for lost books that have yet to be replaced (Suz has a new life goal of donating at least one book to this collection). [Hypothetically, I kissed Suz surrounded by TJ's library...too fun.] The interactive kiosks in TJ's library allow you to explore the books by shelf, organized as TJ had them (Memory, Imagination, Reason). It was really wonderful. 

We are planning to include an extra day or two next time...as we didn't really get anywhere *but* the LoC. DC is a remarkable place to visit. If you have not been in a while, go...bring comfortable shoes. If you live in and around...step back and revel is what a remarkable place it is...most I know who live there have ended up very blasé about the wonder and scope that surrounds them (admittedly, because most are working way too hard, all the time). 

Day Four, Pack Up, Wrap Up and a good nights sleep. riend

[Sorry for the delay in updates. I switched from the hotel I was in (Comfort Inn, where I had Comedy Central and free wireless) to the Westin (a "nicer" hotel...without Com. Cent. and non-free wireless). I just haven't had time since the last update. In brief: 7 hours of show, move out not finished until 11pm or so and Tuesday spent running amok in DC.]

Day four started out

 *painfully* slowly.

 Traffic did pickup as the day went on. I had a few more friends/clients stop by and I did manage to sell a few things. It was, however, a *very* long

 day. I did manage to buy

 an interesting item, an FBI memo to banks listing every serial number from the Lindberg ransom for "banks to compare against currency on hand". 

The best part of the day is that Suzanne arrived around 2pm or so. She caught up with dealer/friends and looked about as some of the freakishly cool things kicking about the fair.

Of particular note was an absolutely remarkable carved tusk (mastodon?!?). The detail (and overall size) was just stunning. I've included some images of the details (they blow up if you click on them).

The show closed at 6pm. We were packed up by about 9pm...but we were not able to get the van in the hall until about 1030 and did not get to the hotel until about 1130 or so. Mind you, we had thought things were going to go a bit quicker...so we had not eaten. Urgh. It was a *very* long night.

Overall, numerous annoying bits notwithstanding, it was a good show and we are very pleased we did it and plan on doing it again next year. Credit were it is due, the promoters are better than most at getting people in the door...usually serious collectors...woohoo. The logistics of a show of this scale is really amazing. Tuesday will be our "bang around DC" day...very exciting.

Guess where I spent most of the day...

Day Three - Buying one’s way to a good show (and/or eating one’s way):

Day Three was long and largely uneventful. There was rather good, steady traffic, a fair number of engaged visitors. I had about a dozen people fill out newsletter/interest cards. I had two really good things offered to me and acquired. Overall, a pretty good day.

And then came dinner. I went out to dinner with The Duck and it was good. Arguably over the top, but very, very good. We had dinner at Central-Michel Richard. They apparently just won the 2008 "James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant." We had difficulty choosing what to order...so we ordered, er, extra. We shared most things. I'll just list want ended up on our table:

App./Salads

Cherry tomato & burrata mozzarella

Fried oysters with a tartar base

Spinach & goat cheese torte

Entree/Burgers

Lobster Burger (Very lightly moistened, bit of scallop mixed in, served with Central mayonnaise and potato tuiles (which offered a very interesting crunch to the burger). We split this)

Braised rabbit with spaetzle & carrots (Boneless side on a country mustard sauce and a "tenderloin" dressed down the side. Spaetzle is made there and had a touch of fennel with it, very surprising...worked very well with rabbit. Carrots were lovely, touch of molasses, perhaps...funny on the plate with the rabbit. My entree.)

Lamb shank with creamy corn polenta (garnished with onion strings. Tasted this, wonderful.)

Dessert

Vanilla and Chocolate ice cream (TD)

Mango and Pear Sorbet (LM)

We both had their "House made grapefruit soda" (or two)...outstanding.

With all that was brought to the table, we barely scratched the menu...and we had a great table to watch what came out of the kitchen (and was being done in it). Great meal and a very fun evening. I just can not eat for the next few days .

Absolutely Blown Tested

Early Trojan package...and a tragically lost tag line...

Drood...a morning metro query.

Has anyone read this. I like the idea, but it has missed my radar.
Nice to see book adverts on the train.

Day Two, or There Are Not Enough Painkillers in the World...

to make my feet better...well, ok, over the counter...

It was a pretty nice, if long, day. A good number of humans through...credit where it is due, they do get warm bodies through the door. I had a reasonable number of genuinely engaged people in the booth, a fair number who signed up for our newsletter and/or left want list information. I even sold a few books.

I had a number of old clients and friends stop in, which is a treat. One brought a very interesting early 18o0 letter with some great/unusual content. It is going to require some research and luck, but it might just make the weekend if it goes at it appears. More to follow as appropriate.

Two days to go...then a "fun day in DC with The Suz" (and the LoC). Feet so sore...urgh.

Wow. What a nice finish to the day....and Day One

Well the day was long and my feet are very sore. There was pretty good traffic and some very engaged people poking about and asking interesting questions. I have an appointment to visit a home about some books on the trip back north...that might justify the trip...we shall see. Very soft sales. Three days to go, so I am hoping for a big Saturday...I think I will start holding my breath.

So I get back to the hotel, dreading having to figure out dinner. There is a "cafeteria" here...that I could not contemplate. So I was trying to think about having to change and get into the car and find something...probably caving and just getting some crappy fast food.

Under my door were two sheets of paper. One was shiny...pizza coupons and some other bits of this an that. Not great, but I felt better, knowing I could get something delivered. The other was for Edgardo's Trattoria, with a nice highlight about their wood-fired oven (iffy design on the website ). Matte paper, wide range of options, very traditional. Calzone on the way, salad and an iced tea...best of all, Tiramisu for desert that they make in house. I am so happy I could almost cry .

Finishing touches

Thursday set-up day...

I left [Lex] Lutherville at about 830 and made it into DC a bit before 10am. It turned out that I could not go in, but rather had to go to the "Staging Area" several blocks away. This was reasonably simple and straightforward and I was parked an unloading at about 10:10am. 

I have a 10x12 booth, and am using two 8 foot tables, a 4 and a 6 foot see-through trophy case. Not having Suzanne with me is horrid on many levels...I will not go into the myriad of ways that her absence cripples me in most functional ways...However, as is applicable here, her  absence means my table cloths are not a nice and true. I am reason ably certain that it was about 1pm (3 hours in) before I unpacked a single book . 

Once I did start unpacking, it went reasonably well. The Vernonware threw me a bit, as they take up a bit of space,

 etc...but they look nice in the case and, with luck, will find a

 new home here (I have nice sets of all three patters (Salamina, Moby Dick and Our America)).

There are a reasonable number of book dealers at this show, and the other DC book fair is also this weekend (the one we tried to get into for 3 years, but despite repeated calls, could never get *on* the wait list, let alone *off*...frankly, we never had any return our calls...ever.

More on the other dealers here tomorrow.

They closed the all at 8pm. I finished setting up

 at 7:49pm. About 10 hours. I feel really good about this, because I thought I had taken 12 hours...now I feel really zippy. Urgh.

The show opens tomorrow at 11am and runs until 7pm. It runs the same through Monday. Look forward to seeing some of you there...

More updates to follow.

Twitter, the humanities and fun math...

David Weinberger is one of my more favorite humans for a variety of reasons. Not least among them is the fact that he appears to share my tendency to find too many things interesting and/or a questing passion to understand the bits of random data that fly past most people. He recently used Twitter toward such purposes, in what might possibly be the most "useful" application of Twitter to date.

He asked "Challenge: Explain Fourier Transforms, w/o math, to a Humanities major (me), more clearly than http://tinyurl.com/27n3g … in 1 tweet?" Absolutely brilliant. He received some extremely clever and [forcibly] concise responses. My two favorites:

Things you don’t understand can be expressed in smaller equivalent pieces of things you don’t understand.

Smart maths breaks large constructs down into small things loosely joined.

[Admittedly, the second is funnier if you have read DW's  Small Pieces Loosely Joined.] 

I'd love to see a Twitterererer who would run with this...asking for 140 character explanations to wildly complex (or simple, as the case may be) questions. I think this would make great reading. I wish I had the time...if you run across someone doing this, let me know. 

Also, and apropos of nothing, how did "to Twitter" become "tweet" rather than "twit". It makes a great deal more sense. It also allows for such fun as, "I twitted a twit with a clever twit". 

Return of the NY Shadow Show this April...

Everyone was a bit taken aback when the Shadow Show for the April NY ABAA show was cancelled. From the ashes has arisen a new show. On Friday, April 3rd, the Manhattan Book & Ephemera Show will take place at The Altman Building. The show will run from 8am to 7pm, providing an extra hour or so for those who want to shop it before heading over to the ABAA show at Park Ave. No word as to whether there will be shuttles.

Also rising from the ashes of a canceled event, the Boston MARIAB show is going to be held on May 2nd:

THE GREATER BOSTON BOOK & EPHEMERA FAIR
Date: May 2, 2009
Location: The Braintree Sheraton, 37 Forbes Road, Braintree, MA
Hours: Saturday: 9am-3pm.

Put Madness where it belongs, in the curriculum:

A nice article has been posted calling for us to return to our traditional roots....

"Last month, he wanted us to change the high school's motto from 'Many Kinds of Excellence' to 'Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn,'" PTA member Cathy Perry said. "I asked if it was Latin, and he said that it was the eldritch tongue of Shub- Niggurath, the Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young. I don't know from eldritch tongues, but I'm not sure that's such a good idea."

Then again, too much education can be a bad thing. As a very wise man once said, "The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents."

Snow, snow, go away...

No snow on this table yesterday. Appears I am in NJ until Tuesday.

Road Trip 2009 underway...

I left this morning on Road Trip 2009: Maine to Washington, DC to St. Peterburg, FL to Jupiter(ish), FL to Miami and back to Portland. About 3,400 miles of fun. Woohoo! First big stop is in DC for the Spring Antique Fair. I'll then continue down for the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. Along the way, I'm spending the night with my sister in NJ (where I am right now) and with a friend and classmate of Suzanne's outside of Baltimore...with lots of book hunting along the way. 

I was thinking I'd leave tomorrow, but the storm pushed me up a day. As it was, I got off to a little bit of a late start...hitting the road around 10:30am or so. I had to make one stop in southern Maine to pick up some things. As I left, the snow began falling...hard. Urgh. Neither Maine nor NH had done *any* salting and, while not bad in Maine (cold and dry enough that it was blowing off the road), NH became bad very quickly.

I passed several cars off the road and one rather bad 5 car accident with a pick-up on its side and lots of flashing lights (on the Northbound side). I nearly had an accident around there, as someone in front of me hit their brakes to see the accident and started skidding. Twits. Avoided them and made it to the toll booths where one lane was closed because someone had skidded into the concrete abutment.

Pulled into the liquor store just beyond the toll booths to sell a very nice book. Slightly late start and snow slowed me down and I was a bit late. Many thanks to He Who Waited for his patience. Come visit us in Portland after these fairs are past and I'll do my best to make amends....and we can play with cool books.

From there I headed to the Boston area to pick up some cases from another dealer as I was driving to the show and had room. Far more importantly, I have been entrusted with a significant cache of liquor for the DC and FL fairs. I was told, to paraphrase, "if you're held up, give up the books, but protect the bottles". [N.B. The FL fair is referred to, in some circles, as "booksellers spring break".] I had a nice chat and cup of coffee before hitting the road again...

The snow had all but stopped by the time I left. I decided to go down 95 (rather than 90/84)...giving up on Reins Deli to stay close to the coast and, I hoped, warmer/wetter travel. As it turned out, by Providence, RI, the road was effectively dry and I made great time from there all the way to NJ.

Big storm tomorrow. I plan to spend the day cataloguing Kent material and tweaking things for the fair and will probably not hit the road again until Tuesday morning.