10 Best Bookshops in the World...

The Independent has just posted a list of the 10 "Best Bookshops in the World. There is a brief description of each (all not, not antiquarian). It is quite a list and I must admit to having only set foot in two. All are now added to my "future places to travel" list.

[Updated to fix link]

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.

Bad day for book loving geeks....

Stacy's in San Fran has closed the shop. *The* geek bookstore for 85 years, this past holiday season was apparently the final straw. Site is still live, so they may be trying to keep a toe in the trade...we shall see.

The Great Turkey Massacree [coincidentally nearby the "other" Great Massacree]...

Just when you thought bookselling couldn't be any more exciting (and/or "why posts from FP are more fun to read than just about anyone else's")...an update on events and a new catalogue from Joslin Hall.

Wrestling Ken Sanders...

We've been told of a previously unknown ABAA initiation involves wrestling Ken Sanders...the two youngest members in the room, no less. Brian Cassidy and I were very surprised by this previously unknown rule. Who'd have thunk it..

[addendum: have been told by a reliable source (thanks Kent) that such attempts brings nothing but pain and bruises...informer then broke down...twitching at the memory. We have managed to avoid the task this far...for how long, we can only guess...]

Dinner an after...

Dinner was great and a wonderful treat (thank you, again, to our
host). Turkish food and good wine. Afterwards we all trapsed over to
Wessel & Lieberman for drinks, books and hanging out with the
afflicted. It has been a very nice night.

Great bookish weekend...

This weekend was the Five-Colleges Library Sale in Lebanon, NH. We had never gone before, but had heard that it was big and good and fun...so we thought we would give it a try (and have a fun, relaxing weekend after two back-to-back fair weekends in NY and Boston).

We set out on Friday, stopping by to see George Sutton and DeWolfe and Wood. George was setting off on a buying trip of his own, but we had a nice chat. The stop at D&W was very nice. We picked up several very nice things and some fun things for clients and had a nice visit.

On our way to the B&B, we stopped by two places in NH (well, really one: Old Number Six Book Depot (both shops)). Again, found some nice things and had some good chats (the later being as much fun as the former, much of the time). We then went on to the Silver Maple Lodge in VT (inexpensive while nice and clean...good coffee in the morning).

The next morning we set out early to get to the sale. We arrived about a hour early (about 805 for a 9am sale). By my rough...but reasonably accurate count, we were about 100 and 101 in line. We were told that some people get there at 5 am...personally, I do not see that as rational, but who am I to judge *laughing*. By 5 of 9, there were at *least* 400 people in line and we were told by a security person with a clicker that, by the time we left (at about 12), over 1100 people had passed through the door (admittedly, I saw her click me twice on a return from the car).

It was an interestingly organized sale. They had things grouped reasonably well and as one would expect...though they added "Oddments", covering things that did not fit well elsewhere (think Victorian bindings, strange little bits of this and that and the like). They had a "Specials" table...from which we picked up some very nice things (e.g. reasonably significant Poe, a good Wyeth title in extremely good condition in the original box, a nice Walter Crane item, etc.). They also has some very nice things on a Sealed Bid table (I managed to pick up 5 of those, as well...nice limited of Kent's Shakespeare, a nice Russian Pushkin set, a beautiful copy of How to Wrap Five Eggs, etc.). I was pretty impressed with the pricing on the specials table...more than the $1-5 elsewhere, but not remotely unreasonable (and not the increasingly common "if it is "worth" $100 on ebay/abe, it should be priced such here).

The tables were filled with a stunning volume of material. We picked up a little bit from there, too...though not as much as from the Specials or Sealed. They have been doing it for years and it shows. Just a really well run show. I still favor the Brunswick Library's preview approach of a preview (night before, must join the FoL (good for coffers and mailing list) and then you are limited to just 10 books...little/no rudeness, no "sweeping", not picking a few things and going home). This was almost as nice. Too many people with scanners and laptops vetting...but that is because I do think you need to be able to do such things by touch. Hell, it is how you learn. The vast majority is $1-2...just buy the frigging book and move on with your life.

We left after the Sealed Bids were dealt with and went to have lunch and visit Left Bank Books, Bearly Used Books and Chapman's Store and Books. We realized that Suzanne had left my good ball point at the fair. This is a pen that has been with me for about 20 years...lost once or twice and found its way home. I was reasonably certain that it was gone for good...and pretty much would not have bothered to return to the fair if Suz had not been willing to run in (her leaving it is *very* unusual and, I am certain, she was seeking redemption *g*). As it turned out, it was with the people at the auction table...they had been expecting her return. The pen, yet again, made its way back to my pocket.

Sunday morning we set out very early to meet a dear friend at a flea market from which his has culled remarkable things from and to which we have never been able to make it. We stopped by an absolutely great coffee shop in Hanover, Dirt Cowboy Coffee. They custom drip each cup, they offer a free scone to double espresso orders before 930am. They ship their coffee within 24 hours of roasting. It was one of the highpoints of the trip.

We were a bit late to the flea market (needed to get there around 830...did not make it until nearly 930). It was still fun to go and we did pick up a very large, slightly foxed engraving of "Shakespeare and Friends" (circa 1860)...for $5.00. Can't beat it with a stick. Stopped by Drake Farm Books in North Hampton, NH...wonderful shop and a great owner. 45K books in a huge barn. Not enough time...going back soon to dig.

Made it home at a reasonable hour...tried to catch up on email and the like and prepare for next week of shipping and cataloguing. Argh.

Dust still settling, Show wrap-up pending...quick shop plug

Still catching up on the many things that have to be shipped, caught up and or filed (books, chores, taxes, etc). Final re Boston MARIAB will be posted tomorrow. Just a quick update:

I had to run some material up to a client in western Maine and used the opportunity to stop by a shop I have been meaning to visit for a while. I stopped in at Shoestring Books (now "The Maine Bookhouse") and it was just a great way to wrap up the afternoon. If you are in Norway and/or Oxford, I recommend stopping by. They have a broad selection, nicely organized and very well displayed (a result, I believe, of the touch of their daughter's artistic eye). I spent two hours poking through radical lit, Maine history, fiction and a great selection of farming/gardening material...and some genuinely interesting niche items....and did not manage to get upstairs (art, photography, etc) at all. I will be back in the very near future.

I love finding a great new open shop. It was a very nice day.

Serendipity at Serendipity (or: how I spent the nicest afternoon I can recall)

So shortly after my last post I set out for Serendipity Book in Berkley. The shop is legendary, as its owner, Peter B. Howard. One of the things I was looking forward to on this trip out, and part of the reason I came out early was to be able to spend time at this shop. Six hours later, I can attest that it was one of the very best days I've I had in a long time and that I only just scratched the surface (I did not even get upstairs at all.

The definition of serendipity is the art of finding something while seeking something else. I suggest it is impossible to enter Peter B.'s shop seeking X and not finding wonderful copies of A, G, Q, V and Z. There are just so many books...great books, unique association copies, you name it...that you simply can't process it. I arrives shortly before noontime and do not think I left until around 6pm or so. I spent the first hour or so just wandering around the labyrinth-like rooms and sub-rooms, trying to make some sort of sense of where to start and how to proceed. Ultimately, I started and the front and worked back (to the back of the front room....argh).

A quick description of the pictures might help. The first is taken at the front doors looking in, diagonally across the front room (in the shot, r to l, are Joe Maynard, David Bergman and Peter B. (seated)). The next image is looking at the front wall from about the middle of the room [N.B. the white space above the windows is at 8 or 9 feetish...and then there is another five vertical feet of books...I have not idea what is up there, but I want to know...]. The next is looking down the main side room, brown bags filled with amazing things, you carefully go down through bits of this and that and suddenly happen upon something remarkable...serendipity, indeed [N.B. at the right side you can see one of the two sets of sliding shelves allowing Peter B. to keep far too many good books on site]. Finally, though hard to see, is the two volume set of The Key to Serendipity [Vol. 1, How to Buy Books from Peter B. Howard and Vol. 2, How to Find Books in Spite of Peter B. Howard]. Every shop should require at least one book to understand its working and nuances....some obviously might need two...or more.

It took a great deal of self control, but I managed to only leave with a half dozen books. The range of what I took home gives a great micro-glance of the shop. Item 1: a wonderful little collection of hand-colored erotic plates of the The Seven Deadly Sins; Item 2: a lovely copy of a Nonesuch Press volume that is very hard to find in nice condition; Item 3: a 1803 imprint of Astle's The Origin and Progress of Writing in the remains of its original binding (and with all its fabulous plates present). Just a ridiculously diverse group of serendipitously found books.

To top off a lovely day, I managed not to have to ride the BART back as Craig Harris (Bridge of Dreams) was in the shop for most of the afternoon and offered to drive me (and my new friends) back to the hotel. We were joined my Suzanne (who had been working in the hotel all day) and went out for a nice dinner of Greek food. Yum.

Set-up is tomorrow, starting at 9am. I'll keep you posted.