News about Booksellers

May 07, 2008

Rare Maps at the World's Biggest Charity Book Sale

"RARE Victorian maps of Edinburgh – as well as hand drawings of the city's first tram routes – are to be included in the world's biggest charity book sale."

"The collection was gifted to organisers of the annual Christian Aid fundraiser, being held this weekend at St Andrew's and St George's Church on George Street."

Read this article.


April 30, 2008

Where to Find Rare Books in Kansas City

"Considered a Kansas City landmark for history enthusiasts, David R. Spivey Rare Books, Maps and Fine Arts is a destination of historic items."

Read this article.


April 28, 2008

Book Notes in St. Louis, Missouri

"A first American edition of "Bambi" by Felix Salten and a signed copy of Eugene O'Neill's "The Hairy Ape" will be among the rare books offered at this year's St. Louis Book Fair. "

Read this article.


"Five Great London (Canada) Places to Buy a Used Book"

"City Lights. Started by political gadfly Marc Emery in 1975, it's been owned and operated by Teresa Tarasewicz and Jim Capel since 1992. With narrow aisles and floor-to-ceiling shelves jammed with inventory, it's no place for claustrophobics."

Read this article.


April 14, 2008

Boston Bookstore Opens a New Chapter

"Mike McIntyre and Dan Moore met an unfilled need when they opened their academically oriented used-book store in 1983. They still do - but the niche just got smaller."

Read this article.


Daryaganj Sunday Bazaar: A Paradise for Book Lovers

"From students to artists to designers to theorists to activists – Daryaganj is the favourite place to be on a Sunday. Life begins at 7am every Sunday, over the decades for its thriving old book bazaar. This bazaar is a paradise for book lovers all over Delhi and beyond, as a mind-boggling variety of rare books are usually available in this market at very affordable prices. "

Read this article.


April 07, 2008

Bauman Rare Books in Las Vegas

"Admirers of Benjamin Franklin or Thomas Jefferson, for example, may want works by authors such as such as Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. In fact, books by an author of note that were owned by an important figure from history are among the most sought after. "

Read this article.


"Acres of Books" to Close in Long Beach, California

"Acres of Books, LB's iconic downtown bookstore at 240 LB Blvd., will be closing, possibly as soon as October 2008 or perhaps in up to a year, with the property owners accepting an offer from LB's Redevelopment Agency to buy the site."

Read this article.


March 31, 2008

"This Ain't the Rosedale Library" Closes its Doors

"But fans of the bookstore need not get too distressed. A new, smaller location will open up at 86 Nassau Street, in Kensington Market. It'll still have the same name, but expect it to have a slightly different focus. Dan Bazuin will be getting out of the business entirely, and the new shop will be run by current partner Charles Huisken and his son."

Read this article.


March 28, 2008

Bauman Rare Books Goes to Las Vegas

"Las Vegas high rollers tired of Italian suits and stocked up on designer shoes for wives and lingerie for girlfriends now can turn to Walt Whitman or Benjamin Franklin to scratch their itch to spend."

Read this article.


Texas Woman to Sell "The Federalist"

"“The Federalist,” conceived in 1787 by the likes of James Madison and others, is a powerhouse of a historical document, according to Heritage Auction Gallaries of Dallas, which plans to unveil the book June 3-4."

"Its estimated value is $150,000 to $200,000."

Read this article.


March 24, 2008

Rare Books in Dallas

"...after several hours in the company of the eccentric characters running the antique stores along Industrial Boulevard between Continental and Irving, the silver subcompact festooned with swirls of blue and purple paint, color feathers, and mirrored beads glued to the bumpers was simply par for the course. "

Read this article.


March 20, 2008

Napoleonic Archive Sold in Paris

"PARIS: Rare-book lovers, museum buyers and fans of Napoleon flocked for a chance to bid on a rich archive on the emperor, put up for sale by former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin."

Read this article.


Rare Books in British Charity Shops

"...when a scruffy looking copy of Graham Greene's Rumour at Nightfall appeared in a box of donated books at Oxfam's bookshop in St Giles, Andrew Chapman - one of the volunteers there - thought it might be worth a second look."

Read this article.


Browsing for Books in Snohomish County, Washington

"Darilee Bednar doesn't believe in reincarnation. Still, she thinks she could have been a white Chinese dragon in a previous life."

'They horde things,' she said."

Read this article.


March 17, 2008

How to Buy Rare Books in a British Airport

"The store is a reflection of Paul's eclectic taste - so bits and pieces that he has gathered on his travels can be found alongside his ready-to-wear collections. An assortment of special items, designed exclusively for Globe - rare books, photographic prints (some taken by Paul himself), and unique furniture - will also be available."

Read this article.


March 05, 2008

California: "Tough Times for Books in Novato"

"Odyssey Books, the city's remaining independent book store, plans to close soon because of competition from national chains and online sellers."

"The Global Book Exchange, a Marin nonprofit that collects and distributes used books to children in developing countries, was informed by the city that it must get out of its Hamilton location by the end of the month after eight years there."

Read this article.


March 03, 2008

Rochester New York Company is Digitizing Rare Books

"Belkhir left a career as a Xerox Corp. researcher to start Kirtas Technologies in 2001, and turning books into gigabytes is proving to be a booming business for the Victor firm, which makes both the robotic equipment and software for digitizing books and other documents. "

Read this article.


February 29, 2008

Chesco Bookshop Featured in Philadelphia Press

"Here's what you won't find in Tom Macaluso's bookshop in Kennett Square:
Paperbacks, textbooks, self-help books, abridged books, Hollywood biographies. "

Read this article.


February 25, 2008

"Booksellers Flee Paris to Create City of Books"

"Christian Valleriaux, a specialist in rare books, was the first Parisian bookseller to settle in La Charite-sur-Loire just two hours from the French capital. "

Read this article.


Vietnam: The Ho Chi Minh Book Association

"The Ho Chi Minh Book Association and its partners will organise a competition called Golden Books to showcase ancient and rare books in different languages, themes and styles. "

Read this article.


February 20, 2008

Canada's Oldest Independent Bookstore to Close

"Soon Halifax's The Book Room, Canada's oldest independent bookstore, will be closing its doors for good."

"No book lover can be happy to see the end of this intimate shop, which has spent the past 169 years supplying readers with literary works both rare and mainstream. "

Read this article.


February 16, 2008

Rare Books for Everyman in New Zealand

"We didn't have one day from the time we opened when we didn't have substantial numbers of books and records coming through the door," Beveridge says. "We couldn't believe what we were getting - first editions of all kinds". Not to mention the time someone brought in a second edition of Shakespeare's poems - "one of the few times my knees actually shook".

Read this article.


February 11, 2008

Bookstores "Worth the Extra Mile"

"A destination bookstore can make you feel like you're part of the community, whether you're grooving on the laid-back vibe at Powell's in Portland, or tuning in to the Beltway buzz at Washington's Politics and Prose."

Read this article.


February 07, 2008

Book Fair in Turin, Itay

Libri Antichi e Rari, Fiera Internazionale del Libro di Torino
Thursday May 8th, 2008 - Sunday May 11th, 2008 10.00 am-19.00 pm
Torino, Lingotto, Area 3, Via Nizza 294

35 selected antiquarian bookseller and 1100 international editors

The website is here.


February 01, 2008

Books as Art at Eureka Books

"If there’s anyone who knows about books, it’s Brown. He’s the co-founder and editor of Fine Books & Collections Magazine, the only full-color glossy magazine in the United States devoted to collecting books."

Read this article.


The Book Garden Featured in "The Salt Lake Tribune"

"The bookstore, at the corner of Main and Center streets in Bountiful, specializes in used and rare books. It carries titles covering everything from aeronautics to writing. The books come from a variety of sources, including estate and garage sales and customers hoping to make a few bucks or a good trade. "

Read this article.


January 28, 2008

Favorite American Independent Bookstores

"A destination bookstore can make you feel like you're part of the community, whether you're grooving on the laid-back vibe at Powell's in Portland, Ore., or tuning into the Beltway buzz at Washington's Politics & Prose."

Read this article.


January 24, 2008

A World of Books Bookstore Featured Online

"A World of Books, the last remaining bookstore in San Leandro, has changed hands from 30-year owner Barbara Keenan to Anthony Owen Smith, a native of England and specialist in rare books."

Read this article.


January 18, 2008

Destination Bookstores for Tourists

"When is a bookstore worth a tourist's time
When it's more than just a place to buy books.
A destination bookstore can make you feel like you're part of the community, whether you're grooving on the laid-back vibe at Powell's in Portland, or tuning into the Beltway buzz at Washington's Politics and Prose."

Read this article.


January 16, 2008

"Baedeker Guidebooks are Back"

"Of all the great guidebook series, none has ever attained such heights as Baedeker. A hundred years ago, its books were so indispensable that EM Forster was in no way exaggerating when he had the heroine of A Room with a View burst into tears in a Florentine church when she realised she had left her book in her room. Without it, she had no way of knowing what was beautiful, and what should be ignored. "

Read this article.


"Independent Bookstore Nearing End"

"Like many of the independent bookstore's faithful customers, the pair has shopped at the place for decades. But times are changing, as buyers choose books at chains such as Barnes & Noble, online at Amazon.com or at discount stores such as Costco."

Read this article.


January 14, 2008

Canadian Press Reports on 9 Destination Bookstores

"A destination bookstore can make you feel like you're part of the community, whether you're grooving on the laid-back vibe at Powell's in Portland, or tuning into the Beltway buzz at Washington's Politics and Prose."

"Some bookstores offer literary touchstones, like the wooden chairs signed by writers who've visited That Bookstore in Blytheville, an Arkansas institution frequented by native son John Grisham."

Read this article.


January 05, 2008

Florida's Mojo Books Featured in Tampa Bay Press

"'There was a guy in here who said all used books are haunted by the people who owned them before," Drummond said"'

"Fortunately, the customer didn't scare anyone away. At the beginning of year two, shoppers continue to stop by Mojo. Students purchase books for school. Baby boomers take home retro items. Collectors buy and trade."

Read this article.


December 27, 2007

New Edition of Arthur Szyk Haggadah Set for Publication

"For the first time since 1940, the Arthur Szyk Haggadah will be produced in an edition based upon the artist's original drawings. Szyk's beloved Haggadah, a triumphant and enduring work of hope and courage, drawn and first published during the rise of Hitler, is admired the world over."

More information abou this Haggadah is Here.

The antiquarian book seller Historicana is Here.


Rare Books Featured in Tampa Bay Press

"TAMPA - You can buy a Hummer and a Prius for the price of some rare books."

"But price doesn't seem to faze the truly driven bibliophile, the collector who values a book above any kind of car."

Read this article.


December 17, 2007

Anaheim's Book Baron Closes Shop

"They came from miles around for the mother of all book sales Saturday. They arrived with boxes, baskets and shopping carts to haul away used volumes by the thousands."

"For book lovers of all stripes, it was a momentous occasion: After 27 years as a Southern California institution, the Book Baron of Anaheim was calling it quits."

Read this article.


December 10, 2007

Where to Buy Books in Minnesota's Twin Cities

"If you're interested in gifting books this season, an easy shortcut is to head to one of your local bookstores and ask the employees for their educated guesses. Bookstore employees have their attentions so carefully trained on the book industry that they are able to find many soon-to-be bestsellers. To start off my holiday shopping, I queried sellers at several of Uptown’s local independent bookstores to see what they would recommend for the upcoming season."

Read this article.


The Complete Traveller Antiquarian Bookstore Featured in "AM New York"

"To keep pace with modern times, it sometimes helps to have an old soul."

"The Complete Traveller antiquarian bookstore has survived close to 30 years unscathed, despite the shark-like presence of big-box booksellers and giant online retailers."

Read this article.


December 06, 2007

"Between the Covers" Featured in India's "The Hindu"

"There’s even a rotating 3D image of several ‘high spots’ (very collectible true modern firsts, signed or association copies, scarce and rare editions) that allows the browser a virtual examination of a book’s dust jacket, spine, front, back and even fore-edge! This is the booksite for the serious book collector in India."

Read this article.


November 28, 2007

Rare Book is Supposedly Haunted with Face of Hanged Priest

"A 17th century book believed to be bound in the skin of a priest executed for treason appears to bear a "spooky" image of his face on the cover, according to the auctioneers who are selling the book."

Read this article.


November 21, 2007

1776 Declaration of Independence is Sold

"A piece of American history that had been locked in a Shrewsbury Historical Society safe for years sold Sunday at auction for $693,500, the second highest price ever paid for such a document."

Read this article.


November 07, 2007

Rick Stoutamyer: Bookseller in Middleburg, Virginia

"I got hooked in junior high school,' Stoutamyer remembered. 'It was 'The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere,' that did it, and from that point on, I read a lot and bought a lot of books. But I never thought of books as a [possible] business.'
Yet now they are. Stoutamyer recently opened Stoutamyer Fine Books in Middleburg..."

Read this article.


November 05, 2007

Harvard Square Book Store Featured in India's "The Hindu"

"I found the Lame Duck Bookstore when I wasn’t looking for it. Searching for Raven, a popular used bookstore in Harvard Square, Cambridge, I found myself before the Lame Duck. The sign said, “Rare, Out of Print and Antiquarian Books”. I had never been inside a proper antiquarian bookstore before — had not dared to because I was certain I could never afford a really rare book."

Read this article.


November 02, 2007

Ongoing Mystery: Bookseller's Body Found in New York's East River

"Svetlana Aronov, a 44-year-old rare-book dealer, disappeared on March 3, 2003, after stepping out of her York Avenue co-op to walk the family's cocker spaniel. "

Read this article.


October 29, 2007

Houston Booksellers Buy Che Guevara's Hair

"Yesterday, at an auction at Dallas-based Heritage Auction Galleries, Butler forked over $119,500 for the collection of Che Guevara goodies that once belonged to former CIA agent Gustavo Villoldo. Among the items Butler picked up: "fingerprints, maps, letters, newspaper clippings, and dozens of death photographs of Che and his fellow guerrillas" -- and, yes, that infamous 3-inch lock of Guevara's hair, only slightly better than a Che T-shirt or shooter glass."

Read this article.


Curt Bench: Utah Bookseller

"Chris handles all the buying of used books, and his father plays detective with rare books and making transactions in many states and several foreign countries. Rare books represent about 60 percent of the business — one that focuses unashamedly on LDS-related books and periodicals."

Read this article.


October 26, 2007

Autographed Football / Soccer Book Scores Big

"The leather-bound album contains the signatures of hundreds of football players, painstakingly collected by avid fan Alec White in 1936."

"Mr White visited more than 45 clubs across the UK to collect the treasured signatures."

Read this article.


"The World's Greatest Bookstore to Close"

"Loome's Antiquarian Booksellers in Stillwater, Minnesota is closing at the end of the year. Stillwater sits on the fabulous St. Croix, just Northeast of St. Paul, and it has been known as America's Booktown. Loome's provides books for the discerning reader, and it can no longer compete with Amazon and the used book market on the Internet..."

Read this article.


October 08, 2007

Rare Quran Up for Auction

"A 400-year-old handwritten copy of the Holy Quran is fetching offers of up to $4.3 million for its sale."

"The centuries-old copy of the central religious text of Islam belonged to a Yemeni Islamic scholar who gave the book to a Qatari national in Makkah during last year’s holy month of Ramadan..."

Read this article.


September 24, 2007

Camelot Books Profiled in Orange County Press

"Where did the idea for your business come from? If you're old enough to remember Andy Hardy movies, and the "let's put on a play off the cuff" attitude, then you know how we started. "

"It was "let's open a bookstore." We both sold books at a swap meet. It was a short step to combining our businesses under a roof."

Read this article.


September 21, 2007

Aardvark Books opens in UK

"Although originally distributors of remainder books, Aardvark has evolved to become a retailer of new titles, out of print books and rare books purchased at auction, from collectors or at estate sales."

Read this article.


September 19, 2007

Dennis Holzman Featured in "Maine Antiques Digest"

"Holzman specializes in rare books and historical ephemera, but since he buys mostly from local homes, his shop also has a random cross section of whatever walks through the door. At any given time, in addition to the books, prints, autographs, photos, posters, pamphlets, and political buttons that compose his primary stock, you may also find a Windsor chair, a pewter coffeepot, a bust of Shakespeare, a Shaker box, a Fulper pot, an odd scientific device, Victorian jewelry, some portrait miniatures, or Chester A. Arthur's copy of Picturesque Europe."

Read this article.


September 15, 2007

Rare Books at Selfridges in London

" It's possible, at the Wonder Room, to buy a copy of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar (an edition written under the pen name Victoria Lucas and stored, fittingly, under a bell jar) or a first edition of Mae West's autobiography, Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It, for £600 ($1,300)."

Read this article.


August 31, 2007

Book Fair in New Delhi

"Aiming at inculcating and encouraging the reading habit, especially among children and youth, the fair simultaneously offers an enormous scope for transacting business with publishers from India and abroad, building new contacts and entering co-publishing arrangements. It will also offer opportunities for translation and copyright arrangements and reprinting of old and rare books as well as major international works."

Read this article.


August 27, 2007

Literary Treasures for Sale in New Zealand

"The Frame estate sale also includes first editions of The Right Thing, by C.K. Stead, signed by him; Ambulando, by Charles Brasch, signed by Frame; Enter Without Knocking, by Denis Glover, signed "J Clutha Dunedin 1965" - Clutha being a name Frame used while living in London in the 1950s."


"The sale of 600 items also features rare books from the collection of the late bibliophile Dr Corrie McLachlan."

Read this article.


August 23, 2007

"The New York Sun" Profiles Madeline Sterne, Bookseller

"Madeleine Stern, who died Saturday at 95, was a leading Manhattan rare-book dealer and one-half of a team of literary sleuths that discovered the secret "blood-and-thunder" writings of Louisa May Alcott."

Read this article.


August 07, 2007

New Machine to Print Books on Demand for $3.00

"Imagine this: You need a copy of 'The Great Gatsby' for a class. You've gone to three book stores and you've found 'The Beautiful and Damned' and 'The Last Tycoon,' but no 'Gatsby.' Thats when you notice an Espresso Book Machine. You wander over, scroll through a list of available titles, and "Ah Ha!" ... 'Gatsby.' Fifteen minutes later you have a perfect copy of 'The Great Gatsby' printed up and in your hands."

Read this article.


Yellow House Books Featured on BerkshireEagle.com

"GREAT BARRINGTON — Stepping across the threshold of Yellow House Books is like walking into a different era.
Shelves are jammed ceiling to floor with books of all description. The owners' cat makes itself at home near a can of pencils and more books. Pictures and posters are plentiful on walls."

Read this article.


August 01, 2007

Bookstores in Rome

"For those late night persons who would like to sample a little different Roma di Notte (Roma by night), there is the Arion bookstore at 42 Via Veneto which is open all night. It offers the night wanderer a cafe where one can sit and enjoy browsing through a good book while sipping a cappuccino."

Read this article.


Portland, Maine: "They Share their Love of Pastry and Prose"

"Don and Samantha Hoyt Lindgren's storefront shop, which opened in April, specializes in new, out-of-print, and rare books on food, wine, and the arts. With its modern track lighting, white walls, and jazz humming in the background, the open, spacious spot feels more art gallery than used bookshop."

Read this article.


July 26, 2007

More on the "Bookends" Musical in the Seattle Press

"The two are the legendary antiquarian booksellers Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern. Rostenberg was the first women President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America and Stern was responsible for putting on the first Antiquarian Book Fair. "

Read this article.


July 25, 2007

Review of "Bookends" - A Musical about Antiquarian Booksellers

"Now Leona and Mady, based on real-life friends who became rare book dealers, have one written about them, too. Leona Rostenberg (1909-2005) was the first female president of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association, while Madeleine Stern (born 1912) founded the first Antiquarian Book Fair. "

Read this article.


July 19, 2007

Old Delhi's Book Market: A Bibliophile's El Dorado

"You might come across a priceless gem if you are patient and browse long enough in Old Delhi's book market, which has been around for nearly forty years, writes Sanjay Podder."

Read this article.


July 16, 2007

Rare Books in the Seattle Press

"Joseph Campana's piece, Rare Books, appeared on the Kenyon Review blog last week. The jumping off point for Campana was the New York Times article on the closing of the Heritage Book Shop, one of the premier antiquarian book shops in the world."

Read this article.


California: Important Bookbinding Center

"Beyond those basic steps, the creative designs and techniques for creating a cover design run the gamut from simple lettering to the award-winning design by Eleanore Edwards Ramsey of Sausalito -- whose "Huckleberry Finn" design depicted a map of Missouri and surrounding states in different leathers."

Read this article.


July 03, 2007

News about the Book Baron in Anaheim, California

"Once in Southern California, brothers Ben and Lou opened a secondhand store in Compton. They found that books sold for the highest profit, and began to focus on them. Eventually, they moved from used books to rare and collectible books, and established Heritage Book Store, an antiquarian shop on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood with an international reputation."

Read this article.


California: Owego Book Shop Featured in Local Press

"Spencer, 63, has operated his bookstore on Front Street for 31 years, offering both new and used books -- about 75,000 on three floors -- and carving a niche for his business with rare books, prints and original architects' drawings."

Read this article.


Nashville Book Stores Celebrare Independence Day

"Davis-Kidd Booksellers and FlatSigned Press, Inc. of Nashville will celebrate Independence Day by jointly sponsoring a public viewing of an original 1776 printing of the United States Declaration of Independence."

Read this article.


June 29, 2007

Bibliophiles and Book Shops in Oakland, California

"All hail the independent book seller. The only thing stopping you -- other than getting your boss to give you some time off -- might be where to begin. Every neighborhood boasts at least one independently owned bookshop."

Read this article.


June 28, 2007

Independent Book Shops in Detroit, Michigan

"Before the Internet, before online retail discount giants like Amazon.com and before the rise of chain bookstores, independent booksellers could count on customers to spend hours browsing the shelves and walk out of the store with several tomes in hand."

Read this article.


June 21, 2007

Heritage Book Shop is Closing

"Ben Weinstein will rent an office in the Pacific Design Center and serve as a "book broker," or middleman for some of his old clients, looking for books to serve specific needs and interests rather than accumulating an inventory. Lou Weinstein, who was in Jamaica for a wedding last week, will retire and live in Arizona. The 12,000 reference texts that helped the brothers to assess rare books will go to UCLA's William Andrews Clark Memorial Library."

Read this article.


June 14, 2007

John Gibben's Tour of British Bookshops

"We were waylaid, after about 20 yards, by Piccadilly Rare Books, where I hoped there might be a special section devoted to the local luminary. The kindly gentleman at the counter didn't know of him, but he soon dug out of the stockroom The Poet in the Landscape, a collection of Young's prose from 1962."

Read this article.


April in Paris with Books

"What struck me on this return -- I stayed on the Place de la Sorbonne -- was the intellectual vitality of Paris. There are bookstores everywhere, stores dedicated to every imaginable literary specialty, so many you wonder how any bookseller makes a living. The best ones are the rare books shops, where a bell tinkles and an old gent in a chair nods as you enter. In one old medical bookstore near the Faculté de Mèdecine I leafed through accounts of anesthesia through the ages, learning about the relative merits of chloroform v. ether. Before that, they just held you down and cut you open."

Read this article.


June 11, 2007

Bookstore for Foodies Opens in Portland, Maine

"Foodies now have a book-filled haven in Portland, Maine. Samantha Hoyt Lindgren and her husband, Don Lindgren -- she is an editor turned pastry chef and he a former rare-book dealer -- have opened Rabelais at 86 Middle St. The shop, in a neighborhood known for its restaurants, sells new, used, and rare books for the wine connoisseur, serious cook, and armchair epicure."

Read this article.


Irish Novelist Michael Scott: Former Bookseller

"Michael Scott became a bookseller to support his mother and younger brother and sister -- 'I think I sold my first book when I was 21,' he said -- but he always found time to write."

Read this article.


June 07, 2007

New York's Strand Bookstore Turns 80

"The store was founded by Ben Bass on what was known as Book Row, which at the time housed 48 bookstores. Today it's run by Fred and Nancy Bass. When asked how the business changed over the past 80 years and if people are still as literary as they once were, Fred Bass answered:..."

Read this article.


June 04, 2007

Calcutta's College Street: A Mecca for Bibliophiles

"For generations of book-lovers in Calcutta, foraging through books in that mecca of the bibliophile, College Street, carries memories. Once College Street used to be one of the few haunts in the city for books, with Gol Park and Free School Street as alternative venues. "

Read this article.


Rare Book Dealer Rick Gekoski Featured in "The Hindu"

"By the next morning, Gekoski had sold it to a rich book collector (Bernie Taupin, Elton John’slong-time lyricist) for £9,000. The moment it had gone out of his hands he felt bad. He had wanted to keep it with him. In 1992, Gekoski traced the book and bought it back for £13,000. After owning itfor a short while, he sold it again to a book collector. In 2002, the book appeared at a Christie’ssale and sold for an astounding $264,000."

Read this article.


May 30, 2007

Rare Books in Garden City, Idaho

"Hmm, what is this? I met Jared and Amanda Patchin, owners of the just-opened Veritas Fine Books and Coffeehouse, 3500 Chinden Blvd. "

"...It's a used and rare bookstore that specializes in western American and Idaho history. "

Read this article.



May 28, 2007

Ken Saunders: Utah Book Cop

"One of the most notorious book thieves on record - John Charles Gilkey - was pursued for more than three years by book collector Ken Saunders."

"Saunders, owner of Ken Saunders Rare Books in Salt Lake City, is the honored bookseller at today's Gold Rush Book Fair at the Nevada County Fairgrounds."

Read this article.


May 25, 2007

Gotham Book Mart Auction in the "New York Post"

"The entire contents of the 87-year-old Gotham Book Mart - from rare first-edition John Updike novels to the worn-out oriental rug on the third floor - was sold en masse for $400,000 at a court-mandated auction. "

Read this article.


May 24, 2007

New York's Gotham Book Mart Closes its Doors

"The line outside the Gotham Book Mart in Midtown snaked down the block yesterday morning. Several dozen eager bargain hunters, book dealers, art collectors and former employees of the storied shop waited to bid on a piece of literary history."

Read this article.


May 21, 2007

New York's Strand Bookstore Featured in Kashmir Press

"Instead, as a premonition of what is to come, even the intersection of Broadway and 12th Street is liberally strewn with metal carts of $1- and 50-cent books. No beady-eyed staffers loiter about to make sure you don’t nip off with a crumbling paperback, so the conviction in individual honesty seems touching. On the other hand, if I had 18 miles of books, I’d probably have to lodge some of them on the street too. "

Read this article.


May 15, 2007

Halifax Bookseller Featured in "The Globe and Mail"

"HALIFAX — The door to Brian Purdy's basement apartment in Halifax's north end is more square than rectangular, a hatch entered ducking down."

"A few short steps land you in the middle of his living room, which doubles as his new bookstore, Back Alley Books, with its untreated wooden shelves stocked with vintage, collectible and signed works of literary fiction, art and non-fiction. They range from rare hardcover editions to what Purdy terms 'paperback originals.'"

Read this article.


May 14, 2007

Popek Booksellers of Binghamton, NY, Featured in Local Press

"One book in the collection, available for $3,000, is a first edition of a play written by Jack London. The Popeks spent three months researching it."

"'There was mention that he wrote it,' Michael Popek said, 'but there were no known copies available. That's when pricing books becomes difficult: There's no standard.'"

Read this article.


May 10, 2007

Naples, Florida: Hemingway's Granddaughter is a Bookseller

"She [Mina Hemingway] also wrote an introduction for a special printing of her grandfather's classic and The Old Man and the Sea, the sales of which benefit the Ocean Conservancy. This book is only available locally, and most conveniently at Mina Hemingway's Florida Book Store, which is located in the Pavilion Shopping Center at 857 Vanderbilt Beach Rd. That same address had already been a destination bookstore for over 20 years before Mina started her business there this past September."

Read this article.


Ithaca, New York: Memorial for Bookseller Larry Tucker

"Tucker had a passion for rare books, rock and folk music, and heavy drinking. While the varied group of Ithacans he befriended spoke of his wild side (e.g. bartending New Year's Eve at The Nines and buying junky used cars to drive down to New Orleans or to California on a lark), they equally expressed their admiration for his kindness.
'He never said a bad word about anyone,' said Julie Jordan, the former owner of the Cabbagetown Café.'"

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May 08, 2007

David Brass Rare Books Offers Edward Burne-Jones Tattooed Fat Lady Art

"On a trip to the Brighton Aquarium, Burne-Jones found himself gawping at her tattoos – particularly the version of Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper which covered the vast expanse of her back."

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May 07, 2007

"The Berkshires for Bookworms"

"Visiting both authors' homes provided a fascinating study in 19th-century class and society in America. Should you be headed to the Berkshires—for live music at Tanglewood, a Shakespeare performance, or rugged adventure in the mountains—consider stopping for a visit at the homes of these literary greats. Even if you're unfamiliar with their works (as was my traveling companion), you won't be disappointed."

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Yard Sale Book Finds

"Linda Steadman, owner of Too Many Books in Roanoke, says one of the strangest finds she remembers stumbling across in Roanoke was a rare book of witchcraft spells. She bought it for $1, sold it for a $150. 'It had the sticker of the Aleister Crowley bookshop in Jacksonville (Fla.) in it, and I’m from Jacksonville,' she said. Crowley was an infamous occult figure. 'It was very synchronistic.'"

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May 04, 2007

Wales: The Used-Book King on Hay on Wye

"Richard Booth turned a sleepy village on the Welsh border into a place where thousands of bibliophiles flock each year to mingle with authors, browse the shelves and celebrate the written word."

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April 27, 2007

Book Dealer Irwin Unger Featured in "San Mateo County Times"

"Ungar, 58, is a former rabbi who runs a rare-book-and-manuscript business out of his home office. He has devoted much of his energy over the past 20 years to collecting and promoting the work of Szyk, who fell into relative obscurity after his death in 1951."

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April 26, 2007

Rare Books in Maryland's Business Newspaper

"Some of the most attended events at this year’s Literary Festival included talks by ABC News political commentator Cokie Roberts and a talk by David Corn and Michael Isikoff, who co-wrote the book ‘Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War.

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April 24, 2007

El Paso Texas Bookstore to Shut its Doors

"Joseph Blackburn loves going on safaris in the Book Gallery, a used and rare bookstore in El Paso since the 1950s and now looking at closing down."

"The store is so popular among literary circles in El Paso and the United States that Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy, a longtime customer, still drops in sometimes."

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April 23, 2007

Michael Gruber's New Book Set in Antiquarian Book Shop

"Gruber's story revolves around the search for the most sought-after document in the world: a new play by William Shakespeare. In his own handwriting. To get an idea of how precious such a treasure would be, consider that for 400 years the entire Shakespeare industry has managed to find only six tiny samples of the playwright's handwriting: signatures (all misspelled) on a few legal documents. What would a Shakespeare scholar do to find an entire play in the Bard's hand? Whom would a criminal mastermind kill to steal it?"

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April 16, 2007

Vermont Antiquarian Book Fair featured in Burlington Press

"SOUTH BURLINGTON -- Whether they were there looking for a nautical map of Lake Champlain or an "exaggerated postcard," seekers of stories, notes, poems and announcements from years past had a day to dig through some of the state's biggest collections Sunday at the Vermont Antiquarian Spring Book Fair. "

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April 13, 2007

Book Sale at Smith College

"Sherwood said the auction this year will include two first editions by Mark Twain, a copy of "Knock on Any Door" signed by Humphrey Bogart, and a copy of the children's book "Where the Wild Things Are" signed by author Maurice Sendak."

"A rare book of poetry published in 1895 by American Indian E. Pauline Johnson will be auctioned, too."

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April 12, 2007

Rare Canadian Books to be Auctioned

"The library of the late Frank Streeter, an American collector who focused on acquiring vintage books about the European exploration and mapping of the New World, includes more than $1 million worth of coveted first editions published by Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec, pioneering Pacific navigator George Vancouver, and Alexander Mackenzie, the first person to complete a coast-to-coast crossing of Canada."

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April 11, 2007

Post Office Changes Affect Booksellers

"The United States Postal Service will change the way it ships internationally, causing problems for smaller independent booksellers, the New York Times reported. As of mid-May, goods will no longer be transported via cargo ships for individual customers."

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Antiquarian Book Auction in Germany

"Hamburg (kk) - Carrying an estimate of € 25 000, the important “Andeutungen über Landschaftsgärtnerei ...” by the brilliant landscape architect and garden designer Prince Hermann Pückler-Muskau is to go under the hammer at the Ketterer Kunst auction of Rare Books - Manuscripts - Autographs - Decorative Prints to be held at Meßberg 1, Hamburg, on May 21 & 22, 2007."

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April 09, 2007

Booksellers Lament Post Office Changes

"The post office said last month that as of mid-May, it would no longer transport goods internationally via cargo ships for individual customers. These so-called surface deliveries have been the crucial method by which booksellers have sold books to foreign markets because the cost is about one-third that of air ma