On the crowded planes fired from distant places, rifle shots of people determined to have fun and heading for the Las Vegas bulls eye - McCarran Airport, are warming up in expectation of becoming overheated once they reach the strip. The flights are the dead spot that precedes the hoped for euphoria. Whether the draw is the gambling, the girls or adventure, everyone has a reason for going, an objective. Even the prissy sorts that will soon parade their “I’m not doing this or that” are part of the tapestry. Howard Hughes, it turns out, had a good eye for depravity and we, today’s recruits, will spill our credit cards in obeisance whether we gamble or not. We are heading into an America with its hair down.
So it was recently that I visited Vegas, the trip the prize for my wife reaching a signal level of years. Her wish was to bring in our families for a memorable long weekend and two weeks ago we did just that.
As a person good with numbers the probabilities for me outweighed the possibilities so I used my free time to visit old and rare book dealers. What I found were three companies working their opportunities, each in different ways.
I first visited Bauman Rare Books, the Philadelphia based upscale booksellers with locations on the upper east side in Manhattan and on the strip in Las Vegas at the Gallery – The Shoppes at the Palazzo. Their facility here is serious, the shelves lined with the visually appealing as well as the historically significant. The presentation is very “A” scale and the audience, more often than not, the well-to-do cardiologist, psychiatrist, broadcast anchor, businessman or movie star. They are located at 3327 Las Vegas Boulevard, Suite 2856 and keep open-every-day Vegas hours, that is open 5 days a week from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm and on Friday and Saturdays 10:00 am to midnight. The audience tends to change dramatically from week to week and so inventory is airlifted in to put a first of Common Sense in front of lawyers, Freud’s firsts in front of psychiatrists, and rare cookbooks in front of chefs. It is altogether a smart way to sell books, customizing the inventory and making it visible along the route that the world’s talent takes in its circumnavigations of the Las Vegas bubble.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Ellis Smith Prints unsigned. 20” by 16”.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: United typothetae of America presidents. Pictures of 37 UTA presidents 46th annual convention United typothetae of America Cincinnati 1932.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec signed Paper Impressionism Art Prints. MayMilton 9 1/2” by 13” Reine de Joie 9 1/2” by 13”.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Aberle’ Ballet editions. 108th triumph, American season spring and summer 1944.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Puss ‘n Boots. 1994 Charles Perrult All four are signed by Andreas Deja
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Specimen book of type faces. Job composition department, Philadelphia gazette publishing company .
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: An exhibit of printed books, Bridwell library.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur Court By Mark Twain 1889.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 1963 Philadelphia Eagles official program.
High Bids Win Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines and Machine Manuals December 24 to January 9
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: 8 - Esquire the magazine for men 1954.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: The American printer, July 1910.
High Bids Win, Dec. 24 – Jan. 9: Leaves of grass 1855 by Walt Whitman.
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: William Shakespeare. The Poems and Sonnets of William Shakespeare, 1960. 7,210 USD
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. A Christmas Carol, First Edition, 1843. 17,500 USD
Sotheby’s: William Golding. Lord of the Flies, First Edition, 1954. 5,400 USD
Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Lewis Carroll. Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, Inscribed First Edition, 1872. 25,000 USD
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Hobbit, First Edition, 1937. 12,000 USD
Sotheby’s: John Milton. Paradise Lost, 1759. 5,400 USD
