Rare Book Monthly

Articles - May - 2019 Issue

Waite, Waite Don’t Tell Me

John Waite

John Waite

Recently, the somber news was quick to come out; John Waite was dead.  There are, to many people but not to me, awareness that the name John Waite is shared by more than one person in my data feed and so I assumed it was John Waite, the book seller, who was said to have passed away.  Then low and behold it turned out that the passing was of John Waite, the singer best known for Missing You and once the lead singer for the band Bad English, who had been hoaxed and restored quicker than good Friday could become sorry Saturday.  Hoorah.

 

This did not stop me from noticing the first bit of news, but not the later update, and I made plans to write about the life of John Waite, the Ascutney, Vermont ABAA member, the appraiser and broker of books, manuscripts and ephemera.

 

I then began to search online for references and could find nothing mentioning the mortal coil.  I then called his listed number, hoping to receive the recording “ the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated” but expecting a somber voice.

 

Well, John picked up and he sounds, in the words of the trade, fine to very fine and shared with me that in a prior life as a bartender at a New York club well known as a watering hole for rock & roll cognoscenti, the club manager had once brought the other John Waite to the bar and said, “I’d like to introduce John Waite to John Waite.”

 

They have now gone on to greater things and the best news is, they both have miles to go before they sleep.

Rare Book Monthly

  • 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 .
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    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.
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    Rare Books, Catalogs, Magazines
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    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

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