If the rare book room is the pearl, the rest of the material in the 5-day sale, which begins on July 12th and ends on the 16th, is the oyster and the show planners know that oysters go bad. So they run the sale this way. On day 1, Saturday, it costs $10 to get in between 9:00 and 11:59 am. At noon the price of admission drops to $5.00. From Sunday on admission is free. On Monday every book [outside of the rare book room] is reduced by 50% so a dollar book goes to .50 cents and so on. On Tuesday, you can ignore all previous pricing. Fill a good sized shopping bag to the tippy-top for $5.00. On Wednesday everything outside the rare book room that remains is free. This allows for every level of bargain hunter to find their personal nirvana.
At some point, by bargain and negotiation, the contents of the rare book room will also empty out. The "Friends of the Library" will raise approximately $80,000 and redistribute one eighth of a million printed items to new owners. The community will draw together. Reports of attendance and sales will propel both the crowd and the volunteers. Fatigue will give way to exhilaration as the fair draws to a conclusion and talk seamlessly slips into the future tense. "I think next year we should...."
And so an important community event will continue, more people will mark their calendars, as this sale ends first books for the 2009 fair will arrive, and as certain as the Hudson flows south, the sun rises in the east, and rain falls from the sky, come next July the book fair which this year is No. 33 will be 34.
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
