Rare Book Monthly

Articles - October - 2008 Issue

Fifteenth Annual Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair

Jim Kay, Director of the Sacramento Book Fair, assists a customer.

Jim Kay, Director of the Sacramento Book Fair, assists a customer.


By Karen Wright

Our big Chevy Suburban was loaded down with twenty boxes of really cool books, eight collapsible bookshelves (whoever invented them deserves a big kiss), and all the falderal one could need to survive a book fair. A quick stop at Starbucks for a passion lemonade and lemon scones, and we were off and running to the Fifteenth Annual Central Valley Antiquarian Book Fair in Sacramento on September 20. We are very fortunate in that we have a very good friend who lives just a couple of miles from the fair so, for once, we didn't have to pay for a motel.

One of the fun things about going to book fairs is that you never know what or who you might run into. I was book-snooping along down the aisles after we got our booth assembled Friday afternoon, to see who was selling what and for how much. I came upon a booth called the Barque Jane Avila. Well, being a former square-rigger sailor, and a barque being a type of old square-rigged sailing ship, I thought maybe I might find a great book to add to my husband's maritime collection. I walked up to the pretty blonde women who seemed to be the dealer and said: "Hey, where did you get that name?" She looked at me, cocked her head quizzically and said: "I used to be a square-rigger sailor..." and before she could finish the sentence, we both grinned ear-to-ear and realized that we both used to sail on the same ship - The Elissa out of Galveston - and that we were friends who hadn't seen each other in about twenty years. Then it was hugs time and we both had to zip back to our booths so she could say hello to my husband, better known as "The Captain." It was a fun reunion. Jayne only does the Sacramento Fair each year, and also sells antiques and things at other shows. She, like we, has retired from sailing and is now in El Sobrante, not far from Lori Hughes, our friend the Cookbook Lady, who had a booth just around the corner.

I also located Chris Volk from Bookfever.com. She and her partner, Shep Iiams, sell books online from El Sobrante. Chris was at the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar and was the faculty member that taught the class on accounting and online selling. She is a board member of IOBA and has convinced me that I should join. If you sell online, you might want to look into it, www.ioba.org (Independent Online Booksellers Association).

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 .
    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

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