We zipped on up to Jackson and were rather dismayed at how empty it was. There were no cars parked on the street or in any parking lots after 5 p.m., the crime rate is too high. The downtown has been severely "malled", but we went into a bar in a 1920s hotel and the bartender, a young man from a nearby college, told us they are trying to bring it back. The town was pretty grim, but had some fantastic historic architecture. We did find Eudora Welty's house, surrounded by lovely camellia bushes. We also found Choctaw Books. Unfortunately we arrived Saturday evening late and he was just closing. We were going to go on to New Orleans Sunday, but decided to stay over and go to his store Monday morning. And we were glad we did!
First and foremost, Fred Smith, the owner of the store was cheerful, helpful, knowledgeable, and seemed to actually like us and want to help us find things. No mean feat in this store which is packed, crammed, jammed, and stuffed with books on almost any subject you can name. It is floor to ceiling cases, with aisle piles and boxes and overflowing nooks and crannies. Fred told us that one lady had lost a $600 pair of glasses in the store but they had never been found.
He has rare and used books and a fine selection of firsts, signed books by southern authors, Civil War books, southern history, and regional stuff. There is quite a collection of Eudora Welty and scads of ephemera poked into shelves here and there. If you are looking for something specific in the southern genre, give him a call at 601-352-2614. It would take two weeks to actually dig around and find all the terrific things he has stashed away, but he knows pretty much where everything is. It is loosely arranged by subject, but you might want to quickly scan all subjects anyway, since I found a couple of fabulous books hiding in the wrong place. I ended up with a whole box of books with a nice discount, and, bless his heart, Fred offered not only to mail the books I bought from him, but all the books we had accumulated over the past week. That's a huge help when you are on the road and can't carry packing materials.
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
