Book Scouting – North of the Border

 

We love Canada!  Twice over the past six months (in October and again in January) Ron and I headed up to the Niagara-on-the-Lake Region and further north into Hamilton and Toronto in search of used book inventory.

Our first destination was Niagara-on-the-Lake, a beautiful old town situated in the heart of wine country on the Niagara escarpment, on the shore of Lake Ontario where the Niagara River meets the Lake.

This area is famous for its elegant wineries, its theater (the Shaw Festival in particular), and its breathtaking year-round beauty.

With its cozy, walkable downtown, lovely old hotels, pubs, inns and storefronts,  horses & carriages lined up in front of the elegant Prince of Wales Hotel…you will swear you are in an old English village.

This is where we stayed, at Riverbend Inn & Winery, just outside the village on the Niagara Parkway.

 

 

One of the highlights of our October 2016 trip was attending the book sale at Trinity College, about an hour north of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Toronto.  It was our first time at this annual event.  It was held upstairs in Seeley Hall at 6 Hoskin Avenue.

This is one of the better college or university book sales we have attended, and is the largest of its kind in Toronto.  There were thousands of books on hand, organized into categories, with a separate rare and collectible room.

The building is a lovely old thing done in Jacobethan style. We found parking across the street.

 

The staff was knowledgeable and courteous — it was a pleasure to buy books here!

A few examples of the books we purchased at Trinity College:

Below: A Son of Austerity, by George Knight.  Published by McLeod & Allen, n.d.   Illustrated by Harrison Fisher.

Below:  The Mammoth Book of Thrillers, Ghosts and Mysteries (Parrish, J. M. and John R. Crossland, Editors) Odhams Press Ltd., London, 1936.  SOLD

Below:  Folk-Songs and Other Songs for Children, Jane Byrd Radcliffe-Whitehead, Editor.  Oliver Ditson Company, Boston, 1903.  Decorated American trade binding – cover design by F. G. Hale (Frank Gardner Hale 1876-1945).

Below:  On the Road to Bagdad, by Lieutenant Colonel Brereton (Blackie, London, circa 1920)

Below:   Record of Canadian Shipping –  A List of Square-Rigged Vessels, Mainly 500 Tons and Over, Built in the Eastern Provinces of British North America from the Year 1786 to 1920.  Frederick William Wallace.  Toronto: Musson Book Company, 1929.   First Edition, SIGNED and Limited, this being no. 402 of 1,000 copies.  Illustrated with photographs, paintings and drawings.

 

Meanwhile, back in Niagara-on-the-Lake, there was a nice little book signing going on at the local book store…Old Niagara Bookshop, located at 223 Regent Street.  They are purveyors of books both old and new!

Here we are with author Terry Belleville, and a copy of his book, Matters of Kindness – A collection of short stories, anecdotes and memories.

Thanks, Terry, for signing my book.

Later we paid a visit to Konzelmann Winery…one of the many beautiful wineries in the area that are making really excellent table wines, as well as the “ice wines” for which this region is famous.

A short drive away is the town of St. Catharines, Ontario, where we found a couple of interesting used & rare book stores.  The first one we visited was “The Write Bookshop” at 285 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines.

 

And here is one of the interesting books we found there…

Below:  The South African War, by Captain A. T. Mahan.  Peter Fenelon Collier & Son, NY, 1900.  Decorated American trade binding – cover designed by George Wharton Edwards (so stated on copyright page).  Eighteen full page illustrations in color; 34 full page black and white illustrations.

The second book store we visited was Hannelore Headley Old & Fine Books, at 71 Queen Street.  It looks small and humble on the outside, but geeze(!), they had some nice books.

Here is an example:

Below:  The Skyline Trail, by Mary Carolyn Davies.  Indianapolis: Bobbs Merrill, 1924.  Oregon Edition, Limited to one thousand copies, signed and numbered, of which this is number 770 (with author’s signature).  Decorated American trade binding – cream cloth boards with blue, black, cream and lavender mountain and wagon train scene on cover. SOLD

Below:  The Ship that Died of Shame & Other Stories, by Nicholas Monsarrat.  London: Cassell, 1959.  Stated First Edition in clean unclipped original dust jacket.

 

We had no trouble bringing a box of assorted wines and several boxes of books back across the border.  The trip was so enjoyable and successful that we went back in January of this year, and had another wonderful experience – which I’ll catch you up on in the next post.

.

More from the Great Book Town of Ann Arbor

The fourth bookstore we visited on July 12, 2016 in Ann Arbor.  Here I am in front of Motte & Bailey Booksellers in Ann Arbor, Michigan…

Motte & Bailey offers over 10,000 volumes of used and rare books in a spacious and well-organized store located at 212 N. Fourth Avenue.

“Motte & Bailey” is a type of medieval Norman castle, a wooden palisade rising on a mound of earth, found in many places in England, Wales, and Scotland…this name was chosen to reflect the specialty of the store’s inventory, books concerning all the various aspects of history.  But there are books from nearly all genres here, and all in lovely condition.   We found Gene Alloway manning the desk at the front of the book store; he has been active in the business since 1996.

With Gene Alloway, Proprietor of Motte & Bailey Booksellers, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Here is an example of a title we purchased at Motte & Bailey:

Two volume set of “Ramona” in a decorated binding (Little Brown, 1900) SOLD

I highly recommend a visit to this bookstore if you are in Ann Arbor — it was one of my favorites there.

The fifth book shop we visited in Ann Arbor was charming beyond belief.  I felt as if I had stumbled into a time machine and stepped into a bookshop on some old London street.

 

A wiry, spry man with pale gray hair and glasses greeted us as we came into the shop, in his crisp white shirt and a neatly tailored charcoal gray vest.  This turned out to be Richard Leahy, who takes charge of the night shift at the store.  You must envision him from my description, because he does not like his picture taken.   A shame, because he added so much to our visit at this store…but I guess you will just have to go there yourself (in the evening) if you want to experience the pleasure of meeting him.

By now it was about 6:00pm, and we were starving.  We were assured that the store would be open until 8:00pm, and asked Richard for advice on where to eat dinner nearby.  He directed us to an Italian restaurant just a few blocks away.  It was a delightful place called Gratzi.

Gratzi Restaurant, 326 S. Main St., Ann Arbor, MI

Gratzi had an excellent wine list and their food was fabulous.  You know how we usually take photos of what we are served in restaurants?  Especially when it is beautifully presented??  Well, we were so hungry we didn’t even pause for those photos this time!  Take it from me, the food and wine was top notch.

With full tummies, we walked back to West Side Book Shop, where Richard was waiting to assist us as we combed through their beautiful inventory.

Inside West Side Book shop, 113 West Liberty, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Here are a few of the items we spirited away from this book shop:

The Small Yacht by Edwin A. Boardman (Little Brown, 1923)

 

Star-Dust by Fannie Hurst (A. L. Burt, 1921)

 

The Spirit of the North (Cupples & Leon, 1935) – inscribed by author LeRoy W. Snell

Join us in the next post, we will be leaving Ann Arbor (sob!) and driving to East Lansing, Michigan.

More Great Book Stores – Ann Arbor, Michigan

You just never know who you’ll find sharing the aisles with you in a book shop.  Here I am in Dawn Treader Book Shop, where I found someone who has been around for a long time.  Much longer, even, than me!

In front of Dawn Treader Book Shop, located at 514 East Liberty Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

                   This book shop boasts over 70,000 titles and has been around for twenty-two years.

Owned by Bill Gilmore, we did not have the opportunity to meet him.  But the staff was helpful and knowledgeable.  Here I am with Mary Elizabeth Parker, who assisted us during our visit.

We had a grand time shopping in this spacious and friendly store which carries something for everyone, from fine literature to science, travel and exploration, science fiction, signed first editions, decorated bindings and much more.

Here is one example of a lovely decorated binding we purchased there…

A Checked Love Affair (First Edition, 1903, Dodd Mead) SOLD

And a lovely old Gene Stratton Porter novel in its original dust jacket…

The White Flag (First Edition, Doubleday Page, 1923) SOLD

 

Next, we headed over to Kaleidoscope Books, at 200 N. Fourth Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Here we found owner Jeffrey Pickell among his immense collections of books and memorabilia.  Plan to spend some time sifting through a lot of material here if you make a visit…

Jeff Pickell at work in his store, Kaleidoscope Books, Ann Arbor, Michigan

We found some very nice Modern Library editions in the store.  Here are a few examples…

 

All that hunting through books and paper makes one a little dry, so it was time for a thirst break.   So far, three book shop visits (see previous post) in Ann Arbor, all in one day…  and it’s Bloody Mary time!

We wandered into Bar Louie and found they served up a pretty good Bloody Mary!

Ron’s favorite part of our book scouting trips

I’ll be back soon, sharing more book scouting adventures in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

 

Awesome Antiquarian Books – Minneapolis

This may well be our favorite Twin Cities book shop, which we visited for the first time during our recent Minnesota trip!

James & Mary Laurie, Booksellers – 250 3rd Avenue North, Minneapolis, MN

We spent an entirely wonderful day here!

Their hours are 11-6 Monday through Saturday and by appointment.  Free parking available in a small lot on one side of the store (limited number of spaces), but also a big parking ramp nearby.

We found a nice space in the lot at opening time, around 11am.

With an inventory of over 120,000 books, our day was well occupied!

Here’s me, wondering where to start…

This beautiful and large street-level shop also houses more than 30,000 classical and jazz vinyl records, and a gallery of old prints and maps.

To say we were excited about the book selection here is an understatement, especially since there were many nice examples of our favorite specialty, decorated American trade bindings.  But of course there were thousands of interesting books in all genres, and they were in beautiful condition.  The shop is well organized and easy to browse, with pleasant surprises at every turn.

Here are just a few samples of some of the beautiful decorated bindings we found here:

James & Mary Laurie Booksellers was founded in 1969 (they were located for twenty years on the Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis before moving to this location).   We did not have the pleasure of meeting Mary, but Jim is a super guy, and was wonderful to us during our visit.

Here I am with Jim Laurie.  He’s a tall one!

After hours of perusing and purchasing books, we broke away for a little pick-me-up at Dunn Brothers Coffee, just around the corner.

Great smile, great coffee!

When we returned to the book shop, we were invited to descend to their warehouse area, where many more books are stored.  Come on along!

Here were many more thousands of books, stacked to the ceiling.  Good thing we had that coffee!!

We found several wonderful books down here as well, and added them to our purchases.

Can’t say enough good things about this book store — make sure you pay them a visit if you are ever in Minneapolis!

In the evening, we met my sister Karen and her husband Gene in Spring Park for a sunset cruise on her daughter and son-in-law’s boat.

The weather was perfect for a quiet evening on Lake Minnetonka

Perfect ending of another Minnesota-beautiful day.

 

 

 

Books in the ‘Burgh

If you ever get to Pittsburgh (a beautiful city, by the way), you won’t want to miss a visit to Caliban Book Shop.  This was our last book stop on our way home from our 2015 southern states book scouting trip, and it was a good one!

Caliban Book Shop, 410 S. Craig St., Pittsburgh, PA

Caliban Book Shop was founded in 1991 and is co-owned by John Schulman and Emily Hetzel.  John has been a full-time dealer in used and rare books since 1987.

John Schulman at Caliban Book Shop, Pittsburgh, PA

Located in the lovely Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, it is a brief stroll from the Carnegie Museum of Art, Carnegie Natural History Museum, Phipps Conservatory, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh.

Just a stone’s throw from the Carnegie Museum of Art…

Lots of readers here. No wonder they have so many great books!

The large open shop is neatly organized and fun to explore.  It contains some 40,000 titles covering just about every subject (they also have a nearby warehouse of close to 150,000 books).  Specialties include local history, fine arts, poetry, philosophy, Americana, literature, fine printings, and leather-bound books.

We purchased some lovely decorated American trade bindings…

The Great Salt Lake Trail, by Colonel Henry Inman and Colonel William F. Cody (NY: MacMillan, 1898) SOLD

Rip Van Winkle, by Washington Irving (G. P. Putnam, 1899) SOLD

(signed Margaret Armstrong binding)

Jack and Jill, by Louisa M. Alcott (Boston: Little Brown, 1920) Signed binding – AS – Amy Sacker)

with original dust jacket

They also had a nice selection of vintage mysteries and true crime, some in their original dust jackets. Here’s a sample…

The Murdered and the Missing- Authentic Case Histories from the Files of the Missing Persons Bureau. By Armstrong Livingston and Captain John G. Stein (NY: Stephen-Paul Publishers, 1947.) First Edition in dust jacket.   SOLD

The book was nicely inscribed by author John G. Stein

They had many lovely old vintage novels in excellent condition…

Her Father’s Daughter, by Gene Stratton Porter (Grosset & Dunlap EdItion, 1921)

It is a classic antiquarian book store in which you can spend hours browsing and making delightful discoveries.  There aren’t many book stores left anymore like this one…it is a gem.

After completing our book purchases, we crossed the street to have lunch at the Union Grill (thanks for the recommendation, John!)

The Union Grill, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

This place has marvelous food, fun atmosphere indoors, plus a small outdoor dining area where you can eat and people-watch.

Best fish sandwich to be found anywhere!

Excellent Rueben sandwich

And of course, our favorite…AWESOME Bloody Marys…

The Ghostbusters were lurking in the area, and I had to have my picture taken with them!

Ghostbusters!

The trip was a great success.  We are back home now, cataloging and selling books, rearranging the bookcases.  We safely traveled over 4,000 miles, and returned home with a quantity and quality of books for our inventory here at Old Scrolls Book Shop that made each mile worthwhile.  As always, we enjoyed meeting or re-connecting with our fellow antiquarian booksellers across the eastern and southern United States.

Soon we’ll be making a trip to the upper Midwest.   Stay tuned for our next book scouting adventure!

Books and More in Asheville, North Carolina

For us, going to Asheville, NC was all about books.  And let me assure you, they have terrific book stores stocked with amazing books.  But HOLY COW, what a fun city!!

One of the many fun and fine restaurants in Asheville. I think that is a Japanese Maple!

Sometimes referred to as “The Paris of the South,” this city is brimming with music, books, art and fine southern food and drink.    It is populated with welcoming, friendly citizens who are proud of their city.

Some of the fine people we met during our stay in Asheville…

Me and Kim Justus, an Asheville native. She is a Realtor for Coldwell Banker.

We met this fun couple (below) at dinner.  They told us that before they moved to Asheville, they used to travel a lot.  Now they don’t leave town much, because they are afraid they’ll miss something!

Great bookstores, cool restaurants, bars, fun-buses, galleries, and music venues, chocolate shops, breweries, ghost tours, and food tours.  The fun never stops in this giddy, pretty city.

The Amazing Pubcycle. YES, those are bicycle seats. a wicked-cool 13-person pedal powered (motor assisted) vehicle. Imagine riding your bike (sideways), hanging out at your favorite pub (on wheels), and touring the city!

A glimpse of the crazy purple LAZOOM bus.
Featuring bands & beer or comedy tours.

But let’s start at the beginning.  Our first stop was at The Captain’s Book Shelf, located at 31 Page Avenue in downtown Asheville.  I was immediately impressed with the angle parking on this street (I love angle parking!).  Bring lots of coins, though…there are parking meters, and you’ll want to hang out for a long time.

The Captain’s Bookshelf, Asheville, NC

In existence for 39 years, The Captain’s Bookshelf is an ABAA shop owned by Chan Gordon and his wife Meigan.   We have purchased from them before at book fairs.

This was our first visit to their store.  This shop is a  real treasure trove.  We were in book lover’s heaven as we happily spent hours browsing and buying here.

Chan Gordon at his desk (probably tallying up our bill!)

Stock include top quality literature high points, lovely decorated bindings, as well as obscure older titles not easily found.

Here is a sampling of fine books we purchased from this store:

In The Days of the Comet, by H. G. Wells (First U.S. Edition, October, 1906)

Green Fancy, by George Barr McCutcheon (1st Edition, Dodd Mead, 1917, SIGNED by author)

Blue-Grass and Rhododendron, by John Fox. Jr. (Scribner, 1901 First Edition) signed binding – Margaret Armstrong

Don Fernando, by W. Somerset Maugham. (William Heinemann, London, 1935, First Edition)

From the Housetops, by George Barr McCutcheon. (Dodd Mead, 1916, 1st Edition – SIGNED by author). Decorative Designer monogram on cover.    SOLD

Any direction we looked there were gorgeous collectible quality books here.

Definitely worth a trip for any serious book collector.

Our second stop was about a block away at Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, in the heart of Asheville at 1 Page Avenue.

Battery Park Book Exchange & Champagne Bar, Asheville, NC

This enchanting store houses over 22,000 books,  successfully blending two of life’s greatest pleasures…books and wine.  Enter and shop for books in what feels like a great, multi-storied living room, with a comfortable bar offering wine and mimosas, as well as coffee and locally made pastries.

Here we are outside the Battery Park Book Exchange

Let’s go inside…

Kyle, Manager at the Book Exchange

Kerstine, in her dream job

Mmmmm…blood orange mimosas!

Me, drinking a blood orange mimosa

Mr. Moose watches over all

Explore an amazing labyrinth of interesting books and cozy zones

 

 

 

 

 

Hours of fun…and we turned up some great books here too!

Here are just a couple of them…

Tomorrow Will Be Better, by Betty Smith (Heinemann, 1949, 1st British Edition) Inscribed and signed by author

A rare stated First Printing of Bambi, by Felix Saalten, illustrated by Kurt Wiese. (Simon & Schuster, 1928)

 

 

 

 

 

We said goodbye to the Book Exchange…

and HELLO to dinner at a great little restaurant called Seven Sows Bourbon & Larder (how could we resist that??).  Wonderful food, flights marvelous bourbon.

Seven Sows Bourbon & Larder, 77 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville, NC

Somebody looks happy…

The food was marvelous.  Hot buttermilk hushpuppies cooked to perfection, Eli’s “Blue Ribbon” Fish Sauce Wings, juicy pork chops.  Their menu here is ever-changing, with all menu items sourced seasonally and locally.  Highly recommended.

Eli’s “Blue Ribbon” Fish Sauce Wings

I’m not a pork chop fan, but Ron ordered this one and it was the best thing I’ve ever tasted!

After dinner, we walked around the town a bit, taking in the sights.  There is plenty to do in Asheville!

Outdoor bar at The Wicked Weed

Live music is a significant element of the tourist-based economy in Asheville, with numerous nightclubs and performance venues.  The City has a strong tradition of street performance and outdoor music and music festivals.

Musical line-up at The Orange Peel Social Aid & Pleasure Club

A dessert bus!!

There is so much to do in this City, I do believe you would have to live here to get to around to it all!

Here are a couple more book stores we did not make it to:

Downtown Books and News, 67 N. Lexington Ave. – A used book store that never closes (they are even open on holidays).  They have stayed open every day for 24 years!

Malaprops, 55 Haywood St. – a large general book store, stocking new books and regional writers.  Co-owners Emoke B’Racz and Linda Barrett Knopp celebrated their 30th anniversary in 2012.

The Thomas Wolfe House is also located in downtown Asheville, at 52 Market Street.  The famous American author Thomas Wolfe lived in the home during his boyhood, and it was the setting for his first novel, Look Homeward, Angel.

The Biltmore Estate, America’s largest and most magnificent home, is here in all it’s gilded age glory. The 8000-acre beautiful and grand estate built by George Vanderbilt in 1895 is a major tourist attraction.

Asheville is located in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains at the confluence of the Swannanoa River and the French Broad River.  The population was 83,393 according to the 2010 U.S. Census, with a population of 424,848 in the four-county Asheville metropolitan area.  It is home to University of North Carolina at Asheville and Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, with eight other colleges and universities in the surrounding area.

Next stop will be Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania!

 

 

Pennsylvania – Book Hunter’s Dream

A street view in York, PA

I love, LOVE, Pennsylvania.  Beautiful forested mountains, winding river valleys, lovely old towns steeped in history, houses built of stone.  Lower taxes  (in comparison to New York State, at least) making gas, food, lodging and just about everything else more affordable.  It is also terrific book scouting country…it seems to harbor just the kind of antiquarian books we like, and the York Book and Paper Fair is a great place to find lots of gems in one great location.

So we made the beautiful drive last weekend to the 2014 fair held in the charming city of  York on October 18.  From our home and book shop, York is about a four hour drive, most of it down beautiful Rte 15.  And, the date of the event coincided exactly with our wedding anniversary, so we drove down on Friday evening and made a weekend of it!

On our way down we stopped in Mansfield, PA for dinner at a delightful restaurant called Lamb’s Creek.

The York Book & Paper Fair is held at the beautiful Holiday Inn & Convention Center, 200 Loucks Road (Rte. 74 & US 30) in York, PA.  We arrived  at around 11:30pm.  Happily, they saved our room for us!

Main Lobby at Holiday Inn & Convention Center, York, PA

It’s a wonderful thing for booksellers and buyers who come from far away to be able to stay at the same location as the book fair — get up in the morning, have your coffee, and walk right in to the event!  It’s a lovely venue — the hotel has lounge and restaurant facilities on site, and the rooms are  reasonably priced.

Entrance to the York Book and Paper Fair – Holiday Inn, York, Pennsylvania

This sale is always well attended.  Dealers and buyers come from all over to buy and sell antiquarian books, ephemera, maps, vinyl, and more.

Some of our favorite book dealers are regulars at this fair, like Jean Gonzalez from Somewhere in Time Books (St. James, NY).  Jean always has a beautiful selection of signed first editions and collectible quality books in all genres.

Jean Gonzalez, Somewhere In Time Books, with Ron

Jean will be offering collectible Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books at the upcoming World Fantasy Convention which runs November 6-9, 2014 in Washington, D.C.  Find him in the “Dealers Room.”  For more information on this great event attended by SF and Fantasy fans from all over the world, click HERE.

A purchase we made from Jean at Somewhere in Time at the fair:

E. Christian Mattson (below) of Baltimore, Maryland, is always fun to talk to in his booth — he’s both knowledgeable and entertaining — AND he brings a terrific book selection.

E. Christian Mattson, Baltimore, Maryland

From him we purchased a tall stack of Landmark Series books, and this attractive decorated American trade binding:

Jesse Brubacher and his wife Sarah, of Jesse H. Brubacher Books (Stevens, PA) are among our top favorite book dealers.  They always offer the kind of books you are proud to own, always in fine condition (they had an especially nice variety of decorated American trade bindings).

Sarah Brubacher seated at their booth – York Book & Paper Fair 2014

Here are some of the books we purchased from the Brubachers:

Nice, huh??

Best of all, this is a pleasant and friendly fair!  People enjoy themselves;  there is excellent lighting, acoustics and space to move about in comfort, even when busy with buyers.   Best of all, there is a good variety of interesting and high quality stock.

We visited a book shop or two after the fair –and cracked open the champagne to celebrate our anniversary.  I’ll be back soon with the rest of story and a few more pics.

 

 

 

Minsky’s Magnificent Catalog

What could be more awe-inspiring to a lover of fine bindings than a magnificently produced book filled with eye-popping images and meticulous descriptions of beautiful books from America’s past? 

Yesterday we received our long-anticipated signed limited edition of American Trade Bindings with Native American Themes 1875-1933.  Richard Minsky has done it again, turning out another gorgeous catalog of American Trade Bindings.  All imaging, page design and binding artfully done by his skillful hands and his great eye for detail.

Every nuance about this book is beautiful, from the nubby texture of the green cloth on the dust jacket…

 

to the beveled edge around the design insert on the red cloth cover

 

and the beautiful gilt page edges…

The images leap from the page with a three-dimensional quality.

  Descriptions of the bindings include intricate details, explaining how certain effects were achieved by the artists.   Fascinating histories of the book artists lend importance to each example of their work, especially as some of these artists were Native Americans.

All of the books featured in this catalog were collected by Richard Minsky for his Native American Theme Exhibition held earlier this year at his gallery near Hudson, NY, and the end result is this beautiful production which has been years in the making.  You may remember that I did a blog on this Exhibition back in early April of this year.

Richard Minsky is a scholar of book binding, a book artist and founder of the Center for Book Arts in New York City.  He is also a warm, generous and witty man who is passionate about beautiful books and his work.  To learn more about Minsky, his book art, and his magnificent catalogs on decorated American trade bindings, click here.

We were most astounded and honored to be mentioned in his preface… 

and continue to be grateful that he has brought so much attention to the beautiful bindings of an American publishing era that should never be forgotten. 

This catalog, along with his others, will remain treasured through the ages.

If you are interested in decorated American trade bindings being offered for sale here at Old Scrolls Book Shop, click HERE.

Richard Minsky’s Native American Theme Exhibition

On Saturday, March 29, 2014 we were back on the road again, this time to attend Richard Minsky’s latest exhibition, Trade Bindings with Native American Themes 1875-1933.   The exhibition was held at his home and gallery in Hudson, New York, and coincides with the upcoming publication of his latest exquisite catalog of this book collection.

There is much to grab your attention upon entering, even before you get to the book gallery.

 

In the book gallery at Richard Minsky’s. Facing us in the center of photo, woman in blue jacket at end of glass case is Janet Steins of the Tozzer Library of Anthropology at Harvard.

This was the first “subject” theme exhibition in Minsky’s series covering the Golden Age of publisher’s bindings.  It features beautiful decorative and pictorial cover designs incorporating Native American themes which were created by artists such as Margaret Armstrong, Frank Hazenplug, Rome K. Richardson, George W. Hood, The Decorative Designers, and many others.

 

“The Indians’ Book”
The design of Richard Minsky’s latest catalog is based on this book’s cover. Original was an unsigned cover design, likely by Angel de Cora ((Hinook Mahiwi Kilinaka, Winnebago) Harper and Brothers, 1907

Richard Minsky, his lovely and talented life partner Barbara, and my husband Ron sharing a laugh

Richard’s exhibitions are well attended by a wide range of delightful and interesting book people, including rare book librarians from large universities, authors, book collectors, friends and bibliophiles…and a select few rare book dealers who he purchases his stock from!!

Richard Minsky (left); Rebecca Rego Barry, Editor of Fine Books Magazine and husband Brett (center)… and me

Ina Saltz, art director, designer, author, and Professor of Art at The City College of New York

There are so many fascinating conversations going on, you have to keep moving to take it all in…

Richard and Barbara are excellent hosts, and they make sure a good time is had by all…

Richard talking with Joan K. Davidson (wearing red), President of Furthermore grants in publishing and former Chairman of the NY State Council on the Arts.

Here is part of the workshop in the gallery where Richard does his fine book binding…

Can’t wait to have our copy of the catalog in our hands!  For information on obtaining your own personal copy of Richard Minsky’s  Trade Bindings with Native American Themes 1875-1933 click HERE.  

 

 

 

2013 Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair

41st Annual Rochester Antiquarian Book Fair –  Main Street Armory, Rochester, NY

On Saturday, September 7, 2013, we came as buyers to the 41st Annual Rochester, NY Antiquarian Book Fair.  Although we are members of the Rochester Area Booksellers Association, we did not exhibit.  We caught some flack for not participating as sellers(!) — our excuse is that we can never quite pull it together to exhibit at book fairs, as we seem to have so much on our plate, particularly in Autumn when this fair occurs.  When I retire from my college job, we will be there!  Honestly, it was a terrific book fair this year and I was wishing we had a booth.

This year the fair moved from it’s usual location at the Monroe County Fair grounds to the beautiful and historic Main Street Armory, across from the Auditorium Theatre.  Forty-seven book dealers from eleven states and Canada came together to display their books.

There was a good crowd of book browsers and buyers the whole day.  We browsed, bought and visited for over four hours; the parking area was full when we arrived a little before noon, nearly every book dealer seemed busy with customers, and people were still coming in as we left at about 4:15pm.

We liked the new venue, and other seemed to like it, too — it was spacious, yet more library-like and an appropriate setting for beautiful old books.

Booksellers offered a nice variety of books in all genres, maps, prints and other book related items.

Jonathan Smalter, Vice President, IOBA and owner of Yesterday’s Muse Books in Webster, NY with
fiancee Kristine Rinebold.  The wedding is next June — congratulations to a really nice couple!

A lovely little set of Shakespeare’s works in its original box – offered by Jonathan Smalter of Yesterday’s Muse

John and Douglas Westerberg of Yankee Peddler Bookshop – Sodus Point, NY

Here are a few of the beautiful books we purchased at the Fair:

The Little Tea Book, by Arthur Gray (NY: The Baker and Taylor Co., 1903)

Frontispiece from “The Little Tea Book”

Japanese Art, by Sadakichi Hartmann. (Boston: L. C. Page & Co., 1907). Binding design by Amy Richards.

Frontispiece in “Japanese Art”

Wigwam Stories, by Mary Catherine Judd. (Boston: Ginn & Co., 1908) ALREADY SOLD.

Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven, by Mark Twain. First Edition. (NY: Harper & Brothers, 1909.)

Frontispiece from “Extract from Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven.”

We had a great time at the Fair, purchased some beautiful books, and enjoyed talking with our fellow booksellers.  See you at the Fair next year!