This is going to be a short Sunday Salon post this morning, as some friends and I will be leaving soon for the Michigan Antiquarian Book and Paper Show. It is held twice a year and it claims to be Michigan's largest book and paper show. I actually haven't purchased anything there in about 3 years as it seems the authors that I am looking for (basically the ones that are no longer being printed) are rather obscure and nobody ever seems to have heard of them (2 in particular are May Sarton and Louise Dickinson Rich). Hopefully this time around I'll find something!
As for reading, it's been one of those weeks where I've been lucky if I've had 15 minutes to sit down to read at all. I've just about finished The Somnambulist, which is still proving to be a fun read. I'm also working on Irish Tales and Sagas by Ulick O'Connor, a book that my mom brought me back from Ireland 20ish years ago, and that I pull down and read every couple of years. I take it one story at a time so that I can spread it out a little. I'm hoping that when I get home, I can sit down and finish up The Somnambulist.
I'll post again when I get back from the book show.
Happy Sunday everyone!
**edit**
I just got home from the Book and Paper Show, and yet again, no luck. For those wondering, the Book and Paper Show consists of anything made of paper that can be considered "antique": books, magazines, newspapers, postcards, stamps, posters, maps, etc. They usually hold one in the spring and one in the fall, and the last couple of years we've noticed that there has been a decided shift to more "paper" offerings than books. This time I would say that close to half the vendors were of the paper variety.
The authors that I am looking for still seem to be too elusive for around here. The two that I am most interested in finding, May Saron and Louise Dickinson Rich, are both from Maine, so I have a feeling that if I were ever to find the equivalent type of book show out in the New England area I would have better luck. With May Sarton, I have most of what she has written (see my LT catalog) but her earlier books of poetry seem to be rather rare and are hard to find. Most of what she has written is still in print, but I'm trying to get most of her library as first editions. Conveniently, eBay has proven fruitful in helping me track down her books. As for Louise Dickinson Rich, eBay may prove as helpful, but as I just started trying to track down her books (on a suggestion from my aunt, who says I will love them) I haven't searched quite as earnestly, to be honest.
It's truthfully been a couple of years since I found anything at the Book and Paper Show. I go each time, because you never know, that could be the show that I find something! The spring show next year will actually be on my birthday, so I have high hopes that the fates will smile on me that day. My roomie found a first edition, signed copy of Anne Rice's Blood Canticle and my other friend found a quaint little copy of a Louisa May Alcott book, so all was good for them.
Not all was a waste for me though, as my friends and I decided to have a little lunch and, since the day was so nice, wander over to 2 of our favorite used book shops. The first was closed (possibly to be at the Book and Paper Show) but the other was open, and I found Raymond Feist's Faerie Tale on the $1 table. We then stopped over to the "other" B&N (we've got one right across the street from my apartment, which is "our" B&N, therefore the one on the other side of town is the "other" B&N) and found the second volume in Bill Willingham's Fables series of graphic novels, as well as a loverly edition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, with the classic illustrations by Gustave Doré. This is the third such volume that I've found at B&N of a classic with the accompanying Doré illustrations (the first two being Milton's Paradise Lost and Dante's Divine Comedy). Gustave Doré was a 19th century French engraver who, in my opinion, has created some of the most amazing engravings in history, and that someone is publishing works with his accompanying illustrations is pure genius, as far as I'm concerned.
Now I think I'm going to take The Somnambulist and sit in the park and read for awhile and then I shall come back and catch up on some of the Salon for the day.
**edit 2**
Wow! What an extraordinarily long and rambling previous edit...
10 comments:
I love the idea of a paper show. What exactly does that involve? I have this vision of mounds of beautifully produced paper of various types, colours and thickness. If that is the case then I would be penniless within seconds of walking in. I love paper.
Yes, do please post again later on and talk about this Book and Paper Show.
Good luck with your search for those 2 authors!!! I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
You might have some luck looking for those books here: http://www.choosebooks.com/ . I haven't used it myself but I've heard from other people who have that it's a very good source for rare/otp books.
I posted a little bit more about the Paper Show in my blog entry, but to condense: The show is held at our local convention center, and it takes up an entire HUGE room. Basically, you can find any number of antique books of any nature and condition, and anything that is made of paper and that is considered an antique: postcards (the most popular), magazines, newspapers, stamps, posters, prints, maps, etc.
Over the years it has steadily decreased in size; not so much vendors, though they have shrunk in number, but more in what they carry. Maybe we've just become too selective in what we buy anymore, but it just seems that show after show, we are less and less impressed by it. That certainly doesn't stop us from attending, though!
And to shereadsbooks - thanks for the recommend on that website. I think I may have found a favorite stop when I'm looking for OOP books.
Thanks for the explanation. I think I'm a rather disappointed. Wonderful to find another Sarton fan. I discovered her books in a wonderful bookshop that used to exist in the Charing Cross Rd called The Silver Moon years ago and have bought as many as I could find, but especially her journals.
It is a treat to find another fan of May Sarton! So few people know who she is. I enjoy her journals as well (my favorite is Journal of a Solitude) and my favorite novel is A Reckoning, which was my introduction to her writing.
And it is on my list of things to do before I die to see Charing Cross Rd. (simply because of Helene Hanff's stories).
We really do share the same enthusiasms. 'Journal of a Solitude is my favourite as well. It was the first I read and came to me at a time when I needed to learn the lessons that she was learning as she lived through that year. And as for Helene Hanff. I simply love her. Just to be in the presence of another reader is wonderful. Whenever I need 'comfort food' I go straight to '84 Charing Cross Road'.
Table Talk, it's like I've found a long lost friend! "84, Charing Cross Road" is at the top of my "feel good" books, along with Fannie Flagg's "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe" and both of Patrick Dennis' "Mame" books. I'm pretty sure I read each of these four books at least once a year.
"Journal of a Solitude" is such a powerful book. I frequently re-read many of Sarton's books, but I feel that I return to "Journal" more frequently than some of the others. It still has so much to say, even after all these readings.
I'm definitely with you on the 'Fried Green Tomatoes' front, but haven't read Dennis's work. Is this what the musical was based on? Anyway, I'm off to look for them now. I sort of get the feeling that if you ike them I'm going to as well!
The musical is based on Dennis' books. It follows the first book, "Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade," and the second book, "Around the World with Auntie Mame" is just as good. I think these are some of the funniest books I've read in a long time. I hope you enjoy them!
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