Treasure Discovered at Rare Book Round-Up April 26, 2010

The L.A. Times Festival of Books yielded a bonanza for the woman who came to the Southern California Chapter of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America’s Rare Book Round-Up booth for a free appraisal. A book the woman bought for a dollar at a garage sale was worth $6,000. Suffice it to say, she plotzed when informed. A metaphysical ambulance is routinely parked nearby to handle such situations. Treated for acute swoon, she recovered fully…

Collecting Nurse Jackie’s Patron Saint: The Urtext of Memoirs April 19, 2010

Suddenly, It’s St. Augustine! That exclamation is neither a message from the Florida Board of Tourism nor the title of a wacky, new sit-com about a talking St. Bernard with identity issues. It is, rather, notice that recently, within the space of three days, I was struck by a cluster of references to the man who wrote the first memoir extant, the father of all autobiographies, St. Augustine, Bishop of Hippo. First, I’m skimming through…

Viva Las Vegas! Bauman Rare Books Needs Your Help April 16, 2010

Bauman Rare Books – Las Vegas Are the dice of life rolling snake eyes? Are you tired of your ho-hum job? Are you ready for adventure? Consider a job in the exciting, fast-paced and fabulous world of rare book selling in Las Vegas, where you’ll deal in the rarest of the rare while lounging at poolside, daquiri in hand while nubile maidens with pulchritude a’plenty fan you with palm fronds and keep that cocktail fresh…

Yoko Ono Collects Rare Books: The Book Patrol Interview April 15, 2010

I had lunch with Yoko Ono during the 2010 New York Antiquarian Book Fair. That’s a sentence I figured I’d have about as much chance of writing as, “I accept the nomination of my party for President of the United States,” but with less probability of actual realization. At the Fair on Saturday, I noticed Yoko Ono quietly walking the aisles. I thought, I must talk to her about rare books. And immediately I thought,…

The World’s Most Expensive Inexpensive Bible April 14, 2010

Our friend, Maurice Earp, bookslinger at Blackwell Rare Books in the U.K., enjoys sending reports of bizarrely priced books found on Advanced Book Exchange (ABE). I love receiving them yet I never know whether to laugh, cry, or call the book police. This is a job for Tombstone’s favorite sheriff, Wyatt Earp, with whom Maurice shares nothing but surname and sharp aim. Today’s episode of Have You Lost Your Mind? concerns the the large-print edition…

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