Since 1992 when we opened our first shop, Wessel & Lieberman have been ardent supporters of the Pacific Northwest book art scene.We consistently go out of our way to make sure local printers, binders, book artists and publishers have a forum and a space to show and sell their work. It is our duty as an independent bookseller to exude a strong sense of place. It is what separates us from the chain stores and the online aggregators whose only real concerns are the wrong kind of margins- profit not page.I got news a few days ago that C. Christopher...
It comes in 3’s- 3 Literary misfortunes
In the last couple weeks the literary world suffered 3 unfortunate, sometimes violent events.1. Three intruders broke into Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer's home in South Africa assaulted her, locked her in a storeroom and stole cash and jewelry.2. Vandals desecrated the grave of Nobel Prize winner Boris Pasternak, covering it in wreathes then setting it on fire.Lastly, and luckily not as severe unless of course you are the museum's archivist, the 3rd misfortune and hopefully the one that ends the bad literary juju.3. The owner of Alex Haley's original manuscript for "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" is suing a...
Eric Carle 70 Books and Counting
If you are a late baby boomer or a baby boomer with kids there is a good chance you have either read or been read a children's book illustrated by Eric Carle.For me it was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967, his first illustrated book) which was in heavy rotation when my daughter was about a year old.The Tacoma Art Museum is having an exhibit of his work through January 21, 2007If you are driving up to Seattle or down to Portland or beyond it might be worth a quick pit stop in Tacoma.Beside his stature as...
Extra Shipping Charges – My 2 cents
Oh wait that should be 4 cents!The hot topic in the used book blogosphere is whether or not it is appropriate for a bookseller to contact a customer after a sale is completed to request additional monies for shipping.I would start with looking at the Bookseller & Payment Information link for the seller, (this is what it is called on ABE but each sales channel has it's own version)This is what we say:Shipping Terms: Orders usually ship within 2 business days. Shipping costs are based on books weighing 2.2 LB, or 1 KG. If your book order is heavy or...
Guild of Bookworkers 100th Anniversary Exhibit
In honor of the Guild of Bookmakers 100th anniversary Book Patrol will regularly feature one book from the Contemporary Exhibition of Juried Works and one book from the Retrospective Exhibition.The exhibit is currently on display at the Grolier Club in NY and will travel around the country in 2007.Our first installment features two of Seattle's own book artists. Bonnie Thompson Norman's "Primer for Democracy", a fitting post election piece, and Claudia Cohen's beautiful binding of Rudolf Koch's Schriftgiesserei im Schattenbild, 1936 A Primer for Democracy: Seattle, 2004. 8 x 8 x 8 centimeters. was created in a class just before...