Display table at Wessel & Lieberman that holds many of the 21 New(er) Books We LikeFor those who follow Book Patrol you've heard this song before. For a bookshop to survive in today's rapidly changing landscape one must take a more integrated, holistic approach to bookselling. The days of being able to survive selling just new books, or to a lesser extent used books, are just about up. The current seismic tremors in the publishing world coupled with the new and emerging modes of content delivery just might be the straw that breaks the traditional bookstore's back.Here in Seattle, in...
Required Viewing
Recently, CBS Sunday Morning gave us 6 minutes of Bibliomania at it's finest with this report from Paris.It begins with a trip to the apartment of a self-professed bibliomaniac. This guy is first ballot.Then we get some time with the dynamic duo of John Baxter and Martin Stone.Baxter gives us a little evolutionary history of one type of collector; the modern firsts collector - how one goes from simply a reader - to hardcover first edition- to a signed copy - to advanced proofs. As Baxter says in his 2003 book chronicling his biblio-escapades, A Pound of Paper: Confessions of...
Only in Dubai : The Burj Dubai Opus
Note: The image that originally appeared in this post has been removed at the request of Mission Media, the public relations firm for Burj Dubai. Apparently it was leaked and "not approved" by the powers that be.*****************************When the Burj Dubai opens early next year it will it be the world's tallest building.In the lobby will be a copy of what has to be the world's tallest book.The 'Burj Dubai Opus' stands 15 feet tall.Emaar Properties, the developers of the Burj Dubai, have hired luxury publisher Kraken Opus to produce the book. The book will contain plans of the design and...
Cindy Sherman’s Librarian
Cindy Sherman, "Untitled Film Still #13"Gelatin silver print. 20" x 16"1978The image is part of Sherman's seminal "Film Still" series. The series consists of 69 images featuring the photographer in a variety of "womanly" roles.Last month at Christie's this image of Sherman playing librarian fetched $905,000, three times the pre-sale estimate.For a little perspective - in 1995, the Museum of Modern Art acquired a complete set of the "Film Stills" for $1 million.Granted this particular print is unique in that it was the only one of the series produced in this size, making it very desirable to the collector, but...
The Future of Book Fairs: A Report from Santa Monica
[First, a note to self: Don't come up with any more crazy ideas about trying to do a book fair AND do something else - like, oh I don't know, post pictures and updates from the fair. Not a good idea. You will have neither the time nor the energy.]Last weekend's Santa Monica Book Fair has me - and many other dealers - thinking about the future of smaller regional fairs. The event itself was well-run and organized, and with over eighty dealers exhibiting from around the country was a sell-out. From that angle, the show was a success.Among the...