While so much energy is focused on the present or future state of bookselling little goes toward the much more vital issue of who is going to buy our books.
The non-new book community calls this species book collectors while the new book community calls them readers. Though this post focuses on the antiquarian slant it is not a far reach to substitute ‘reader’ for ‘collector’. This is a pressing issue for anyone who sells any type of book.
Bruce McKinney of Americana Exchange took a film crew and headed to the Bay Area to talk with four preeminent booksellers. The topic: “Where is the new collector?” The four booksellers have over 100 years of combined bookselling experience and between them they have handled some of the most coveted books of our time. This is Bookseller TV!
The Booksellers are:
John Crichton of The Brick Row Book Shop
Jeffrey Thomas
John Windle
Michael Good
The video interviews are two-tiered. First you get a nice overview of each booksellers career and business and then you get their take on the topic at hand.
We need to tip our hat to Americana Exchange for doing this. I do believe; however, that this sort of visual archive needs to be created and maintained by the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and not by a private for profit company. This type of content is unique and invaluable and will be of much use to future generations of book lovers and booksellers.
That’s enough about the future book collector. Since we are already talking about San Francisco and books here is some news for the current book collectors. We are less than two weeks away from the mother of all book fairs; The ABAA’s 40th California Antiquarian Book Fair which will be held in San Francisco from February 16-18. Over 200 of the world’s greatest booksellers will be there. You are guaranteed to see the best books available on the private market today. Whether it is the first edition of you favorite book as a kid, or you favorite book from college or your favorite book of the last ten years chances are the original edition will be on display in San Francisco.
If you love books and you are in the Bay Area or are planning to be in the Bay Area that weekend do yourself a favor and go to the fair. It will be a peak experience.
If you can’t make it and want a taste of what goes on there is the documentary Bibliomania that was filmed at the same book fair a few years ago and is available through the ABAA.