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The bookplate Mosher used in books from his personal library was designed in 1897 by Frank R. Rathbun of Auburn, New York, with the designer’s monogram of an “F” with two “R’s” mirror imaged on either side. The bookplate was part of an exhibit (entry 1371) of bookplates from the Club of Odd Volumes held at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1898. Mosher’s bookplate is described as “emblematical pictorial” in the Burnham collection. The original plate was photo-mechanically

Thanks for granting this interview Philip, on top of the considerable time you spent on the Mosher fine bindings article that also appears in this issue. Tell us a little about your life BB (before bookselling). There was little in the way of books in my childhood unless you count Reader’s Digest condensed books and a couple cheap encyclopedias and some bibles. Assigned books from the library and a few paperbacks of my own choosing, especially those written by Taylor Caldwell

Table of Contents Foreword What Should Amazon Do with AbeBooks? Problems with Amazon as an Antiquarian Seller Site What Is Wrong With Today’s Amazon? A Bookseller’s Tasha Tudor Remembrance Robert Fisher of Echo Letterpress An Open Letter To The Select Committee On Security And Consitutional Affairs, Parliament Of The Republic Of South Africa Embracing the Unexpected Books About Bookselling: The Bookseller’s Apprentice Adventures with a Binder Author Profile: Matthew Eck June

Dated 2/19/1952, probably International News Photo.

In the online bookselling Dreamtime about a decade ago, there was Interloc (the larval stage of Alibris), Bibliofind (very clean of limb), and ABE (like fresh Canadian spring water). The Bibliofind list was a great place to talk privately about our profession, and we used to speculate on trends. We envisioned corporations buying these book-loving companies up, and we hoped that one or more of the search services would survive as strong independents and good partners. Ironical

What is wrong with Amazon? This is a question that is not possible to answer with any degree of objectivity for either buyer or seller since Amazon is a megamarket for an enormous variety of goods and services. So this, for what it’s worth, is the view of a bookseller. Or, to be more precise, an internet-only bookseller of vintage and antiquarian books. It should be stated right at the top that Amazon is one of the best known online markets in the world. If it has not already

Most importantly, Amazon should take its time and look at AbeBooks carefully, recognize its unique strengths (and its many easily-cured weaknesses), and come to the wise decision that AbeBooks should remain a stand-alone website. Some of the main strengths of AbeBooks include the breadth and depth of book and ephemera listings, the superior advanced search functions, the unique wants matching function, the cross-listing of books on websites in five languages, and what remains

What will happen now that Amazon owns ABE? Generally speaking, AbeBooks sellers who list on Amazon are hoping there will be no automated migration of AbeBooks listings to Amazon; and AbeBooks sellers who do not list on Amazon are, in the main, hoping for the opposite. We would love to see Amazon’s techno-wizards reduce ABE’s glitches and help them facilitate the long-promised optional exclusion of new books and/or PODs from searches. Beyond that, our hopes and speculations ar