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During the Gulf War it was said that folks were sitting down to watch the children’s television show, Mr. Roberts’ Neighborhood, with their children. It was comforting to watch a placid program that could be counted on to just give calm, soothing sounds, sights and welcoming words and simple ideas of family and friendship. Now, again we are inundated with our ‘way-of-the-world’ news. Sometimes it is just too much to take in and process. We have to turn off the TV news. You ar

Part of the fun of being a bookseller is the never-ending opportunity to learn more about books and writers. I consider myself especially fortunate as a seller of used books to have such a wide world of material from which to choose. Walk into a new bookstore and you know pretty much what you can expect to see. But walk into a used bookstore and you never know what you might run into. In a used bookstore you may find a book heretofore unknown to you, a book published 10, 20,

Relics of revolutions are avidly collected— uniforms, bullets, swords, guns, and propaganda, are carefully preserved. Until recently, however, relics of one of the most sweeping revolutions, the social revolution in women’s rights that culminated in the suffrage struggles of the early twentieth century, gathered dust or were discarded. As interest in the feminist movement has increased, so has interest in its collectibles. In the following article, the first of two or more ar

Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition Even in these days of fast internet access to all sorts of arcane information, when you can “Google” just about anything, there is a print-and-paper reference work that retains its dusty luster and a fierce band of loyal adherents. This book is the so-called “Britannica 11”, or the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, published in 1910 and 1911. The Encyclopedia Britannica was first published in three volumes between 1768 and 1

I read only reference books. Or so I say when asked if I still am a book reader when others discover that we have collected our way into a full-time book business. Perhaps I should say that these books, here, are not for sale, at present. It is the only section of shelves that I turn to regularly, the last remnant of an assortment of books that eventually collapsed under its own weight, was swept up, and offered for sale to other eager seekers of the Colossal Collection. Two

Mystery and detective fiction is probably more popular today than at any time in its history, including the so-called Golden Age in the 1920s and 30s. I’ve tried to aim this list at generalist dealers who might want more information about mystery fiction, but do not need the reference works of a specialist in the field. Because, as Christopher Morley said of Sherlockian writings, “Never has so much been written by so many for so few,” I have separated Holmes-related items fro

So much for the classical origins of ephemera. What does the term mean for us here and now in the opening years of the new millennium? For some basic paper training, one could begin appropriately enough with a published source of information . . . also known as the dreaded price guide. I go to one crowded country auction where hanging on the wall near the slow checkout desk is a nice framed 1930s-era oil painting of an old-time auction. They were often held right in front of

Scenic views in Western Massachusetts make driving to the MARIAB Fall Book Fair a treat On Saturday, October 19th, the Massachusetts & Rhode Island Antiquarian Booksellers held their annual fall book fair at the site of the Historic Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts. It was the second year for the fair in this venue. For the last decade MARIAB’s fall show has been a veritable Flying Dutchman of a fair — moving from Wilmington to Andover and now to Springfield —