Sailing Right Along!

Well, this is very interesting! Remember Thursday how I complained about that small sale we went to? I had gotten  fifteen hard cover books on sailing, but earmarked  ALL of them for Eric for the store because people who know nothing about books and care even less about them have devalued them beyond comprehension. Since Eric is in Indianapolis for the weekend at a show, this morning I took them out of my new L.L. Bean bag and boxed them up for him. That’s when I spotted two excellent things that had escaped me earlier.

Okay, I confess -- I really didn’t look at these books individually as I was buying them. My gaze swept over the shelf and my brain quickly registered clean, familiar, good for the store. So I swept them up in one fell swoop, not realizing that in the mix was hidden a  first edition of Seamanship in the Age of Sail. This one used to be a goodie, which it deserves to be for its plethora of technical detail augmented by technical drawings. Still I figured it had probably plummeted, which it has to some degree, but  remains miraculously viable at $50-60. The other thing I got for him, but am now ALSO taking back for myself, is the sixeen soft cover volumes of Patrick O’Brian’s nautical novels in the Norton set from the 1990’s shown above. I’m short four volumes, but in a sense only one, because the numbers run in consecutive order minus #11. So that means if I buy that one I could still list them as a partial set of 17 now and then keep an eye out for the three others, adding them and adjusting the price as I go if needed. Yes, it’s extra work, but it’s also a very worthwhile endeavor.

Now before you think I’m a book snatcher, and a mean one at that giving my husband something nice and then grabbing it back,  you have to understand that we have a pact. I get first dibs for online because it’s harder for me to find good competitive inventory these days and he has more books than shelves anyway. He’ll be happy for me – REALLY – and I’m happy for me too. I knew the novels were all published by Norton, but I wasn’t sure they all came from the same series. The fact that they are all  Aubrey/Maturin stories not only gives me a viable listing – ONE viable listing – but means that I didn’t waste my time yesterday after all.

Okay – zing! – we’re switching topics now. Here’s something quite interesting too. It’s a little gossipy, but you’ll find it fascinating I’m sure. Last night there was a sale we like very much, but  didn’t attend because Eric had already left for Indianapolis. A bookseller friend went and I made him swear he’d give me the skinny afterwards, which he kindly did first thing this morning. The reason I was so anxious to hear the news is that the last time they had this sale all hell broke loose. We had gone for coffee with another bookseller so we missed the big argument that almost came to blows, but what we did see was the woman sitting in the hallway blocking the entrances to both rooms while she scanned a mountain of books on the floor  -- at the CLOSE of the sale, mind you,  when  everyone was trying to get their stuff out of the building! The woman who heads the sale was so furious she looked like a lava lamp the color od a cardinal-- you could actually see the blood shooting from her neck to her face. Impending change was so thick in the air it was pea soup.

Sure enough, prior to last night’s sale  she sent an email to all booksellers announcing that this would be the last sale to allow scanning (YAY!) which was no big surprise. The surprise came in how she chose to handle things last night. You won’t believe it!  First of all, she emphatically stated that no one was to arrive before four o’clock for a five ‘clock sale. At that time, regardless of where you stood when she appeared with the numbers, everyone would choose a number at  RANDOM and line up accordingly at 4:45. No sharing of numbers between spouses or friends and no consecutive numbers for pairs unless by the luck of the draw.I have to admit I thought it was fairly diabolical, but Eric found it downright amusing.

“I have a hunch it will do exactly what it’s intended to do,” he told me, the Sister Martha Mary grin I’ve always loved twitching at the corners of his mouth.

I was not charmed. In fact, I harrumphed  at length about both the new policy AND  his lack of righteous indignation. And then I promptly forgot  about it since we weren’t going anyway. Yesterday though Judy had to postpone our appoinment for the newspaper interview about the book fair, so I thought of it again and zapped an email to my friend begging for a full report. This morning he told me that the place teemed with scanners (new people mostly! ) who were extremely put out over the whole thing and vowed never to return. Some of the old scanners vowed likewise which may not matter much either way because the books apparently didn’t warrant that much ire in the first place.

So then. It looks like I owe a very smart guy with a cute grin an apology. In fact, I even feel almost guilty for taking all those books back.  But not guilty enough.

They're mine.

P.S. I know from past picture experience that you guys have eagle eyes. So before you tell me I'm missing two volumes instead of one  in the photo at the top, I already know. I left it on my desk when I picked up the others on the floor to take the picture. Just imagine it's there.