Cold Hands, Hot Books!

For two days I’ve been flirting with a cold,  but now it would seem that we’re in a serious relationship I already regret. Tonight is my postponed NOBS (Northern Ohio Bibliophilic Society) meeting , but I’m still planning to dose up on cold medicine and go. I have delayed this gratification long enough and  there won’t be another meeting until after the antiquarian book fair in April, so  I’ll just have to try very, very hard not to breathe on anybody.

I also have some new books, but I don’t know how much listing will be happening today. I was going to say that the spirit is willing, but now that I think on it, I’m guessing it’s really not. I think  the spirit would rather have a nice cup of tea, the second volume of Eleanor Roosevelt’s biography and the fireplace. But I did want to at least mention the books, some of which I had had in reserve at the store since the halcyon days of our book overload. Of course I’ve been in the store numerous times since then, but anything more than a foot above my head (which means six feet from the floor) might as well be on the roof of a parking garage on Mars. Eric discovered them some 12 feet north  the other day as he was consolidating stuff to make room for a new project and promptly dragged me down there Sunday to have a look.

Of course some of them were already DOA – the shelf life of books in the world of the penny seller is two and a half seconds – but I did find a couple goodies, most especially a scarce local history from 1911 by P.P. Cherry about Akron’s Portage Path, one of Ohio’s early Indian trails. This is a small, innocuous looking book with a purple cover so nondescript you wouldn’t notice it if were the only book in the room. But don’t underestimate it, as it sells for $65, give or take. For the bookseller there are two things to be learned from it. The first is don’t automatically reach for the glitz and glam -- dance with the wallflowers too. And the second is, forget the naysayers who tell you that local history isn’t worth your time because the online audience for it is too statistically small. Not true! I recently sold a book on the history of  Akron breweries to an Akronite living in Texas and another time a postcard showing a real photo of an infamous 19^th century Medina murder trial to a guy in England who collects anything relating to criminal cases of the period. Of course all local history is not created equal, so it’s wise to do some serious study of the genre before spring book sale season.

I also just yesterday got a book I bought on ebay last week entitled Marbled Paper -- It's History, Techniques and Patterns by Richard J. Wolfe and am over-the-moon-crazy about it. Books about books, or about the book arts, are for me the equivalent of literary black licorice. And if you’ve been hanging around with me for any length of time you know what THAT means! I will probably sell it – there’s a handsome margin to do so – but first I will spend considerable time with it, as it’s a serious treatise with much information and illustration. I mention this book because it too has a message for booksellers. You can add valuable books to your inventory by shopping judiciously online and not just on ebay either. I routinely buy a particular title on ABE every time I see it in nice condition at a good price and turn it around on one of my other sites almost immediately. For some reason it’s always undervalued on ABE and beloved elsewhere. If you haven’t explored adding stock via online shopping  it’s a good thing to check out, especially during lean times. I have to say it got me through the summer of my discontent in 2010 and is helping me meet my goal of steady acquisition this month too, especially after Saturday’s disastrous auction. Yes, it’s certainly more expensive, but if you choose well you can do well.

And now having shared all that and answered a phone call and three emails I am going to repair to the couch. Hobnobbing with NOBS requires energy and mental acuity and I have exactly six hours and forty-one minutes to acquire some.