12 days without a post... hmmm... and SIGNED Ansel Adams

First off -- I did go to the Gold Rush Book Fair and had a great time (well, partly, but more on that in another post).

I was hoping to get back and have some nice blog entries right after the fair.... obviously, that didn't work out.

Kids being out on summer vacation definitely change the picture of getting work done (two + months to go...) and then we've had a bit of travel to visit relatives over Memorial Day Weekend, which pushed my time further out of whack (and on top of that, my trusty laptop has finally, after six years, decided that it really doesn't want to shoulder on and it's not worth taking anywhere, so I was basically computer-less during the book fair, and during the travel weekend.) I'm not whining, mind you, I can live without the computer attached to me all the time, but the blog did get behind in the meanwhile.

Ok --


The book pictured here is a real puzzler (what in my life recently, hasn't been a puzzler?)

I found this while traveling up to the book fair (and NO I won't tell people where I found it) and at first glance, though Yeah... a nice, SIGNED Ansel Adams title. Now Adams didn't really sign a great deal of his books for people, so signed editions are at a real premium and that was a GOOD thing.

So, being the capitalist that I am (realist actually, I want to pay the bills and feed the ever hungry kids) I put a decent, but not exorbitant price on the book and set it up in my book fair booth for people to buy. I got LOTS of looking. Lots of picking up and handling. But lots, again, of people putting it back down again.

Hmmm.. Signed Ansel Adams, nice condition.... what's going on?

Well, I get it home and think to myself that I'll do a bit more research on the book just because (one gets an inking on things like this).

Turns out, the first edition of this book was published 1983, which is the year before Adams died. This particular copy is a third printing -- copyright 1984. Hmm...

I check Wikipedia (and a bibliography page for Adams as well, etc.) and find out that he died in 1984 (April to be exact).

Still possible that everything is hunky-dory, I just have to verify that the 3rd printing was available before April 1984.

Hmmm.... not as easily done. I tried to check Books in Print for that year, nothing. I emailed the New York Graphic Society (no response so far). Checked with other dealers... not much to go on.

So I put the book aside for a few days to wait for inspiration to hit.


Try to check with dealer associates again - this time, give more detailed information about what I'm trying to do. I get an answer that helps out immensely.

BUT --

finally, I take a look at the dust jacket and most particularly the rear dust jacket blurb....

which mentions Adam's death in 1984. Drat!

But... again,

all is not lost.

Dealer friend comes back with information that makes it VERY possible that this item is in fact signed by Adams (now, a small bit of additional info for you... so far, as far as most experts can tell, there has been little to no forging of Adams signature (except on forged photographs -- which is a slightly different animal). Dealer has a copy of this same book, also signed -- but his copy comes with a leaflet from the publisher stating that a number of copies were signed by Adams just before his death to give to family and friends.


So, through my research, I believe that this IS an actual Ansel Adams signature -- and that it was done before (obviously) his death in April of 1984 with the help of his publisher -- that copies of the bound book, produced sometime late 1983 or early 1984 were given to him to sign, and then, at a later date, a revised dust jacket was added (dust jacket production and book binding are two separate issues and many times are done at completely different times) before the books were given away.

If that scenario is correct (and at this point, I'd need proof that it ISN'T to make me feel that it's a forgery), then this book contains a signature which is indeed rare.

Cool.

So many cute illustrated mice out there...

John S. Goodall is the illustrator of this wonderful little book -- he has published several books about Shrewbettina (who may be a shrew, not a mouse, but there ARE mousies in the book and on the dust jacket as well).

WONDERFUL delicate illustrations. And, to top it off, it's a book with no words. You just look at the pictures to get the story.

I originally entered this book in my database last September (for a book fair) -- put it on hold so I could offer it at the fair ... and because it was a last minute buy, didn't have any detailed description added to my database. Today, I pulled it off a shelf to put in the box for the next book fair & found out it was STILL on hold -- no wonder it didn't sell. I thought I was getting better about that sort of thing!

Here's another wonderful mouse book:



This is the second book I've featured by Palmer Brown (remember, he only wrote and illustrated four books in his career as an book illustrator). Palmer Brown's artwork is so delicate, so wonderfully deft and without excess color or lines that I could stare at it all day. In some ways, it reminds me of Tasha Tudor's illustrations. But Palmer Brown is NOT Tasha Tudor and one mouse book is not the same as another mouse book. Of course, the best way to find this out is to start collecting books illustrated with mice...

Enjoy.

Why is it some books sell and others don't....

You know, I'm finding that I look as this blog more from the book SELLER perspective than any other (except for those days when I have to crow about the kids...). At any rate, I was going through more stacks of books to decide what to take to the Gold Rush Book Fair (There, I put a link in ) and saw this book.

I've had this book listed on my website since 2004 -- It's a GOOD book by a well known, and quite collectable author. It's one of the first hardback books Bukowski published and it's limited. SO why won't someone just snap it up?

I've tweaked the description several times to be more accurate to include more detail & depth to the listing -- but still no nibbles. Iv'e had customers (and dealers) pick it up with anticipation and a gleam in their eyes, but then put it down again.

So -- what MAKES a good saleable listing for a collectable book? And what's the exact formula for selling the darn thing anyway?

Of course, no one can tell you that (and even if they could, that's the sort of trade secret that no living book dealer would ever willingly fork over).

This blog post is mainly a way for me to muse on the fact that fate and luck are part and parcel of being a book dealer and that's just the way it is.

Also, for those of you in the business, there's that old saw about pulling a particular book off the shelf, wondering why it hasn't sold-- and see it sell the next day. This is just my updated techno version of that.

(and another old tale is ... if it doesn't sell in two days, threaten to to pitch it ... loud enough so the book can hear... and see what happens).

I'll let you know what happens with this particular book in a week.

Man, those Victorians sure knew how to terrify children!

If you've never seen a copy of this book -- well ... maybe for those who are faint-hearted, that's a good thing.
Struwwelpeter (alternately known as Slovenly Peter or Shock-Headed Peter) is a book filled with nursery rhyme style verses / poems which were used by parents to keep their children in shape. Tough love, hah!

The title character, Slovenly Peter gets off easy. It's some of the other children & their habits listed in the book that will give you nightmares (who KNOWS what it did for little children back then).

Here are a few titles for you:
Cruel Frederick
The Dreadful Story of Harriet and the Matches
The Story of the Inky Boys
The story of the Man Who went out Shooting
The story of Little Suck-A Thumb

I have to stop for a moment -- this poem freaks me out (can you tell I actually sucked my thumb for a while as a child?)

Ok, here's the poem:

One day Mama said "Conrad dear,
I must go out and leave you here.
But mind now, Conrad, what I say,
Don't suck your thumb while I'm away.
The great tall tailor always comes to little boys who suck their thumbs;
And ere they dream what he's about,
He takes his great sharp scissors out, and Cuts their thumbs clean off - and then,
You know, they never grow again.

Ok, there's more.... you guessed it. Conrad can't help himself & the tailor comes...

the pictures that go with this verse are just plain wrong.
Conrad ends up with no thumbs.

Not much nice stuff here at all. In fact, the whole book could make an adult queasy.
No wonder those victorians got a bad rap. They deserved it.



On the other hand, it IS a COOL book. Rotten stuff in it, but the illustrations are wild and the whole concept... well...

Maybe if I get some times I'll add a few pictures from the inside of the book.

On Thermonuclear War - Herman Kahn

Yesterday, it was imaginary mice in space (well, they never actually made it to space... but you'll have to read the book yourself to find out exactly what happened). Today, it's a heavy-duty, philosophical treatise on dealing with the newest technology available. This book was published in 1960, during the Cold War when at least two superpowers had access to unthinkably destructive weaponry. (Of course, the lectures in this book certainly pertain to today's situation with MORE countries able to push a button and start a holocaust like none seen before).

Many people during the 1960's thought -- OK, we HAVE this weapon that can annihilate the world, so we WON'T EVER USE IT -- since we know what it would do. BUT, the sad fact was (and is) that NO weapon has ever been devised that hasn't sooner or later been used during wartime situations.

SO, Herman Kahn, knowing that the US was treading into new territory, wrote a series of lectures / briefs wherein he postulates some hard facts about peoples, wars and weapons. He explains HOW people thought during wartime (using specific historical examples), he postulates what MIGHT happen, and he forges plans / contingencies for what COULD happen if this weapon was to be used.

Heavy-Duty stuff. NECESSARY stuff.

Unfortunately, Herman Kahn took a beating (figuratively speaking) for writing this book -- he was labeled a Bomb happy guy who WANTED the US to use this weapon when in actuality, he was very much against it's use.

There is definite historical value to the book -- placing ideology and thought of the 1960's into perspective and dealing with a topic that STILL scares people silly.

There is also a value in reading this book today to remind those in charge just what could happen if they forget history.

The Church Mice are at it again...

Darn it -- the camera took a blury picture again. I'll have to fix it, but not today (we're in the midst of Easter vacation and much of my time is spent doing kid stuff this week. The retakes will have to wait for next week).

I only learned about the Church Mice series about three years ago when I picked up a paperback copy and sold it almost instantaneously. Hmmm...(I thought) what's so good about this book? It's not one I remember from my childhood. Granted, I didn't actually read lots of picture books when I was young. I started on chapter books fairly early on & never went back. I didn't find the picture books of much use at the time. Now, though, I have had that aha! moment regarding picture books & finally GET them.

The Church Mice series by Graham Oakley is one of thos Aha! series. Starting the series off, THE CHURCH MICE are two mice (named Arthur and Humphrey), along with a veritable host of other mice who live in a church in England, and who help a stray cat by the name of Sampson become a member of their group -- with the strict understanding that their friendship means that Sampson would never EAT any of the mice.

Currently, there are fourteen books in the series (The Church Mice was published in 1972 and the last so far, The Church Mice Take a Break, was published in 2000). Graham Oakley has written and illustrated several other books beside the Church Mouse series and has illustrated a host of other books for other authors over the years, but it is this whimsical series about adventurous mice that have become classics favorites.

If you haven't seen or read one, do so.

Nutshell Library update...

I mentioned that if I found any further information on the Nutshell Library (the one from the 1960's) I'd add a note to the blog...

Courtesy of Richard Mori of Mori's Books, there IS a fourth set available... by A.A. Milne -- it's four miniature books in the Winnie-the-Pooh series.

That brings the list to:

Maurice Sendak
Hilary Knight
Robert Kraus
and
A. A. Milne

if you happen to know of more, please let me know.

The Legends of the Mighty Sioux - A WPA book...

I wish I had a better technique with my camera... but...

This particular book is one that was published as part of the WPA -- if you've never heard of it, that's the Works Project Administration which was founded by Franklin Roosevelt during his administration to help alleviate some of the unemployment due to the Great Depression (which some folk are considering starting up again to help with out current "recession"). At any rate, one of the sub groups of the WPA was the Writers' Project (which actually included photographers, writers, editors, artists, painters, etc...).

This book was a product of the Workers of the South Dakota Writers' Project (no citation for an actual author, though I found, through a tiny bit of research, that the Library of Congress is going through & matching authors with unattributed material even as I write this...) and illustrated by "Sioux Indian Artists" (again, mostly unattributed). This book compiles forty-five legends of the Sioux Indians of South Dakota -- "Much of the material was narrated to Project members when the Indians were assembled for pow-wows, or at church meetings. There were separate meetings between the old and young men as well." (from the front blurb material on the dust jacket).



While the WPA Writers Project is mostly known for its state guides (for more information see: Works Progress Administration ), there were a number of other books done, most of them on very specific subjects, like this title.

This is a wonderful book.

I hope you enjoy it.

A Firefly in a Fir Tree.... la la la....

Last weekend, I went book hunting and while others (it was a friends of the library book sale) were rather frantically scouring through piles of books (lots of ex library copies), I happened to glance down on one of the tables & see the above listed little slipcased set.

Here's a better view of the front:



Well, a better view of the front of the box and the four tiny books that go inside...

This is the Christmas Nutshell Library set illustrated by Hilary Knight (best known for his work on the Eloise books by Kay Thompson. There are other Nutshell Library sets (Maurice Sendak's version is VERY collectable, but there's another that I found by Robert Kraus... so far, those three are the only sets in THIS version of the Nutshell Library. I'll update this if I find others).

I love this set. I haven't seen one of the Hilary Knight versions before (in fact, there seem to be less of them available than the Sendak set, but that's likely because this set was never reprinted & Sendak's was). All the illustrations are by Knight & show the delicate, humorous style he is famous for. In fact, slipcase cover at the top of this post shows a little girl who looks a LOT like Eloise...

Here's one of the books:


And another:




Though I've always primarily thought of myself as a Science Fiction / Fantasy dealer, my luck at finding collectable children's books has grown and I seem to be wending my way more down that path...

I love this set. It's darling. It's funny. It's miniature. It's cool. It's collectable. It's the best find from a friend's sale in a while.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Watch out Tommy, he's got a gun!

It's back to books again.

I'm still working on taxes, but I'm not going into detail about it other than to point out that tax work goes MUCH better when watching episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (started at Disc 1 Season 1 and hoping to go through all Seven seasons...).

The book pictured above is a title that I've actually had in my database since 2002. This is the second book in a three book series (my bet is that they didn't sell as well as hoped and the series was canceled by the publisher, which happens far too frequently. The author, Walker Tompkins, is a well known western pulp fiction author who later in life settled in Santa Barbara and then (and as far as I can tell, still does write) researched and wrote books about the area.

One thing I didn't know until today is that while a native of Washington State, he and his family moved to California when he was a teen and he lived not too far from where I am now. His family farm was in Turlock, CA, and he attended Modesto Junior College (in good ole Modesto, CA) before going into the army.

A hometown guy, as it were.

I'm not sure why this book hasn't been snapped up long since. It's a scarce series to find, it's on a subject not normally seen in juvenile series (Ham Radio operators and fans), and it's not a homemade series (IE: vanity press). I guess, for some reason or other, there's just not enough buzz about it out in the collecting world. The text is peppered with Ham radio slang (with some translation for those uninitiated like me) and the plot is quite interesting, though the prose is a bit 1960's in format and styling.

This is not one of those books that I'll pull off my shelves after a few years. I KNOW there's someone out there looking for this book -- they just haven't found it yet.

Signing off...

Suckered myself again....

Yesterday, I dealt (in a small way) with some ex library copies that I couldn't pass up.

Today, it's the old... do I buy something because I CAN remember all the information I need to, or do I pass it up because I CAN'T remember...

First off, let me set the scene for you.

I go book hunting for some of my stock by checking book fairs, book sales, friends of the library stores, etc. Normally, I DON'T take my references with me (because the one you need would always be left behind anyway). It's my job to REMEMBER this stuff on the fly.

I have at least one reference to Dr. Seuss titles (First Editions of Dr. Seuss Books by Younger & Hirsch .... I highly recommend it).

SO I was looking in a Friends of the Library store I frequent regularly and saw about four Dr. Seuss titles WITH dust jackets....

Dust jackets for most books are de rigueur...(ok, for books that HAVE dust jackets, there's a whole lot more from before the 1800's that don't but I don't deal with those much...)

ANYWAY...

Finding early Dr. Seuss titles with dust jackets is a GOOD thing.

The lovely staff at this store tried to do some research on the books & labeled at least one of them a 1st edition... which means that the price goes up accordingly.

Now, here's the part where the instincts and the training are supposed to come into play.

Remember, I don't have this particular reference on hand, and if I leave the store to travel half an hour back home to get it, someone else could snaffle this batch of books right from under my nose...


I'm pretty sure none of the books is a first. I know THAT much at least. But this one...

Well, my brain was chugging along enough to ask the staff if I could check online (they have a computer they use for this very purpose ... normally I would NEVER ask this sort of thing, but the price tag was $35.00 and I wanted to be very sure).

Got on the computer (with the lovely lady looking right over my shoulder). Some of the info looked ok, but I really needed to take a closer look. Which meant pulling out my reference.
Which I DIDN'T HAVE.

SO, being a good bookseller, I put the book on my pile anyway.

NEVER pass up a Dust jacketed Dr. Seuss in decent condition, especially if it looks like an early copy. That's a mantra most children's picture book dealers learn early on.

Now I didn't get greedy. The other three Dr. Seuss titles were definitely NOT early printings (or 1st as marked) and the prices were too high for the condition (some of the dust jackets were missing whole chunks) so the only one I put in my pile was this one.

Of course, this isn't the only book I buy that day. Which is a good thing, because when I get back to my references and start checking points, I find out this is definitely NOT a 1st edition, in fact, while it's early, it's not even THAT early.

What the staff at the Friends of the Library didn't do (and what I didn't have time to do there) was to check the list of titles on the reverse of the dust jacket --

All it would have taken for either of us to figure out this is NOT a first edition , would be to run down the dates on the list .... because there, sticking out like a sore thumb, was a book published in 1962. (Horton Hears a Who was originally published in 1954).

CAN'T MISS IT!!!
(actually, I need to pull a copy of the wikipedia list and put it in my overstuffed purse with all the other notes that I find useful).

So now this copy (early & generally very good+ WITH the dj) which cost me $35.00 (plus tax & gas) is now going on my website for $40.00.

It serves me right for being a bit greedy.

On the other hand, I learned a very valuable lesson that won't be forgotten (which is the way collectable dealers learn most of their lessons....and I've got a few zingers in my past to remember).


There are some books that you have a great feeling about that actually DO turn into something wonderful.

Another day I'll tell that sort of story.

Look for a Kitten...

Dare Wright was a wonderful author / photographer, but her personal life was an unfortunate mix of unhappiness and complexity. Her father left her mother when she was young (taking her only brother with him) which left her alone with a dependent and possibly abusive (psychologically and physically speaking) mother who may have shared her bed up until her mother's death.
While her home life was sad and twisted, her love of photography came to her aid and helped her find a place in the world. Her first book Lonely Doll became a success and helped make her name in the world of childrens picture books. The book was made with black and white photographs of one of Dare's own dolls named Edith. More than slightly autobiographical in nature, the story of Edith the doll has become a classic picture book and started Dare on her career.

Look for a Kitten is one of Dare's later picture books and features a live kitten as the central character. Strangely, even though it is a later title, it's not easy to find & copies in decent condition (and not ex library copies) are quite pricey.