California Antiquarian Book Fair
It was in Pasadena, as it had been two years ago.
Always an amazing show, I saw all the usual suspects. Some of the new things to drool over were a first separate publication of "The Raven" in a wee little book.
I had never noticed how handsome Stanley's In Darkest Africa is. It helps that this copy is immaculate.
Nor did I know they marched the Ark of the Covenant around.
One seller specialized in botanical illustrations, and I was tickled that he had a section (albeit small) dedicated to Fungi.
There was a ridiculous group of about 40 little 'fan' booklets from Russia, featuring Hollywood movie stars like Gloria Svenson and Gresha Garbo.
And of course, there was the wall o pulps:
They actually had two racks that size, and a lot of other good stuff. I got off real cheap with the Night Shade Press issue of Iain Banks' The Algebraist for less than the original price.
At another shop, I did fill a couple of the last holes in the Arkham House collection, not so cheaply. They also had a signed copy of A Hornbook for Witches, one of the rarest (if certainly not the best) Arkham House titles. Drake had written a kind of sad inscription, praising someone for being an author's favorite kind of reader... one who buys a book from the author. As wiki notes, "'Lin Carter once told me that he was, some years ago, in a small midwestern city and saw Drake toting a shopping bag overflowing with copies of Hornbook, which she was autographing and selling for $1.50 per copy.'"
Always an amazing show, I saw all the usual suspects. Some of the new things to drool over were a first separate publication of "The Raven" in a wee little book.
I had never noticed how handsome Stanley's In Darkest Africa is. It helps that this copy is immaculate.
Nor did I know they marched the Ark of the Covenant around.
One seller specialized in botanical illustrations, and I was tickled that he had a section (albeit small) dedicated to Fungi.
There was a ridiculous group of about 40 little 'fan' booklets from Russia, featuring Hollywood movie stars like Gloria Svenson and Gresha Garbo.
And of course, there was the wall o pulps:
They actually had two racks that size, and a lot of other good stuff. I got off real cheap with the Night Shade Press issue of Iain Banks' The Algebraist for less than the original price.
At another shop, I did fill a couple of the last holes in the Arkham House collection, not so cheaply. They also had a signed copy of A Hornbook for Witches, one of the rarest (if certainly not the best) Arkham House titles. Drake had written a kind of sad inscription, praising someone for being an author's favorite kind of reader... one who buys a book from the author. As wiki notes, "'Lin Carter once told me that he was, some years ago, in a small midwestern city and saw Drake toting a shopping bag overflowing with copies of Hornbook, which she was autographing and selling for $1.50 per copy.'"