An Antiquarian Affair, Part II

 This post is short on personal anecdotes but I did want to share a few more photos of the treasures at the book fair.  You can click to enlarge this shot of The Strand Magazine from 1936, costing a bit more than on print day.

 A mouth-watering selection of books from Hogarth Press.  I took a shot of Vita Sackville West's signature in a copy of Seducers in Ecuador but it was quite blurry, darn it!

 Little Dorrit and The Mystery of Edwin Drood had wonderfully illustrated soft covers in this powder blue.  They were published in magazine form and in the case of Little Dorrit, monthly between December 1855 to June 1857.  That is a long time to wait for an ending!  Little Dorrit in its entirety was on offer for 3,000 GBP.

And finally, a picture of some of the more aged material (apologies once again for the lack of details as my pen and notebook were checked in).  There were several customers interested in typeface, binding practices and other such things related to antiquarian book construction and I had a fascinating glimpse into all of it.  Being a huge fan of history, books and textile construction, this show appealed on so many levels and I will definitely seek out other book fairs as they come around. 

The printed word has grown by leaps and bounds.  I can't help but wonder what medieval monks, who created sublime works of illumination, would think of 'print on demand'.

An Antiquarian Affair, Part I

 With my copy of A Game of Hide and Seek by Elizabeth Taylor tucked into my bag for reading on the train, I caught the 9:20 to Toronto for the Antiquarian Book Fair held at the Convention Centre.  Arriving fifteen minutes early, I waited for the doors to open with a dozen other gentleman.  I desperately wished that I had worn something tweedy and there was definitely the aroma of tobacco in the air.

 Never having been to this sort of thing before I wasn't sure of the etiquette.  Just how much fondling of the material was allowed?  Others put me at ease with their respectful flipping of the pages but it did take me some time to feel comfortable pulling treasures from their place on the shelf.  We were asked to check our coats and bags and I realized that my pen was left behind so unfortunately I can't remember all of the prices.  For me it was all about the wonder but there was a fair bit of dealing and handshaking taking place.  I heard one gentleman tell another that he had maxed out his line of credit *gulp*.

 It was fantastic to see Persephone titles as they would have appeared originally.  This copy of Domestic Cookery by a Lady was inscribed by a man to his wife and dated 1845, the price was $175.  I hope his good lady was as thrilled with her copy as I am with my grey-covered one!

 This series of four AA Milne books are first editions and signed by the author, the price tag is over 29,000 GBP.  They were behind glass so no fondling here but oh, they were charming.

There was a fair bit of Virgina Woolf to be had.  I had visions of Virginia writing away and then collaborating with Vanessa over drawings for the cover art whilst cups of tea and biscuits were passed around.  I wish that I could recollect what this book was going for but the lowest price I can remember for a Woolf book was $250 for The Writer's Diary.

I have yet to read a full-length novel by PG Wodehouse but was drawn to the comedic titles and illustrations for the cover art.  These tended to be priced in the $600 - $800 range so I admired then and then carefully returned them to their display case.  Obviously, for me the day wasn't about a shopping expedition, we have a post-secondary education to pay for.  It was about seeing certain books in their original form, the way they looked before I discovered them all crisp and sterile at our local chain bookshop.  On the train ride home I dug out my copy of A Game of Hide and Seek and wondered what it looked like hot off the press in 1951.  Trade paperback is affordable and convenient but not nearly as nice.

Not Just Any Old Book Fair

An Antiquarian Book Fair is coming to Toronto this weekend and I'm hoping to stop by.  R said 'Be sure to bring something home for yourself!'  Then I started browsing some of the books on offer.  This first edition, Virginia Woolf, and in fact, the first publication of Hogarth Press is on offer for an eye-watering $86,150 CDN.

If I won the lottery, I would pick this AA Milne up for Simon (do I really need to explain which Simon?).  Also a first edition, The House at Pooh Corner is a very good deal at only $1,000 CDN.

And these three volumes of Emma *squeals with delight* by Jane Austen, are going for $27,000 CDN.  It was sheer bliss to click on the galleries and go through the titles.  Go ahead and daydream.

I will try my best to bring home a book but more than likely it will come from Nicholas Hoare, just down the road, and cost less than $20 *sigh*.