Pamphleteering in the Storage Unit

The McMurtry Auction haul written about earlier has sat impatiently in a climate controlled storage unit awaiting Douglas and me to sort it and make sense of it all.  We’ve poked and prodded the 50 plus boxes a little over the last month but that damn making-a-living thing has slowed us down. 

            Tonight is different.  We are meeting at 7:00 pm to begin a serious examination.   In a preliminary trip we modified the single light bulb outlet to accommodate both a light and a standing fan.  I’d supplied a sturdy table.  Douglas brought folding chairs and two old school, pre-globalization metal shelving units entirely devoid of the plastic found in the current box store crap.

            Douglas arrived fashionably late tonight and brings beer—craft beers, God bless him—a couple of bomber bottles of Arrogant Bastard Ale and Abita Andygator Helles Doppelbock.  He calls me a beer snob, but I prefer the term connoisseur.  I’ve tried 214 craft beers (so far) and have each one ranked on my beeradvocate.com account so I’ll let you make your own call.

            We sat facing each other at an impromptu partner’s desk in the middle of our 10x14 storage unit.  We are on the second floor of a huge facility, no one else is there.  The automated hallway light goes out and we are illuminated by our single bulb casting shadows around us. The fan hums.  The beer tastes good, and the first pile of old bibliographic pamphlets is heaped upon the table.

McMurtry's Herd Yields a California Biblio-Nugget

I have not had time yet to thoroughly examine the thousands of items I purchased at the McMurtry auction.  This nugget surfaced randomly while moving a pile of miscellaneous pamphlets and catalogues.  Who knows what other goodies await?

John Howell. TYPED LETTER SIGNED FROM BOOKSELLER JOHN HOWELL TO FELLOW BOOKSELLER AND BIBLIOGRAPHER ROBERT E. COWAN, JULY 20, 1917. 4to. Included with the letter is Howell's mimeographed 32 page typescript catalogue containing 407 items for sale.  The first nineteen pages describe 265 titles from the Robinson collection, the rest of the volumes are from Howell's stock.

Howell writes Cowan that he has acquired a large selection of fine books & manuscripts from the library of Honolulu businessman, Mark P. Robinson (1852-1915).  Robinson had a predilection for English literature and fine bindings.  This acquisition was fairly early in Howell's illustrious bookselling career and must have been a major coup even with WWI in progress and the book trade in the doldrums.  Howell writes, "On account of conditions the books from the Robinson library are offered at prices in many cases from one-half to one-fourth the cost to the original owner, which was nearly a half million dollars for the collection.  Moreover, I will accept in payment, liberty bonds at par, if preferable to you, for any of the books on either list."

The two men were the most important San Francisco antiquarian booksellers of their time.  Cowan (1862-1942) was twelve years older than Howell (1874-1956) and by the time of this letter was selling books privately out of his home at 867 Treat Ave in the Mission District.  Howell had an open shop at 107 Grant Ave in the business district.  (His son, Warren Howell, would carry on the business until 1984.)

Mark P. Robinson's good but now forgotten collection was scattered to the winds.  A privately printed catalogue had been issued some years before:  Catalogue of the Library of Mark P. Robinson, Esq. of Honolulu. Philadelphia: 1909.  Anderson Galleries in NYC auctioned off other material from the library in 1918 (McKay 7928, 7956).  See Dickinson's Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers for more details about Howell and Cowan.

Thinning the Herd: Larry McMurtry Cuts 300,000 Books Loose in a Two Day Auction

The Royal Theater in Archer City, Texas, inspired Larry McMurtry’s novel, The Last Picture Show, and featured prominently in Peter Bogdanovich’s both brilliant and unrelentingly bleak 1971 film adaptation.  The renovated theater hall was now serving as a large dining room for a pre-auction barbecue dinner Thursday night August 9th complete with all the fixin’s and a truckload of Shiner Bock beer.  The heat outside, even at dinner time, was stifling enough to irritate native Texans and cause consternation among attendees from more northern climes.  Inside however the air blew cool and some 150 book enthusiasts enjoyed food and conversation, all glancing occasionally toward the entrance door for sight of McMurtry.

                He showed up fashionably late, moving slow and steady, suspenders in place, white shirt mildly untucked, tennis shoes and jeans worn easy, completing a look that was a cross between local rancher and bohemian college professor: both wellsprings that flow through his complex personality.  He’d suffered a second heart attack a few months back and at age 76 was physically frail and quiet spoken but mentally sharp.

The Quotable Currie

I wrote about collector Barton Currie, author of Fishers of Books (1931) in an earlier post.  He is a highly quotable guy and I jotted a number of quotations down while re-reading his classic work.  You'll find them below.  I also serendipitously came across two more nice Currie association items shortly after my original blog post.  The first was plucked from a booth at the LA Book Fair. . . . 

Featured Item No. II: Randall's DUKEDOM LARGE ENOUGH. Inscribed to Frederick B. Adams, Jr.

David A. Randall. DUKEDOM LARGE ENOUGH [REMINISCENCES OF A RARE BOOK DEALER, 1929-1956]. New York: Random House, [1969].  xiv 368 [1] p. Plates.  8vo.  Maroon cloth, spine stamped in gilt, dust jacket.

Inscribed to Frederick B. Adams, Jr., “For Fred from Dave, Aug. 7, 1969.  It all seems far away and long ago.”  Bookplate of Adams.  Adams has marked various sections with annotated slips. Laid in is a copy of a TLs dated Jan. 24, 1973, from Randall to Reginald Allen at the Pierpont Morgan Library, discussing the acquisition of Gilbert & Sullivan material including reference to Carroll Wilson, and Randall’s thoughts on how a bibliography should be written.  Also laid in is the AB tribute to Randall by Michael Papantonio.  Adams delivered the main address at the gala dedication of the Lilly Library in 1960.

 A companion piece, acquired separately, is an exceptional ALs from Adams to David Randall dated Paris, January 18, 1970, spurred on by Adams’ reading of the book:   “Dear Dave, I have just this afternoon finished Dukedom Large Enough. . . you have a lot of good stories to tell of men and books and you tell them damn well, without any pretentiousness, telling the bad with the good, and bringing back to me so many memories of old days and of wonderful people that we had fun with.  There were others too—Phil the literate bartender—Mrs. Clampitt, Sara Hay and others who entertained me if you were busy with a client when I dropped by—and a collector or two whom you didn’t mention, for reason of libel? . . . As to the introduction of Carroll Wilson and Waller Barrett, my memory runs this way.  CAW and Tom Streeter and I were working on the 100 Influential American Books [1947] and we had heard—through you? Through the Grolier Club?—that there was a youngish collector of American literature whose library might be worth looking into for some possible loans.  As I recall it, I made the date by correspondence, and in due course on a Sunday shortly after lunch Carroll and I descended from the Long Island RR train at Garden City to be greeted by a man neither of us had met before—C.W.B.  He took us to his comfortable but not grandiose suburban home, and our eyes were opened—bugged!  There seemed to be a whole room full of Henry James, and what’s more our host had read them.  He had a scattering of many authors, and by golly he knew exactly what he had and what he himself thought of it as literature.  The other thing I remember about the afternoon was the extraordinary number of children who seemed to be popping in and out irregularly, and assembled for tea, because we stayed on and on.  Obviously this was a collector after Carroll’s own heart—that was the beginning.  Some day we must ask Waller how he remembers it.  And what did Waller lend to the glorious 100?  One book certainly, which was included in the show at his insistence, W. G. Simms The Yearnassee. He already owned, I am sure, the country’s finest Simms collection, doubtless reinforced since then.”

Great Bookseller Catalogs

Readers be forewarned:  My brief hiatus from blogging is now over.  (Been busy with work.)  Let the posts commence!

My friend John Payne, bookman, appraiser, and bibliographer of Steinbeck and W. H. Hudson, is currently working on a book entitled Great Catalogs by Master Booksellers.  The manuscript is in draft form and John has asked for feedback from a number of noted booksellers and book people to finalize the 100 or so catalogs that will be featured.  The catalogs will encompass 19th & 20th century examples in English.  Of course, any list is subjective, but a primary thrust is to highlight great booksellers and their catalogs in a way never done before.  This will draw attention to the whole subject and provide a foundational reference for further study.

John was gracious enough to ask me to write an introduction.  I've been chipping away at it and recently finished.  The intro as it will appear in the book will focus mainly on historical context.  However, I've also penned some personal reflections on bookseller catalogs that I'm posting now for your enjoyment and edification.  I'm highlighting a few interesting bookseller catalogs from my own collection, too.

If you have any favorite bookseller catalogs that you feel would be candidates for the book please let me know and I'll pass them on to John.  I will keep you posted on publication as well.  This will be an important reference and fine read!

Here follows some personal reflections on catalogs:

The 2012 California ABAA Book Fair: A Book Hunter's Holiday

The 45^th California International Antiquarian Book Fair would be called in sports terms “A Super Bowl of Books.”  The Fair was held this year in Pasadena, California, at the Convention Center, February 10-12.  It alternates yearly between the Los Angeles area and San Francisco.   Some 200 of the top book dealers in the world gathered to tempt bibliophiles with a plethora of rarities, meet clients new and old, and network with fellow members.   One woman dealer observed in amusement that during set-up before the show the booksellers were colorfully dressed in quite a vast array of casual wear from cut-offs to tennis shoes, t-shirts and mismatched fashion statements.  Come opening day, however, the group had miraculously transformed themselves into spiffy, polished, book selling gurus.  

                It was this crowd that my wife and I entered into on Friday afternoon, the first day of the show.  This first day drew the most serious and eager book people.  There was a buzz of excitement in the air and quite a few booths already had patrons.  Imagine a museum quality display of thousands of rare books in every conceivable category and they are all for sale.  This convention center venue was a good one—open, airy, well-lit.  The rows of dealer booths were lined up with military precision.   It would take me all three days of the show to get through them.