Well, I went after all. I sat down and calculated the times involved,
and I thought they might not be as bad as the online sources
suggested. (Going took just over two hours; coming home was faster.) I
walked from the Hempstead train station to the university, which took
just about half an hour--I don't know what a cab would have cost, but
there's also a bus, which only runs every half hour.

The new space is nice, though not well enough lit. A lot of dealers
had extra lamps, so you could see their wares. With 38 dealers, the
room was full. I took my time walking around, and scoped things out
before I made my first purchase. As it turned out, I got six books,
more than I often buy at this fair:

OF WORLDS BEYOND, a “symposium” edited by Lloyd Eshbach, featuring
articles by E.E. Smith, L. Sprague deCamp, and A.E. vanVogt.
Originally published here in 1947, this British edition was the first
in Dobson’s “Studies in Science Fiction” series. $8.

LEWIS CARROLL & HIS ILLUSTRATORS, edited by Morton Cohen and Edward
Wakeling, contains all the letters Carroll wrote to the men who did
the artwork for his books (the best known being John Tenniel). $25

IT HAPPENED IN BOSTON?, a supernatural thriller by Russell H. Greenan.
As it was marked down from $25 to $15, I took the opportunity to
replace my book club copy with this first printing.

KEYSTONE, Peter Lovesey’s historical mystery about the Mack Sennett
film studio. British first, marked down from $30 to $15.

THE HEADS OF CERBERUS, famous fantasy story by Francis Stevens,
introduction by Lloyd Eshbach (see above). This copy is volume one of
the Polaris Fantasy Library (1952); limited edition of 1500 copies.
(Apparently there were only two in this series!) A few tiny chips to
the dust jacket spine, otherwise still fine in a slightly worn
slipcase. $10!!!

ENGLAND BEAUTIFUL, one of Wallace Nutting’s pictorial travelogues.
This is the Garden City Publishing reprint (1936) of the 1928
original. Even though it’s the “cheap” edition, the photos are still
quite nice, and this Anglophile was happy to fork over $35 for this
terrific copy, complete with a really nice dust jacket. (It was a
Christmas present in ‘36, according to a pencil inscription...)