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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
Not all book sales are created equal. I have mentioned in
the past the annual Westport sale which often features books from the libraries of celebrities or New York City book publishers. This weekend, the Town of Salisbury in Connecticut is having a library book sale, and, as many towns do, they have a preview evening on Friday that is open to those willing to pay a fee to get in. Dealers and determined collectors are the ones who usually take advantage of this offer. But Salisbury's preview evening is a little different. First of all, they only have 8,000 books for sale, a number that hardly invites serious book fiends. Second, they are charging $25 admission, not the usual $5 or $10 that other towns charge. But, admittedly, one gets more for his or her money in upper-class Salisbury. Nowhere else that I have seen includes a cocktail party as part of the opening festivities. But then, I thought, what book addict is going to pause for alcohol when the possibility exists that there is a first edition of a prized work that sipping the martini could put in the hands of someone else? No, I concluded, the addictions are fairly incompatible. Those who stand with the martini glass in hand are simply not book lovers. They prefer the scent of grape or grain to the musty smell of an old book that has sat for years on the lower shelf of a night table. They will never have their arms filled with books as they stumble from table to table seeking treasures that others have overlooked. Nor does the book addict have need of the sharp taste of spirits to lift his own. What can drink offer to one who thrills at finding a first printing of the Second Revised Edition (the definitive edition, mind you) of Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring? Such joys are longer lasting too, as the book lover finds a proper place in one of many bookcases for the volume, after lovingly straightening any page corners that have been turned down by philistines who have failed to properly care for the book. There the book resides with no direct sun to fade its bright spine, to be brought out for admiration year after year. No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than drinking and driving. Libraries should stick to their mylar book covers as cobblers should stick to their lasts. -- Francis A. Miniter Mesure is Medicine þauh þou muche ȝeor[n]e. Al nis not good to þe gost þat þe bodi lykeþ, Ne lyflode to þe licam þat leof is to þe soule. William Langland, The Vision of Piers Plowman Passus I, lines 33 - 35 |
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#2
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On 10/5/2012 6:29 PM, Francis A. Miniter wrote:
No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than drinking and driving. Libraries should stick to their mylar book covers as cobblers should stick to their lasts. But why not a celebratory drink after making the book selections? It's also attractive for pairs, when only one is interested in the books, the other can indulge and schmooze with the other indulgers. -- Joanne stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/ |
#3
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On 10/5/2012 6:29 PM, Francis A. Miniter wrote:
No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than drinking and driving. Libraries should stick to their mylar book covers as cobblers should stick to their lasts. Seconded. Our little grey cells seek out both books and booze for stimulation, but of different types, and saturation by either precludes the other. -- Don Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) |
#4
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On Oct 5, 11:24*pm, Pogonip wrote:
But why not a celebratory drink after making the book selections? *It's also attractive for pairs, when only one is interested in the books, the other can indulge and schmooze with the other indulgers. I would agree with that. Business first, then pleasure! |
#5
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On Oct 5, 11:24*pm, Pogonip wrote:
On 10/5/2012 6:29 PM, Francis A. Miniter wrote: No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than drinking and driving. *Libraries should stick to their mylar book covers as cobblers should stick to their lasts. But why not a celebratory drink after making the book selections?*It's also attractive for pairs, when only one is interested in the books, the other can indulge and schmooze with the other indulgers. Oh yeah, and don't forget the other schmoozers. |
#6
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On Oct 5, 9:29*pm, "Francis A. Miniter" wrote:
Not all book sales are created equal. *I have mentioned in the past the annual Westport sale which often features books from the libraries of celebrities or New York City book publishers. *This weekend, the Town of Salisbury in Connecticut is having a library book sale, and, as many towns do, they have a preview evening on Friday that is open to those willing to pay a fee to get in. You know, I always wanted to visit the Frankfurt book fair in Germany. "Buchmesse" is what I think they call it there, rather than the "international" term. I guess I just never found the time to travel. |
#7
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than
drinking and driving. Libraries should stick to their mylar book covers as cobblers should stick to their lasts. There would be something appropriate about buying a desirable edition of "On the Road" or "The Good Soldier Svejk" when you were as drunk as the author was when writing it. I once bought a book when coming down off an acid trip. I went into the second-hand bookshop in Shortland Street, Auckland, next to the park (I think it's still there 40 years on). The book that caught my eye was a 1970-ish British edition of Elizabeth Smart's "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept", with a purely typographic cover - plain black serif type on white, but with the letters at the bottom made to run as if dissolved by a tear. That drip *moved*. I bought it on the spot and went off home reading it in a trance. I've still got it and it works just as well a few decades after taking the chemicals. (Google isn't finding me that cover design - is there a cover design archive somewhere that might show it?) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 http://www.campin.me.uk Twitter: JackCampin |
#8
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On 10/15/2012 4:54 PM, Jack Campin wrote:
I bought it on the spot and went off home reading it in a trance. I've still got it and it works just as well a few decades after taking the chemicals. Now I envy you. -- Joanne stitches @ singerlady.reno.nv.us.earth.milky-way.com http://members.tripod.com/~bernardschopen/ |
#9
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
On 10/15/2012 19:54 PM, Jack Campin wrote:
No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than drinking and driving. Libraries should stick to their mylar book covers as cobblers should stick to their lasts. There would be something appropriate about buying a desirable edition of "On the Road" or "The Good Soldier Svejk" when you were as drunk as the author was when writing it. I once bought a book when coming down off an acid trip. I went into the second-hand bookshop in Shortland Street, Auckland, next to the park (I think it's still there 40 years on). The book that caught my eye was a 1970-ish British edition of Elizabeth Smart's "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept", with a purely typographic cover - plain black serif type on white, but with the letters at the bottom made to run as if dissolved by a tear. That drip *moved*. I bought it on the spot and went off home reading it in a trance. I've still got it and it works just as well a few decades after taking the chemicals. (Google isn't finding me that cover design - is there a cover design archive somewhere that might show it?) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- e m a i l : j a c k @ c a m p i n . m e . u k Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland mobile 07800 739 557 http://www.campin.me.uk Twitter: JackCampin Hi Jack, I checked various listing entities and could not find an image. I note that that book has aged well in terms of collectibility. Wow! -- Francis A. Miniter Mesure is Medicine þauh þou muche ȝeor[n]e. Al nis not good to þe gost þat þe bodi lykeþ, Ne lyflode to þe licam þat leof is to þe soule. William Langland, The Vision of Piers Plowman Passus I, lines 33 - 35 |
#10
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Salisbury's Library Book Sale
Francis A. Miniter sent the following on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:29:10
-0400: No, alcohol and books do not belong together any more than drinking and driving. I have a glass of Merlot that's telling me that you're crazy. -- Jim G. | A fan of good reading, good writing, and fellow bookworms http://www.goodreads.com/jimgysin/ http://www.librarything.com/home/jimgysin |
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