Inspiration Overload!

It's been an emotional few weeks. I have a private, handwritten journal for such matters and that tome has seen a lot of action since the last Rambles entry. Now that the gloomy weather has taken a break, I notice the days getting a little longer, a couple of little green finches building a nest in the over-grown myrtle outside my kitchen and I got to attend the 43rd Annual California Antiquarian Book Fair last weekend.

These exhibits interest me because of the quantity and variety of bibliophilic treasure that one can experience at one time, in one place. I maintain that there is no single library - however great - that can offer so much stimuli for a collector, or a maker of books. And that's what it boils down to: now more than ever before in living history, a rare book is valued most on the persistence of its existence and how well it has held up.

Up until now, I've hesitated to think and write about the place of the printed codex in the First World, anno 2010. No more. I suspect fetishism in today's bookworld. To support/explain/excuse this P.O.V., I offer the following short list of discoveries:

• First edition The Sun Also Rises (Near Fine in VG DJ - not signed by the author) is available from at least two dealers for the price of a new Lexus sedan.
• A copy of Spengler's Decline of the West by William Burroughs to Jack Kerouac, with K's copious annotations and (presumeably original ) black electrical tape repairs is also on the market.
• Victor Hugo painted when he needed a break from writing. Miniature landscapes that are very good!
• Miniature landscapes cleverly disguised as books in the form of fore-edge paintings are among the best values today (my personal pick!)
• Prophetic booksellers now exhibit Artist's Books. Even contemporary works.

Maybe being treated as an object is not so bad, after all these years.

Collectible Books on Amazon

Several months ago, Amazon.com decided to change some its independent seller policies. What affected me most, was the introduction of their guidelines for selling "Collectible Books". While I understand the need for enhanced descriptive and grading parameters for these specialized items, the rejection of my initial application to sell "Collectible Books" puzzled me and frankly, pissed me off. I could not understand why, as a book restoration specialist and professional used bookseller of 17+ years (not to mention an Amazon Independent Seller for nearly a decade) this designation would be denied me. ME! I was in this business when we poured over bi-weekly print issues of Antiquarian Bookseller with a highlighting pen and had to lick the stamps with which we mailed our offerings, so neatly printed on index cards. Ha! This megolithic dotcom upstart, whose deeply discounted offerings put so many indie bookstores out of business over the years would now dare to refuse a veteran bookseller access to its world wide marketplace. The nerve.

Maybe it was because they only allowed me 376 characters to tell them why I felt I was qualified. Even the reduction of my bookselling C.V. to txt script didn't begin to let them know who I was. The delivery of my rejection via No Reply email, the stark abscence of any phone contact number to register my protest and the maddening labyrinth of the Amazon seller pages left me frustrated and despondent. I resigned myself to my fate and made a mental note to recategorize those items I'd tagged "Collectible", but never actually got around to doing it.

Then, last weekend checking my email while on the road, another reminder to submit my application for "Collectible Bookseller" status with Amazon.com had arrived with the warning that my collectible-tagged inventory would disappear by the Feast of the Epiphany if I wasn't accepted. As resubmission seemed easier than migrating my inventory, I did. I made my case in fewer than 300 characters, with complete sentences, reserving the flourishes for the questions answered in numeric fields.

Lo and Behold! Today I received the very surprising news that I have earned Collectible Seller status and am now bound by all its special requirements. That's OK. It's hunting season, and I'm well armed.