Summer 2018
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Sunday, August 12, 2018 ~ 10 am – 4 pm Antiquarian Booksellers from New England and the Northeast offering Scarce, Rare & Out of Print Books both Antiquarian & Modern; Antique Maps, Prints, Postcards & Ephemera for sale. Location: Grace Christian School 104 Kocher Drive Bennington, Vermont
Directions: North end of Bennington at the intersection of Rt. 7 and Kocher Drive. Free Admission! Information: Call John at (802)-282-9769 Last Year’s Vendors: Catamount Books The Country Bookshop Hermit Hill Books Jackson Antiquarian Books Austin’s Antiquarian Books The Bookmobile Readsboro Falls Bookstore Old Saratoga Books Peter L. Stern & Co. Doyle’s Books Jeff Bergman Books, ABAA/ILAB Melrose Books & Art Catnap Books Michael Daum, Bookseller Wiggins Fine Books The Bookshed
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Author Archives: John Hess
2018 Spring Book and Ephemera Fair
SUNDAY, April 8th, 2018 ~ 10 am – 4:00 pm
Hilton Burlington
60 Battery Street
Burlington, Vermont
Antiquarian Booksellers from New England and the Northeast
offering Scarce, Rare & Out of Print Books, both Antiquarian & Modern,
Antique Maps & Prints, Postcards & Ephemera for sale
FREE Admission
For more information call 802-527-7243
LAST YEAR’S EXHIBITORS:
Anastasia Osolin Bookbinding
Anastasia Osolon
Tel: 518 891-2120
e-mail: aosolin@gmail.com
155 Old Military Road, Saranac Lake, NY 12983
Bookbinding, repair, restoration.
Above: Richard Mori, Garry Austin, Peter Stern
Austin’s Antiquarian Books
Garry Austin
Tel: 802 464-8438
e-mail: mail@austinsbooks.com
123 West Street (PO Box 730), Wilmington VT 05363
Theodore Roosevelt, Americana.
Back Door Antiques
Jean Tudhope
Tel: 802 388-3729
P.O. Box 9, East Middlebury, VT 05740
Vermontania, sporting, ephemera.
The Bookshed
Joe Trenn, Lois Trenn
Tel: 802 345-3081
e-mail: mail@thebookshed.com
3225 Lake Road, Benson, VT 05731
General antiquarian.
The Bookmobile
Donald Babcock & Ruthellen Weston
Tel: 802 342-1477
e-mail: bookmobilevermont@gmail.com
58 Merchants Row, Rutland, VT 05701
General books.
Catamount Books
John Hess
Tel: 802 282-9769
e-mail: john@catamountbooks.com
PO Box 88, East Arlington, VT 05252
General stock.
Catnap Books
Jim Brooks, Roberta Books
Tel: 518 234-4514
e-mail: catnapbk@telenet.net
45 Main Street, Cobleskill, NY 12043
General stock.
The Country Bookshop
Ben Koenig
Tel: 802 454-8439
e-mail: bookshop@TheCountryBookshop.com
35 Mill Street, Plainfield, VT 05667
General used & rare books, Vermontania, folklore & folk music.
Eleanor’s Antiques
Eleanor Brodeur
Tel: 802 893-2971
255 Manley Road, Milton, VT 05460
Postcards, Vermont books, ephemera
The Eloquent Page
Donna Howard
Tel: 802 527-7243
e-mail: books@TheEloquentPage.com
70 North Main Street, St. Albans, VT 05478
General used and antiquarian, costume & fashion.
Hermit Hill Books
Patty McWilliams, Rita Lane
Tel: 802 287-5757
e-mail: hermithill@vermontel.net
95 Main Street, Poultney, VT 05764
Photography, Vermontania, Adirondacks, general, sheet music.
Jean’s Neighborhood Antiquarian Collection
Jean Hopkins
Tel: 802-863-5359
e-mail: jeanhopkins@burlingtontelecom.net
11 East Village Drive, Burlington, VT 05401
Books, postcards, photography.
Above: Richard Mori, Garry Austin, Peter Stern
Mori Books
Richard Mori
Tel: 603-801-7176
e-mail: mori@moribooks.com
20 Canal Street Unit 501, Frankin, NH 03235
Antiquarian books.
North Country Books
Mark Ciufo
Tel: 802 578-7568
e-mail: north.books@comcast.net
67 Union Street, Suite 2-F, Winooski, VT 05404
Used & antiquarian books, prints, maps, posters, ephemera.
October Productions Inc.
John Coon
Tel: 802 373-4664
e-mail: drama899@comcast.net
!0 Autumn Court, Jericho, VT 05465
General antiquarian, primarily juvenile.
Old Saratoga Books
Rachel Jagareski
Tel: 518 316-0413
e-mail: oldsaratogabooks@gmail.com
P.O. Box 491, Selkirk, NY 12158
General – history and the arts.
Sandy’s Books and Bakery
Sandy Lincoln
Tel: 802 767-4258
e-mail: slincoln@seasonedbooks.com
30 North Main Street, P.O. Box 283, Rochester, VT 05767
Agriculture and Yankee ingenuity.
Speaking Volumes
Norbert
Tel: 802 540-0107
e-mail: oldie_stuff@yahoo.com
377 Pine Street, Burlington, VT 05401
Books, paper, art, vinyl.
Above: Richard Mori, Garry Austin, Peter Stern
Peter Stern & Co., Inc.
Peter Stern
Tel: 617 542-2376; Fax: 617-542-3263
e-mail: info@sternrarebooks.com
15 Court Square #101, Boston, MA 02108
English & American literature, detective fiction.
The Wright Place
Chris & Fred Wright
Tel: 802 848-3786
36 North Avenue, Richford, VT 05476
Historical books, engravings, prints.
The Future of Books
There has been a lot of discussion about the future of printed books. Since the advent of Amazon’s Kindle, the market for “e-books” has risen steadily, if not explosively. Some say that it will be the end of the printed book. I disagree.
The market for books is changing. But, the market is always changing. In today’s world, to operate your business the same as you did just six months ago may be the kiss of death for your livelihood. We booksellers today are faced with unprecedented market competition on one side and ever-rising overhead on the other side. What will happen?
I would like to offer up some of my ideas about where books and the business of selling them is headed. I have always been a great fan of Alvin Toffler and Thomas Friedman, two writers whom I would label as futurists. A futurist looks around the world as it is, then tries to predict what the world will become. Maybe I am a futurist of sorts too. So, here goes.
There will always be a demand for printed books. Especially those printed before the digital age, and especially those for whom there is a limited audience. Almost without exception, these will be scholarly works of nonfiction. Classic literature and popular works of any age will be available in a digitized format. Eventually, all books, fiction and nonfiction will be released in a digital version. However, there will still be room for the printed book. And there are still millions of printed books out there which will never be converted to a digital format.
Unless they rethink their business model. the large publishing houses will eventually wither and die for lack of demand for printed books. In order to survive, they will have to split their parent company apart into specialized houses serving a particular subject area. There will also be more companies specializing in better quality books. They will offer books with more durable bindings than is the case in today’s mass market world, where a book binding falls apart after one read. There will be more better-quality books available. The mass-market paperbacks will still be be printed by the specialty houses, but in smaller runs.
There are some people like myself, for whom the feel of holding a book is part of the reading experience. Most of the younger folks who grow up using an electronic reading device may not be able to understand this, but I bet that there will be more and more converts going to the printed book for it’s feel of permanence, if nothing else. Yes, a printed book is, for most intents and purposes, permanent. Does anyone remember seeing Thomas Jefferson’s Kindle? And thankfully, Plato or Shakespeare did not save to a hard drive or to the internet cloud.
Technology itself is the Achilles Heel of the electronic book. Today, you may have purchased several hundred books for your electronic library. However, your reading device can only hold a few at a time. The rest are kept in that electronic limbo called the cloud. If you disable your reading device by dropping it, leave it on the roof of your car as you speed off to work, drop it in the water or fill it with sand at the beach, or the battery is drained, you will have what amounts to an expensive paperweight. And you will be unable to read any of your books until your device is repaired or replaced. True, a book will not emerge unscathed from such treatment either, but it will most likely survive in a readable condition. Last, but not least, your e-book is yours and yours alone. You cannot sell it to anyone else, and you cannot take it to a bookseller to sell or get trade-in credit. You are stuck with it. You can’t even donate it to the local library for a tax deduction.
The electronic reading devices themselves are still evolving. I have looked at some of the reviews for various devices and have read about the litany of problems of the devices themselves: Battery life, battery charging problems, problems connecting to the internet and other devices, delicate screens and other hardware as well as cranky software which cannot be repaired by the user. The e-reader is just one more device needing constant maintainance in today’s electronic world.
So, I think that even though digital books are a major presence in our world, booksellers should take heart. The printed book will outlast any form of electronic media, and is in no danger of extinction.
Why Would You Go To A Book Fair?
If you like books, whether you buy them to read, collect them, or collect and read them, the book fair is the place to go. Where else can you go where 35 to 45 different booksellers bring their best books to sell? Even in this age of internet bookselling, there are many desirable books that do not get listed online, but can be found at a book fair.
Here you will find an incredible concentration of first editions, fine bindings, vintage postcards, pamphlets, prints and other ephemera. Instead of visiting forty separate shops, you can visit their owners and peruse their samplings in one afternoon!
Many of the dealers have their own interests. They are always glad to “talk shop” with you about your particular interests in books.
If you are thinking about selling your private library, go to the book fair to find which booksellers might be interested in looking at your collection.
You are sure to see books and other materials that you never knew existed. You might find a gem that you just have to own, but you won’t find it unless you attend the VABA Book Fair this Sunday, March 23, at the Sheraton in Burlington, VT (additional information at http://www.vermontisbookcountry.com/ ).
Stop in and visit us! I’ll be at the Catamount Books booth. Hope to see you this Sunday!