NON-FICTION CONDITION VERSUS FICTION - WHY I STUCK WITH NON-FICTION AS A BUSINESS MAINSTAY
HISTORY APPEALED TO A EAGER AUDIENCE - CANADIAN ART….. TO LOVERS, COLLECTORS AND HISTORIANS
THE FIRST BOOKS I BEGAN SELLING FOR PROFIT, COINCIDENTALLY, AND RATHER CONVENIENTLY, WERE THE ONES I USED FOR SOME OF MY REGIONAL HISTORY FEATURE STORIES, WHILE WORKING FOR MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, IN BRACEBRIDGE. IT HAPPENED LIKE THIS. ON OCCASION, A STAFF MEMBER, REGARDLESS THEIR STATION AT THE NEWSPAPER OFFICE (WHICH ALSO PRODUCED "THE HERALD-GAZETTE," AND "THE MUSKOKA SUN") MIGHT HAVE TO TAKE A TURN ON THE FRONT COUNTER TO COVER LUNCH HOUR, OR AN UNEXPECTED DEPARTURE OF THE CLERK, ON A PUBLISHER'S URGENT ERRAND. BENEATH THE FRONT COUNTER, WERE HUNDREDS OF "HERALD-GAZETTE PRESS," REGIONAL HISTORIES, THE COMPANY HAD PUBLISHED YEARS EARLIER, THE MOST POPULAR BEING "A GOOD TOWN GREW HERE," BY BRACEBRIDGE HISTORIAN ROBERT BOYER. AT THE TIME I WORKED AT THE PAPER, FROM 1979 TO 1989, BOB WAS THE EDITOR OF THE MUSKOKA SUN, SO I GOT TO TALK ABOUT LOCAL HERITAGE MATTERS ON A DAILY BASIS. WHICH WAS GREAT FOR A FLEDGLING HISTORIAN. BOB WOULD START CHEWING THE END OF HIS CIGAR IF I STARTED TO ANNOY HIM WITH TOO MANY QUESTIONS. I KNEW THE SIGN TO BUGGER OFF, ESPECIALLY ON A PRESS DAY WHEN THERE WAS A DEADLINE TO MEET….AND WE WERE ALWAYS LATE.
IF I GOT A SUDDEN RE-ASSIGNMENT FOR A HALF HOUR OR SO, TO WATCH THE FRONT DESK, I WOULD INEVITABLY SELL A BOOK. MAYBE BOB'S HISTORY, OR HIS FATHER GEORGE'S, "HISTORY OF MUSKOKA," OR HIS MOTHER VICTORIA'S INTERESTING LARGE FORMAT PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOK ON THE HISTORIC HOUSES OF OUR TOWN. THERE WERE LOTS MORE. THE HERALD-GAZETTE, AT ONE TIME, EVEN OPERATED A SEPARATE BOOK STORE ON MANITOBA STREET, IN CONJUNCTION WITH ITS LOCAL PUBLISHING ATTRIBUTES, AND THE WORK OF ITS PRINTING PRESS, TO PRODUCE VARIOUS OTHER ITEMS FOR SALE. I'M PRETTY SURE THEY HAD POSTCARDS FOR SALE AS WELL. THE BOOKS AND ASSORTED PRINT MERCHANDISE WERE KEPT AT THE FRONT COUNTER, DURING MY TENURE, AND ALMOST EVERY TIME I HAD TO WATCH THE DESK, SOMEONE WOULD COME IN OFF THE STREET TO MAKE A PURCHASE. THESE WERE ALL BOOKS THAT WEREN'T GOING TO BE REPRINTED ANY TIME SOON, AS THERE WERE STILL BOXES REMAINING, TUCKED IN A BACK ROOM. WHAT I HAD BEEN USING AS AN HISTORICAL REFERENCE, IN ORDER TO WORK ON FEATURES FOR BOTH THE HERALD-GAZETTE AND THE MUSKOKA SUN, HAD A DECENT MONETARY POTENTIAL, YEARS AFTER THEY HAD BEEN RELEASED. SUPPLY AND DEMAND, AND FROM WHAT I SAW, IT WAS STILL HALE AND HARDY. NOT ENOUGH TO SUPPORT A SEPARATE BOOK SHOP, AS THE PRINTING SHOP AND PUBLISHING COMPONENT HAD CHANGED DRASTICALLY, WITH NEW OWNERSHIP IN THE LATE 1970'S.
WHEN THE NEWSPAPER WAS SOLD, IN THE FINAL YEARS OF MY EMPLOYMENT THERE, MOST OF THE BOOKS WERE TAKEN TO AN OUT-OF-TOWN BOOK STORE, AND NO LONGER COULD LOCALS DROP IN, AND PURCHASE SOME OF THESE POPULAR TITLES. BUT THE PEOPLE STILL KEPT COMING IN, AND IT DID REMIND ME THAT IF I WAS GOING TO SELL BOOKS AT SOME POINT, I SHOULD CONSIDER STARTING WITH LOCAL, LIMITED PRINTING HISTORIES, THAT WOULD SURVIVE THE RIGORS OF TIME, AND CONTINUE TO BE HALLMARK BOOKS FOR MODERN FAMILIES WITH VESTED INTERESTS IN THE LOCAL, REGIONAL RECORDS OF THE PAST. BOB BOYER'S BOOK OFFERED A HUGE NUMBER OF NAMES, OF NEWS MAKERS FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS OF INHABITATION, UP TO THE TIME OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR. THIS IS A BOOK THAT DEFIES SHELF LIFE, AND AT ONE POINT, I WAS SELLING GOOD CONDITION COPIES FOR A HUNDRED DOLLARS EACH. BUT WHAT I FIGURED OUT, FROM THAT POSTING ON THE FRONT DESK, AS A JUNIOR BOOK SELLER, WAS THAT THE SAME WAS LIKELY TRUE FOR MOST REGIONS IN CANADA, AND THE UNITED STATES, AND THAT NON-FICTION COULD BE A LUCRATIVE MARKET IN THE FUTURE. MOST OF THE FIRST AND LIMITED PRINTING REGIONAL HISTORIES, WOULD BE IN DEMAND AT SOME POINT. SO I PRETTY MUCH DECIDED THAT I WOULD HUNT AND GATHER REGIONAL HISTORIES AS A START-UP, TO MY GENERAL FORAY INTO THE OLD BOOK BUSINESS. THE BONUS, WAS THAT I USED SO MANY OF THE IMPORTANT MUSKOKA HISTORIES, TO BACK-UP FEATURE ARTICLES, I WROTE FOR A VARIETY OF PUBLICATIONS, THAT I CAME TO KNOW THEM INTIMATELY WELL AS AN INFORMATION SOURCE, AND COULD RECOMMEND THEM TO CUSTOMER'S WITH SPECIAL INTERESTS. I USED THEM CONSTANTLY IN MY PROFESSION AS AN HISTORIAN. AND I MADE MONEY FROM THEM, WHEN I HAD EXTRAS FOR SALE. SINCE 1989 SUZANNE AND I HAVE HELPED FILL A NUMBER OF COLLECTOR LIBRARIES FOR HOBBY HISTORIANS IN OUR REGION, AND THIS WAS AN ACCOMPLISHMENT I FELT GOOD ABOUT…..AND AFTER ALL THESE YEARS, WE'RE STILL SELLING AS MANY MUSKOKA TITLES AS IN OUR HEYDAY. PRICES FOR MANY OF THE BOOKS HAVE GONE DOWN, BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN REPRINTED, SUCH AS THE "MUSKOKA GUIDE BOOK AND ATLAS," WHICH WAS PRODUCED IN VOLUME SOME YEARS AGO, KNOCKING DOWN THE PRICE OF EARLIER REPRINTS, FROM THE 1970'S, OF THIS RARE AND SIGNIFICANT 1800'S GEM OF INFORMATION.
I CHOSE NON-FICTION AS MY SPECIALTY, FROM MY FIRST YEAR IN THE BOOK-SELLING AREA, OF THE WIDER ANTIQUE TRADE. IT WAS DUE TO MY EARLY CLERKING WORK AT MUSKOKA PUBLICATIONS, AND THIS WAS REINFORCED WHEN I BEGAN A MENTORSHIP WITH BOOK COLLECTOR, DAVID BROWN OF HAMILTON…..WHO REFUSED TO HAVE A WORK OF FICTION IN HIS COLLECTION. ACTUALLY, FOR ALL HIS BLUSTER AND OUTRAGEOUS COMMENTS ABOUT THE WORTHLESSNESS OF FICTION, IT WAS FOUND THAT IN HIS 100,000 BOOKS, AT THE TIMES OF HIS DEATH, HE HAD THE COMPLETE SET OF THORNTON BURGESS ANIMAL BOOKS; EACH OF COURSE, FICTIONAL STORIES FOR CHILDREN. AND HE HAD A NUMBER OF BOOKS WRITTEN BY WASHINGTON IRVING, THAT WERE ALSO OF THE NON-FICTION CATEGORY. IRVING DID WRITE NON-FICTION AS WELL. I AM TOLD, THAT THESE BOOKS WERE LEFTOVERS FROM HIS OWN CHILDHOOD, AS HE LOVED BOTH AUTHORS AND THEIR FICTIONAL ACCOUNTS. WHILE I DIDN'T SHARE DAVE'S DISLIKE FOR FICTION, AS A FLEDGLING BOOK SELLER, WITH LIMITED STORAGE SPACE, I HAD TO HIT MUCH CLOSER TO THE MARK TO MAKE THE EFFORT PROPORTIONAL AND PROFITABLE. BY SPECIALIZING IN MUSKOKA AND ONTARIO HISTORIES GENERALLY, I BEGAN SELLING QUITE A FEW BOOKS, WITH A DECENT ONGOING PROFIT. EVEN WHEN WE SWITCHED TO ONLINE SALES, IT WAS THE SAME. I WAS ONLY ABLE TO SELL ONE WORK OF FICTION, IN TEN YEARS, AND THAT WAS A FIRST EDITION JOSEPH CONRAD. BUT HERE'S WHY.
BOOKS OF NON-FICTION ARE LARGELY SOLD FOR CONTENT. THIS ISN'T TO SAY THAT NON-FICTION BUYERS AREN'T FUSSY ABOUT CONDITION, BUT THEY ARE FAR EASIER TO GET ALONG WITH, IF THERE IS SOME MINOR DAMAGE, TO THE DUSTJACKET OR TEXT, THAN WITH FICTION. THE ISSUE OF CONDITION BECOMES PARAMOUNT. THERE ARE EVEN FICTION BUYERS WHO WON'T BUY AN INSCRIBED OR AUTOGRAPHED COPY BECAUSE THE INTRUSION OF INK, HAS ACTUALLY DEVALUED THE CONDITION OF THE BOOK. ON THE OTHER HAND, I'VE HAD HARD TO GET AUTOGRAPHS, IN FIRST EDITION NOVELS, BUT COULD NOT SELL THEM BECAUSE EITHER THE DUSTJACKET HAD A LITTLE TEAR, OR THERE WAS SOME WEAR ON THE BOTTOM AND TOP OF THE SPINE. LITTLE THINGS. TINY IMPERFECTIONS. A MISSING DUSTJACKET, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN DEVALUE A BOOK BY SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF ITS VALUE. NOT SO FOR NON FICTION, DEPENDING ON THE WORTH OF THE CONTENT.
WITH NON FICTION, THERE'S MUCH MORE TOLERATION FOR WEAR AND TEAR, AS LONG AS THERE IS NO COMPROMISE TO THE TEXT ITSELF, OR MISSING PAGES, MAPS OR ILLUSTRATIONS. AS I DON'T WISH TO GET INTO THE STRICT FOCUS ON CONDITION, AS THE MOST IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION OF A BOOK'S VALUE, THE BLESSING GENERALLY OF NON-FICTION, IS THAT THERE IS A FLEXIBILITY ATTACHED. AND USUALLY HAVING A GROUP OF EAGER HISTORIANS WAITING IS WHAT WORKS FOR ME. TRUTH IS, I'M JUST AS HAPPY TO HAVE AN UNINTERRUPTED CYCLE OF BUSINESS…..AS PILES OF LITERATURE WITH BLEMISHES LEFT TO GATHER DUST. IT HAS BEEN THE ONLY WAY, FOR ME AT LEAST, TO SURVIVE IN THE BOOK BUSINESS, AND MAINTAIN EFFICIENCY. IT DOESN'T MEAN I WOULD TURN DOWN A FIRST EDITION OF A MAJOR TITLE, AND AUTHOR, BUT THE BOOK WOULD HAVE TO BE IN AT LEAST EXCELLENT CONDITION BEFORE I'D MAKE EVEN A SMALL INVESTMENT.
SOME MORE INSIGHTS ABOUT THE OLD BOOK BUSINESS, ACCORDING TO DORA HOOD
"What books do Canadians collect? Before launching on this, one of my favorite subjects, I must try to clear up some of the misconceptions on this book collecting game as it is played in Canada," writes legendary bookseller, Dora Hood, in her 1958 biography, "The Side Door - Twenty-six Years in My Book Room," (Ryerson Press, Toronto)
"Do not expect from me advice on how to become a book collector. The libraries are full of books on this very subject. I have dipped into many of them and remain convinced that you can not make a true book collector out of a person who has to be told how to go about it. In all my long years in the business no one has ever asked me, 'how shall I begin to be a book collector?' It is possible that this independent spirit is characteristic of the collector of Canadiana. I hope it is, and my experience points that way. I can not be quite so dogmatic on the next point. It has pitfalls and is not as simple to explain," writes Dora Hood, of the industry that consumed her, from the period before the Great Depression, through World War II, and into the mid 1950's. "The term book collecting is often considered synonymous with the acquisition of first editions. This is not necessarily so among Canadian collectors for several reasons. One of these may be that we in Canada are far removed from the great book centers where world-famous first editions repeatedly change hands at fabulous prices. This lack of stimulation may have something to do with our indifference. Again, our own literary output as yet, is known scarcely at all beyond our own borders and the books of many of our best writers have never gone beyond their first issues. (This was her opinion circa 1958) Moreover, the collectors of these first editions are few, and they are, therefore, comparatively easy to acquire. This lack of competition gives little impetus to the first-edition quest. Fortunately for posterity, a few far-sighted Canadian collectors have over the years consistently gathered the first fruits of our writers," she notes of bibliophile associates.
"For the most part, however, the majority of Canadian book collectors who came my way were more interested in the subjects they collected than in first editions in general. And they would probably have agreed with one delightful book buyer who wrote thus on the subject: 'Some of the greatest lovers of letters who ever lived - Dr. Johnson, for example, and Thomas De Quincy and Carlyle - have cared no more for first editions than I do for brussels sprouts.' Augustine Birrell who penned this devastating indictment wrote many diverting essays on book buying and even on antiquarian booksellers. The small edition of his 'Selected Essays,' I have had since 1909; and in reading it again lately, found it had an unsuspected Canadian interest. Birrell wrote in the preface, 'When asked lately by my friend John Buchan to allow a selection (made by him) of my essays be added to this series, I readily assented, for when all is said and done, circulation is an author's life.' The book was published by Thomas Nelson, and probably cost me not more than a dollar. Buchan was then a partner of T.A. Nelson who had been his friend at Oxford. That the editor of essays became our most literary-minded Governor General, and that the author has so much to say about second-hand booksellers doubly endears this book to me. I have read it many times these forty years."
Dora Hood adds, "Now, having made some statements that may be challenged, it is to be hoped I have left a loophole or two, in case I have to withdraw in the face of an attack. I shall feel on firmer ground if I proceed to describe some of the many fields that have been successfully explored by Canadian collectors. I even may recall some ardent first edition collectors among them! Canadian art as a collector's subject is a comparatively recent development. What makes it interesting is that it has an intense appeal especially to the younger generation. It was William Colgate, an early researcher in this subject, who first drew my attention to the attractive vistas it opened. I soon began to tuck away odds and ends in any way connected with Canadian art in order to have something to show him the next time he dropped in for a talk. I had some early annual reports of the Ontario Society of Artists. The first of these were issued in 1873, when the exhibition was held at Notman & Fraser's Galleries on King Street East in Toronto. There were no illustrations but the names of the exhibitors were given and among them Verner's name appears so often in both the oils and water color sections that it is surprising why examples of his work are now hard to come by. Verner was born in Sheridan, Ontario, and was noted chiefly for his pictures of buffalo. It was not until 1886 that some paintings were reproduced in these little O.S.A. folders; they were the forerunners of many hundreds of pamphlets on the subject that passed through my hands. Mr. Colgate is the author of a number of biographies of the early artists, many of who dwelt here briefly, leaving samples of their work, only to move on perhaps to greener fields. It was in 1944 that The Ryerson Press published Mr. Colgates fine book, 'Canadian Art, Its Origin and Development'."
"There are two approaches to Canadian art collecting. The purely artistic, 'whose subtle power could stay yon cloud and fix it in that glorious shape,' and the definitely historical side. Both have their devotees and are sometimes combined. My duties to all these collectors were to provide all the literature, old and knew, that would enlarge their knowledge of the subject. It is not possible here to tell of the many delightful avenues I explored with my customers. I content myself with stories of only a few of the collectors. writers and artists who came my way. The great collection of Canadian pictures, known as the William H. Coverdale Collection, gather for the adornment of the walls of the Manoir Richelieu, at Murray Bay, stimulated interest in the art of this country to a high degree. Old prints, engravings, maps, oil and water color pictures were gathered and catalogued under the direction of Percy F. Goldsmith, and by 1930, when the printed list appeared, they numbered 1,598. In the preface of this catalogue we read: 'The deep current of Canadian history moving through three centuries has carried on its flood tide countless diaries, intimate letters, biographies, reminiscences and state documents which were the living chronicles of their time. But the ever-moving tide of generations has swept vast quantities of this rich substance down to oblivion. Diaries, unappreciated by contemporaries, are discarded and lost. Letters, often the richest of historical sources, are put aside and forgotten or crumble with brittle age. Even books, famous in their day, have been literally read out of existence. So, the passing of time has left only comparative fragments of the casual or deliberate writings of those who went before us in the making of Canada. Pictures, unlike the written word, seem to have survived the restless movements of generations'. I was told by Georges Ducharme that after the Coverdale agents had scoured the country there was not a picture of Canadian interest or even an illustrated book to be found. This dearth continued for a few years but in the mysterious way in which the secondhand market works, it has since recovered. The Coverdale collection was a brilliant though somewhat wholesale effort, and the pity of it so comparatively few people see it, and then only in summer months during which the hotel is open.'"
Dora Hood concludes, "To refresh my mind on the development of interest in this subject, I looked through the volumes of my bound catalogues and found it was not until 1949 that 'Art' appears as a separate section. It had gradually worked its way into the collectors' esteem so that it could no longer be classified with 'Literature and Handicrafts.' Art has in fact now become an important subject in any Canadian bookshop."
In tomorrow's blog I will share a little insight about Dora Hood, and research that was conducted, with her assistance, regarding the mysterious death of Canadian landscape artist. Tom Thomson, one of my favorite subjects. It's a neat sidebar story in Canadian history, and Dora Hood played a small but interesting role. In my humble experience, booksellers are never just that……and are never too conservative to "tick their oar in," when a subject of interest rolls around. I shared this story with a Thomson researcher recently, and I'd like to think it shed a little light on his research.
I hope you enjoyed today's study of Canadian bookseller, Dora Hood. I will conclude the brief series in tomorrow's blog. I appreciate your company, and everyone is welcome to join in. I've got lots of antique hunting stories to tell, and a honking big white screen to fill each day. Can you imagine how many trees I would kill, to accommodate my copy output? A whole forest would disappear, and as I love my woodlands, this is a much better use of resources. Thanks again for visiting and please come back again soon.
As I predicted, for Monday of this week, my Gravenhurst blog had officially passed the 50,000 "hits" mark, after less than fourteen months. I'm delighted to say….as any regional writer would be, that the daily average now has increased to between four hundred and four hundred and sixty each day. A year ago, I was lucky to hit forty or fifty for each blog. The most delightful aspect, is that the past blogs are being actively archived, and in both North America and Europe. Apparently, I've got a pretty good following in Poland, and that has to do with the feature series I wrote last spring, on Polish-Canadian artist, Richard Karon, formerly of Lake of Bays, here in the District of Muskoka. If you haven't read it, but wish to, I have a special Richard Karon blogsite, complete with video of his work, and many paintings included for viewing. I know 50,000 hits would be a tiny readership for better known and celebrity bloggers, but by golly, for a country lad like me…..well, it's nothing short of inspiring. So thanks for your ongoing support. I hope I can continue earning your respect.
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