ON BEING THE SELLER OF OLD BOOKS AND THE ENCHANTMENT IT CREATES
ONCE BITTEN…….WATCH OUT…..MAYBE YOU WILL BECOME A BOOK DEALER
EVERY TIME I WALK INTO A SHOP THAT SELLS OLD BOOKS, I AM IMPRESSED IMMEDIATELY BY THE RICH, HISTORIC, WORLDLY AROMA OF SO MUCH BOUND AND PRINTED-UPON PAPER; POSSESSING THE AURA OF OLD WRITERS AND CENTURIES OF CONTENTED READERSHIP; SO MANY SHELVES OF HISTORY AND LITERATURE, FICTION AND NON-FICTION, NOVELS AND BIOGRAPHY, AND SO MUCH SOCIAL / CULTURAL FUEL FOR THE EAGER MIND TO FEED UPON. EVEN STANDING ALONE IN A BOOK SHOP, IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO FEEL ISOLATED OR LONELY. I ALWAYS THINK OF CHRISTOPHER MORELY'S "HAUNTED BOOK SHOP," WHEN I VISIT THESE HAVENS OF GOOD READING. I HAD A SIGNED COPY OF "THE HAUNTED BOOK SHOP," BUT ALAS, THIS DASTARDLY SITUATION, OF A BOOKSELLER ACTUALLY HAVING TO SELL SOMETHING, IN ORDER TO SURVIVE. AH, THE TEMPTATION OF MONEY OVER POSSESSION.
I HAVE BEEN IN SOME WONDERFUL OLD BOOK SHOPS, SINCE I BEGAN SELLING BOOKS MYSELF, BACK IN THE LATE 1980'S. IT DIDN'T MATTER IF THE SHOP WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A TIGHT URBAN DOWNTOWN, IN A RUSHING-EVERYWHERE CITY, OR IN A SMALL TOWN, OR HAMLET, MAYBE EVEN OUT IN THE RURAL CLIMES, BECAUSE ONE STEP INSIDE THE DOOR, AND THERE CAME ALL THOSE FAMILIAR SENSORY PERCEPTIONS. THE VERY PROFOUND AND HAUNTING, "I'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE," SENSATIONS. WHETHER IT WAS URBAN OR RURAL, IT NEVER SEEMED TO MATTER. THEY WERE ALWAYS RUN BY HOSPITABLE, WELCOMING FOLKS, WHO FELT THEIR BOOKS WERE AN EXTENSION OF THEIR SOULS. THEY DIDN'T OFFER THIS AS A WELCOMING EXPLANATION, BUT YOU KNEW IT, AFTER ONLY A SHORT CHAT. IT WAS A REFLECTION IN THIER EYES, THAT THEY LOVED WHAT THEY WERE DOING IN LIFE. WORKING IN THESE SHOPS WAS NO EFFORT AT ALL. IT WAS THE "LIFESTYLE" SITUATION, I HAVE TRIED TO PORTRAY THROUGH THESE PRELIMINARY BLOGS ABOUT COLLECTORS AND THE ART OF COLLECTING. YOU WILL MAKE A TERRIBLE ANTIQUARIAN BOOK COLLECTOR IF YOU DON'T CHERISH BOOKS…..AND NOT JUST THE ONES YOU LIKE. I CAN HONESTLY SAY I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN AN OLD BOOK SHOP THAT I DIDN'T LIKE…..OR SPOKEN WITH ITS PROPRIETOR, AND FELT THEIR DEMEANOR TO BE COLD OR STANDOFFISH. THE PREVAILING ATMOSPHERE IS SCHOLARLY AND IT WAS THE SAME FEELING I GOT, WHENEVER I WENT INTO THE COMMUNITY LIBRARIES IN MUSKOKA, AND THE MASSIVE FACILITY AT YORK UNIVERSITY IN TORONTO, WHERE I STUDIED ENGLISH AND HISTORY. AS I HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED BY BOOKS, AND LOTS OF THEM, FOR MOST OF MY COLLECTING LIFE, I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO FEEL AT HOME WITH "THE COLLECTION." I KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE TO HAVE TO SELL A BOOK, YOU'D RATHER NOT. SUZANNE HAS HAD TO PRY A LOT OF BOOKS OUT OF MY HANDS OVER THE YEARS, SUCH AS A PRISTINE FIRST EDITION, SIGNED COPY OF "BLUENOSE SKIPPER," SIGNED BY CAPTAIN ANGUS WALTERS. WE NEEDED MORTGAGE MONEY, AND THIS WAS A PRICEY BOOK. BUT IT'S BEEN THE SAME WITH ANTIQUES, FOR ME, AND I'VE HAD PANIC ATTACKS, SELLING OFF A FAVORITE BUFFET, OR FLAT-TO-THE-WALL, DESPITE THE FACT WE MADE A HANDSOME PROFIT. THERE ARE MANY READING THIS, WHO WON'T APPRECIATE FULLY, THAT ONE CAN ACTUALLY BECOME MORE ATTACHED TO A BOOK AFTER READING IT, THAN THE ANTICIPATION OF HAVING IT ON THE NIGHTSTAND…..AS A BOOK IN WAITING. I MUST HAVE READ "BLUENOSE SKIPPER," THREE TIMES BEFORE IT WAS SOLD, BUT THE BOOK HAD A LITTLE MAGIC ATTACHED, I CAN'T QUITE EXPLAIN. IT WAS LIKE HAVING CAPTAIN WALTERS READING ALONG WITH ME, TO POINT OUT THINGS I MIGHT HAVE MISSED DURING A PREVIOUS RUN-THROUGH.
I FEEL THE SAME ABOUT DORA HOOD'S FASCINATING BIOGRAPHY, "THE SIDE DOOR - TWENTY-SIX YEARS IN MY BOOK ROOM," PUBLISHED BY THE RYERSON PRESS, IN 1958. I WILL NOT SELL MY INSCRIBED AND SIGNED COPY. BUT I WILL SHARE SOME BOOK COLLECTING AND SELLING STORIES FROM WITHIN. IT IS A BOOK EVERY CANADIAN SHOULD BE FAMILIAR WITH, BECAUSE DORA HOOD WAS AS MUCH AN HISTORIAN AS BIBLIOPHILE. SHE CONSERVED A GREAT DEAL OF CANADIAN HISTORY, WITH HER ASTUTE HANDLING AND RESEARCH OF LARGE COLLECTIONS SHE HAD ACQUIRED. ITEMS OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE WERE GIVEN GREAT AND PAINSTAKINGLY CAREFUL SCRUTINY, AND THE CONSERVATION ATTENTION, TO PRESERVE THEM FOR MANY GENERATIONS TO COME.
"THE SECONDHAND BOOK BUSINESS HAS A VERY LONG HISTORY AND HAS HAD SOME ADHERENTS WHO HAVE BECOME FAMOUS IN OTHER WAYS," WRITES FORMER TORONTO BOOKSELLER, DORA HOOD. "IT IS RECORDED THAT ALEXANDER CRUDEN 'MAINTAINED HIMSELF BY KEEPING A SECONDHAND BOOKSHOP,' WHILE HE COMPILED HIS MONUMENTAL WORK, THE FAMOUS 'CONCORDANCE OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS.' AT TIMES HE HAD PERIODS OF LUNACY, THOUGH WHETHER THIS WAS THE RESULT OF HIS STUDIES OR FROM WORRY OVER THE CONDITION OF HIS BOOKSHOP, HIS DOES NOT RELATE. HE DIED IN 1770 AND EVER SINCE HIS NAME HAS BEEN A HOUSEHOLD WORD, AN ACHIEVEMENT THE REST OF US HAVE NEVER ATTAINED.
"THERE HAVE BEEN MANY CHARMING ESSAYS AND BOOKS WRITTEN ABOUT BOOKSHOPS, REAL AND FICTIONAL, BUT THEY COME FOR THE MOST PART FROM ABLE PENS OF LITERARY BOOK BUYERS AND NOT FROM THE EVER GRUBBY AND HARDWORKING HANDS OF THE PROPRIETORS. 'HANDBOOKS,' THERE ARE WITHOUT NUMBER ON HOW TO CONDUCT MOST BUSINESS VENTURES, BUT I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF ONE ON HOW TO RUN A SECONDHAND BOOKSHOP. WE WHO DRIFT INTO THE TRADE DEVELOP OUR OWN HAPHAZARD WAYS AND WOULD, I THINK, FIND IT DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW RULES WE HAD NOT DEVELOPED OURSELVES. WHAT FOLLOWS, THEREFORE, MAY NOT APPLY TO OTHER BOOKSHOPS BUT IT IS THE INSIDE STORY OF HOW WE WORKED."
DORA HOOD NOTES OF THE PROFESSION SHE MARRIED, "IT TOOK ME YEARS TO WORK OUT A SYSTEM IN THE MANAGEMENT OF ROUTINE OFFICE WORK, WHILE WAYS OF BUYING AND SELLING AND WRITING CATALOGUES CAME ALMOST BY INSTINCT. WE HAD OUR DAYS OF JOYS AND SORROWS, OF TRIUMPHS AND HUMILIATIONS, OF EASE AND DRUDGERY AND THOUGH THE NET RESULT IN DOLLARS AND CENTS WAS MODEST, THE LIFE WAS SUCH A SATISFYING ONE THAT I NEVER DREAMED OF GIVING IT UP. AUGUSTINE BIRRELL, IN HIS PITHY WAY WROTE, 'NEVER CONVERT A TASTE INTO TRADE,' BUT I THINK HE WAS WRONG. I WOULD SAY YOU MUST HAVE A TASTE FOR BOOKS, OR YOU WOULD LOATHE THE TRADE."
KEEPING COMPANY WITH A BOOKSELLER
"Contrary to the general belief, we are a fairly honest lot. For instance, as we become more expert in our business, we actually pay more for the books we buy than we did as novices. Luck it seems is often with the beginner for when I was timid about every outlay I made on books, some wonderful bargains came my way. I have no qualms of conscience on this account, however, for had there been any rival buyer in the field, the books would not have become mine. As time went on I gradually built up a first hand knowledge of the value of a great number of books, both rare and commonplace; I could not in all honesty offer less than I knew they were worth to me. Most of us buy more books than we can handle, and lay out much more capital than we should. None of us grows rich! There is a vast difference between buying a few volumes and estimating the value of a large library. I grew to enjoy the latter, for it required skill and experience with the added possibility of something unusual turning up. As time went on, and especially after the 1939-45 War, I did not have so many unorganized collections offered me, such as the Jones and Heyden libraries, for by that time most of the loose collections of papers had been tidied up and unfortunately consigned to the paper drives. The only one of this kind that remained was the Coyne Collection, and that took me years to acquire although I had known of its existence for some time."
She writes, "More and more frequently I was called on to price and buy well selected libraries belonging to university professors, civil servants or wealthy businessmen. These books were usually arranged neatly on shelves in attractive libraries or in rather chilly basement playrooms, and the task was much simpler though not as exciting as ploughing through piles of miscellaneous books and papers. Gradually I devised a method of arriving at a price which developed into playing a little game with myself. I had in time become so familiar with the appearance of a vast number of Canadian books that without even reading their titles, I recognized them by the size, the color of their bindings and other features very much as we know the appearance of our friends without ticking off each feature. Therefore, when I came into a room full of books, I could take a general look at the collection and size up the trend of character of the library. After a few minutes' thought I would jot down on a piece of paper what I thought I should pay for it and put this away in my briefcase. Then I would go carefully over the whole collection, putting down in one column on my pad, the value of the highlights or really good books on each shelf and in another column, a covering price on what I called 'run of the mill,' books. These included those that turn up frequently and of which I had a good supply and the practically unsaleable others. Often this proved a thoroughly interesting operation, for when unfamiliar titles turned up, I had to spend some time going through them to decide on their value. Then came the final reckoning. The two columns would be added up, the good and the not so good, and putting them together I would arrive at the final price; and here is where the game came in. The original guess would be produced and the two prices compared. In nine cases I do not know how I did this and it amused and astonished me over and over again. Though the carefully detailed estimate was probably nearer the real value, I usually gave the seller whichever was higher."
So if you've ever wanted to know how book dealers operate in the heat of the moment, Dora Hood provides some valuable insights. "There is one difficult problem which every book dealer has to face. The owners of libraries, almost invariably, will not put a price on their books. Most of them want the dealer to do this, and, having got his expert advice, proceed with this as a basis for further bargaining with others. I do not think it occurs to them that this is somewhat unethical. The only method we can employ to offset this is tactfully to explain that the offer must be accepted or rejected at the time it is made and will not be renewed. Sometimes it is very difficult to be so dogmatic. Most bookish people are disarmingly nice and it is distressing to disrupt the friendship atmosphere. The best way is to take the seller into your confidence by explaining that you have many offers of books and must have an answer there and then lest you have too many unsettled offers. Fortunately, I was able gradually to build up a certain confidence in my business ways and my estimates were accepted among those who knew me. My advice to those who have libraries to sell, is to try one of three three following ways of going about it. !. Try to arrive at a price before you offer your books, keeping in mind that the dealer must make a profit and that he will have to dispose of the books one by one, while you are to get cash for all without further effort on your part. 2. Make a careful list of your books giving author, title, date and place of publication, and exact condition, being sure to find out if all plates and maps are present. Have several copies made and sent them simultaneously to the dealers in the community, asking them to quote a price on the lot. Then accept the best. It is not playing the game to withdraw books from the list after sending it out. 3. Go to a dealer you know and trust him if he offers to buy the entire library. This is much less trouble and will probably give you the best return."
She indicates, with considerable experience on her side, that "Booksellers are continually plagued by being asked to quote prices over the telephone. Often it is merely idle curiosity that prompts these calls and most bookmen refuse to give this information. Telephones, as we all know to our regret, are tremendous temptations to some people. I was frequently rung up after business hours by people who were comfortably at home and whose own offices were dark and silent. I remember once answering the telephone late at night to hear a cheery voice saying "We have just been having an argument about the value of the first edition of 'X'…..and someone said Dora Hood was sure to know, so we thought we would ring you up to see who was right.' My answer to this was 'That's very flattering, but what time is it at your house?' On several occasions I was asked to price books for probate, but did not particularly care for this work as the collections often contained quantities of miscellaneous books about which I could only guess. But once I was asked by the librarian of an important university as a business proposition, to put a price on a valuable collection of Canadiana. I was not told who had owned the books nor why a price was wanted. It was an interesting piece of work and required a good deal of research as many of the books were extremely rare. Again I applied my own technique of looking over the long list in a casual manner and jotting down an estimate. Then I went seriously to work on it, and as I did not know whether the books were to be sold or donated, I had to use my own judgement and decided to put on them the approximate current price. It took me several weeks to do the work in my spare time. Once again my estimated price and the final detailed amount were within hailing distance of each other, though a good many thousand dollars were involved. I learned later that the books had been left jointly to two heirs. The share of one was given as a gift to the library while the other heir demanded cash. What the final arrangement was I did not hear although I received a letter of appreciation from the librarian."
As a final note, Dora Hood offers an explanation about book pricing for retail consumption: "To end this account of the inner workings of the Book Room, I must attempt to answer the question I am often asked. How did you know what price to put on your books? It was necessary, in the first place, to learn the universal principle of supply and demand. To do this I studied the catalogues of reputable and well-established bookmen. I went to the reference library to look up auction reports but them only occasionally helpful. I became familiar with the background of the books I had to catalogue from my bibliographies and histories. This took time but once learned stood me in good stead. The current values of the books, for instance, of Champlain, Charlevoix, Heriot and Weld were not difficult to establish, but these were not everyday occurrences in the Book Room. The task became much more of a problem as the flood of later books increased and I was confronted with good books which apparently I had never before been offered. It was necessary then, I found, to develop an acute sense of the value of the content of each books; this and the cultivation of a retentive memory for everything I had ever read or heard about a book was, I believe, the most useful faculty I acquired. There is, of course, another factor not generally, I fear, taken seriously by the trade, summed up in the modern term 'overhead.' There is only one solution to this and that is to keep it so low that you are continually bumping your head and by so doing most of the work yourself. Probably in the end, we fall back on the ancient rule of trial and error. but looking back as a bookseller of long standing, I believe the crucial factor in successful pricing is to possess a deep and absorbing interest in one's vocation."
To my final breath in this mortal coil, I will be a bibliophile. I will buy books and then sell them. Not as much as I used to, when a little younger, but I could not have an antique shop assigned to my name, and have it void of some interesting books. At one time in my collecting life, I had about 40,000 books, and it has taken about twenty years, to whittle that number down to a manageable collection. I became obsessed with acquisition, but not so much, with selling proportionally, to what I was buying daily, weekly, monthly and annually. I was even resorting to sneaking boxes of books into our house, when Suzanne was at work, so she wouldn't yell at me for my excesses. I started changing my ways, when my old book hound friend, Dave Brown, commissioned me to do his biography. Dave didn't tell me at the time, he was seriously ill, and would likely never see the completed text. He was right. Dave passed away with 100,000 books stuffed into his small Hamilton bungalow. How bad was it? I'll bet you've never heard of load-bearing piles of books before. The handlers of the estate found this out, when they began taking the basement books out of the house, before lightening the load on the first floor. They nearly had a serious collapse. The piles of books, on shelves, were actually wedged at the top, against the floor joist of the upper level. Suzanne was my research assistant for the biography, which sold-out by the way, and it was after this, she put me on a reformation diet……no new books until the quantity was reduce by many thousands. Dave enlightened a lot of us, to the damnation of becoming a hoarder without knowing it. So now I buy only what I think I can sell quickly, and I have paid far more attention to the good advice from Dora Hood, than from what I found out about my old friend David Brown……a bibliomaniac by definition.
I will have more information from Dora Hood's book in my next blog. Thanks for spending some time with me, in the recollection of one of Canada's well known antiquarian booksellers. Please drop by again soon, for some more wild and wooly collector tales from her in the snowy woodlands of South Muskoka.
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