Boston is Baack, Baby!

First a disclaimer.

This was one of the best Boston Antiquarian Book Fairs I can remember. (Thirty-five of them by my count. Although admittedly “remembering” involved looking back over my notes from years gone by.) Move in and move out were seamless, especially given the fact that the adjacent exhibit space was once again available for load out. Somehow they even fixed that funny lump on the exit ramp, meaning we no longer had to veer our vehicles wildly to the left then back around right to avoid getting hung up on the pernicious concrete hump that had been annoying us for years. The weather was ideal – not so good that no one wanted to be indoors, but good enough to get you off your couch and out of your house.

Many of us have had the pleasure of watching Julie Roper of Capricorn Event Management “grow up” under Betty Fulton and then out on her own. And man, she is crushing it now! Attendance was steady and strong all three days, and that younger crowd we’re always hoping to attract showed up in droves, baby carriages and all. I even  (and I hope I can express this in a manner that is not too politically incorrect) saw a gentleman with a red-tipped cane making his way down the 200 aisle with the rest of the crowd. If that’s not getting the people to come in, I don’t know what is. For years, Boston was the weak sister of ABAA fairs, and much head scratching was done to figure out ways to prop it up. At it turned out all that was required was a little patience and some excellent promotion. Dealer participation was up over past years and attendance was excellent. Boston is back.

In terms of results, my casual walking-the-aisles poll indicated that most exhibitors had at least an acceptable fair, with quite a few broad smiles (waiting for the final sale in hopes of a personal best) thrown in for good measure. I did not speak to a single person who suffered through a stinker of a show, although I did hear of one exhibitor who was unhappy that the free-admission policy Saturday and Sunday let too many people in. Apparently it was this exhibitor’s opinion the crowds of casual customers were keeping the serious buyers from getting at his books. Well, you can’t please everyone.

The scene was pretty much the same across Dalton Street at the Shadow Show in the Hilton Hotel. Excellent management provided by Richard Mori and Duane Stevens. The logistics of getting showcases into the venue was challenging but those guys got it done. On a personal note, I had reserved and paid for a half booth. However, I mistakenly thought I had taken a full booth, so my helper Alex and I packed accordingly. At about 10 am Friday morning Alex texted to ask how I planned to get all those books into half a booth. I hopped across the street steaming mad, ready to strangle whoever was responsible for a screwup of this magnificent order. Richard and Duane calmed me down, found Alex a new full booth, and showed me the contract I’d signed ordering a half booth. I spent the rest of the morning trying to figure out how to strangle myself, then went to Eataly at the Pru for an excellent lunch. Alex checked in Saturday night – he’d had a good fair, a very good fair indeed.

Now that we’ve gotten these details out of the way, I’d like to briefly discuss book fairs from the perspective of a specialty dealer. Many dealers have specialties in particular areas, but most dealers have multiple specialties, or at least branching sub-specialties. For example, old friend John Windle is a specialist in the works of William Blake, as we all know, but also specializes in “Medieval Manuscripts, California, Hawaii and Pacific Voyages, Illustrated books and fine bindings of all periods, Children’s Books from 21750 to 1950…” etc. That’s quite a spread. By contrast, All the areas of specialization at Ten Pound Island Book Co. are “wet” – involving oceans and adventures thereupon. We only touch land in pre-20th century New England.

The result of this narrow focus is that my wares do not attract wide interest. Casual shoppers will occasionally ask to look at an item – not because they want to purchase it, but because they have no idea what it is. I’m fine with all of that. I don’t mind a little outreach and education, and I’m quite used to not selling much at book fairs. Over the years I’ve come to understand that I participate in these events in order to obtain materials for the precious few who understand what I’m selling. This year, the only thing that slightly marred two excellent events was that the buying was off. By the Weinstein equation in which one’s book fair total equals amount purchased plus amount sold, Ten Pound Island put up a $30-spot, a respectable number for me. Unfortunately almost $25,000 of that was sales, meaning Boston 2025 posted a measly $5,000 in purchases. Lotsa room for improvement there!

Consequently, I spent much of the weekend with little to do (no rare books to collate, few manuscripts to try to read) and consequently began to suffer from a combination of boredom and fatigue, which led to a sort of ennui particular only to book fairs.

Fortunately, or not so fortunately, Mark Tewfik of Maggs Bros. happened by my booth just in time to capture this fleeting moment.

Visitor inquires, “Are you a bookseller?”

Greg replies

On the other hand, the Patriots won