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Articles - August - 2011 Issue

A Whale of a Sale

- by Bruce E. McKinney

Whaling Journal [lower right] sold in 40 seconds

Whaling Journal [lower right] sold in 40 seconds

The C. H. Booth Library Fair has done it again.  A great spirit, plenty of volunteers, an energetic audience and voila you have a success.  The mystery is in the elbow grease and good thinking.

In the run-up to the fair the promotional committee put out the word that a great book would be available for a great price to the first person coming through the door who called out “I’ll take it.”  So how long did it take to sell this book?  Forty seconds or thereabouts.

The Book?  A whaling journal – dating to 1833-1836 kept by Second Mate William E. Percival offered for $3,500.

To be first in you had to be first in line.  To be first in line you needed to line up the night before.  Congratulations to the buyer and congratulations to the C. H. Booth Library Fair Committee.

The future of books is debated but so long as imagination is employed they who love books will materialize, even at 1:00 am to be first in line to buy books and manuscripts.  For millions of people books are magic.

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Posted On: 2011-08-01 00:00
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If you want to read more about this Library fair and the purchase of the whaling log, check out Greg Gibson's Bookman's Log (entry for July 17,

Rare Book Monthly

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    Case Antiques, Jan. 31-Feb. 1: George Eliot, Middlemarch, 1st Edition in 8 Volumes. $600 to $800.
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