Marvin Getman's Brooklyn Fair is over, but the memories remain
- by Bruce Evan McKinney
Susan Heller, long time and now emeritus ABAA member and her closest friend, Gerry, recently retraced the early American explorations, travelling from Ohio across the great expanse of Pennsylvania, past Pittsburgh and Philadelphia to New Jersey where they stayed with friends and family.
They came to New York to participate in Marvin Getman’s Brooklyn Fair, now in its second year, – The Brooklyn Rare Book, Art, Photo & Design Fair over the September 19-20 weekend. Such trips are back of the envelope for 20 somethings. For Susan Heller whose life began in the 1930s, every step is carefully considered. Gerry, her senior by a few, is actually the internet guru. Age sometimes transcends.
The trip would be successful and they are now back home. It was simply fun.
But she is a restless girl, a handful for Gerry, with a restless mind that even, into her 8th decade, looks for new mountains to climb. If her most recent mountain was the Brooklyn Book Fair her next may be the Ephemera Fair in Connecticut next spring.
Fulton J. Sheen long ago famously said, “life is worth living” and a contemporary TV show then went a step further to say “life begins at eighty.” Susan and Gerry are proving both to be correct.
Here is Susan in her own words.
“As always, my pre-show sales to dealers were the best. One of the top dealer's purchases equaled that of an entire show 20 Years ago. The first day open to the public had adequate attendance and a modicum of sales for me. The last day was very slow due to two competing shows nearby, but Marvin said he'll make sure no such competition happens in the future.
Everything else was professional and exhilarating. Booths shined with every genre of bibliophilic gems imaginable - fine bindings, classics, original art, radical and off-beat material, autographs and more. Of the 150+ dealers, only 20 or so were colleagues from my old days of book selling, but time and age did not diminish their warmth, humor and intelligence. I was in fertile territory again.
The attendees were old and young, meticulously attired and contemporary casual, seasoned collectors and curious newcomers, some elderly regulars and many graduate students, young professionals and mothers wheeling strollers. In retrospect, I wish I had engaged the moms in conversation to stimulate interest in fine children's books. One man asked if we had any material on inoculation. Upon returning home, my partner Gerry found two such ephemeral items and they have already been mailed to England.
Yes, the doors opened in the beautiful new convention center in Brooklyn and welcomed a myriad and affluence of interests; older dealers like myself and younger dealers and collectors to carry the torch into the future. It was a wonderful experience.”
ALDE, Apr. 8: GUEVARA (ANTONIO DE). Histoire de Marc-Aurèle, Empereur Romain, vray miroir et horloge des Princes. Paris, Pierre et Galliot du Pré, frères, 1565. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: HEURES DE LA VIERGE. Horæ in laudem beatissimæ virginis Mariæ ad usum Romanum. Paris, Charles L'Angelier, 1556. €4,000 to €5,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: MONTAIGNE (MICHEL DE). Les Essais. Édition nouvelle, trouvée après le deceds de l'autheur… Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1595. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [ROJAS (FERNANDO DE)]. Celestina, tragicomedia di Calisto et Melibea, tradotta de lingua castigliana in italiano idioma… Venise, 1531. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CAMÕES (LUÍS DE). Os Lusiadas. Lisbonne, Pedro Crasbeeck, 1613. €2,000 to €3,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Bruxelles, Roger Velpius & Huberto Antonio, 1611. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: LA FONTAINE (JEAN DE). Fables choisies, mises en vers. Paris, Denys Thierry et Claude Barbin, 1678-1694. €6,000 to €8,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: CERVANTES (MIGUEL DE). El Ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha. Madrid, Joaquin Ibarra, 1780. €3,000 to €4,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: DIDEROT (DENIS) ET JEAN LE ROND D'ALEMBERT. Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers. Paris, 1751-1765. €15,000 to €20,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. LAMARTINE (Alphonse de). Les Laboureurs. Poème tiré de Jocelyn… Lyon, J. A. Henry, 1883. €8,000 to €10,000.
ALDE, Apr. 8: [LIVRE TISSÉ]. Livre de prières tissé d'après les enluminures des manuscrits du XIVe au XVIe siècle. Lyon, [A. Roux], 1886. €5,000 to €6,000.
Sotheby’s Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections Open for Bidding 2-17 April
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: [Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun]. Le Roman de la Rose, [Geneva or Lyons, c.1481], first printed edition of the most important medieval French vernacular poem. £200,000 to £300,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Castiglione. Il libro del cortegiano. [Venice], April 1528, first edition, in a magnificent binding by Jean Picard for Jean Grolier. £100,000 to £150,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Jacobus de Cessolis. Schachzabelbuch, Strasbourg, 1483, von der Lasa copy. £50,000 to £70,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: World Championship, 1972. A collection of 84 press photographs of the famed match between Spassky and Fischer. £2,000 to £3,000.
Sotheby’s, Apr. 2-17: Ben Franklin. Autograph letter signed, to Lord Shelburne, British Prime Minister, during peace negotiations, November 1782. £15,000 to £20,000.
