Book town Sydney-by-the-Sea in British Columbina, Canada
We had brought 12 boxes of good books for trade purposes. Every year or two I take good quality, miscellaneous titles that don't fit in with our inventory to Powell's in Portland, so the next day we struck out for Portland, which is a fairly short drive from Yreka. It took us a long time, however, as we hit every thrift store, bookstore and junk shop along the way. It was rather disappointing as many of these places simply don't have the good, high quality books that they used to have. However, we did mine a few gems. A word to the wise, don't try to find a motel in Salem, Oregon, late in the evening. We ended up driving all the way to Beaverton and got there very late, but we found a motel immediately and crashed.
We lived in Portland for seven years and have lots of friends there. Everything was lovely and green, the flowers were still blooming everywhere (that is the land of roses, after all) and we ate several great meals at our favorite old restaurants. There is almost no end to the book and thrift stores in Portland, but with our prior knowledge of which ones had the best deals, we found a few more boxes of books.
We hit Powell's first with our trade books and were quite disappointed to find that they are not taking nearly as many books as they used to, and that they are not paying much for what they do take. I walked away with about three boxes, as opposed to my usual 10-12 boxes. I think it will be the last time I take any books there to trade. We stopped at Cameron's Books on SW 3rd downtown. Cameron's has been there for all eternity, I think, and it is funky and not too tidy, but still fun to rummage through. They took a few more of my leftover trade books and we found about half a box of good gardening books for very reasonable prices. One little jewel of a store in Portland that many folks don't know about is in North Portland on N. Lombard St. It is called Paperbacks, etc., but has a very nice hardcover, non-fiction section in the back where we picked up several good art technique books and cookbooks. Mark and Janet are very nice folks and he gave us a generous dealer discount. One of the better thrift stores in Portland is the William Temple Thrift in the northwest part of town. They often have some good books and at reasonable prices. In addition, there is a Goodwill on NW Burnside that usually has some good stuff, though this time was disappointing.
Sotheby's Fine Books & Manuscripts Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: Balthus, Emily Brontë. Wuthering Heights, New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1993. 6,600 USD.
Sotheby’s: Charles Dickens. Complete Works, Philadelphia & London: J.B. Lippincott Company & Chapman & Hall, LD, 1850. Limited Edition set of 30 volumes. 7,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: John Lennon, Yoko Ono. Handwritten Letter from John Lennon and Yoko Ono to their Chauffer. 1971. 32,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Winston Churchill. First edition of War Speeches, Cassell and Company, Ltd., 1941. Set of 7 volumes. 5,500 USD.
Sotheby’s: Andy Warhol, Julia Warhola. Holy Cats First Edition, Signed by Andy Warhol. 1954. 30,000 USD.
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 11. Blaeu's Superb World Map on a Polar Projection (1695) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 36. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 49. One of the First Lunar Globes to Show the Far Side of the Moon (1963) Est. $1,000 - $1,300
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 5. The First World Map with Lavish Allegorical Vignettes of the Continents (1594) Est. $15,000 - $17,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 55. Anti-British Propaganda Map with Churchill as an Octopus (1942) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 197. One of the Most Influential Maps of Westward Expansion (1846) Est. $9,500 - $12,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 10. Scarce Pitt Edition of Carte-a-Figures Map of the World (1680) Est. $9,500 - $11,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 220. A Fine, Early Rendering of San Francisco (1874) Est. $2,200 - $2,500
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 707. Hand-Colored Image of the Presentation of Jesus with Gilt Highlights (1450) Est. $1,600 - $1,900
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 80. One of the Most Important Maps Perpetuating the Myth of the Island of California (1680) Est. $3,250 - $4,000
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 725. Homann's Atlas Featuring 26 Folio-Sized Maps in Original Color (1715) Est. $4,500 - $5,500
Old World Auctions (Feb 11): Lot 169. One of the Earliest Maps to Show Philadelphia (1695) Est. $4,750 - $6,000