We stopped in Seattle on the way home, planning to spend a couple of days, but the traffic was fiendish and there were so many people, that we just shook our heads in weariness. Seattle is a trip on its own, I think. We were headed back to Portland, where we had left the books we bought the week before, when we made one more stop for iced tea in a small town called Mt. Vernon, Washington. We almost didn't go into the used bookstore as we were pretty well burned out with cranky Washingtonian book dealers and book shopping in general, but we were sure glad we did. Eaton's Books in Mt. Vernon is a used bookstore with friendly owners, a good selection of books, reasonable prices, and a good dealer discount. We loaded up three more boxes of books and zipped on down the highway to Portland.
There is a really great company in Portland, McMennamin's. They buy up historic building sites and reuse them for restaurants, B&Bs, hotels and theaters where you can eat a burger and have their own label wine or beer while you watch a movie. There are a number of them in Oregon and they have expanded into Washington. On the way back to Portland, we stopped one final time in Centralia, Washington, to have a glass of wine and a snack. What a fun little town; lots of restoration and rebuilding going on. Lo and behold, directly across the street from the McMennamin's restored hotel there, we saw a sign on the street "Book Sale, 50% off". Oh dear, I knew we were in trouble. We made a beeline for the place, went up a flight of steps and walked into a bookstore called Tilikum Books & Bindery. Geary Lockhard is the bookseller, a cheerful and pleasant gentleman who runs the bookstore, and his wife, Ronda Lockhard, owns the bindery and has been repairing and binding quality books for some years. If you need a binder, here is their email address, tilikumbb@hotmail.com. Well, you can guess, we came out of that store with about four more boxes of books and Blanche, our Subaru, groaned when we stowed them in back.
This time we meant it, no more book shopping. We went to Portland, stayed the night with pals, had dim sum for lunch the next day and headed home via a visit to friends near Cedarville, California, where our pal Michael has a bookstore called Floating Island Books. Next morning it was a short, four-hour drive home. It was a great trip; we took our time, had lots of fun, saw lots of gorgeous country, visited with good pals, and got home rested and relaxed. But then, we had to unload the car!
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Hooke, Robert. Micrographia: or some Physiological Descriptions of Minute Bodies made by Magnifying Glasses. London: James Allestry for the Royal Society, 1667. $12,000 to $15,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Chappuzeau, Samuel. The history of jewels, first edition in English. London: T.N. for Hobart Kemp, 1671. $12,000 to $18,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 12: Sowerby, James. Exotic Mineralogy, containing his most realistic mineral depictions, London: Benjamin Meredith, 1811, Arding and Merrett, 1817. $5,000 to $7,000.
Heritage Auctions Rare Books Signature Auction December 15, 2025
Heritage, Dec. 15: John Donne. Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death. London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan of the Apes.
Heritage, Dec. 15: F. Scott Fitzgerald. Tender is the Night. A Romance.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
