We zipped on up to Jackson and were rather dismayed at how empty it was. There were no cars parked on the street or in any parking lots after 5 p.m., the crime rate is too high. The downtown has been severely "malled", but we went into a bar in a 1920s hotel and the bartender, a young man from a nearby college, told us they are trying to bring it back. The town was pretty grim, but had some fantastic historic architecture. We did find Eudora Welty's house, surrounded by lovely camellia bushes. We also found Choctaw Books. Unfortunately we arrived Saturday evening late and he was just closing. We were going to go on to New Orleans Sunday, but decided to stay over and go to his store Monday morning. And we were glad we did!
First and foremost, Fred Smith, the owner of the store was cheerful, helpful, knowledgeable, and seemed to actually like us and want to help us find things. No mean feat in this store which is packed, crammed, jammed, and stuffed with books on almost any subject you can name. It is floor to ceiling cases, with aisle piles and boxes and overflowing nooks and crannies. Fred told us that one lady had lost a $600 pair of glasses in the store but they had never been found.
He has rare and used books and a fine selection of firsts, signed books by southern authors, Civil War books, southern history, and regional stuff. There is quite a collection of Eudora Welty and scads of ephemera poked into shelves here and there. If you are looking for something specific in the southern genre, give him a call at 601-352-2614. It would take two weeks to actually dig around and find all the terrific things he has stashed away, but he knows pretty much where everything is. It is loosely arranged by subject, but you might want to quickly scan all subjects anyway, since I found a couple of fabulous books hiding in the wrong place. I ended up with a whole box of books with a nice discount, and, bless his heart, Fred offered not only to mail the books I bought from him, but all the books we had accumulated over the past week. That's a huge help when you are on the road and can't carry packing materials.
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…
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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.
![<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.")
