the diversity of the state is also the bounty of the state. there's so much we learn from each other in california. it's a state where everybody can somehow get the representation depending on whatever group they belong to. it's a state also in great conflict. there are competing values in the state. there's a place for everybody in the state. the far right has its legions in california, believe you me and the last left of course does as well but it's a state where there's so much activity, so much energy . and for that reason it's exciting. it can be tiring. it can be exhausting. especially when you try to figure out doctor meadows and figure out what the legislature is doing and not doing, our tax collection system is bananas and there's all kinds of problems here but problems or not, it's a state that moves. most of the time forward, sometimes not but it's a

state that looks to move and never rests on its laurels. it's an exciting place to be. >> our encore presentation of some of the stops along the c-span cities to or from thispast year continues as we take you to provo utah . >> i've been collecting rare books for the past 30 years. i decided to relocate to provo after selling my bookshop in dallas which also sold new books and the past 10 or 15 years bookstores have been sold and bookstores have suffered with the advent of e-books and everything going digital but what i found is the interest in rare books has increased. in my shop right now there are about 1000 books but in my inventory there are about 5000 books. i specialize in four different areas, i specialize

in rare bibles, older bibles, bibles over 500 years being in utah i specialize in early mormon books, classics in literature and early american history. one of the items i enjoy collecting our bibles or religious texts that belong to well-known historical figures and being from utah, one of the more popular items that i like to showcase is brigham young's copy of the book of mormon. >> its house in b protective clamshell but this is according to family tradition, this is a copy of the book of mormon that was on brigham young's nightstand when he died in 1877 and if you open it up to the title page, you can seebrigham young's signature . another one, i enjoy early american history. and this is really one of the

most important books printed in america pre-1800 and it's a original copy of thomas paine's common sense which was printed in philadelphia, the printer was robert bell area around third street in philadelphia and if you go there today you will see a brass fact, here is where it was printed january 9 1776. >> it was a little like a pamphlet, sewn together. it's quite rare and it was printed three times in january 76 and it has an interesting story because thomas paine went to robert bell, wanted to have the that printed and he wanted the proceeds by to buy the soldiers mittens. after it went through three printings they had a falling out so thomas payne allowed anybody to print it.

he lowered the price and said anybody can print it and that's why that book is so well-known and to this day has the designation of having the highest adoration of any book did in america. >>. >> my favorite find in the past year is a bible that belonged to the man who wrote the lord of the rings. i have j.r.r. tolkien's copy of the bible. and i had a nice protective case made for it. but he had a very simple bible. it was printed in 1947, this is in the middle of writing lord of the rings, he was writing from 1937 to 1954. and we can see a beautiful, well-known recognizable signature in the front but what most interests me about this book was the fact that he annotated this book and it made comments in the margin

and here on the last page of john you can see he's making comments in greek. he's comparing it to seven different versions of the bible . he's making, this is a better translation of this week, of the original greek. j.r.r. tolkien's bible. >> one he had while he was writing lord of the rings, just 1000 books in here are worth over 10 million. >> and there are actually there's even a few books that are worth over 1 million a piece although i have books as low as $100 but that's kind of the starting level of the books that i have. what i enjoyed so much about the rare book, this is a treasure want. it's finding them and also realizing that in these older books, they are different

they have a different feel, a different look and often a different story, often depending on who owned the books , that's an added story within the story. >>. >> this is the perfect place to keep these books because it's fireproof, it's humidity control and there's no uv light. >> this little book has a big story but if you're looking at it you will see that it's a land and this is something that could be overlooked unless you understand the similes. this little book has a great story but you have to know history, you have to understand the history of the time to understand who own this book so you all have to do detective work. now, to determine who own this book you look at this and when you see this you see a crown, that makes you think royalty and you go okay. well. now you see the fleur-de-lis so you think that friends

royalty but why do you see the two sides? this is because this person was married so this would be a queens copy. >> the king at the time was louis xvi. >> this is the seal of marie antoinette. and this, it's in latin. you may not recognize the book and you may overlook that but if you know what marie antoinette really look like, you would be able to identify this and there are few of her books that have survived in private hands because when she was executed , or libraries were absorbed into the french national library this would have been a book that she carried with her and she would've had more than one. this is something that each year or so they were given new copies so she would've had a few and that's why she would have given this copy away and that is why it's currently not in the french national library. >> and finally, another fun

book i have is the shakespeare book, it's quite rare. shakespeare died in 1616 and 1623, his complete works were first printed. and then again in 1632. 1664 and 1685. only about 250 of each of these copies have survived. there was maybe 1000 copies in the world and of those thousand, that majority, over 90 percent are institutionally owned but i have a fourth year, 1685. >> and even before you open the book you know that book has a story totell, it's just a stunning binding . working class. >>. >> but it's the complete works of shakespeare done in 1685.

and i have it open to romeo and juliet. i will continue to collect books for the rest of my life. i have had people ask me when are you going to retire? what are you going to do? i'm already doing it. i can't think of anything i would rather do than travel around tracking down rare books. i enjoy these books. last do you read them? absolutely. you never know if one of the earlier owners has made an inscription that could substantially increase the value of the book or added interest to the story behind the book. so i will always do this, i never get tired of it. i love sharing stories of old and young and i look forward to it every day. bookshops have been closing in record numbers, national chains are closing down . 15 years ago, i knew owners of about 300 bookstores.

250 of those have closed just in the past 15 years so it's important for these stories to continue to survive. they add character to the local community. it's a meeting place for people and it keeps history alive. by these bookshops continuing to be in existence. >> our encore presentation of some of the stops along the c-span city tour from this past year continues as we take you to pittsburgh pennsylvania . >> when i left my house i went out into the world into that community to learn, to be a man. what use to be a thriving community although it's a community but the stores and shops all along the avenue. they're not there anymore. >>