happy new year, hugh burrows, i am in for ron swisher we hope your holidays went very very well. we are here to talk about something coming up next month the 44th annual antti ware january book fair. if you haven't made it out to the dejong yet you should. the book fair coming up next month that will be at concourse exhibition center, february 11 to 13. steve is here to start us off

welcome welcome. officially we are the 44th annual california international antiquarian book fair it alternates year by year with los angeles we are here in san francisco odd years and los angeles even fairs. we have 240 dealers from 25 states and 11 countries, offering a real mosaic of products from rare books, man scripts, maps, printed e femora, all kinds of antique -- >> chef so when we go down we will see -- where is it again? >> concourse exhibition center 8th and brannon. >> so you walk in for two days. >> three days. >> what do i see? >> a wide array of rarities.

from books -- printed books. >> are they laid out on tables. >> yeah. >> booths. >> yeah, 237 booths i think this year, each dealer will be representing themselves and their business in their own booth, essentially their business premises for the weekend. and they are usually more than happy to talk to anyone about their specialties and what they have for sale. and they are very well informed about what they are selling, you can find experts in juvenile books, children's books, history of exploration, medieval studies, california history, just anything really, anything that has a defined specialty area of interest will

be represented. >> what does the antiquarian have to do with it. >> it is a funny word, kind of archaic but it refers to artifacts of the past. it used to be a common enough term to describe a person interested in the past through the study of the relics of the past. >> people would be more antiques would be something -- >> yeah, antiques is the more modern term. >> how old does something have to be before it is antiquarian. >> i don't have an answer for that. >> ballpark. >> 100 years. >> okay stretching back and back. >> yeah, you will see -- i remember someone having sumarian scroll or clay tablets, those go back to bc. >> that is very old.

>> steve blackler will be joining us and boris bruten when we come back today, we gather to recognize the selfless decision of one of the most influential women of our time. the woman who, after having one too many drinks, chose not to drive home buzzed. here today to honor rachel is the family whose lives she spared.

we are back we are talking about books, old books and antiquarian book fair. the 44th annual buy eni can't like fair that comes to san francisco the 11th and 13th of february we want to urge you to consider going out there. steve blackler is with us and now we are joined by boris of plaza books you are both in the city? >> i am in the town of sonoma. >> i am in santa rosa. >> shows you what i know. let's go back we were talking about the display of antiquarian books you brought, steve, a couple of books show us one. >> yeah, i did bring two.

they are in keeping what i said before antiquarian is an art fact from the past. one book i brought is historical atlas of sonoma county california, printed 1877 it is really a remarkable survival of the 130 years. >> can we open it up and have a look. >> we can. here is the cover. >> give me some. >> yeah,. >> so this was printed in 1877 and it show cases sonoma county, both as i guess a destination for potential settlers and an opportunity for locals to display -- >> maps, pictures. >> yep it has the whole deal >> lithographs of homesteads and ranches, this type of county atlas was a really

complete description of the place and most california counties had these books published in -- this is 1877. >> do you specialize in california. >> i do. i sell california history and this atlas is a rare one and it is very very rare in this condition. this is the kind of book that over the years people remove the maps or lithographs. >> slice them and frame them. >> yeah. >> so what got you interested in california history books. >> my business is in the town of sonoma you could possibly argue that is where the state of california began 1846 was the bear flag revolt where citizens of california, actually american citizens came together to as certificate control of california -- asset

control of california. >> how long have you been doing this? >> i started as a reader and collector -- 25 years -- and ultimately 1985 opened my own business. >> that is quite awhile. >> it is. >> how many books will you bring to the book fair? >> i bring about 300 books. close to home so i can bring a lot. i don't have to ship. >> how many books will you have in stock? >> i have about 6,000 books in my store. >> open shop means what? >> i have a store front in a commercial district downtown sonoma, many of my colleagues, work from their homes or from private offices by appointment only but i am one of the ones that still have the street

presence. >> you show up in sonoma and there you are. >> walk right in and buy a book. >> boris tell us about your store. >> well, my store is different although i had a store for 15 years in sonoma as well, and i was right on the plaza, hence the name of my shop, plaza books it is now located in my dining room in santa rosa, i don't think i've got a thousand books but that is enough for me to make a living and have a good -- make a good presentation of material on a particular subject. unlike steve i have specialized in an area, and steve has what we call a general shop, can really find a little bit of everything in steve's shop with me you can't. there is only one thing that i

am really interested and passionately interested in and that is mexico anything regarding mexico particularly colonial mexico is of interest to me i go down frequently i speak spanish i used to go to spain periodically to collect items, i am always looking for items on mexico, and because i operate from my home i don't have a lot of customers that come in, they are welcome to come, they just need to call me, but i deal mostly with libraries, and -- but i do have private customers as well including customers in mexico in fact i recently sold an item to carlos sleen the famous mexicanbillionaire. >> what book did he buy?

>> it was a little almanac, that was done around 1840 in mexico and particularly charming because it had pictures of young mexican senior mexican senoritas and they were hand colored it was an extremely well produced type of typography from that period. >> before we trade seats out here you brought another book. >> this is an old bible. this is what is called generally the king james bible, and this particular example was printed 1640, the first edition of the king james was 1611, this one is remarkable for the condition it is in. >> may i hold this? >> this is probably original binding from 1640. >> really. >> and it is further ornamented

with these -- >> preachers like this kind of stuff. >> that's right. >> it is just another remarkable survival, nearly 400 years old and almost in the condition that it was created in. >> it looks brand new. >> it does. >> you can -- >> i love the smell. >> what is intriguing about it it has these brass bosses on the front and engraved in those is latin phrase, ricordari matrim. to remember mother and another, hanna straud which i am still working on. >> how did you come into possession of that? >> i bought that from someone who brought it to my in my store she purchased it in

london several decades ago. >> i am pretty amazed i don't get to see ' king james bible every day. >> yeah. >> from that era. >> super. >> you notice something about this, is the paper, fresh and pliable the paper is. >> yeah, the paper hasn't improved overtime paper manufacturer up until the late 19th century was almost entirely made from linen and cotton rags there was no -- hence paper lasts longer than modern paper. >> that is why there is guilt. >> well, that is essentially to prevent dust from settling into the books makes a surface that is cleanable when the book is sitting on the shelf. >> a king james bible, steve blackler, coming down to the

antiquarian book fair you are going to bring 300 books down. >> yes. >> okay. >> we will be right back ,,,, [thunder] did you buy the flashlight and the batteries? yes. did you make sure we're not missing anything in the first aid kit? yup. did you go through the plan with the kids again? yes. announcer: the more you prepare today,

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hi we are back. we are talking with boris bruten and john has joined us. good to have you back john. you were here two years ago boris let's find out what you have in your sack for us. >> glad to do it i just want to make one point to you we are antiquarian book dealerwe did define it roughly as 100 years old but we have many books among our exhibitors that are much newer than that. a rare book can be stein baek, we have steinbeck and faulkner.

>> roamer. >> you bet. >> that is my interest. >> well, there will be some there i am sure. so it is just not for the oldies and moldies which interests me and i brought one here this is mexican print because i am a specialist in mexico this book is bound in vellum the lining of a sheep or cow's stomach and one to have toughest materials known it never deteriorates and it is just a wonderful binding material they should use this still. >> you can hear that crackle. >> right and this again is that fine linen rag paper old books have. this book is meant for a priest. it is printed in mexico 1750, and it is meant for a priest. unusual thing about this book

is that it is sermons and the sermons are in nowatl the as tech language so that the priest could communicate with his congregation in their own language. >> nowatl i i was going to ask to borrow it i am short for sunday but that won't help me much. i will, it is -- >> what does it sound like can you read it? >> no, and even the pronunciation it is a mouthful. >> so it is printed in roman or arabic script. >> arabic script. >> may i hold that? >> absolutely. >> it is surprisingly light. >> even when dealing with an old book, of some value, you know, several thousand dollars they are not fragile, it is

amazing how durable and strong old books are and that cannot be said of many things, 300 years old, 250 years old. a very sturdy item. another thing i brought, which i said i liked the oldies and moldies. that is an oldie. >> how old? >> 1750. this one is not quite so old, 1810 but the problem -- there is a problem with this book and the problem is that a bookworm got a hold of it before i could and we hear about bookworms, well, what is a bookworm i didn't think they existed i thought they were a figment of someone's imagination but they are not they did exist. >> there are holes in the pages. >> there are holes in the pages of the book not only holes almost becoming lace at a

certain point because a bookworm got into the book and eaten. >> yeah, you can see. >> eaten the paper. >> it is a pretty design. >> a pretty design. >> that's right. >> so unfortunately, the presence of the bookworm, not there any more thank god because it would be a serious problem in my collection if i had a live bookworm. >> do you know what they look like? >> i don't i have never seen one. i have seen their trails but never in my life and i don't know of any dealer. >> i have. >> okay. >> well, it is a very small worm about the size of a silver fish and they love the glue and backs of the bindings but often they eat in the gutters. >> that's right. >> fascinating. before we go on to john, where did you develop this love of mexican books and mexican.

>> i grew up in new mexico, i am a new mexican and the culture i have always liked the culture and so i had a shot for quite awhile and decided i wanted to gradually specialize in certain areas, what should i specialize in. i had the spanish and i thought the specializing in mexico would be a great opportunity to get into a field that no one really knew any about. >> plus -- anything about. >> plus in the wintertime. >> that's right. >> john let's turn to you here your downtown shop in san francisco is where? >> 49 gary street. >> how long have you been this? >> downtown 30 years we have one to have oldest book shops downtown san francisco, in the store, there are a couple others there. >> how would you describe your collecting? >> well, mostly 18th and

19th century 1st editions, english american literature but some modern first editions, fine press books, bibliography, californiana i concentrate mostly 18th and 19th century english american literature. >> why? >> that is my personal interest. it grows into a business. >> you brought something for us to look at. >> yes, an original man script of a poem by emily dickinson. the famous 19th century american woman poet she sent it to a neighbor, mrs. henry hill. you want to hold that up. >> yeah. >> and it is -- >> in a little plastic one page. >> one and a half pages. >> will you read that? >> sure i have it here. she wrote this to a friend and it was about consolation, a young boy in the neighbourhood

died she wrote the power to console is not within corporal reach though its attempt is precious to die before it learned to die may have been a ban. and emily dickinson was famous for sentiments like that. this is typical of a lot of the man scripts you will see at this show not just books but also man scripts a lot of things like this. >> little pieces. >> yeah. >> that is great i don't want to be booned like that just yet what about this little red book. >> this is an address and recommendations to the states by united states congress in 1783 this is before the constitution, this is when we were operating under articles confederation this is like a congressional report to the people they sent these out to 13 states and it has pieces by george washington, madson, it

mentions jefferson, benjamin franklin what it is about, boils down to, they are figuring out how to pay for the revolutionary war they just won they can't figure out how to tax people they are arguing how to raise the general fund and pay for this if our grandchildren are going to be in debt the same thing we are arguing about today. >> this is a series of essays. >> series of reports and their recommendations they are making and someone else will make a counter recommendation. >> it is federalist. >> exactly a generalist of federal conversation. >> it resulted in the u.s. constitution 5 years later. >> what is that worth in terms of dollars. >> a couple thousand dollars. $2,000. >> and it is in great shape >> again this was made from that paper, that boris was talking about and steve talking about good rag paper. it does survive. >> super stuff.

>> yeah. >> we will be right back we will take a break when we come back boris and john and the 44th biennial california antiquarian book fair

>> i have been mispronouncing

john crictons name, i apologize i think i have been doing this far years why did you get into this? why do you stay in this? what is the future? >> i think there is a great future for antiquarian books i am not sure that is another program i loved books from the time i was a child any mother read constantly i was always looking at these books going what make this is one different from another one. what does first edition mean i was doing that at 8 or 9 years old and it just evolved and then i found out later i could get into this business and i did it as fast as i could. >> congratulations oning a small business and staying in business is not easy in these times. >> boris you were going to talk about an opportunity for people to bring their books to this book fair. >> absolutely, sunday afternoon, the fair is from friday to sunday, and sunday afternoon, you can bring any old book that you have that you would like to have appraised, i

think there is a maximum of three, obviously we don't have time to do a library or something but you can bring some books you would like to have appraised and we will have experts there who will be able to give you a fair and -- because we are experts in this field this is what we know. >> another reason to come down to the antiquarian book fair, concourse exhibition center i am reading here february 11th to 13th go down enjoy it whether you are just looking or buying and take some of your old books down and find out what they are like. steve thank you boris thank you and jonathaning you for being on mosaic. and denise lamont for arranging this. ron swisher will be back next week. happy new year to you ,,,,,,,,