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<b>Bonhams:</b> MANDELSHTAM, OSIP. 1891-1938. Autograph Manuscript, 2 pp, [Petersburg,] January 1913, entitled

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The 17th Annual Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair - By Karen Wright Owner, Jeanette Stedifor and Children's Author, Dawn Lairamore on 2010 Book Fair Stage. By Karen Wright It was a gorgeous day in Sacramento for the Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair; sunny and warm, but not too hot! Almost too nice to be inside all day. There was a more positive feeling in the air at this fall's fair than we have seen in a while at the fairs we have been to in Sacramento, San Francisco, Denver, and Grass Valley this year. We spoke with a number of booksellers and many said that their businesses have been slowly but surely picking up. Speaking from my own point of view, my business has been much better this past three months after an abysmal early half of the year. I'm happy to say I did quite well at this fair. Some said they hadn't done too well, and that may have been a matter of what books they brought or whether their prices seemed too high to the buyers. I can testify that it is a crap shoot; what to take every time I do a fair?! Customers and booksellers alike are, it seems to me, paying more attention to price. There were a lot of folks who come to every fair and if they have seen a book in a seller's stall that has been there for two or three fairs in a row and the price is still too high for them, they may be more aggressive about asking the dealer for his or her best possible price instead of just paying the asking price for the book. Of course, all dealers do that anyway, but I've noticed that the general public often doesn't ask. Though I was plenty busy in my own booth, I did have a chance to chat with some of the booksellers that have been doing the fair for a long time thanks to my husband who minds the store for me as I traipse around chatting. John Hardy from Hardy Books in Nevada City was the fearless leader for the Gold Rush Book Fair for many years. He has also been doing the Sacramento Fair for seven or eight years, he said. He was quite excited about one book he was offering; Maps of San Francisco Bay from the Spanish Discovery in 1769 to the American Occupation. It is a 1950 Grabhorn Press book and John thinks it is the most beautiful book Grabhorn ever made. One new bookseller to the Sacramento Fair was Jeanette Stedifor from Blast from the Past Books in Carmichael, California. She got involved in bookselling when she was laid off from her job. Her father and uncle gave her books from their libraries as a start up. She wanted to become more familiar with the book market world and has designs to become a children's book author. She had a nice eclectic selection of Western Americana, Native Americana, and children's books. She also had a children's author at her booth, Dawn Lairamore, who was signing her book Ivy's Ever After, a fairy tale where the princess and the dragon are not exactly as they are expected to be. Strolling along the aisles, my eye was caught by a booth containing only books on art and artists, and all were pretty reasonably priced. I stopped to talk to them as they had a book by a western artist I liked. Alice and Art Nauman are volunteers for the Sacramento SPCA. They don't normally do a booth, but they were given nearly 1000 art books by the heirs of a Sacramento physician who was also an avid book collector. The art books are priced, according to Mr. Nauman, at about 30-40 percent of what they saw as retail on the internet at ABE, Ebay, and the like. All the books are in pristine or near new condition – some still in shrink wrap. It was quite an impressive collection and the ones they had with them were just the tip of the iceberg. The Naumans said they would be having a big sale in November in Sacramento, and it's not just limited to art books. If you are interested contact the Sacramento SPCA or anauman@sbcglobal.net.
The 17th Annual Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair - By Karen Wright John Hardy and his California Map book. Chris Lowenberg from Book Hunter's Holiday in San Mateo told us that she had been doing the fair since September 2007. I asked her if she felt customers were more price conscious than they used to be. "I found it about the same as always. Sure, people check prices on the internet nowadays, but so do I. I price fairly for the type of book I have to offer, and I research pricing on my books before assigning a price to them. Sometimes success at a book fair boils down to bringing the right books for that fair, and getting them in front of the right people. "In 2007 and 2008, I did very well at the Sacramento fair, and I made a good profit both years. In 2009, I lost money...I did the spring fair in March, 2010 and lost money...this past weekend, I broke even because of a fortuitous sale the last few minutes of the fair." I queried whether she thinks there is an upswing in the book business this year. "I see a slight upswing," she said, "my customers are buying fewer books but more expensive books, so the money is about the same. It's the quantity that has changed. That also reflects my development as a bookseller and the kinds of books I want to offer for sale." We bought several good nautical books from Carl Blomgren of Carl Blomgren Fine Books in Petaluma, California. Carl has been coming to the Sac Fair for at least ten years. He checks his prices on the internet. "My prices are always on the low end. Prices are on the decline for more common items but not for the more rare. Some of my customers expressed regret that they couldn't afford to buy as much as they might have in pre-recession days, especially state employees." He said he did as well at this fair as the last and he is hopeful that there is a present upswing in sales. He plans to attend the next fair in March, so we'll see him there. He has quite an interesting selection. Chris Volk from BookFever.com in Ione, California, has been coming to the Sacramento Fair since it started - she missed one year, she thinks, so sixteen out of seventeen years. I asked her if she thought that the customers were more concerned with price than usual. She noted, "There was some concern expressed - but more 'I can only spend so much' -- not versus internet prices -- in fact, at least one buyer commented on the sometimes ridiculously high internet prices for the books he bought." She said that this year was about the same as last year for sales, but that there were years in the past that were a lot better. She said she didn't think we were now experiencing a general upswing as compared to the last two years, but that she will probably still be attending the spring fair.
The 17th Annual Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair - By Karen Wright The Naumans from the Sacramento SPCA. Bruce and Greg from PBA Galleries were there with smiles for all. They did a number of free appraisals for people. They pleased my husband greatly when they appraised a maritime voyaging book at a thousand more than he paid for it. As ever, they were also encouraging folks who wanted to bring books in for auction to contact them at bruce@pbagalleries.com. If you get a chance, check the PBA web page and find out the next auction. It is a great treat to go to the preview of any sale and see the delicious items they have for auction. I love these guys; they are very helpful and have an excellent auction facility in downtown San Francisco – the parking stinks, though, take the bus! Bryan Lux from A Quiet Corner for Books in Diamond Springs, California, is part of Book Town, the Grass Valley book cooperative. This was his fourth show in Sacramento and he also does The Gold Rush Fair in Grass Valley. He said that doing well depends on what one brings and that he primarily likes to come because of the people and the booksellers with whom he chats. Jim Kay, the coordinator for the fair said that, "The fair has gone quite well. Many compliments from dealers and much buying, and, of course, some whining now and then from dealers, patrons, and promoter alike. We had more than 400+ customers, which may not sound that great, but it is 25% up from the previous fair and, I think, good for the current time period and the economy. I saw lots and lots of bags of books leaving the show and the crowd was noticeably larger than the previous couple of fairs, though I think the new breed of show visitor needs some training on book buying!" What, I asked, did the dealers say? "Most dealers reported doing at least respectably well, with some doing quite well, at least two dealers reporting best-evers for this venue. There were a few who were badly spanked though. The shows seem to be, at best, hit or miss these days. Personally, I have had three of my all time worst shows in the last six months." I asked if he was going to do it again in the spring. He said, "Absolutely, we have a new strategy -- to invite the customers in for free to keep the dealers happy, and we do a lot of promotion. The next fair will be March 26, 2011. 700 FREE passes were given out for that fair to last week's attendees, so we are greasing the skids for another well-attended show. I will continue to tweak the publicity and hammer away on the free passes and radio advertising." If you are a dealer who has never done the Sacramento Fair before, we highly recommend it. It is fun, it may or may not be profitable, but that's the same with any book fair, and the chit chat and interaction with other sellers and customers is great entertainment. Go to www.sacbookfair.com (2011 info is not there yet, but you can get all the particulars and contact info.) Or, contact Jim Kay at www.bookbomb.com. I've already reserved my booth for the spring show; hope to see you all next year.

The 17th Annual Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair

- By Karen Wright

Owner, Jeanette Stedifor and Children's Author, Dawn Lairamore on 2010 Book Fair Stage.

By Karen Wright

It was a gorgeous day in Sacramento for the Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair; sunny and warm, but not too hot! Almost too nice to be inside all day. There was a more positive feeling in the air at this fall's fair than we have seen in a while at the fairs we have been to in Sacramento, San Francisco, Denver, and Grass Valley this year. We spoke with a number of booksellers and many said that their businesses have been slowly but surely picking up.

Speaking from my own point of view, my business has been much better this past three months after an abysmal early half of the year. I'm happy to say I did quite well at this fair. Some said they hadn't done too well, and that may have been a matter of what books they brought or whether their prices seemed too high to the buyers. I can testify that it is a crap shoot; what to take every time I do a fair?!

Customers and booksellers alike are, it seems to me, paying more attention to price. There were a lot of folks who come to every fair and if they have seen a book in a seller's stall that has been there for two or three fairs in a row and the price is still too high for them, they may be more aggressive about asking the dealer for his or her best possible price instead of just paying the asking price for the book. Of course, all dealers do that anyway, but I've noticed that the general public often doesn't ask.

Though I was plenty busy in my own booth, I did have a chance to chat with some of the booksellers that have been doing the fair for a long time thanks to my husband who minds the store for me as I traipse around chatting.

John Hardy from Hardy Books in Nevada City was the fearless leader for the Gold Rush Book Fair for many years. He has also been doing the Sacramento Fair for seven or eight years, he said. He was quite excited about one book he was offering; Maps of San Francisco Bay from the Spanish Discovery in 1769 to the American Occupation. It is a 1950 Grabhorn Press book and John thinks it is the most beautiful book Grabhorn ever made.

One new bookseller to the Sacramento Fair was Jeanette Stedifor from Blast from the Past Books in Carmichael, California. She got involved in bookselling when she was laid off from her job. Her father and uncle gave her books from their libraries as a start up. She wanted to become more familiar with the book market world and has designs to become a children's book author. She had a nice eclectic selection of Western Americana, Native Americana, and children's books. She also had a children's author at her booth, Dawn Lairamore, who was signing her book Ivy's Ever After, a fairy tale where the princess and the dragon are not exactly as they are expected to be.

Strolling along the aisles, my eye was caught by a booth containing only books on art and artists, and all were pretty reasonably priced. I stopped to talk to them as they had a book by a western artist I liked. Alice and Art Nauman are volunteers for the Sacramento SPCA. They don't normally do a booth, but they were given nearly 1000 art books by the heirs of a Sacramento physician who was also an avid book collector. The art books are priced, according to Mr. Nauman, at about 30-40 percent of what they saw as retail on the internet at ABE, Ebay, and the like. All the books are in pristine or near new condition – some still in shrink wrap. It was quite an impressive collection and the ones they had with them were just the tip of the iceberg. The Naumans said they would be having a big sale in November in Sacramento, and it's not just limited to art books. If you are interested contact the Sacramento SPCA or anauman@sbcglobal.net.

The 17th Annual Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair

- By Karen Wright

John Hardy and his California Map book.

Chris Lowenberg from Book Hunter's Holiday in San Mateo told us that she had been doing the fair since September 2007. I asked her if she felt customers were more price conscious than they used to be. "I found it about the same as always. Sure, people check prices on the internet nowadays, but so do I. I price fairly for the type of book I have to offer, and I research pricing on my books before assigning a price to them. Sometimes success at a book fair boils down to bringing the right books for that fair, and getting them in front of the right people.

"In 2007 and 2008, I did very well at the Sacramento fair, and I made a good profit both years. In 2009, I lost money...I did the spring fair in March, 2010 and lost money...this past weekend, I broke even because of a fortuitous sale the last few minutes of the fair."

I queried whether she thinks there is an upswing in the book business this year. "I see a slight upswing," she said, "my customers are buying fewer books but more expensive books, so the money is about the same. It's the quantity that has changed. That also reflects my development as a bookseller and the kinds of books I want to offer for sale."

We bought several good nautical books from Carl Blomgren of Carl Blomgren Fine Books in Petaluma, California. Carl has been coming to the Sac Fair for at least ten years. He checks his prices on the internet. "My prices are always on the low end. Prices are on the decline for more common items but not for the more rare. Some of my customers expressed regret that they couldn't afford to buy as much as they might have in pre-recession days, especially state employees."

He said he did as well at this fair as the last and he is hopeful that there is a present upswing in sales. He plans to attend the next fair in March, so we'll see him there. He has quite an interesting selection.

Chris Volk from BookFever.com in Ione, California, has been coming to the Sacramento Fair since it started - she missed one year, she thinks, so sixteen out of seventeen years. I asked her if she thought that the customers were more concerned with price than usual. She noted, "There was some concern expressed - but more 'I can only spend so much' -- not versus internet prices -- in fact, at least one buyer commented on the sometimes ridiculously high internet prices for the books he bought." She said that this year was about the same as last year for sales, but that there were years in the past that were a lot better.

She said she didn't think we were now experiencing a general upswing as compared to the last two years, but that she will probably still be attending the spring fair.

The 17th Annual Sacramento Antiquarian Book Fair

- By Karen Wright

The Naumans from the Sacramento SPCA.

Bruce and Greg from PBA Galleries were there with smiles for all. They did a number of free appraisals for people. They pleased my husband greatly when they appraised a maritime voyaging book at a thousand more than he paid for it. As ever, they were also encouraging folks who wanted to bring books in for auction to contact them at bruce@pbagalleries.com. If you get a chance, check the PBA web page and find out the next auction. It is a great treat to go to the preview of any sale and see the delicious items they have for auction. I love these guys; they are very helpful and have an excellent auction facility in downtown San Francisco – the parking stinks, though, take the bus!

Bryan Lux from A Quiet Corner for Books in Diamond Springs, California, is part of Book Town, the Grass Valley book cooperative. This was his fourth show in Sacramento and he also does The Gold Rush Fair in Grass Valley. He said that doing well depends on what one brings and that he primarily likes to come because of the people and the booksellers with whom he chats.

Jim Kay, the coordinator for the fair said that, "The fair has gone quite well. Many compliments from dealers and much buying, and, of course, some whining now and then from dealers, patrons, and promoter alike. We had more than 400+ customers, which may not sound that great, but it is 25% up from the previous fair and, I think, good for the current time period and the economy. I saw lots and lots of bags of books leaving the show and the crowd was noticeably larger than the previous couple of fairs, though I think the new breed of show visitor needs some training on book buying!"

What, I asked, did the dealers say? "Most dealers reported doing at least respectably well, with some doing quite well, at least two dealers reporting best-evers for this venue. There were a few who were badly spanked though. The shows seem to be, at best, hit or miss these days. Personally, I have had three of my all time worst shows in the last six months."

I asked if he was going to do it again in the spring. He said, "Absolutely, we have a new strategy -- to invite the customers in for free to keep the dealers happy, and we do a lot of promotion. The next fair will be March 26, 2011. 700 FREE passes were given out for that fair to last week's attendees, so we are greasing the skids for another well-attended show. I will continue to tweak the publicity and hammer away on the free passes and radio advertising."

If you are a dealer who has never done the Sacramento Fair before, we highly recommend it. It is fun, it may or may not be profitable, but that's the same with any book fair, and the chit chat and interaction with other sellers and customers is great entertainment. Go to www.sacbookfair.com (2011 info is not there yet, but you can get all the particulars and contact info.) Or, contact Jim Kay at www.bookbomb.com. I've already reserved my booth for the spring show; hope to see you all next year.