Sarah's Books - Used & Rare

That second one made me chuckle. I know I've posted here before about my inability to lend or borrow books - it never ends well. I prefer to give them away. And just write down titles of books that people tell me I must read, rather than borrow. I know I'll come across a copy eventually. To wit: I just bought some books from a friend who is culling his library, and among them is Brad Gooch's biography of Frank O'Hara, City Poet. I've had this book several times in my shop, and sold every copy, then I decided I wanted to read it and one walked in the door and fell in my lap. I love the opening quote from O'Hara, printed just after the dedication page:

"I can't even enjoy a blade of grass unless I know
there's a subway handy, or a record store or some
other sign that people do not totally regret life."

This is from his great poem "Meditations in an Emergency" - and it could apply to used bookshops too. Or one single good book, for that matter: a sign of life.

I don't put bookplates in my own books, or write my name in them, but I'm still thinking about it. I've seen a few bookplates I loved, most were small and simple. Someday, perhaps. I'd like some nameless person decades from now to know that a book came from my library, to know that I loved my books enough to have my name on them. Likewise for the books in my shop - I'm designing a bookseller's ticket for my hardcovers. I wonder if I'll be able to find someone who can manufacture a ticket that looks sufficiently old-fashioned enough to please me...

# posted by Sarah Faragher @ 12:41 PM