Meet the latest booksellers to have been granted membership of the ABAA.

 

Full Members

 

Daylon Orr, Fugitive Materials, Brooklyn, New York

Daylon is a bookseller, archives broker, and publisher with a focus on underground, oppositional, queer, and non-Western histories. Born in Tucson, Arizona and raised in Brooklyn, he graduated from Hunter College with a BA in Postcolonial Literature and Critical Theory. After nearly a decade as an archivist and rare bookseller, Daylon founded Fugitive Materials in 2020. Fugitive Materials specializes in radical, underground, and oppositional histories with a focus on the material cultures of resistance: the detritus of radical social movements; histories of labor; policing, and prisons; radical pedagogy; anti-colonialism and protest in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East; and underground art.

Daylon is a member of the Bibliographical Society of America (BSA), and a graduate of the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS). He is also the host of Fugitive Materials Radio on Montez Press Radio, exploring under-recorded histories through interviews with activists, artists, and intellectuals.

 

Ernest Rodriguez, The Rose Books & Obscurities, Monterey, California

Ernest J. Rodriguez, proprietor of The Rose Books & Obscurities, is a first-generation rare bookseller specializing in early 19th and 20th-century Western Esoteric literature and 17th-century Rosicrucian and Alchemical works. Ernest first started acquiring rare books some nine years ago and ventured into bookselling in early 2019, producing online seasonal catalogs focused on various niche esoteric traditions. 

With a background in business, having adeptly initiated and divested multiple enterprises over the course of his career, he ultimately embraced his ardor for literature, culminating in the decision to establish a physical location in the hub of Monterey, California in early 2023. The driving force behind this decision was Ernest’s love for the traditional bookstore experience and the meaningful connections formed through the exchange of ideas via literature. Embracing the internet era while honoring strong traditional roots creates a powerful and dynamic combination, which he firmly believes in.

 

William Stastny, Carpetbagger Books, Woodstock, IL

Willy Stastny is the owner of Carpetbagger Books in Woodstock, IL, where he has been participating in some part of the book trade for over fourteen years. He began in high school, flipping books for credit at local used bookstores to buy books to read. Soon, he started selling his better finds online, and Carpetbagger Books was born.

After attending the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS) in 2017, Willy started to specialize in selling the kinds of books that got him into the trade in the first place: modern literature. Recently, his specialties have expanded into genre fiction, particularly detective, mystery, and science fiction. He exhibits at book fairs around the Midwest, including Chicago, Minneapolis, and Ann Arbor, and looks forward to expanding to the coasts in the coming years.

 

 

Associate Members

 

Joshua Hirschstein, Aardvark Rare Books, Eugene, OR 

Joshua Hirschstein’s fascination with “Irish Bogs” began with finding, in a rare bookshop (where he now works), an 1819 publication with fold-out maps detailing the British intention to drain Ireland’s bogs for profit. What a rabbit-hole! “Bogging” he now calls it: the determined, active effort to be fully engaged with what is before us. For 32 years, Joshua owned and directed a private educational service in Eugene, OR; for 18 years he and his spouse have operated a textile import business supporting traditional weavers in Laos and Vietnam. What a world!

His work for 2+ years at Aardvark Rare Books, mentoring with veteran book-ninja Ezra Tishman, has married his fascination with all that can be interesting with his 63 years of acquired business skills. Joshua looks forward to connecting with ABAA members and the knowledge and passion inherent in the rare-book biz.

 

Eric Pedersen, Bauman Rare Books, New York, NY

Eric Pedersen hails from the Midwest, where he studied 20th Century American History in college and 20th Century American Literature in graduate school. He began his bookselling life at Bauman Rare Books’ Las Vegas gallery in 2008 and currently serves as Sales Director for Bauman Rare Books, working out of the gallery in New York City.