Peter L. Stern introduces several notable characters in the Boston rare-book trade. I have been asked to write a blog for the ABAA along the lines of “characters in the Boston book trade.” I hardly know where to begin, but I'll give myself a pass and leave it to others to extoll my virtues and undisputed genius. My own career in the antiquarian trade started at the Starr Book Company on Kingst... [more]

I'm writing from the magnificent pile of stone and anguish known as Chapter 11 Books, situated between a Jiffy Lube and a drive-thru mortuary, and patronized primarily by people who'll have to come back when they've got more time. At the moment I'm wondering how one retires from a trade that most people take up after they retire. No answers are forthcoming. It's beginning to look as if I'll die wi... [more]

Last month I bought three pamphlets about a murder that took place in Salem, Massachusetts in 1830. It was a sensational affair in its day, a victory for prosecutor Daniel Webster, and an interesting sidelight in the history of American jurisprudence. But that was not why I bought the pamphlets. In 1829 William Low of Salem was sent to Canton to manage the affairs of Russell & Co. the great Americ... [more]

Next Monday, September 10, John Crichton, past-President of the ABAA and proprietor of Brick Row Book Shop, will give a talk on The Bay Area Antiquarian Book Trade, 1850-2000 (Second Edition, Revised). Sponsored by the Book Club of California and the Northern California Chapter of the ABAA, the talk will take place at 6pm at the Book Club of California (312 Sutter Street, First Floor, San Francisc... [more]