NOTES OF A USED AND OUT-OF-PRINT BOOK DEALER

Issue #5. May 18, 2001

A free biweekly email newsletter published by Continental Books to amuse and inform with book related perceptions, opinions and projects.

• The Psychology of President Woodrow Wilson
• Follow-up on book dealer want lists. Remembering the recent past.
• Follow-up on ebooks. Watch out for the onrushing future
• Book trade. Bagged.

One more case study.

A man walking on Soho's West Broadway in New York City takes a shortcut through one of the inter-block art galleries and finds himself in a dark labyrinth. A sharp turn and there, a few feet before him on a bare mat, a beautiful and naked young woman lies asleep. In the seconds required to discover that she is only a vividly lifelike mannequin constructed from plastic and wire, the man realizes that he has averted his eyes.

Freud and Bullitt. "THOMAS WOODROW WILSON, A Psychological Study" provokes a similar hesitation for it is a massive intrusion into the secret life of a dignified and eminent man. What is revealed is only the too familiar angst. He had frequent bouts of doubt and dismay, especially after a success, and his achievements were so solid there was much consequent pain. He had many "breakdowns" and needed to withdraw from active life to recuperate. In order: writer, teacher, public speaker; university president, governor of New Jersey, president of the United States, he progressed to ever larger canvases, like Gulley Jimson in Joyce Cary's "THE HORSE'S MOUTH," for the expression of his art/statesmanship. If this case study were a novel the Wilson character would be a variant of Budd Schulberg's hero in "WHAT MAKES SAMMY RUN?" As he moves from obscurity to prestige and power he never shakes loose and escapes his origins. Wilson suffered but within his psychic limits he did very well indeed. He maxed-out. Don't cry for him.

The authors, the generic odd couple, give us enough of Freud's concepts and insights to understand Wilson. Using this method as a paradigm, we could probably do a similar study on our own, maybe even perform a self-analysis. But balance is required. Read a conventional history of Wilson's times as well, from post Civil War through World War I, to know his conventional life. I would suggest the relevant parts of Morison's "HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE."

For an excellent example of this kind of case study and a contribution to the study of chess as well, see Ernst Jones. "The Problem of Paul Morphy: A Contribution to the Psychology of Chess." A 1930 article reprinted in Jones, Ernest. PSYCHO-MYTH, PSYCHO-HISTORY. Morphy, a brilliant American chess master of the mid-nineteenth century, stopped playing at the height of his game. Jones interprets why.

Follow-up note on book dealer want lists.

There were two kinds of want lists: one issued by specialty dealers searching for stock, the second issued by dealers acting as agents for customers actively seeking particular book titles. These dealer-agents sent out lists frequently and generated a large volume of trade. Each stylistically unique and sometimes continuing for long runs, these lists have been, for the most part, superseded by the listing services on the Internet. They are on the treadmill to the deep past. Remember this if and when you see a copy. Dealer-agents recollected

• Blitz Books, Weaverville, CA.
• Buccaneer Books, Laguna Beach, CA.
• Continental Book Search, New York, NY.
• Reed Books, Birmingham, AL
• International Bookfinders, Pacific Palisade, CA.
• Needham Book Finders. Los Angeles, CA
• Leekley Book Search. Winthrup Harbor, IL.

This isn't a complete list. As we are reminded of others we will add them to the roll.

Follow-up note on ebooks

On my limited experience of one purchase: The book I received via the Internet had a large number of misspelled words and line-skips caused by faulty scanning. Apparently neither the author nor the supplier attempted to edit the result. The advertising and sale material never mentioned condition. i.e. scanning errors. I got a reading copy without warning. So until these ebook sites acquire the book dealers' ethic caveat emptor.

The book trade. It's in the bag.

Book scout, new to the business, hears of a giant sale by a college library in a nearby state. His car has been stolen and it's his turn to mind the kids but this is the last day of the sale so he and his two boys, aged three and six, catch a bus, travel about 100 miles, arriving at the sale site just as it is closing down. All the remaining books are being loaded into boxes and sold as lots. He buys two boxes blind, but on cursory examination finds mainly economics monographs. Good stuff. About 70 books in all. The baby carries one book, the youngster carries four books and Daddy-scout carries 65 hardbound books packed into two large, brown craft-paper shopping bags. The weight is easy, 40 to 50 pounds for each arm, but the bulk is daunting. Off they trundle to get the kids some exercise. Find an open playground, do the slides, the jungle gym, run around making noise. Great fun. Packages resting on a bench. Then to a local diner for hamburgers and milk shakes. Careful, don't slop any liquid on those books! Back to the bus, retracing steps to the original bus terminal where there is much traffic including varieties of other bag people and shopping-cart people. Don't be shy. Fit right in. Out on the street. Little one is tired. Carry him on Daddy's back, arms around Daddy's neck. Then one of the paper bags splits, not explosively but languidly, books slipping out in slow motion as mild panic rises. But no damage. Has four supermarket checkout flimsy plastic bags in back pocket. They'll have to do. Repack. Grab a local bus and head home. Conclusion: Paraphrasing Gertrude Stein: It's in the bag, in the bag, in the bag.

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copyright 2001 Alvin M. Katz