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

Issue #9. July 16, 2001

Published by Continental Books for customers and interested others. Short articles and stories on the book trade and book collecting.

• The Book Trade. An Elmer Conshohocken story. Number 3. Doing time reading
• Observation. Billy Budd = Philip Spencer?
• Project. Parlor Game Number 6. Ritzy winners.
• Review. Presidential biographies.

Prison Story

1.
During his few moments of wild optimism Elmer Conshohocken, the composite used book dealer, always said that felons could rehabilitate themselves through reading.

2.
Serious reading and crime are antithetical. Doing one means not doing the other. The two qualities a criminal never has, moral discipline and empathy, are the exact measures of a good reader. The crime is unconsidered action; the read is unrelenting thought. The crime is the compulsion, the repeated modus operandi; the read is a free acceptance of all possibilities. "The criminal is invariably illiterate no matter how lettered," said Elmer.

3.
Pierre Zenda was a long-time customer of Elmer's, buying books while serving 15 years in a West Coast state prison. He avoided the usual prison fare of religious salvation, occupational improvement (especially important for pimps and organized crime figures), and sexual preoccupation, though he recognized that these had a place. He opted for world literature, systematically working his way through the English translations of novels originally written in another language. Such authors as Cortazar, Apuleius, Balzac, Dinesen, Grass, Laxness, Mann, Perutz, Remarque were his companions.

He was supported in his project by Penny Noble, his companion in his pre-prison existence, who lived in a large West Coast city. She paid by check for every book Pierre ordered. Through the years she never faltered, he bought and read five to ten novels a month and she dutifully paid every invoice.

It was not all roses. The prison authorities became suspicious and began to intercept packages and send them back to Elmer. Always a reason: the address was not exactly correct; the package rattled; the craft paper was torn. What mischief did they think Pierre was perpetrating? Were the books contraband? Did he illegally exchange them for cigarettes or drugs? Was he gaining respect and status among the other prisoners as an intellectual with a huge reading capacity? Or was he a diabolical brain countering the plans of the authorities? Another Trotsky in Siberia?

He was frequently transferred from one section of the jail to another, then from one prison to another. But his book orders kept coming, and the checks from Penny, and the books shipped in by Elmer. Pierre's machine worked. He was locked up and ordered about but not pinned down. He was active, autonomous, enigmatic. He retained a sense of choice. Finally, after a few months of not hearing from Pierre, Elmer phoned Penny. "Is he out?" "Nor yet," she answered, "But we expect him to be released next week."

"And after that?"

"Oh lordie," laughed Penny, "Didn't we tell you the news. We're starting a novels-in-translation bookstore in a little community in the north. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Cheese!" said an astonished Elmer. But to himself he thought, "He did it. He read himself out and into a re-formed place. QED. The proposition is demonstrated."

Extraneous reference.
Anthony Hope. PRISONER OF ZENDA

A Model for Billy Budd

Herman Melville's "BILLY BUDD," written between Nov. 1888 and April 1891, is set within the British navy at war but it appears to refer back to a painfully real execution by hanging of an midshipman and two seamen charged with planning mutiny aboard the American navy ship "Somers" during a peace-time cruise to Africa and back in 1842. Through the associations of the several players, this affair connected with the larger literary and governmental politics of the State of New York. You will find a very dramatic reconstruction in Philip McFarland, "SEA DANGERS. The Affair of the Somers." It is a study of the original event but tangentially reflects on the reading of the novel.

We have a copy of McFarland. SEA DANGERS. See http://continentalbooks.com/books.cgi?bk=8145

Game Number 7. Competition and Acclaim.

1.
We need a lot of players for this game, anywhere from 50 to several hundred. Each player lists on email all the paperbacks he or she wants to trade, then scans the resulting lists and finding wanted books makes appointments to meet and swap. A third person is invited along as a witness and the resulting certified trade is recorded in a central register. This activity goes on for 10 days.

2.
Scores are summed along several dimensions: Number of books, number of deals, time required to consummate a deal, and mutual evaluations by players. All are ranked by score and the top fifty are declared winners.

3.
Players gather for an award ceremony run along the line of a Hollywood Oscar program. An energetic band, if available, would contribute to the festive ambience. A hint of formality: wear something around the neck--a tie, scarf, necklace, garland of flowers. In turn players are called to the front and acclaimed as the greatest and given a cookie or cupcake. The recipient then makes a speech, during which he is required to consume his prize. He or she will ordinarily express thanks and then move on to a rant about books that can include elaborate toasts, poetry, excursions in other directions and the like. Imitation of a famous person, singing, playing a musical instrument and other tricks are permitted but probably should not be encouraged.

The local media: TV, radio, newspapers, cyber-space publications and etc. should be invited to attend and report the goings on.

Since the proceedings can be expected to continue for awhile, everyone should bring lunch: cucumber sandwiches if in England, baloney everywhere else. 4. Evening ends with a parade of all participants around the room and into the street, if this can be done discreetly, everyone waving a favorite book and shouting the titles of popular novels.

Calling attention: This game is a little like the Internet book trade at the present time.

Political Campaign Literature

American presidential campaign biographies cycle around again every four years with a new crop of politicians who, if nothing else, have done no wrong unless the author is employed by an opponent. William Miles, a professional librarian who specialized in this type of literature, lists 1281 such titles in a formal bibliography that covers campaigns from 1796 to 1972. It is called "THE IMAGE MAKERS. A bibliography of American presidential biographies," published in 1979 by Scarecrow Press.

This is a reference book for specialist collectors of presidential literature. It establishes a formal list against which the collector can evaluate acquisitions. It is an incomplete list so there is a secondary challenge to add missing titles and to expand the list to include titles published after it was issued. There is also the question of who the various authors were: their careers, and their relationships to their candidates.

A few surprises from a cursory scan of the list. Kenneth L. Roberts wrote on Calvin Coolidge. Christian A. Herter wrote on Herbert Hoover. Susan Brownmiller wrote on Shirley Chisholm. Marquis James wrote on John Nance Garner. John Gunther wrote on D.D. Eisenhower.

Used imaginatively this can be a fun book.

We have a good number of copies available at a reduced price. No need to push. See

Running notes:
We are making slow progress toward the restructuring of our web site, will probably take another few weeks. We plan to expand into pictures a little later because the technology is there and it should provide a little visual relief from the solid pack of typescript.

One new section of the site will be for notes and observations on the social world within which we exist. It refers back to the work of my middle years. It will be called "Ordinary Sociology" and what it is will gradually reveal itself to us. It will be structured as an evolving series of chapters and sections. This will only appear on the web site but I'll keep you informed when something new is posted.

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Best regards.

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Alvin Katz copyright 2001