Book hunting in April

Last week I arrived at the shop to find a small package from England. Too skinny to be a book I'd ordered; what could it be? Inside was a lovely catalog and bookmark from Persephone Books. (Can you smell the fresh paper?) Here's the post I wrote about visiting their shop in London last year.

I went to the annual book sale at St. Francis Episcopal Church in Greensboro last Thursday. I always love their old and rare book room! This year, however, the prices were higher than usual. I heard fellow booksellers grumble, "Retail!" and I silently agreed. The volunteer cheerfully told everyone that a professional had priced all the books for them this year. She didn't realize that booksellers can't buy at retail prices because we have to make a profit.

I paid too much for a signed Inglis Fletcher, but it still had the dustjacket and I couldn't resist the vintage North Carolina historical. I had to skip some local histories, hoping a few might still be there on bag sale day. My surprise find turned out to be a modern Irish language book, Greenspeak. I picked it up just because I like Irish books. It turned out to be a fairly uncommon reference listing at textbook prices.

My hopes were rewarded with great deals on Saturday! I bagged some N.C. county histories and signed moderns. I picked up this little 1895 printing of Two Years Before the Mast because of the pretty binding.

Last week I also shipped my first international sale. I've purchased from overseas, but this was the first time I shipped a book out — to Australia! I had to fill out an online customs form and hand-deliver it to the post office (or my carrier, who had already left).

Do you like vintage books? Come by and visit — if you can't make it in person, browse the books by category here or stop in for a chat on Tannery Books' Facebook page.