Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Biblioholics Anonymous


Of all the “-holics “ one could be, being a biblioholic is probably only dangerous to your bank account and the cost of purchasing more shelving for your home. That is biblio as in books. I probably should be in a program that will help me with my addiction, but I am unwilling to go. Ah, books. There is nothing as delightful as a well-made book with perhaps deckled pages or a special leather binding, or sigh, marbled end pages. The craft in old books is a joy to see and to hold. And then there is the cachet of who might have owned the book and how it managed to survive through the years.

A used book store in Colorado shared that there were closet biblioholics, young people willing to spend their limited discretionary income on a rare 1600’s book or a page from an illuminated manuscript. Never mind that they lived in the equivalent of a woodshed with electricity.

Coming up in Santa Fe October 5 and 6 is a new Santa Fe Antiquarian Book Fair. A group of local booksellers has organized a book fair, which they hope will not only satiate book lovers, but put Santa Fe on the map as the book capital of the Southwest.

The event will be held at El Museo Cultural, 1615 Paseo de Peralta. The event includes approximately 30 dealers in rare and antiquarian books. On Saturday several authors, including John Nichols, Marc Simmons, Jacqueline Orsini, Martha Egan and Tom Chavez will be available to meet the public. The book fair is being organized by Henry Lewis of Gunstock Hill Books, Shirley Jacobson of Books Unlimited, Rita Robbins, and Steve Kalminson of Maya Jones Books.

The event will be held from 4:00-9:00 p.m. on Friday and 10:00 a.m. -6:00 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call Henry Lewis at (505) 983-0088 or e-mail gunstockhillbook@aol.com.

In the age of computers, ipods, blackberries and other electronic gadgets, the book is still in vogue. I think I am in trouble; can I get an advance on my allowance?

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