Eureka Books Blog

Book Expo

I'm in Los Angeles today, getting ready to head out for my second day at BEA (Book Expo America), the annual convention that brings together publishers, bookstore owners, and everyone else interested in the new-book trade. It fills the LA convention center. The coolest thing for me was seeing Fine Books among the two-dozen or so sample titles that our distributor brought to the fair. Perhaps most interesting to collectors was the dramatic reduction in the number of Advance Reading Copies in evidence, compared to past years. In past years, it was not uncommon to see dozens of people staggering under the weight of the free ARCs they picked up. I only saw one yesterday. I've written about publishers' concerns about the collector's market for advance copies here.

I stopped by Amazon's large Kindle booth, and there was a bit of excitement, but not nearly as much as I expected. And they only seemed to have six sample machines, which made it hard for gawkers to get a look at it. I've tried one before - it was pretty good, but hard to hold without accidentally turning the page.

James Hilton Signed Limited

Hilton, James. Ceiling Unlimited.

Burbank, California: Lockheed Vega, 1943.

First edition. [104] pages. 16mo.

Cloth spine, paper-covered boards, paper label on front cover. Very good, with a bit of fraying to the spine corners and bumping to the corners. No jacket, probably as issued. This is copy 84 out of an edition of 100 signed and numbered copies. It is signed on the page opposite the title page.

This collection of six radio addresses by the author of Lost Horizon, went out over the Columbia Broadcasting System and was sponsored by the Lockheed and Vega Aircraft companies. Each address has a double-page title spread printed in color. Rather scarce.

$450

Rare Alcohol Novel - 1907

Caine, Hall. Drink: A Love Story On A Great Question.

New York: D. Appleton, 1907. First edition (?). 91 pages.

Good in irregularly faded wrappers and a chipped spine. Discard stamp on title page. No other library markings. Fragile condition. A rare novel about alcoholism. OCLC records fewer than 10 copies of this edition. COPAC records one copy of a 1907 London edition and two entries for a 1908 London edition, each with one holding.

This moralistic tale of the evils of drink is followed by a report on the depravity of "underground London," "sinful New York" (with a subsection on white women in Chinatown), a temperance lecture by Rev. T. DeWitt Talmidge, and a list of Keeley Institutes. Keeley Institutes were a predecessor to the AA movement and sought to treat alcoholics with the Keeley Cure, injections of a substance of unknown composition.

Caine was one of the best-selling authors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was also Dante Gabriel Rossetti's secretary for a time. The Library of Congress records a microfilm copy of an 1895 edition (a date given on the copyright page of this copy, along with the 1907 date), but no physical copies are recorded. A 1901 biography of Caine (Hall Caine by Charles Kenyon) states, "Mr. Caine has the intention of dealing with the drink question in a novel...yet he has been unable to see his way to treat it in a work of fiction." It's possible that the 1895 copyright refers to the section on New York vice, which was prepared for a newspaper.

We believe this to be the first edition of the book or the first American edition, assuming the lone 1907 COPAC record for a London edition is correct.

$125

Lighthouse Photo Post Card

We just acquired a great real photo post card of a California lighthouse. The lighthouse is New Point Loma, in San Diego. The note on the back mentions "the new fog signal under construction." This refers to the small cinder-block building in the foreground, where a loud horn was being installed. The picture above of the front of the card accidentally cuts off the top of the lighthouse. The condition of the card is very good, with a few creases at the corners.

There's a local hook, too. This 1913 post card is addressed to a Mrs. M. Cady, care of the Lighthouse at Capetown (Cape Mendocino). The card refers to "Alice & Babe," presumably an Alice Cady and her mother Mrs. M "Babe" Cady, but we haven't positively identified them. There are still many Cadys living in the area.

The price is $40.

Discount Card in Sunday's Times Standard

Right after our Saturday Arts Alive event featuring peace and protest ephemera and books, the Sunday (May 4) Eureka Times Standard will include a discount card good at about a dozen Old Town merchants. Bring your discount card into Eureka Books and take 20% off everything in the store through the end of May.

Personally, I hate sales with rules so this discount applies not just to our 40,000 used books, but to our extensive inventory of new books about Humboldt County and our unparalleled selection of rare maps and prints related to the north coast. Even our dollar books on the bargain rack outside and the discount table upstairs are included. Bring in your discount card and the dollar books are only 80 cents (plus tax, of course - We all have to do our bit to close the state of California's $20 billion deficit).

Don't forget - save the discount card in Sunday's Times Standard and save all month in Old Town.