April 2011 |
Catalogue Review: Whitmore Rare Books
Catalogue Review: Whitmore Rare Books # 2
When I visited the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair two weeks ago (recap here), I met young bookseller Daniel Whitmore of Whitmore Rare Books, Pasadena, CA. I was glad to see his very elegantly produced color catalogue in an age when many booksellers have done away with printed catalogues altogether. It's slim and bright, with great images and clear descriptions.
Lest I be accused of judging a catalogue by its cover, I'll tell you some of the items that caught my eye on the inside. He has several ultra modern first editions, such as Cameron Crowe's Fast Times at Ridgemont High ($200), an inscribed first of The Hunt for Red October ($750), a signed first of Stephen King's Carrie ($2,450), and an inscribed first of The Color Purple ($925). He also has some science fiction from Asimov, Clarke, and Robert A. Heinlein.
Whitmore has a nice mix of books--a literary generalist, so to speak--and I found myself pleasantly surprised by the intermingling of signed Cormac McCarthys with first editions of Mark Twain and Samuel Butler. He has several titles that were later made into films, a first edition of Gone With the Wind ($2,750) prominent among them.
It seems that every bookseller in California has at least some Bukowski on hand, and Whitmore is no exception. Except that he has something very a la mode. Bukowski's "Fax Poem" -- a poem sent by Buk to John Martin, publisher of Black Sparrow Press, in 1994, just before Bukowski's death. It is one of ten copies that Martin made, numbered and initialed; this is #4/10. It is listed at $950.
If his catalogue is any indication, we'll be seeing much more of Daniel Whitmore in the future. Download his first two catalogues here.
When I visited the Manhattan Vintage Book & Ephemera Fair two weeks ago (recap here), I met young bookseller Daniel Whitmore of Whitmore Rare Books, Pasadena, CA. I was glad to see his very elegantly produced color catalogue in an age when many booksellers have done away with printed catalogues altogether. It's slim and bright, with great images and clear descriptions.Lest I be accused of judging a catalogue by its cover, I'll tell you some of the items that caught my eye on the inside. He has several ultra modern first editions, such as Cameron Crowe's Fast Times at Ridgemont High ($200), an inscribed first of The Hunt for Red October ($750), a signed first of Stephen King's Carrie ($2,450), and an inscribed first of The Color Purple ($925). He also has some science fiction from Asimov, Clarke, and Robert A. Heinlein.
Whitmore has a nice mix of books--a literary generalist, so to speak--and I found myself pleasantly surprised by the intermingling of signed Cormac McCarthys with first editions of Mark Twain and Samuel Butler. He has several titles that were later made into films, a first edition of Gone With the Wind ($2,750) prominent among them.
It seems that every bookseller in California has at least some Bukowski on hand, and Whitmore is no exception. Except that he has something very a la mode. Bukowski's "Fax Poem" -- a poem sent by Buk to John Martin, publisher of Black Sparrow Press, in 1994, just before Bukowski's death. It is one of ten copies that Martin made, numbered and initialed; this is #4/10. It is listed at $950.
If his catalogue is any indication, we'll be seeing much more of Daniel Whitmore in the future. Download his first two catalogues here.
