Houston Public Library book sale

Here's an ephemera item that, if you wait long enough, say 50-100 years, will have some collector value. Maybe not that long. What you won’t have to wait for, as the newsletter below indicates, is some good book hunting this weekend. And the newsletter is collectible at any time. Value, at present, is in the information it imparts.


This is the Houston Public Library's publication Among Friends, and this issue announces the big sale taking place this weekend at the George R. Brown Convention Center downtown. As always, there will be some excellent value for bargain hunters.

I’ll be there this afternoon for the members only preview sale. You can buy memberships at the door. The rest of the weekend is free admission. I will hunt for books from the time the doors open at 4:30 p.m. until they close at 9 p.m. And I still won't see everything.

There are some 80,000 titles to peruse and select from. In the past, I've come away from the sale with Bobby Fischer chess books, Clive Cussler Icebergs, a rare 1920s print portfolio of Houston sketches by Texas artist Buck Schiwetz, a signed first of Lomax's classic American Ballads and Folk Songs, obscure and valuable local histories and genealogies, rare sporting books, poetry, literary criticism, and numerous bibliography and reference materials.

It's all here--something for everyone. You'll probably find more books in the children's books section than in any other section. My luck there has not been good over the years--just the occasional find of any significance. A lot of newer stuff and a bit more crowded than elsewhere. Nonetheless, I'll have a look. You never know...

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