Firstly – a big thank you for checking in to my website in these extraordinary and momentous times. I trust everyone is well and safe. Self isolation is something that as a sole-trading bookseller I am quite used to, but it is going to be emotionally, mentally, and physically challenging for all of us, and so I sincerely hope that you are holding up as well as can be expected, and finding succour and comfort where you can. BBC6 Music is certainly helping me through the day.
In the face of such uncertainty, all I can do is to continue doing what I know how to do best – in fact it is the only thing I know how to do – i.e. to catalogue books and offer them out. I plan to send out a couple of short lists, though am conscious of adding unduly to the tsunami of emails which are flooding out across the world. They will be limited I promise – but I will try to keep updating my website.
I have just uploaded a number of stock items for your perusal. All items at this time will be sent post free and normal trade and institutional courtesies are extended. I will post things if I can, and usually use courier services, but the lockdown may perhaps reduce the services they provide. All orders will be held until the situation changes.
I am fully aware that for institutional customers, that most are currently unable to receive or pay for purchases in the near-to-intermediate term. I am happy to hold items for as long as necessary. We are all in this together.
I wish I could offer you a selection of gentle and soothing novels to pass the time. Sadly that is not my forte. It is so sad to see the impact that the current circumstances have had on book fairs and even on the health of some of my colleagues. How lucky that we live in this interconnected age, thanks to the internet, so that the book trade does not have to grind to an utter and complete halt. Many of my colleagues do offer a more extensive, and let’s be honest, a less gruesome and more ‘reading for pleasure’ stock, however, and so I encourage you all to seek out local independent bookstores, fellow ABA, ILAB and PBFA members, so many of whom are magnificently rising to the challenge of life in the time of Covid-19.
Hang in there – Stay Home – We are all in this together!
We may not all be able to meet in person this year, but the fair must go on as they say, and I am delighted to be amongst 120 exhibitors partaking in Firsts Online – a digital version of our Firsts London.
Hot on the heels of YABS and am delighted that I will once again be exhibiting at the York National Book Fair. Featuring over 220 leading booksellers, it is the largest rare & antiquarian book fair in Europe.
