Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 14:16:38 -0500 (EST)
From: "Keith F. Lynch" <kfl at KeithLynch.net>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Washington Antiquarian Book Fair
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

I spent much of yesterday at the Washington Antiquarian Book Fair, an
annual event in Rosslyn.  In previous years I had announced it in our
online calendar of upcoming events.  I didn't see any WSFAns there
this year.

As in previous years, there was wide variation in the age, quality,
and price of books.

The oldest thing I saw was a medieval illuminated manuscript.  The
newest (other than books and magazines *about* old books) was from
1998.

The most expensive things tend to be signed copies of first printings
of first editions of low-print-run first novels by authors who later
became famous.  Some in pristine condition were marked over $50,000.

The most overpriced things I saw were:

* A signed trade paperback of Heinlein's _Number of the Beast_, with
  the cover repaired with scotch tape, for $550.

* A signed first printing of Ayn Rand's _Atlas Shrugged_ for $13,000.
  (I might believe that for _We the Living_, her first novel, whose
  first printing had a very small print run, but the first print run
  of _Atlas Shrugged_ was very large.)

The least expensive books cost about $5.

I bought a 1912 Tom Swift hardback for $12.

The most intriguing title was _A Tale to be Told Fifty Years Hence_ by
Cameron B. Washington (1853), supposedly only one of three surviving
copies.  There is no mention of it, or of the author, anywhere that I
can find on the net.  Needless to say, it was way out of my price range.

The most interesting to WSFA are two signed books by Capclave '06
Guest of Honor Kim Stanley Robinson, _Pacific Edge_ (1990) for $65
and _Escape From Kathmandu_ (1989) for $55.