In his book about antiquarian book collecting (Tolkien's Gown) the author and book dealer Rick Gekoski mentions that some books "take ten years to sell." this seemed to be me at the time of reading to be a ridiculous notion.
The first book I sold was at The Osterley Bookshop when I was eleven. The book was a nicely bound copy of 'The Dulwich Gallery Catalogue.' My mother had given me this and told me to sell it and see how much it was worth and that I could keep the money. This lit the flame for my future of dealing.
The owner Tony Vesely bought the book, though I cant remember how much for.
42 years later on I walked back into the shop and asked the owner if I could use the step ladder to look at the books in the highest corner of the shop where i had never looked before. As I looked along the shelf I noticed a very nicely bound copy of 'The Dulwich Gallery Catalogue' priced £55 and next to this a signature of my mother's maiden name.
I bought the book explaining to Tony it was the first book I had ever sold him and it was previously owned by my mother. With a very generous discount I took the book back home with the thought of Rick Gekoski ringing around my head... sometimes a book can take ten years to sell and of course it's a ridiculous notion because some books take 42 years before being purchased!
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