As the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America’s (ABAA) New York International Antiquarian Book Fair marked its 58^th year, over 200 rare book collectors gathered and exhibited their manuscripts, paintings, books and other ephemera. Oddities and strangeness was included in every stall, including bizarre photos and lithographs, and obscure letters from renowned authors in prison.

I had the pleasure of visiting the John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller. The booklet for this stall told of a series of Oscar Wilde’s Four Letters from Prison on following his persecution. Reproduced in its third edition by Guido Bruno, I intended to see and potentially purchase it at $45. However, no Oscar Wilde pieces were at this stand as it were advertised, so I inquired further. As the stands continued to slow down in traffic, I collected a brochure from the Windle Stand (seen right). At that point I was ready to venture a question with the clerk at the stall.

Speaking with representative Ms. Annika Green informed me that this stall and store centered in San Francisco specialized in children’s literature, fine prints and other various American manuscripts, particularly focusing on exquisite bindings. True to her word, there were three original A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh; Now We Are Six and When We Very Were Young stored for sale for $50,000 and a first edition On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection by Charles Darwin for a grand $150,000. At that point of enlightment, slight intimidation set in from the price tag and Green’s inquisitive look, as if I would ask to buy it. Released in February of 1859 with only 2,500 First Edition copies being produced and bought from Darwin for what would go for tens of thousands of dollars now, I could not help but trip over myself thinking what this manuscript would have been worth at the time of its production (about £130). Disclaimer: I realize that the mathematics are vague or inaccurate… I am no math major.

It suffices to say that my venture – though detoured – turned from a potential purchase to insightful window shopping. To be said, it beheld documents that I had not expected to see, and homed an even more interesting blend of children’s literature and scientific literature on evolutionary biology, as if to speak to an intersectionality between some of our favorite reads.