Writer and editor Rebecca Rego Barry joins us to share the intriguing inside story on how she came to pursue the backstory on Carolyn Wells, a once prominent and prolific author in the early 20th century who all but vanished from the public consciousness in the intervening decades. It’s a fascinating story spurred by a journalist’s natural curiosity and a book lover’s discovery. Rebecca Rego Barry was the longtime editor of Fine Books & Collections magazine and is now director of communications for The Raab Collection, a company that buys and sells historical autographs and docume ..read more

It was our pleasure to welcome back Cafe regular and supreme book restorer Sophia Bogle. In this episode, she shares with co-hosts Ed Markiewicz and Lee Linn some advice on choosing who should repair your damaged book. There’s more to it than you might realize.  Sophia is scheduled to give a lecture on the subject at the American Bookbinders Museum, in San Francisco on Saturday, March 30 at 11 a.m. Pacific. Sophia’s talk will be recorded on Zoom and will be available to the public. Tickets are $10.  You can get more information here: https://bookbindersmuseum.org/event/w...  So ..read more

  We’re glad to have RBC regular Sophia Bogle back for a visit. She’s a passionate book restorer and she shares with co-host Ed Markiewicz and Lee Linn a current project to prepare two volumes of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) by L. Frank Baum. And, of course, there"s valuable information for those who would repair their own books.   Sophia created Save Your Books (saveyourbooks.com), and she’s on a mission to help provide essential information for proper steps for book repair.  From her website: Save Your Books is “an educational platform that promotes simple archival ..read more

 That's right! The next Florida Antiquarian Book Fair is, at this posting, just under a year away. Make sure you subscribe to this blog so you can stay up-to-date on the preparations. See you in 2025. Can't wait ..read more

This Saturday is Dr. Seuss’ 120th birthday, and at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair, we’re celebrating it in a big with a big cake and the antics of The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. It all begins at 2 p.m. We hope you’ll come join us. During his career, Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) wrote and illustrated more than 60 books, most of them innovative stories for children. Most fairgoers either grew up with the phenomenon that became Dr. Seuss or knew someone who did. Today The Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2, the Grinch who stole Christmas, Horton (who heard a Who), that g ..read more

It's written by people who know their stuff and it's dedicated to you -- the individual who wants to keep on learning about the things of the past that hold such fascination. Perhaps best of all, it's free. The first issue is presented right here so you can flip through it right now. You can return to it any time you want to, and you can even download it, though it really works best on the issuu.com platform. What's more, you can subscribe for free and get it delivered into your email inbox every time it comes out. That'll be four times a year. So, what's in it? This first issue has a cover a ..read more

  Our guest is Richard Oates, retired educator and bookseller, who owns Blind Horse Books in DeLand, Florida. Richard shares for co-hosts Ed Markiewicz and Lee Linn some of the remarkable Florida ephemera he’s bringing to the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair this year, including several beautifully preserved late-1890s and 1920s brochures and other travel-related items from Florida resorts. Richard also reveals for Ed and Lee the funny backstory about his store name, Blind Horse Books, and the real secret behind Dottie's Plate Lick'en Good Jazz Café and All-Night Blues Bookstore reference ..read more

Booksellers and authors Libby Ware and Charlene Ball of Toadlily Books in Atlanta, are exhibiting at the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair for the first time since they published their latest mystery novel Murder at the Book Fair.  Setting for this tale of biblio intrigue is, of course, a fictional version of the Florida show, a venue they’re quite familiar with after many years as booksellers showing their wares there. Charlene notes that many mysteries dealing with booksellers have the characters spending little time in the store. They’re too busy out trying to solve the mystery. This book ..read more

Rare Book Cafe regular Barbara Loe, owner of Cardtique LLC in Osprey, Florida, shares some of the paper items she’s bringing to the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.  Among the items Barbara shows to co-hosts Ed Markiewicz and Lee Linn are:  • A hidden image of Napoleon Bonaparte on a tourist card from St. Helena, the island off the coast of Africa, where the French emperor was exiled, and eventually died.  • A diecut accordion storyboard of the children’s tale Hansel and Gretel that was created as an advertising piece for C.D. Kenny, a Baltimore tea and coffee importer.  •&n ..read more

Avid book collector Mary Vretas is a longtime visitor to the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. In this conversation with co-hosts Ed Markiewicz and Lee Linn, she discusses her adventures in hunting down the books she’s seeking for her collection, and her excitement about the upcoming Florida Antiquarian Book Fair. She offers a different perspective from booksellers who have been on the program.  Mary is an enthusiastic fan of poet Sylvia Plath. She first discovered her in high school. She has collected various editions and various versions and Sylvia Plath-related materials. But she hasn’t ..read more