Bookworms Unite

A line of eager bookworms wound half way around the block at the intersection of Walton and Clark Streets on the Gold Coast, waiting to get their eyes (and hands) on items such as a $2,000 first edition of The Great Gatsby, a $1,000 signed first edition of Valley of the Dolls, and a $350 drawing by the French writer Jean Cocteau.

These are just a few of the items that were on sale at the Newberry Library's 24th Annual Book Fair, which closed Sunday. The four-day fair brought out bibliophiles of all ages and interests: While some came for the bargains -- mostly used fiction paperbacks -- others came to snatch up rare collectors' items for hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars.

"It's not like your neighborhood library where paperbacks are 50 cents and hardbacks are a buck. Every book has been vetted," said Helen Sclair, a volunteer who's worked the fair for more than 10 years.

The "vetting" is done by Book Fair Manager Dan Crawford, the event's only full-time employee. Crawford uses reference books and Web sites to verify that the signatures in signed editions are authentic.

He also prices the books by researching their origins and finding comparable books that are available through dealers. Most books are priced from $2-3, but an inventory of more than 100,000 ensures that the book fair is Newberry's biggest fundraiser of the year. The event usually generates well over $100,000 and is attended by more than 8,000 people.

In his 13 years sifting through the books donated from people's attics, Crawford has solved many mysteries of book origins. A few years ago, a woman donated a bunch of old German religious books that no dealers were interested in, because there are a million old German religious books. After some research, Crawford discovered that the books were part of the first edition of the complete works of Martin Luther, dating back to 1580s Wittenberg. But because some of the front pages were missing, the books are only worth about $50 each, according to Crawford. "Just because they're old doesn't mean they're valuable," he said.

Some people know that they're donating valuable books, but for others, Crawford's assessment can be a shock. He recently returned a book to a donor after finding it was worth $15,000. It was a first edition of Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" in "beautiful" condition with the dust jacket still on, Crawford said.

If a book has historical and literary value, Crawford plucks it for Newberry's collection. An archeologist specializing in India recently donated his book collection, and Crawford culled almost all of the books for the library -- though a few of them were put on sale at the fair. Crawford also serves as a sort of undertaker, putting old books to rest in recycling bins for people who can't bear to toss books themselves.

The queue outside on Thursday, the fair's opening day, didn't even get the first pick of the unusual items: On Wednesday night Newberry hosted a members-only preview where many book dealers grabbed literary gems.

But most of the people in line were happy just to browse affordable used books. The library provides stacks of cardboard boxes for shoppers to fill and a "squirreling area" where people can amass mini-libraries before hauling books home.

"I hope they have some books on black history or black science, and geneology," said Leslie Buford, a recent retiree from the North Side who was waiting in line before the fair opened Thursday. Newberry is known as one of the foremost research institutes for geneology in the U.S. It is equally renowned as a repository for books, manuscripts, maps, music and other printed material related to the history and culture of Western Europe and the Americas.

Bryce Parsons-Twesten, a college junior, was fifth in line to get into the fair, planning to browse the poetry books. "If I could get some Frank O'Hara, I'd be happy," he said. "I just brought a couple of dollars."

Raul Martinez of Grayslake brought his niece Daniela and nephew Julian, ages 12 and 8, both wheeling luggage carriers. "I promise them that they can get as many books as they can fit in a box," Martinez said. Daniela looked for history books and Julian went after fiction.

Some people left the fair with boxes overflowing with books and others left with just a few. "I call them foundlings," said Sclair of the mountains of donated books the library accepts throughout the year. "They have found a home."

For information on how to donate books to the Newberry Library's Book Fair throughout the year, visit www.newberry.org.