"Encountering Rare Books: A Lasting Impression" was the title of a short presentation given given to the club by Guest Speaker Kurt Gippert. Kurt was the guest of Joaquin Meija.

On display were signed copies of First edition works by John Le Carre (A Small Town in Germany), Cornelias Ryan (The Longest Day: June 6, 1944), Clarence Darrow's autobiography (The Story of My Life) signed and inscribed by him, a book from Darrow's library also signed by Darrow, The Ingoldsby Legends beautifully illustrated by Arthur Rackham, an 18th Century volume of a rare work by the poetess Ann Murry in an Edwards of Halifax binding with multiple watercolor paintings hidden under the gilt on the fore-edge, a 1693 map of the Great Lakes region by Coronelli, and an 1811 land grant signed by President James Madison and by James Monroe as Secretary of State.

During this presentation, Mr. Gippert illustrated how important printed material has been for over 500 years as the predominant technology for storing, sharing and preserving knowledge, ideas and information. While the digital format of much of today's current output is unrivaled in the cost of production and distribution, it is not necessarily the same experience of what a printed book offers.

Hearkening back to an earlier day, it was pointed out that everyone in the room began with a life rich with books, and that everyone seemed to have benefited from that exposure.

These items that may have had an important impact on our lives, and which used to occupy a place in one's home, are disappearing from homes on a grand scale.

Why? The digital age is upon us. The previous housing crisis crippled the American Dream, and as a consequence, younger generations are renting and living lean. The glowing screens attract us and flicker away with immeasurable access to just about anything.

But all that glimmers is not gold.

What has changed with the digital age is that the customary handing down of collections from generation to generation has diminished drastically. Just ask the Baby Boomer generation, who typically choose to disperse their collections rather than leave the task to what is generally found to be a disinterested next generation. 

The millennials are often not purchasing homes, and are frequently not interested in collecting antiques and such.

So this collision of a lot of objects being dislodged from collections and offered for sale has found a relatively unenthusiastic next generation. In the model of the past these younger folks would typically continue and evolve collections. Instead, there is a lot of material being dumped on the market without many buyers. What will happen is that much of it will simply disappear.

Why should you care? What can be done?

There is not going to be a successful Luddite movement to ban all electronic reading, nor should there be. Ebooks, Kindles, Googlebooks; these are all here to stay. What I implore you to consider is that books remain alongside these other tools. Books have been so meaningful to so many people for so many hundreds of years; surely we cannot abandon them now.

I think it is our responsibility to help build a better future. Are we laying the groundwork for building a literate, historically aware, erudite and sophisticated future?

As a bookseller, I take that task seriously and spend a lot of time and effort to introduce people to books and collecting. I'm not asking anyone to buy a book, but in addition to taking your grandchildren to the museum and the Apple Store, take them to a book or map exhibit at the Newberry Library. Visit an antiquarian or used bookstore while they still exist (Bookworks of 32 years announced their imminent closing on the day of the lecture). Attend free literary festivals such as Lit Fest in the Printer's Row district, or even bring them to events where specialists from Chicago and around the world bring wonderful rare items and display them for all to see.

A few events where I exhibit are the Chicago International Map Fair, which is held at the Chicago Cultural Center October 28-30. 40-50 dealers from all over the country and the world will bring important maps, globes, charts and objects. Also, the Winnetka Community House Antiques and Modernism Show November 3-6. Looking ahead to 2017, in celebration of International Rare Book and Copyright Day and as a fundraiser to UNESCO on April 23rd there is a pop-up bookfair. The pop-up fair was held at the Glessner House this year, complimentary food and drinks were provided, and admission is free. Then on June 10th there is the MWABA bookfair held at the Plumber's Union Hall. About 50 booksellers including dealers from New York and as far away as London exhibit interesting and sometimes amazing things. Free parking is widely available, and there are paper marbling and bookbinding demonstrations, and august book-collecting organizations such as the Caxton Club participate in this annual event.

I ask each of you consider your role in perpetuating the book in our culture, and make a lasting impression on someone by leading the way to them encountering books.

Kurt Gippert has a 4500 sq. ft. bookstore with free parking and is open by appointment. He has been selling books since 1990 and has 50,000 books, autographs, historic documents and items in his inventory. He is currently the president of the Midwest Chapter of the Antiquarian Bookseller's Association of America, is on the Board of the Midwest Antiquarian Booksellers Association, and is a member of The Caxton Club. He also organizes the Chicago pop-up bookfair, held internationally on April 23rd in celebration of Rare Book and Copyright Day in conjunction with 25 other simultaneous worldwide events, and is a member of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.
 

Contact Information:

Kurt Gippert Bookseller
1757 N. Kimball Ave.
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 583-7613
www.kurtgippert.com