Date: Fri 16-Oct-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: JUDIR

Quick Words:

TEXAS

Full Text:

Books And Antiques A Double Header In Texas

w/cuts

By David Anderson

HOUSTON, TEX. -- The combined Houston Antiquarian Book and Paper Show and the

Houston Summer Antiques Show, all under one roof and for a single admission

price of six dollars, was for many collectors the best of both worlds over the

weekend of August 29 and 30.

The Houston AstroArena is a huge exhibition building, part of the famed

AstroDome USA Complex. Conveniently, it is just inside the Interstate 620

South Loop.

The comfortable air-conditioned space was a welcome contrast to the plus-100

degree weather that tends to restrict some outdoor activities during Texas'

dog days of late summer.

For this event, two well-known show producers, Barbara Tungate and Emma Lee

Turney, combined their considerable skills in mounting an extravaganza for

collectors. Both Tungate and Turney have well-earned reputations and a loyal

following of quality dealers and insist on disciplined "self-vetting" of

dealer inventory. No flea market here!

At the Antiquarian Books and Paper Show, largest in the Southwest, many

experienced dealers provided a long strip of carpet in front of their display

tables to make for comfortable browsing while standing, and a number also

included chairs and excellent illumination to invite leisurely examination. It

is impossible to estimate how many separate items of antiquarian paper, books

and ephemera were displayed in all, but even a conservative guess would

probably exceed several hundred thousand items. Fortunately, most dealers

efficiently classified their offerings into categories, and there was

something for everyone from sheet music, to autographs, rare books, prints,

posters, photographs, and even pulp novels. We found a hard-backed novel

autographed by George Bernard Shaw; the dealer said the autograph was worth

more than the book.

Long-time star James Drury of the television series The Virginian was on hand

amiably signing autographs and copies of Emma Lee Turney's latest book Denims

and Diamonds -- The Story of The Round Top Antiques Fair were available.

Among the vendor's stacks, one of the countless tempting choices was a set of

eight volumes of pen and pencil sketches of historically important persons

entitled Great Men and Famous Women, edited by Charles F. Horne. One

unforgettable example included in Volume VI was a full-page illustration of

the 1797 political assassination of the French politician and physician,

Jean-Paul Marat, by the activist-patriot Charlotte Corday as he reclined in

his bath. According to Houston book dealer Ann Becker of Becker's Books, Marat

suffered from a chronic skin disorder and could only obtain relief by long

hours of soaking in his bathtub. To make a very bad pun, Marat was a "sitting

duck" for the avenging Corday, whom, according to legend, he had viciously

maligned. Corday herself was executed for her crime.

At the adjacent antiques show booths there were lots of glassware and china,

pottery and Staffordshire; linens, lacework and quilts; country and high-end

furniture both English, Continental and American; guns, and surveying

equipment were shown, including some quality hand tools and precision

machinist's measuring instruments of the Nineteenth Century. We visited with

dealer Lisa Kiefer, who deals mostly in restored antique lighting fixtures,

with a collection of old New England maple sap buckets -- an unusual discovery

for Texas browsers, but a nice touch of authentic Americana. There were good

selections of wind-up tin plate toys from the early Twentieth Century, and

some very desirable old cast-iron mechanical coin banks.

This reporter's memo to the AstroArena management: The only downside to an

otherwise most pleasant day was the dismally poor quality offered by the

resident food vendors, whose choices of snacks were both limited, stale and

over-priced ($2.25 for a Coke in a paper cup?). This problem plus the lack of

convenient access to public drinking fountains and rest rooms caused grumbling

from many with whom we talked.