The 47th Friends of the C.H. Booth Library Book Sale will be held at Reed Intermediate School July 7-11.

Book Sale Chair Denise Kaiser says there will be “approximately 120,000 books, jigsaw puzzles, games, CDs, DVDs and LPs.”

The school is at 3 Trades Lane. Contactless payment options and spacious display and flow will both return this year, as will Boy Scout Troop 70, “to fuel hungry shoppers at its popular concession stand on Saturday and Sunday,” according to Kaiser.

The 2023 sale features more than 90 well-organized categories, including children’s books arranged by reading level, mystery, romance, sci-fi, comic books, manga, classic and modern literature, popular fiction and non-fiction books. Books range from $1 for small mass-market paperbacks to $3 and up for trade paperbacks and some hardcovers, depending on the title and condition.

Thousands of CDs, DVDs and LPs, including many collectible items, are also available starting at $1 per item. Video games are now found with computer software. The sale also offers puzzles and vintage games.

Shoppers will again enjoy the large selection of items, an air-conditioned venue with plentiful parking, and the assistance of knowledgeable volunteers.

The sale is the primary fundraising event by the Friends in support of C.H. Booth Library.

Specials Room Highlights

The Specials Room, which houses rare and collectible items including valuable media and children’s books, is set up in the Auxiliary Gym.

John Renjilian has been leading the sorting, research, and pricing of items in that section of the book sale for years. He and fellow volunteers have dozens of special items ready to go out the door. These will be the items that draw the highest prices when the sale opens.

Of particular interest this year, according to Renjilian, is an extremely rare copy of a first edition of The house servant’s directory: or, a monitor for Private Families: comprising hints on the arrangement and performance of servants’ work…and upwards of 100 various and useful receipts, chiefly compiled for the use of house servants by Robert Roberts (Boston: Munroe and Francis and NY: Charles. Francis, 1827).

Renjilian recently noted it was the first commercially published book by a Black American.

The book has been priced at $7,500. It is the highest listed price to date for any item in the long-running sale. The price, according to Kaiser, “is in recognition of the importance of the African-American contributions to this country.”

Among the most recent additions to the Specials Room is a copy of The New Nationalism by Theodore Roosevelt, priced at $2,500.

The collection of 14 speeches made by Roosevelt during summer and autumn of 1910, “was the first salvo in what became his attempt at a political comeback to win the Republican Presidential nomination of 1912 away from President Taft, and is thus an important campaign document,” according to notes from Renjilian.

Roosevelt signed the front fly leaf, in ink, he also noted.

Book Sale Publicist Nancy Dvorin calls three volumes of diaries kept by Mary A. Hurd, one each for the years 1860, 1867 and 1868, “a great lesson in humility.”

Renjilian agrees.

“She made very brief entries, largely covering her personal life,” he said.

The entries were done in pencil and are very light, but still legible. The lot has been priced at $75.

Another Renjilian pick this year is The Maine Automobile Road Book, published in 1918 by Maine Automobile Association Touring Bureau, Portland, Me.

“This is one of my favorites,” he said, opening the book and gently unveiling its accessories. “It’s got maps, it’s got loads of pictures, it’s got inserts, and we have all of them in addition to the book itself.”

The 480-page book comes with 32 pages of maps including a folding map in a rear pocket, undated mileage table and small map published by the Maine Publicity Bureau, and an undated Rand McNally road map of “Blazed Trails in New England.”

There are also trip notes by Alfred Gustafson and an undated brochure of Portland.

The binding is cracked, the front fly and preliminary page are loose, and the cover is worn, but Renjilian cannot help smiling when looking through the book and the extras. It has been priced at $45.

A carte de visite photo of “Ruins of Barnum’s Museum” following the 1845 fire at the Bridgeport location has also been set at $45.

Autographed Offerings

At the opposite end of the universe is Star Wars, A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy. Published in 2007 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original Star Wars film release, the book is filled with works by the pop-up artist and paper engineer Matthew Reinhart.

The edition being offered by the Friends is autographed, in very good condition, and priced at $50.

Signed books also include copies of Lucky Man by Michael J. Fox (six-line felt tip inscription to Carl), in fine condition, $50; Flight of the Avenger: George Bush at War by Joe Hyams (inscribed “To Mr & Mrs Wahl Love The Pres”), also in fine condition, $300; Raging Bull II: Continuing the Story of Jake LaMotta by Chris Anderson, Sharon McGehee and LaMotta (inscribed by LaMotta), very good condition, $75; and Here’s What We’ll Say: Growing Up, Coming Out, and the U.S. Air Force by Reichen Lehmkuhl (inscribed by the author on the title page), with a book shop sticker on the jacket but in otherwise very good condition, $25.

A first printing of Richard Nixon’s Real Peace, one of a reported 1,000 copies privately issued in September 1983 for distribution to government and other leaders the year before the trade edition was released, is also available. Signed by Nixon on the book’s fly, buyers will find it priced at $125.

Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits, by David Ortiz with Tony Massarotti, signed by Ortiz, in fine condition, is $150; and Golf Shots by James Shepherd Jr, inscribed to Roger Farwell in pencil on the front fly, in very good condition, is $75.

Also of note is a copy of The Duchess of Padua by Oscar Wilde, edited by Wilde’s executor, Robert Ross, and published in 1908 in a limited edition of 1,000. Inscribed by Ross to literary critic and poet Edmund Gosse, that book is available for $50.

A stated first edition of Street Justice by Chuck Zito, written with Joe Layden and featuring a foreword by Sean Penn, about the bodyguard, Hells Angel, boxer, actor and “fascinating character,” according to Renjilian’s notes, is inscribed on the book’s fly by Zito with both his name and Oz, a reference to the HBO series based on his book and in which he was a featured player. The book is in very good condition and priced at $30.

Changes For 2023

There are a few changes in the daily schedule this year. Organizers have added a second day of discounted prices, and are bringing back popular evening hours for one night.

The 2023 sale will open Friday, July 7, at 1 pm. The admission fee is $40 for the four-hour selling period and attendance will be capped at 200. Tickets will go on sale at the school at noon.

On Saturday, July 8, doors will be open from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission for ages 18 and over that day is $5. Tickets go on sale that morning at 9 am.

Admission is free for everyone after Saturday.

Prices on all items will be reduced by 25 percent on Sunday, July 9, when hours will be 10 am to 5 pm.

Prices will be even lower on Monday, July 10, dropping to 50 percent off list price.

Additionally, sale hours will be extended from 10 am to 7 pm for the convenience of shoppers who want to stop in after work.

Tuesday will continue to be Free Day, and the venue will be open from 10 am to 1 pm.

Gone this year is $5 Bag Day.

Friends President Richard Anthony said many shoppers over the years have said the plastic bags provided for the final day of the sale “were not ideal for packing large or heavy items.”

Additionally, he said, many shoppers have moved away from plastic bags for environmental reasons.

“This year, people can pack items in their own bags or reusable containers, taking advantage of our multiple discount days,” he said.

As mentioned earlier, the sale is a major fundraiser presented annually by the Friends.

“Profits from the summer book sale provide the bulk of the Friends’ annual financial support of the library,” Kaiser said via statement to The Newtown Bee. “Thanks to the enthusiasm of our shoppers and generosity of our sponsors, we’re confident that our funding will again break the six-figure mark this coming fiscal year.”

For more details and updates about the sale, go to boothbooksale.org.

=====

Managing Editor Shannon Hicks can be reached at shannon@thebee.com.