LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} louisebrooks) wrote,@ 2007-09-30 22:12:00 |
|
Nice books found I
Today, I spent a couple of hours picking through treasure at the 43rd annual Friends of the San Francisco Public Library book sale. And of course, the first section I always head to is the film section. I managed to find a handful of worthwhile books, including a couple of vintage Harry Lauder titles, A Minstel in France (1918) and Roamin in the Gloamin (1928), and a couple of more recent memoirs by Maurice Chevalier. One of them, Bravo Maurice!, contains an anecdote about the Hollywood premiere of Innocents of Paris, the film which featured Chevalier's hit song, "Louise." I was pleased to come across that story while looking through my finds.
I am always on the look-out for books on film history. The best titles I came across today were an old copy of Lewis Jacob's The Rise of the American Film (1939) - an early history of American film; Alexander Walker's Stardom (1970) - which contains a couple of references to Louise Brooks; Samuel Marx's A Gaudy Spree (1987), a book about writers in early Hollywood; and Laurence Kardish's Reel Plastic Magic (1970) and A.R. Fulton's Motion Pictures: The Development of an Art (revised edition, 1980) - another couple of general histories of the movies. I also found four or five titles which I didn't already have in the familiar "The Films of . . . " series. I got one on Clark Gable, one on Alan Ladd, Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, etc.... And as well, I picked up a couple of oversized picture books on W.C. Fields, a 1945 memoir by singer Gertrude Lawrence (I adore her version of Gershwin's "Somebody Loves Me"), an autobiography by Raymond Massey, and biographies of Bettie Davis and Rita Hayworth (the later by John Kobal). They all look like interesting titles.
Against my better judgement, I also picked up duplicate hardback copies of a bunch of excellent older books on various film stars, Lon Chaney, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, Douglas Fairbanks, and the Barrymores. I also found a couple of hardback copies of Lulu in Hollywood - one of them a first edition. I guess I will try and sell these duplicates on eBay.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that this year's sale was dedicated to my late friend (and book dealer) Allan Milkerit. Thus, I was pleased to see this page in the program handed out at the door.
Today, I spent a couple of hours picking through treasure at the 43rd annual Friends of the San Francisco Public Library book sale. And of course, the first section I always head to is the film section. I managed to find a handful of worthwhile books, including a couple of vintage Harry Lauder titles, A Minstel in France (1918) and Roamin in the Gloamin (1928), and a couple of more recent memoirs by Maurice Chevalier. One of them, Bravo Maurice!, contains an anecdote about the Hollywood premiere of Innocents of Paris, the film which featured Chevalier's hit song, "Louise." I was pleased to come across that story while looking through my finds.
I am always on the look-out for books on film history. The best titles I came across today were an old copy of Lewis Jacob's The Rise of the American Film (1939) - an early history of American film; Alexander Walker's Stardom (1970) - which contains a couple of references to Louise Brooks; Samuel Marx's A Gaudy Spree (1987), a book about writers in early Hollywood; and Laurence Kardish's Reel Plastic Magic (1970) and A.R. Fulton's Motion Pictures: The Development of an Art (revised edition, 1980) - another couple of general histories of the movies. I also found four or five titles which I didn't already have in the familiar "The Films of . . . " series. I got one on Clark Gable, one on Alan Ladd, Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, etc.... And as well, I picked up a couple of oversized picture books on W.C. Fields, a 1945 memoir by singer Gertrude Lawrence (I adore her version of Gershwin's "Somebody Loves Me"), an autobiography by Raymond Massey, and biographies of Bettie Davis and Rita Hayworth (the later by John Kobal). They all look like interesting titles.
Against my better judgement, I also picked up duplicate hardback copies of a bunch of excellent older books on various film stars, Lon Chaney, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Marion Davies, Douglas Fairbanks, and the Barrymores. I also found a couple of hardback copies of Lulu in Hollywood - one of them a first edition. I guess I will try and sell these duplicates on eBay.
In an earlier post, I mentioned that this year's sale was dedicated to my late friend (and book dealer) Allan Milkerit. Thus, I was pleased to see this page in the program handed out at the door.
I will miss visiting Allan at his store. I enjoyed talking books and films with him, and over the years, he placed many fine film books in my hands (including many scarce photoplay editions). Needless to say, I collect books on early film - an Allan was a fine friend.
