CABS, 2012 Edition
I have periodically written about my time at the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar, including on this blog. But the further along I get in my bookselling career, the more I recognize the enormous part attending played in whatever success I've managed to have. As this year's seminar approaches, I have expanded on my earlier praises for the seminar:
I doubt I would have been satisfied continuing to sell five and ten dollar books, and doubt even more I ever could have made any kind of living doing that [...] I certainly wouldn't have had the confidence to buy a bookstore without the seminar. Or to know what to do with a catalogue once it was printed, even assuming I finished one. And being, like many booksellers, predisposed to shyness and independence, I doubt I would have found a foot in the door to meeting other dealers that CABS provided. It is probably not too much to say that CABS provided me the vocation I am now pursuing.
I have posted these (lengthy) thoughts, along with some thoughts on the future of the book trade, on my blog. I hope anyone considering attending will take a few minutes to read and then go and register. With Bradford Morrow and Adam Davis as guest faculty, it promises to be a banner year.
![Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–253) Homilia in Genesim, Homiliae in Exodum, in Latin, translation by Rufinus, decorated manuscript on parchment [Austria, Lambach Abbey? c. 1150–1175]. Estimate: $150,000-$200,000.](/sites/default/files/styles/category_card/public/media-images/2026-06/origen.jpeg?itok=0V_4_Lt2)
