News & Articles
Travel Journal - April 2010
Mike is on a mission to purchase books in San Fransico.
Continue Reading Act 1 of the Mike's Travel Journal
Travel Journal - Act 4
The next report as Tom and friends set out to purchase quality books.
Continue Reading Act 4 of the Travel Journal
New Online Rare Book Room
Our new online rare book room! Inside you will find scarce titles in all
fields including illustrated books, first editions, the sciences, history, and periodicals.
Anthony Bourdain Visits Zubal Books
Anthony Bourdain visited us on what was probably the coldest day in January 2007. Our good friend Harvey Pekar, creator of real-life comic American Splendor, felt it important that the Travel Channel personality spend a few hours with us. That meant an hour-long tour through what is mostly unheated warehouse, where large portions of our stock are shelved. Besides Harvey, Bourdain was accompanied by his producer, three cameramen, and writer Michael Ruhlman. Ultimately the three-hour taping was distilled into a five-minute segment of the Cleveland episode of No Reservations.
Continue Reading about Anthony Bourdain's visit
The Bad Words of Bookselling
At least once a day someone contacts us regarding the potential sale of the Bible that they found in the attic or basement. The caller usually starts with "I have a really old book, would you be interested in it?" The expectant lilt to their voice betraying the dollar signs in their eyes. "Well," the process begins, "age is not really of primary importance as far as we're concerned. What is the title of the book?" A snort of disbelief is followed by "This is a bible from 1885 that was my Grandmother's.
How NOT to Store Books
We were called to an estate in an eastern college town to view "grandfather's books." Ms. Rome and her brother met us at the side gate and we were offered coffee and weather-related conversation before the book viewing was to begin. Having already enjoyed breakfast at a local diner, we declined and asked if we could move on to the library.
