Saturday, March 26, 2005

SF PALM sale

Just got back from the annual duplicates sale at the San Francisco Performing Arts Museum & Library. I have been to this sale a few times in the past, and have also done some reseach at SF PALM and seen a few exhibits there as well. The sale features books, sheet music, programs, posters, record albums, etc.... There is not very much film-related stuff to be found, but the sale is a lot of fun and most everything there is cheap!

This year I spent $24.00 and came away with some treasures. Among the items I picked up was nice hardback first edition of Donald Spoto's biography of Lotta Lenya, which was signed by Spoto ($1.00). I also picked up The Alice Faye Movie Book, signed by Alice Faye ($3.00)! Most of the books I looked at were not signed, but I guess I just happened to find a few that were. . . . I also score a very nice hardback first edition of Ted Shawn's illustrated autobiography, One Thousand and One Thousand Night Stands, which was signed by Shawn ($8.00). Another Denishawn item I came across was The Story of Louis Horst and the American Dance by Ernestine Stodelle. Horst was the musical accompaniest for Denishawn in the early 1920's, including the years Louise Brooks was with the company. I hadn't known about this interesting booklet. I also found a hardback copy of The Story of Dance, by John Martin ($2.00). Martin was the dance critic of the New York Times, as well as an early champion of both Ruth St. Denis and of dance as a serious art form deserving newspaper coverage. This 1946 pictorial survey includes a chapter on Denishawn which includes a picture of the company which includes Brooks. I hadn't ever seen this particular image before! So, all together, it was a good haul.

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