Have I mentioned I like old paper?

I’m always looking for old papers and things. Once again, the temptations of eBay have been unavoidable for me. Most of my saved searches start with the word “vintage.” My recent acquisitions include: about 15 pages of alphabet plates from an 18th C book, 100 assorted pharmacy labels, a lot of stamps and papers, and a bunch of airmail envelopes.

I have many nebulous plans about what to do with my new horde of ephemeral goodness. Some of it will get framed; some will end up in journals or as the basis of art pieces. The seller I bought the vintage pharmacy labels from sent her package festooned with old stamps for the postage. I can only imagine what sort of a house she must have if she has lots of old labels and stamps just laying about. Ofcourse, it's the sort of house I want!

A couple weekends ago, a group of us went out to the annual Printer’s Row Book Fair. It’s a huge deal and the weather was nice so it was too crowded to be comfortable. I like the Fair, but I always go expecting yard sale prices and they are all book stores doing the selling, so they have book store prices. I still did manage to find a gem for twenty bucks; Wonders of the World Illustrated.

There were other exhibitors as well. At the Columbia College booth, there were a number of letterpress options, but I spent my money on some lovely hand-marbleized paper from Paper Fragments. Both of my purchases are intended to be cannibalized for art, but the book lover in me really loathes destroying books even in the name of art.