Bryn Mawr-Wellesley event to offer about 75,000 volumes
Forget about the supposed death of reading in the United States. The hordes of eager buyers who will descend on the 76th annual Bryn Mawr-Wellesley Book Sale, beginning March 21 many arriving in the pre-dawn hours to secure a good place in the line refute that notion.
This year, as always, about 75,000 used books will be available in 60 categories at bargain prices, and buyers will carry them away by the hundreds or by just an armful. Whatever readers are looking for, it’s probably found here, sorted and arranged for easy perusal and priced to sell in just five days. The sale fills Princeton Day School’s gymnasium to overflowing and continues into the large lunch room.
"In years past we have had church organists buy whole collections of old hymnals, while graduate students start their professional libraries with books received from the estates of retired professors," says Maxine Lampert, a Wellesley alumna who has been involved with the sale for five years since Wellesley College joined Bryn Mawr in presenting the huge endeavor.
"It is really heartwarming to see how much this sale means to people from all over, including people who come annually from Maine, Connecticut and Pennsylvania," she says.
A special feature of the sale is the remarkable number of valuable and interesting books available in the "Collector’s Corner."
This year, for the second consecutive year, a first-edition book by Charles Darwin will be on sale, as will first editions by Virginia Woolf, Jack London and Henry James. Historians will be fascinated by "The History of the City of New York in the Seventeenth Century" in two volumes, by Mrs. Schuyler Van Rensselaer, and a 40-volume set of the Presidential Papers of Woodrow Wilson in pristine condition, signed by the editors.
Art lovers will want to see a wide collection of important and beautiful books on art, architecture and design, some featuring unusual woodcuts, engravings, prints, linocuts and even a 1959 limited edition cookbook illustrated by Andy Warhol.
"The best part of the sale," says Fran Reichl, who specializes in the more unusual books at the sale, "is that every year someone finds a treasure we missed. With books coming in from across the Princeton area, buyers find numerous first editions, things that are out of print, and many wonderful surprises."
Also, this year about 3,000 videos will be on sale.
The sale will take place at the Princeton Day School, 650 Great Road, Princeton, from Wednesday, March 21, through Sunday, March 25.
Wednesday, March 21. Preview Sale, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is $20 per person. Free admission from 2 to 9 p.m.
Thursday, March 22, and Friday, March 23, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Regular Sale Days. Free admission.
Saturday, March 24, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Half Price Day. Free admission.
Sunday, March 25, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. $6 per Box Day. $5 for the first three boxes, $6 each additional box. Free admission.
Patrons are asked to bring their own boxes, as none are available at the sale site.
Please note that strollers and wheeled vehicles except wheelchairs are not permitted in the PDS gym.
Free parking is available.
More information is available at http://www.princetonol.com/groups/brynmawr/.

