Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Page Turner: Retired Willow Glen High librarian, Anne Louden, is the chairwoman of the Montalvo Book Fair.
Annual book fair speaks volumes about California
Montalvo event raises funds for restoration of Sen. Phelan's library
By Shari Kaplan
The late United States senator and patron of the arts James Duval Phelan was known for his love of the arts, and it is for that reason that he bequeathed Montalvo, his elegant estate in the Saratoga foothills, for the perpetuation of artistic creation.
Among the attributes of his home, where friends and associates often gathered, was a library which housed a collection of literary works and books on California.
According to the writings of close personal friend Gertrude Atherton, the "inner circle" of Montalvo would meet in the library before dinner, "where the softly shaded lamps gave a wonderful glow to the room with its thick Oriental carpet and its beautifully upholstered chairs."
Although the original furnishings and books of that library were sold or given away by Phelan's relatives after his death in 1930, Villa Montalvo's Phelan Library Committee has worked for more than a decade to change that. The committee has secured books, furnishings and even an Oriental-style carpet, through direct donations and funds raised via the Villa Montalvo Book Fair.
"Senator Phelan was very involved in culture and the arts and loved to show off Montalvo," says longtime committee chairwoman Anne Louden, who was invited to head the committee by former Villa Montalvo board member and Bay Area philanthropist, Jean Kuhn. "We were asked not just to recreate Phelan's collection, which had been dispersed 100 percent, but, also, to oversee the renovation of the library. The purpose of the Book Fair is to add to our funds."
"The Phelan Library was never intended to be a 'circulating library.' Owing to maintaining the integrity of the collection, the books may not be taken from the library," says Louden, adding that people can read the books for personal enjoyment, or research purposes, in the library by appointment. According to Louden, the collection houses around 600 volumes, with an ultimate goal of 1,500.
The committee divided the slowly growing historical library into two main sections: literature and Californiana. "Phelan was greatly interested in anything having to do with the Golden State," Louden says of the latter category. Helping the committee begin to rebuild the library was Anthony Bliss, the rare books librarian at UC-Berkeley's Bancroft Library, whom it hired to do research on what books most likely would have been part of Phelan's great collection. The growth of the collection ended with his death.
"Unfortunately, we never had any exact records to work from," adds Louden, who is certainly no stranger to libraries. The holder of a master's degree in library science from San Jose State University, she is a retired San Jose Unified School District librarian, who worked at Willow Glen and Leland high schools.
Volunteerism like Louden's is what the Phelan Library Committee is all about, as fellow member Bucky Ball will attest. Every other year, alternating with Louden and her husband Bob, Ball camps out in the Villa the night before a fair with his trusty cot or sleeping bag, to save the expense of hiring a security guard to watch over dealers' book displays. He jokes that he's even had a few late-night run-ins with the ghost of Gertrude Atherton, who was a frequent guest of Phelan's, and had her own quarters at the Villa.
"I spend about 24 hours up there straight when we have a Book Fair," says Ball, who also helps direct the flow of traffic and parking. A member of the Phelan Library Committee almost since day one, Ball says he enjoys being around the Villa and its pleasant, aesthetic aura, and suspects that is a draw for many Book Fair dealers and visitors, as well.
Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Golden State: The library committee divided Sen. Phelan's collection into two sections: literary works and books on California.
This year's Book Fair gives visitors a chance to browse among 7,500 used books, offered by 25 dealers from throughout California. Many books are rare first editions and out-of-print copies. Topics include technology, science, art, architecture, music, antiques, California and the West, cookbooks, travel, railroads and children's interests. Some dealers also offer old maps, letters, prints and autographs.
Autographed books are a specialty of Susan Klein. The San Jose resident is not only a Phelan Library Committee member and co-chair of this year's Book Fair with Althea Andersen of Mountain View, but is a used book dealer and owner of Susan Klein Fine Books. A sampling of the antiquarian collectibles that pass through Klein's hands includes a first edition of a book signed by Charles Lindbergh; a first edition of Of Mice and Men inscribed by author John Steinbeck, and a first edition of Negro Builders and Heroes inscribed by Martin Luther King Jr. with a cloth cover and gilt lettering on the spine.
"I'm somewhat of an eclectic dealer, but I focus on the 20th century," says Klein, who is a member of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, an entity that sets standards and ethics for the used-book trade. She will come to the aid of consumers who think a used book dealer gave them a bad deal.
What worries Klein is that book fairs themselves are getting a bad deal, in large part, because of the profusion of online auctions on the Internet. Many of these self-appointed auctioneers have taken to selling used books, Klein says, which hurts both the profession and the consumer.
"A lot of people don't know how to property identify a first edition, or how to accurately describe the condition of a book they're selling. It's very frustrating to know the public is being taken advantage of. One of the things book fairs do is educate the public about the value of old or rare books," Klein says.
"Small regional book fairs are being hurt by the Internet. Some dealers are dropping out of fairs due to the overhead involved. I think some of the smaller fairs will be dropping off, too, down the line. Generally speaking, attendance is down," she says.
There is, however, some good news for book fairs, Klein adds. Many people prefer to visit fairs, because they are visual and tactile learners, who enjoy looking at, touching, and perhaps even smelling the books before making a purchase. These same buyers also appreciate chatting with dealers and getting to meet them. None of these interpersonal and interbook relationships are possible over the Internet.
"Also, with fairs, people are more likely to look around and find things they weren't even looking for!" Klein adds with a chuckle. There are also those avid book collectors for whom traveling to various towns to shop at fairs is part of the whole lure of the book-collecting hobby; again, this cannot happen on the Internet.
"When people ask me how to get started, I say 'Buy what you love, because you'll always love it!' " Klein says. "I tell people never to buy a book as an investment--try the stock market instead. Book collecting should be done for the love of the book, not for the investment."
The eighth annual Montalvo Book Fair takes place on April 1, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at 15400 Montalvo Road. Admission is $4 per person, which also entitles visitors to receive appraisals of their old books--limited to three per person--from book dealers between 1 and 3 p.m. For more information, call 408.961.5800 or 408.961.5858, or visit www.villamontalvo.org.
Willow Glen, California Since 1992
