UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Wednesday, July 19, 1995
3B
Book collector's cache adds chapter to Lawrence literature
By Mark Luce Kansan staff writer
Edmee Rodriguez / KANSAN
Howard Hartog, owner of Vagabond Bookman, 1113 Massachusetts St., has been collecting books since the 1980s.
Even though Howard Hartog has approximately 13,000 books in both his business and private collection, he still haunts the stacks of libraries all over the country.
"I can't tolerate getting information second- or third-hand," Hartog said from behind his cluttered desk at Vagabond Bookman, his bookstore at 1113 Massachusetts St.
As a child growing up in Edgerton, Minn., Hartog read constantly and always assumed everyone else did too. Despite an ever-expanding library, Hartog never considered himself a collector until the 1980s.
"I started out doing flea markets, finding books in boxes of motorcycle parts," he said. "I would find classics, and it wasn't too long before people began responding with more than a little interest."
tasted moved to Lawrence in
Hartog moved 1990, and because he became frustrated with having six different storage areas filled with books,he finally nabbed retail space in November 1993.
"It began to be painful to exhibit only a few things and have the rest in storage," he said. "Dealing books is not like selling T-shirts. It is an incredibly difficult retail market. And
Highlights of the collection:
well-developed specialties. The popularity of these works led him to specialize in them.
■ "Alcoholics Anonymous," hardbound first-edition, 1939
"Uncle Tom's Cabin," by Harriet Beecher Stowe, medium grade first-edition, 1851
- "Tarzan of the Apes," by Edgar Rice Burroughs, first McGlugh edition, 1914
■ "My Basketball Bible," by F.C. "PhoG" Allen, first edition, 1927
"Sports Stories," by F.C.
"Phog" Allen, signed first
edition, 1947
even though we are in our 20th month, we are still learning to walk."
Early-20th century authors such as Harold Bellright, Gene Stratton-Porter, Thorton Burgess, and Willa Cather, along with children's series like the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, are Hartog's
d book store is ever shifting and a combination of blind luck and fortitude. Hartog spends hours on the phone, travels to book fairs and conventions 35 weekends of the year. He also examines private collections. "I have seen some real treasures in private homes," Hartog said. "Often, I don't even want to touch some of the things because they are so valuable. The only thing that
keeps me as a viable business is getting out and finding books, and doing this is fascinating to me."
"He does something completely different than anyone else in
town," Houston said. "His collection of specific authors, especially the children's series, makes Lawrence a better town for books."
Houston credits Hartog's success to a broad knowledge of the business, despite Hartog's less than two years of experience as a salesman.
"His store is still there, which is a good sign," Houston said. "He's been doing this in one way or another for years. He's an old hand, a nice fella and probably knows more than I do."
Hartog, though, is quick to point out that just having thousands of books does not mean financial stability.
"On any given morning, books are only worth what the junk man will pay," he said. "One can be bullied into a false sense of security and value."
Hartog said he was enraptured by and somehow bound to old books, because they contain a piece of the author's soul.
"Regardless of the subject matter or genre, books are the summation of an individual's thoughts," he said. "I am terribly in awe of this process, and how, now, the books are just passing through my hands."
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