Another very hypothetical dream bookstore logo. The “Reinhart’s” and “Books” are done in my very own FriedrichWilhelm font. “Rare” and “Antiquarian” use the font Prophet, and the ampersand is Goudy Bookletter 1911… for all of you typophiles. I was going to use Goudy Bookletter 1911 for that entire line, but the q’s damn descender messed with the underlines too much. I didn’t even have to touch the q in the Prophet font - it just has a peculiarly nubby descender.

I’d have to earn the right to call myself a “Rare & Antiquarian” bookstore. I have no official qualifications to call myself that other than almost three years in the weird world of general online bookselling. I have sold rare and antiquarian books, and I have been able to do the research to determine the authenticity of those books. I’ve learned a ton through experience, but there comes a point where you just need more official sources you can refer to, and know people to contact to find specialized information. Or have those sources so that when something particular comes your way, you know who might be interested…. rather than posting the book on eBay and hoping those three people in the world who have an interest will actually find it.

It is a very real possibility that I could open my own tiny little online used book store, and run it in my spare time. One thing I’ve learned is that it is not difficult acquiring an inventory… the only difficulty is acquiring an inventory of books that are of any value or even of any interest. Acquiring rare and antiquarian books would be a step beyond, and again the difficulty would be in finding the books that still have interest, are of value, and are not falling apart.

One thing I’m not about to do is get a scanner and go to library book sales and thrift stores scanning everything in sight with an eye to sell on Amazon (talk about mind-numbing!). I’d keep my store small and selective. And since I would be running it on my own time at very little cost, I think I’d bypass both Amazon and eBay and sell exclusively on my website. Make it small and as personal as an online store can be.

So if I do start my own little online store I’ll let you know about it, but it won’t be called “Reinhart’s Rare & Antiquarian Books”, more’s the pity.