Every year, Donna Davis chooses to spend two weeks enmeshed in “the cage”— also known as the collectibles corner of the Times Colonist book sale.
The wire-enclosed section in the Victoria Curling Club separates the long rows of books priced at $1 to $3 at this weekend’s sale from those rated as especially attractive, valuable, rare, fun or fascinating.
“Every year, there’s something in here that sort of just wows you,” said Davis, now in her 16th year of culling the best of the best. “We’re constantly finding lovely books. Tomorrow, we’ll go around one more time and check the tables, just to see if there’s anything more.”
The volunteer staff has been funnelling their best bets to the cage for nearly two weeks now and there are hundreds if not more that rate special consideration.
One of the most noteworthy is a first edition of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, still with its tattered 1957 jacket. A pristine and autographed copy can be had for $17,500 online, but here, the 1,168-page tome is a lot less.
There’s everything from The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker — 68,647 of them plus two CDs for $55 — to a Bible from 1766 and a boxed set of 14 James Bond books for $30.
The most elegant book on site is a James Beard Foundation cookbook depicting a majestically plated scoop of caviar, but Davis’s favourite is The Great American Pin-Up, priced at $15.
Bird-lovers can fight over Audubon’s Birds of America — at more than 400 colour pages for $25 — while philosophical types can ponder the collected works of Soren Kierkegaard and fans of antiquity can try to lift the massive Ancient Egypt, $12.
Despite its bargain prices, the sale has raised almost $1.7 million for Times Colonist’s Raise-A-Reader programs over the years.
“We have some lovely art books,” said Davis, struggling to manoeuvre a gigantic volume called Wood Houses priced at $20. Others include Group of Seven offerings such as The Tangled Garden and Georgia O’Keeffe’s One Hundred Flowers.
Vintage offerings include Trixie Belden mysteries, boxed memorabilia about Coronation Street and Elvis, maps from the U.S. Army Atlas of the European Theater and books by B.C. conservationist Roderick Haig-Brown.
The hardcover collection from the vast library of noted B.C. fishing author Gordon Davies also will be sold in the cage. It’s hoped that someone will buy the Davies books and keep them together as a personal library, Davis said.
Raise-A-Reader spreads the sale proceeds among Vancouver Island schools and non-profit groups and the amount raised is matched by funds from the province.
The Times Colonist book sale runs Saturday and Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Victoria Curling Club, 1952 Quadra St. Bring a box or bags for easy shopping.
