A POUND OF PAPER: CONFESSIONS OF A BOOK ADDICT. by Baxter, John - 2002

London: Doubleday, 2002. 417 pp, 7 1/4" H. Integral red ribbon bookmark, pictorial endpapers. In the 1950s, at the age of eleven, John Baxter "collected his first book - 'The Poems of Rupert Brooke'. He'd read the volume often, but now he had to own it. This was the beginning of what would become a major collection and a lifelong obsession. His book-hunting would take him all over the world, but his first real find was in London in 1978, when he spotted a rare copy of a Graham Green's children's book while browsing on a stall in Swiss Cottage. It was going for 5 p. This would also, fortuitously, be the day when he first encountered one of the legends of the book-selling world: Martin Stone. At various times pothead, international fugitive from justice and professional rock musician, he would become John's mentor and friend. In this brilliantly readable and funny book, John Baxter brings us into contact with such literary greats as Graham Greene, Kingsley Amis, J.G. Ballard and Ray Bradbury. But he also shows us how he penetrated the secret fraternity of 'runners' or book scouts - sleuths who use bluff and guile to hunt down their quarry - and joined them in scouring junk shops, markets, auction rooms and private homes for rarities. (This book) describes how a boy from the bush came to be living in a Paris penthouse with a library worth millions." Minor wrinkle at bottom of hinges, small area of very light fading on front board cloth. Dust jacket has some very light edge wrinkling. . Second Printing. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good.