| rev:text
| - I believe Las Vegas is an incredibly successful vacation and convention destination because it makes people exclaim, "Wow!" That wow factor can be obtained in many different ways. Lots of people get it through large gambling winnings or losses and the adrenaline rush they get in the process. Others get it when they watch the elaborate shows. Many find the place itself with all its over-the-top excesses intrinsically wowish. Still others find their wows in the more fleshy vices that Vegas supplies. None of these things pushes my wow button and I was wondering whether Vegas was up to the task on a personal basis. Vegas was, but in a way I never would have anticipated.
I'd just emitted my first "Wow!" in a shop called Ancient Creations in the Venetian by viewing a 1611 King James Bible when it was time to find my wife and the other ladies in our party who had been shopping. My wife had just finished buying some comfortable walking shoes and the ladies were heading over to Victoria's Secret in the Palazzo because one of them had forgotten to pack her bras and panties. Although it's always a learning experience to follow ladies around in a lingerie shop, that wasn't why I came to Vegas. On the way I spotted Bauman Rare Books (BRB) and told the rest of the gang I was taking a personal detour. WOW! Am I glad I did!
As I walked in, I was immediately asked whether I needed any help by one of the staff members, Don. Not knowing yet what I had stumbled upon, I told him I was doing some "serendipity browsing". He just smiled and asked me to let him know if I had any questions. As I browsed through the collection that was nicely presented in an environment of understated elegance (probably the only place in Vegas that is understated about anything), I was already muttering "Wow!" under my breath.
I'd found an embarrassment of rare book riches. I first noticed some beautiful collections of Audubon lithographs. Then I saw the first edition of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony arranged for piano four hands ($4500). After that, I was simply overwhelmed by one rare treasure after another. I called Don over and asked him to give me a tour. It was very thorough and interesting. I specifically remember him showing me the first complete edition translated into English of the essays of Seneca dated 1614 ($6500).
We chatted awhile and he showed me their online site with all their inventory. I was particularly wowed by a single leaf from a manuscript in Mozart's own hand of one of his Serenades ($195,000). Because I was showing so much interest, Don asked whether I'd like to see their copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle. My eyes practically bugged out of my head as I stammered out something in the affirmative.
He took me to BRB's reading room, looked around and asked another employee where the Nuremberg was. She casually pointed to a drawer and said, "I think it's in there." It was. He pulled it out and placed it on a special viewing stand on the table. So why was I so excited? Printed in Latin only a half century after Gutenberg invented the printing press, this book was published in 1493 (the year after Columbus stumbled upon America) and details the Biblical account of creation and continues with a history of the world through the 15th century. BRB lists it at $150,000. It is filled with thousands of woodcut illustrations (some of which may have been made by Albrecht Dürer who was an apprentice in the shop of the illustrator at the time). The visceral connection to the past was almost as electric as when I touched the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum years ago. I felt incredibly privileged to be able to turn the pages myself.
WOW, WOW, WOW!
As I left the shop, Don gave me a copy of their catalogue which now proudly sits on my coffee table. It's a beautiful book in its own right and a fantastic conversation starter. I can actually afford to buy a few of the books displayed in it too!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)