By James Lomuscio
A rare 1931 Mickey Mouse book is among the sale items. Contributed photo
Westport Library officials today finalized plans for its first eBay auction to be included in its 23rd annual summer book sale set for Saturday, July 18 through Tuesday, July 21.
One of two books to go on eBay is a first edition of Walt Disney’s “The Adventures of Mickey Mouse.” Published in 1931, it includes a rare dust jacket, and is considered the first appearance of the cartoon character Mickey Mouse, plus Donald Duck’s first mention in print.
According to Dick Lowenstein, book sale volunteer since 1994, the rarity will have an opening bid of $2,900 on eBay, and he expects it to fetch a much higher price.
“The same title sold last fall for $5,500 at a New York auction house,” Lowenstein said.
The other book heading to eBay and with an opening bid of $1,100 is “Colton’s General Atlas,” an 1872 text with 180 steel-plate maps, many in still-vibrant color. According to Lowenstein, it is considered the best American atlas of its day and comes in a luxurious, leather-trimmed binding.
“The books will be available for inspection at the library starting tomorrow (Friday) and at the day of the sale, of course,” Lowenstein said.
The eBay auction ends at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18, the first day of the sale.
“In past, we just put a price on a book, and we never had an auction at book sales,” Lowenstein said. “But these are the most expensive we’ve ever had.”
Among the more than 80,000 books in 50 categories from art to zoology for sale from low to modest prices are some high end lots. Lowenstein pointed out about 25 top quality books, some with price tags as high as $300, devoted to sports cars, particularly Porches.
Other highlights include: a first edition of Philip Roth’s “Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories”; a first edition of “Grace: Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue” by Grace Coddington and Michael Roberts; and the first American edition, second issue, of Sir Isaac Newton’s “Newton’s Principia” published in 1848.
The sale will be held Saturday, July 18, and Sunday, July 19, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday, July 20, when everything is marked down 50 percent from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesday, July 21, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For early bird arrivals on Saturday, the library’s restrooms will open at 7 a.m., as will the outside café booth, which will sell beverages and snacks.
“Every year hundreds of community volunteers come together to set up, organize, work and clean up this massive sale,” said Mimi Greenlee, book sale chairwoman.
“Most items sold are generously donated by local residents and carefully sorted and priced throughout the year by a dedicated group of library book sale volunteers, and we always still need more volunteers.”
Those interested in volunteering can contact Suzy Hooper at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) , or fill out an online volunteer form. Or print out the form, and bring it to the library.
“This is one of the top fundraising events for the library,” said Lowenstein. “It’s the No. 2 fundraising event for the library after ‘Booked for the Evening.’”
