SF ART BOOK FAIR SPOTLIGHT: LEE OF MODLITBOOKS

The 2019 San Francisco Art Book Fair (SFABF) is multi-day festival of artists’ publications. This event is free and open to the public and will feature artists’ books, art catalogs, monographs, periodicals, zines, printed ephemera, and artists’ multiples.  Learn more about one of this weekend’s exhibitors, Lee Reymore of modlitbooks and his collection of rare & out-of-print artists & photographers books, monographs & ephemera.

Lee of @modlitbooks

Hi Lee.  What’s the story behind @modlitbooks?
Like many booksellers I started as a collector. In my case collecting signed first editions of Samuel Beckett. Soon thereafter, some 30 years ago, I started working in the rare book world in New York City. Working at a book search service at first, I had a client looking for her favorite childhood book. The only copy I could find was a worn, dog-eared copy with a child’s name scrawled in crayon. When the client received the book, she called me in tears; it was HER very own childhood copy with her name in crayon! We were both floored by the serendipitous luck of finding her exact childhood copy. I was enthralled to say the least, I thought, “I can do this!” Finding these little treasures before eventually sending them on to a new appreciative home, could possibly prove to be a thing I might want to do with my life.

Later in the Bay Area, I was one of the first employees at book website Alibris and I have worked in the Fine Books Departments of Bonhams and other auctions houses for more than 10 years. I created my business modlitbooks 20 years ago, at the time specializing in contemporary literature. While the name stuck, I now sell more art and photography books and ephemera while still offering important literature like signed works by David Foster Wallace. While in the auction world I may be called upon to catalog a 16th Century dictionary in Latin, Greek and Hebrew; my own interest and inventory is chiefly post-WWII.

Which exhibitors are you looking forward to seeing at the SFABF?
At this year’s SFABF I am particularly excited as I am every year to see all my friends and fellow bookseller’s incredibly rare offerings. Rite Editions is releasing a book on art catalogs created by Steven Leiber (1957-2012) a friend and mentor which I’m very excited to see. Steven put the collecting of art ephemera on the map and his catalogs were amazing and internationally renowned productions with a nod to various art movements and historical exhibitions throughout the art world. My colleagues at 871 Fine Arts and 6 Decades always have fantastic and super rare stuff and I always look forward to seeing what they bring to the fair.  I am also looking forward to the seeing latest work by our friend Jeffery Cheung at Unity Press!

I loved the collection of LGBTQ art and ephemera you put together for Vacation.  Could you tell me more about your collection of ephemera?
While I specialize in Art, Photography and Literature, my partner Randy Walker (aka the creator of Carletta Sue Kay) specializes in vintage LGBTQ ephemera. Presently we have an exhibition and pop-up shop of rare LGBTQ material at vintage clothing shop Vacation at 651 Larkin Street in the TL. This exhibition curated by Randy will be at the Larkin Street store during the SFABF and through the end of July.

Where are your favorite places to buy books in the Bay Area?
Shopping for decent books locally in my field has become more difficult in recent years. My favorite SF bookshop Aardvark Books just closed this year, RIP. Always on the hunt for the needle in the haystack, I’ll still find interesting items at Moe’s and other local stores, but sadly with less frequency than in the recent past.