Literature of the Jazz Age and Depression Era are the focus of booksellers Michael Manz & Earl Manz

Earl Manz of Yesterday’s Gallery, member of the ABAA, and Michael Manz of Babylon Revisited Rare Books are a father and son team, based in East Woodstock, CT and Northampton, MA who share the same enthusiasm and passion for the literature of the Jazz Age and Depression Era.

Earl began selling rare books and prints while still a law student at Harvard University, selling his coin collection in favor of old books with color plates. More than forty years in the business have earned him only the highest respect from his colleagues and nothing but praise from his dedicated customers. When Earl started to bring his young son Michael along to antiquarian book fairs and shops in the 1980’s, another bibliophile was born. "I got the bug," Michael said. He has been seeking out and selling rare books since before the sixth grade, unearthing rarities for his customers with an uncanny sense for finding long lost books. While he started out just "moving books into and out of book fairs," he said. "I soon realized that I could make as much money, buying and selling books." He started, small, by buying leather bindings and reprints of Zane Grey novels - bought from a bookseller who had a big barn - one or two at a time for a quarter each or two for a dollar. "There wasn't much risk and everything was profit," Michael said.

Until he was 27 years old, Michael worked at a number of jobs, including restaurant work and bookselling at MacIntyre and Moore Booksellers in Cambridge and Peter L. Stern & Co. (then located in Boston, now in Newton). He readily admits that he was a "bad employee" so opting to begin selling books on his own, as an owner/operator was the logical next step for someone with books in his blood. Earl Manz, now 79 years old, remains an active partner in all aspects of the business, Michael says.

Over the years, he and his father have built a strong base of loyal customers who appreciate their honesty and dedication to their chosen profession. Together they strive to provide a large, high quality, and diverse collection of fiction, published primarily before the Second World War, with their original dust jackets. With over 8,000 such titles in their inventory, it is one of the largest collections of its kind, for sale to readers and collectors, in the world, they say. Their specialty is Jazz Age and Depression Era literature. They also maintain a growing collection of Children's and 19th Century Literature. They pride themselves on providing accurately described, high grade, and difficult to locate titles in all fields of literature.

Michael is now a long-established bookseller who helps and advises young people interested in joining the field. He has mentored Joel Levin, of Dewey Decimals, of Northampton, another book fair exhibitor. "Bookselling has a lot of work and challenges," he said. "But when you get the bug, you can't talk people out of the idea. You can't dismiss it."

His guidance to those thinking of a career as a bookseller: "If you are a good detective, hunting for and finding used and collectible books, and don't find the business aspects a challenge, there is a good possibility that you'll be a successful independent bookseller." Michael adds sarcastically, "If you have a million dollars in the bank, the book business is ideal."

Meet Michael and peruse his collection of books at the Northampton Book Fair on November 22nd and 23rd at the Northampton Community Arts Trust, 33 Hawley Street.