By Jorge Casuso
November 8, 2018 -- The Santa Monica Library's used bookstore has seen some rare finds pass through their shelves.
Eighteen years ago, a first edition of James Joyce's modernist masterpiece "Ulysses" was donated in a leather-bound cover with the name Micheal Foreman on the spine.
The book didn't make it to the Friends of the Santa Monica Public Library Bookstore sale that year after a volunteer discovered its true value.
On Saturday, book connoisseurs looking for rare titles and readers searching for a good read will once again queue up for the annual sale from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Bookstore at the Main Library, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard.
"We are privileged to have received outstanding donations from the public enabling us to collect works that the Library cannot use in their main collection for the public," library officials said.
The sale includes books about art, music, history and biography, cookbooks, new fiction, graphic novels, signed books and antiquarian books gathered by volunteers at the bookstore over the past year.
This year's sale features books from the collection of Dr. Sidney Roberts, a pioneer in the history of the UCLA School of Medicine and Guggenheim fellow, and his wife and colleague Dr. Clara M. Szego.
Dr. Roberts, who played a role in the development of the Brain Research Institute, collected books on history, biography, classics and English literature, library officials said.
"A few of the authors represented in this collection are: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sir Conan Doyle and Proust," library officials said. "These works, many of which are in slipcases, are in excellent condition."
Books that go unsold are donated to schools and non-profit agencies.
Proceeds from the sale support a rich array of ongoing programming at all Santa Monica branches.
They include Santa Monica Reads, Summer Reading for Adults, Kids and Teens, SMPL at the Beach, Soundwaves New Music Series Concerts and El Día de Los Niños/El Día de Los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day).
