One of the worst things to happen to a bookshop

As a Stephen King fan especially I could cry for the loss that guy has suffered. I hope he had sold his uncorrected Rings before the damage. I know it is only 'stuff' but still a horrible loss.

That would be gutting for the poor chap.

I must admit, natural disaster is a big reason why I have chosen not to purchase many expensive items. The next quake here is expected to be Mag-9 (The great Alpine Fault rifts on a fairly consistent period, and is statistically now overdue). I think not dying is going to be hard enough, let alone worrying about whether books got squashed then likely burned and rained on! Better that the genuinely rare stuff has custodians in places that are a little more geologically stable!

I can't argue with you, Stu. My wife has the same position, so I have not really built a collection of very expensive items myself either.

Slightly more Tolkien related news from the flooded store in Maine:

“I am here 20 hours a day alone, trying to recover as many Stephen King and Tolkien pieces as I can,” he wrote in the post. “Several original manuscripts have been recovered last night and I am still looking for more.”

from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-n ... estroyed-flood-180967893/