Among a dozen or so sellers who turned out was Peter Hechtman, a Snowdon resident who started out as a collector of rare books, before becoming a dealer himself.

"My stuff is fairly eclectic," he said. "I have reasonably large amounts of Canadiana, Judaica, travel exploration type of books, as well as fiction — history, science, espionage — a very general kind of stock."

When not at book fairs, he sells books on the Internet through his web site, thebookmaven.org. Hechtman explained how he became a bibliophile. "I couldn't resist buying them, so I figured I had to sell them, otherwise they'd just accumulate," he said.

Hechtman has been interested in books "practically since I could read. But I had to wait until I retired from my real job before I could get into this more seriously." However, the Westmount Antiquarian Book Fair is the only such event he partakes in each year.

While some of the dealers generalized in their selection, others discovered a specific niche — for example, historically valuable medical textbooks. "Age does have a certain amount to do with their value, but it's mostly their content," said one such seller. It could be old, or more recent, but it has to be important. As it turns out, many of the buyers are doctors interested in the history of medicine.

One of the most fascinating artifacts on display at a booth set up by Wilfrid de Freitas, who organizes the fair each year, was an 18th century "letters patent," that appointed Sir Charles Edward Grey, who was a British judge and colonial governor in India, Chief Justice to the Supreme Court of Judicature in Fort William and Bengal.

"We have it mostly because it's a very visual piece," said Susan Ravdin, who works with husband de Freitas. The impressive document on parchment had an original two-sided great seal of King George IV attached, with the original container for the seal. The asking price: $1,250.

Photo: Martin C. Barry