Mind flow, sans edit
Panama City, Panama
08 March 2025
The genesis of this post…searching for a bookstand in antique stores.
And checked my old photos of bookstands to show to sellers. And came across the video above. A bookstand in Japan. The search for a bookstand not been a concentrated effort. More of a “Hey, there’s an antique store. Let’s look for a bookstand.”
This all started with Matt Tomlet in Panama.
Matthew Tomlet is likely the most famous living artist in Panama. Wealthy people throw money at Matthew to make his paintbrush sing.
Matt is a “Zonian”. Zonians are Americans who grew up in the Panama Canal Zone. Some family-lines go back multiple generations to the era of Canal construction.
Matthew fluent in Spanish. We often head into Darien Gap.
Last year while I was back in Japan, I called Matthew in Panama to ask about something. Probably just to talk. Because I like to talk with people with common sense. Who are unafraid of jungles.
And Matthew said I should read the book of Matthew in the Bible. I asked Matthew if Matthew wrote Matthew, or was just named Matthew.
Matthew sent a PDF of the Bible. Well, I don’t like reading PDF of important words.
But I listen to Matthew closely. I listen to every word. Matthew suggested read Matthew. So I told Masako about Matthew saying we should read Matthew. Masako agreed we should go find a good Bible.
So Masako and headed up to Tokyo which was far away. We dove into those old bookstores we love in Tokyo. Looking for a Bible. But Bibles are relatively uncommon in those old Tokyo book stores. We hunted for a couple days and finally was back in a store we sometimes shop.
They didn’t have any “cheap” Bibles. But they had some Bibles — actually works of art — from a century ago, and also back from 1800s. I specifically wanted the oldest possible. But the ones we found…Big Bucks…Big Yen in this case. These Bibles are literally works of art. You must see in person to understand. Video does little justice.
Masako and I were just there for a big, old Bible. Not artwork. But the fine craftsmanship was all that blessed the shelves. This was Japan, after all. Japanese don’t play around.
I have many old books. Not as a collector. I read them. And have been searching a long time in many countries for a quality bookstand for quality old books. These old masterpieces must be handled with respect. Where are the great bookstands?
Fine books without fine bookstands are like fine telescopes without tripods. So I normally improvise by using old books as bookstands for what I am reading. Cumbersome, and space-robbing
Anyway, Masako and I searched through antique stores in Panama for good book stands. Nada. Not even one. We need six. And have not found one.
Check out this Uzbek bookstand.
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