"Vivio loco…Murio sano":
Don Quixote

Secondhand quality             Specializing in Classic, Rare and Antique Books
books by mail-order

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To About Us and our commitment to offer only the best quality First Edition as well as Re-Prints, Classic, Rare and Antique Use Books A brief history of our Book Collection The first of the Ormaecheas or Ormaetxeas that took-up book collecting and the buying and selling of books was Captain Juan Bautista Ormaetxea a Basque mariner in the 1850's. Captain Orma, as he was called by his friends, made a monthly voyage to England from the Basque city of Bilbao. At that time many Englishmen, mostly mining, and construction engineers and a good number of businessmen traveled to the Basque country to develop the mining industry. Many of those Englishmen settled in Bilbao to work in the iron mines and foundries but always maintained contact with England and used Captain Orma as their mailman, messenger. Captain Orma was already an avid book collector and was known to have an extensive library but it was just a collection. He never thought of going into business until his English friends persuaded him to buy books in England and sell them in the Basque country and in Spain or wherever there was an expatriate colony. This he did very successfully and subsequently by using expert translators he was able to translate English books to Spanish. (Shakespeare's, Milton's, etc.) It is also said that Captain Orma introduced E.B.Browning, Emerson, Hawthorn and many more English and American authors to Spain. The English used to fondly call him Captain "Boosinis es Boosinis". Every time his English customers would complain about his prices he would answer them very seriously and in broken English "Boosinis es Boosinis" meaning Business is Business. Finally in 1876 just before his retirement he opened a bookstore dealing in foreign books, old books and maps in Bilbao called "Boosinis es Boosinis". The bookstore in Bilbao lasted until 1938. The Catholic Church was always opposed to foreign books entering Spain and "Boosinis es Boosinis" was the principal culprit in their eyes, furthermore the Ormaetxea's at that time had very strong ties with the Separatist Basque Government , so with Franco, his Fascists allies and the Catholic Church, under pressure and intimidation the Ormaetxea's decided to close the store. A great number of books were smuggled out of Spain before and in the middle of the Spanish Civil War for safekeeping in Canada. Today after 121 years and although many of the original books were sold the business continues from the Americas. Captain Juan Bautista's Great-Great Grandchildren now are running the business. Three Basque brothers accomplishing what their Great-Great Grandfather would have wanted them to do, Iñaki, Juan Maria and Jose Manuel. When the time is right we will probably again open the store in Bilbao naming the new store "Boosinis" as usual. Hi!  I'm Juan M. Ormaechea your personal Book Reviewer. I'm also the custodian, librarian, inventory controller and buyer of old and very rare books.  Our stock of Books are located in our office in Ajax , Ontario , Canada. If you have any Questions, Inquiries, Book Prices, Shipping and Postage quotations or Shipping Rates, I will be very happy to reply to your queries.  E-Mail: oibooks@oibooks.com Hi! I'm Iñaki Ormaechea, older brother of Juan M., and your personal Marketing Manager of O I Books - Pre-Owned Classic Book-Shop,  I'm also the Web-Master responsible for creating this Home Page.  We are an International Company, if you have an address any where in the world, you will get our book. E-Mail to: Juan M. Ormaechea - Book Reviewer for mailing rates.