Don Stewart - 10 April 2026

Don Stewart holding the edition in English of Rayuela - 12 November 2022

Asahi Pentax S-3 - Arthurian & Borgesian

In that other century besides being a magazine photographer I was also paid well to write for magazines and newspapers. Because my father was a journalist for the Buenos Aires Herald in the 40s perhaps I have journalism in my blood.

Now with journalism in Vancouver moribund I find that quite a few of my 6878 blogs could pass as journalism. Every day alone with my two cats I find that I am compelled to write my daily blog. Sometimes I write two.

Today I went to The Lab to pick up a roll of b+w film that I took with my Sword Excalibur (what I call it as I cannot fail when I use it) Asahi Pentax S-3. I purchased it used in Mexico City in 1962. My subject, last Friday, was Don Stewart's  Macleod’s Books. We have been friends for many years. He has helped me with my obsession of collecting books written by Jorge Luís Borges in Spanish.

I asked Stewart, point blank how many books he has not only in the main store but in three others. His answer was, “I have over 100,000 titles, but many of them are of different publishersm translations, and editions.” This might mean that the figure could be somewhere around 250,000.

The next question which was answered would have made an article in the Vancouver Sun or an interview in our increasingly uncultured CBC.

“Don I want to photograph you holding a book. What book will it be?” In less than five seconds he responded, “1984.”

There is a story I want to tell here. In 2008 my Rosemary and I were planning a trip to Venice and Florence. I went to the main VPL to get books for our planning. One was a beautifully illustrated one by Robert Louis Stevenson’s trip through Italy.  I told Rosemary that we could not take it with us in our trip as it was much too valuable. I called Don Stewart. He did not let me finish. “Alex I have two versions of it. I can sell you each for $42.” I bought both and one of them, Pictures From Italy, And American Notes - 1879 Edition, has a spectacular photogravure of the author.

I can attest here that Don Stewart knows exactly where each of his books resides.