The bookseller David Ellis discusses his career curating and selling books, his many travels throughout British Columbia, and his vast collection of First Nations history, with Joseph Planta.

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

You’ll hear now about a travelling salesman. This isn’t the start of a joke, rather about a Vancouverite who travels the province peddling books. His stock and trade are books about British Columbia, specifically First Nations books. I saw his ad about a month ago in the most recent edition of BC BookWorld, and seeking a particular book on a Duff Pattullo, I wrote him. He invited me to view his collection last week, and it’s housed in a few storage lockers here in Vancouver, and numbers in the tens of thousands of books. He’s curated an amazing collection, histories of this place and its peoples that have a number of rare finds. David Ellis joins me now, and I’ll get him to tell us about his work, where it takes him, and all the books. The collection today, numbering some seventy-five thousand books, began with David’s father Bill, who sold book from Haida Gwaii. David’s own background includes a master’s degree in natural resource management. We’ll also discuss David’s plans for the collection, and where he’d like to see it in the future. You can email David at davidellis@lightspeed.ca. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, in person this day, David Ellis; Mr. Ellis, good morning.

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