Anyone here work in the rare book trade?

[luckyjimm]

After leaving my English PhD halfway through I tried to get into the rare book trade, particularly modern first editions and manuscripts.

I went to book fairs, read catalogues, talked to people in the industry, and put an advert in the 'job seekers' section of the trade bulletin. I had a couple of interviews. One was for a £15k/year job doing admin at a store which did maps and 18th-19th century travel books. The other was to be a sales assistant at a new store a leading 20th century dealer from the provinces was planning, but which never opened. I came to a dead halt.

I also saw that the only people who make any money are those who buy and sell the books, not the people who work for them who are in effect well-educated shop assistants.

Do any of you have experience of this industry? Would you recommend it? Should I try to get any job with any kind of antiquarian store, no matter how badly paid or menial or far from my interests, knowing I can then move into a more suitable role a year late? Or am I better off continuing with my current dull but comparatively well paid legal secretarial work - which I've been doing the last year - and using to money to go to book fairs in my spare time and start up an eBay business?