The Owner.
I’m Christian Fassbender, owner of Desert Wind Rare Books. I’ve been into books for as long as I can remember, but over time that shifted from collecting into focusing on the kinds of material I now deal in. I started selling books in 2021 and built this business around the areas I was already drawn to.
I am a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association (IOBA).
The Selection.
The core of what I carry is antiquarian occult, esoteric, and hermetic material, along with early printed books and manuscripts. That’s still the backbone of the business.
At the same time, I don’t limit myself to that. I also handle a mix of later material, including mid-20th century works and occasional modern books when they fit in with the overall direction. You’ll also see material in history, science, exploration, literature, and fine bindings.
The name.
The name Desert Wind Rare Books comes from the environment I live in. The winds out here are unpredictable. They come and go without warning, change direction, and don’t really care what you were expecting.
It’s always had that strange mix of feeling unsettling and familiar at the same time.
The book world moves in a similar way. Material surfaces, disappears, changes hands, and doesn’t stay in one place for long. The right piece has a way of moving through the right people before it finally settles somewhere it belongs.