Eric Peter Waschke, FRGS started collecting antiquarian travel guides and atlases as a boy of nine when he lived with his parents in London, England and then in 1985 he found his start in the antiquarian book business as a freelance book scout in Berlin at age seventeen. Eric has also lived in Montreal, Hawaii, the Philippines and Munich, before finally settling in Vancouver to establish the Wayfarer's Bookshop in 1996, after he had attained a degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia. Eric has traveled extensively throughout what he calls the "Known Book World" and he has visited more than 4000 used and antiquarian book shops in over eighty countries, including ILAB colleagues in all twenty-two ILAB affiliated national associations. This extensive network of potential suppliers allows Eric to find many of his history of exploration rarities. However, Eric's travels have not been limited to the bookshops of the world alone, but to better understand the historical travel literature which he trades in, Eric has also visited many important sites in the history of world exploration including the sources of the Amazon and Nile, the Northwest Passage, Ushuaia (the world's southernmost town), the once forbidden cities of Harar, Thimphu and Timbuctoo, as well as the Seven Wonders of the World. Additionally, Eric is an avid amateur mountaineer and has travelled to Mount Everest, the base camp of Huascarán (Peru's highest mountain) and climbed Kilimanjaro. Future expeditions to Mount Everest Advanced Base Camp (Chinese side) and an Aconcagua climb are planned for 2011. Eric is also Past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada (ABAC) and the chairman of the 2010 ABAC Toronto International Antiquarian Book Fair.