(OT) The most you've spent on a used book

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by happycampyer

Wow, that’s amazing! How did you come across those books? And how do you store them? Usually books like that are kept in a humidity-controlled environment, etc.

Some were in a very dillapidated state while others were in very good shape. My Stepfather was an auctioneer/antique dealer, so I picked up quite a bit along the way.

A person I went to school with had done a clean out of an old dillapidated farm house and approached me with some of the stuff knowing I collected/bought/sold such things. I made him an offer on all of it and ended up with quite a few rare books, etchings and plaquettes.

I admittedly do not have them in a proper storage facility as they are literally in a tote, but considering where they came from they are in a much better state than when I bought them.

I have some extremely cool and rare important books, but not too many potential buyers in my area. I figure that they will likely not lose value as there just aren't many around.

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[velolab]

A few years ago I picked up an original copy (1928) of Major Taylor's autobiography with an original dust jacket in excellent condition (book and jacket) for $300. An absolute steal as most copies don't have a jacket. If they do they are usually torn or missing pieces but are still priced at over $1000.

[YoKev]

$50 for a first edition of Browns Boundary Control and Legal Principals

[Hilltopperny]

3 rare books, all the way to the right is an original copy of the first printed book on Martial Arts dating to the 15th or 16th century, Les Idees de Napoleon/Canal De Nicarague with 3 linen lined maps and instructions for building the canal and the book on the left is a royal lineage of early Catholic Popes.

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[AngryScientist]

those are really cool Adam.

and while the books themselves are great, i think the stories (both these in particular and in general terms) of how they got to where they are, transfer of ownership, crossing continents before air travel or easy "shipping" methods, etc are the best part, often surrounded by mystery and uncertainty and word of mouth chains of custody.

all very interesting!

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

those are really cool Adam.



and while the books themselves are great, i think the stories (both these in particular and in general terms) of how they got to where they are, transfer of ownership, crossing continents before air travel or easy "shipping" methods, etc are the best part, often surrounded by mystery and uncertainty and word of mouth chains of custody.



all very interesting!

Pretty fascinating stuff for sure. Especially given the origins and lack of availability of transport back when they made their way to the States.

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[paredown]

In my past life, I got to spend a lot of time reading at the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC. The collection got its start because Folger was a Shakespeare nut, but to get a single book, he would buy up whole libraries, so eventually he a had a huge collection. It's now the second largest collection of pre-1640 printed books in English in the world (first is the British Museum), the best collection of early printed Shakespeare and contemporaries etc... Worth walking in to look at what's on display if you are in DC--it's right by the Supreme Court.

There is nothing quite as cool as ordering up a book where there are only 12 or 20 known copies in the world and reading the original. Had a go at a Gutenberg bible once (among other treasures) in a seminar I did at the library--that was a peak experience!

The diffusion of books is a fascinating topic in and of itself. Typically they would be packed in barrels as unbound leaves to be shipped and then bound locally--so a lot of 16thc English stuff was printed in the Low countries and shipped over--sometimes to avoid the censors--and later a lot of English books were printed and shipped unbound to the colonies--until the US (the China of its day) printed bootleg copies of nearly everything they could lay their hands on. One of the weirder ones that I ran across was a 16th Century printing of the works of Aristotle--printed in Mexico City! (makes sense in a way--it was still the foundation of the university curriculum, but still!...)

I find ABE (Advanced Book Exchange) a pretty good resource for tracking and pricing rare books. I don't own any rare stuff myself--never really had the money as a grad student, and the couple of things I had that were reasonably rare I donated to libraries along the way...

Edit to add: I just realized that I do have one book that is fairly rare--a first edition of Ulysses (James Joyce) that my FIL carried with him though the North Europe campaign in WWII. It's not in perfect shape, but the fact of its (and his) survival makes me treasure it all the more.

[zambenini]

Originally Posted by paredown

In my past life, I got to spend a lot of time reading at the Folger Shakespeare Library in DC. The collection got its start because Folger was a Shakespeare nut, but to get a single book, he would buy up whole libraries, so eventually he a had a huge collection. It's now the second largest collection of pre-1640 printed books in English in the world (first is the British Museum), the best collection of early printed Shakespeare and contemporaries etc... Worth walking in to look at what's on display if you are in DC--it's right by the Supreme Court.

There is nothing quite as cool as ordering up a book where there are only 12 or 20 known copies in the world and reading the original. Had a go at a Gutenberg bible once (among other treasures) in a seminar I did at the library--that was a peak experience!

The diffusion of books is a fascinating topic in and of itself. Typically they would be packed in barrels as unbound leaves to be shipped and then bound locally--so a lot of 16thc English stuff was printed in the Low countries and shipped over--sometimes to avoid the censors--and later a lot of English books were printed and shipped unbound to the colonies--until the US (the China of its day) printed bootleg copies of nearly everything they could lay their hands on. One of the weirder ones that I ran across was a 16th Century printing of the works of Aristotle--printed in Mexico City! (makes sense in a way--it was still the foundation of the university curriculum, but still!...)

I find ABE (Advanced Book Exchange) a pretty good resource for tracking and pricing rare books. I don't own any rare stuff myself--never really had the money as a grad student, and the couple of things I had that were reasonably rare I donated to libraries along the way...

Edit to add: I just realized that I do have one book that is fairly rare--a first edition of Ulysses (James Joyce) that my FIL carried with him though the North Europe campaign in WWII. It's not in perfect shape, but the fact of its (and his) survival makes me treasure it all the more.

Ah, is this thread now the Paceline English major roll call?

Great stories!

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[paredown]

Originally Posted by zambenini

Ah, is this thread now the Paceline English major roll call?

Great stories!

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History--English is for wusses...

[benb]

I'm sure I spent at least $200 for a used book at least once in college. That was mid-late 1990s and I remember I was budgeting at least $500 for books each semester. I studied computer science... IIRC the computer science and math books were the killers and humanities type books were more reasonable. And we had some cases where professor's did shady things to get us a break too, like getting us proof copies for free or something cause the professor was an editor or author of the book and it hadn't been finalized.

Even the eBooks cost a fortune for college courses where the book is relatively specialized.

[oliver1850]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not surprised to hear that some of you have spent on books amounts that may equal what you have spent on bikes.

[oliver1850]

Originally Posted by jtakeda

“Album” these days I am the cosmos is $250-300 per song—still a great 45 though

But back on point I bought a book for $60 not too long ago and it was a bargain at $60

For fans of big star check out Van Duren “are you serious” maybe we should have a power pop thread—happy to share my trove of private press goodies

Not sure what you meant about $250-300 per song.

Have you seen the Van Duren documentary? The soundtrack CD was just released in February. Only 2 copies of Are You Serious on ebay, the cheapest is in Italy for 105 Euros.

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...68&FORM=VDQVAP

[54ny77]

About $.35, on Kindle.

[happycampyer]

Originally Posted by 54ny77

About $.35, on Kindle.

Is it used if you download it on Kindle, or is it new?

[oliver1850]

My mom has a kindle I think. Wondering if the Chris Bell book is available...