Books of Wonder...ImOldFashioned mentioned it above. I guess it's this shop in NYC...so, of course I HAVE to go.Originally Posted by Joie DeVive
Oh, I would love to have any of the Oz books too. In third grade I was Ozma for Halloween. We took one of my Mom's old belts and turned it into the headdress adding red flowers on the side. Dad made the OZ symbol out of colored tape for the front.
Forgive my ignorance, but what is BOW?.
I'm the nicest gorram dame that ever lived.
Thank you! I must have read through too fast and missed it.Books of Wonder...ImOldFashioned mentioned it above. I guess it's this shop in NYC...so, of course I HAVE to go.
Reprints of the Oz books? Wow! I can't get there anytime soon, but I may have to use some of my NY connections!!
Live each day like it is your last, learn as if you will live forever. - Ghandi
I have a huge collection of books, so many that I can't keep them all in the house within reach. Most are war and combat military aviation related but I have a lot on ancient civilizations, archeology, early man and such.
Many of these books are hardbound and quite old. I have a lot of paperbacks simply because they were available for purchase where their hardbound counterparts were not. Most of what I get is vintage to start with so whatever I find I grab. The vast majority are from the 1940s-70s. Many were purchased new then- late 50s-70s.
These days for economy many books have a larger size but soft cover too.
I treat all my books gently and would never give any away or even lend them. None are expensive in that they are 1st editions or whatever. I value them for the reference information and knowledge they contain.
Howard Hughes 1905-1976
"He is the last private man, the dream we no longer admit." -Joan Didion
I'm like Twitch -- I have a large but highly specialized library, mostly in original printings, of 1920s and 1930s books dealing with broadcasting. Many of these books had very limited circulation when they were first published, intended for industry insiders and the like, so they've been hard to find, and are rarely in the best of condition. But I take them as I can get them, since I'm more concerned with the information they contain than in any speculative "collector value."
My own book has only been published in hardcover -- and they use archival paper stock, so it'll at least outlive me!
The humblest citizen in all the land, when clad in the armor of a righteous cause, is stronger than all the hosts of error. -- William Jennings Bryan
Speaking of children's books, pardon my shilling for the Folio Society, but they have a membership offer right now featuring some of their children's reprints. I have three of those four from them, and they do a fantastic job with those. The original color illustrations are fantastic.
I have hundreds of books in stacks and boxes and on shelves. One piece of advice. Control your habit. Don't keep every book you've ever read. Keep the ones you'll read again or mean to pass down or need for your occupation or reference.
When we remodeled the house, I had floor to ceiling book cases installed in the dressing room and the Master bedroom as well as my daughter's bedroom. A year later, we need more bookshelves.
I bought reprints of The Hardy Boys and the Nancy Drew books for my kids. I figure they may want them for their kids if they're ever fortunate enough to have children just like themselves.
I also bought 1st Editions in hardcover of all the Brian Jacques Redwall novels. I like to read them as much as the kids do.
I have 1st editions of most (perhaps all) the Hemingway titles and some of his contemporaries. I'm only a completist with Hemingway however.
Easton Press does excellent facsimile editions in slipcases that are exact rproductions of the original 1st editions. These are under their First Edition Library imprint.While not in the stratosphere, these will appreciate in value over time.
There are very nice signed and numbered limited editions published by the Armchair Detective Library, if you're a fan of this sort of novel. I collect the Ed McBain titles in this imprint.
As observed, resellers and second hand stores are great places to locate hardcover volumes. Dashiell started a thread in the OL about this. It' worth reading.
Two of the best on-line sites for books are AbeBooks.com and biblio.com. I usually look at the prices of volumes I'm considering from other sites on one or both of these. They are often cheaper than Amazon or Ebay sellers. The freight charges are almost always lower on these sites than on OFAS. (This is how many Ebay merchants gig their customers for additional dollars.)
Barnes & Noble has a pretty good line-up of resellers as well.
Also:
1. Keep the dust jackets on your books. They will protect the volumes and books are more valuable with original dust jackets intact. Brodart (vinyl) covers over dust jackets help a great deal. This is the single best thing you can do to preserve your books and the most often ignored.
2. Environmental conditions will affect your books. Some mentions have been made of this. Too hot and dry or too damp and moist are extremes that affect printed material. Sunlight will cause fading. Climate makes a difference.
Reading is one of life's great pleasures. Make sure to create an enjoyable space for this pursuit.
"Shoulder the sky, my lad, and drink your ale." A.E. Housman
My Library contains anything and everything to do with the history of American Jazz music and dance, also including entertainment both on stage and in film.
I also collect phone books from the major cities pre-1950.
I was thinking it'd be easier to make new covers for a lot of my books then to try and find them in hardcover, especially a lot of the newer non-fiction books that were never sold in hardback to begin with.
I don't think it would add much to their durability, but they'd look nicer on the shelves.
All travellers must visit wardrobe before departure. And that goes for you especially Trevor. You've created a hell of a stink back in 2010 wearing those bloody silly goggles of yours and that hoodie. - Smithy
I read Ozma of Oz when I was about 12 and loved it. I never saw "Return to Oz", but I always thought they should have had Liza Minnelli play Ozma. She's a bit long in the tooth for it now.
I have several hundred books, a lot more that I haven't read that that I have. I've been accumulating a lot of stuff on the mid 20th century for several years, especially England. So I have bios of people like Churchill, Eden, MacMillan, Duff Cooper, Harold Nicolson, etc., etc., etc. When I go to used bookstores I always look for the old looking bindings. I also have quite a few old books from the 19th century that my mother accumulated (I say accumulated rather than collect because it's such a random process). The oldest ones going back as far as 1840. I have a lot of books that need better care than they're getting. This is on top of the thousands of old family letters and photographs. Anyone want to volunteer to be my own personal curator? There might be a PhD thesis in it!
Here's a small sample. You'll notice the 1940 Webster's Universal Dictionary Unabridged. I found it thrown out!
"Hello. I'm Mr. Hardy, and this is my friend, Mr. Laurel."
Sorry about the acronym use--I didn't mean to confuse you. You can purchase the Books of Wonder Oz reprints online for $24.99 each. Beautiful quality! http://www.booksofwonder.com/products.asp?dept=80Thank you! I must have read through too fast and missed it.
Reprints of the Oz books? Wow! I can't get there anytime soon, but I may have to use some of my NY connections!!
That is so great that you dressed as Ozma--any pictures?
The time to make up your mind about people is never--The Philadelphia Story
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
