Some of you know that I collect books — not necessarily first editions, but old books, particularly illuatrated classics or books with pretty covers. So as a book collector, this story caught my attention:
eBay Bidder's 'Dreams' About Barack Obama Realized
The story includes a sound clip from back in 2004, an interview with a book collector who was bidding on a first edition hardcover of Obama's Dreams from My Father. She bid well over $200, but the book ultimately sold for just over $300.
In the interview, the collector justifies her bid by noting that Obama was sure to become famous, the implications being that first editions of his book — which apparently didn't have a large print run initially, at least by presidental standards — would gain significantly in value. The general consensus in collecting is that you can't predict what first editions will become valuable, because it has to do with not only the size of the first print run, but also how the book is received and how popular the author becomes (low availability combined with high demand). But this collector definitely called it, as a first edition copy of the book apparently now sells on eBay for $5,000!
Showing posts with label book collecting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book collecting. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Judging a book by its cover
There have been a lot of articles about book collecting online lately. A couple of days ago, I saw this blog post about a company called Book Decor that sells books by color scheme, for the purpose of interior decoration. (And no, the books are not meant to be read — they're not even in English.)
Among book-loving folk, of course, that's a cardinal sin — buying books for looks, rather than for the enjoyment of them. Even most book collectors buy a book because of what it is — not nameless books in a foreign language just because they have a cover that matches your decor.
I also saw two other articles on book collecting: The Book Collection that Devoured My Life, an essay about one collector's (read: packrat's) effort to cull his collection, and A Passion that Speaks Volumes, an article about the rare and antiquarian book market in Denver.
Each of these three pieces demonstrates a different approach to collecting and enjoying books. I can't completely understand the first approach, buying books solely for how they compliment your living room. I also can't fully understand the second approach, acquiring books indiscriminately (or, for that matter, buying primarily paperbacks). No, I am a book collector at heart, which means I love books as much for their covers as much as for their contents.
When I buy a book for its looks, it's from a collector's standpoint, not an interior designer's: For instance, some of the things I gravitate toward are antiquarian children's copies of classics with beautiful illustrations, Victorian novels with pretty covers, and matching sets of books (such as my set of Brontë books). However, I rarely buy a pretty book if the topic doesn't interest me in some fashion, and I have no compunctions about reading them, either.
Here are a couple of pictures of my books. I have many, many more, but this will at least give you an idea of what my bookshelves look like:
In the picture above, two-thirds of the books on the top shelf are Victorian copies of the books by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. The others are classics such as The Scarlett Letter and an old edition of The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as a few old children's books. A few are there simply for being collectible — for instance, one is part of a numbered, limited-edition print run from 1899, and another is the oldest book I own.
Of course, the shelf beneath houses all my modern writing and reference books, so you could say my collection is rather eclectic.
The bookshelf in the second picture (above) is dedicated to my collectible books. I collect several old children's series, which is why there are blocks of books that look like one another. This is also where my Brontë collection resides.
It is without shame that I confess to judging books by their covers, but I don't believe I am the only one — if people didn't care about a book's cover, publishers wouldn't spend so much money on cover design. I just don't think a book should be judged solely by its cover.
Among book-loving folk, of course, that's a cardinal sin — buying books for looks, rather than for the enjoyment of them. Even most book collectors buy a book because of what it is — not nameless books in a foreign language just because they have a cover that matches your decor.
I also saw two other articles on book collecting: The Book Collection that Devoured My Life, an essay about one collector's (read: packrat's) effort to cull his collection, and A Passion that Speaks Volumes, an article about the rare and antiquarian book market in Denver.
Each of these three pieces demonstrates a different approach to collecting and enjoying books. I can't completely understand the first approach, buying books solely for how they compliment your living room. I also can't fully understand the second approach, acquiring books indiscriminately (or, for that matter, buying primarily paperbacks). No, I am a book collector at heart, which means I love books as much for their covers as much as for their contents.
When I buy a book for its looks, it's from a collector's standpoint, not an interior designer's: For instance, some of the things I gravitate toward are antiquarian children's copies of classics with beautiful illustrations, Victorian novels with pretty covers, and matching sets of books (such as my set of Brontë books). However, I rarely buy a pretty book if the topic doesn't interest me in some fashion, and I have no compunctions about reading them, either.
Here are a couple of pictures of my books. I have many, many more, but this will at least give you an idea of what my bookshelves look like:
In the picture above, two-thirds of the books on the top shelf are Victorian copies of the books by Frances Hodgson Burnett, who wrote The Secret Garden and A Little Princess. The others are classics such as The Scarlett Letter and an old edition of The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as a few old children's books. A few are there simply for being collectible — for instance, one is part of a numbered, limited-edition print run from 1899, and another is the oldest book I own.
Of course, the shelf beneath houses all my modern writing and reference books, so you could say my collection is rather eclectic.
The bookshelf in the second picture (above) is dedicated to my collectible books. I collect several old children's series, which is why there are blocks of books that look like one another. This is also where my Brontë collection resides.
It is without shame that I confess to judging books by their covers, but I don't believe I am the only one — if people didn't care about a book's cover, publishers wouldn't spend so much money on cover design. I just don't think a book should be judged solely by its cover.
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
The oldest book I own
The weekend before Thanksgiving, my mom and I went to an estate sale in my neighborhood. The sale had a lot of old books for sale — some of them quite old, others only 50 or 60 years old.
It was from this sale that I bought what is now the oldest book in my collection. I had never heard of the book before — Junius's Letters — but as soon as I saw the title page I knew I was buying it:
I don't know if you can translate the Roman numerals or read the faint penciled date underneath, but this book was printed in 1795, well over 200 years ago. In comparison, the oldest book previously in my collection was a book of Moore's poetry from the 1870s.
I love really old books like this, and I especially love owning one. As a reader and a writer of historical fiction, it gives a sense of authenticity to actually have held a book from the era in my hands. I am especially tickled by the old style of using "f" instead of "s" in some places, such as in the word "English" on this page:
The book is in surprisingly good condition. There is some writing on the front and rear endpapers and on the title page, and as you can see, there is a small chunk of leather missing from the very top of the spine. The boards (front and rear covers) are dry with some surface cracks, but are not warped. Although the pages are lightly discolored with age, the binding is original and tight.
Overall, the condition is amazing considering the age of this book. However, I am going to look into how to better preserve the old leather cover. The book has clearly been stored in a box for a very long time, which has made the leather dry out. I want to try to reverse some of that damage, as I think the leather can easily be returned to its original luster (though the surface cracks, of course, are permanent).
As it turns out, this book was an excellent find. I bought this and three others — a 1901 miniature book of Lincoln's writings that is in excellent condition, an 1813 book in only fair condition, and a beautiful gift version of an illustrated poetry book that probably dates to about 1880 — for only $12. I researched the books, and found that the cheapest of the four — the tiny Lincoln book — is worth $30 to $40. Junius's Letters is worth the most: Copies in comparable condition sell on Abebooks.com for $150 and $175.
It is finds like these that make collecting so satisfying.
It was from this sale that I bought what is now the oldest book in my collection. I had never heard of the book before — Junius's Letters — but as soon as I saw the title page I knew I was buying it:
I don't know if you can translate the Roman numerals or read the faint penciled date underneath, but this book was printed in 1795, well over 200 years ago. In comparison, the oldest book previously in my collection was a book of Moore's poetry from the 1870s.
I love really old books like this, and I especially love owning one. As a reader and a writer of historical fiction, it gives a sense of authenticity to actually have held a book from the era in my hands. I am especially tickled by the old style of using "f" instead of "s" in some places, such as in the word "English" on this page:
The book is in surprisingly good condition. There is some writing on the front and rear endpapers and on the title page, and as you can see, there is a small chunk of leather missing from the very top of the spine. The boards (front and rear covers) are dry with some surface cracks, but are not warped. Although the pages are lightly discolored with age, the binding is original and tight.
Overall, the condition is amazing considering the age of this book. However, I am going to look into how to better preserve the old leather cover. The book has clearly been stored in a box for a very long time, which has made the leather dry out. I want to try to reverse some of that damage, as I think the leather can easily be returned to its original luster (though the surface cracks, of course, are permanent).
As it turns out, this book was an excellent find. I bought this and three others — a 1901 miniature book of Lincoln's writings that is in excellent condition, an 1813 book in only fair condition, and a beautiful gift version of an illustrated poetry book that probably dates to about 1880 — for only $12. I researched the books, and found that the cheapest of the four — the tiny Lincoln book — is worth $30 to $40. Junius's Letters is worth the most: Copies in comparable condition sell on Abebooks.com for $150 and $175.
It is finds like these that make collecting so satisfying.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Harry Potter book auction on eBay
Remember how I blogged about the set of all 7 signed Harry Potter books that was going up for auction?
Well, here's the auction. It's already up to more than £6,000. Will it end up bringing in the £20,000 Books Abroad is hoping for?
I don't know about you, but I'll be watching this particular auction closely!
Well, here's the auction. It's already up to more than £6,000. Will it end up bringing in the £20,000 Books Abroad is hoping for?
I don't know about you, but I'll be watching this particular auction closely!
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
My Brontë collection
In a post earlier today, I mentioned that I dabble in book collecting, and linked to a rare Brontë first edition that I would love to have. That reminded me of a promise I made to a fellow writer and Brontë fan: that I would post pictures of several Brontë books that I have.
Here is a picture of my Brontë collection. The set of four red books and the set of twelve green books are the sets I'm posting about. Between them is an olive green book of Charlotte Brontë's poetry, which is not part of either set (but still quite pretty — too bad I forgot to take pictures of it, too!). The fat green book on the far left is a Victorian book of women's biographies called Daughters of Genius, which contains a chapter on one or more of the Brontë sisters. The skinny white book next to it I will explain below. (The red book on the far right is not a Brontë book, but a first edition copy of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.)
The red books are a set of Charlotte Brontë's four books: The Professor (which was her first book but remained unpublished until after she died), Jane Eyre (her first published book and her most popular), Shirley, and Villette. Although the set is not dated, I think it is probably from the 1880s or 1890s.
This set actually took me a little while to complete. I originally found only three of them — it took me about a year to track down a copy of Jane Eyre for this set.
This picture shows the covers and the beautiful deep green endpapers, which are very smooth and slightly shiny. The paper is very thick, which makes the books quite thick as well — particularly Shirley!
The other set, the little green books, are a complete set of the Brontë sisters' works. All of their books and a bunch of their poems are included, with Agnes Grey in the second volume of Wuthering Heights (much as they were published originally). They are very small books, quite literally "pocket-sized."
The set was a birthday present from Michael — albeit one I found and asked him to get me! We got it extremely cheap — around $100 — I think because everyone thought Agnes Grey was missing. (I did too — imagine my delight when I realized the set was complete after all!) I have seen books from the set listed singly for around $15 each — and that's in rather poor condition — so I know these are a rare treasure.
Each book has an elaborate letter B embossed on the cover.
Each book also has a lovely frontispiece with a tissue paper guard.
The date on the set is 1901 (MDCCCCI). They are in good shape for being 106 years old!
Each book also has a pretty (but rather fragile) red ribbon marker.
This book is a story that Charlotte wrote when she was 13. It was published in the 1960s. Although it wouldn't be collectible to anyone but a Brontë fanatic, I think it's pretty cool.
There you have it — my antiquarian Brontë collection!
Here is a picture of my Brontë collection. The set of four red books and the set of twelve green books are the sets I'm posting about. Between them is an olive green book of Charlotte Brontë's poetry, which is not part of either set (but still quite pretty — too bad I forgot to take pictures of it, too!). The fat green book on the far left is a Victorian book of women's biographies called Daughters of Genius, which contains a chapter on one or more of the Brontë sisters. The skinny white book next to it I will explain below. (The red book on the far right is not a Brontë book, but a first edition copy of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.)
The red books are a set of Charlotte Brontë's four books: The Professor (which was her first book but remained unpublished until after she died), Jane Eyre (her first published book and her most popular), Shirley, and Villette. Although the set is not dated, I think it is probably from the 1880s or 1890s.
This set actually took me a little while to complete. I originally found only three of them — it took me about a year to track down a copy of Jane Eyre for this set.
This picture shows the covers and the beautiful deep green endpapers, which are very smooth and slightly shiny. The paper is very thick, which makes the books quite thick as well — particularly Shirley!
The other set, the little green books, are a complete set of the Brontë sisters' works. All of their books and a bunch of their poems are included, with Agnes Grey in the second volume of Wuthering Heights (much as they were published originally). They are very small books, quite literally "pocket-sized."
The set was a birthday present from Michael — albeit one I found and asked him to get me! We got it extremely cheap — around $100 — I think because everyone thought Agnes Grey was missing. (I did too — imagine my delight when I realized the set was complete after all!) I have seen books from the set listed singly for around $15 each — and that's in rather poor condition — so I know these are a rare treasure.
Each book has an elaborate letter B embossed on the cover.
Each book also has a lovely frontispiece with a tissue paper guard.
The date on the set is 1901 (MDCCCCI). They are in good shape for being 106 years old!
Each book also has a pretty (but rather fragile) red ribbon marker.
This book is a story that Charlotte wrote when she was 13. It was published in the 1960s. Although it wouldn't be collectible to anyone but a Brontë fanatic, I think it's pretty cool.
There you have it — my antiquarian Brontë collection!
How much is Harry Potter worth?
We know how much J.K. Rowling is worth. But how much is Harry Potter worth?
Because I am an amateur book collector, the following story caught my eye: "Signed Set of Harry Potter Books Due for Auction." As a donation for a book charity, J.K. Rowling has signed a special edition of each of the seven books, and they will be auctioned as a set on eBay on September 24th.
The charity is hoping to get about $40,000 for the set. For that amount, I could buy this: an extremely rare, first edition/first issue copy of my favorite Brontë book, Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Before I go off to ponder why a set of seven signed modern books are worth as much as a pristine 150-year-old treasure, I should mention that Rowling's donation was to raise money so that the charity, an organization called Books Abroad, can provide books for children overseas. Although I am still indignant on Anne Brontë's behalf, I have to admit that it is a very worthy cause.
Because I am an amateur book collector, the following story caught my eye: "Signed Set of Harry Potter Books Due for Auction." As a donation for a book charity, J.K. Rowling has signed a special edition of each of the seven books, and they will be auctioned as a set on eBay on September 24th.
The charity is hoping to get about $40,000 for the set. For that amount, I could buy this: an extremely rare, first edition/first issue copy of my favorite Brontë book, Anne's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Before I go off to ponder why a set of seven signed modern books are worth as much as a pristine 150-year-old treasure, I should mention that Rowling's donation was to raise money so that the charity, an organization called Books Abroad, can provide books for children overseas. Although I am still indignant on Anne Brontë's behalf, I have to admit that it is a very worthy cause.
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