Hand-sewn binding repair:
"A friend of mine once kept a mouse in his house."
A box of Heritage Press books came into the thrift store this week. So pretty, but not particularly valuable. Each of these, however, still has its original Sandglass — the "four-page pamphlet discussing the illustrator and the importance of the
book". Most are still in their slipcase. I priced them high, for us: $4.50 to $9.
My mother's parents had a bookshelf of these--(or possibly Folio Society books, or the like). I never saw anyone reading one, or anything but paperback fiction; I think their function was to signal middle-class respectability.
My mother's parents had a bookshelf of these--(or possibly Folio Society books, or the like). I never saw anyone reading one, or anything but paperback fiction; I think their function was to signal middle-class respectability.
They're from this man's estate (I looked him up, and he is no more):
Lovely books! Mr. Holten who is no more ended up in a thrift shop, under the care of the fabulous book lady, it does not get better than that.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful. I love the attention to detail in old books. There used to be a fantastic second hand bookshop in Greenwich that sold all books for £1. They were sorted to an extent, but the volume that they bought meant that a lot were in piles. I got some great books there. I had to limit myself to ten on my fairly infrequent visits. I found a lot with name labels from one man, Terry somebody, who mus have died. He had a wide variety of interests, many of the same as me. I don't often put my name in my books. my Mum used to, and she also wrote in all the ones she took from her Mum when she died.
ReplyDeleteLINDA SUE: A good legacy, I agree.
ReplyDeleteSARAH: That old bookshop sounds IDEAL. My thrift store books are mostly $1 to $2.
I did price these Heritage Press ones higher––partly because it bugs me that resalers snatch up all nice stuff if the margin is low enough.
These are still a good deal for an average book lover, but probably not worth it for someone who's just going to re-sell them.
My mother always wrote her name in books too--in ink (not ballpoint)––and added the date and place bought.
I like to see such inscriptions, but I don't usually bother to write them myself--I don't hold onto books long enough, I guess, to want to stamp them that way.
I wonder if that was my Dad's Underwood.
ReplyDeleteEnd papers! You don't see those anymore, except on really old books. I guess it got too expensive to include them.
ReplyDeleteI have a really old very large atlas currently in for repair, the stitching and glue has perished, it's about 47 years old and well used.
Beautiful endpapers. We have a bunch of Folio Society books in the conference room in our library. They're not in the catalog and no one reads them -- they're just there because they look nice.
ReplyDelete