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Show Us Your Oldest Books

GwenLake

One of the Regulars
Messages
250
Location
Józefów, Poland
Shorthand!

I know you all are dying to see my shorthand collection.:rolleyes:
Here is the first part: 1927-1936

GreggShorthandcollection-Oct07.jpg


The Gregg Writer--September '27-June '28, A Magazine for Secretaries, Stenographers, and Typists
Gregg Shorthand-- 1929, Textbook
Graded Readings in Gregg Shorthand--1930, Supplementary material
Word and Sentence Drills in Gregg Shorthand--1930, Supplementary material
Gregg Shorthand Dictionary--1930, Dictionary
The Gregg Writer--December '35-June '36, A Magazine for Secretaries, Stenographers, and Typists
American Readings in Gregg Shorthand-- No copyright, but after 1913 and before 1929, Box Set
Contents:

AmericanReadingsinGreggshorthandins.jpg


A Man Without a Country, The Great Stone Face, Creeds of Great Business Men, Legend of Sleepy Hollow
 

BeBopBaby

One Too Many
Messages
1,176
Location
The Rust Belt
MrNewportCustom said:
How many Richard S. Prather books do you have, BeBop? I'd love to have the one you have there, Way of the Wanton! I'm a Richard S. Prather fan, and the one you have there is one of the many in the funny and un-PC Shell Scott series that I haven't yet read.
[/IMG]

I've heard that The Blackboard Jungle is pretty racy! ;)

I think that is the only Richard S. Prather book that I have. Thanks for the interesting tidbit about him. That was always one of my favorite titles, "Way of the Wanton." I've never read the book though, it seems these books are getting increasingly more fragile so I tend not to read them so much anymore. If you would like the Richard S. Prather book, I'd be more than happy to mail it to you, just PM me your address. I'm sure I paid less than a dollar for it and it just sits on my shelf. I'd much rather it went to a good home.

I haven't read Blackboard Jungle either, but now my interest is piqued. I may have to read it now. lol
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
BeBopBaby said:
I think that is the only Richard S. Prather book that I have. Thanks for the interesting tidbit about him. That was always one of my favorite titles, "Way of the Wanton." I've never read the book though, it seems these books are getting increasingly more fragile so I tend not to read them so much anymore. If you would like the Richard S. Prather book, I'd be more than happy to mail it to you, just PM me your address. I'm sure I paid less than a dollar for it and it just sits on my shelf. I'd much rather it went to a good home.

I haven't read Blackboard Jungle either, but now my interest is piqued. I may have to read it now. lol


Thank you, BeBopBaby! I accept your offer. It's one I don't have and haven't yet read. :)

Interesting collection, GwenLake. My mother knows shorthand and still writes down the occasional note with it. :)


Lee
 

GwenLake

One of the Regulars
Messages
250
Location
Józefów, Poland
MrNewportCustom said:
Interesting collection, GwenLake. My mother knows shorthand and still writes down the occasional note with it. :)


Lee

That's really neat! Do you know when she learned it? Also, what type of shorthand? Was she a secretary?

Boy, I sound nosy! It's just that shorthand is my hobby, so I get excited when I hear about someone who writes it.
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
GwenLake said:
That's really neat! Do you know when she learned it? Also, what type of shorthand? Was she a secretary?

Boy, I sound nosy! It's just that shorthand is my hobby, so I get excited when I hear about someone who writes it.

She learned Gregg in 1952, and was a secretary at the atomic plant in Richland, Washington, in '54 (she interviewed visitors and employees, and wrote their passes to be on the premises), then at Gude's shoes in Los Angeles, totalling about eighteen months of being a secretary. Shortly after that, she met my father, married him, and has been a housewife since March of '55. :)

When I showed her your collection of books and magazines, she corrected my statement about using it to write the occasoinal note: she uses Gregg Shorthand REGULARLY! She writes LOTS of notes with it. :)


Lee
 

GwenLake

One of the Regulars
Messages
250
Location
Józefów, Poland
MrNewportCustom said:
She learned Gregg in 1952, and was a secretary at the atomic plant in Richland, Washington, in '54 (she interviewed visitors and employees, and wrote their passes to be on the premises), then at Gude's shoes in Los Angeles, totalling about eighteen months of being a secretary. Shortly after that, she met my father, married him, and has been a housewife since March of '55. :)

When I showed her your collection of books and magazines, she corrected my statement about using it to write the occasoinal note: she uses Gregg Shorthand REGULARLY! She writes LOTS of notes with it. :)


Lee
For only being a secretary eighteen months, she sure retained her shorthand! A lot of people forget it rather quickly. Since she learned it in '52, than she probably learned Simplified Gregg, which came out in '49.

Thanks for feeding my curiosity! Your mom sounds like a wonderful woman.
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
GwenLake said:
For only being a secretary eighteen months, she sure retained her shorthand! A lot of people forget it rather quickly. Since she learned it in '52, than she probably learned Simplified Gregg, which came out in '49.

Thanks for feeding my curiosity! Your mom sounds like a wonderful woman.

Once she learned it, she never stopped using it. I'll have to ask which version she learned. My mother is a wonderful woman. Starting December 30, 1955, when my older brother was born, she began raising her seven kids. She then cared for my father during his long illness (which started before I, the fifth kid, graduated high school in '81), until his death in September 2003. That's 47 years of non-stop caring. Now she's going stronger than ever and having fun doing every form of artwork she's always loved. And she still finds time to spend with her seven kids. :)


Lee
________________________

She's an amazing woman! :)
 

GwenLake

One of the Regulars
Messages
250
Location
Józefów, Poland
MrNewportCustom said:
Once she learned it, she never stopped using it. I'll have to ask which version she learned. My mother is a wonderful woman. Starting December 30, 1955, when my older brother was born, she began raising her seven kids. She then cared for my father during his long illness (which started before I, the fifth kid, graduated high school in '81), until his death in September 2003. That's 47 years of non-stop caring. Now she's going stronger than ever and having fun doing every form of artwork she's always loved. And she still finds time to spend with her seven kids. :)


Lee
________________________

She's an amazing woman! :)

Can she be my hero? :D
 

MrNewportCustom

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,265
Location
Outer Los Angeles
I'd forgotten about this book, even though it's one of my most recent acquisitions.

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dscn0982.jpg

Audels Carpenters and Builders Guide. Copyright 1923, 1939. Theo. Audel & Company. Reprinted 1949.


Lee
 

Jack Scorpion

One Too Many
Messages
1,097
Location
Hollywoodland
GwenLake said:
That's really neat! Do you know when she learned it? Also, what type of shorthand? Was she a secretary?

Boy, I sound nosy! It's just that shorthand is my hobby, so I get excited when I hear about someone who writes it.

My grandfather was an electrical engineer. He told me that one of the most important skills he learned in college (RPI in Troy, New York on the GI bill after WWII) was shorthand. I forget the number, but he said he had the most words per minute in his class.

I guess them engineers needed a lot of quick notes, too.
 

Feng_Li

A-List Customer
Messages
375
Location
Cayce, SC
My oldest book:

IMG_4042.jpg


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Printed 1855, volume three of a set of nine. Bulwer is famous for opening a novel with the line "It was a dark and stormy night."
 

Kevin Noel Olso

New in Town
Messages
40
Location
Butte, MT
Not my oldest for sure, but actually my 'newest'! I just bought this at a local antique store an hour or so ago:

joestrong.jpg


It looked interesting, and I vaguely remember thinking I might possibly have heard of this series of books. It's got a 1916 copyright, and just look at the cool cover!

Probably my oldest book is a copy of Goethe's Faust with a 1865 publication date I think, but I can't find it on the shelves right now. Another book in contention is an 1891 Zwicker's Practical Instructor For Engineers and Firemen. It was left me by a dear friend of mine. His wife passed it to me:

zwickers.jpg
 

Starius

Practically Family
Messages
698
Location
Neverwhere, Iowa
No one has posted anything here for a little while now so I will show a few more from my collection, as I had previously threatened to do.

book07ko6.jpg


This is "The Young Engineers on the Gulf" from the Young Engineers series, by H. Irving Hancock.
Published 1920, though a inscription inside indicates it was given to my father on Dec 18th 1957.


book08yz1.jpg


book09vo7.jpg


Here is one of my grandfather's college books.
"Railroad Curves & Earthwork, With Tables" By C. Frank Allen.
Seventh Edition, revised, published in 1931.


book10sg8.jpg


And here is one of my great-grandfather's college books.
"Principles Rules and Definitions for Bookkeeping" By Lloyd E. Goodyear.
Sixth Edition, published in 1918 in Cedar Rapids Iowa for the Cedar Rapids Business College.
(I love the little dash of Nouveau along the spine)
 

Vintage Betty

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,300
Location
California, USA
Some great books! Thanks for posting!

I've started a thread here of my books because it was taking me too long to find out what I had posted previously and I really confused myself.

I hope you enjoy it.

Vintage Betty
 

MKL

A-List Customer
Messages
316
Location
Kansas
Great thread folks.

The oldest book I have in my library is James Durham's "Law Unsealed" dated 1703. Another oldie is Ambrose's "Looking unto Jesus" dated 1776. The larger Greek Testament on the left is dated in the late 1700's. The small book in the picture is a complete Greek New Testament that is dated in the 1828. It is only 3-1/2 by 2 inches. I need a glass to read it.

booksLarge.jpg
 

hepkitten

One of the Regulars
Messages
153
Location
Portland, Oregon
Old books -- be still my heart. MKL, I'm in awe. Can you handle the 18th C books enough to read them, or are they under glass, or...?

The oldest book I have is Ben Hur, 1880.
BenHur.jpg


Then come the veterinary texts: Veterinary Materia Medica and Therapeutics (with entries on belladonna, caffeine, and cocaine!) 1901; Frohner's General Veterinary Surgery, 1905; and Veterinary Obstetrics, 1908.
Oldbooksveterinary.jpg


But my most-read and most beloved vintage book, though not antique, is this:
PostCat.jpg

My parents used this 1957 edition to plan their wedding, and from the time I was a kid, I loved to read it. The sense of the past appealed, even then...and as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate more and more Emily's gracious common sense. My mom left the book to me when she passed away. It's one of my treasures.
PostTea.jpg


Everyday Afternoon Tea, complete with silver...*sigh* Now that's civilization.
 

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