Show Us Your Oldest Books

[Lauren]

I have a set of these in the original box- with no lid. Some of my prized possesions!

My oldest book is from the later 1600s and is French by a woman poet, I believe. I found it in an antique store for about $10. I don't think they knew what it was!

My most prized books are my bound issues of Petersons and Godeys, and Ladys Magazine from 1800 to the early 1880s, first editions of Anne's House of Dreams and Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery, C.D. Gibson's The Weaker Sex, and Harrison Fisher's Bachelor Belles. I've got a few oddities, too- like Female Lives among the Mormons which was a fake exposee of Mormonism from the 1850's, I believe, and Letters to Young Ladies about etiquette and other social graces from the 1840s. I love old books. I'll try to take some pics soon.

This is definitely one of the most droolworthy threads on the Lounge!

 

[Girl Friday]

I've been meaning to post this for a while, these do not belong to me but a friend of a friend who was born in Austria, when her mother passed away she saved these from the trash bin.

 

[imoldfashioned]

My most prized books are my bound issues of Petersons and Godeys, and Ladys Magazine from 1800 to the early 1880s...

You're so lucky Lauren! So many of them have been broken up for the prints, it's a pity. When those come up on ebay I have to physcially restrain myself from bidding ridiculous amounts. I've got the Dover reprints to keep me occupied until I win the lottery though.

 

[imoldfashioned]

sure! i haven't really heard of the artist you were referring to, maybe you could post some scans?
orrr...i guess i could just GOOGLE him. duh.

I'm planning to take pictures of some of my postcards for another thread so I'll try to include some of my Russian ones. They're surprisingly affordable and the quality of the graphics can be spectacular.

 

[zaika]

I'm planning to take pictures of some of my postcards for another thread so I'll try to include some of my Russian ones. They're surprisingly affordable and the quality of the graphics can be spectacular.

sweet! which thread?

 

[Lauren]

You're so lucky Lauren! So many of them have been broken up for the prints, it's a pity. When those come up on ebay I have to physcially restrain myself from bidding ridiculous amounts. I've got the Dover reprints to keep me occupied until I win the lottery though.

Thanks! I actually came across them rather reasonably- most of them I got at least four years ago and by searching for things listed wrong on ebay- other than a FABULOUS estate sale I went to where the woman was a real antique dealer with early American furniture and vintage textiles- and it was in a Victorian farm house! The stuff dreams are made of! But she had scores of bound issues of Peterson's, Godey's, and Lady's Book (before it was Godeys) for only $25 each. At the time I could only afford three copies, but they are well cherished and from 1822, mid 1830's, and early 1880's (natural form).

But those Dover books are WONDERFUL! And you can study them like mad and not worry about the old paper!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

After a lot of thinking (aproximately thirteen seconds), I decided I could highjack my own thread for a moment and show a bookmark.

Lee

Cool!

I've found all kinds of things being used as bookmarks in my old books like ribbon, torn newspaper, folded notes and also I've found many dried flowers.

(Is anyone else paranoid about some kind of latent vintage virus spore being in the pages? No? Oh. Well I'm weird like that!)

 

[PrettySquareGal]

I have a set of these in the original box- with no lid. Some of my prized possesions!

My oldest book is from the later 1600s and is French by a woman poet, I believe. I found it in an antique store for about $10. I don't think they knew what it was!

My most prized books are my bound issues of Petersons and Godeys, and Ladys Magazine from 1800 to the early 1880s, first editions of Anne's House of Dreams and Kilmeny of the Orchard by L.M. Montgomery, C.D. Gibson's The Weaker Sex, and Harrison Fisher's Bachelor Belles. I've got a few oddities, too- like Female Lives among the Mormons which was a fake exposee of Mormonism from the 1850's, I believe, and Letters to Young Ladies about etiquette and other social graces from the 1840s. I love old books. I'll try to take some pics soon.

This is definitely one of the most droolworthy threads on the Lounge!

I have one copy of Godey's- it's complete. Besides admiring the fashion plates I love to read the fiction and poems.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

A few of mine...

All these came from my Dad's collection over the years; none the worse for wear!

Original copy of Orwell's 'Animal Farm', first printing 1946

Norman Vincent Peale's 'Power of Positive Thinking', twelfth printing March 1954 (the year I was born!)

-dixon cannon

 

[Dixon Cannon]

A couple more...

Practical Algebra - first year course, 1910

Camera Studies of Wild Birds, 1911

Oddly enough, this one was released with the photograph on the left out of register!

 

[Dixon Cannon]

...and a couple more!

Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Kidnapped', 1948

Dr. Kurt Krueger's 'I Was Hitler's Doctor', 1943
(with a forward by Upton Sinclair)

 

[BeBopBaby]

I have a weakness for the pulps.

A shot of my bookshelf:

A shot of some of the more interesting covers and authors:

You can see 2 Earl Stanley Gardners, 1 Rex Stout and a Mickey Spillane. I have some more Spillane's but this one has the best cover by far.

The titles crack me up. They're so torrid in that over-the-top Douglas Sirk kind of way. Those pulp writers sure knew how to turn a phrase!

 

[BeBopBaby]

I tend to save a lot of women's books on sewing and knitting. the oldest in this collection is the green book. It is from the 1920s and has lovely little deco illustrations inside of it.

Some of my knitting books:

Do magazines count? Here are some fun ones:

I wish I could show you some of the picstures in the Beauty Parade magazine. It's filled with cheesecake and baggy pants comedian photos, but all of the ladies are in their under nothings. The Beauty Parade has great ads in it too, Fredericks of Hollywood lingerie ads and these ads:

Battling Pin-Ups!

Good ol' Charles Atlas!

 

[imoldfashioned]

All these came from my Dad's collection over the years; none the worse for wear!

Original copy of Orwell's 'Animal Farm', first printing 1946

Norman Vincent Peale's 'Power of Positive Thinking', twelfth printing March 1954 (the year I was born!)

-dixon cannon

Wow! A first edition of Animal Farm--that's impressive! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Lady Day]

My oldest and rarest are my Loomis books:

First Edition 1951 The dust jackes is in amazing condition! Picked this one up at a vintage book closing sale. I always ask if they have Loomis books in their 'glass case'. Most used book stores do.

First edition 1956. This one I got with the others at a store as well. The guy wanted $300 each, but I talke him down to $300 for both plus a couple of other books. I was with a friend and he was amazed I got them for that price. tee hee

No dust jacket, seventh edition, 1966

Figure Drawing For all its Worth, his most sought after book. This one, a friend got at an estate sale for $5. She sold it to me for a slightly inflated price. 9th edition, 1945.

LD

 

[SamMarlowPI]

Just found this one:

 

[MrNewportCustom]

A shot of some of the more interesting covers and authors:

The titles crack me up. They're so torrid in that over-the-top Douglas Sirk kind of way. Those pulp writers sure knew how to turn a phrase!

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.

The first book of his I read was the last one in the Shell Scott series, Shellshock, written in 1987. I found Prather's website and ordered the book from there. He offered to autograph it with a message of my choice. I just asked him a couple questions and told him my birthday was coming soon (July 22). I forget what I'd told him my mother had said. :eusa_doh:

Lee
____________________________

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

 

[Diamondback]

Lee, next time you post something so personal, you might wanna use PhotoShop or Windows Paint to obliterate your surname in the scan. Just a suggestion, and I know I'm paranoid, but you'd be surprised what you can learn about somebody using just their name and the Net...

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Lee, next time you post something so personal, you might wanna use PhotoShop or Windows Paint to obliterate your surname in the scan. Just a suggestion, and I know I'm paranoid, but you'd be surprised what you can learn about somebody using just their name and the Net...

Thank you for taking the fun out of not caring, because I haven't anything worth stealing, DB. lol


Lee

 

[Diamondback]

I did say I was paranoid, right?lol