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#21
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Building a library...
Bud Webster wrote: Okay, it seems to me that what you're looking for are nice copies of inexpensive reprint editions, right? Nothing fancy, just good, solidly-bound readable sets of what are considered the Best Books, plus whatever other books you know you already like. Look into the Harvard Classics, which are nicely bound and shouldn't be terribly expensive. I HOPE you are not advising anyone to get one of those skiver editions of Harvard Classics which are always kicking around. For reading copies, fine, but they look terrible on any real book collector's shelf. Look for Modern Library reprints,of which there are probably LOADS out there. Your suggestion is not really very helpful in a book collecting groiup. Sure, if you are talking about simply reading copies, and nothing, else, just about any Modern Library will do as far as trying to help edify the mind of a largely unread party. But regarding building a collection, the only Modern Libraries which count are those from the Sixties back, WITH DUST JACKETS. Sure, they are getting harder to find, but there enough of them still out there to give a serious collector a reasonable chance of getting quite a few of them, one here, one there, at a reasonably modest price. It is a matter of caring. It is a matter of passing up 10 or 15 old Modern Libraries whithout d.j.'s to find the one with a d. j. Individual authors, like Proust, and Shakespeare, and Faulkner and so on, frequently were reissued in matched sets. Check with local used book dealers around you, they're generally more than happy to sell off their sets in a chunk, and may very well be willing to look for other sets if they know you're willing to pay. It'll be time-consuming, and you'll have to make yourself reasonably aware of basic used-book lore (condition, value, that kind of thing), but what you're doing isn't insurmountable. It sounds like you are just throwing out suggestions for the OP's intellectual benefit. Again, this is a book collector's group, and someone reading your advice could wind up with a sorry accumulation of SKIVER (SPIT) Harvard Classics and Modern Libraries with no d. j.'s or with newer dull d. j.'s which don't stack up at all with those from the Forties and Fifties. Again, your advice would be laudable in a books group where the focus is on obtaining reading copies. But in a book collector's group, a newbie taking you seriously could end with a pretty shabby conglomeration of books. [From the upstairs office] |
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#22
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Building a library...
On 14 Apr 2006 19:17:16 -0700, wrote:
[a lot of crap snipped] Palmer - and I mean this from the very bottom of my heart - get knotted. |
#23
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Building a library...
On Sat, 15 Apr 2006 06:16:53 GMT, Bud Webster
wrote: On 14 Apr 2006 19:17:16 -0700, wrote: [a lot of crap snipped] Palmer - and I mean this from the very bottom of my heart - get knotted. Actually, I should be careful. Palmer might call me a "poltroon" again, and then whatever would I DO? |
#24
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Building a library...
wrote:
However, I was also raised to believe that Mont Blanc was the end-all-be-all in writing instruments, and I've since come to know that, at least for my tastes, I can get twice the writing instrument in, say, a Pelikan, at half the price. I'd like to correct, if and as necessary, my knowledge of the book world, along those same lines. I'd like to start building a personal library. I'd love to find books that are attractive to shelve and high quality, but still readable. I seek Quality, but Quality to use and enjoy, actively yet respectfully. Or are there other, "Pelikan"-esque publishers out there that I would be better off investigating? Many, many thanks! I hope this posts. The more I think about it, the more I think the "Folio Society" may be your Pelikan. My suggestion, go to e-bay; search "folio society"; find a book you like and buy it. Usually the cost will be quite modest. The problem will be shipping. Most of the books are in Great Britain and the postage will be high. I usually use surface mail if it's not a December holiday period. The usual surface mail estimates are long for "The Royal Mail". However, I have had HRH's mail beat UPS on orders placed the same day. Nice thing about e-bay is you can get a look at the book. Get a slipcased volume. The book shop in Corina is "The Book Shop" in Corina. http://www.the-book-shop.com/ I think I may have found a solution to your conundrum. Bicycle to the L.A. Times Festival of Books at the end of the month. April 29 and 30. http://www.latimes.com/extras/festivalofbooks/ They will be exhibiting there. Also "Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America" (herewith and forever known as "ABAA") has an exhibit. They hold themselves to be highly ethical, they also attempt to extract the most possible for a book. They will have a members list and I am sure there are members in your neighborhood. But beware, leave the "straw hat" and "wheat stalk" at home. They are carnivorous. When I have visited exhibits at shows, they usually troll with their best books. The brick and mortar stores often have a nice selection of reasonably priced volumes. When I was at "The Book Shop" physical store, they had a number of good sets at a reasonable price. The nice thing is you could get a look at sets that may interest you. The owner is a tad cranky, but what bookseller isn't. If you go to the Fair and he has time, you could ask him. You might call Dawson's. Their area of interest is not yours, but I have found them helpful. they may be able to put you on to a local bookstore. I regret my knowledge of L.A. bookstores is incomplete, my girlfriend and I gather cards from antiquarian book shows and visit them. They often have a decent and affordable store. "Barnaby Rudge" in Laguna Beach may be worth a call. I have found them friendly and they well may be of help. Their stock is eclectic. they go from Modern Library to fine bindings. They also sell books by the yard (usually nicely bound volumes of no literary interest, whatsoever and probably written in Old High German. Covina is just a convenient stopping place on the way to Redlands. A couple of exits later, you could jump out, shout the "Och Tamale" and be on your way. Whittier Thomas Jefferson Fortunately the antique pen folk don't troll this newsgroup. There are many who diss Quink. You may find a trip to the L.A. Pen Show in February rewarding. |
#25
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Building a library...
Bud Webster wrote: On 14 Apr 2006 19:17:16 -0700, wrote: [a lot of crap snipped] In other words, it is easier to arrogantly mischaracterize snip than to trouble yourself trying to mount a defense of your previously posted bale of horsefeathers. Bud, I expected better of you. Basically, my point stands. This was an instance of someone coming into a *book collecting group* asking for ideas, and you were tossing out suggestions which would have been far more appropriate for someone in a book newsgroup where the focus was on content rather than on book collecting. What the heck is wrong with trying to encourage newbies to take a little time and build a library which speaks well of them as a collector -- instead of inspiring them to rush out and get a shabby conglomeration of Harvard Classic skivers and old Modern Libraries without d.j.'s or with new, boring covers? Your comments remind me something I have often taken issue with in newsgroups. A continuing problem with newsgroups is that they tend to breed a cllique of self-syled "newsgroup owners" whose ideas, continually reinforced by think- alike pals, tend to become cast in concrete. Needless to say, rhoaw I refer to become furious when challenged. Sad. [from the upstairs office] Palmer - and I mean this from the very bottom of my heart - get knotted. |
#26
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Building a library...
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#27
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Building a library...
Bud Webster wrote: On 10 Apr 2006 23:26:54 -0700, wrote: Bud Webster wrote: Okay, it seems to me that what you're looking for are nice copies of It'll be time-consuming, and you'll have to make yourself reasonably aware of basic used-book lore (condition, value, that kind of thing), but what you're doing isn't insurmountable. Time to scout book stores is time I really don't have. (I could theoretically make time, but then I wouldn't have time to *read* said books...) I'm logging (hopefully!) partnership-track associate's hours, if that tells you anything. Oh, and, commuting by bicycle, lacking time to go to the gym. L.A. is a bit too spread out for what would otherwise surely be an enjoyable hunt. Well, there are options. You're in LA, there are plenty of used/rare book dealers who've been around for a long time and, therefore, are presumeably trustworthy. A few of them are. And a lot of them will fleece you down to your underwear in very short order. Furthermore, there aren't nearly as many used/rare book dealers in LA as there used to be. Many of them have gone out of business and very few new ones have opened. Spend some time on the phone - there's really no other way to do it - with a couple, tell them what you're looking for. Let them know that your time to search is limited, but that you have time to READ. Believe it or not, to many of us old-style bookmen, this will make a difference. You should be able to find at least one, if not several, dealers who will supply you not only with the books you want, but whom you can trust not to fob bad-condition or otherwise undesireable copies on you. Yes, there are some admirable types who will never let you walk out of their shop with a skiver unless they know that you know what you are buying. What I mean is this: There is nothing wrong with a dealer selling one of those new Harvard Classic reprints with the cheapie leather, in great condition for $4 or $5, and then telling the customer he is getting a nice reading copy or words to that effect. On the other hand, when the customer has made it clear that he wants to start collecting books, and the seller encourages him to buy something like that in order to make the sale, that is reprehensible. Of course, it is even more reprehensible 'if the dealer has jacked up the price of a skiver he should be selling for $4 or $5 up to thirty dollars. You can find that in LA too. [from the upstairs office] Other than that, there are thousands of potential sellers on-line, but it's almost always a crap-shoot. I personally think that under your circumstances, you're better off finding someone in the area with whom you can build an on-going working relationship. That is true. For instance, Angel City Books over in Venice is a good bet. They are a bit pricey for some people, but of course Venice is now very high rent. Anyway, they know their books and are honest with the customers. I understand your time constraints - fast-tracking at a law firm eats up 26 hours in the day - but a few hours spent here and there at the beginning will save you days, weeks down the line. Think of it as finding a "book broker." |
#30
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Building a library...
what is to stop you from being the sort of collector who actually
reads the books and absorbs the content as well as appreciating the manufacture? For one of the categories the OP mentioned, you don't get much choice if content matters. The Oxford UP edition of Shakespeare a few years ago is a long way ahead of all the earlier ones in its standard of scholarship, and there aren't many alternative physical realizations of it. For literary value, there's bugger-all point in owning any earlier one. ============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ============== Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760 http://www.purr.demon.co.uk/jack/ for CD-ROMs and free | fax 0870 0554 975 stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, & Mac logic fonts | mob 07800 739 557 |
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