Minor Brag

Shelf Space wrote:

And those who try to enforce their arbitary
and totalitarian views on others...


The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm
tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be the shepherd.


--Jon Meyers

Memo to the Upstairs Office

Dear Palmer,

You seemed upset that fellow RCBers congratulated Francis A. Miniter on
his magnificient acquisition, while totally ignoring your alleged
attribution of cover art.

In your lofty perch above and beyond this book collecting world, your
inquiring mind wanted to know what significant information Francis A.
Miniter discovered about this book.

Francis A. Miniter considered it to be a minor brag that he acquired a
first edition of Arnold Zweig's "Erziehung vor Verdun" (Querido Verlag,
Amsterdam, 1935) in very good condition. He already had a copy of the
english language translation - "Education Before Verdun".

In actuality, I consider his acquisition of another copy of a Zweig book
to be a significant accomplishment!

Consider this:

Most collectors arrange their books by author in alphabetical order.
With shelf space being a premium, it often occurs that a book collector
runs out of room for books by authors whose names begin with the letter
"Z." I myself only had room on my bookshelves for one book by an
author whose name began with the letter "Z," and I had to shove that
book in to make it fit. In fact, it was by a different Zweig: Stefan
Zweig's "The Old-Book Peddler and Other Tales for Bibliophiles," but I
digress.

For Francis A. Minter to have room on his bookshelves for not one but
two Zweig books is a significant accomplishment in my book, and one that
is worthy of a major brag.

On the other hand, I am aware that no one has complimented you on your
discovery that Gra ham Ingels was the cover artist for the dust jacket
of your inexpensive Charles Dickens book; however, if you provide some
bibliographical evidence to support your finding, I will be the first
RCBer to congratulate you.

Cheers,
Jerry Morris

...This is a perfect example of what I
was talking about in a post last week.
Some regulars in this group are far too
comfortable with themselves. Okay, Mr. "Miniter Cheevy" you are
dangerously
close to becoming a "child of scorn"
and you are growing "lean" as in
"undernourished in the area
of ideation," not while you "assail the
seasons," but you assail other posters
who question some of your posted
poppycock..
(Apologies to E. A. Robinson)
What I mean to suggest with that little
sally against our Newsgroup Minitaur
is this: * He and too many others
wax smug regarding their "Minor Brags"
which are nothing more than small
boasts about getting a good buy
on books that have been very well
documentede and catalogued in
various venues. * Those minor
brags rarely if ever teach readers
anything they could not learn about
in Addall.com or elsewhere. So,
the real "news" is "Hey, I got this
book real cheap, and if you look it
up in Addall you can see that
people are trying to sell other
copies of it for a lot more than
The Great I paid for it."
Well, lah-dee-dah. Aren't
WE clever...
Last week I reported on my
find of a rare Charles Dickens edition
with a cover illustrated by an artist
who would later develop into one
of the most terrifying comic book
artists ever, somone almost certain
to give readers nightmares, not because
his work is fantastic, but, on the
contrary, it reflects a horrifying
reality of human society that many
would prefer stay hidden, and does
so with a sort of terrible grandeur
that only a few artists, such as
Dore and Harry Clarke, were able
to achieve. Of course, since Ingels'
geartest work involves comic book
stories rather than single book
illustrations, it is difficult to compare.

Now, feel free to challenge me on my
discovery.. * If anyone can find any
record (published prior to my posting,
of course) of anyone saying that
"Oliver Twist" cover for Books, Inc.,
was illustrated by the terrifying Mr.
Graham Ingels, please let me know.
But you are not going to be able to do
that, because I made a significant
discovery.
But do you fancy that our
Newsgroup Minitaur or anyone
else would compliment me on my
discovery? * Of course not. * If
THEY would have found that same
"Oliver Twist" (the one with the
predominently red d.j., and the
very rare red boards as opposed
to the more common edition
with the blue boards) and if
they would have picked it up for a
dollar or two, they would post it
as a minor brag. * But it is good
for the field of book collecting that I
had the good fortune to buy the book,
(for a rather paltry sum, I might add).. Had THEY happened to buy the
book at a thrift or wherever, do
you think they would have
discovered that the cover was
illustrated by the uncredited
artist Ingels in his pre-comic
book days? * HECK NO THEY
WOULDN"T. * THEY ARE TOO
GOSH DARN IGNORANT OF
BOOKS TO NOTICE ANYTHING
THAT HAS NOT ALREADY
BEEN DESCRIBED IN ADDALL..
They would rush home with that
rare Dickens and they would
look it up on Addall to check the
value, but none of the listings
in Addall would mention the
cover artist, of course, since
none of the dealers who are
selling the book had made the
discovery that Ingels had done
the cover. * But you just watch --
before long someone will start
listing that book as having
"the rare Graham Ingels
d.j. illustration."....(End of rant.)

Today I acquired very inexpensively a first edition of Arnold Zweig,
"Erziehung vor Verdun" (Querido Verlag, Amsterdam, 1935) in very good
condition. I already have the english language translation - "Education
Before Verdun".

Fine. * And what significant information which you can't find in many
other
book collectding and/or bookselling
venues did you yourself discover about
the book? Inquiring minds would like
to know...
[Memo from the upstairs office]

Moi's Books About Books: http://www.tinyurl.com/hib7
Moi's LIbrary http://www.moislibrary.com My Sentimental Library
http://www.picturetrail.com/mylibrary Florida Bibliophile Society
http://www.floridabibliophilesociety.org

RPN wrote:
Shelf Space wrote:
I agree with you. I find smug brags about very run-of-the-mill finds
infinitely more nauseating than links to genuinely interesting book
sales or auctions.

Provided that a post is interesting or entertaining and of a vaguely
on-topic nature, then I suggest allowing discussion groups to regulate
themselves. Rec.collecting.books spends two thirds of its time
bickering about what rules are required to control the tiny amount of
spam that gets posted here. And those who try to enforce their arbitary
and totalitarian views on others bear more than a fleeting resemblance
to Air Raid Warden Hodges from 'Dad's Army'.

It beggars belief that adults with a supposed interest in such an
erudite subject can so brazenly repeat the folly of our politicians.

SS


Palmer and Barker--twins separated at birth?

By the way, CB, what happened to posting fearlessly over your real
name?


RPN

Ooh, I have a new stalker!

Join the queue, "RPN". Please don't be offended if I ignore you.

Shelf Space wrote:
RPN wrote:

Palmer and Barker--twins separated at birth?

By the way, CB, what happened to posting fearlessly over your real
name?


RPN

Ooh, I have a new stalker!

Join the queue, "RPN". Please don't be offended if I ignore you.


As near as I can tell:

My first post to this group--May 17, 2002
Your first post to this group--May 30, 2002

Who's stalking whom?

RPN

Jerry Morris wrote:

Consider this:

Most collectors arrange their books by author in alphabetical order.
With shelf space being a premium, it often occurs that a book collector
runs out of room for books by authors whose names begin with the letter
"Z." I myself only had room on my bookshelves for one book by an
author whose name began with the letter "Z," and I had to shove that
book in to make it fit. In fact, it was by a different Zweig: Stefan
Zweig's "The Old-Book Peddler and Other Tales for Bibliophiles," but I
digress.

For Francis A. Minter to have room on his bookshelves for not one but
two Zweig books is a significant accomplishment in my book, and one that
is worthy of a major brag.


I'm afraid I must take issue with my learned colleague's rash assertion
that the end of the author-alphabet is the area most likely to suffer
from a shortage of space. This sort of overcrowding, should it occur,
is easily alleviated by the simple addition of another bookcase. I
myself would welcome new Z acquisitions--or, for that matter, W, X, and
Y acquisitions, as well.

I dread, however, adding anything by an author from the *middle* of the
alphabet. In particular, the zone extending from H through P is
constantly threatening to overflow the available space, and only
constant culling and shifting keeps this area from becoming entirely
unmanageable.

In light of this, I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has
mastered the technique of warping, folding, or accessing further
dimensions of the space-time continuum in order to open further
possibilities for book storage in areas where conventional space is no
longer available. Also, I would need to know what conservation issues
arise in the 5th dimension and beyond. For instance, will I need to
switch to dustjacket-protectors with a thicker grade of Mylar?


--Jon Meyers

RPN wrote:
Shelf Space wrote:
RPN wrote:

Palmer and Barker--twins separated at birth?

By the way, CB, what happened to posting fearlessly over your real
name?


RPN

Ooh, I have a new stalker!

Join the queue, "RPN". Please don't be offended if I ignore you.


As near as I can tell:

My first post to this group--May 17, 2002
Your first post to this group--May 30, 2002

Who's stalking whom?

RPN

You are stalking me now, RPN. It's not rocket science.

"Jerry Morris" wrote in message
...


I myself only had room on my bookshelves for one book by an
author whose name began with the letter "Z," and I had to shove that
book in to make it fit. In fact, it was by a different Zweig: Stefan
Zweig's "The Old-Book Peddler and Other Tales for Bibliophiles"

If you can only have one Z, you should have this one:

"However this may be, it is likely from evidence that, somewhere in the
legendary past of louse history, an offspring of a free-living form not
unlike our book louse found that life could be infinitely simplified if,
instead of having to grub for food in straw, under tree barks, in moss or
lichen, in decaying cereals and vegetables, it could attach itself to some
food-supplying host, and sit tight. It is one of the few instances in which
nature seems extremely logical in its processes. The louse sacrifices a
liberty that signifies chiefly the necessity for hard work, the uncertainty
of food and shelter, and exposure to dangers from birds, lizards, and frogs;
loses the fun of having wings, perhaps; but achieves, instead, a secure and
effortless existence on a living island of plenty. In a manner, therefore,
by adapting itself to parasitism, the louse has attained the ideal of
bourgeois civilization, though its methods are more direct than those of
business or banking, and its source of nourishment is not its own species."

Hans Zinsser, Rats, Lice & History