# Old books



## Earl of Ormonde

Today in a secondhand shop for just 5 krona (about 30p) I bought "Heraldry in England" by Anthony Wagner (Richmond Herald) 1946. Mine is the 1953 reprint - a King Penguin Book. In lovely condition with 15 full colour plates. A5 in size, 35 pages of text. A charming little book. 30p for this gem, I was well pleased! 

The King Penguin Books had wonderful covers, many looking like designs from William Morris.

Seen here sixth row,second from left (I also have some of the others in that series of books): https://www.stellabooks.com/informationsource/king_penguin.php

Have you picked up any charming old books recently? 
One fun condition - only books from before you were born.


----------



## WouldaShoulda

When my FIL passed his books fell to our possesion.

Among them are Arundel and several other Kenneth Roberts titles.

He was a distant cousin and signed them to him.

I won't have to buy any old books for a long time now!!


----------



## Phenom

I have that book in my heraldry collection.

One of my other hobbies is learning the history of and recreating digital 3D models of historic, usually ancient, architecture. Ravenna, Italy being one of my favorite sources. I have a lot of old books. Not my oldest or rarest, but a pleasant surprise... *Brickwork in Italy* 1925. I wasn't expecting much when I ordered it for a couple of dollars. The information, plates and line drawings are very good. Many which I had never seen before and the color plates are fantastic.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde

Phenom said:


> I have that book in my heraldry collection.
> 
> One of my other hobbies is learning the history of and recreating digital 3D models of historic, usually ancient, architecture. Ravenna, Italy being one of my favorite sources. I have a lot of old books. Not my oldest or rarest, but a pleasant surprise... *Brickwork in Italy* 1925. I wasn't expecting much when I ordered it for a couple of dollars. The information, plates and line drawings are very good. Many which I had never seen before and the color plates are fantastic.


That Brickwork in Italy book sounds dleightful, just the kind of odd little book I like.
By the way what other old or unusual books have you got in your heraldry collection.
I have a few nice old ones on heraldry and related subjects, for example, about Scottish clans and tartans and about medals.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde

WouldaShoulda said:


> When my FIL passed his books fell to our possesion.
> 
> Among them are Arundel and several other Kenneth Roberts titles.
> 
> He was a distant cousin and signed them to him.
> 
> I won't have to buy any old books for a long time now!!


Lucky you, enjoy! 
First of all I read FIL as FILS and thought sadly that you'd lost a son. Then thought, "I can't be, why would he be writing in French, this must mean something else....brain working, brain working...ah ha father-in-law"


----------



## VictorRomeo

My family has a fantastic library books - of which I inherited. Both my Father and my Grandfather were avid collectors. Most are now in 'protected' storage as I don't have the room for them but I've a decent library built in my study.

The oldest book I have is "A voyage round the world in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5" by George Forster. I have a first print from 1777. It's not quite mint, but it's very,very good with original bindings. It's quite valuable! It's not for sale!


----------



## Phenom

I have a few old heraldry books, as in the printing of the copy I have was 1930 of earlier. This is the only one I can find:

*The Romance of Heraldry* ~ C.W. Scott-Giles 1929

I have many which are hardcover reprints of old books. Such as the two large Fox-Davies tomes on heraldry from the early 1900's and a very nice modern reprint of Foster's Feudal Arms from the late 1800's. The other half are more recent books, 1960's to present. About 25 books in all and though I am not actively looking for them there are a few that I have my eye out for when I browse eBay and online bookstores.


----------



## Sarge6

Big Chicago history buff since I live here, especially the city's gaslight period (think Devil in the White City). Have haunted the hell out of every used/rare/antiquarian book shop I know of. More than a few nice little late 19th Century sensationalist "true crime" books. My personal prizes are:

1) THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY, or The Assassination of Dr. Patrick Henry Cronin, by Henry M. Hunt (1889)
2) HANDS UP! IN THE WORLD OF CRIME, or 12 Years a Detective, by Clifton R. Wooldredge (1901)
3) COME INTO MY PARLOR: A BIOGRAPHY OF THE ARISTOCRATIC EVERLEIGH SISTERS OF CHICAGO, by Charles Washburn (1934)

Any other historically-minded Chicagoans (or others interested in taking off from DITWC) should look for a book by Herbert Asbury variously titled "The Gangs of Chicago" or "Gem of the Prairie" that's likely at any Borders or Barnes & Noble. That was the book that spurred me into this niche antiquarian hobby.


----------



## harvey_birdman

Pics in this thread would be most appreciated.


----------



## Earl of Ormonde

The Wonder Book of Motors - top left picture on this page, with the red racing car being driven. https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/carbooks4.htm

I picked this up for a pittance a few years ago in Sweden, I think about £3. Hardback, about an inch thick, thick cardboard covers, early 1950s. Lots of black and white photos of everything from family cars of the day to racing cars buses and
lorries. And a very interesting article on the Big Five of the British car industry of the day. Anyone want to hazard a guess as to the Big Five of the 50s in the UK? (As hard as it might be to believe now, the UK was the largest exporter of cars in the world in the 50s)
The great thing for me is that these old books which command good prices in the UK get sold for next to nothing in Sweden because they're in English so not as sought after..except by me of course


----------



## allan

*Commentaire Historique*

The oldest book I have is:

Commentaire Historique sur les Ouvres de l'Auteur de la Henriade
MDCCLXXVI

My cursory research indicates that the book is believed to be by Voltaire himself (commenting on his own works?). Sadly, I don't know enough French to be able to read it.

This copy is not in great shape, and I'm sure it's from just one of many small editions of the time. I don't think it's enormously valuable, but it's probably worth more than the fifty cents I paid for it at the local thrift shop.


----------



## Good Old Sledge

I have a small sportsman's library with about half-a-dozen foxhunting books dating to the 1700s, most of the 1930's Derrydales and many thoroughbred studbooks that go back to the early 1800s. 
George Washington was a keen foxhunter an kept diaries and notes on the subject - i hope those will be my next acquisition!


----------



## Earl of Ormonde

Good Old Sledge said:


> I have a small sportsman's library with about half-a-dozen foxhunting books dating to the 1700s, most of the 1930's Derrydales and many thoroughbred studbooks that go back to the early 1800s.
> George Washington was a keen foxhunter an kept diaries and notes on the subject - i hope those will be my next acquisition!


Sounds like a very nice collection. Any old cricket books?


----------



## Good Old Sledge

Alas Sir, no. No cricket books. Not many of those turn up in the States - and frankly I wouldn't know what I was looking at if I found one. 
I do have a couple of old books on rugby, however.
And far too many on fly fishing.


----------



## Sophia123

Grate posting. I too love to read old book whenever I am free. My children are also reading the old story book.


----------



## turban1

my favourite? a small 1626 prayer book with silver corners and clasps with the Stuart family heart motif, bound in original green velvet and Jacobean musical notation (like tablature) for the hymns.

most recent find? an enormous full copy of Rumi's Masnawi translated by Nicholson but with the flowerier passages edited down by a Turkish scholar to make them clearer.


----------



## amar ezzahi

I started a old books collection in international law. Thus, I bought some treasures I found on ebay like Grotius complete works, first edition, or others classics in international law such as Vattel or Puffendorf.


----------



## Cynthia Spencer

Nice posting. i too love to read old books.


----------



## ninjashoes

I have a super old book about UFO's a friend found for me. Its really something else. Its too bad with all the e-books and ipads people are going to lose the feeling of holding a good book.


----------



## valeria

The age of the book is rather in the writing than in the book itself as for me...
I am joyfully discovering again the unforgetable novels and short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, The conversation of Eros and Charmion, The masque of the red death, the oval portrait... deliciously shivering with pleasure and fear


----------



## bernoulli

I am a rare books collector. My first book collection was Edgar Allan Poe's first editions. My current and future collection is geared towards science from the XVI to XVIII centuries, with a focus on academic journals, Newton and Euler (and Bernoulli, hence my moniker). My oldest book is an Archimedes from 1545, and below are some pics (books are protected from bugs, humidity etc).



















These two books cases give an overview of the collection (the rare books collection takes 6 of these cabinets, but I have books and comics all over my apartment). First cabinet is science (first row is Acta Eruditorum, second is Euler, third is Science miscellanea from XVII to XVIII centuries etc). Second cabinet has the Newton collection (first row) followed by Edgar Poe (second and third rows) with more science in the fourth row. Edgar Poe published mostly in magazines, hence a collection of magazines like Southern Literary Messenger, Graham's Magazine, Godey's etc.










Focus on Newton










Euler










Poe (including his Action Figure to "watch" his publications)


----------



## Anthony Charton

This is a fantastic collection. I congratulate you on taking such pains to preserve them. 

I'm not a collector as such but I have a great esthetic preference for what one calls 'old' books. The page feels richer, so does the ink, and a good binding shows how much care has been brought into the making of one volume.

Most of what I own I inherited from grandparents and other family members; I have among other things a set of pre-WWII, marbled collected works of Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Heine (my favourite German poet) and a few others (in German, most of them in Gothic graphy), a marvellous 1859 3-volume edition of Shakespeare's works, all passed on to me by my elders, although Britain is a splendid place for finding rarities at reasonable expenses, whilst Strasbourg, my hometown, swarms with ancient music treatises. I do collect one thing besides German and English poetry: Italian, French, German, Old English and English grammars, readers, and dictionaries. (My modest collection is far from approaching the abundance of bernoulli's but I'll try and take a few pictures soon.)


----------



## Shaver

Crikey, I adore old books. Old publications of any kind actually (I have a mint copy of the Dandy from 1938, a Times from 1887 and a tatty Daily Mirror with the headline 'Germany Invades Poland' for example). My latest acquistion, a lovely gift, being Life and Writings of Voltaire by Espinasse. No publishing information contained within the binding but circa 1892

I disdain kindle et al.


----------



## Miket61

My most recent purchase is, I believe, the oldest book I have. It's the second edition of "A Memoir of Jane Austen" by J.E. Austen-Leigh, her nephew, from 1871.

The second edition is notable because it is the first appearance of several previously unpublished Austen manuscripts, including "Lady Susan," "The Watsons," an unused chapter of "Persuasion," and bits of her last unfinished novel, usually known as "Sanditon."


----------



## bernoulli

Thank you for the kind words. I do have to say that the collection is evolving and I picked some nice books since last I took the pics of my book collection. I do enjoy using my meager earnings towards old dusty paper. As for your personal history, I do envy having Strasbourg as one's hometown, it is a splendid city.

The only dictionary I have is an old Latin-Portuguese from the XIXth century that I got for pennies and I think that is how much is worth. It is fun to dabble in learning some words in Latin every now and then though.



Anthony Charton said:


> This is a fantastic collection. I congratulate you on taking such pains to preserve them.
> 
> I'm not a collector as such but I have a great esthetic preference for what one calls 'old' books. The page feels richer, so does the ink, and a good binding shows how much care has been brought into the making of one volume.
> 
> Most of what I own I inherited from grandparents and other family members; I have among other things a set of pre-WWII, marbled collected works of Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Heine (my favourite German poet) and a few others (in German, most of them in Gothic graphy), a marvellous 1859 3-volume edition of Shakespeare's works, all passed on to me by my elders, although Britain is a splendid place for finding rarities at reasonable expenses, whilst Strasbourg, my hometown, swarms with ancient music treatises. I do collect one thing besides German and English poetry: Italian, French, German, Old English and English grammars, readers, and dictionaries. (My modest collection is far from approaching the abundance of bernoulli's but I'll try and take a few pictures soon.)


----------



## drlivingston

I have a first edition of Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs dated 1914. I am told it is somewhat valuable as it is in great condition. It, other than a first edition of the AA Big Book are the only books of monetary value that I own.


----------



## bernoulli

Still waiting for those pictures! I am always interesting in seeing book collections, even though I think you are being far too modest, as beautiful books are eternal and from what you described you have some nice ones. I rearranged my collection and will try to post some pics, with the recent additions included.



Anthony Charton said:


> This is a fantastic collection. I congratulate you on taking such pains to preserve them.
> 
> I'm not a collector as such but I have a great esthetic preference for what one calls 'old' books. The page feels richer, so does the ink, and a good binding shows how much care has been brought into the making of one volume.
> 
> Most of what I own I inherited from grandparents and other family members; I have among other things a set of pre-WWII, marbled collected works of Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Heine (my favourite German poet) and a few others (in German, most of them in Gothic graphy), a marvellous 1859 3-volume edition of Shakespeare's works, all passed on to me by my elders, although Britain is a splendid place for finding rarities at reasonable expenses, whilst Strasbourg, my hometown, swarms with ancient music treatises. I do collect one thing besides German and English poetry: Italian, French, German, Old English and English grammars, readers, and dictionaries. (My modest collection is far from approaching the abundance of bernoulli's but I'll try and take a few pictures soon.)


----------



## bernoulli

a new overview of the collection:

Mostly Isaac Newton's works (and one more is coming!):



Leonhard Euler



Miscellanous math and other sciences. Of interest, a lot of Clavius and the mispelling of Rafael Bombelli's name. Also, first one on the left is a Hooke, very nice book published posthumously.



First row. Acta Eruditorum, including the first calculus paper by Leibniz

Second Row. More Acta. Other scientific journals (French Academy, Royal Society etc). On the row below, barely visible, Boyle complete works, some interesting astronomy, including Huygens and the Ephemerides by Magini.

Last row, not shown, more scientific journals.



Part of the other. Last row is mostly Folio books that have to be presented horizontally, but also not on the photo.


----------



## racebannon

Wow, what a collection!


----------

