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Helena
10-27-2019, 10:42 AM
My daughter picks out the neatest old books for her ever-growing collection. This one has a copyright of 1914 and is great to pick up for a few minutes and learn about certain subjects, such as the Story in a Coil of Rope and the exact size of a moving picture film. Or how the wireless reaches ships at sea, world's bread loaves and blowing out mud and rock with compressed air.
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This one has the earliest copyright of 1911, but the edition we have is an updated one from the 1930's. It's a pretty hefty book, with large pages full of print, illustrations and photos and every subject is covered starting from Kindergarten and moving through everything. EVERYTHING. It's so neat! Interesting what kindergartners were expected to do ( building their own playsets, little fences and things, vs now when Public school teachers get upset if parents have already taught them how to read.
There's a particular picture in one section showing a school in Wyoming for Shoshone Women, teaching them canning and preserving. I really like that one for reasons of my own. Anyway, here's a few pics of this book:

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Helena
10-27-2019, 10:43 AM
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Cotton1
10-27-2019, 10:53 AM
Very interesting , thanks for the share

Standing Wolf
10-27-2019, 11:57 AM
Those types of books used to be very popular, as did later compilations of facts like 'The Book of Lists' and its sequels, the 'Foxfire' series, the 'Guinness Book of World Records', etc., but with the advent of the Internet the appeal of books like that, and of reference books in general, has almost disappeared.

I'm curious as to where your daughter is finding those books. I, myself, check the book sections of several local thrift shops, mostly Goodwill and St. Joseph de Paul, several times a week and have found some amazing items. I once found a copy of the once-popular Goodspeed New Testament from the '30s, signed by Edgar J. Goodspeed, the translator, for a few dollars. Every once in a while it will be obvious that someone's entire collection on some subject has been donated at the same time. A few months ago, one of the stores that I frequent near my work suddenly had a couple of dozen volumes - all hardcovers in mint or near-mint condition - on the American Civil War, mostly on the Confederate side, and a bit later nearly a dozen books on pirates. You do have to search through a lot of trash to get to the treasures, but it's worth it when you find one.

Helena
10-27-2019, 12:16 PM
Those types of books used to be very popular, as did later compilations of facts like 'The Book of Lists' and its sequels, the 'Foxfire' series, the 'Guinness Book of World Records', etc., but with the advent of the Internet the appeal of books like that, and of reference books in general, has almost disappeared.

I'm curious as to where your daughter is finding those books. I, myself, check the book sections of several local thrift shops, mostly Goodwill and St. Joseph de Paul, several times a week and have found some amazing items. I once found a copy of the once-popular Goodspeed New Testament from the '30s, signed by Edgar J. Goodspeed, the translator, for a few dollars. Every once in a while it will be obvious that someone's entire collection on some subject has been donated at the same time. A few months ago, one of the stores that I frequent near my work suddenly had a couple of dozen volumes - all hardcovers in mint or near-mint condition - on the American Civil War, mostly on the Confederate side, and a bit later nearly a dozen books on pirates. You do have to search through a lot of trash to get to the treasures, but it's worth it when you find one.

We frequent a lot of vintage book stores, second hand stores, antique malls and junk stores. For some reason, my daughter is drawn to collecting these. She's not even looking for anything valuable, save for the information and delight she gets from reading them.

Just AnotherPerson
10-28-2019, 02:06 AM
I found something you might like. There is art hidden in some old books.


https://youtu.be/o9hcMbNKtuE

Cotton1
10-28-2019, 02:17 PM
I love the way old books smell. I got my love of reading from my grandma and my dad.
https://youtu.be/olLi1guxvkI

Helena
10-28-2019, 02:52 PM
I love the way old books smell. I got my love of reading from my grandma and my dad.
https://youtu.be/olLi1guxvkI

Mmm, smell those VOCs!

Standing Wolf
11-06-2019, 08:02 AM
We were discussing thrift shop finds earlier - which itself might be an interesting thread topic - so I thought I'd post this here.

I stopped at a Goodwill on my way home last night, mainly to look for good books, and there were a number of older framed lobby cards and photos from films, none of which appeared to be of much significance, but then I spotted this small poster.

https://cdn.cinematerial.com/p/297x/9rvxjov8/un-chien-andalou-french-re-release-movie-poster-md.jpg?v=1456334024

It is professionally matted and framed and in excellent condition. Some subtle signs of age - not really old, but obviously not a modern reproduction, either.

The film, Un Chien Andalou ('An Andalusian Dog'), directed in 1929 by Luis Bunuel and co-written by Bunuel and Salvador Dali, did not get its release in France until 1968, which is when this poster dates from. Only 17 minutes long, it is generally considered to be one of the most influential and famous short or silent films ever produced, and the first surrealist film made. These original release posters sell for between $350 and $500. (It was marked $9.99, but Tuesdays are senior discount day, so I paid $7.49 for it.)

Collateral Damage
11-06-2019, 08:11 AM
Those types of books used to be very popular, as did later compilations of facts like 'The Book of Lists' and its sequels, the 'Foxfire' series, the 'Guinness Book of World Records', etc., but with the advent of the Internet the appeal of books like that, and of reference books in general, has almost disappeared.
I'm curious as to where your daughter is finding those books. I, myself, check the book sections of several local thrift shops, mostly Goodwill and St. Joseph de Paul, several times a week and have found some amazing items. I once found a copy of the once-popular Goodspeed New Testament from the '30s, signed by Edgar J. Goodspeed, the translator, for a few dollars. Every once in a while it will be obvious that someone's entire collection on some subject has been donated at the same time. A few months ago, one of the stores that I frequent near my work suddenly had a couple of dozen volumes - all hardcovers in mint or near-mint condition - on the American Civil War, mostly on the Confederate side, and a bit later nearly a dozen books on pirates. You do have to search through a lot of trash to get to the treasures, but it's worth it when you find one.
I had forgotten about the Foxfire books. I had bought several for my brother at one point in time, and of course, had to read them before I gave them to him.

We have something called McKays books http://www.mckaybooks.com/ that is an all day adventure perusing the stacks. You would be surprised the number of people, myself included, that still like the feel of a book in their hands. We also have a used book seller at a local flea market, buy sell trade, I've stumbled across a number of classics, but nothing of any great value monetarily.

Cotton1
11-08-2019, 06:33 PM
Un Chien..
1:15 mark. The gentle symphony and playful minds of young love. Presented in the key of b flat on the keyboards. Visuals provided by yet another couple of two leggers operating the motions of a four legger.
My interpretation of that scene is that the dead 4 legger draped over the piano that is holding back the male is a depiction of his animal instincts being held in check by a 4 legger draped over one of the few things considered by some to be as pleasing to the senses as grand as love, the Grand Piano. Thanks Dali.....allow me this, Mr Wolf. I would love to add my vision to this.. ..A Surreallistic piece of music wtitten and performed by my very own Amadeus alter ego. ~
At this time Amadeus sits in front of his own piano and we begin to hear what dali saw in "the scream"..
At conclusion the fantasy type scene pulls away to capture the gentle applause of a stunned audience of lifes art forms in perfect fusion. The audience of only me is brought to tears as I realize the loneliness of mental illness as depicted in " the scream" can only be matched by the lonelines love can provide..

Cotton1
11-09-2019, 02:03 AM
Un Chien..
1:15 mark. The gentle symphony and playful minds of young love. Presented in the key of b flat on the keyboards. Visuals provided by yet another couple of two leggers operating the motions of a four legger.
My interpretation of that scene is that the dead 4 legger draped over the piano that is holding back the male is a depiction of his animal instincts being held in check by a 4 legger draped over one of the few things considered by some to be as pleasing to the senses as grand as love, the Grand Piano. Thanks Dali.....allow me this, Mr Wolf. I would love to add my vision to this.. ..A Surreallistic piece of music wtitten and performed by my very own Amadeus alter ego. ~
At this time Amadeus sits in front of his own piano and we begin to hear what ?~Edward March ~saw in "the scream"..
At conclusion the fantasy type scene pulls away to capture the gentle applause of a stunned audience of lifes art forms in perfect fusion. The audience of only me is brought to tears as I realize the loneliness of mental illness as depicted in " the scream" can only be matched by the lonelines love can provide....posted to self to correct mistake. I just noticed i put what " dali" saw in his portrayal of " the scream" as opposed to ~edward march
both posts read as crappy , sloppy and disjointed to me. If mods wish to delete both posts , go ahead.

Common Sense
11-09-2019, 02:39 AM
..posted to self to correct mistake. I just noticed i put what " dali" saw in his portrayal of " the scream" as opposed to ~edward march
both posts read as crappy , sloppy and disjointed to me. If mods wish to delete both posts , go ahead.
Edvard Munch.

I'm not really a fan of the surrealists myself. Particularly Dali. He comes off as a bit of a phoney who tried too hard to be weird for weirds sake.

Cotton1
11-09-2019, 03:12 AM
Edvard Munch.

I'm not really a fan of the surrealists myself. Particularly Dali. He comes off as a bit of a phoney who tried too hard to be weird for weirds sake.

Thank you for the correction on Captain Munch, Edvard. I haven't been to Mr Potty room in 3 days. The Queen Mum say " oh my, dearest Cotton. Vatever shall we do kind Sir".

.

Cotton1
11-09-2019, 03:35 AM
Edvard Munch.

I'm not really a fan of the surrealists myself. Particularly Dali. He comes off as a bit of a phoney who tried too hard to be weird for weirds sake.

As for the surrealist movement? A form of expression that vas only a few years old vhen Dali applied it to film. A rebellion against restraints fears that vere truth to some. Irrational to others. It vas also a time of great scandel. The beginnings of the vat vould be the bedpost notchings heard around z world. Yes. The mating calls of young Vladmir Trump and Annika
V Clinton would create " ooo yuck" " very bad stuff v man" "v gagina is v awvul "
.

Common Sense
11-09-2019, 03:40 AM
As for the surrealist movement? A form of expression that vas only a few years old vhen Dali applied it to film. A rebellion against restraints fears that vere truth to some. Irrational to others. It vas also a time of great scandel. The beginnings of the vat vould be the bedpost notchings heard around z world. Yes. The mating calls of young Vladmir Trump and Annika
V Clinton would create " ooo yuck" " very bad stuff v man" "v gagina is v awvul "
.

Groovy.

Cotton1
11-09-2019, 03:48 AM
Groovy.


Vlike very v wow, kind sir. Should ve join the Queen Mum for tea and crumpets or unleash v laddie dogs on v common veoples for our afternoon vun?

DGUtley
11-09-2019, 04:33 AM
Remember when many homes had encyclopedias because they sold them door to door? Aaah... the thirst for knowledge.

FindersKeepers
11-09-2019, 05:10 AM
Remember when many homes had encyclopedias because they sold them door to door? Aaah... the thirst for knowledge.

Ha. That was me in college. We sold World Book and we pressured young families into buying. Everything was scripted, right down to the pause when we asked for a glass of water. I wasn't a great salesperson, but I learned a lot about branding and marketing. We even had a line of kids books we'd throw in to sweeten the pot.

Ah...good times.

FindersKeepers
11-09-2019, 05:13 AM
My daughter picks out the neatest old books for her ever-growing collection. This one has a copyright of 1914 and is great to pick up for a few minutes and learn about certain subjects, such as the Story in a Coil of Rope and the exact size of a moving picture film. Or how the wireless reaches ships at sea, world's bread loaves and blowing out mud and rock with compressed air.
I like old books, too. I have a complete early set of Washington Irving's work -- and my prize -- a 1865 Swedish Bible. Too bad I can't read Swedish.

Peter1469
11-09-2019, 06:21 AM
Remember when many homes had encyclopedias because they sold them door to door? Aaah... the thirst for knowledge.

We had a set. I would sit and read them.

DGUtley
11-09-2019, 09:06 AM
We had a set. I would sit and read them.

Ditto. I remember as a little boy sitting in the hallway outside my bedroom and reading the encyclopedia. My parents bought Colliers and we'd get an annual update. I have no idea what happened to that set. My dad told me that they bought it from a door-to-door salesman. Some had Brittanica and some had World Book in our town.

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Peter1469
11-09-2019, 09:10 AM
We had Brittanica - from a door to door salesman. The set is still at my Louisiana house. With the Internet I can't believe it is worth anything.

DGUtley
11-09-2019, 09:13 AM
We had Brittanica - from a door to door salesman. The set is still at my Louisiana house. With the Internet I can't believe it is worth anything.

Probably not but it harkens back to a simpler time. I've texted my younger sister just now to see if she has the set that was in our home. She might.... she has younger kids.

Standing Wolf
11-09-2019, 11:36 AM
Remember when many homes had encyclopedias because they sold them door to door? Aaah... the thirst for knowledge.

As a young father, in the '70s, I bought a set of Collier's Encyclopedias that we could ill afford because I thought it would be educational for the children. And then you could buy the Yearbook every year to "update" the set. I was probably the only one in the family who ever used them.

Cotton1
11-11-2019, 01:45 PM
We had a set. I would sit and read them.

So did I. We still have the set at moms. Its from 1962. Me and my little sis read them a lot. She read about dogs lol and I used them to learn all of the states and capitals in second grade

Standing Wolf
11-11-2019, 01:55 PM
This discussion reminded me that my father used to buy the new 'World Almanac' every year, without fail, starting in the late '50s, and never tossed them; they sat on a shelf in his den, and were still there when I cleaned out my folks' house many years later. I did likewise when I first had a family in the early '70s. Annual reference books like that just don't have the same appeal as they did pre-Internet. I began buying a little digest called 'Who's Who in Baseball' when the Diamondbacks began playing in '98.

http://www.masnsports.com/nationals-buzz/images/Who%27s-Who-2016-cover.jpg

That publication was a Baseball tradition for more than a century, but the Internet recently did it in, too.

Tahuyaman
11-12-2019, 10:54 PM
Remember when many homes had encyclopedias because they sold them door to door? Aaah... the thirst for knowledge.
We had a set of the World Book. I'd read it when I was bored.

jigglepete
11-14-2019, 05:10 PM
Remember when many homes had encyclopedias because they sold them door to door? Aaah... the thirst for knowledge.

My parents had a mostly complete encyclopedia set that was circa 1914, I used to use them for reports on various subjects, and use a modern encyclopedia to throw in the "how times have changed" factor. Actually, I'm sure I was using this method to "pad" reports that had word minimums :)

Standing Wolf
11-14-2019, 05:45 PM
I have to wonder how many bar fights over disputed trivia questions and answers the Internet and smart phones have prevented.

When I had a flip phone with no Internet access, I always said that I had no need for something like that - that I was on or near my computer at home or work most of the time, and if I was somewhere else I could do just fine without having to look anything up.

Now I find myself reaching for my phone at least a dozen times a day - in my car, to find an address of someplace I'm trying to find, or just sitting in my living room watching a movie, checking on IMDB to see who played so-and-so in the film and what else I've seen them in.

Cotton1
11-16-2019, 03:33 PM
I had a 1938 New Yorker magazine that I found so interesting. I read it front to back and back to front many times. Somehow, it got lost. I wish I still had it.

Toober
11-16-2019, 03:37 PM
i found a 2nd edition of "treasure island" at a garage sale for .25 cents...

good condition.

its always interesting to read how different the speech was way back then...

Standing Wolf
11-16-2019, 06:41 PM
Many years ago I picked up a very old book called 'Apes Urbanae' ('The Bees of Urban'), written in Latin in the early 17th Century. As near as I could make out, it was some kind of bibliography of theological writings. I doubt that I'd have found it interesting (or that I would now) even if I read Latin, but this copy was printed in Germany in 1711, and it blew me away that this book had been printed before George Washington was born. I haven't seen it in years and hope I still have it, somewhere in "the archives".

Nemo
12-07-2019, 10:54 PM
Many years ago, I began, desultorily, to read. It is probably ironic that the first book I read was Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe; which is reputed to be the first novel in the English language. It was the Charles Scribner Sons edition with the evocative illustrations by N.C. Wyeth. The book captured my imagination and fired my desire to read. Since then, I have read many books, and more than a few of them several times. It is not uncommon that I read an entire book within a single day. I am not a particularly rapid reader, but I suffer from insomnia, and, for these many years, books have been the companions of my sleepless nights. More recently, my studies have become more focused and my reading more refined. Some books I read have been out of print for centuries, and only available in the great libraries of the world or in private collections. Even so, there are many, many more books that I have not read - great rivers of literature and learning that I have yet to course. Still, whenever I start another book, it is with the same spirit of Robinson Crusoe when he takes up his salvaged copy of the Bible, and begins, for the first time, to read it in earnest.

Standing Wolf
12-08-2019, 12:12 PM
I came across two old editions of novels by Joseph Conrad, printed in 1938 but in wonderful condition, for a couple of dollars at a thrift shop last week. Someone must have treasured them, because aside from some slight discoloration of the pages they might have come right off a bookseller's shelves eighty years ago. I hadn't read any Conrad in years, and then only 'Heart of Darkness', 'The Secret Sharer' and a couple of other things, but this find inspired me not only to get back into his works but to learn more about the author. Born of a Polish family in the Ukraine, he grew up speaking Polish and French and actually knew little English until he emigrated to England in his twenties, yet he became one of the giants of English literature.

I find his writing to be almost hypnotic. One of the books I found the other day was his second published novel, 'An Outcast of the Islands' - he worked throughout his youth and early manhood as a merchant sailor, so much of his writing deals with the sea - so I found a nice old copy of his first book, 'Almayer's Folly' on Ebay and plan to begin reading his novels in order as soon as I've finished with a few other recent acquisitions.

Nemo
12-08-2019, 05:03 PM
I am negotiating the purchase the first English translation of Tacitus’ Historiae by Sir Henry Savile published in 1591. Savile was notable scholar: Provost of Eaton, Secretary in Latin to Elizabeth I, and one of Francis Bacon’s "good pens" that worked on the translation of the Gospels in revision of the English Bible commissioned by King James I. Tacitus is extremely dense and difficult to translate; later versions tend to lose the flavor of the original text. At my advanced age, I want to know the truth; and, looking back on things, often the truth can only be found at the source.

roadmaster
05-09-2020, 05:43 PM
I have over 20,000 books in my library in the basement. I do sell them once in a while, the last one I sold was the first edition of True Grit. But I have some rare and very old ones too.

Lummy
05-10-2020, 08:33 AM
I am negotiating the purchase the first English translation of Tacitus’ Historiae by Sir Henry Savile published in 1591. Savile was notable scholar: Provost of Eaton, Secretary in Latin to Elizabeth I, and one of Francis Bacon’s "good pens" that worked on the translation of the Gospels in revision of the English Bible commissioned by King James I. Tacitus is extremely dense and difficult to translate; later versions tend to lose the flavor of the original text. At my advanced age, I want to know the truth; and, looking back on things, often the truth can only be found at the source.


Wow. Good for you.

I too have doubts. Always have had doubts. Doubt is one of my earliest recollections. However, I am far from a Biblical scholar. I have doubts about Biblical scholars.

patrickt
05-14-2020, 08:33 AM
Years ago I was rummaging through grandmother's attic and found a joke book from 1917. As I read the book I realized I'd heard most of the jokes recently but the new version replaced "Irish" with "Polish". "Do you know why the Irish can't swim in the East River? They leave a ring."

I'd been laughing at Polish jokes but I quit. In fact, I quit laughing at jokes that targeted Poles, Jews, Blacks, Blondes, gays, or any other group. Well, except men, women, and liberals.

Skull
10-09-2021, 01:08 PM
Not a serious collector like some of you, but on occasion I find a gem. This plump 1450pp volume of Emerson's Complete Writings was first copyright in 1875. My edition is from 1929 and has those neat thumb cuts for finding sections. Each page has two columns, which this old duffer now appreciates; good Index also.

jet57
10-17-2021, 12:43 PM
I love old book and frequent used book stores. I have a reprint of The Blaeu Atlas of Scotland (https://maps.nls.uk/atlas/blaeu/), 1654, 224pgs. Up in Santa Rosa some years ago, I picked up a book for my wife (who loves the presidents); The Man Who Killed Lincoln, Philip Van Doren Stern, 1939: Random House. It includes a map of the trail that John Wilks Booth took leading to a farm house... I found a 1939 American printing of Mein Kampf: the first American printing of it: $60 bucks. I have several more old books and enjoy collecting them.

Cotton1
10-03-2023, 06:03 PM
As for the surrealist movement? A form of expression that vas only a few years old vhen Dali applied it to film. A rebellion against restraints fears that vere truth to some. Irrational to others. It vas also a time of great scandel. The beginnings of the vat vould be the bedpost notchings heard around z world. Yes. The mating calls of young Vladmir Trump and Annika
V Clinton would create " ooo yuck" " very bad stuff v man" "v gagina is v awvul "
.

My best post ever ! Experts agree

stephenpe
10-05-2023, 08:46 AM
I love old books. I had a BIL that collected them in the 70s in New England. He had some really old cool books. What I REALLY like is old magazines and newspapers. I have some old Time and Life and Look of the Kennedy assassination. The ads in them are especially cool.