Any antiquarian book collectors here?

[blm]

If so...what are your great 'finds' or most unusual part of your collection?

[grasswire]

1. well........

....I didn't exactly go out collecting these, but I have a good portion of the small library that belonged to a gr7 uncle in the 1700s in Connecticut. School books, a copy of "Columbian Orator" and various things. Included was a batch of small thin books published for children in the late 1700s and early-mid 1800s. I treasure this stuff. It came from an estate that had been in the same family home since that ancester had settled it; the home and contents were sold in this last decade. I wasn't at the sale, but a friend went and bid on the books and some other things for me. If I had inherited the home it would nevah go out of the family. Nevah.

[blm]

2. wow....that's a shame that the home went to someone who didn't want to keep it.

These days I am saddened by the stories of some folks who would have WANTED to hang on to their family treasures, but, had no choice due to the economy and near catastrophic health issues.

[grasswire]

3. you bet

...it's sad either way. When I think that these small childrens' books sat on one shelf in that house for a couple of hundred years, it is just wrenching to know the house is gone out of the family.

As far as collecting goes, I do buy what I can find inexpensively. I put together a classics library for a young family member who thinks she wants to be a writer.

I haven't been able to hit my favorite book-buying spot for about a year now. It's the Twilight Rummage Sale of the local Eagles Lodge. A seller there brings hundreds of used books in each time, priced at a dollar each. I have found some real gems.

What are you interested in?

[blm]

4. Not a big collector, but, I do collect books illustrated by Harry Clarke. I became captivated with

his style as a young girl sneaking peeks at my older sister's illustrated Edgar Allan Poe book that she snuck into the house.

Now I have managed to find a number of his books, including a limited edition Faust signed by Clarke, and a Swinbourne collection of poems that was signed by the book's original owner, Edmund Quincy of Boston, Mass. Yes...of THE Quincy family, and a fairly wellknown artist. Had no idea about the owner till I recently unboxed the books from storage, finally noticed the blank page with the owner's name, and finally put two and two together. heheh...lucky me.

[grasswire]

5. follow every hunch and clue

One time I acquired a really beat up antiquarian liturgical tome. Some pages were loose, the cover was loose, etc. Inside the front cover I noticed the written name C. Wesley. Hmmmm. Could it be Charles Wesley, founder of Methodism? I listed it on eBay with the caveat that I had no idea if the signature was legit or not. A dealer in liturgical books bought it, and told me that he believed it was real. I made a couple hundred bucks off it. He probably made more.

[blm]

6. I checked some of his paintings at galleries, and the signature matched.

Now, the book wasn't sold as one of Edmund Quincy's possessions, it was sold to us a decade ago as a Clarke book. I don't think the seller paid any notice to the owner's name, either, or he would have sold it for a greater price.

Mr blm's mother is an art appraiser, and she's quite familiar with authentication process, but, it very obvious this book was signed by Quincy when he acquired it, and btw, he dated it 1965.

Quincy died in 1997 and we got the book around 2000, which was a few years before his works of art were shown publically.

[Vinca]

7. I'm not a collector, but I found a very interesting book yesterday.

It's from 1847 and is called "The Family Flora and Materia Medica Botanica" by Peter Good. It has quite a few colored engravings of mostly flowers. The spine is shot and there is some water damage, but the engravings are in pretty good shape. I was thinking of schlepping it up to a local book seller to see if he's interested in buying it.

[blm]

8. sounds beautiful...

They sure made books beautiful then. I love when books have the color plates...they seem to have been done with such love for the work.

[grasswire]

9. I sold a botannical book to a non-profit in N.E. on eBay

I paid a buck for it and sold it for a hundred or thereabouts last year. It was filled with prints, as well, and very well worn and also had been in the library of a hiking society for some decades.

Those books do very well. Carry on!