Re: Book finding [was Re: Obscure languages]

Quoting Adam Walker <dreamertwo@...>:

> >From: "Thomas R. Wier" <trwier@...>
> >(I collect antique books, so these naturally interested me.  My most
> >recent acquisition was a nearly perfect condition, 1873 edition of
> >the Song of Roland in Old French with notes in German -- for 50
> >cents! I don't know *what* the Seminary library was thinking when
> >they got rid of that book.)
>
> You have GOT to be kidding!!!!!!
No, I'm not! And that's not the most spectacular story along these
lines that I have to tell.  When I was a freshman undergrad at UT,
my friend heard that the UT library system was having one of their
quintennial booksales, at which thousands of books are sold, $0.50 for
paperbacks, $1.00 for hardbacks.  I was browsing through the Classical
lit section, when I happened upon a beautiful copy of the Roman poet
Horace's _Odes_, quite richly engraved by the publisher Iohannes Pine
(London).  It wasn't in very good condition (part of the binding of
the second volume was entirely separated from the book), but it was
two dollars and I just *had* to have it. (I also got a 1930s copy of
Leibniz's _Discourse on Metaphysics_, but that wasn't as impressive.)
Well, I hadn't even thought of looking at how old it was.  When I got
back to Houston and showed my father my new find, he looked at the date
in Roman Numerals, and asked me: "Is that *19*37, or *17*37?" (I think
he was shocked and wanted to be sure). Of course, it was the latter.
What's more, its companion, Volume I,  was from 17*33*.  So I got two
books that were each over 260 years old for two dollars! (I hope I
don't sound  like I'm boasting, but it was such a wonderful and
serendipitous experience for me, I like retelling it.)

That was, in fact, what got me started on antique books.  My collection
also now includes a 1753 edition of _Paradise Regained_ by Milton; an
1806 volume entitled _Politisches Gleichgewicht in Europa_ written in
Fraktur -- naturally interesting if only because there *was* no political
equilibrium in Europe at that time; an 1890's photocopy of Thomas
Jefferson's quadrilingual (English, French, Latin, Greek) Comparative
Bible with the table of contents in his own handwriting; an 1810
Student's copy of the Iliad in Greek; and volumes 2-6 of the works
of Moliere in a 1926 publication -- too bad I can't read French; but now
at least I have another reason (in addition to gradschool) to get me
to learn it.  Anyways, most of them are not worth all that much, but I
love them all the same.

When buying old books, I really try for literature if possible. I mean,
the corpus of the laws of the State of Illinois from the 1850s (which,
incidentally, is available at Powell's) might be interesting for a
historian of 19th century America since Abraham Lincoln probably helped
write them, but it's not for me.  I'm thinking my next buys, if I can
afford it, will be either (1) that bilingual copy of Longinus, (2) that
bilingual copy of Marcus Aurelius, or (3) a first-edition copy of J. R. R.
Tolkien's _Simarillion_, also available at Powell's.  Or maybe the 18th
century copy of the Code of Justian. I don't know! There's so much beauty
there, it boggles the mind.

==============================
Thomas Wier <trwier@...>

"If a man demands justice, not merely as an abstract concept,
but in setting up the life of a society, and if he holds, further,
that within that society (however defined) all men have equal rights,
then the odds are that his views, sooner rather than later, are going
to set something or someone on fire." Peter Green, in _From Alexander
to Actium_, on Spartan king Cleomenes III

Reply