Anybody here owns very old books?

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Tery

Say hello to my fishy buddy
Moderator
Apr 12, 2006
15,304
44,712
Bremerton, Washington, United States
I have a few. My Dad gave me a 1908 printing of Tom Sawyer (no Rush included ;) ). I found an 1889 printing of a volume of Washington Irving stories with beautiful prints in it. Found it at a thrift shop:
 

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skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
I have a William Makepeace Thackery from the late 1800's and several other authors from early 1900's. They are in fair shape and very readable. I think the Thackery one is worth somewhere around $15,000.00.
I about had a heart attack. I have some old books, but none near as valuable as that! And I've not paid more than a couple of bucks for any of them--lol.
 

shaitan

Meat popsicle
Dec 26, 2014
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NY

TheRedQueen

And Crazy Housewife
Dec 3, 2014
1,346
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Fernley, NV.
One of the only "old" books I've been able to hold onto is a hard copy of "Old Bones the Wonder Horse". No idea if it's a first edition or not, but it was falling apart so I got a paperback to read. Now the hard back gets to sit on my shelf and look pretty.

My parents were yard sale and antique store fanatics, so growing up I had a number of really old books pass through my hands. My stepdad had a complete set of Encylopedia Brittanica, and if I remember right they were leather bound copies. He claimed they were original. He also had these two huge Bibles that he swore were worth thousands. He said they were museum worthy, but all he ever did with them is hoard them. He was like a manky old dog with a soup bone when it came to anything of value...pretty sad, really. I probably grew up surrounded by thousands' of dollar's worth of antiques; books, furniture, you name it. My mother was a doll artist once upon a time, and her porcelain doll collection alone would have fetched a handsome price. But to me, it was all just a bunch of dusty, smelly, rodent infested crap. Had I had my way, I would have set the whole place on fire.

So I guess "value", like "beauty", is in the eye of the beholder....
 

DiO'Bolic

Not completely obtuse
Nov 14, 2013
22,864
129,998
Poconos, PA
You can suggest anything you like but since all I'd be giving them would be a one finger salute on my way by, it's wasted on me. ;)
Somehow I don’t think you in a little Prius chucking the finger will faze them much. But it’s the gesture that counts, eh? ;)

I’m having problems getting the pictures off my camera of the 1883 Les Miserables to post here. But next to it on my bookshelf was a 1882 copy of Live-Oak Boys by Elijah Kellogg. He was an American Congregationalist minister, lecturer and author of popular boy's adventure books, from Portland, Maine. Apparently you give anyone a pen in Maine and they think they’re some kind of author. :p