I just went to a used bookstore and bought a first edition, first printing of The Catcher in the Rye. It didn't have a dust jacket, but I'm not too disappointed about that. I still got it for a very reasonable price. There were a few other books I would have loved to buy, but those were well above my price range. Anyone else have any rare and/or collectable books?
Nope, I tend to just go for the soft cover versions found in most bookstores. Not even keen on hardbacks. I'd feel like I would have to be too careful with a rare book, like it wouldnt really be for reading anymore, more for living in a glass cage.
Looks like my signed first edition of Terry Pratchett's 'Light Fantastic' would have been worth about $3k if it hadn't been destroyed when my parents' house flooded a few years back. I almost regret not buying the $600 limited edition of 'Sled Driver' I looked at in 2009 because they seem to be selling used for $2k+ these days... then again, if I'd bought it I probably wouldn't have wanted to sell it . I tend to agree with Fairydust though, if I had books that valuable I wouldn't be able to leave them on my book shelf or read them; I would feel like the people who buy toys and never take them out of the box.
Looks like my signed first edition of Terry Pratchett's 'Light Fantastic' would have been worth about $3k if it hadn't been destroyed when my parents' house flooded a few years back. I almost regret not buying the $600 limited edition of 'Sled Driver' I looked at in 2009 because they seem to be selling used for $2k+ these days... then again, if I'd bought it I probably wouldn't have wanted to sell it . I tend to agree with Fairydust though, if I had books that valuable I wouldn't be able to leave them on my book shelf or read them; I would feel like the people who buy toys and never take them out of the box. I do have a few obscure aviation books signed by obscure aviation folks, but they're not terribly valuable so I don't have to worry about reading them.
Wow, $3k! I sympathize. I usually don't buy collectable books, either. I simply don't have that kind of money. But I got Catcher for a little under $100, which seemed like a good deal even though the DJ was missing. Compared to signed copies of Catcher (which I've seen selling for over $20k), this book isn't that valuable. I might actually read it sometime.
I bought it new from the book store before he signed it for me, so I probably only paid about $15 . I was looking at some space/aviation-related books in a rare book store in Vegas a couple of years back while my girlfriend looked at a first edition Beatrix Potter that they were selling, but one of the other problems with buying signed books used is telling whether the signatures are actually real. Another reason I'm reluctant to do so.
While I do not presently own any rare or collectible titles, the idea has oft been a fantasy of mine. When one day I can afford to purchase/build my "dream home", I would like to have a room dedicated entirely to reading with comfy chairs abound and a fireplace and walls upon walls of bookshelves. And, upon those walls I would like an entire section dedicated to rarities. I would also like a "controversial" section, but that's a discussion for another day.
I don't have any rare books, but I really wish I did. I'm with Prism: I want my dream home, and it will have a library - a big one.
I have a 1904 collection of Tennyson's complete poems and an 1857 copy of In Memoriam, a 1903 copy of What Katy Did. I also have the first editions of a few books: House of Leaves, The Terror and the Guillotine, Inherent Vice, 1Q84 and a few others. I was once only a few minutes away from buying a first edition copy of Nineteen Eighty Four, one of my all time favorite novels. So many years on and it still manages to depress me somewhat.
I used to look for antique books and want them just cus they're old. I don't do that anymore 'cause they're usually books I know nothing of and hence am not interested in lol I think I still have a book on Napoleon's funeral procession written by an eye-witness published in the early 20th century. I did read that because it was for my essay, and I think I'd keep it! And I love it that at the bottom in "related threads" there's an old thread called "On the Inconveniences of being a rare but poisonous bug" It's so totally unrelated!
I'm with you guys on this. All I need is a job that pays a ridiculous amount of money. That's cool. It'd be awesome if you could get some of those first editions signed someday (good luck finding Pynchon). I heard about a guy a few years ago who goes to book signings whenever he can to get his first edition books signed. He's been doing this for a few decades. Last I heard, his collection was worth close to half a million dollars. And this is a guy who makes about a tenth of that each year.
Haha. I'm sure finding El Dorado will be easier, but if I do ever find Thomas Pynchon I'm giving him a hug. I wish that two of my favorite writers, Pynchon and Murakami, are famously reclusive. Hope to get some good signed books one day though.
I quite like collecting antique/rare books. I don't dare read them and I don't know why I like them though. There's just something nice about having a first edition sitting in the bookcase.
