My old book collection

[Skinny]

I thought I'd post a couple photo's of my Antiquarian book collection. I've been into old books since I was a teenager, but I've not really spent all that much money on the hobby. These two bookcases comprise the bulk of my collection. The majority of them are from the 1800's, but I have quite a few from the 1700's and 1600's as well. There are just a few early twentith century books in the second bookcase. Just thought I'd share these, does anyone else collect old books?

[hosman321]

Wow, what a great collection Skinny! I don't really collect old books but I have a few from around 1900 that have been passed down from my grandma. I collect newspapers though, my oldest so far is 1683. They start getting pretty expensive earlier than that. Oh what I'd give to have a book from the 17th century. Do you collect newspapers/singlesheets? I've gotta ask, did you spend a lot on the books from the 1600's and where did you find them?

I do have an old beat up copy of Dante's Inferno without a date. Been wondering exactly how old it is. I think it's 1890's. 

[Skinny]

Didn't spend a lot on the books from the 1600's, no more than forty apiece. Got them on abebooks. I've probably got the only three that have come up for sale there so cheap (in the past few years) lol. I got most of my 1700's era books on ebay quite inexpensively. You have to really know what your looking for and dig deep into the listings to find the great deals on ebay. If your not to particular about what book you want, go on abe and do an advanced search, put in 1700-1799 for the date and "leather" for the keyword. They'll have some starting around ten dollars.

Never have collected any newspapers or odd leaves or anything. I guess it's just books for me.

[Dean Perdue]

Quite a collection to be proud of Skinny and seems like a intresting hobby.
I've been picking up on a couple bits and pieces of info regarding these old books from a few of your post and would think it would be a fascinating area of collecting.
What appeals to you the most about old books?
To me it would be the art (Hosman's Dante's inferno w/ engravings by Gustave Dore should be a great example of that) or maybe some sweet bindings.
Every now and then I'll go on eBay and see some crazy antique medical or torture device books that have jaw dropping art or concepts and think what great testaments to the times these artifacts are.

There's a place here in Detroit called John King books that has at least 5 huge floors of old books and if you call them looking for a particular one they'll just tell you to come in and look because the owner will not index them.You could get lost for days in there.

If I could have one wish list book it would have to be a signed 1st edition of A Christmas carol.Any idea what you as a book collector would put for your #1 wish list book?
Also, if you don't mind me asking, whats your favorite one that you currently have in your collection and why?

[talesofthesevenseas]

*wipes chin after drooling on self*

I would love to spend a rainy day just looking through those!! Awesome!!

[hosman321]

Thanks for the website Skinny! I have heard about it before but have never had a reason to go to it. I had no idea books that old were that inexpensive. Thanks again.

[KC]

NICE     VErY NICE!!!!!

[fancypants]

Thanks for showin' us some o' your nice pretties , Skinny !

[ironlord1963]

Yes for sure thanks for sharing.   Out of curiosity do you have a favorite one?  Or one that is very unique, just cause I'm Curious 

[hosman321]

And I'm wondering what that big gigantic one is on the third shelf down.

[Skinny]

And I'm wondering what that big gigantic one is on the third shelf down.

That one is a biographical and mythological dictionary from the 1870's. It has bio's of famous or important people throughout history, as well as mythological characters. I was quite happy when I found that book at an antique store for five bucks

[Skinny]

Dean and Ironlord, I guess if I had to pick a favorite it might be my copy of Notices Of Charles V by William Sterling. I've posted about this book on here before, "Rare book owned by famous Abolitionists". The history printed on its pages is quite interesting, as is the history of the book itself.

What I like about old books is a little difficult to quantify. I suppose that's true a most area's of collecting. I guess it starts with a love of reading and a love of history and things made by the people of years past. You really get a sense of what people were like back then. When looking at the resources available for people with physical illness or mental illness, I always appreciate the advances we've made in recent times Illustrations and plates are always nice, and like most book collectors I like the smell of the old paper. I like the old bindings to, wether it be a Victorian cloth binding covered in gold decoration, or a plain leather or vellum.

[ThisNThat]

GREAT collection!! I'm a book collector, but I'm into Children's books, especially Little Golden Books. My favorite LGBs are the 6 I have from the 1940s, with the original DJs.  I also have some books from the turn of the century, but most of mine are from the 1920s-1950s. Some of my LGBs are newer (60s, 70s) but only of certain collectible titles.

Other than LGBs, I don't really collect certain kinds, I just go by the illustrations.

I think we have a couple of leather ones, one from the 1700s, but that's it. And it's packed away, so I can't remember the title!

Thanks for sharing your collection. Nice to see another fellow book collector.