I’m a first time poster, but I just got a job in my school’s library and we have a TON of rare books, so I’ll try and post a few neat ones on here when I get the chance!
A Christmas Eve Family Story by Charles Dalton.* *50 copies privately printed at the Riverside Press, Cambridge Massachusetts in 1904. Designed by Bruce Rogers during his time at Riverside. Checking comps on Via Libri, it appears all the copies out there (okay, there are only two) have a Dalton bookplate. this one has a D and “Dalton House” inked in on the map at the back.
This popped up on ebay a few weeks ago as a buy it now for an under market price. I set a watch on it and went about my business. as can sometimes happen the seller will offer a modest discount. the seller offered 40% off asking. how could I not buy?
It’s a near fine copy. the batik over boards doesn’t appear age toned, the green cloth back strip has only the faintest bumps, and the spine label is mildly scuffed but complete. the extra spine label is tipped in at back.
This may be the most scarce BR/Riverside title in terms of edition size. 50 is 27 fewer than my current holy grail, Horace Walpole, Printer by Percival Merritt which seems wrought from Unobtanium.
I was in my attic looking for something and came across this book. Has anyone seen this book before because I can't seem to find another picture of this one online.
Seamus Heaney. Beowulf. 1999. 1st. Signed & inscribed by Heaney dated 6-X-'99. Mint in pictorial dust jacket.
Thought this might interest you as it a pre-KJV Anglican translation.
Story Time: During COVID (but pre-lockdown) my Protestant grandmother had picked me up from school to take me to the local thrift store as I needed some pre-coloured papers & didn't want to pay full price as i needed some for a high school project & discovered this copy of the Book of Job in the amongst the stacks of sheets of scrap papers of which there was both stacks of coloured & white. If you want to know how I paid it was only 1 Loonie (a.k.a. Canadian dollar) for it & it is by far my rarest Christian item in my personal possession. Pictures are taken borrowing by me borrowing a family member's phone as they are 11 inch x 17 inch pages & otherwise I would not be capturable by my laptop camera as the resolution would be too low for you to read.
Here's a link to read the whole translation of the bible (adapted to use only the modern 26 letter alphabet): https://www.textusreceptusbibles.com/Bishops/
The provenance, from my searches, don’t result in anything either but I still provided them here.
Found this on my bookshelf. Not sure when I acquired it. A google search brought me to this subreddit where I saw a few other posts on it being rare / sought after. I don't think I'll be reading it, but I'm curious why it's so popular and sought after. Also wondering where would be a good place to sell it. It's in great condition, unsigned.
Found thrifting recently - with some research of the bookplate looks like belonged to A. Edward Newton before his estate was sold off in the 40s.
Possibly rebound in the 1800s via a different snippet inside the front cover?
Wondering if I should have it fixed before selling
The author is most likely schizophrenic orat the very least was experiencing a break from reality. Book is impossible to read, contradicting statements conversations from aliens and reptiles who want to harvest her eggs. She has a part at the start about different punctuation to mean different things (for example using * to denote telepathy) and then she rarely uses it or uses it incorrectly.
It is out of print and this was the last one on Amazon I was very lucky to get it as she is most likely self published. I cannot find a single copy of this or any other of her books (of which there are at least 4 but there is very little evidence of some of them, with one about Noah only having brief mentions ever being published). This is the censored version but I cannot find any evidence of a non censored version that (according to this book) has 67 chapters instead of the 33 here .
There are a few reviews for a few of her books so I obviously don't own the only copy of her book, but othe than those reviews I can't find any evidence of people even owning her books. If anyone does recognise her name, I'd be very happy to discuss this with you. And if you haven't then here's this rate book I find because she had a strange website talking about being a fertility vessel or whatever.
I am hoping for any information that you guys have, especially concerning its value. It contains the Apocrypha in the table of contents, but not in the book itself. Both boards detached, lots of seemingly DIY page repairs in the front. Binding is tight.
Always amazed at the books you can find out in the wild. This signed copy of Duncan’s photographs of the Korean War was just sitting on a shelf in a thrift store. Signed in France where Duncan lived. Interestingly he was also known as one of the few photographers who got access to Picasso and his then wife.
I found this in the dingy, dusty basement of an estate sale (how fitting!). I'm curious if it's considered rare/ worth anything.