Comments on: The curious case of a little old book

By: Thorsten

Thorsten — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:22:54 +0000

Thank you for sharing your story Flassie, reading about your find and subsequent discoveries instantly sparked my imagination. It also reminded me of how as a child me and my friend found a box of old letters, postcards and documents from the late 1800s in an empty lot of our house’s attic (think old Parisian style apartment building). Amongst those documents I found a school certificate from around 1870 with the royal seal of the House of Hanover (Kingdom of Hanover, Germany). I thought it was the “coolest thing ever” (I must’ve been 10 or 11). I kept it well protected to this day amongst my belongings in Germany. Thanks you again for your fascinating story.

By: Flassie

Flassie — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:46:56 +0000

Wow! Amazing! The book sound wonderful.
The added bonus the card.

I bought an old vintage letter in an Antique shop. After two years of having it I found out who the person was that
it was sent to. She lived to be 99yrs old and ate homemade applesauce everyday. She must have sent a letter to a man in the military to keep his spirits up. The man that sent the
letter was telling her about himself. A really fun letter.

God Bless You and Yours!!!

By: Thorsten

Thorsten — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 16:19:35 +0000

Actually, I do (admittedly I use that word a lot myself). I frequently search through the category Books > Antiquarian & Collectible. I then tend to go to "Printing Year" on the left and pick anything <1950, then maybe filter for something that interests me such as Edgar Allen Poe, Wadsworth Longfellow, Jules Verne, Dante Alighieri or just poetry. Then I sort by "ending soonest" and look at the results. When I find something interesting I just put it on watch and do some further research on Google. At times I find other sellers online that offer the same or different editions, maybe even with inscriptions. Then I compare my finds back and forth. Also, make sure to look internationally, the British and French always have some splendid books on offer. I am not sure how exactly I ended up with this particular copy of Aucassin and Nicolette but I do remember it was around the time when I was specifically looking for poetry books that I could include as props in my Lucian stories. I actually (see, here I go again) just purchased another version of Aucassin and Nicolette, specifically a copy of this one (but from a different seller). It has some very beautiful illustrations and a different translation.

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:39:34 +0000

Hmm..."actually" must be my word for the day :) Jill´s last blog post..Happy Earth Day!

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:38:56 +0000

I actually went on ebay last night and bid on a set of 9 books, but was outbid. I actually found a few copies of Aucassin and Nicolette, but none so cool as yours! You've got me hooked...I'm going back to see what I can find. Any hunting tips? I simply searched for antique books, is that all there is to it or do you get more specific? Jill´s last blog post..Happy Earth Day!

By: Thorsten

Thorsten — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:15:29 +0000

One of the first things I do when I get an old book is smell it, there is just something to it, that smell of old leather (or cloth) and pages, hard to describe.

I’ll soon have a small follow-up to that story. I found some more interesting items, again on eBay. It’s quite amazing what one can find out there.

Thank you Jill for stopping by.

By: Jill

Jill — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:39:54 +0000

I'm closing my eyes and imagining the smell... I have a small collection of my own, but what a treasure you have here! I'm coveting! Jill´s last blog post..Letter to Ophelia No.2

By: Trina

Trina — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:26:35 +0000

What a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing that. Trina´s last blog post..Getting Organized {3 easy tips!}

By: shoppingsmycardio

shoppingsmycardio — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:03:19 +0000

i honestly can't recall the path i took to get to this post, but i'm thrilled i did. what a wonderful story!! as a fellow lover of old books, i really admire all of the effort you undertook to find out so much about the book and its owner. it certainly proved to be rewarding! shoppingsmycardio´s last blog post..spring canvas totes…apparently a “must have”

By: Thorsten

Thorsten — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:38:18 +0000

Hi Becka. If you love history I am certain you will enjoy collecting old books. They are living history in themselves. Imagine finding an article or a book about a historic account, published right around the time it occurred! That's better than any modern trade paperpack. Think too where the book(s) may have been before you got them, it can be quite an interesting journey. As for how I began collecting antique books, I believe the seed was sown when I was a child. I always enjoyed sturdy old books, the feel and smell. I remember having an old collecting of Grimm's fairy tales with all these really old looking illustrations. It was one of my favorite books as a child. Sadly, it disappeared at some point in my life, not sure what happened to it. But I believe this is what somehow influenced me. I also always liked antiques, I used to scavenge through my grandmother's drawers and tried to find "old stuff" that she no longer needed, sometimes selling them to an antiques dealer down the street (literally down the street as in one block down). I was around 11 at that time. The store I sold them to is still around, still owned by the same gentleman (things change slowly in Germany). Then, a few years ago, I came across an old and tattered volume of Shakespeare's complete works in one of the many antique shops in New England (we live close to Boston). The book kind of "talked" to me, plus it was inexpensive (a big plus, I am not into first editions, pristine collections, etc., just "old") so I brought it home. After that I kept on looking for old books and have since purchased quite a few antique ones. My collection keeps growing.