In my last post, I mentioned my love of beautifully-bound books. But where can they be found? I shall list a few:
The Easton Press: This is a company that specializes in printing classic works, binding them in leather, and gilding them in gold. Yes, it can be expensive, but these books are so beautiful that it is worth the extra dollars to own them. I have an Easton Press edition of The Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan (John, not Paul). I enjoy merely looking at the cover, and the story inside is splendid as well.
AbeBooks: This is a database of booksellers all over the world. One can look up any book, any author, any year, any price, and any format desired. I have found books that I cannot find at local used bookstores. Capital. I found my mother's birthday present there.
Half Price Books: I buy most of my books at Half Price locations. The key to Half Price is that I can find not only an author's famous works, but also their lesser known works. I found minor works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Bram Stoker. Do you know how hard that is? All you'll ever find of Stoker's is Dracula. But Half Price stores also boast a shelf of collectible books. You can find Easton Press editions, Harvard Press editions, rare books, and first editions.
Once, while at Half Price, I found a copy of A Houseboat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, from the 1890s. It might have been a first edition. I found out later what it was that I had let go. It spawned a genre called Bangsian fantasy. It was also very cheap compared to what I found online. But that is simply an example of what you can find there.
Also, visit library sales and local used book stores.
Do you know of another place to find nice books? Please drop a comment. Thank you.
God Bless
The Easton Press: This is a company that specializes in printing classic works, binding them in leather, and gilding them in gold. Yes, it can be expensive, but these books are so beautiful that it is worth the extra dollars to own them. I have an Easton Press edition of The Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan (John, not Paul). I enjoy merely looking at the cover, and the story inside is splendid as well.
AbeBooks: This is a database of booksellers all over the world. One can look up any book, any author, any year, any price, and any format desired. I have found books that I cannot find at local used bookstores. Capital. I found my mother's birthday present there.
Half Price Books: I buy most of my books at Half Price locations. The key to Half Price is that I can find not only an author's famous works, but also their lesser known works. I found minor works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and Bram Stoker. Do you know how hard that is? All you'll ever find of Stoker's is Dracula. But Half Price stores also boast a shelf of collectible books. You can find Easton Press editions, Harvard Press editions, rare books, and first editions.
Once, while at Half Price, I found a copy of A Houseboat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, from the 1890s. It might have been a first edition. I found out later what it was that I had let go. It spawned a genre called Bangsian fantasy. It was also very cheap compared to what I found online. But that is simply an example of what you can find there.
Also, visit library sales and local used book stores.
Do you know of another place to find nice books? Please drop a comment. Thank you.
God Bless
3 comments:
Do you mean 'nice' books as in, older editions of the books that have those nice covers and look as if they could fall apart if you dropped them?
Because if you are, a good place to find them is in London, or Oxford. They always have those kinds of books in their bookstores.
--A.W.
Yes, that's the kind! If I am privileged to make the journey to Britain someday, I shall be sure to hunt out as many bookstores as I can.
If you ever do go to England, make sure to go to Oxford. They have quite a few old bookstores.
Sadly, when I was there last year they had bank holidays so none of them were open.
Except one of them was, and I got a book there. It's only 150 years old, but I got it anyways.
It's one of my favorite books, The Holy War by John Bunyan. It has pictures and everything, it's beautiful.
If you do ever make it there, definitely make it to Oxford, that's the best place to look.
And plus, if you like Church history, you would love going there. :]
--A.W.
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