You can find funny things inside old books

My local library has a section where you can buy vintage books for a dollar (sometimes ¢50). Sometimes I buy them, sometimes I don't, but I always look inside - and sometimes there's something to find.

[macrolit]

[macrolit]

Vintage paperback editions by Fyodor Dostoevsky (b. 11 November 1821)

[rosewhiteboyhood-deactivated202]

floral illustrations of the seasons, margaret lace roscoe, 1829, “spring”

source: archive.org 

[earlymoderngothic]

Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

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A copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau, copyright 1846, published in 1929 by the Macmillan Company.

The title page has some writing above an added quote, reading to the best of my ability happy, eager, (illegible), peace.

On the top of page 335, within the conclusion, it's written: He had several lives to live and this was one of them.

Lastly comes the fly-leaf and front page. The writing is as follows;

Vagabonds

Le Roy Ellis

Virginia Ellis

With Le Roy Ellis written in fancier script beneath.

Also on this page is a note in the corner, page 90. Turning to that page finds the corner dog earred and a short note saying reread, next to the following quote:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

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An old copy of the New Testament, in the King James Version, published by the world publishing company. I do not know the date it was published but I suspect somewhere in the 1920s or 1930s. There is no legible writing inside, but many pages are covered in various scribbles in a dark red pencil.

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A copy of Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing, published in 1959 by Lansing, with this copy being printed in 2001 by Carroll & Head Publishers in New York, NY.

I purchased this copy some time ago and found that it was absolutely full of notes, with many pages underlined in red and highlighted in light orange throughout the book, with this being a few examples.

The name at the top page is Victor F Burt, with the notes beneath highlighting portions of the map detailing the voyage of the ship Endurance to- but not out of - Antarctica, captained by Frank Worsley, with the expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton.

The book tells the true story of the Endurance expedition, compiled by the author through the diaries and interviews of surviving crew members. The expeditions intent - to cross Antarctica for the first time - failed when the ship was stuck in pack ice, but miraculously, the entire crew of 27 men made it off the ice and back home.

Among various notes detailing where pounds may equal tonnes and highlighting what the previous owner of the book deemed important, on the last page are a few questions, seemingly for the expedition itself;

Q/

Where is the fishing tackle?

Where are the snow shoes?

[vintagedarb]

Some more antique book covers for your feed.

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May the Fourth be with you!! Hope you enjoyed Star Wars day!

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A beautifully bound copy of Famous Cathedrals Described by Great Writers, collected by Esther Singleton, published by the Dodd, Mead Company of New York in 1909. It includes the writings of Théophile Gautier and Victor Hugo, as well as numerous black and white photographs of cathedral facades.

The cover is an olive green with a gold gilt on it's front and spine. The inscription I'll admit I've had some trouble deciphering due to the ink having spread over time, so from what I could best make out it goes as follows;

For Frank Sethe (possibly Sethie)

From their (unknown)

Brother (unknown; I can make out the last four letters as Paye) (this is a very broad guess, I almost want to say this is someone's name)

With all good wishes

Xmas 1909

If you think you might know what this inscription reads, feel free to comment! In the meantime I'll keep trying to figure out what it says.

[vizual-demon]

Christopher Tolkien (1924 - 2020)

Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, and fantasy literature in general, have so much to thank this man for. He worked for decades to secure his father’s legacy, editing and publishing J.R.R.’s unfinished works after his death in 1973, giving us The Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, The History of Middle Earth and more. His work, like his father’s, will live on forever.

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A copy of Minor Poems by John Milton put together by Samuel Thurber. Published in 1901 by “Norwood Press, J.S. Cushing & Co. -- Berwick & Smith; Norwood Mass. U.S.A.”; part of The Academy Classics collection

The cover is a dark blue with faded gold lettering on the front and on the spine. Written just inside the front cover are the Greek letters “Delta Sigma Tau” ( ΔΣΤ ) in thick black ink. Beneath that in a combination of pen and blue ink is the name and address George G. Auer; 1115 Park St. Syracuse N.Y. Beneath that in a light, flourished pencil, it reads North Auer High School. 

On the next page are what look like notes regarding the poem L’Allegro, which has a portion of the poem blocked out in pencil. The notes read:

L’allegro I - Banishment of Melancholy  II - Invitation to Mirth III - Companions of Mirth IV - Unnaproved(?) pleasure fee       A - Before sunrise       B - Early morning       C - Noon day       D - Afternoon       E - Early evening       F - Night V - Conclusion; Resolution to live with Mirth The portion of the poem circled goes as follows: Sometime walking, not unseen, By hedge-row elms, on hillocks green, Right against the eastern gate, Where the great Sun begins his state, Rob'd in flames, and amber light, The clouds in thousand liveries dight. While the ploughman near at hand, Whistles o'er the furrow'd land, And the milkmaid singeth blithe, And the mower whets his scythe, And every shepherd tells his tale Under the hawthorn in the dale. There are other things written in the book as well, including blue-black ink splotches along the poem Comus and a few highlighted lines in the poem Il Penseroso, such as  “Sometimes let gorgeous Tragedy...” and To arched walks of twilight groves...”

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Here's to a very happy and peaceful Hobbit Day to you all!

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A newer edition to my small collection is this copy of The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck that has seen better days. Its dust cover is split at the seam and is essentially in two pieces, but care in lifting the book helps to keep up appearances. This copy appears to be something of an original, being printed in 1942 (or as the book dictates, MCMXLII) by the New York Viking Press.

The inscription within reads March 14, 1942, along the top of the inside page and the name Matilda (or perhaps Maltilde?) V. Newman along the bottom. Unlike most books I come across, its signing date appears to be the same as the publishing date, leading me to believe this was bought as a new release by someone who knew the book was going to be published. Maybe it was a gift, for a friend, or maybe for themselves? Leastways, March 1942 was when the book was first published, making this a first edition.

My favorite part of this copy may be what’s printed on the back of the book’s dustcover - an ad for book donations for men in the armed forces during World War Two. The advertisements ask the reader to consider donating their books to “Army Libraries”, citing that ‘men in the services’ need something good to read too, and that U.S. - shipping was only a cent and a half per pound.

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Maybe you can tell by the lone written inscription being hardly an inscription at all that this is my way of showing off this rather charming copy of Moby Dick I found some time ago. Published in 1851 by Herman Melville, this copy was published in 1955 and had its second reprint in 1956 by the Signet Books of the New American Library, and proudly boasts to be the complete and unabridged version.

The pencil scratch (which you could pretend is a word) is done on the books final page just above the Epilogue and the words "AND I ONLY AM ESCAPED ALONE TO TELL THEE" - Job

"The drama's done. Why then here does any one step forth? - Because one did survive the wreck."

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An old copy of A Treatise on Religious Affections by Rev. Jonathan Edwards, 'Late President of Nassau-Hall, Princeton, New Jersey'. Publishing date unknown, but research puts a loose time frame of 1800-1830, but I'm unsure of how accurate that is.

The binding of the book was found between the cover and first page, and read 'Edwards on the Affections'. The pages are watermarked and darkened somewhat with either age or wear.

On page 176 is a set of childlike scribbles done with pencil. Similar markings are found on page 256-257. Written upside down on the base of page 256 is a loopy letter E, a possibile preparatory measure to writing the full name of Evelyn beside it as clear as the writer was able.

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A very old copy of Waverley, or, 'Tis Sixty Years Since by Sir Walter Scott, Bart. Published by the F.M. Lupton Publishing Company, Nos. 72-76 Walker Street. There is no clear publishing date, save for an advertisement in the front that is said to be "published in 1829-33"

Written on the first page is as follows

Samuel B. Robinson, Jr.

Monongahela, Pa

Merry Xmas, '93

Some notes: Monongahela is the name of a river that flows between northern WV and southern PA.

I can assume by the handwriting and aforementioned possible publication date that '93 refers to 1893

I had always assumed that the phrase 'Xmas' to fill in for 'Christmas' was a more modern way of doing so, but it's fairly clear here that it's been used for some time.

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