Oldest Book you own!

[TykeMerc]

I have a few Victorian era books and a family Bible that dates back to around 1750 (a couple of thousand 1950 onwards), but nothing close to your collection MarillionFan.

[stek]

I've got a few very early editions of some Spanish plays (Cervantes, Lope De Vega) and some early 19th century copies of the works of Doc Johnson.

Is he the guy in Miami Vice?

[MarillionFan]

I have a few Victorian era books and a family Bible that dates back to around 1750 (a couple of thousand 1950 onwards), but nothing close to your collection MarillionFan.

To be fair, it's sad that Sasguru isnt on tonight. I do believe that he has one of the oldest books in existence.... His joke book.

[NickFitz]

Don't get me wrong I read the books I have. I also have a collection of Dickens. But there's something real about 'old' books. My parents were antique dealers and when I was a kid I was dragged from antique fair to antique fair. It's just funny out of all things I was exposed to there's nothing better than an ornate book binding.

Apologies if I came across as suggesting that you regarded your books as mere artefacts to be collected for some value divorced from their nature; I know that bibliophiles aren't like that. I was only deprecating my own skills as a collector.

New technology and old books!

When I was at school I had two primary pastimes: mucking about on the school's PDP 8/e learning about programming, and mucking about in the school press learning about letterpress printing. I was a better hand-typesetter than I was a programmer (possibly still am), and I still have an inordinate fondness for that obsolete technology; when I get around to getting rich, I shall return to it.

My involvement with printing led me to an interest in bookbinding, which is a truly fascinating craft. Like yourself, I love a beautifully-bound volume, and even more so if the subject matter is of interest; but there were times when I lingered over the school library's many-volumed set of the complete writings of René Descartes (in French and totally incomprehensible to me even once I'd got an O Level in the language) simply to study the craftsmanship that had been put into their bindings by some Victorian bookbinder.

In those days, it was possible to buy a book "uncut": this meant that one purchased a complete set of signatures (the folded sheets containing many pages, but with a number of the folds on the outside and upper edges to allow the master fold to be on the inside ready to be stitched and bound into the spine) and would have them delivered to one's bookbinder, who would collate the signatures, stitch them, and bind them into the case of one's choosing.

If one had one's own bookbinder, they would trim the edges of the conjoined signatures before binding them into the case. However, it was typical for mass-bound books to be sold with the pages uncut: that is, the folds at the top and right edges of the signatures would still be there, and the reader would have to deal with them.

This is the reason paper-knives were such a common household item in those times: although most people nowadays imagine they were used for opening letters (and wonder why people didn't just open them as we do) the paper-knife's primary function was for slitting the folds at the edges of one page and the next as one was reading the book. This is why old books often have neatly-torn edges to many of their pages, rather than a smooth edge; and, in one old book I bought many years ago, it transpired that the original owner had only got halfway through, and I had to cut the rest of the pages myself when I read it

[NickFitz]

There's also a two-part volume of "The Life and Times of Queen Victoria" which was published before she died.

Does part two end with the words "To pre-order part three, send your valet or ladies' maid to Messrs. Hemynge & Condell with a Treasury Note to the value of One Guinea"?

[threaded]

A couple of early edition arthur c clarks from the late 50's

I have a 1945 issue of Wireless World with article written by Arthur C Clark. Typical science fiction stuff: radio controlled rocket stations, far bigger than a V2, that are steered into position and then hang in the air, not moving, relaying signals to each other to give world wide coverage.

Preposterous notion!

[Gonzo]

A couple of early edition arthur c clarks from the late 50's

I have a 1945 issue of Wireless World with article written by Arthur C Clark. Typical science fiction stuff: radio controlled rocket stations, far bigger than a V2, that are steered into position and then hang in the air, not moving, relaying signals to each other to give world wide coverage.

Preposterous notion!

It turns out that one grandfather of mine went to school with Arthur C Clarke and I didn't realise until after that grandfather had died.

I was listening to a programme on Radio 4 about the author and it started covering his school days. I thought, hang on a minute, that's the same school that granddad went to and they would have been about the same age. I asked mum about it and she confirmed it.

I so wish that I had known earlier and could have talked to granddad about it. Of course, at the time my grandfather died there was still some doubt about whether it would be OK to give Arthur his knighthood so I am not sure how much he would have wanted to talk, but that was such an opportunity wasted.

[NotAllThere]

I've got a family bible from 1860 - unless the wife has donated it... The oldest I'm certain of is an atlas and gazetteer from 1906. The gazetteer contains information about population, manufacturing and stuff, so quite interesting.

[chef]

Issue 1 of a Superman Comic

[MarillionFan]

The subject is just important for me which is loosely termed as 'Esoteric'

As mentioned my parents where antique dealers and we used to go to shows. There was one guy who would always pull something out from behind my ear! My daughter loves that!

When I was about seven I had really bad warts across my fingers and was booked to see a specialist. At one fair was a seller who was a well known gypsy and on hearing the story said she would 'buy them' from me. She gave be 1/2p and I rubbed all of the warts and threw away the coin as instructed. Whoever picked up the coin would get them.

A week later we went to the specialist. My mother apologised to him for wasting his time because of the 20 or so I had from the week before there was only one left.

That makes a huge impression on a child you know!