Green Books

I am a fan of books in their original state.  I guess that's why I have the bug to collect first editions.  The first edition captures something else that later printings don't.  There is something about holding and reading a book in it's first state available to the public.  You feel more connected to the author and to the time in which it was published.  It is exciting to find that first edition of Gilead by Marilynne Robinson or the signed first edition of A Time to Heal by President Gerald R. Ford.  But the feeling is not quite so strong as when you are holding an antiquarian first edition.  When you pick up a book published in 1858 or 1678 and browse the pages you go back in time.  You're holding a piece of history.

Unfortunately, the price of said antiquarian books is prohibitive for most.  Or maybe the availability is very limited.  Typically, the price and commonality of a book are inversely correlated.  So what do you do?  Your desire to see and hold these books can be sated by visiting a local used book seller, or if you're lucky enough there may be a rare book room in your local library.  But that's not quite like having the real thing on your shelf.  Without resorting to crime the easiest way to obtain a copy of one of these books is a reproduction or facsimile.  While this also is not anything close to owning the real thing, it's closer than a paperback version or modern translation.  

At the book sale I recently attended I got my hands on four reproductions.  They were produced by two publishing houses, Scholars' Facsimiles & Reprints and Gale Research Company, in the late 60's and early 70's.  All four happened to be bound in green cloth, hence the name of this post.  Although, as stated before, this isn't quite like owning the real thing, it still allows me to read the words as they were originally published; as they were originally intended to reach their audience (here I will eschew the discussion of author's intent versus publisher's intent).  I can also observe the historical publishing practices, as the words and layout are reproduced exactly.  And perhaps most charming, I can see the inconsistency with which words were spelled in times past.  All of these things help me to appreciate and enjoy what I'm reading and collecting all the more.

Honorable Mention

So I entered the Valentine's Day book into this contest.  I didn't win, but I got an honorable mention, which is nice.  You can see the winners here: 

 http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/02/craft_valentines_day_project_c_1.html

Recent Rarities

Every three months my county public library puts on a book sale.  These sales were instituted to raise money for the library, which relieves some of the tax burden of running an award-winning library.  The sales are designed to move inventory rather quickly, therefore the books--having been donated for the sales--are priced very reasonably.  The most recent sale was January 23-24.  That's where I found a first edition of Michael Connelly's first book.

                                           

The book is in great shape.  Apparently, when the book was first released, it also had a blue rebate coupon in a band wrapped around the dust jacket.  That band is the only thing missing from an otherwise near fine/near fine book.  A great find for me, or I should say, for my brother.  I'm going to be sending the book to him soon, as he is the collector of Michael Connelly.  The Black Echo is the only Connelly book he needs to complete his collection.  A generous bookseller from Oregon is sending me a signed bookplate to tip-in, free of charge!  That will be a nice surprise when my brother opens the book.

My wife's sister and her husband were in town this weekend.  On Saturday, the girls went out and did their thing while my brother-in-law and I headed to the flea market.  We were about to leave when we stopped into one last bookstall.  I was rumaging through the "fill a bag for a buck" bin when I came across a decent copy of My Name is Asher Lev, by Chaim Potok.

                                          

When I opened the book, I was pleasently surprised to find that it had been inscribed and dated by Chaim Potok.  He signed it a little less than a month before I was born.  It's not a first edition, but a fifth printing.  The book is not in the best shape.  And the signature itself is marred across the first name.  Still, it's not a bad find for less than a buck.

                                 

Valentine's Day

Every year around Valentine's Day I try to do something really creative for my wife.  Last year I put together a picture for her in Photoshop.  This year I decided to create a gift that shows my love for her and my love of books.  

I was browsing in an antique store and found a box full of old printer's letters.  Once I picked out the letters I wanted I was wondering how I was going to display them.  I was browsing in a thrift store looking at books when I realized that a book would be the perfect place to display my printer's letters.  

What I did: 

I figured out where I wanted to put the letters.  I used an exacto knife to cut though the cover and about 200 pages.  I put a piece of glass between the pages where I wanted to stop cutting. I masked off the pages and spray painted the cover gloss white.  I then spray painted the edges of the pages flat black, using a hair dryer to keep the paint from sticking the pages together.  

I used Photoshop to design a new cover.  I simply measured the old cover of the book and opened a new file in Photoshop with those measurments.  As a background, I copied and pasted text blocks from Google books.  (Phantastes, by George MacDonald).  I used a filter to tweak the text a bit.  I scanned in the printer's letters and arranged the images on the spine.

I decide to add a little light to the book.  I hacked a Blu-ray gift card from Target.  I replaced all the blue LEDs with red ones.  I then drilled holes through the cover of the book and cut out a place in the pages for the PCB and wires to fit.  I glued a small piece of cork on the button, so when you press on the lower part of the cover you activate the LEDs.