The Stories in Old Books
As you know, I’ve been cataloguing the books in my library. I got about half done via barcode, but the other half? Too old for barcodes! So I’ve been inputting them manually, little by little. The other day I did a shelf of Grace Livingston Hill novels. I have a ton of them! Most are reprints from the 1970s-1990s, but a few are the old, hardbound books with fragile pages. As I carefully flipped to the title page of each book to note publication date and publisher, I remembered why I love old books so much.
Partly, of course, I love the story inside, otherwise it wouldn’t be on my shelf! But the stories of old books don’t stop with its pages.
I take such pleasure in knowing that I hold the book in its original published form. Not just the type and the words, but the original cover as well. Usually this means a hard cover which is essentially plain, with only the title and author. A few have dust jackets with an illustration, but it’s rare to find books from the early 20th century with those paper covers intact.
The inside cover of an old book is also a treasure trove for the imagination. Often there is an inscription of a gift, a Merry Christmas or a Happy Birthday, often with the accompanying year of its gifting. Sometimes there is only a name noting a previous owner. It’s also interesting when there’s a notation of a library in which the book once lived or the penciled in price from a used/rare book store.
Two different owners? 
Not only an old inscription, but a price tag from The Strand bookstore in NYC, reminding me of our trip there.
It’s these notations—the book’s passport stamps, if you will—that really endear old books to my heart. Who were these people? Did they read the book more than once or did they read it at all? Was it a beloved title or a random gift? And how did it reach my bookshelf? Was it discarded during a spring cleaning binge? When downsizing to a nursing home? Kids cleaning out a parent or grandparent’s belongings after they passed, with no attachment themselves to this title?
When I read an old book, I often wonder about all those who have turned these exact pages before me. Those who have read and lived and died. And I wonder what will happen to these books after I’m gone. Likely my children will haul them all to Half Price Books or donate them to the local library. But maybe they will find a few to hold onto. Or my grandchildren will snatch a few from the giveaway box.
Whatever the fate of my already old books, I hope that one day someone else will hold it in their hands, and as they read, they’ll wonder about me.
What is the greatest appeal of old books for you? Is it just about a favorite story in its original packaging or does the “history” of the book draw you? What has been your favorite old book find?
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Love this post! It brings up a lot to think about to a book collector. I have tons of books and have a hard time getting rid of any of them. HOWEVER, at this stage of my life I am trying to find good homes for books I don’t think I will ever read again – I almost never reread.
As a retired teacher, it took me six years to pass on all of the books I had collected during 30 years of teaching, as well as teaching materials. Some, I passed to my two grandchildren along with books from my childhood. I still have a treasured book of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tales that my parents gave me for Christmas when I was twelve. It is a hardcover with beautiful illustrations and came in its own cardboard book holder. I have tried to inscribe special books to my grandchildren (now 14 and 12) in meaningful ways.
Thanks for a thought provoking and enjoyable post. I hope your children love books as much as you do.
I love how intentional you are about culling down your book collection. I know your granddaughters will one day treasure those gifts! And that Hans Christian Anderson book sounds divine!
I loved this post! Old books are such treasures. The most interesting one I ever purchased came from Thriftbooks.com. It was a beat-up first edition of Rumer Godden’s In This House of Brede. When the book arrived, there was a pressed flower and a beautiful notecard with a long, hand-written note of birthday greetings and lovely thoughts, as the book had been a gift from one friend to another. I still have the notecard in the book.
What a wonderful find! A little lost piece of history! And I have to know–what is this book it was in? Haven’t heard of it before!
As someone who writes historical fiction set in the 1940s, I enjoy seeking out vintage editions of books from that era because they provide so much color for my writing. One of my favorite finds is a early edition of Ernie Pyle’s “This is Your War,” purchased at a local historical society barn sale. The book, however, was so terribly musty I had to set it aside for months until it lost its awful smell! How could I read it when I kept sneezing? Happily, the read was worth the wait. 🙂 Now I have all three of Pyle’s war books in early editions.
How fun! I love reading books from the time period I’m writing in. So much in just the word choices! What a fun find for you to have.
You’ve been cataloguing your books too? These past couple of weeks I’ve been doing the same thing! Scanning the barcodes I can, entering ISB numbers for others, and manually for several. It’s so fun scanning those barcodes!
My favorite older books I own are my Florence Barclay books. I love her writing and would like to get more of the older editions if I am able.
Yes! I have to admit, I love the ease of the barcodes. But it has also been fun to handle again some of my older books. 🙂 I’ll have to look up Florence Barclay. I haven’t heard of her.