Slipcases - do you really like them ? #2

A continuation of the original thread.

As I've indicated on the prior thread, I'm a member of the small heretical sect of antislipcasians. I suppose if a poll were put up here the result would be a foregone conclusion ( in favour of slipcases) but it might still be an interesting exercise?

>3 EclecticIndulgence:

I am a confirmed slipcasian, and this does indeed bring with it the potential agony of whether to buy an otherwise perfect must-have secondhand Folio book that has lost its slipcase. Can we slipcasians bring ourselves to give an orphaned volume a home?

To stray into the territory of another thread, is the definition of a FADdict someone who will buy a book they already have just to get a slipcase in better condition? Or is that just a manifestation of obsessive slipcasephily? Or do I just need to get a day job?

If that is so, then I am truly a Faddict, having done so many a time!

>4 boldface:, >5 NYCFaddict:

Count me in! I admit I recently bought a second copy of a Folio volume purely because the first copy came sans slipcase.... The orphaned Folio didn't remain an orphan for very long: I saw it off to a very good home but a few weeks ago.

>4 boldface: >5 NYCFaddict: >6 scholasticus:

Count me in too. I have several times replace copies sans-slipcase or with damaged slipcases with copies in better condition. And in respect of my earlier FS titles, that goes for dustjackets too. Several times I have been won over by a rare unclipped and unchipped dustjacket. Now, less than 1% of my collection has missing slipcases / jackets. As a consequence my wife thinks I may be in need of a jacket. White. Tight fitting. Lots of buckles.

I love art in all its forms - painting, sculpture, ballet, opera and books (and even beautiful automobiles).
Reproductions of art can be appreciated nearly as much as the original. A well reproduced painting or sculpture, and subsequent performances of ballet and opera, can be readily appreciated, although there is that added cachet (and expense) of owning an original, or going to the opening night.
With books, a manuscript that is double space typed on A4 paper may in fact be less desirable than a beautifully presented volume that is reproduced in the thousands. Handwritten manuscripts of earlier authors are extremely valuable, but often ink splotched and almost illegible.
Fine editions of books (and here I count all FS publications) are a form of art in themselves, the FS LEs being the ultimate in affordable book art (the Facsimile Editions and Moleiro being unaffordable to mere mortals) and more desirable than the manuscript in most cases.
Therefore FS books can be appreciated for their binding, paper, illustrations and typeface as well as their content. Although it is desirable, it is not essential to read FS books in order to appreciate them as pieces of art. This can be perfectly illustrated by the fact that some of us have purchased beautiful books that we cannot read (eg. Fitzwilliam Book of Hours) or have no desire to try reading (eg. Kelmscott Chaucer).
The slipcases act as a form of protection for our bibliophilic art, and are therefore essential for their best possible long term preservation.
We are all connoisseurs of fine art in book form, and should be as proud of this as collectors or attenders of any other form of art.

> 8
'Reproductions of art can be appreciated nearly as much as the original'. I think that's true, and it is wonderful that art designed for the few (or just the thousands) now reaches the millions, but but does it follow that FS books are works of art? I'd emphasise craft, rather than art, here. FS give us skilfully produced and very pretty replicas (facsimiles); or reprints, in new and imaginative bindings, of existing works.

Of course originality, uniqueness and artistic standing aren't straightforward; a medieval wood sculpture of Mary (say) would have been mass produced (by hand) by workshops to a degree a plastic garden-gnome is today, but it's still art, to us. So it's eye of the collector, I suppose.

'Slipcases act as a form of protection' - on three sides only. if it is 'essential' to protect our books, at risk from air, light and even the roving eyes and hands of their owners, why not publish every book in a solander box to make every spine is concealed too? (I'm glad this doesn't happen)!

We're all proud of our collections, and I think it's interesting how we pursue different ways to present them to their advantage.

>8 wcarter: Very well said Warwick! I'd go so far as to add that, increasingly so over the past decade or two, Folio slipcases have themselves become part of the artwork and not merely plain protectors, from the wonderfully decorative Folio 50 slipcase to the imaginative cover which so enhances Day of the Jackal's binding design.

Further to my post 438 in #1 of this thread, it's my painful duty to announce the death of the spider which had recently taken up residence in my barometer. Sadly, rescue teams are currently unable to reach the body which is lying at the foot of the object glass.

Must have been under a lot of pressure

While I was in the bathroom,something used me as a stepping stone to go to the window.
I was absolutely petrified,until I realised that it was a spider,and luckily not a lizard,that jumped on me! Ouf! :)

I think either spider or lizard in that circumstance would cure the most stubborn constipation.

I've only experienced once a jumping spider and I was five years old then. Creeped med out back then and still does. Period

>12 tarangurgi: Excellent

Well I am pro slipcase but I ran into a problem today. After receiving Tolkiens Beowulf today (see tolkien thread), I ran out of space in my shelf. The problem with my book shelf is it's partitioned in small squares so room for certain collections are slightly limited. So with the slipcase my tolkien slipcase edition will not fit, but without the slipcase it fits just fine, though I am still missing one other book from this collection. So I guess this is one of the downside of the slipcase....it will eventually take too much space!!!

I find it is so much more pleasing to the eye without the slipcases, and yes when room for books is paramount, that is another mark against the ugly slipcases.

Well, the day has finally come. I am out of room. Sure, I could technically fit more books in, but only at the cost of removing those other items in my bookcases, including family heirlooms, which I absolutely refuse to consign to boxes in the basement.

I will soon start to remove slipcases from my Folios, and consign them to that boxed-up fate mentioned above. I will be taking before and after photographs, and posting them here, though I confess that it could well be two weeks or more before this project is completed.

I will however note in some way which slipcases go with which books, so that should I move somewhere with more bookcase space I can spare my books the nakedness they will now be forced into. Some books (I have a few in mind) could retain their slipcases, due to their singular placement. And yes, I'm quite aware that I'm making this sound more momentous than it really is - maybe I'll find that I prefer the slipcase-free life!

- 19

I think you will enjoy a slipcase less life. I wish I had the courage to remove my slipcases.

>15 ironjaw:

I find them extremely fascinating little creatures, especially when they interact with you if you wave a finger near them.

>19 coynedj:

I experimented with removing the slipcases of one shelf of FS books and found it did provide a reasonable amount of extra room, but I really disliked how they looked without the slipcases; they just looked 'wrong' somehow!

I love my slipcases. They keep all the dust and grime out leaving me extra time to enjoy my books and less time for cleaning. It's just a relief that you don't have to plan for cleaning.

Whenever I received a presentation volume in the past with no slipcase, I felt shorted.

Thought I'd revive this thread to comment on an email I got today from Cemetery Dance Publications. There's a new Stephen King book (Finders Keepers) coming out and even though they are not involved in publishing it they are producing "one of our popular custom-made slipcases" for the book. They've done this a few times for books by other publishers. Here's the kicker--the slipcase costs $24.95 while if I pre-order the book itself from Amazon that will cost $25.07 so the slipcase costs as much as the book. I'm assuming this is a money maker for them otherwise why bother. So I guess it isn't just FSD who like slipcases.

And yes, I like slipcases, although not to the extent of buying one for a regular trade hardback. My only problem with them is that FS slipcases frequently have wonderful designs/illustrations on them and I haven't got the room to display them properly.

The thing with Stephen King collectors is they are borderline looney. The amount of money they burn on books and knick knacks would baffle the average mind. I suspect a great deal of the people buying these slipcases are those who have or intend to get copies of the book signed.

I am on both sides. lol About 70% of my collection now is without slipcases. They took up too much room and my books look so much neater without them and their awkward edges. As I have a tendency to rummage through my books and look up quotes or info quite often, there is less wear and tear on the edges of my Folio Books from slipping them in and out of those often too tight slipcases. All my books are in Barrister bookcases with nice glass fronts, so they are already protected. I do keep the decorative ones and a few others in their slipcases, but overall, they are going commando! :)

I'm still in the pro-slipcover (or is it slipcase?) camp.

My only complaint is that all slipcases should have the name of the book on the spine of the slipcase (ala LEC) so that they can be housed with the book in, protected from spine of the book from the damaging light.

I do wish FS would adopt this practice. I am contemplating making paper labels myself and glueing them onto the slipcase for my FS books. I need to get a nice calligraphy pen and start practicing.

In a house prone to occasional exhalations of soot from a solid fuel cooker, I'm a committed advocate of the slipcase. I probably wouldn't commission any for trade volumes that are published without - I wouldn't know where to begin - but I'd think twice or three times about buying any uncased Folio book, and I'm regularly paying £10 a year to Slightly Foxed for slipcases to house each year's issues. Very nice they are too, though, cloth-bound and made I seem to recall by Smith Settle.

Fortunately or otherwise, small windows and surrounding buildings make it easy enough here to arrange books such that their spines are rarely much troubled by sunlight.

Yes.

I can't even find the slip case Tolkien book for sale in the US. Can anyone point me in the right direction? No luck on Amazon.

#25

"The thing with Stephen King collectors is they are borderline looney."

I don’t know if I should resent this or not. :-)

I have every Stephen King published from Carrie to Under the Dome (including the uncut edition of The Stand), in hardcover. I also have a special edition of the first Dark Tower book, an e-book edition of 11/22/63, both volumes of The Secretary of Dreams (Cemetery Dance), and the first few hardcover collections of the American Vampire comic. Even though I haven’t bought any King in the last few years other than Doctor Sleep (and only because it’s the sequel to The Shining) because of financial restrictions (it was King or FS and FS won) I still consider myself a King Collector and as far as I can tell I’m nowhere near looney, even if my family feels I should be committed for spending any of my money on books.

But I do know what you mean about his looney fans. Luckily I never fell into the “collecting everything King” trap. To me books are the only thing worth collecting.

I have been to used to those slipcases by now, so i guess they are okay! .. they might take up a little space, thats all .. the only thing negative (if so) would be that they sometimes cover beautifull volumes in a sad slipcase. Ex history of rome mommsen (looks sad with slipcase, and nice without)

>30 haniwitch:
Yeah, I have all of King's books and even a few signed because I had an opportunity to meet him but I was referring more to diehards that spend insane money on everything King.

>27 sdawson: "My only complaint is that all slipcases should have the name of the book on the spine of the slipcase (ala LEC) so that they can be housed with the book in, protected from spine of the book from the damaging light."

-Amen! Funny you should mention that, I've considered mailing the FS and asking them the obvious 'Why don't you do it?' question - I guess printing on the slipcase itself would make them more expensive, but even a nice sticker would do for me.

Not that too much sunlight is much of an issue around here, mind.

I have approx 250 FS books now, of which about 15 have no slipcases; I've just realised that those are all housed in a corner, neglected ,like weird second cousins at a family wedding. So, it seems as if I have become pro-slipcase, but I'm not sure if that's good, or a result of persistent subliminal influence. I don't think I had one slip-cased book in my house 7 years ago.

I finally had to ditch all my slipcases. Received the entire Aubrey/Maturin series and they don't fit my bookcase; they fit 19 which makes it even more annoying! I had to either keep the last book behind the rest or on another shelf and it sticks out like a sore thumb so I took the decision to remove the slipcases, and of course I was forced to remove all the others for consistency.

It has to be said though that I have glass doors on my bookcases so dust isn't a big problem. The plus side is that the books are so much easier to take out; I don't have to bother fiddling with taking the book out and looking for somewhere to put the slipcase whilst I read. The books actually look better without slipcases when you see the whole bookcase in its entirety. The downside is the back space of the shelf where I had additional books is now entirely taken up my the empty slipcases and looks a little horrid if you notice them. I may have to by some cheap plywood and create another backing to hide the cases.

It's now been a couple weeks and I don't think I'll ever use slipcases again even if I upgrade to a bigger cabinet. Before I use to fuss if I received a book with an unexpectedly damaged case, I'd go and buy another one even if the book itself was fine, just for a bloody black box that has nothing on it! Now that I don't use them it's like a weight off my shoulders, even looking for second hand finds is so much easier when I don't need to track down a book that has a fine slipcase with it, I can just just settle for a fine copy of the book itself. There are, however, some slipcases which I find absolutely integral to the overall aesthetic of the book; Beowulf, Voyage of Argo, and the Day of the Jackal all come to mind. It was more difficult removing them but it's still a decision I won't go back on.

I appreciate slipcases for keeping the books in better condition than if they were naked, especially if you're accessing books regularly—better that the bottom of a slipcase gets rubbed than the bottom edges of the boards, or the top of a spine pulled. The rubbing caused by removing a book from a slipcase is negligible when you hold the case vertically (with the book's spine resting on your lap) then lifting it up, away from the volume practically free of friction. I also like the fact that a slipcase maintains the place of a book I'm reading on the bookshelf, since other volumes can't fall into the vacant space when an empty slipcase remains there.

For me slipcases don't affect the appearance of a book on a shelf, since you can't ordinarily see the boards of a book standing among other volumes anyway, while many slipcases have wonderful designs which heighten the aesthetic pleasure of the volume, eg. Day of the Jackal, Dawn to Decadence.

Also, the universal arbiter, Mr. Secondary Market says Folios unadorned are unadored.

I had a series of books which had both dust jackets and slipcases. As I cover all my jackets with mylar, that made it too tight to fit the case, so I stored the cases in the attic. I did have second thoughts later, retrieved the slipcases, removed the mylar, and put them back in the cases. This was partly for 'financial' reasons, as I noticed that the books with slip-cases on ebay were going for far more than those without. Even though I don't collect as an investment, nor plan on selling, I still chose the slipcase path.

I have so many used books with worn/sunned slipcases holding pristine books. I wonder what those books would look like if they had been stripped of their cases. I don't buy books for investment purposes but I plan on keeping them in their cases for protection though I prefer the look of a shelf full of naked books.

Amen to that Ken. I love the fact that my books even years after are new to look at and dust free and I can sleep comfortable at night knowing this.

I am in the midst of a disagreement with a Gumtree (Australian version of eBay) seller from whom I purchased the 1997 FS Shakespeare set. He didn't send the slipcases because they made packing more difficult, and subsequently dumped them. He is not interested in any discount or refund and I am one of those who love slipcases and my brain will not let me shelve a set without them.
Anyone want a cheap set of Shakespeare?

>40 wcarter: That's shocking Warwick, especially if the set was advertised or shown in a photo with the slipcases, I'm sorry to hear that. My brain rejects nude Folios too, that is ones which were meant to be protected. It also rejects excuses from shoddy sellers who advertise one thing and deliver another. I've never used gumtree, does it not have buyer protection like eBay?

>40 wcarter: Does this seller remove illustrations that he doesn't like from books before selling them? Or: Oh, I tore the book in half because it was too thick to fit into the only shipping box I had handy. The mind boggles.

>40 wcarter:

Something sounds wrong with the explanation. If anything a book in a slipcase is *more* easy to package, it's provides a secure box to wrap.

>41 cronshaw:
Unlike eBay, Gumtree merely puts buyer and seller in touch with each other, and takes no liability for the quality of the goods or the seller. There is no method of feed back on sellers either. it is done entirely on trust, and is designed for local exchange of goods. It was advertised with slipcases. I have used it many times before without problems, but there is always a bad egg around to spoil it for others.
>43 sdawson:
The books were sent in a standard Australia Post box, which was not wide enough to fit the slipcases, and the eight books just fitted nicely in the box without the slipcases. He claimed postage would have been too high if slipcases were sent, and he was covering postage costs.
"Caveat emptor".

>44 wcarter:

Uggh. I'm not too particular about packaging in shipping, as long as it protects the books, I'm fine. However, the primary purpose of shipping is to deliver the product. The tail's wagging the dog when the priority shifts to '8 books fit in the box' so discard the slipcases.

That's shocking. These kinds of story are why I steer clear of gumtree and ebay; along with the many problems I had when I bought and sold things via ebay many years ago. I stick to reputable booksellers now; the stress just wasn't worth the savings.

There is nothing like receiving books that you want but then not want because of some defect. It's irritating and then makes you life hell just thinking about it sitting there because you can't get rid of it.

>46 Paulfozz: I've had the same experience and follow your advice.

>40 wcarter:

Wow, that's disgraceful. I'd be sending someone around to kneecap the seller. For me if a book is sold in a slipcase, then it is an integral part if the product.

Certainly with non-Folio, where slipcases tend to be used for deluxe or special editions, a slipcase-less book (that is supposed to have one) is often worth a fraction of the value of one that retains it slipcase (or in the worst case, it may even have no monetary value at all).

>46 Paulfozz:

I don't think eBay is too bad, so long as you are careful. I've bought 250+ books on eBay over the last 14 years or so, and only had 2 or 3 times where I've thought "I was a bit ripped off, there", and that has never been on any of the expensive stuff, which has always been good. I have only had one book that didn't turn up, and whilst I am sure it was never sent (as I had a bad feeling about the seller), it was only about 5 pounds, so I could live with that.

You just have to make sure you have plenty of pictures, check the seller feedback and do the usual homework. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is! Also, make sure the seller understands your packaging expectations, as non-book people often don't immediately understand that bumped corners are not OK.

Without eBay, I just couldn't have built my collection. Whilst I have used Abe and other booksellers for a couple of dozen used books, the majority of books on Abe (and through professional used booksellers) are just priced at ludicrous levels.

>50 Studedoo:
I too have used eBay without hassle in the past, but they are better than Gumtree (Australia only) with their dispute resolution process.
On the other hand, being local, Gumtree has been the source of some superb bargains (the best one was 14 FS books for A$80) over the years, so I can cope with one bad experience.
The Shakespeare set was A$60, so not a great loss, and I still have the books, all be it looking rather naked!

>50 Studedoo:

I know a number of people who say the same thing about ebay (now including wcarter) - I just find it too stressful as I tend to be a worrier and once I'd been bitten a few times by problem sellers I decided it wasn't for me.

As far as shops are concerned, it probably depends on what you're looking for and where you go. I've seen plenty of insanely expensive folios on my travels (some of the shops I've visited were 'ambitious' in their pricing to say the least, and some of the New Naturalist pricing I've seen was laughable!) but you do find very cheap editions more often than not if you look around regularly, though if you are searching for particular volumes or rarities then it can be difficult and probably ebay is the only route for the less common volumes. Fortunately I'm not into that game; I tend to have a number of books on a mental wishlist of ones I'd like but generally just go out to browse for books that look interesting, which fits in with the haphazard nature of looking around various secondhand and charity shops. In terms of book buying I definitely tend towards the gatherer rather than the hunter.

It helps that many folios turn up in the shops around my part of the country though, if I lived in an area where they were hard to find then I'd naturally be looking online far more. Some bookshop buys over the last year:

Colour: Travels Through The Paintbox £8.50 Tombland Bookshop in Norwich
The Leopard (unread copy as I had to break the binding when opening it) £2 Churchgate Books in Bury St Edmunds
Carthage: A History £12 Churchgate Books in Bury St Edmunds
Empires of the Nile £12 Churchgate Books in Bury St Edmunds
The Travels of Marco Polo £5 All Books in Maldon

and charity shops:
Redcoats and Rebels £6 St Helena charity bookshop in Colchester
Legends of the Grail (no slipcase) £5 BHF charity bookshop in Chelmsford
Life (still sealed) £5 Oxfam in Chelmsford
Pax Britannica £20 Oxfam in Chelmsford again

My take on slipcases is that leaving them on is as good a way of storing slipcases as any--I do sympathise with the view that books look better without them (and note that FS generally uses images of books 'en masse' without them on the site) but if I took mine off I wouldn't be able to throw them away. And some slipcases form part of the overall package (Treasure Island, Heart of Darkness) so if you are obliged to leave them on some for this reason, that pretty much dictates leaving them on all. It can be problematic because the bookshelf I use for FS isn't adjustable--it has a couple of shelves just deep enough to take the larger format (10") books with the slipcases, and four that can accommodate smaller sizes. The larger ones are generally non-fiction, smaller ones fiction, so I can generally keep fiction and non-fiction separate, but Treasure Island is larger format and can't go with the rest of my fiction. I'm sure you will appreciate just how disturbing that is.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but I've found a new reason to like slipcases. Moved to a dry climate, and several of my books
now have warped boards, including a couple leather bound antiquarians. Slipcased volumes remain perfect...

I like the slipcases, I think it's a great distinguisher of the classiness of the Folio books vs most others I've ever seen... But I get Folios about 1/2 for the awesome look of them on the shelf, so I may be a bit biased towards them looking good over other aspects.

I've just seen, for the first time, one of the Folio Letterpress Shakespeare volumes (Taming of the Shrew) offered in a slipcase rather than in the usual bulky box, currently on offer on eBay UK. It looks impressively elegant with a slipcase, let alone being more practical for a library, especially if you're collecting the whole series. Happily I'm immune to the seduction of this series, doubly immune with respect to the solander sarcophagus variety, owing to the cost in both food tokens and shelf space; though as a FAD sufferer I still admire a handsome volume.

>56 cronshaw: Unlike the solander-boxed letterpress Shakespeares there appears to be no commentary volume with the slipcase version on ebay.

>57 David_E: That's true, the slipcased versions don't come with commentaries. But the commentary volume merely reproduces the text of the whole play with the added footnotes and commentary of the excellent Oxford Shakespeare, already widely available. Given that the commentary volumes are a fraction of the height of the Letterpress volumes, yet substantially fatter, roughly half the volume of each enormous solander box is empty space! Perhaps it would have been better to have offered slimmer commentary volumes as optional slipcased extras to accompany separately slipcased Letterpress volumes, with purely editorial commentary rather than repeating all the text of the play. Then if Devotees wanted to eventually collect all 39 (!) volumes of the series, they would take up far less space and look all the more compact and elegant on bookshelves.

>59 kdweber: I so wish that the FS would offer the Letterpress Shakespeare in a slipcase with a separate slipcased commentary volume! Maybe I wouldn't have stopped at 19 volumes. I like the binding, size and shape of the Oxford companion books but would love to be able to shelve them separately on a smaller shelf. Perhaps the FS thinks that if one can afford this set they live in an English country mansion?

>59 kdweber:

I was already collecting the Oxford Shakespeare volumes when the Letterpress Shakespeare began, so I ordered Folios's slipcased versions. I have four, but was then put off when they decided to discontinue this option.

>60 boldface: Did the Oxford volumes come in nice buckram bindings?

>60 boldface: Me too, but I only got as far as one! So I have just a single slipcased Letterpress Shakespeare and 8 in the usual solander box. A shame, as I much prefer the slipcased version, but with FS having discontinued the option and these ones being very rare on the secondary market, I had litle choice but to go down the solander box route.

>61 kdweber:

They are bound in what used to be the standard Oxford buckram and they are printed on an acid-free creamish paper. But beware of print-on-demand copies as these have laminated boards to look like the dust jackets.

>63 boldface:
What exactly are laminated boards? Thanks for any enlightenment.

>64 Kiwi_Booklover:

A sort of paperback/hardback hybrid perhaps most often seen in school and public libraries, sacrificing visual and tactile considerations for a measure of durability. Stiff boards as on a hardback book, but the paper carrying the design of spine and boards is sealed to them by a tight covering of hard-wearing transparent plastic.

>65 terebinth:
Thanks. I guess they might be glued like a paperback as well.

>66 Kiwi_Booklover:

I'd expect so. I have several print-on-demand volumes here of titles otherwise unobtainable, including hardbacks laminated and with conventional boards, and all are perfect bound (cut and glued) except for a couple from Gyan Books of New Delhi.

>67 terebinth:
Thank you. I've seen them online, but so far avoided them because had no idea what they were and kept looking. Yet in many cases as you say, there is nothing else on offer for that title.

I feel like I must be in a minority here because I've thrown out all my slipcases. They make the bookcase look so unaesthetically pleasing in my eyes. The only reason I would use them would be to keep dust off the top of the book, but that doesn't really bother me. And I like seeing wear in books; it shows that they've been loved.

If I ever buy a LE then maybe I would keep it in the slipcase. Maybe. But probably not.

>69 Diglot:
This may be of no concern to you, but you should be aware that FS books without a slipcase are virtually unsaleable.
I love the slipcases as they protect and define the book.

Well I can sleep at night comfortably knowing that my books are well protected with slipcases from dust, grime and sunlight. I've seen some of my books fade and I tell it's not a pretty picture.

>70 wcarter:

I sold my Epic of Gilgamesh without slipcase on Amazon. But in general I would agree that slipless cases won't sell as good on the secondary market. And I'm OK with that.

Just got some new display cases with glass doors especially for my LE and I've actually decided to display the books in all their glory rather than in their slipcases, or in most cases, solander boxes and it just makes the whole presentation just come alive. No need to worry about dust either.

For my standard editions I'm still happy, nearly a year on, having them in my bookcase without their slipcases on. As with my LE bookcase, they're behind glass doors so dust isn't a major problem (though some dust still gets through the gaps between the doors), and it's just so much easier reaching in to grab a book and not faffing about taking it out of the slipcase, finding some spare space space on a table to put it down on, and then trying to manaeuvre it back in.

To me, if you have a bookcase with doors then that is the slipcase, albeit a bigger one with other books in it.

The biggest benefit is definitely financial, books are significally marked down and it saves a ton of cash and one less thing to worry over the listed condition of; why pay £40 for a fine book with scuffed slipcase when I can pay £15 for an equally fine book without a case I'll never use?

>69 Diglot:
I'll join the minority. Only a few slipcases are decorative, and they take up space. I suspect that more damage is done to the book by repeatedly removing it and reinserting it into the slipcase than is done by whatever dust might accumulate. I have saved all the slipcases in big boxes in the attic, but I don't expect to ever use them.

I'll never sell them, so value is not an issue, although I have occasionally given one away.

>74 jroger1:

The occasional tight slipcase can take dye especially from paper boards, but rarely with objectionable effect in my experience. Then, few books here are likely to leave and re-enter their slipcases many times during my ownership of them: when I start reading a book it comes out, the slipcase stays on the shelf so that I don't have to think about how to prevent its neighbouring books from leaning into a gap, and the book returns when I've come to its end, given up on it or at least found myself ready for a long break from reading it. It emerges again if I happen to want to try to find some detail or am ready to read it again. Not much opportunity for wear there.

I'm also unlikely to get around to selling many books in my lifetime, but probably someone will sell them sooner or later and it'll probably be someone I'd want to benefit financially from so doing. Then, I'm sufficiently taken with the functionality of slipcases that they would be performing their duties on my shelves even if the rest of the world were agreed in casting them aside.