Books not bought, roads not taken, etc.

So you're in a bookstore and the book itself is in your hand. You feel its heft, admire the binding, caress the pages, smell the paper and cloth and leather, read a bit, but ultimately you put it back on the shelf. Why?

Or maybe you go back a week later, to rescue it from death-by-languishing-unappreciated.

What are the books that got away, almost got away, or you're still glad you let get away?

I was in my favourite local secondhand bookshop about a month ago; they always have quite a few Folio Society books and price them well so there is a good turnover. I suppose that on this occasion they had about 80 titles and I was working my way through them, checking condition, price etc, when I spotted a still shrinkwrapped FS Norton's First Folio which was marked at £40, I put it back on the shelf to continue with my perusal of the other volumes, and just as I had finished and was about to take another look at the Shakespeare a hand reached from behind me and removed it from the shelf - long story short, the gentleman did offer to toss a coin for it, but I let it go. A few days afterwards I watched a BBC documentary about the theft of an original First Folio and, of course, from that moment rather regretted not snaffling the FS book while I had the chance.

It was the complete 60s Shakespeare collection - those small colourful volumes but this one was a whole white edition with box slipcases to hold 5 volumes I think, they were in exceedingly good condition maybe fine for £200 - that is £5 for each volume. I know the multicoloured ones get sold on ebay and I have a few but when it was on ebay I said not for me and now I kinda regret it. A week ago someone else put up 4 or 5 box slipcasess ie. the complete 37 volumes in white for £13 each and then again I missed it. Alas i will get it at somepoint

There was a 1884 Harper and Brothers Raven with Gustave Dore illustrations int he elephant folio that I lost on ebay because the buy it now price was changed as I was going through a subway. This book, which came with its box, would have been easily 1000, but he was going to sell it for 275. It took me a whole week to get over that one but bringing it up again brings the sting of defeat back to me. This happened about 2 weeks ago

I happened to see the same LEC edition at two different stores this weekend: Defoe's Journal of the Plague Year. The book is bound in a very dense, thick burlap, with a red X stenciled on the front and the year 1665 on the back. In addition to solid black endpapers, the pages are stained black on all three sides, so as you open the cover, you have the impression of staring into a great black hole. A very striking presentation, although I wonder how long you could hold the book comfortably. I lingered over both copies but didn't buy...wondering now if I'll regret that.

You shouldn't fret that loss. The Journal of the Plague Year can easily be found in excellent condition on the 2nd hand market for 25-40 dollars

I haven't seen the LEC of Journal of a Plague Year, but I've seen many Heritage versions. A great looking book - the HP I have of it is one of my favorites of my collection thus far.

I've bypassed the LEC The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin twice, and I kick myself for it each time because I don't have enough money to obtain it. Next time I travel to that shop, though, I think I'm going to get it, because it's absolutely gorgeous. Hopefully it'll be there when I return!

Saw the second LEC edition of Leaves of Grass in a bookshop yesterday. This was the 1942(?) two volume set and was in excellent condition. I had never seen it before and found it quite amazing. It might have come home with me despite it's four figure price tag if I hadn't already made some big book purchases lately. Oh yeah, and Christmas is the season of giving (to others).8^P

I wonder how it compares to the 1929 edition? There is quite a price differential on-line between the two with the 1929 edition going for less than $150 and the 1942 going for between $800 and $1500.

>8 jveezer:

jveezer, the answer boils own to 2 words--Edward Weston. When George Macy did the original Leaves, he made the decision (based on advice given to him), that the first (1885) edition of Leaves was the one he should print. He stated later that he realized this was a mistake as it that version did not contain some of Whitman's greatest poems which were in later editions--especially "When Lilacs last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" and "Passage to India." Thus the decision was made to reissue a version based on the 1876 edition and including many poems from later editions (the "Deathbed Edition" wasn't chosen as the editors felt some of Whitman's later revisions of some poems were not the ones that readers had regarded as the most faous versions).

The earlier version had not been illustrated, and the new edition gave the designer of the book the chance to commission photographs by Edward Weston, and this in fact was what made the book the success it has been.

Two of the most sought after LEC's are on eBay right now. Ulysses and Lysistrata. I threw in a bid while Ulysses was still in the 3 figure range but did nothing but trigger someones automatic bid $10 higher than mine. Now I'm just watching and wishing...I'll keep living with my Easton Press facsimile until the unlikely day comes that I manage to add this to my library.

Unless I win the Lotto, I have given up on both. The Heritage Press Lysistrata is OK for me--although I like Picasso's illustrations very much, I can't see a huge difference in the reproduction quality.

The Ulysses is a different matter. I'd love to have this, but frankly even the Easton Press facsimile costs more than I can justify right now. I was in Dublin 5 years ago, went to the Joyce house and bought the Authorized edition from the bookstore, reread it in Dublin for the first time in 30 years, and I can't see myself getting back to it for another 20 years--if I'm lucky!

Looks like the Picasso sold for $5,416.00 and the Matisse for $3,601.51
Interesting that today's LEC books are offered at comparible prices, yet are arguably worth far less. Also interesting how a single signature can add around $5366 in value to a book :)

The Ulysses with Joyce's signature is worth 5 figures.

And I'm amazed what people are willing to pay for new LEs from the Folio Society--around a thousand dollars US, when the 2 volume LEC edition with the full color illustrations by Edy Legrand (in my opinion, superior to Blake's sketches in the FS edition) can be purchased for under $200, and the monumental 1933 LEC edition with Louis Icart's fantastic wood engravings can be found for around $500 US. Both LECs are letterpress, the Icart illustrations are pulled right off the wood blocks, not photolithographically reproduced, and the Legrand illustrations in the later issue are reproduced either by collotype or gravure.

13: I take it you mean Quentin Blake! At first I thought you meant William Blake (whose illustrations are phenomenal :) I take it you are referring to Don Quixote? I would like to see pics of both LEC editions of Don Quixote (I was not impressed by QB's illustrations in the FS edition myself). I think the artist in the 1933 edition is Enric-Cristobal Ricart if we're thinking of the same book.

Also, as for the edition signed by Joyce, this is what I read:

"When Joyce learned that Matisse had chosen Homer as the inspiration for the illustrations, the number of copies he agreed to sign was abruptly reduced to only 250 from the entire edition of 1500. Those copies signed by both Joyce and Matisse were sold for five dollars more than the Matisse-only copies ($15 rather than $10)."

imagine, paying a whooping $15 for a book signed by Matisse and Joyce!

>14 astropi:

Much lore has accumulated around the LEC Ulysses, including this tale of Joyce's snit over Matisse's illustrations. Based on the material I have read, most of which was the correspondence between Joyce and his publisher, he only agreed to sign a limited number of the books in the first place, as his eyesight was in very bad shape at this point (two years before his death) and he was in the process of finishing Finnegan's Wake. Also, based on the correspondence with George Macy, he was very pleased with the illustrations. (It would have been odd, after all, for him to be upset over Matisse using Homer as his inspiration when Joyce's book was also inspired, to some extent, by The Odyssey.

And yes, E-C. Ricart was the illustrator of the earlier LEC Don Quixote. I had been reading on LibraryThing about a new book about Louis Icart, another Art Deco illustrator and had him on the brain. I will take pictures of the Ricart edition this weekend for posting, but sadly I don't have the Legrand-illustrated version. Perhaps ironjaw can favor us? :-)