In a message dated 1/28/99 11:19:21 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

> I'd xerox the book, then put it in a safe environment and wantonly bend,
>  fold, and mutilate the copy.

Then there is the problem of damage to the spline due to pushing the book flat
on the bed of the copier.

I've spent a bit of time with used book sellers & rare book scouts. From the
point of view of selling used books you have to be clear  if you are selling
them to be read, or to be valued as objects. I have always sided with the
reading, but appreciate the rare collector. I value the capital generating
aspects of knowledge, as good mental tools, higher than the monetary value of
a mass of bound paper. I have books that I do not read, a few, that are
considered more valuable to be kept than read. Then I have books that I have
not only written my name in but annotated the text and drawn elaborate
pictures. I once attempted to communicate my romantic feelings to my to be
wife, under covert conditions, by annotating the text of a book that I loaned
her to read. I'm not certain if she ever did read the book or the notes, but I
still have the book. I used pencil.

I had a really nice early edition of Lady Chatterly's Lover that I picked up
and suspect may have been worth more than the $2.00 I spent for it as the
bookseller begged me to bring it back, which I refused. You sold it, I bought
it, good luck in the next life. I could have got a paperback copy to read,
instead I read what I had. My housemate at the time was fumbling around in the
dark and stepped on it, which broke the spline. This also brings up the quirks
of books, such as my getting to read _Crime & Punishment_ and the _Tibetan
Book of the Dead_ while sitting in jail for possession of a desecrated
American flag, of which I was acquitted in short order. A long story but it
was an interesting July 4th in the 70's.

The rare book scout I traveled with, a lot of antique store adventures veering
off into pure weirdness, explained to me how the value of books can be
manipulated by buying them up, sort of like the Hunt brother's buying silver.
At the time there was such a manipulation going on with Wyndham Lewis by the
owner of Black Sparrow Press, who happend to be publishing a lot of Wydham
Lewis at the time. I enjoy reading Wyndham Lewis, which has nothing to do with
the value of his books. In short, you have a collector that lets a select
number of scouts know what they are looking for and the scouts quietly scour
the used book stores, flea markets, and antique shops. One monring in an
antique shop my scout friend found a Fitzgerald book for $20.00 that he sold
that afternoon for $250.00. I was supposed to be learning the ropes, but he
ended up pissed at me because I bought books because they looked interesting
to read... and he felt compelled to talk another bookseller into purchasing
them at a loss. I guess old books on Alaskan sea adventures are not sought by
the rare book market. After a while our relationship deteriorated, he sued his
mother for $10,000 which she agreed to if he promised to never talk to her
again, which became legal. He then set himself up with a small shop in
Georgetown, DC. Last I saw him he told me to expect to hear from his lawyer, I
received a letter threatening to sue me $150.00 for being a lousy poet. He
would not touch a book if it had been written in, pencil or pen.

I like buying books because of what people leave in them, such as interesting
book marks. The Salvation Army is a good place for this sort of hunting as
they do not clean the books out, as a more respectable book seller would be
inclined to do. I also find that I tend to actually read first the book that I
bought off a remainder shelf for $1.98, rather than the one I bought newly
fresh for $28.95. I'm not quite sure why I do this, except that I'm sure it
has to do with the bargain hunter instinct.

You also have to be careful not to buy sick books that will spread worms and
mildew to your other books. Quarantine is something to consider.

Whenever I visit another locale I always make a point of visiting a bookstore,
preference for a used one, and seek out local literature. I particularly like
local history, the more obscure the better.

I once lived for a short while in Moravia, NY. In Moravia they have this
quaint brick Greek Revival building on a side street that is the library. It
is a small building and was built by the original benefactor. At one time
Moravia was a happening place for farmers, now it is just a place for farmers.
In the library you have the usual collection of condensed books and best
sellers, all of them super boring. On the upper two shelves are the original
books. I got myself in hot water with the "librarian" for taking down one of
these books and looking through it. What I saw in the one book I got my hands
on were really neat etchings from the South Pacific. The sort of precise
artwork that makes National Geographic seem ordinary. Then I got caught. I was
sternly informed that NOBODY touches those books. I have since been perplexed
that a library would not allow any access to their books. I kind of felt like
I was being told that I was not allowed to know what was in the books. It was
not even an issue of my demonstrating competence in opening a book, which is a
skill, but simply the forbidden act of looking at that which you should not
know.

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