For the Love of Old Books

Recently I was shopping in a conference for some good finds on books, and in the very back of this conference, there was a little nookish looking booth that sold old books. There was everything from rare, expensive first editions of books to newer books. Mostly there were in between books. But there were some rare finds that I only wished I had the money for. There were some rare old editions of Pride and Prejudice from 1909 for about $45. I only wished I had the money to buy the precious books containing one of the most beloved stories of all time. There was also a first American edition of Til We Have Faces, by Lewis, but if I recall, that one was $60 or so. But even though I didn't have the money to buy the old, rare books, there was something about just holding them. You could hold them, and feel the crackle of the binding and feel the rough old pages rubbing against your fingers. There is something about just feeling a book that seems to bring you back to the first person who once held the book. I love to think of a little Victorian girl primly and properly holding the book sitting up politely in a chair in a sitting room or sitting out on a big lawn drinking in the words of the books. And who knows who have held the books and where the books have been since they were first printed and sold to where they were then: sitting on a shelf just waiting to be taken up by a new owner to be read and loved.
As for myself, I found a few treasures. Not many, but oh the joy of finding even a few to put on your shelf and to pick out and read over and over again. I bought three older books and then one newer book. But the newer book seems just as delightful as the older ones; it's a Robert Frost poetry book, but it's not just any Robert Frost book. Inside it there are the poems along with beautiful black and white photos of landscapes, people, animals... many of the pictures have snow in them, and most of them appear to have been taken in New England. It's a beautiful, beautiful book that I have a feeling will be a favorite of mine. The older books not only have the treasures of the stories in them, but the inscriptions in the front cover are the best. One of the ones that I think will probably be my favorite out of the three is called The Scottish Chiefs. On the inside there is a beautiful, cursive inscription that reads, "Christmas Present From Marl and Minnie to Their Father 1902" Apparently it's a relatively scarce and early edition of the book. It's about William Wallace, and I can say with great certainty that Scotland is my favorite country in the world, so I know I will enjoy the story. There's something almost romantic about the old Scottish people, who were seen as barbaric but were so filled with patriotism. Just looking at the book I can imagine myself getting lost in the words of the story and being transported back to the time of Wallace. Because it's not just a story or any book. It's an old book, which seems to transport me back in time in the first place. Another book I found is entitled Riley Songs of Friendship. It appeared to be a rather random book, but it's really very neat. It's by an Indiana poet, but the pictures and poems inside are beautiful, and I absolutely adored the simple, clean words. The inscription on the front cover of this book says, "To Stuart from Laura Christmas 1916" This book was beautiful, and I couldn't pass it up. The other book I bought was The Screwtape Letters. Okay, yeah, it's a relatively common book, but the inscription and the little treasure that was in it was incredibly delightful and honestly had me nearly giggling I was so excited. Not only is the inscription absolutely the sweetest thing ever.... it's in French. Does it get much better? In the front it says "Madeline [what appears to be] Parlier Hill from [a French name I can't read] avec toute ma tendresse December 28, 1949" And the French inscription means "with all my tenderness." Cute much? Gah. Old books. And then in the middle of the book I found the treasure. This is what I truly loves about old books - you find little things in between the pages you never would have expected. In the middle I found a Beatrix Potter post card from Britain, and then on the back there is a note written in French. It appears that it says something like, "Have a good time in Meadows ---" The last word I can't tell what it says because it's so smudged up. And the book itself just has a nice feel to it. The fact that it's a relatively early edition of a C.S. Lewis book makes me dreadfully delighted, as he is definitely one of my top authors.
What I love about older books is they're all different. When you walk into a Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million, all the books are the same. They're all new. None of them have had an owner, and they're all brand new and barely touched. But old books - they all carry a different story. They seem to walk a path of life all their own. No, books can't think, feel, or anything of the like. But the book seems to carry two stories - one, which is the obvious - the story it tells. The second, not so obvious, the story it has "lived." Books have been so many different places, been held by so many different people. Some of the books could have lost their owner by being lent out, or by being left in an airport, or some other strange circumstance; and then was picked up by a new owner. They've probably been held by hundreds of people. And then you have to wonder - what made the person, the very first owner, buy the book in the first place? When I start thinking about all these stories, it makes me feel special not only to have these old books, but also to own new books from the bookstore. Because I'm the person starting the story of all of these books, and these books could last for centuries, and one day end up being sold for a hundred dollars because they're rare. And that thought is indeed an intriguing one.
And after typing this all out, I feel like going down to the coffee shop and sitting down on one of the couches in a little cranny and reading one of these books from cover to cover. The things that books will do to you....

"Find a girl who reads. You'll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag. She's the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop?
That's the reader.
They can never resist smelling the pages,
especially when they are yellow."
{excerpt from The Monica Bird}