Bookstore back open for business

As promised before, here are a few books to get started with. Any book with a "add to cart button" is for sale unless otherwise noted that it has been sold or not available. This is and will be a work in progress so please stay with me as I experiment with the different ways of showing off my collection and also as I pick and choose the format of my postings. Ideally, I will be adding lots of books, so if you do not see anything you might be interested in on this blog, please keep checking back. Payment can be made with Pay pal and there will be a flat $3.00 shipping and handling fee.

Genung's Handbook
First up is the "Handbook of Rhetorical Analysis, Studies in Style and Invention" by John F. Genung; Ph.D. of the University of Leipsic; Professor of Rhetoric in Amherst College. - Ginn & Company, Publishers: Boston, U.S.A. 1900. 2nd title page states that it was entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1888, so I do not want to promise this is a First Edition, but so far I have only been able to find three other copies and they are all listed as 1900 as well.

This particular copy is in fine condition. Blue cloth, with minor shelf wear to top and bottom edge of spine. Hinges are still tight and there are no loose pages. Gold inlay on spine and cover. No jacket as issued and this is not an Ex-Lib. copy.

Previous owner's name and date ('04) on the front end page; price pencil marks, upper left corner of front pastdown and another one, upper right corner of F.E.P. No other visable marks and with only light foxing to the Rear End Page and Rear Paste Down.

Today's price is only $17.50 with a flat rate S/H fee of $3.00. Total price $20.50. As mentioned, I was only able to find three other copies of this book and one of the was an Ex-Lib copy. Satisfaction guarantee, if for any reason you are not happy with this book, just send it back for a full refund.

Genung's Handbook

Harrison's Saint Teresa
Henry Sydnor Harrison's 1922 novel, Harrison (1880-1930) is a novelist from Tennessee who also wrote under the pen name of Henry Second. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, The Reverside Press Cambridge; Boston and New York; 1922 First Edition.

There are several copies of this book available, but most of them are reproductions of the original piece. Some copies are going as high as $50.00. This copy, as you can see in the picture to the right, has seen better days but it still makes an excellent reading copy of the original work and not a reproduction. Along the right edge of the novel in the picture you can clearly see some paint that is on the edge of the cover only, it does not effect the pages. The rest of the cover and spine is faded but still holding tight. Green cloth boards with gilt lettering on spine and cover. No loose pages and no marks that I saw. Not an Ex. Lib copy.

$4.75 with $3.00 S/H, satisfaction guaranteed

Thanks for looking and I shall try my best to keep adding a few books every couple of days. If you have any questions or if there is anything specific that you are interested in please feel free to contact me.

Today's Quote: "Books are embalmed minds" ~ Bovee
Happy Reading - Patty

Information Age

I have the pleasure of working part time at the University Library where I work in the Serials Department - basically I just check in a few newspapers a day and attempt to demonstrate to confused students how the microfilm machines work (always a challenge, as they seem to work when they want to). This is not really where I want to spend the rest of my library career but I figured it was a foot in the door. Well, as change has a habit of occurring, with more and more research material becoming available online, there just are not that many newspapers to check in any more. It seems the library director is running head strong into the winds of change and insisting that the entire library go "new age". I'm not the kind of person who refuses to change, although I will admit to being a little slow. Still I'm not against it and it is futile to pretend that it is not happening. But while this change can be a good thing for 95% of the population, there are those among us who will argue that it means the end of the library as we know it. See the link below for how one University is handling this change:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/05/24/for_harvards_library_an_arduous_digital_shift/?camp=obnetwork

Here is another one that is in favor of the change: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/letters/articles/2010/05/28/make_way_for_the_libraries_of_a_new_age

Now all of this is well and good for the larger places that have the money and the capacity to archive all of the older volumes. My admiration goes out to these places, especially since I might be going there looking for a job in a few years. However, for the smaller Universities, such as where I work, the quick fix answer is "throw it all away". Throw it away? Not archive it somewhere, just throw it away. That might be OK for the newspapers where the information is just duplicated elsewhere, but throw away journals and periodicals going back 25, 50 years if not more. The questions arises, "what if someone needs it for research" - answer, "we will order it in from somewhere else" ... let's just hope that not everybody takes the rash approach of throwing it all away, or there will be nobody left to order it in from.

As I said, I'm not against change. I do not entirely trust computers yet, they have a bad habit of loosing the information I choose to store. Granted some of it is operator error. But I never had a book crash and loose all of its information on me like my computers have done - at least twice. I have even, as of late, started saving interesting articles in certain folders. My "green" side thinking I'm saving paper by not printing them out (not to mention space in the file cabinet)... but working with at least three separate computers, I sometimes forget which computer I saved what article on. - Yet, something occurred to me yesterday. I have a book checked out from the library, and I received a notice that it was due back. I have a bad habit of checking out several at a time and never really getting around to reading all of them. So, I have barely started this one and now they want it back. For me to get the book originally, they had to order it in from another library and policy will not let me renew it more than once. I start thinking, I'm hip, I'm cool, I know how to scan and save this book so that I can go back and read it at my leisure .... I'm sure there is a copyright infringement in there somewhere, nevertheless I start scanning this book - and it occurs to me, this is exactly why all of that other material is being thrown away. Nobody uses the real thing, they just want it quick and easy. I will admit to considering just keeping the book I have borrowed, why not if they are just going to throw it away as well, right? I wonder if I would get fired for that??

Besides, the scanning every page was a bit cumbersome and time consuming on my little home printer. Thinking my time can be better spent - actually reading the book, I start looking for the book elsewhere, online ironically. "Google Free books" did not have it, it seems there are still copyright laws attached to it (oops ... delete what I had saved) ...Then I finally found it, on one of the larger book-chain web sites and for $4.71, plus shipping, the book can be mine. So physically buying the real book will not cut down on the space-clutter issue. But I like to think that I am doing my part in saving the the older books which are just being thrown away. The book is already out-there and printed so it's not like I'm killing another tree just to have it printed, if anything I am recycling and saving it from the trash dump... and my world will continue to be a strange mix of new and old, not so bad really! I think I'm going to remember this for when I get yelled at for buying too many older books - I'm not just buying books, I'm recycling!! Until next time, Happy Recylcing, I mean Reading .... Patty

The Spirit Trail

Wow, I can not believe it has already been a month since I posted last. Time flies when you are moving. We did indeed get all packed up and moved with only a few minor disruptions. The guy hired to help move had his helper quit on him and we discovered our bed would not fit up the stairs in the new place. Atlas we got everything moved and have made temporary accommodations for sleeping.

Prior to all this and just as I was finishing packing up my books, (I actually weeded out a few for an upcoming yard sale), my beautiful daughter comes home and announces, "Mommy, I have a book for you. I picked it out just because it's old and I knew you would like it"? I love my daughter! It seems she was over at a friends house and her Aunt was getting a few things ready for a church rummage sale, among which was the aforementioned book that she very generously gave to my daughter. She, in turn, brought it home to me for no other reason than it was an old book.

My daughter has an excellent future in book collecting. "The Spirit Trail" by Kate and Virgil Boyles, 1910; Second edition. A curious look at Abe Books has it starting at $8.00. This particular copy is a little worn, but considering it is a gift from my daughter and happens to be on a subject I hold near and dear; its a keeper either way. My digital camera needs new batteries so I cannot include an actual photo of my book, but I will attempt to insert a nice picture borrowed from another site. Now that I basically have the rest of the summer off while I play stay at home Mom, I hope to be able to post here more often and to get the store back open, assuming of course that I can get the camera working again. Until next time, Happy Reading! - Patty

Summer To-Do List

Hello Everybody,

May is already half over, I'm another year older, finished with another semester of school and finding myself packing my books away for another move. Moving day is Memorial Day weekend, but at least this time it is just right next door. Not like the 980 miles for the last move. I've already shut my ebay store down to get ready for the big move, but this time when I open "Patty's Old Books" back up again, I'm going to try something different.

Thanks in part to ebay's rising fees and in addition to trying to narrow my field of sale just a little bit; I'm not planning on keeping a rotating store on ebay for a little while. I'll just use ebay for the occassional auctions and of course purchases. My hope is to try to use this blog page as the occassional "store front" to feature some of my prized possessions.

So my summer to-do list will include trying to figure out the best way to feature the books here, plus have a inventory of sorts along with purchase options. Sounds like it should be easy enough, right - but other items on the to-do list is that silly thing called work, painting and fixing up the new domicile for the landlords and attempting to keep the child from being totally bored for the summer. Oh yeah, I also need to sqeeze in some time for book -uh research, yeah that's the word - research!

Thanks to all of my friends for keeping the interest of this store going, and a Special Thanks to my wonderful wife for all of her help! May your summer vacation be as fun filled as I think mine is going to be, please stay tuned and feel free to offer any suggesions and always save time for that important book research.

Patty ~ Patty's Old Books