04 March 2012

What is a book?


Left to right: Spencer's Principles of Ethics, Volumes I and II; Bantams, by Jack Hutton; Household Poultry Keeping; Poultry Keeping: Part 5—Chick Rearing; Bantams and Miniature Fowl, by W.H. Silk (First edition). The books about chooks date from the middle of last century; the two volumes of Spencer's work were printed in 1892.


[4 March 2012, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 100–300 mm at 100 mm, ISO 200, 1/40 at f4.5]

All content © 2012 Pete McGregor

7 comments:

  1. An interesting juxtaposition of books.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I can feel and smell those from here. I'd like to have a look at the chook books some time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The wall behind the books remind me of the sky just before a storm. Let all the good words pour!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Huh, we’re on the same ‘page’, mate. My wife and I just came back from attending the ‘Antiquarian Book Fair’ in Pasadena, CA, for three days. And get this: I purchased a book from an Aussie dealer. It was a first edition (1924) of May Gibbs’s ‘The Little Gum-Nuts -- Chucklebud and Wunkydoo’. It’s a real treasure.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Elephant's Child, I should point out I haven't read Spencer's Ethics — the books were a gift!

    RR, I spent a lot of time as a boy reading the chook books. They're here whenever you want to look at them ;^)

    Robin, I know what you mean — central New Zealand was hit by a "weather bomb" on Saturday. Nothing to speak of where I am, but we did get skies like that.

    Paul, definitely on the same page. I have a handful of old books, most worth nothing in terms of money, but great to handle and browse — a link to the past.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Just a head’s up, Pete. It was a real surprise how much ‘some old books’ are worth while attending the book fair. And I used to own some of them, but never kept them! If it’s, I would say, maybe around fifty or so years old at least, and it’s a notable book, and a ‘first edition’(very important), and with a dust jacket (not crucial, but definitely a real plus), no library or other institutional stamps or markings, then you may have something more valuable than you ever thought. Just sayin’.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thanks Paul. You might be right — I just hope the books that turn out to be valuable aren't those I want to keep!

    ReplyDelete

Constructive criticism is welcomed (I particularly appreciate thoughts on what you like and don't like), but please keep it courteous.