An Affinity for the Unassuming.

Posted by Tara on 06.27.2012 at 3:59 pm

Ryan Van Plew-Cid is a Senior Bibliographer in the Antiquarian, Rare, and Collectible Books section at Better World Books.  A self-professed Man of Leisure/Gentleman of Good Fortune.  Slavophile. Purveyor of artisanal cocktails; enthusiast of related cocktailiana, old and new.

For the last seven years I have worked as a Rare Book Specialist in the ARC (Antiquarian, Rare and Collectible) Department of Better World Books.  In those years, I have personally touched over a million books. The vast majority of these tomes have values so fleeting that most are worth less than the paper they’re printed on.  Of course, when you spend every day swimming in a sea of books, sooner or later you’re bound to find a buried treasure or two.

Through my scouting, I have developed an affinity for a certain type of book.  My favorites are the ones that are entirely devoid of any of trappings that overtly advertise themselves as being special or valuable; i.e. leather, gilt, hand-laid paper, high-point titles.  For example, I would receive very little satisfaction from handling a Gutenberg Bible: its value and importance are already known to me and just about everyone else, leaving little to be discovered.  I much prefer working with books whose value and importance are much more demure and unassuming, only revealing themselves to the depth of my curiosity. They lack personality upon first glance.  If personified, they might be described as dry and slightly abrasive, a bit like an old professor.  One title that illustrates this point particularly well is the Theory and Techniques for Design of Electronic Digital Computers, Volumes II and III, which comprises one half of The Moore School Lectures.

Discovering parts II and III of the exceedingly rare Moore School Lectures was no easy feat.  They were part of a much larger acquisition from another prominent bookseller’s inventory.  As “unsaleables”, every book in this lot carried with it the dubious distinction of being a bookseller’s castoff; not “worth” anything.

Additionally, the literature  of Early Computing is not (yet!) exactly the sexiest genre being collected; it was one I knew very little about.  Von Neumann, Shannon and Turing were not yet on the radar.  The original Moore School Lectures were printed as mimeographs.  I was instantly drawn in by the plainness of their appearance.  I had never heard of Eckert and Mauchly, but images of the ENIAC resonated enough for my instincts to inform me that something very interesting was on hand.  A couple of google searches and a phone call to two specialist dealers confirmed these notes to be the literary genesis of the computer age. These books are still waiting for the right savvy buyer, and are listed for around $13K for the pair.

What is the most unassuming, yet valuable, book you’ve ever seen?

2 Comments » | Tagged Ask the Dust: Notes from the Rare Book Section, Antiquarian Rare and Collectible, collect, computers, ENIAC, Moore School, rare, value

Heroes With Tails

Posted by Better World Books on 06.21.2012 at 4:52 pm

Melissa Baron is a writer living near Chicago who works in the world of publishing.  She shares her observations, insights, and opinions about books at her blog: miskadoodlewrites.wordpress.com.  Today she shares a short trip down memory lane with the tail-sporting heroes of classic children’s books.

We’ve all, at one time or another, wondered what the world would be like from an animals’ perspective, and contemplated how wicked cool it would be if animals could talk. All right, maybe more so when we were children versus now, but there’s a reason Disney and Pixar films featuring animals draw in just as many adults as children (not including said children’s parents). Or is that just my friends and I? Anyone? *crickets chirping* All right, moving on.

Anthropomorphizing animals is like the greatest thing ever, and shows up everywhere; films (Land Before Time, oh man does anyone remember those movies? The first one makes me cry. Every. Single. Time), television shows, comics, books. I’m particularly interested in books centered on them, especially when the animals are the stars, and not just side characters, a la the Cheshire Cat or the White Rabbit in Alice In Wonderland. There are many, many out there, so I’m going to count down my favorites. Let’s tap into that inner child and geek out a bit over our favorite animal heroes, shall we?

So come along with me!

The Wind and the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame

My adoration of this book started early. Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Book Lists, anthropomorphizing animals, children's books, guest

Recycle Week 2012

Posted by Better World Books on 06.18.2012 at 1:10 pm

By Emma McNeill, Organisational Support Manager and Environmental Champion at Better World Books.

One of Better World Books Guiding Principles is ‘Invest Well. Waste Not – Choose wisely, consider the return on your efforts and the impact in your actions. Reuse, reuse, reuse…then reduce and recycle.’ It’s a great message and one that I believe in.

It’s coming up for Recycle Week 2012 (organised by WRAP under the Recycle Now brand) and I will be using the week to encourage the people around me to recycle more by letting them know the reasons why recycling is important. So here are 5 Good Reasons To Recycle: Read more…

1 Comment » | Tagged Dispatches from the Green House, recycle, reuse, UK