Antiquarian Ramblings: A Diamond in the Rough

Posted by admin on 07.31.2009 at 12:58 pm

When the American Archives Series books came to the ARC department, many of them had missing boards and other issues compromising their structural integrity.  They also smelled of the ancient organic dust that accompanies old leather bound books, reminding me that I was due for a Tetanus booster shot.  That said, my expectations were low.

A quick glimpse of the market revealed a value for these volumes at around $100-200 a piece.  Not bad, but given their present state, and the collective need for some TLC from a sympathetic binder, these tomes were destined to be sold for scrap at auction.  After plowing through a few of these, I came across American Archives; Fifth Series, Volume I.  A cursory glance of this item suggested it would fare the same fate as its siblings.  Since I literally couldn’t judge this book by its cover as it didn’t have one, I dug right in.  And to my surprise,  the latter half of the book revealed a true diamond in the rough.

There in the back, just waiting to be discovered was a pristine facsimile copy of the Declaration of Independence encapsulated within Read more…

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What We’re Reading: SF Edition

Posted by Jack on 09.30.2008 at 12:59 pm

Now that you know “We [heart] Books” I thought I’d tell you what we’re reading here at the SF Office.

Justin: Always Be Testing, Collapse (Audiobook), Watchmen
Cory: The Big House, The Glass Castle
Geoff: Obama’s Challenge
Eddie: Web Analytics an Hour a Day, Watchmen
Xavier: Let My People Go Surfing
Jack: Blink, Doctor Zhivago
Ryan: Where the Wild Things Are, Post Office
Elina: Lonely Planet Travel Guide: Barcelona (lucky!!!)

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