Collecting Whims
jerry morris
why Lawrence Person collects nebula winners, and what direction you, the
RCBer, is heading in satisfying your current collecting whims.
One of my current collecting whims appears to be Philology: dictionaries
and books about grammar and the love of words.
Collecting dictionaries and quotation books were my collecting whims
when I first started collecting books in 1985. Since then, I have
acquired my Johnson Dictionary, my OED and a few dictionaries published
in between the two.
A few year ago, I acquired a 1799 edition of Noah Webster's Prompter, a
book of sayings, and was on the lookout for the other editions of the
work. I only acquired one other Prompter edition, but, while looking, I
managed to pick up all three parts of Noah Webster's Grammatical
Institute of the English Language.; an 1822 edition of Part One, the
American Spelling Book, an 1800 edition of Part Second, Plain and
Comprehensive Grammar, and a 1793 edition of Part Third, American
Selection of Lessons in Reading and Speaking. I plan to trade up on all
three parts but I'm in no rush.
My interest in grammar led me to acquire the 1806 First American Edition
of John Horne Tooke's Diversions of Purley, a book I recommend to all!
William Strunk Jr., a professor at Cornell University in the early1900s,
appears to be at the center of my current collecting whims. I regard
Strunk's Elements of Style to be the best little book on the english
language. I had one copy of the 1959 Elements of Style edition by
Strunk and E.B. White from high school. I now have two copies of the
1959 edition, and softcover copies of the 1967 and 1979 editions, all
published by Macmillan. I also have two copies of the 1920 first trade
edition sans E.B. White, published by Harcourt, Brace & Co. and a circa
1940 copy published by the Thrift Press in Ithaca New York. Eventually,
I want to get my hands on the 1918 first edition, published in Ithaca by
W.P. Humphrey Green. Another edition I want is the 1935 edition revised
by Strunk and Edward Tenney, another Cornell Professor.
In the meantime, I've added three William Strunk books to my other
collections! Besides English, Strunk also taught Shakespeare at
Cornell. I have a copy of his Topics and Questions on Shakespeare,
Cornell Co-Operative Society,1927, a thirty-two page softcover book, as
well as a 1915 copy of Julius Caesar, an Arden Shakespeare book he
revised. Most recently on ebay, I snagged an English Reading series
book, Macaulay and Carlyle on Samuel Johnson, Henry Holt,1895, a book he
edited, and which contains forty pages of Strunk's thoughts on Johnson,
Macaulay and Carlyle in the introduction, not to mention notes
throughout.
Just last night, I came across the following book on abebooks: Studies
in Language and Literature in Celebration of the Seventieth Birthday of
James Morgan Hart, Nov. 2,1909, published by Henry Holt,1910. This book
contains essays by Strunk, Hart, and another Cornell Professor at that
time, Oliver Farrar Emerson. Both Hart and Emerson published books on
English Composition, prior to Strunk's Elements of Style, and I want to
compare them. Is Strunk's book unique? I shall find out! Eventually, I
want to have a continuity of books on English Grammar from Webster and
Horne on to Strunk and beyond.
Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
Jerry Morris
http://community-2.webtv.net/jerryandlinda/MOISOTHERBOOKS/page11.html
John Pelan
(jerry morris) wrote:
>I want to know how and when Mike Berro started collecting Jack Vance,
>why Lawrence Person collects nebula winners, and what direction you, the
>RCBer, is heading in satisfying your current collecting whims.
Intereresting stuff about Jerry's collection SNIPPED>>>
Well, Mike's not the only Vance collector here, but his collection is
more impressive than mine so I'll leave that to him...
Many years ago a friend and I discussed having a focus to what in each
case were becoming huge accumulations of SF/Fantasy, Horror, and
mystery. His thought was to acquire first editions of all SF published
after Harlan Ellison's DANGEROUS VISIONS... now that sounds silly
today, but in the late seventies it was still an attainable goal. I
opted to collect books containing work originally published in
UNKNOWN, a pulp magazine with a short but storied run. From that I
branched sort of logically into buying books by authors that had been
published in UNKNOWN and from there doinng much the same with WEIRD
TALES and WEIRD TALES authors until it became apparent that if I
followed this regimen I'd have to buy some very expensive bad books.
Now I pretty much collect (or accumulate) just about any post-1900
supernatural fiction that catches my interest and I'm trying to fill
in an odd sort of signed collection of Arkham House. Rather than get
all possible signed books, I'm looking to get one example of each
author for whom signed books could possibly exist. In other words I
can be happy with one signed Clark Ashton Smith book and see no need
to spend several thousand dollars getting all of the collections. It's
an interesting pursuit, as many books that SHOULD exist in plentiful
supply don't appear very often. I recently acquired an inscribed copy
of John Metcalfe's THE FEASTING DEAD and by all accounts it's only the
third or fourth time in the last twenty years that a signed copy has
been offered...
Of course the scope of my collection allows for lots of subsets and
complete runs of numerous authors. Early on I was going to collect a
couple of authors completely, (all published appearances, all
editions), but I soon learned how exceptionally difficult this would
be and how many books would have to go unbought and unread at the
expense of buying multiple editions of the same thing...
Okay, enough about my passions... Who's next?
John
Mike Berro
As you know, both fine bindings and books about books are recent whims of
mine, due in no small part to viewing your collection! I've had other whims;
the cuneiform "nail", the several movie scripts, and even a first day cover
signed by a contemporary author. I have no clue what draws me in those
directions; hopefully more curiosity than avarice.
As for Vance, I've been collecting him for almost 30 years now, so I don't
think that "whim" is an accurate description. In any case, I've always loved
books, and wanted the best editions of anything I enjoyed even before I
realized I was a book collector (it's not something you become, it's
something you discover.) I went to a lot of signings in my youth, and
suddenly found myself in possession of some valuable books. The rest, as
they say, is bankruptcy.
--Mike
http://www.booktouronline.com
"jerry morris" <jerrya...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:28446-3C3...@storefull-106.iap.bryant.webtv.net...
nixit
jerrya...@webtv.net (jerry morris) wrote:
> I want to know how and when Mike Berro started collecting Jack Vance,
> why Lawrence Person collects nebula winners, and what direction you, the
> RCBer, is heading in satisfying your current collecting whims.
>
> One of my current collecting whims appears to be Philology: dictionaries
> and books about grammar and the love of words.
>
My Dad spent years collecting Nebula and Hugo first editions and other
scifi. We pored over the Anatomy of Wonder for many happy hours. My
favorite of his finds is Heinlein's Citizen of the Galaxy (which I loved
as a kid) that he found in a little bookstore in Florida - it had
literally been sitting hidden on the shelf for about 20 years and he got
it for cover price. I think he got bored with collecting eventually, his
new hobby is selling them on eBay. When he started selling, I advised him
to not part with the Gene Wolfes, I thought they would be more valuable
down the road, they are just such good writing (he didn't read all the
ones he collected). A week later, I came home and found all 8 that he had
sitting in my living room.
My personal collections are pretty strictly for reading, I am pretty hard
on books (read while eating, in the bath, etc., etc.) (except comics! ask
me about my Sandmans and Heavy Metals! but that's a different newsgroup).
I collect religously certain authors - Richard Brautigan, PK Dick, AA
Attanasio. Got all the Brautigans you can have under ~$500. Probably won't
ever have all of PKD's even in paperback. Have a couple 1sts and signed by
AAA. Also collect strange pheonomen/thought as a subject - Dr. John Lilly,
got a Fort collection I am happy about, oddball bits on religon, myth,
magic, Bucky Fuller (kinda beat copy of Tetrascroll), one of Corliss'
binders, Gurdjieff's lil blue brick, and some horror and fantasy. My best
Lovecraft is a 1st of the DeCamp bio. Found 2 tiny 1910's leatherbound
Modern Library Dunsays at a library sale...they were donations for
fundraising, not lib. copies, have owner's name/bookplate and no other
markings, probably not worth a thing but made my day and uplifted my
collection from the usual beat-up paperbacks.
you might like Robert Reisner's "Graffiti - Two Thousand Years of Wall
Writing" (1971). I have a 1st of that! not in great shape, but a great
read for the logophile.
Tom Martin
>.......................
>
> Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
>
> Jerry Morris
We had 3 whims...
Once we sold the farm and the horses, we had no reason to keep the
whims, so we gave them to the local agricultural museum....
Tom
Rick Kalamaya
Fitzgerald and sacrificed much to get a first of Gatsby. It cost me
$35 and I couldn't eat for a few days!!! But after that I had some
money and put together a decent collection of Fitzgerald's work. I
added D. H. Lawrence and Robert Frost to that collection because I
liked their work and some nice books became available. This year I
sold the most valuable Fitzgerald with a lengthy inscription because I
am finishing off tuition for my kids' college education. And I have
given up putting together a complete collection of Fitzgerald in
jacket. VERY EXPENSIVE. I am now mostly focused on a collection of
Connolly's Modern Movement. I love the books in that list. But there
is no way I could afford true firsts of some of those books, Prufrock,
Ulysses and The Bridge come to mind. So my collection is basically
collectible copies and whatever firsts I can afford. I find this more
satisfying than concentrating on one author. But my collection of
Frost is complete with true firsts of everything in DJ with one
exception - North of Boston. When I finish paying tuition, Ican
afford that book. Rick Kalamaya
Bob Streeter
Crime Files, those mid 30's mysteries with evidence included. I don't think
I'll ever read them, but I like them. I collect Beat generation stuff,
mostly Kerouac, leaning toward bios and such rather than Kerouac's writing.
I collect local history, local to Vermont and NH. (This area of collecting
never seems to get the attention it deserves like Sci-fi and mysteries do.)
Several years ago I sold a 1st in leather of Twain's Life on the
Mississippi. As soon as the sale was made, the buyer, a local man and good
friend, commented "I'd think you'd want to collect something like this" As
soon as he said it I regretted selling it. It never occurred to me I'd like
that Twain on my shelf, but when he said it, I wanted to take it back. Last
year he decided he'd rather have something else we had, so now I own it.
When I was a kid I collected Readers Digest Condensed Books.
Bob
http://www.allroutes.to/thatbookstore
http://www.allroutes.to/stjohnsbury
Scot Kamins
"Bob Streeter" <t...@plainfield.bypass.com> wrote:
> I collect Beat generation stuff,
> mostly Kerouac, leaning toward bios and such rather than Kerouac's writing.
Kerouac's death mass was celebrated at St. Joseph's church in Lowell,
Massachusetts. I was teaching an English class at the time at St.
Joesph's High School directly across from the church. I asked the class
of Senior boys if any of them knew who the mass was for - no one raised
his hand. I told them it was Jack Kerouac, the great beat novelist.
Nothing.
I could have been speaking Hebrew for all the response I got.
Nobody had a clue, or cared.
It was my last year teaching high school - that day's event made the
decision for me. I couldn't take it.
--
.....................
Scot Kamins
Collecting The Modern Library 1917-1970
(because fanaticism is not limited to politics, religion, or economic systems)
Want List at http://www.dogeared.com/wtb.html
WordMan
A couple of other posters have mentioned that they like what they like
- clearly I am of that category as well. I got started when my dad,
an antique dealer from way back, took me along to a book store where
he was trying to sell some California Private Press books (Grabhorn,
etc...). While I was there, I saw a few shelves of lit first editions,
some for pretty cheap (e.g., $35 or less) and I was entranced - you
mean I could have a FIRST EDITION of....whatever for $35?!?!? I was
hooked.
Once I got into it, I learned - what do they call bad purchases?
"Tuition"? Well, I have paid my tuition, but I have also learned.
One of the things that is great about collecting, is that by learning
more about what is desirable from a collectible standpoint, I have
been more motivated to read books that I might not have otherwise, and
fallen in love, and THEN added the first to my collection. Example:
I found out that the "big 4" are Fitzgerald, Faulkner, Hemingway and
Steinbeck. Since I knew I couldn't afford Gatsby, I did some poking
around and found out about how Fitzgerald published short stories in
magazines that enabled him to work out themes and characters that were
then in his novels. I read a book of his short stories and realized
(surprise) that I loved his "Gatsby cluster" of short stories. I was
able to get a first of "All the Sad Young Men" and love it.
Once I got hooked, it was easy to move across genres, the only
criteria being whether it mattered to me. Heck, I look at my book
collection and think of it as a physical representation of who I am as
a person - every choice I make of what remains or is sold off is a
statement of who I am (e.g., I am selling a 1st/1st of For Whom the
Bell Tolls right now to fund a purchase of Brave New World - which
would you rather have? I could document the reasons, but that would be
way too long.)
Bottom line: it gives me joy, I see myself in the books on the shelf,
and I love to share it with other people. What more could I ask for?
Jon Meyers
> Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
Whims? Whims, you say? There is nothing whimsical about this--it's serious business!
;-)
How I got started collecting...
...adult baseball fiction--I'm an adult, and I love baseball and fiction. I don't
think we need to put Mickey Rawlings on this case. (FYI: Rawlings is a journeyman
infielder & amateur detective in a series of baseball-related mysteries by Troy Soos.)
...Stanley Elkin--I was introduced to his work when I took one of his courses at
Washington University in St. Louis, and I was hooked.
...Steven Millhauser--Read an over-the-top glowing review of "Edwin Mullhouse" in the
Constant Reader catalog several years ago, so I got a copy and etc. etc.
...Walter Mosely--His books were recommended to me by Richard Katz, proprietor of
Mystery One Bookstore, in Milwaukee. Richard also got me started reading Robert
Crais, James Lee Burke, Dennis Lehane, and a bunch of other good ones.
...Toothpaste Press and Coffee House Press--An offshoot of the baseball collection: I
started collecting William Kinsella's books because of his baseball fiction and soon
discovered that two of his books had been published by Coffee House--"The Alligator
Report," a trade-paper original, and "The First & Last Annual Six Towns Area Old
Timers' Baseball Game," a now absurdly expensive 150-copy signed, limited edition
(which I still don't yet have). And as time went by, I found that many writers whose
work I admired--Jayne Anne Phillips, Stephen Dixon, Margaret Atwood, Tim O'Brien and
on and on--had had something published either by Coffee House, started by Allan &
Cinda Kornblum in 1984, or by Toothpaste Press, founded by the Kornblums in Iowa in
the early '70s.
And also I've made a modest beginning on an offshoot of this offshoot, as I've
acquired a few interesting non-Toothpaste/CH items, as well as some
Toothpaste/CH-related ephemera, by the poet & artist Faye Kicknosway, who has had a
number of her works issued under those two imprints.
What else? I have a whack of ARCs & proofs, which I had hardly any of 4 years ago.
That's all the fault of Mike Berro & Jon Butler, whose enthusiasm for proofs I found
infectious.
--
Jon Meyers
"In the sphere of thought,
absurdity and perversity remain
the masters of the world,
and their dominion is suspended
only for brief periods." --Schopenhauer
jerry morris
"jerry morris" wrote...
Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
Whims? Whims, you say? There is nothing whimsical about this--it's
serious business!
;-)
Jon,
The word, "Whims" was my choice of a word to indicate odd fancies,
out-of-the-ordinary collecting interests, or, if you will, "off-track
booking" interests as oposed to ...umm..."normal,collecting interests".
I quote from my 1785 Samuel Johnson's Dictionary:
"WHIM. n.f. (This word is derived by Skinner from a thing turning
around; nor can I find any etymology more probable.) A freak; an odd
fancy; a caprice; an irregular motion of deƒire."
Jon. Allow me to use the example for the word 'whimsey', another form
of the word, 'whim'.
"The difference there is betwixt nature and art;
I court others in verƒe, but I love thee in proƒe;
And they have my whimƒies, but thou haƒt my heart.
Prior
Caution: Some whimƒies can eventually become "normal collecting
intereƒts"!
Jerry Morris :-)
Bob Riedel
>Pray tell! What are your collecting whims?
I went from reader/accumulator to collector in the early '80s when I started
working on a literary magazine called Smoke Signals edited by Mike & Vicki
Golden. I started assisting in a small way because I liked the range of
contributors they were publishing: Jim Harrison, Charles Bukowski, Andrei
Codrescu, Barry Gifford, Richard Schweid, Raymond Federman, Rudy Wurlitzer, Ed
Sanders, Tuli Kupferberg, Mikhail Horowitz, Michael Lally (and oddments like
Irwin Corey's acceptance speech for Gravity's Rainbow). I wanted to read more
of their stuff, and discovered that a lot of it was in hard-to-find small press
editions. I have pretty extensive collections of some of the authors listed,
but the initial gathering came out of a desire to read more than collect. It
was only later that I found I had some desirable books, journals and broadsides
on my hands.
I have a sort of parallel interest in Samuel Beckett, but decided early on that
my budget might never accomodate a collection of first editions (though I'll
always pick up a bargain), so I started gathering B and C list items, which can
still be had fairly cheaply. I find it interesting to look in this way at the
contemporary context of a writer whose periodical publications stretched across
60 years, from Transition to Grand Street.
Add William Gass, John Crowley, a smattering of Beats and some other outsiders,
and that's the main gist. Thanks for asking!
Bob
Print Matters! Used & Rare Books
http://www.abebooks.com/home/printmat
Eljaysbks
that mix well researched History with sci-fi, supernatural, and or conspiracy
theory themes. The sort of book that would logically explain how the writing
of Macbeth was the result of Shakepeare's involvement in a battle between
earthly supernatural forces and an Alien exploration force, with footnotes no
less. Some of Tim Powers work falls into this category, especially On Stranger
Tides. On the non supernatural side George Macdonald Fraser's Flashman books,
Max Allen Collins Heller mysteries, some of James Ellroy's work all work
under the Secret History heading. Rudy Rucker did one involving Edgar Allen Poe
journeying to the center of the earth that was fun.
I find collecting by theme a bit more interesting then completing author
sets. Although I do have a Manly Wade Wellman addiction.
p.s. If anyone knows of other works that might work as Secret History let me
know!
Frank Jason Oreto
Eljay's Used Books
Pittsburgh's South Side
Mike Berro
It actually ties in with yours, as in many cases the legend is used to
explain the course of history; in some cases merely as a literary device to
illustrate history, but in others to "explain" the causes. For the latter,
try George Viereck's excellent (and collectible) 4-book series.
As for world conspiracy, try Edward Whittemore's Jerusalem Quartet, or to a
lesser extent, his first book, Quin's Shanghai Circus (all about $40-$100 in
1sts.) They are similar to Tim Powers' Declare, which is also excellent (I
think his best book yet.) Stel Pavlou's "Decipher" is very good, although a
bit dramatic (the guy is a screenwriter.) It's currently only available as a
UK hardcover, and possibly a good investment.
Of course a lot of SF is based on gigantic conspiracies (e.g. Asimov's
Foundation series), but I asssume you mean books set more or less in the
present time. The above are the few I recollect that I can heartily
recommend.
--Mike
"Eljaysbks" <elja...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020104195132...@mb-fv.aol.com...
William M. Klimon
news:20020104195132...@mb-fv.aol.com...
> p.s. If anyone knows of other works that might work as Secret History let
me
> know!
I wonder if Edward Whittemore's *Jerusalem Quartet* would qualify. I
learned of it through a column by Erik Davis. There is a pretty good fan
site at:
http://www.relax.com.au/~amf47/jerusalemdreaming/
Any Whittemore collectors out there?
Cheers.
William M. Klimon
http://www.gateofbliss.com
Jon Meyers
> The word, "Whims" was my choice of a word to indicate odd fancies,
> out-of-the-ordinary collecting interests, or, if you will, "off-track
> booking" interests as oposed to ...umm..."normal,collecting interests".
Okay, okay. I didn't intend to deliberately misunderstand you. The really odd stuff
I've somehow ended up with more than...How many books does it take to define a
collection?...let's say *three* of:
Those little Peter Pauper Press gift books, the ones I guess they used to sell in
department stores, since many that I've seen have department-store price stickers. In
its early years, the '40s & '50s, PPP issued several nice illustrated, limited
editions in fine bindings, sort of like the LEC. Then in the late '50s & '60s they
started issuing small (7 1/2" x 4 1/2"), slim, inexpensive volumes of poetry,
quotations, humor, philosphy, religion, literature, and even recipes. For some
reason, I really like these books. I have about 25 now, all purchased for $1 or less,
and I suppose my favorite is the edition of "Aesop's Fables" illustrated by Eric ("The
Very Hungry Caterpillar" etc.) Carle.
And speaking of illustrations, I seem to be building a collection of "great art for
kids" books: several volumes of Ernest Raboff's "Art for Children" series, the
Jansons' "Story of Art for Young People," and a few similar books. Why? Damned if I
know.
rambler
LostLvs
art for
kids" books: several volumes of Ernest Raboff's "Art for Children" series, the
Jansons' "Story of Art for Young People," and a few similar books. Why?
Damned if I
know. >>
Because they're pretty?
My personal "can't buy just one" is encyclopedias of places that never were,
mythical animals, or folklore. It all started with "Who's Who in Oz" and went
downhill from there.
Regards,
Rosemary Jones, los...@aol.com
co-author, Collector's Guide to Children's Books, v1-3
new in 2002: Boys & Girls Series Books
http://members.aol.com/lostlvs/links.htm
paghat
nearly every book ever written in English about Japanese cinema published
between 1930s & today, plus some in French & in Japanese. I never thought
of myself as collecting books on Japanese cinema, just trying hard to get
everything I can about Japanese cinema. So while I consciously "collect"
Victorian regional short story volumes that have even one ghost story
included, some things I merely acquire for the information. And defining
the difference seems to require more whim than reason.
-paghat
--
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl:
http://www.angelfire.com/grrl/paghat/gardenhome.html#top
Mike Berro
news:XctZ7.215030$WW.12...@bgtnsc05-news.ops.worldnet.att.net...
> I wonder if Edward Whittemore's *Jerusalem Quartet* would qualify. I
> learned of it through a column by Erik Davis. There is a pretty good fan
> site at:
>
> http://www.relax.com.au/~amf47/jerusalemdreaming/
>
>
> Any Whittemore collectors out there?
See my previous post. I finally managed to get all 4 in first editions
recently. They're not hard to find, but I set myself a tight budget. I
managed to sneak in a few proofs as well.
A great writer. From the few that show up on Ebay and ABE, he seems to be
coming back into vogue.
---Mike
Hans
pathetically over-specialized in his interest, this little comment is
pretty interesting to me, because I'd been wondering this same thing
myself... Where *does* collecting begin?? If I'm just picking up stuff
on French Art Nouveau because I love the art and history, but I'm not
paying any attention to the editions or looking for particular "key
items" that would be cornerstones for a standard collection, I can't
really be considered to be collecting... but then I turn around and
find I've wound up with a damned good collection. But then when I
think about it I start to get neurotic about my lack of method and
wonder if I should have been paying attention to issues of
collectibility after all. It's hard to know where to firmly draw the
line between "collecting" and "not collecting" when I read 300 books a
year and am constantly acquiring stuff just to read.
paghatSP...@netscape.net (paghat) wrote in message news:<paghatSPAMMERSDIE...@soggy72.drizzle.com>...
randy cartwright
jerry morris wrote in message
<28446-3C3...@storefull-106.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
<snip>
One of my current collecting whims appears to be Philology: dictionaries
and books about grammar and the love of words.
<more snip>
William Strunk Jr., a professor at Cornell University in the early1900s,
appears to be at the center of my current collecting whims. I regard
Strunk's Elements of Style to be the best little book on the english
language.
<still more snip>
Jerry Morris
You would probably also enjoy a book on writing style by Ambrose Bierce (of
all people) called "Write It Right". It was published in 1909 by Walter
Neale in NYC. Typically acidic Bierce commentaries on the misuse of
English. (For example, the use of "moneyed" for "wealthy--"one might as
sensibly say 'the cattled men of Texas' or 'the lobstered men of the fish
market.'") A very interesting and worthwhile book that I came upon totally
by accident many years ago.
http://community-2.webtv.net/jerryandlinda/MOISOTHERBOOKS/page11.html