Article - The Bad Words of Bookselling
At least once a day someone contacts us regarding the potential sale of the Bible that they found in the attic or basement. The caller usually starts with "I have a really old book, would you be interested in it?" The expectant lilt to their voice betraying the dollar signs in their eyes. "Well," the process begins, "age is not really of primary importance as far as we're concerned. What is the title of the book?" A snort of disbelief is followed by "This is a bible from 1885 that was my Grandmother's. I consider this VERY old!". And so it goes. Only today I got a call from a person who had a German Bible, that was so old it wasn't even dated! Yes, things from 1885 are, relatively speaking, very old. However, as far as the publishing history of mankind goes the Bible is the most published work of them all! This is not to say we do not seek Bibles under any circumstance. We are interested in Bibles published before 1876, printed in America in small towns and out of the way places. Similarly, English Bibles as well as many in other languages, published before 1800 would be desirable to us. The farther back you go the greater our interest.

As one caller a day approaches us with hopes for retirement funds from an old Bible, every other day someone calls with a set or volume of Shakespeare. Yes, WS is playing second-fiddle in this act, however he would understand that the team of Adam, Moses, Jesus, et al. has an advantage. Like the Bible, the further back you go with Shakespeare the greater the interest. However, where Bibles were already being mass-produced by moveable type printing presses after 1503 Shakespeare didn't go into vast production until around 1630. Because of the "classical" or school-taught aspects of Shakespeare, nearly every household in America from 1830 to the present has or has had at one time or another a volume or set of Shakespeare's work. The second-hand value of these items is in direct inverse proportion to their popularity. It is simple economics: The greater the production of Bibles and editions of Shakespeare, i.e. the greater the supply, the less the after-market value or demand.

This brings us, in a linear sense, to the modern age. Often, we hear from folks with "30 years of National Geographic, the most I've every seen in one place!" and other such ejaculations. As communications advanced and the world became smaller the National Geographic Society was there to bring it all home. And, as I beat the point into the ground, it is only when you get further back to the beginning do these mass-produced things bear ANY after-market value. National Geo was started in 1888 and didn't hit it big with the American reader until around 1911 or so. At that time, Gilbert Grosvenor took over the reins and popularized interest in the far-off places of the world. And, his success in popularizing the magazine, it turns out, is the bane for the second-hand value of the issues printed after 1912 (when circulation advanced into the millions).

So more times than we care to admit, when the phone rings, the "really old Bible", the beautiful set of Shakespeare, and the 30 years worth of National Geographic demand a quick explanation of an overburdened and (sentimentality notwithstanding) valueless market.

Article - How NOT to Store Books
We were called to an estate in an eastern college town to view "grandfather's books." Ms. Rome and her brother met us at the side gate and we were offered coffee and weather-related conversation before the book viewing was to begin. Having already enjoyed breakfast at a local diner, we declined and asked if we could move on to the library.

We were led through the living quarters of the house, up to the second floor, then further on, up a flight of creaking wooden stairs to the third floor attic. From there we headed down a dark hallway and around a corner to a large wooden door. As it was, although grandfather Rome was a voracious collector and lover of good books, his dear wife of 62 years was not. She demanded he store 98% of his library in the attic. Only about 300 of his "favorites" were kept in the climate-controlled area of the house. Such are the dictates of love and marriage. Ms. Rome blushed and alluded to her grandma's aversion to dust and things which bore the ravages of age. But, she explained, theirs was a happy marriage of 63 years, so one could not question their understanding. Then, with a great flourish, she unbolted and swung open the attic door, extending her arm toward the rows of shelves.

Immediately we were struck by the dry, still air. I begged to begin on a positive note and remarked that the dear old man had the good sense to put his books in a dark place, not to be affected by the sun's rays. However...because of the absence of any ventilation and the extreme temperatures of the summer and winter months, over the years much of the paper and many of the bindings had dried to the point of brittleness. Quite a few of the 5,000 volumes were bound in leather, and now the covers had become flaky and powdery. Before we touched the first book, Ms. Rome explained that about 15 years earlier her grandfather had hired two boys to haul the collection from the lower floors up to the attic. I was heartened by this, believing that the collection had been fortunate enough to stand in the living quarters of the house. But soon I guessed that this had not been the case. Upon close inspection of the books we realized that at an earlier date, a good portion of the collection had suffered due to being shelved in the basement. The clues came fast: wavy pages, discolorations at the foot of the bindings and a light mildewy smell. It seemed that a flood in the 1960s damaged many of the volumes. A good portion of the pages now had age spotting and "foxing," and some of the books even had pages stuck together. Effects such as these are more common and less preventable in tropical climes; but because of the proximity of the water and dampness here, in the northeast, the books suffered the same fate.

Ms. Rome and her brother felt that because the books were "old" and of good scholarly subject matter that condition did not really matter. She had checked some of the titles against price guides and old catalogues which her grandfather had owned and felt that these were worth "top dollar". I tried to explain that to take a risk and invest in such books was within our interests, however, the investment would be greatly lessened because of the general condition of the collection. "Condition, condition, condition", I told her, the first three things a book buyer concerns himself with; and I was no different..

How TO Store Books

The dangers of storing books in a basement should not be ignored. The threat of flooding and consistently damp conditions make maintaining a library in a cellar a futile endeavor. Regardless of a dry history, unexpected weather can change things in a hurry. Grandfather Rome experienced only one flood in his basement, and that's all it took. Similarly, in storing the books in an oven-like attic the elder Mr. Rome baked all the suppleness and general useability out of his books.

One should keep books in an area of moderate temperature, dry yes, but not arid. Normal barometric conditions will not aversely effect paper, cloth and leather. Direct sunlight is a natural enemy of books and paper; shelves should never face windows. It takes very little direct sunshine to fade or discolor a binding.