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Oldest book you own?

I have a copy of the Vulgate that I bought on ebay - date is 1887. When I first started taking Latin I wanted one but all the Catholic bookstores in town told me to call the Vatican. I wanted one but not badly enough to make an international call to a country whose language I did not speak. But a few months of lurking on ebay found me this treasure. Still smells of cigar smoke from the previous owner - I imagine his library as one of those old fashioned ones with very large dark red leather chairs.

Wolf has an almost-but-not-quite complete set of Dumas he bought on ebay, dated 1894. Still tissue paper over the frontspieces, and some of the pages aren't cut. Someday, we'll want to read them and have to -erp- cut the pages!

Oldest one I ever held was at University of Houston, in their rare book collection. First edition of Rasselas, 1759. Still shocked they'd let me touch it. I don't think it made my paper on Rasselas any better, but still one of my best memories of college.
 
Ali, I am a collector of Robinson Crusoe; If you can tell me exact title, author ( some are re-writes of Defoe) publisher, size of book, # of pages, # of illustration, illustrator and condition, I can give you an estimated value. Do you wish to sell it?
 
I have an old copy of a childrens book called "Sarah's Room" and an aged edition of "The Young Visiters"

I will edit this post when I've looked up the dates of publication! LOL
 
Originally posted by Ashlea

Oldest one I ever held was at University of Houston, in their rare book collection. First edition of Rasselas, 1759. Still shocked they'd let me touch it. I don't think it made my paper on Rasselas any better, but still one of my best memories of college.
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:eek: I didn't know U of H had a first edition of Rasselas! Or maybe I did. It seems like the kind of thing that Dr. Rothman would mention. Was it Rothman you wrote the Rasselas paper for, Ashlea?
 
Yepper, Rothman it was. No one else seemed to like him much, but I did OK; he was only mildly scary. Tho wasn't my first paper on Rasselas - wrote one in high school, too.
 
the oldest book i have at home, its a chronicle of the mexican revolution in southern mexico, its dated in the early 20's, was really hard to find
 
I've got these really teeny tiny book on 'knowledge'. It's got an atlas in there, All sorts of useful facts, and a section devoted to etiquette. I think it's from the late 1800s. It's only a couple of inches tall, but about an inch deep. It's the reason I have such good manners. :D
 
I've got a First Edition of Marie Corelli's "The Sorrows of Satan" from 1895. I've others that are a little older but as a lover of novels I especially like this one for it's historic interest; it's renowned as probably the first "bestseller", and was a huge influence on novel writing in the Twentieth Century.
 
Litany said:
I've got these really teeny tiny book on 'knowledge'. It's got an atlas in there, All sorts of useful facts, and a section devoted to etiquette. I think it's from the late 1800s. It's only a couple of inches tall, but about an inch deep. It's the reason I have such good manners. :D
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Are any of the facts scientific in nature? My Aunt has an enclyopedia of Scientific knowledge, just 1 volume, but a large book, published around the 1900s. Some of the scientific facts they spew forth are completely wrong. So I was wondering if your book had false facts in it as well.

The oldest book I have is a collection of Edgar Allen Poe, 4 volumes, published in 1902.
 
Lady Morgan said:
Are any of the facts scientific in nature? My Aunt has an enclyopedia of Scientific knowledge, just 1 volume, but a large book, published around the 1900s. Some of the scientific facts they spew forth are completely wrong. So I was wondering if your book had false facts in it as well.
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Can't really remember. The stuff that stuck in my head most were the instructions on when to leave a calling card, how to return a visit, what to do if, when returning a visit, your host wasn't home and who should walk by the side of the road depending on sex, direction of traffic, age and seniority. There was lots on info on population and major/exports of different countries. Mostly the facts were the sorts of things you'd need to know in polite company and when dining in polite company.
 
Litany said:
Can't really remember. The stuff that stuck in my head most were the instructions on when to leave a calling card, how to return a visit, what to do if, when returning a visit, your host wasn't home and who should walk by the side of the road depending on sex, direction of traffic, age and seniority. There was lots on info on population and major/exports of different countries. Mostly the facts were the sorts of things you'd need to know in polite company and when dining in polite company.
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How awful! I am sure I would have rebelled. I would have left a nasty note for my host telling them they had better be home next time. I'd give up on the who walks where in which direction and just traispe down the middle of the street, barring muddy roads, in which case I'd try to steal a carriage or at least get a lift by displaying my ankles. And I'd most certainly be more entertaining in company by talking about something other than populataion and major exports. Of course, I'd probably be barred from polite company rather quickly, but that's ok as I'm not all that polite anywho.
 
Why, you're nothing but a painted jezebel! :eek: I shall have to dig my book out and search for instructions on how to deal with you.
 
I have in front of me "Tennysons poetical works"-the globe edition.Dated 1899
..but what i love is a message inside that says
mildred lucy (illegible)
with love from
old auntie
dec 10th 1901

i love that.
 
The book I have in mind is not a terribly old book (it was first published in the early 1930s), but it has a good story behind it.

When my sister and I were small, our mother taught us to read with same book that she had first learned to read. A little primer from the California Department of Education called "Happy Times." Our mother died when I was four, and we kept that book for years because it symbolized one of the few memories we had of her.

My sister, being the eldest, took it with her when she moved out, and being a bit of a drifter, she moved around alot, until one day the book came up missing. She searched frantically, but somehow, in one of her moves, the book didn't make it into the packing box. It was lost and we were crushed.

I searched, off and on, in the second book shops for a replacement copy, which would never be the same as the original, but it would be something -- something to hold on to, something that connected us to our mother.

One day, easily 10 or 15 years later, my sister and I are browsing second-hand shops looking for a coat for her god-daughter who was going through a retro-chic phase. By now, I'm a Mom myself, and I have my little one in tow. The four of us, sisters and daughters, are gathered in the basement of this one shop, debating the qualities of the dyed faux fur vs. the patchwork demin when I look past my sister's shoulder to the bookcase behind her. Sure enough, perched on the shelf is a 1962 copy of "Happy Times." The look on my face told my sister everything. She knew without turning around what I had found, and we cried as we handed over the $12 to the clerk and left the shop with our little treasure.

Irene Wilde

And yes, when she was old enough I taught my daughter to read with that book.
 
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