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Oldest book you own?

Ruzi

Ruzi

New Member
Most of my books are ones I've gotten in the past few years, but I have a few, like an old Nancy Drew my mom's friend gave me, or some of the books my dad gave me from when he was a little kid... My grandma gave me an old book of fairy tales / fables printed in 1911, which is the oldest book I own...the second oldest being "King of The Wind"...
So what are the oldest books you have, where and how did you get them?
 
my oldest is my copy of Jane Eyre that is a big hard copy covered in cloth and was published in the 20's....can't recall exact date...
 
Ive got a small school atlas of Africa which is from c.1905 that i picked up in a second-hand bookshop for 10p :) I love atlas', ive got loads and keep buying more of them!

My parents were going through a load of books my grandma gave them when she moved home, they found one that was dated to the 1860s!!

Phil
 
My parents were going through a load of books my grandma gave them when she moved home, they found one that was dated to the 1860s
Click to expand...
wow... that's really getting up there in age. It really surprises me sometimes, how long things can last.
 
I gots this old book, made of Six 24-carat gold pages fastened together. The pages are covered with some kind of jibberish & pictures of a guy on a horse, a mermaid, a lyre and some mean lookin' guys with weapons. Some kind of saga, I guess.

Had it looked at by couple of experts and they both said it was almost 3000 years old.



The above statement may not be completely accurate. There is, in fact, the slightest of posibilities that it it a complete lie.
 
The oldest book I own is ‘Robinson Crusoe’. Apart from the heavy pencil scribbling on the inside pages (done when I was a kid) the book is in reasonably good nick. All the pages are there and in good order. The book has a dull yellow, almost ochre colour hard cover with a picture of Robinson Crusoe on the front.
Unlike today’s books, there is no information telling me when it was printed! I think it is the 56th or 57th edition, printed somewhere between the late 1800’s or early 1900’s. I doubt it is worth anything, there have been over 100 editions of Robinson Crusoe printed over the years!
 
We own a copy of Eline Vere by Louis Couperus from the late 1800s I think. We have quite a few pre-war books as well, but I don't think there's anything there that's worth something.
 
Compared with your oldest books, mine are pretty young! The oldest book in my home was published in 1906. It's a kind of a handbook for women.
By the way, I also have a school book from 1916 and it is stated there that there are eight planets in the solar system.
 
I have an 1857 edition of the complete works of Joesph Campbell. I also own an 1858 edition of Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles Standish". It is in pretty good condition and even has the signature and date fo the original owner.
 
'Lord Chesterfield's Advice To His Son' (actually some 's' characters are represented by 'f' and it's a really long title of 'Lord Chefterfield's Advice To His Son, on Men and Manners or, A New System of Education. In which The Principles of Politeness, The Art of Acquiring A Knowledge of the World, with every instruction neceffary to form a Man of Honour, Virtue, Taste, and Fashion, are laid down in Plain, Easy, Familiar Manner, adapted to every station and capacity, the whole arranged on A Plan Entirely New.')

Thofe crazy old guyf, they fure know how to fell a book!
No kidding though, that's the full title of it.

Anyhoo, the date on this one was MDCCXCIII (1793) - now that is old!
 
It's hard to tell how old some of my books are but I have a few in which a previous owner has dated it. My oldest one, a copy of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, seems to be from 1921 at most. I also have a little book called "Roman Antiquities" that dates back to 1925. There are some more that look very old but don't have a date on them.
 
Webster's Dictionary on India paper from 1920.

As far as fiction goes, I have "Merry, Rose, and Christmas-Tree June" from around 1968 or so.
 
Project Gutenberg is always looking for more books to publish on the web for free. If they haven't aready got yours, would you consdier a loan so they can scan it in?

Debra
 
I have a really old copy of Emily of New Moon, Lucy Maud Montgomery that belonged to my dad's sister. Written in the front is "Christmas 1925".
 
I have a copy of a book called "Aunt Armstrong's money". It has a handwritten date inside of1902. I don't think it is of much value, but I wouldn't part with it anyway.
 
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