Book Collecting

 The book club I belong to picked 84 Charing Cross Road for our December read. Not only is it a thin easy to read book giving us all more time for holiday preparations, but it is also a book about books. In my opinion, this is one of the most important things about this book. (I love books on books!) It is also about friendship, caring and compassion. Some readers may even consider it a love story.

    It is the true-life story of the author, Helene Hanff, who was a writer located in New York City. In 1949 she wrote to a London bookshop looking for some books. In those days you couldn’t just tap out a request on your computer. If you couldn’t find what you wanted in a local book store you had to write a letter. Then you would wait until it was answered. Seeing an ad in the back of a magazine, the author contacted The Marks and Company Bookshop, hoping that they could provide some titles that she couldn’t find. Their address is the title of the book.

    Unlike Helene who occasionally writes rather sarcastic letters, the book-seller, Frank, is very dignified and proper until they get to know each other better. Starting with the salesman, the letter writing eventually grows to include other workers in the store and their families. Their correspondence spanned twenty years. Helene is amazed at the quality of the books that are sent to her. They are nothing like the trade books sold in the shops in the States and she is excited to add them to her small collection of English classics.

    There is a good feeling I get whenever I hold or read an old book. I think of all the people who might have also held this book, read its lines and thought about what the author had conveyed in them. In some books there are penciled in notes or slips of paper used as bookmarks, nameplates are pasted in some and in others, an author might have signed his name. I also get a good feeling when I read a well written book, one whose author strikes a chord inside of me, causing me to pause and think about what I just read or that tells a story that makes me want to stay up all night just to find out how it ends. In many of these cases, I’d like to keep the book. I’d like to be able to read it again in the future. With the older books, I’d like to be able to be awed once again when I think of the books past, its history and what it might’ve gone through to get to my hands. Sadly, finances and common sense usually prevent me from buying them. 

    There are many types of book collecting. There is your average collection, books that have been read, enjoyed and saved. On the other side of the coin, a bit higher up the scale is collecting first editions or signed books. Some collectors search for copies of their favorite author’s work, while others collect only certain subject matter. There are some that collect to impress, searching for prestige in their collection. I’ve even heard of people collecting books because they “look good” on their shelves. But in actuality, like me, I’d have to say that most collectors accumulate their books because of their love of the printed word.

    Over the years I’ve developed my own style of collecting. In my office I have a collection of books dealing with Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas. Often used for research, these are both newer volumes and books published in the early 1900’s, and some even further back. There are also sections dealing with maps, machine tool technology and railroads. A shelf holds some poetry near my easy chair and a group of old textbooks sits on a shelf.

    In other rooms I have many newer fiction books, both hardback and paperback. They were read and then kept for eventual re-reading. Many have been read numerous times. Re-reading a book is like re-visiting an old friend. Then again, the way my memory works, it is often like finding a new friend!

    There is a set of shelves where I keep my “books on books”, books filled with information and stories about books, paper, libraries and bookstores.  They are a collection of both new and old, both fiction and non-fiction. I love reading this type of book. Near-by is a cabinet of signed books. While the vast majority of these are local scribes, I have a few books signed by some rather well-known authors. I must say that I value most, the books of authors I’ve met and talked with. Some of these signed books date back into the early 1900’s. I think it is exciting to have a book that is signed by the person who wrote it. It is a bit of history sitting in my hands! These books may not be worth much to a bibliophile, but to me, they are priceless. The value of a book is so often determined by the love of its reader!

    In this group I have the signature of President Carter and the signatures of some authors I’ve always admired such as Bradbury, Creighton and Gaimen and a few others. Sitting among these books is a worn paperback. Though it is beat up, the cover cracked and it’s unsigned, I treasure it.  The paperback contains a letter from the author, Cliff Stoll. I had written to him about his book, The Cuckoo’s Egg. There were a couple things in his book that I agreed with and I wanted to share my thoughts with him. I was so impressed that he took the time out of his busy day to write me back. I slipped the letter into the book and have kept them both safe and protected.  While I really enjoyed the book, that simple reply made it even more valuable to me. 

    There are a few “nice” books sitting on another shelf. Some of these were my father’s books. It was him that taught me to appreciate books! They are books with slip cases and nice bindings, books such as Gulliver’s Travels and The Turn of the Screw. I have added a couple volumes to this section over the years including two different printings of Robert Louis Stevenson’s book, Travels with a Donkey in the Cevennes. Both are in very nice shape, and both reside in slip cases. I’ve read this book many times, always enjoying the author’s efforts while taking a 12-day journey with a stubborn donkey named Modestine. A little further down the shelf sits my modest collection of Baedeker Guides; more non-fiction history. My collection of books might not look classy, but they please me and that is what I think is most important to any collection!

    While re-reading Helene Hanff’s book I once again have gotten the urge to go visit my local bookshops to search for another book for my collection. I want a book that is more than just your standard paperback novel. I’m thinking about one with a nice pebbled cover and gold imprinting. Or maybe one that is a limited edition or perhaps with an inscription from the author, the possibilities are endless but it has to be one I’ll enjoy reading! I love to dream about what I could get but then reality returns. Every so often a “special” book pops up in my travels, but until then I’ll continue to visit the library and my favorite bookstores, always on the lookout for that “special” book!