Old Book Treasures

The Brooklyn Public Library branch in my neighborhood is just about three blocks from where I live. I visit it frequently. Years ago, they had a table that contained remanded books from the library collection, and donated books from patrons, for sale at $1.00 each, fifty cents for paperbacks, and ten cents for magazines.
The book sale was always my first stop when I entered the library, and I'd like to show you some beautiful old and antique books that I purchased from that library used book sale.

If you enlarge the photo above, you will see, opened on the left, an exquisite volume of the complete writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson. It was published by Wm. H. Wise in 1929, and has cut tabbed indexes of its total 1,435 pages.

The middle book in the photo above is part one of a double set, and I also purchased the second book. They are entitled "The Family Treasury of Children's Stories," by Doubleday publishing, circa 1956. Each volume has about 500 pages, and each is a wonderful anthology of nursery rhymes, Mother Goose rhymes, counting rhymes, fairy tales, fables and folk tales, legends and myths, stories of adventure, and "a taste of the pleasures of great books."

The book on the right in the photo above is "A Treasury Of American Folklore," by Crown Publishing, 1944. It has 934 pages, and a forward written by the poet Carl Sandburg. It is an anthology of stories, ballads, songs, anecdotes, and "yarns and tall tales," from America's past.

One of my favorite books, a donated book that I found for sale at the library, is the one in the photo below, entitled "A Dream of Fair Women," with illustrations by Harrison Fisher. It was published by the Bobbs-Merrill Company in 1907.

Here is the inscription inside: "To Marnie from Mother. Christmas 1907.

It contains lines from many different poems, with stanzas running throughout the pages and accompanied by exquisite full color Fisher illustrations. The next three photos are of a few opened pages of the book. (Click to enlarge)




The next very old book caught my eye immediately because of its title (I'm sorry that the photo is a little blurry). It is called "The Story of Patsy," and was published in 1891. It is a fascinating story about a little street urchin named Patsy, whose speech is portrayed with a thick Irish brogue. It is interesting to see how the Irish were depicted as downtrodden in this book, which to me was a reminder of the days of struggle that early Irish immigrants had to be accepted into American society. The book also contains some black and white sketch illustrations.



The next two books I've shown together -- both beautifully illustrated volumes of Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre, both with engravings by Fritz Eichenberg. They were published by Random House in 1943,

Here are the inside title pages placed side by side. (click to enlarge)

Two of the engravings, one for each book, side by side. There are many engraved pages in each.

Can you believe that all of these book treasures cost just one dollar a piece? That these fine works of literary art were taken out of circulation from the library's catalog, or that people donated some of these books from family collections?

I am so happy I was able to rescue them, and treasure them!

They are just a small portion of many fine books that I purchased through the library sale over the years. Unfortunately, our library branch, along with many Brooklyn Public Library branches, became updated and modernized a few years ago, and the sale table was eliminated and all cash transactions have to be done through an ATM like kiosk, as our branch is considered a "cashless branch." Sadly, I don't think they even accept book donations anymore, and I wonder if many antique or rare books are going into the trash or recycle bin instead.

I love these old books, and I hope someday someone else will treasure them too!