[ModLib] References to MLs in reading and reading MLs

[James Shaw]

May I recommend a recent read of mine:  The Book on the Bookshelf by Henry
Petroski.  I wasn't able to finish because of a recent move and some health
issues, but for anyone like me who is certifiable about books, it's a
pleasure to read.  It's on the history of books and bookshelves.

This is my first reply on this list.  I recenlty aquired several ML books
but they are stored for now.  I have thousands of books in my basement with
no place for them.  Sigh.

Oh, and besides a recent entry into collecting ML books, I have quite a few
National Geographics, a run of World Almanacs, and my oddest collection,
Encylopedia Britannicas.  I'm mostly working on the yearbooks, but I often
have to take an entire set to get them.  I'm getting them free and have 8
full sets between 1943 and 1990.  My wife thinks I'm insane but harmless.

Jim Shaw
Elmwood Park, NJ

On Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 4:33 PM, robert e. watling jr. <
rewatlingjr at comcast.net> wrote:

> On Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:23:23 -0700, Brian LeMasters <
> brianlemasters at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Greetings to all.  Welcome, Rob.  My interest in MLs runs close to yours. I
>> am reading /A Passion for Books: /..Stories, Essays, Humor, etc.  An excerpt
>> from Robertson Davies on Book Collecting refers to the "snobbbery" of book
>> collecting.  He comments that upon seeing the pristine copy of an
>> acquaintance's book of which this collector of minutia was so obsessed, he
>> wanted to say how much he enjoyed reading his tattered Modern Library
>> edition every year.  I admit paying upwards of $35 apiece for some titles
>> that I just could not live without (limiting the size of my collection,
>> also).  I still have not fully defined the desire within myself to buy
>> MLs... I go for value in most of my other purchases.  I think that I am just
>> awed with the amount of minutia surrounding MLs, not to mention the touch
>> and smell.
>>  I have seen copies of Book Row on ebay. It has been on my reading list
>> for awhile.
>>  Brian
>>
>
> Well, Brian,
> i recommend it. It really evokes the old book store experience. And some of
> the characters depicted are much like those I've run into. My first old book
> store experience was when I was in the 4th or 5th grade in New Albany,
> Indiana. My mother sent me several blocks away to a dingy dusty old place to
> get a copy of Gregg's Typing. She knew exactly where it was in the store and
> based on her direction I went right to it. I still remember the appearance
> and smell of the place. I was hooked. I can even remember the size and feel
> of the book. It was a thin volume with a greenish cloth cover with black
> printing on it. I love those places. Any way, get the Book Row book. I'm
> really enjoying it...thanks...rob.
>
> --
> If you understand, things are just as they are;
>
> If you do not understand, things are just as they are.
>
>      Zen Proverb
>
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