What is the book you paid the most money for?
What is the book you most value?
It occurred to me that my most expensive book is also my most valued. I wonder if that is the case for all of you?
What is the book you paid the most money for?
What is the book you most value?
It occurred to me that my most expensive book is also my most valued. I wonder if that is the case for all of you?
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
I paid 250 dollars for a neuroscience text book once. I usually buy cheap used paperbacks. My most expensive book that wasn't for school is an edition of Thucydides for which I paid 60 dollars. Second most expensive is my copy of Augustine's Confessions, which cost me about 50 dollars.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
I was also curious to see what other people were willing to pay. If I were the lone loon. Seems to be 2. I paid 90 for Petrarch's "Africa" and I remember people saying, "I wish I had 90 dollars to waste.". But I paid 6.95 for my copy of Confessions. Is yours autographed? Because that would be a DEAL.
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
No, it is not autographed. It is just a hardcover with nice illustrations and beautiful font and it came with a classy looking brown case.Originally Posted by ZTay
I neglected to answer your second question. I'd say there are four books I most value and they are my copies of Don Quixote, a collection of Edgar Allen Poe, one of Plato and another of Nietzsche, his basic writings. My Tropic of Cancer and my Complete Works of Rimbaud also possess much value to me, but not as much as the other four, which are books I've been reading again and again for many years now and also have my first attempts at poetry written in the front and back covers.
“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”
- Kurt Vonnegut
I think it's a quality of the renaissance man to value books that way. Similarly for me with Petrarch, anytime I refer back to it, it's almost like looking into the mirror and remembering who I am; shaking off the cobwebs or something. Incidentally, I'm a big fan of the other writers you mentioned, especially Plato. Marsillio Ficino would probably appeal to you. He isn't a foundation like Plato; but he's a great supplementary author: having the same spirit, but in a much more digestible form.
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
In spite of some 3500 books... including several that are long out of print and quite likely worth a handsome sum today... I'd be hard pressed to think of any book that I paid more than $100 or $125 for. There are a number of books in this range... mostly huge art books.
Which books do I personally value the most? For literature it would include my Dante translations by Jean and Robert Hollander, the Complete Shakespeare, my various Bible translations, William Blake's works, Baudelaire's Fleurs du Mal, and my collection of J.L. Borges.
For art books... The Masterpieces of Japanese Screen Painting, my facsimile edition of the Tres Riches Heurs of the Duc du Berry by the Lindburg Brothers, my Beckmann, Matisse, and Klee Retrospectives, The Italian Renaissance, my Degas and Bonnard and Rubens monographs... and probably my slew of books on the visual works of William Blake.
Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain
My Blog: Of Delicious Recoil
http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
I'm estimating I have 300 or so books. Have read about half of them. How's your ratio with your 3500? I am guessing the more books you collect the easier it is to get behind on reading them. But then again it could have the effect of making you an even more diligent reader.
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
There's a J.L. Borges poem dealing with confronting ones own mortality in which Borges admits that there are books on his book shelves that he will never open. I understand the feeling. I have probably read a good deal of about half of my books... and I try to read at least a bit of every new book I add to my collection before shelving it. I have come to the point that I rarely add anything "new" to the collection. If I do buy a new book it tends to be a better edition/better translation/better copy of a book I already own. There are of course exceptions... but I honestly can't say I have purchased many truly new books over the past couple of years.
Beware of the man with just one book. -Ovid
The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them.- Mark Twain
My Blog: Of Delicious Recoil
http://stlukesguild.tumblr.com/
Possessing books vs. reading books is an explored subject in literature. I became confronted with it in Tolstoy's "War and Peace". Practical Nicolas Rostov never bought a new book before finishing the one he had previously bought; and dreamy Pierre dealt with that fact something like, "I know Nicolas reads all his books before buying a new one, but that's irrelevant anyhow.".
I view them as resources. I once bought a exhaustive 2 volume study on the Colonial South for 2 dollars. I've never read them; but if I ever need it. Ya know.
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
Some years ago, I was one of a group of visitors to the stately home of the Marquess of Bath. In the library I noticed all 12 volumes of Carlisle's History of Frederick the Great. These beautifully bound volumes are obviously worth a good deal of money but there is no monetary value in their text any more than in a paper backed version. The true value of a book lies in its content.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
I have around 300-350 books atm. I haven't read most of them, but I plan to eventually. As another poster said, I think of them as resources among other things. I've only recently in the last year become interested in reading quality literature, philosophy, history etc, though I've read quite abit over the past 20 years or so of your typical sci-fi and fantasy. I've been creating a personal library built off the books listed in most of the top 100 western canon book lists. Translations are important to me so if a particular work like war and peace or the divine comedy will be better enjoyed based off the translation, then I do a little research and purchase the translation I most like. The appearance of a book means something to me. Books are storehouses of knowledge, but they are also, imo, works of art. A well-made, hardcover book is far more enjoyable to hold in the hands while reading than a paperback, and if well cared for will maintain it's condition even through multiple reads far better than a paperback will. Most of my collection is made up of franklin library, easton press, heritage press, folio society, and 1940 or older books.
My favorite book is probably my franklin library the divine comedy, john ciardi translation. My most valuable books are probably the 11 volumes of the Franklin Mint Oxford complete works of Charles Dicks. These oxford/franklin books, though I got them at a ridiculously cheap price, are quite expensive and limited in number.
The most money I have actually paid for a book, in this case a group of books, is 150 dollars for a nice 4 volume set of the dialogues of plato by benjamin jowett. I've read some newer translations "deemed' superior and still prefer these late 1800's, early 1900's translations. Though I list my divine comedy as my favorite book, this 4 volume set if probably my most valued book possession.
I've read pretty much every book I own, apart from a handful of paperbacks I haven't gotten around to. I suppose I have around 500ish books in my room, though I don't keep many of the books I buy from second hand shops. In terms of monetary value the most valuable are probably a handful of textbooks and reference texts from my undergrad days, and the numerous anthologies I own from Longman and Norton (The most valuable works of literature I've handled personally have been Second and Third Folio Shakespeares and some medieval manuscripts, our department also has some pages from a Gutenberg Bible but we can't touch those). Sentimentally, the most valuable is probably a beat up copy of Winesburg, Ohio which I stole from my brother when he was in college.
"If the national mental illness of the United States is megalomania, that of Canada is paranoid schizophrenia."
- Margaret Atwood
My personal library is around 4000 or so books. Mostly Chinese ones which are high quality and dirt cheap. On my body I have about 200-300 odd books. My most cherished being my facsimile of a Song-Ming edition of Wenxuan with the Li Shan commentary attached. It's the most elegant book to read, and the shape of it is beautiful.
As for most expensive, I have some coffee-table sized books which I acquired for a couple hundred dollars each. About chinese archaeology mostly.
I own far too many books...
My prized possession is my libretto of Skallagrim: The Opera - a slightly mad Edwardian attempt to turn saga into Gilbert-and-Sullivan style opretta. It's very rare, though probably not very valuable - but I would never sell it, I love it too much.
"I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche
Thanks for the replies. I enjoyed reading about your books. Most people I know see books as something to avoid.
Nothing resting in its own completeness
Can have worth or beauty; but alone
Because it leads and tends to farther sweetness,
Fuller, higher, deeper than its own.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
