That aroma, bookish and musty and... mmmm I can't even find the right word to describe it. But it's one of those things that uplifts me no matter WHAT type of mood I'm in.
Alexandra is blogging about old books today. When she told me, I jumped at the chance to post about the same topic!! (Make sure you read hers too.)
Alexandra is blogging about old books today. When she told me, I jumped at the chance to post about the same topic!! (Make sure you read hers too.)
I LOVE THEM!
I don't have a place for them yet. I'm kind of envisioning our next house having shelves built into the walls in a writing study. They would look so pretty lining built-in shelves. Even in the condition they are!
For now, I'm just enjoying staring at them, and opening them at random to sniff. Eventually, I'll start reading them.
They're all really great, but before my battery died I took some pictures of a few of my faves:
1st Edition of Jungle Tales of Tarzan
A note I found in Legends and Lyrics. SO COOL.
Only 1000 copies printed!
I'm sooooo tempted to list an inventory, but I can already see your eyes glazing over while thinking about it. So I'll spare you. For now. dun dun DUNNNN.
Old books that have ceased to be of service should no more be abandoned than should old friends who have ceased to give pleasure. ~ Sir Peregrine Worsthorne
Do you keep old books? If so, do you actually read them--or do you just enjoy the look/feel/scent from time to time? :-)
♥ me
I scored a box of old books from my uncle this past summer. Included in the box were 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Don Quixote, and a collection of Guy de Maupassant stories, and Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. It feels somehow that I've traveled back in time when I crack these volumes.
ReplyDeleteAwesome post!
Very cool! I'll have to post my pics...after I take them...nope, too much effort involved.
ReplyDeleteI love old books. The smell, the delicate pages, the worn out spines. I love finding notes and dedications in used books. Or pressed flowers that have been forgotten and have left a pretty stain between the pages.
ReplyDeleteAwesome photos! - G
Those are so cool! I'm so jealous that you have them :)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, they would look great in a built-in shelf.
I love old books! And that old-book smell, too! My first copy of LOTR, bought in 1986, has started to smell a bit old, and I love that. Sure, I have newer, shinier, hardback copies, but that old paperback holds memories between its pages.
ReplyDeleteI saw a fragment of a gospel written in 170 AD or so, in the Chester Beattie Library in Dublin, and was just awed. The history in that tiny scrap of papyrus! The written word is just frighteningly powerful, isn't it?
(But I wonder what old papyrus smells like. Huh.)
I absolutely love the smell of old books. The first I thing do when I get any book - new or old is smell it. I think most book lovers do. What an amazing gift from your Nana. Enjoy them.
ReplyDeleteThose books look priceless, filled with original worth and history. They will look wonderful adorning the bookshelf.
ReplyDeleteLet us take a moment to thank the technology gods that you CAN'T transmit a smell by internet. The horror that could be unleashed on us all *shudder*.
ReplyDeleteI have about four super old collections of Shakespeare's Complete Works because people keep giving them to me. I too dream of a house with built-in bookshelves (and I want a ladder too!) where I can keep them all. That was one of the cooler things about my MA, our library was filled with these crumbling old manuscripts and only surviving copies of seventeenth century books and whatnot.
Oh Sara! This is a topic that I have yet to post about but will do so soon. I collect vintage books. I have searched this continent and perused the mecca of online options for tons of books that I covet. There is nothing like a book that has lasted the trials of not only time itself but the elements. I do read whatever I find or buy. I like it that way. I feel like I am discovering a lost friend....
ReplyDeleteso glad you got these & they are beautiful!
Visit My Kingdom Anytime
Love them, keep them, smell them, read them - treasure them! Books are my favorite things, new or old or ancient. :-)
ReplyDeleteP.S. I love it that you put the 12 1/2 writing rules at the bottom of the page! :-)
i used to work at a used bookstore, so that's actually spolied me on liking the smell of old books.
ReplyDeleteI came across too many that smelled like cat pee, were crawling with bugs and more that you would think that had blood stains on them
What beautiful books! My husband makes so much fun of me for sniffing books all the time, but I'm glad there are people out there who understand!
ReplyDeleteHow much do you want for the Tarzan book? (not kidding)
ReplyDeleteSend me an email.
Let me know if you have any more ERB.
I love the smell of books and I absolutely adore vintage books. I've got a modest collection that I've picked up through the years. My favorites are the ones with the inscriptions in the front of them...I love that the book has a story and a history of its own! :) I'm such a book nerd!
ReplyDeleteI think the way I feel about this post is the way other people feel about designer clothes and handbags. I'm salivating over here! ;)
ReplyDeleteI love old books. I have a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales that's over 100 years old and another 100 year old copy of Theodore Roosevelt's African Game trails. I want more!
ReplyDelete*Sigh
ReplyDeleteSo envious. I so want to come over just to smell your books. I just put a pork loin in my oven and all I can smell is garlic.
I love your Nana already.
How wonderful--what a great gift from your Nana! I think the smell of books is my all time favorite. I can remember (before air purifiers :)) when all libraries smelled like that...and bookstores. Great post and great pics!
ReplyDeleteI am so jealous! I used to have a score of old books but my Mother kept them when I moved out. I'll get them back some day! *sigh* I love the smell of old books - it's so wonderful! I love to find antique stores that sell piles of dusty old books or walking into old libraries in small towns. *sigh*
ReplyDeleteI love old books! and the smell....ah to die for. :) I keep all of them that I can and I love to go hunting for old books so I can stock my shelves...eventually.
ReplyDeleteGreat picture! I can almost smell them from here! I have a ton of books, but no really old ones...I'm suddenly very sad about that.
ReplyDeleteI too love the smell of old books. Especially those with a hint of cigar smoke. I can just imagine the reader many years ago dressed in a smoking jacket reclining on an old leather chair with his feet up!
ReplyDeleteI have lots of old books. I don't make time to read them since I make the time to write them. I know, I need to balance myself as a writer/reader, hu?
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the smell of books, too. Mmmm...
Old books smell so good! Sometimes I check them out at the library just to get a little sniff (and because they look unloved).
ReplyDeleteSara,
ReplyDeleteI just started reading Drood, by Dan Simmons, just a few days back I caught myself smelling the pages like a ninny! Even new books smells good!
xoxo -- Hilary
I have an old cookbook that belonged to my great-grandmother that looks like yours. It does have that old, musty smell but I love it.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I wrote a scene today in which my characters are in a study with the kind of bookcase you described and it's filled with old, discarded books:)
Oooo, I'm so jealous of your book collection! I have a few old books, but I'd love to have more. I love the smell and feel of a really old, loved book.
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of old books and I love buying used books that have someone bought for someone as gift and wrote it. I like reading those little messages.
ReplyDeleteI actually found my booktopia recently. I love big book stores but I found this old used book store that doesn't look like much from the outside but inside there are thousands of books stacked floor to ceiling and arranged in odd piles on the floor. It smells like book heaven to :)
I love them too :) I love the initial smell when you walk into a library. I have a few older books - but mostly from when I was a kid. I'm keeping the good ones to pass on down the line :)
ReplyDeleteI agree. There's a huge used book store here in St Pete that's super famous. I love walking in there and taking that first big inhale. They even have locked cases with some of the rare "untouchable" old stuff. It's awesome.
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool! How nice of her to give those to you ;o) I'm wondering what my Grandma has lying around. I love getting first editions of anything! I actually collect old advertisements. I have a couple first editions Janet Evanovich books, which my mom bought me at an antique place (they're from all the way back in the '90's LOL)
ReplyDeleteSo cool! I'd love to hear all you got!
Ah, yes. LOVE old books smell. I collect old Alice in Wonderlands. I also have Uncle Tom's Cabin, Pinocchio, and my favorite from my husband, and early edition of Jane Austen's Persuasion.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great collection!!
I don't really like to read from old books (something about the font/texture/darkness of the pages bugs my eyes) but I do like to own/smell/fondle them. :)
ReplyDeleteBy the way, just discovered your blog through the #amwritingparty page, and I'll definitely be checking out the Twitter chat. Thanks!
I couldn't agree more! I just bought books from the 1930's yesterday at an estate sale. The scent is amazing!
ReplyDeleteI always catch myself when I pick up an old book, flipping the pages for a good whiff, before I do almost anything else with it. I LOVE that old book smell. I also love old hardback books with sewn bindings and thick paper, thick, rough paper. The paper in books made now days is always smooth as glass, but in old books the paper is thick, rough. And you can tell those books were made to last.
ReplyDelete