Vintage Musings

As I gathered up the pile of books that had represented most of Monday's school, it struck me just how many of the titles we were reading were older, vintage, and - in some cases, fragile- tomes. In most cases, perfectly new printings, all smooth and shiny, are readily available. So why so many old books? 

Well, frugality for one. Our home library has grown over the years from a couple hundred books to currently over 3,000. I couldn't have done that while paying the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price. So instead I shop second hand and thrift stores, and find books for a dollar or less. Plus, it's good for the environment - the more books we re-use, the less that end up in a landfill, and the less demand there is to print more (I hope). Anyway, save money and the world - win-win.

And what began as a way to save money has now become a super fun way of life. When you walk into a store that sells used books you never know what you're going to find - it's a treasure hunt! Maybe nothing, but maybe a book you've wanted for years, that's been really hard to find, and here it is just sitting in this bin, minding it's own business, and you grab it and look around to make sure no one saw it too, and when you go to pay you feel like you're stealing when they ask 75 cents for it, and you can't help but giggling and thinking, if only you knew!  

I found this complete Book of Marvels at a used book store for $1 once! True story. 

Third (was I counting?), buying vintage books allows you to commune with books that may have been long out of print. Sometimes our curriculum intentionally uses these, but sometimes I come across a book that just looks interesting or friendly, and I have to bring it home, I bought A Child's Geography of the World (pictured above) with it's companion volume A Child's History of the World at our library books sale, for maybe $4 for the matching set. While the latter is easy to come by, the former has been out of print for some time. And yet here I am, owning a perfectly sound copy that has quickly become one of our favorite books. 

It's also fun to imagine where vintage books have been before you. My sweet mother-in-law bought me the book you see on the top of the stack there - a collection of Eugene Field poems - I had fallen in love with his poetry, but did not enjoy reading them online, as I had been. I knew the book was old, but I was not prepared for the inscription I found inside. Can you read it there, in the picture above? It says: 

For dear little Eric with 

love from his "Gran muddie"

on his 8th birthday - 2nd Oct 1898

1898! Can you believe it?! Almost 120 years ago! And that "Granmuddie" would have lived in the time of Dickens! Tennyson! Queen Victoria! Tchaikovsky! DH and I had fun wondering what path it took after it left little Eric's hands - who took such good care of it, that it lasted this long? And why? Was it given up willingly, or unwillingly? Had it been treasured, or left to collect dust, forgotten on a shelf? I'll never know, but it's worth pondering of a half hour. 

And finally, which was the point I came here to make, but got sidetracked by all the other points, vintage books just  make me feel more than newer books can, that I really am communing with great minds, joining the great conversation, learning from what so many before me have learned from. Can you read the same exact text in a newer printing? Of course. But it doesn't feel the same. Hey, I didn't say it was a rational point! 😃 

Well there you have it: Five Reasons To Love Vintage Books. Do you have another you'd like to add? A favorite vintage copy? I fun story about a great find? Please share in the comments!