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| I really don't know what those people with those scanners are looking for when they are running around the library book sales....but I know what I'm looking for... the oldest and most tattered books who need homes and love. I bet you can tell which ones I picked out. |
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| Yup, I got six books today for only $1 each and they are all over 100 years old. I just can't believe it...so cool. |
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| I can just picture the little kids who learned spelling from this old beauty... |
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| And this, a reader for a new reader, who is now long gone. |
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| Who doesn't like birds? |
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| And, don't tell Trump, but today was Russia Day at the library sale. There were dozens and dozens of books in Cyrillic .... so cool. They too were over 100 years old and tattered and mended and falling apart and wonderful. |
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| A rubber stamp from a Russian bookstore in SF? |
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| Will I tear this up? haven't decided yet. For a while, they will sit in my studio and I will just admire the fixed and aged pages.... |
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| Look at the hand sewing on the spine of that book (and not too neat)but lovingly mended) and passed along... |
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| And then we had the delightfully lurid noir paperbacks... |
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| How this those books get from Russia to SF? And how did this one get from NYC to SF? The stories they could tell. |
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| Interesting to mail artists...but I left it for someone else to find and love. I like my books very old and worn.... So, that was today. Since the shots I posted on Instagram were such a hit I figured you guys who read the blog might really enjoy seeing a little more detail. And, did I mentioned the big farmers market is right next door to the library? TOMATOES That's all I'm going to say.... |
Oh, Pamela. I would give anything to have some of those old books. I paid $4.00 for a small book that was dated 1918 at our book sale, but no ledgers, no old school books, no nothing wonderful like those you found. Oh the art I could make with the likes of all those books you found today. I'm in such awe of your library book sale, and your choices you made.
ReplyDeleteTomatoes? Farmer's Market? Sounds like an art and a food feast to me.
I thought of you while I was there, Elizabeth.....and the tomatoes (and peaches and melons) are terrific. You should see me trying to get all the great stuff home...
DeleteWonderful finds, Pamela. Whatever you're going to do with the books, have fun!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julia -- first I am just going to admire them for a while....and then? who knows?
Deletegreat choices! treasures!
ReplyDeleteThank you -- glad I have a tribe who understands....
DeleteYour a girl after my own heart Pamela - I too have my collection of oldies. Curious to know what you do when you DO decide to use...to keep the pages intact I will either scan and not use the original or I will spray with workable fixative and then maybe mod podge to make it more stable before I cut/use....
ReplyDeleteI am -- I do only use originals in my work though so at some point I must decide what I will keep intact and what gets torn up....Some books are already falling apart so that helps me decide...And I can use the covers for altered books.
DeleteI, too, love to imagine how many hands the books passed through and what their stories were. Such amazing books! Definitely enjoy them a while and then maybe cut them up and send them out in the world to have a new life. How were the tomatoes? Summer tomatoes are the best!
ReplyDeleteThese babies have definitely been through a lot of hands.....so interesting...I agree, enjoy and then cut up....The tomatoes are fabulous. I wait all year for summer tomatoes and then I eat them every day. YUM.
DeleteLove these! My librarian has asked if I would go in and sort through shelves of old books in storage for the upcoming book sale--and in return I can have what I want. I'm soooo excited! Thanks for sharing. Love the photos!
ReplyDeleteOoooo have fun sorting books. I'd love to see what books you pick out. Old books are the best....have fun.
DeleteI wish I could smell the paper... old paper smells so nice.
ReplyDeleteMy studio sort of smells like old paper....hummm...I am not sure that's a good thing....
DeleteHi Pamela! I am always amazed at the books you find! It's like you live in Willie Wonka's Chocolate Factory except paper/book/vintage/mail goodies instead! :-)
ReplyDeleteI always look for the most beaten up, ancient books and I usually find them.....SF does seem to be a good place for old books.....
DeleteYour finds are aged and lovely and appreciated. When the "noir" covers are paperback, they make wonderful postcards! Enjoy your acquisitions!!
ReplyDeleteOpps -- reply below -- I should not be typing without coffee first.
DeleteThanks, Andria -- I agree the Noir covers would be great postcards but at $1 a card that is kinda pricey. I left them for someone else to love.....
ReplyDeleteLove these old books - the art and fonts are so great. Amazing that folks cherished them for so long, mended and handed down to generations... until someone lost interest and there they are for you to find.
ReplyDeleteAgreed! I just love them. Sad to think books aren;t as beloved as they once were -- but they are cherished by my art tribe!
DeleteI'm so happy to see these books find a new home/second life.
ReplyDeleteopps -- reply below
DeleteMe too -- especially MY home. And you can read the Russian, right?
ReplyDeleteOh, I am so jealous of the Russian books. I found two a few years ago at my local library for about $2 each - language instructional books from the 1950s! And, just last weekend, I found the coolest Audubon guide from 1950 that had the owner's handwritten notes from when they saw they bird! I'm hanging on to that one for a while. Thanks for sharing these images!
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