Judging a Book By Its Cover
So it's turned out to be a good, if challenging read. But I admit it -- when I bought it several years ago, it was, as much as anything else, because of the cover. It's hard to beat a 19th century, good condition "tree calf" binding with intact gilting. The leather on the front and back covers is from the spine of the animal; thus the "tree" pattern running vertically on each cover.
And what's this on the front cover? The seal of "Plymouth College"? What would have been a great mystery to me just a few years ago is easily solved with google: check out www.plymouthcollege.com. "Founded in 1877, we are a city-based independent school providing continuous education for boys and girls aged 3 to 18, with boarding facilities at the senior school from age 11." It's in Devon, England. I think these must have been "award" books given at graduation or possibly as competition prizes. Unfortunately, the school's website is very "forward looking", to quote from it, and contains little about the school's history. It's a peculiar trait of modern Britain that it turns away from its glorious, fascinating history in favor of EU-era secularist egalitarianism. (But I guess that's a different post, really.)
posted by Under The Mountain | 5:42 PM
4 Comments:
Y'know, we always see these photos of houses where the library has been designed by a decorator, and they are beautiful... but my personal library is filled with beat up paperbacks and the occasional hardback.
This book is beautiful, though, and I'm tickled that it's beautiful AND has been read!
"If a book is worth reading, it's worth owning. If a book is worth owning, it's worth owning in hardback."
Good words to live by, but there is always the dilemma of quality vs. quantity -- one can buy (and read) many more books if you include a large volume of paperbacks in your literary diet. (Unless finances don't limit your book buying, but that's not the case for me and probably not for you, dear reader!) So I generally stick with the first half of the quote and aspire merely to own good books, whatever their condition or binding. But occasionally one must splurge; hence my post!
It's funny, I prefer reading paperbacks (trade only, no mass market for me), and love a library filled with books that I have been read...which means, a huge paperback library. Although I do treasure my grandfathers hardbacks and wonder if one day my children (if?) would wish I had hardbacks. A chance I'm willing to take.
Yes, it's hard to beat trade paperbacks. Just the right size to stick in a backpack, a briefcase or (one supposes) a purse. Just the right size to hold in your hands and read -- on an airplane, on the subway, in the car, at the beach, on the porch, or in the bed. There's also the just-so-perfect effect that reading has on them -- you can instantly tell if a trade paperback has been read or not by looking at it. And yet the reading doesn't make it any less beautiful or useful.
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