Your Bookshelf

In response to:

The following thread,

Panorama-ing a photo always distorts it, so some individual shots.

 

Here are some of mine. I have my collection in three locations, across two cities, so this is far from complete. These are some of my favourite books.

 

@Lemex, you sure do love Penguin don't you?

 

How did you know?

In truth, though, they make some very fine, very scholarly books. They are often well worth the buy.

 

Oh, this is so fun ...@Wreybies, thanks for posting this thread. Love your statuary, by the way. And @Lemex, you've got some wonderful editions (the Dante and the Shakespeare especially.) I'm jealous. I don't have very many great editions any more, as I had to leave most of mine behind when I moved overseas.

In case you think I lack for books ...these next two are some of my writing-related books:

And the next one is my Western and Victorian research library ...or part of it:

And this one contains fiction and research for Nova Scotia, Boston, and Hungary

And THIS one is my Sci Fi - mostly

And THIS one is my reference library, non-writing related

Incidentally, my husband has 3 bookcases of his own, not pictured.

And you wonder why I bought a Kindle? (And yes, I do cull books frequently...)

 

My shelves look like yours @jannert. I'll try to get some images up later tonight.

 

Shelf-envy.

 

Thank you @jannert! I must say I am impressed with your shelves too. Actually quite envious. Those two books, the Shakespeare and Dante, are leatherbound, and I take them with me whenever I move. I have three copies of the Divine Comedy, at least.

Sadly, what I've posted is only the creme of my collection, the books I like and are most important to me, which are at my parents house. It doesn't include my antiquarian books either. I have another collection that is at least twice the size of what you see above.

 

Damn @jannert, you could open a book store!

 

Oh, I would love if my life had taken the turn that allowed me to hang on to antiquarian gorgeous books. I had a few, but had to leave them behind. They are worth a small fortune now, and I hope my sister still knows where they are. Two of them are original editions with NC Wyeth illustrations ...the King Arthur one, and Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' The Yearling. I also had a gorgeous early edition of Call of the Wild, with very Art Nouveau illustrations that belonged to my dad. He was born in 1917, so I think this edition must have been given to him as a very young child.

Ach well. Now it's just paperbacks with the occasional treat of a hardback. But at least I use the paperbacks. I have no qualms about writing in them, as they're not destined for posterity, but were bought to be used and referred to. But damn the hide of anybody who defaces a REAL book. Grrrr....

 

I could also start a very large bonfire, but it might be misinterpreted...

 

For an example of the kind of things among my antiquarian books, here's a beautiful copy of Stories from Homer published 1900:



It has illustrations every 50 pages of artwork in imitation of Ancient Greek pottery. I love this book, and bought it just recently for just £5.

I do this too, but it depends on how I feel about the book. I have worn out my copy of Virgil's Eclogues, but I've not put pen to it. I don't think I could live with myself if I ever did, but there are times when I use it every day. My Hofmann translation of Kafka, though, I've crossed stuff out, rewritten sections when I know the original German well enough, added notes and all sorts.

 

Thanks. I had to get rid of the vast majority of my books when I moved to Puerto Rico. Just too expensive to ship. My Kindle is where the greater part of my books lives these days.

 

Oh, that reminds me...some fella named Montag was looking for you.

 

If we're to include antiquarian books, I've got loads all over the house! But honestly, I treat them as decorative. I worked at an antiques auction house during university.

 

Oh, those are gorgeous!

 

I'll post only my all-time favourite shelf, the almost complete Disney selection on which I am very attached (some books are not on this shelf). Heh, I'm soo glad my parents were buying these... Sometimes before sleep I still read them.

 

If you guys are ever in Scotland, you MUST visit Leakey's book store in Inverness. It's a converted old church, with a restaurant included, and they carry the most delicious collection of old books AND matted prints. The store is huge, but pretty well organised inside, and during the colder months there is always a roaring wood fire going in their huge woodstove. A great place to spend a few hours while waiting for a bus to someplace else. The books are affordable, but not what I'd call cheap. But very worth it. And the selection is massive. I'm particularly fond of the section of childrens' books from the past 100 years or so. Great stuff.

 

Thanks. Here's a close-up:



A Particularly love my copy of The Mill on the Floss. The italian marble paper on the outside and inside is really nice.

 

Ha! You are kidding, right? I have a small hardback copy of Robbie Burns' complete poems that I bought from there! I used to live the other side of Loch Ness from Inverness, Fort Augustus!

 

Let me see. That would be the upper left-hand corner of the shop, if you're coming in the main door. Down the corridor, past the long line of children's books on the right, all the way to the end. A nice little niche room, full of poetry books!

Yeah, I own quite a few books I bought there as well, including several Victorian-era medical books which were REALLY handy when I wrote my novel. That's such a great store! Link for anybody interested: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/preview/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x488f715305b9f42f:0x874048da2c321661!2m5!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i100!3m1!7e1!4shttps://plus.google.com/114093254141763578566/photos?hl%3Den%26socfid%3Dweb:lu:kplacepageimage%26socpid%3D1!5sLeakey%27s+inverness+-+Google+Search&sa=X&ei=Z-eMU7CQBq-u7AbW8IDwBQ&ved=0CJsBEKIqMAs

 

Dude, I am so jealous. I am literally weak in the knees over over those images. Beautiful!

My memory of the lay out of that shop isn't the best I must admit, but that feels right but considering this is easily 8 years ago now, and I only really remember the book cost £3.

There and Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland are my two favourite book shops in the world. Inverness is a city I have many fond memories of, I'm thinking of heading back up there some time and seeing some friends. Ever been to Fort Augustus?

 

Hehe I can imagine how many WF members jumped off their chairs when @Wreybies created this thread.

 

Oh, that's a really fun collection! I loved Disney as child, even if he DID kill off Bambi's mother. Traumatised a lot of us...

 

What's the Historic Gallery one about?