July 5, 2013
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I Have a Treasure
Pretty early on, when we lived in Texas, Josh found a collection of very old books in our house. I took them and ever so gently dusted them off the best I could, given their age, and put them inside much more carefully and with respect to their history. The love that must have been shared with these stories that they still existed in our home! I recently handled them again, giving them a new home here in North Carolina. I want to share a little of one of them, probably my favorite of the group.
Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories. The only year marks I can find inside are copyrights 1902 and 1907. My assumption is that the book was written in 1902, but the edition is 1907. 1907 is also the year that Kipling was awarded the Nobel. I like that.
The pictures in here are part of what makes this my favorite. They are so beautiful, I cannot describe my feelings for them, they are just images that evoke deep emotion and connection and I treasure this book. I took a few inadequate pictures. One of them is of what is probably my favorite illustration in the book.
Comments (13)
Wow, that's pretty remarkable! Those books are a serious find! Any collectible value to them? Not that you'd sell them, but I'm curious what they might be worth. Kipling was no Joe Schmoe.
Who are some of the other authors you found?
@MyxlDove - Wallace Wadsworth, Paul Bunyan and his Great Blue Ox (1926). Joel Chandler Harris, Brer Rabbit Stories From Uncle Remus (1941) - this one is hard to read because of old southern dialect (excerpt: "Watch out down dar, den" sez ole Brer Rabbit, sezee. "'Cause I'm gwine ter set down," sezee.). Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea (1946). And Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (no year given).
@PrincessPowers - That IS a treasure! Homie Cow!!
@MyxlDove - Rudyard Kipling is his pen name. After doing a bit of research, I found that his birthname was indeed, "Joe Schmoe".
@amateurprose - Oh, so he was YO MAMA?
But, holy horses! I'm jealous of your find too!
One time I was being chased by a group of kids, so I ran into an old dusty bookstore to hide out. Once inside, I met the shop owner who inquired about my reading habbits. He then showed me a book that he described as "different, real, and off limits."
Suddenly the phone rang, and he walked away to take the call. Before leaving, he covered the book with a newspaper in a lack luster attempt to hide it from me.
Well, I grabbed that book, ran to my school, hid in an old storage room, and unlocked a world of fantasy and adventure. I also made a few friends along the way.
It was magical.
@amateurprose - You know I'd share them with you.
@amateurprose - This explains so much, dear Johnny.
I follow.
@MyxlDove - Yeah, and no I don't know (or care) the monetary value. To me, it's all about the stories and the history and love of these books themselves.
@amateurprose - Well that explains his need for a pen name.
@MyxlDove - Eh, I kind of like the name Joe. But only if it is short for John. Because that's one of the best names around (besides of course, another favorite, Maurice).
@MyxlDove - I guess. It's still better than Kurt Vonneguts birth name, "Bob Whatshisface"
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