P.S. Just so you can't say I never went out of my way for all of you, I want to inform you that the dust aroused by simply handling this musty old book set off a nasty allergy attack as soon as I shut off the cam. So I hope you all enjoy the results of my sacrifice, people!
Nice piece, there B-Sol. Being a bit of a bookworm myself, I can appreciate old volumes like that. While I don't necessarilly consider myself a collector of books, in that I do not purchase books for their monetary value, but rather the value of their contents, I do get that feeling of excitement when I encounter an old book that is perhaps a first printing. It is like holding a tiny piece of history, especially when it is such an influential book like Dracula.
ReplyDeleteConsistent with my many eccentricities, I do love the smell of books, especially old ones. I suppose my apparent lack of allergies helps in this, or perhaps it had something to do with me hunting for forbidden tomes in my old basement as a kid. To this end, I am a staunch opponent of the electronic books, be they a Kindle or otherwise.
Finally, my mother would really appreciate that volume of Dracula. While also not an avide "collector" of books, she does have a penchant for old books, especially science books [she's a chemist]. She has several chemistry and physics books that predate the 20th century, and a few years ago I managed to find a 5 volume set of The Decameron which was printed in the 1750's, and which was amazingly affordable. Unfortunately, it was in German. And it wasn't a first printing either. :^(
I must admit, I'm a little tempted by these electronic readers. Not as a way of replacing books outright, but maybe as a cool alternative for storing a whole bunch of disposable mass market paperbacks...
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of books too! I also have a stationary issue. I think your heirloom is still very special, I bought the Ben Templesmith illustrated Dracula and plan to hand it down to my spawn someday!
ReplyDeletewww.musingcontinuum.com
As soon as you held "Alucard" up to the camera, I thought of The Monster Squad instantly!
ReplyDeleteWhile it isn't quite as cool as you had once thought, it is still a very impressive collectible piece. That is something that I would love to own, as I am a collector of anything horror related, form toys to posters, but something like that has a sense of history to it and is not as easy to come by as some little Michael Myers collectible action figure.
Yankee fan and all, hope you had fun at Fenway Park. It's a dump, but it's a dump with a whole lot of history and charm behind it. And a whole lotta line leading into the bathrooms!
Matt, I'm disappointed that "Alucard" didn't make you think of Son of Dracula, but I'll forgive.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, WHAT is the deal with those bathrooms at Fenway?? I've never seen lines like that for a men's room. It made me wanna just go and take a leak on the Big Green Monster. Like I needed much encouragement, anyway....
(I kid, sir, I kid!)