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Gramática Griega

The oldest book I have at home is a Greek grammar from the 1700s.

It came from a friend who bought it at a street fair in Madrid and lent it to me permanently.
It has parchment covers and links to the cover through the souls of the headbands.
t also has some vintage cartoon style drawings perhaps with graphite from some bored student.

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This, I think, is the oldest book (I'm referring to the object specifically) in my house right now. It is a brazilian edition of the "Chin P'ing Mei" (Chinese: 金瓶梅; pinyin: Jīn Píng Méi), by Lanling Xiaoxiao Sheng (蘭陵笑笑生 - The Scoffing Scholar of Lanling, a pseudonym), from the 60's. I'm not sure about the date of the printing, the colophon only has the  publishing company and the printer's names and adresses. It's a industrial kind of book, with cheap materials and machine made binding. I'm studying to properly do a restoration of the book.

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The oldest book in our house is dated from 1556 and printed in Venice. This a small book measuring 11cm high x 8cm wide and 5cm thick. The book has been rebacked with new leather at some point in the books life, but retains the original decorative paper on the covers. As the book has been previously restored, I am unsure of the books original structure and appearance and any providence information. I acquired this book from an online auction after a glass of wine. I was attracted to the decorative paper covers  and the shape of this book as well as the quality of the paper and printing.

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The oldest book in my house is a dairy of my grandmothers mother.
You need to be very carefull with it because you can destroy it really easily.

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The oldest book I have is an old chess manual my grandpa  used when he was young. Probably1940 to 1950

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The oldest book I have is an old chess manual my grandpa  used when he was young. Probably1940 to 1950

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The binding is coming apart and the pages have turned yellow, but it has thought me the basic chess rules. Yay :)

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The Flowers and gardens of Japan - Painted by Ella Du Cane - Described by Florence Du Cane - MCMVIII

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The Flowers and gardens of Japan - Painted by Ella Du Cane - Described by Florence Du Cane - MCMVIII

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Edited on 1908 (and this is a first edition, so it's an over 100 years old book) was my inspiration to make a lecture on Japanese gardens. Written and illustrated by two French sisters, this book called "The Flowers and Gardens of Japan" was inspiring on these early years of the 20th century to many westerns as it introduced to them this art. I came across it because this book inspired the construction of a Japanese garden in Scotland as the owner of the Cowden Castle, an aristocratic lady called Ella Christie (already very fond on this book) meet the authors in Kyoto, while herself was traveling there. I worked as a volunteer this past spring at the reconstruction of this garden in Scotland and when reseaching about it I found this Books reference and manage to find a first edition online! Lucky me!
My book is in good condition, it feels as old as it is though, and the best of this book are the paintings, really beautiful ones. Every engraved painting is protected with a greaseproof paper.
After I bought a new edition from 2015, without the engravings so I could real the content also without having to manipulate excessively the original one

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The oldest book in my house is a violin method book. It was the one I used at the musical conservatory. One day, my teacher asked my study partner and I to receive each one a copy, since the administration of the school was going to dispose them. We -more than gladly- accepted.
A lot of generations of violin players have learnt from it, as well as my teacher and I.
I will be waiting to pass it someday to someone who can appreciate it too.

About appearance:
This book is way bigger than normal books since it contains music scores, with comfortable sizes to play without having to skip pages often. (33 cm x 26 cm)
The paper is thick and rough.
The spine is bound with coarse thread, and fabric.
I have been doing some research and this person also says it's more than a hundred years, but nothing more. His edition has a leather cover also.
http://librosanticuos.mercadoshops.cl/metodo-de-violin-de-d-alard-antigua-trascendental-obra-6206xJM

P.S.: "Yokohon" I think I can identify the book. Looks like a sample book of sashiko (which is a japanese hand embroidery, something I can do a little, and love)

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2b/45/60/2b4560e4a930f8f7c387d2aeacccf225.jpg

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The two oldest books in my house are from the early 1940s. They are bestiaries printed at Harvard College. I nicked them from my grandfather's house when I was a teenager in the 1980s. I have kept them because I love their small size, no more than 10cm square, and for their lovely illustrations and classic elegance.

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The two oldest books in my house are from the early 1940s. They are bestiaries printed at Harvard College. I nicked them from my grandfather's house when I was a teenager in the 1980s. I have kept them because I love their small size, no more than 10cm square, and for their lovely illustrations and classic elegance.

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Tsukiyama teizoden, 1735. These are a few of my older Japanese books. At left is Tsukiyama teizoden, at right (with a colored cover) is a volume from Nise Murasaki inaka Genji.

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Tsukiyama teizoden, 1735. These are a few of my older Japanese books. At left is Tsukiyama teizoden, at right (with a colored cover) is a volume from Nise Murasaki inaka Genji.

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THE HARVARD CLASSICS, published around the turn of the century (19th to 20th).  They were a gift to my mother from my Aunt Lottie and I assume they belonged to her much senior husband, a successful businessman.  In vague childhood memories ('50's), I see him as a nice quiet gentleman but he also struck me as being very very old.  My mother was the first person in my family to attend college, only for a year before marrying Lottie's younger brother in the mid '30's, so perhaps this is why she chose our household as the recipient of the collection.  I seem to recall that my aunt, a product of the roaring '20's, was more of a card player than a reader. The Harvard Classics were born in 1909/10 out of a statement of the then President of the university that a proper liberal education could be obtained by reading just 15-minutes a day from a collection of book fitting on a 5-ft. shelf.  A publisher (Collier) challenged him to create such a collection and he did.  The effort was seen as a step towards the democratization of education. My incomplete set, 20+ vols, now very fragile from having spent most of  their life in a hot, humid unaircondtioned climate, now sit on the top shelf of a 12-ft bookcase taking up maybe 3-ft.

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THE HARVARD CLASSICS, published around the turn of the century (19th to 20th).  They were a gift to my mother from my Aunt Lottie and I assume they belonged to her much senior husband, a successful businessman.  In vague childhood memories ('50's), I see him as a nice quiet gentleman but he also struck me as being very very old.  My mother was the first person in my family to attend college, only for a year before marrying Lottie's younger brother in the mid '30's, so perhaps this is why she chose our household as the recipient of the collection.  I seem to recall that my aunt, a product of the roaring '20's, was more of a card player than a reader. The Harvard Classics were born in 1909/10 out of a statement of the then President of the university that a proper liberal education could be obtained by reading just 15-minutes a day from a collection of book fitting on a 5-ft. shelf.  A publisher (Collier) challenged him to create such a collection and he did.  The effort was seen as a step towards the democratization of education. My incomplete set, 20+ vols, now very fragile from having spent most of  their life in a hot, humid unaircondtioned climate, now sit on the top shelf of a 12-ft bookcase taking up maybe 3-ft.

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The oldest book in my house is Madame de Villepreux, written by general Hardy de Perini. The editor is Alphonse Lemerre. This book is a second edition printed in Paris in 1907, it has 274 pages and its format is in-18 jésus. There is the editor logo on the front cover : a naked man digging, above it there is a motto “Fac et Spera”. The cost of this book is written on his spine, 3.50 Franc. On the back cover there is a list of latest publication. I bought it at a flea market because of its title, Villepreux is the name of my city. The book has suffered some clashes but it's not bothering, the pages have badly aged and have a carded effect, the first cover and the fourth have a few tears, it is not especially aesthetic but does not prevent reading.

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I am hoping that someone will be able to identify my small book 3" x 6" ( 72 x 156mm)! It appears to have a date on one of the photos. It is a pattern book with designs based on grids. Some are flora and fauna. The cover / title is vertical, but the book is printed horizontal. All comments welcome!

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This book was published in 1836 and contains technical drawings and descriptions of how to draw in perspective. There are images of men in 19th century dress. It is my father's book but he cannot remember buying it and thinks it came from a neighbour when he was young. The binding seems to be just one piece of blue fabric holding the pages together. On the cover it says the price was 12 shillings which now would be about £350! So interesting!

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I am currently in a new home in a new country, so my oldest book is from 2005! But the oldest book I know of in my family is from the 1800s and it is an old family Bible. I found it as a child in my grandmother's attic. It contains locks of hair in little envelopes of my family from the 19th century. While as a child I was horrified when I found the hair, looking back on it now, it is a unique, tangible way to connect to the past. The Bible is from the 1860s or 1870s. I am not able to provide a picture of it but I looked for a comparable image online. Source: http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/antique-victorian-bible/236029

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I am currently in a new home in a new country, so my oldest book is from 2005! But the oldest book I know of in my family is from the 1800s and it is an old family Bible. I found it as a child in my grandmother's attic. It contains locks of hair in little envelopes of my family from the 19th century. While as a child I was horrified when I found the hair, looking back on it now, it is a unique, tangible way to connect to the past. The Bible is from the 1860s or 1870s. I am not able to provide a picture of it but I looked for a comparable image online. Source: http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-and-antiques/detail/antique-victorian-bible/236029

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The oldest book in our house is possibly a beautiful leather-bound book from 1750, titled 'The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality'. I bought it at a book fair a few years ago for around £20 because I wanted to read it :-) 

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The oldest book in our house is possibly a beautiful leather-bound book from 1750, titled 'The Complaint: or, Night-Thoughts on Life, Death & Immortality'. I bought it at a book fair a few years ago for around £20 because I wanted to read it :-) 

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The Magazine of Art 1886 published by Cassell and Company Ltd. and is full of the 1886 articles and engravings. I found it in an old second-hand bookshop in Yorkshire about thirty years ago and it cost £5. I collect old books of the 1800s and early 1900s and this one is one of my favourites.

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I bought this book on a bookmarket in the Dutch town Goes. It caught my eye because its an old binding with a nice old marbled wrapper, pasted directly on the back and on the thin cardboard boards. Dimensions: 221x140mm and 360mm thick. The edges are still untrimmed and on the back you can see through the wrapper the cords on wich the quires are sewed. After all these years, its was printed in 1777,  the binding is yet entirely intact! The story is about a certain political history of the Dutch town Goes in 1577, and it is also printed in Goes. To make it complete, de bookseller told me that it was written bij L.P. van de Spiegel, the mayor of the town in that time.
Maybe the book had never left Goes untill I bought it.

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This isn't not exactly a book, but is the oldest editorial item I own.  When I was a child I met this comic strip called Mafalda and I've loved it since then.  I bought this small book in a fair ten years ago, but actually it's an edition of 1986.  It's printed in black and white, each page has two comic strip on it and now the paper look a bit aged.
Written by the argentinian cartoonist Quino, Mafalda is well known in all Latin America due his clever way to show our reality through the eyes of a 6 years old girl and her friends.

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The oldest book in my house is a beautifully illustrated edition of the story of Robin Hood. I found it tucked away in an antiquarian bookshop during a holiday to Cornwall, UK.
The books was published in 1906 in a pretty publishers binding: the covers are clad in green textile, the spine leather-backed. Both spine and cover boards have been decorated with gold tooling. The pages have been opened up, leaving a relatively rough edge on the text-block, which I think adds to its charm.
Although not much is known about how this book ended up in the antiquarian shop, a clue to its earlier provenance can be found when the book is opened. Inside the front cover, a sticker has been added with the text: 'Callington Country School. Prize for General Improvement awarded to Cyril Morcom, presented by A.J. Freeman, Head Master.

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Actually, I have 2 old dictionary in my home. One is a 1902 Grec - French dictionary which belonged to the father of my mother-in-law and which my son is using this year for his ancient grec course. Dimensions : 25,5 x 17 x 10 cm, 2193 pages and 3,6 kg ! The binding is in good shape, given the fact that it was used by 4 generations !
The second one is a 1862 Complete dictionary of the English language by Noah Webster, printed in London which I'm restoring for a friend. Dimensions : 28 x 21 x 10,5 cm and 3,4 kg ! The spine is missing, there a several pages have big lacunae and are detached. The binding is not the original one. The restoration it's a real challenge, all the pages need to be flattened, the bottom of almost haf of the quire need to be reinforced (and there are 101 quires !)

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My oldest book is a copy of Longfellow's Poetical Works. It was presented to my Grandmother, whom I never knew, by Rochdale School Board in 1903. She attended Castlemere Board School in the town and earned it for 'Regular Attendance and Good Conduct'.
This edition was published in 1885 and unfortunately is rather the worse for wear. Its dark red, leather cover is battered, faded and stained. Several attempts have been made to stick bits together with sellotape and the now aging tape has done the poor book no favours either. However it is a tangible link to our history and a valued family treasure. Holding it I imagine how she felt receiving it into her small hands in that Edwardian schoolroom.

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The oldest book in my home is a book in german from 1863 about music theory. It's brown leather cover is a bit ruff in the edges otherwise the book is in good condition but with some red spots on some sheets. A green, pink and yellow pattern decorates the flyleaves and remains from a blue color is seen on the edge of the sheets. Size: 14 x 21 cm.

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The oldest book in my home is a book in german from 1863 about music theory. It's brown leather cover is a bit ruff in the edges otherwise the book is in good condition but with some red spots on some sheets. A green, pink and yellow pattern decorates the flyleaves and remains from a blue color is seen on the edge of the sheets. Size: 14 x 21 cm.

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The oldest book in our house is one of my favourite stories from childhood. I'm not really sure where this copy came from. My mother went through a phase of buying old books so I'm guessing she bought it. I was drawn to Tenniel's fabulous illustrations and the wonderful typesetting in this edition - I think I 'borrowed' it from her about 15 years ago.
The pages are beautiful and in good shape, but the binding was breaking up. I'm an artist working with books, maps and collage
(michellerumney.com) and I intended to use it in one of my pieces of work, to breathe new life into it and get it out into the world again. But I couldn't bring myself to disassemble the book entirely - it is simply too precious and perfect as it is.

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The photo is of a small book printed in the UK in the Victorian period during the second half of the 1800s. The book was printed for religious purposes and hence the cover is of a dark colour. Being printed in Victorian times, the Victorians used various materials for book covers, including leather and cloth. (See the British Library’s “UK books bound in cloth” http://www.bl.uk/eblj/2016articles/pdf/ebljarticle22016.pdf ) The texture of the cover feels more akin to a soft leather, but that would require further investigation. When checking internet sources, the publishing date as stated in the book appears to be a couple of years later than when first published. The pages are sewn together, but I do not have sufficient knowledge to say how the book is then bound into one unit. The book has been in the family for a number of generations.  

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The photo is of a small book printed in the UK in the Victorian period during the second half of the 1800s. The book was printed for religious purposes and hence the cover is of a dark colour. Being printed in Victorian times, the Victorians used various materials for book covers, including leather and cloth. (See the British Library’s “UK books bound in cloth” http://www.bl.uk/eblj/2016articles/pdf/ebljarticle22016.pdf ) The texture of the cover feels more akin to a soft leather, but that would require further investigation. When checking internet sources, the publishing date as stated in the book appears to be a couple of years later than when first published. The pages are sewn together, but I do not have sufficient knowledge to say how the book is then bound into one unit. The book has been in the family for a number of generations.  

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Tales of Mystery and Imagination, 1939 OUP edition

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Tales of Mystery and Imagination, 1939 OUP edition

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The oldest book in my house is a 1939 copy of 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination' by Edgar Allen Poe. It's a small blue hardback from the 'World's Classics' series published by Oxford University Press. I bought it in a charity shop in Edinburgh for £1.05 in 1991 (the price and date are written inside in pencil). The names of three previous owners are written inside the book too, which makes me wonder who they were, where the bought the book, and did they enjoy it? I've read the book several times and always enjoy it. The size of the book is very convenient in that it is truly pocket sized and much easier to carry around than today's paperbacks. The hardback cover offers better protection too. Well, it's nothing fancy and not even particularly old, but that's the oldest book in my house.

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Polish book about All Saints' from 1910. Cover and spine are damaged, but pages are in good condition.

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Tales of mystery and imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

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Tales of mystery and imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

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I can't find it at the moment and it's a bit tatty

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This may not be the oldest book in the house, but it's the oldest book belonging to me. I insisted on choosing this (aged 4) for my birthday present over half a century ago; much to the surprise of my parents, who were offering various more age-appropriate picture books.

The fabulous illustrations by Cornelius de Witt (1905-1995) are boldly-coloured and etched into my memory.

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The oldest book in my home is an encyclopaedia about the Edo period. It was written between 1861 and 1864 and is made of very thin paper. It was given to my mother as a wedding gift by one of her grandmother’s friends whose husband was an art collector. Thanks to what I learnt during week 1, I have come to realise that this is a book bound in the fukurotoji style and that the very thin paper is choshi paper.

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The oldest book in my house, I Am ashamed to say, I have misplaced. It is a poetry book that I rescued from a charity shop. The written inscription shows that it was gifted as a Christmas present in 1901. It is a small book with a burnt orange cloth cover and the edge of the pages are gold.

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My purchased this set of Beatrice Potter small books, from I believe 1968.  They're actually meant to go to grandchildren when they're old enough to read them, but for now they remain in my home.  They're small, hard bound, covered in green  book cloth, with color illustrations on the front boards of each of the stories.  They're fairly simple books and their provenance is just as simple: we purchased them at a library book sale with a stamp from said library.  For being former library books, they're in excellent condition.  We've in some form or another have been exposed to Beatrix Potter's stories, so this will be a nice introduction when the grandkiddies are old enough to appreciate them.

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This is a book that contents a story of Christmas Eve for children.
It was from my great grandmother and I inherited it from my grandmother. The edition is from 1876 and has hard covers with illustrations on it. In the inside you can find engravings that accompany the text.

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Waverley tom I part II by Walter Scott (1955)

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Waverley tom I part II by Walter Scott (1955)

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The oldest book I found in my flat is  "Waverley" by Walter Scott. It's from 1955.
Well, it has hard cover, the book spite looks like made from kind of fabric. The pages are gluead to the spine and when I press the pages strongly it appears that in some cases they are a little bit glued to each other.
The long story of that book isn't know to me, but I came into possesion with it one year ago. I participated in "Blind date with book" festival in cafe. The cover, title and autor weren't known to anyone because the book was wrapped in paper on which was written a verse or two. That's the way I got it.

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A book

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This book lists all the regular British species of birds, with coloured plates throughout, including an illustrated chapter on eggs. I cannot recollect exactly where I got this book from but I am quite positive I found it in a second hand bookstore in Greenwich for a pound. The jacket has been lost or destroyed over time so it appears as a simple hardback covered in a waxed green book cloth with two magpies embossed in black. Published by the Oxford University Press, this copy is the second edition of the Edmund Sandars publication, from 1929. Despite not having a dust jacket, the book is in fairly good conditions, except for a crack between the spine and the front cover, however the type and illustrations look sharp and the paper itself hasn't yellowed much. This small tome played a practical from its previous owner, as one can see on certain pages where someone has made a note of spotting a specific bird: see for instance on p. 19 "Found in house, May 1931" in reference to a Redbreast.

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I have learned how to post a photo so I can show you my damaged book, dated 1887, with the spine title printed upside-down. The cover decoration is quite lovely.. I acquired this book just last year, by chance at a thrift shop.

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A younger book/The Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art Vol. 27: The Art of Japanese Calligraphy, by Yujiro Nakata (1973)

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A younger book/The Heibonsha Survey of Japanese Art Vol. 27: The Art of Japanese Calligraphy, by Yujiro Nakata (1973)

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This is one of the oldest books that I have to hand, and is a translation of a survey of Japanese arts, by publishers Heibonsha. It is an odd format hardback (don't have a ruler to hand), protected by its dust jacket with the title on the front. Underneath the title is a picture of the Ishiyama-gire (early 12th century).
It came into my possession during my MA course, and I bought it through Amazon Marketplace, as the cheapest copy (in somewhat good condition). On the bottom of the text block is a stamp reading, "mid-content public library" so I can only assume it spent most of its life in a library. Its age is betrayed by the slight musty smell, but otherwise it's quite ageless; doesn't look a day over 1974 really!

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"Paroissien Romain" is a Christian hymnbook which published in 1890. This book is 158 pages and includes many beautiful psalms/hymns in Latin that written with the Gregorian chant notation.

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Board of Trade, continuous certificate of discharge

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Board of Trade, continuous certificate of discharge

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A small, navy blue, wrap around book, cloth bound. It belonged to my maternal grandfather, who died in the flu epidemic at the end of WW1. He was a merchant seaman, born in Greenock in 1874. His last voyage to Brazil is dated 1917.
It measures 16.5 x 11.5 cms, gold embossed. There are six signatures with a simple three hole pamphlet binding. It is very well worn.

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The oldest book on my desk at the moment ...

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The oldest book on my desk at the moment ...

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I work in Special Collections in a university library so I deal with rare and elderly books all day long.  Today, I have been working on small donation of children’s books. While most of them are not so old from 1940s and 1950s this one is a earlier undated;  but estimated is about 1850; with very nice illustrations and nice binding.

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Lives of Eminent Welshmen published in 1824 by W Simpkin, London. Stamped gold spine, marbled endpapers. Lovely brown, foxed pages. Inherited from my Welsh family.

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a complete guide to the multiplication of plants by L.H. Bailey seventeenth edition, 1912, first published in 1891. Cloth-bound book cover, title is stamped gold surrounded by stamped green leaf motifs. Faded and worn, binding is falling apart. Paper is foxed and browning. This is a handbook of  methods to successfully propagate
and/ or cross breed plants. Detailed instructions with illustrations. A gift from someone who knows I love books and gardening.

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A romance novel set in Greece, originally written in German and translated to English. Brown bookcloth cover with gold and black stamping, some wear on the corners and spine, and the front endsheet has come loose. A bookplate inside the front cover identifies it as belonging to a Sean R. Posby (Pasby?). Found in the bins of the warehouse section of a used bookstore in Reno, NV.

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Autograph Book of my Grandmother's, May 6th 1916.

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Autograph Book of my Grandmother's, May 6th 1916.

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Grandma was given this book on her 19th birthday by her mother. It is a red leather bound book and has around 100 different autographs in it. They range from hand written rhymes and riddles to elaborate paintings, drawings and cartoons with captions, and there also are some very ribald and satirical ditties about politicians of the day. This is in the middle of the first world war.  Each autograph is signed and dated, and it is surprising that my grandmother who lived in Retford in Nottinghamshire, had so many contacts in other countries who contributed to her collection.  One of my favourites, and which prompts me to find out more about this element of the first World War, is:
' Left, right; step by step
No officer gives the word
In regular ranks the soldiers march,
But never a word is heard.

Left, right; tramp, tramp,
Yet never a one is seen -
For they are the Russin Army that
Landed at Aberdeen.'

With love Annie Samson, The Brooklands, Southorpe, August 15th, 1917

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Psychological Types or the Psychology of Individuation by C.G. Jung 1938

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Psychological Types or the Psychology of Individuation by C.G. Jung 1938

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This book has a black, hard cover with golden lettering and the emblem of the publisher. The cover is bent at the edges and the pages are slightly yellow. The book smells of old, slightly damp bookshop. The book is a A5 size and contains 700 pages. Inside contains old adds including a list of published values from the International Library of Psychology.

I bought this book second hand in a bookshop in North London when on a long walk in a rainy day. I was studying Jung then and I felt excited about the purchase. I have used it a lot for my research. This book holds nice memories and is still in use when I am looking for inspiration.

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Road Atlas 3 Miles to 1 Inch 1955
Brown with 50s title. Hand written subtitle. Handwritten notes in cover (5197 & y6/1). First published in 1940. This is the third edition. Printed by “W & AK Johnston & GW Bacon Ltd. Edinburgh”.  There is a cup stain on the back. A ring. Ink splodges on some pages. Printed in red, blue, green and black. It notes AA and RAC call boxes and first and second class roads. The golden age of motoring? I found it in a book exchange in an infoshop I used to work at. Out of date but still useful for plans involving unknown parts of the country.

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This Japanese book titled Yakusha nigao haya-geiko (Quick lessons in drawing true likenesses of actors) was written and illustrated by Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825) and published in 1817. Unfortunately it is in a rather poor condition and all pages show wormholes. Nevertheless it is an interesting book if you are interested in illustrations of Kabuki actors in the Edo Period.

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Found at a bric-a-brac fayre. The handwritten inscription on the cover page reads To dear little Gertie with love from Auntie Jool. To me, it is treasure. This edition is illustrated with colour plates and has a red and green art nouveau cover depicting stylised roses.

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I have a book with the complete tales of Edgar Allan Poe, published in 1953. It's a hardcover edition and a spine with some minor damages, it has yellowish pages, worn on the edges and some ink stamps from the library that was selling it. I used to work in there and they usually sell old books that no one reads or that are already on stock, and since I love Poe's work I bought it as soon as I could.

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There are a few old books in my house, some valuable, some not so much. I think the oldest must be my mothers family bible from the late 1800's that her German family acquired during the first World War.
My father also has a selection of old Tolkien books, including a first Edition of the Lord of the Rings which I believe is from the early 60'S?

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Nihon otogibanashi 12 - Byakkoutai (1897)

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Nihon otogibanashi 12 - Byakkoutai (1897)

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I think this is the oldest book in my apartment right now. The Byakkoutai was a group of boys from the Aizu domain who fought in the Boshin War (1868-1869). 19 boys committed suicide when they thought the castle had fallen. This book is from a series of children's stories. Now for the first time I thought of taking a look at the binding and it is quite different from what I expected. It is similar to tetsuyousou, but the amount of pieces of paper taken together ranges (randomly) from 2 to 4 pieces, and they are sewn together through three holes (which I can also feel through the cover). The cover is then wrapped, similar to 'houhaisou'.
I bought this book in a bookshop in Osaka (but was actually looking for another title in the same series for my research).

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Joryu haijin 女流俳人 by Kawashima Tsuyu 川島つゆ (1957)

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Joryu haijin 女流俳人 by Kawashima Tsuyu 川島つゆ (1957)

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The oldest book I currently have at my disposal is a library book on Japanese female haikai (haiku) poets by Tsuyu Kawashima. It's a creme-colored hardback with what looks like a small cherry blossom embossed within a circle in the middle of the back cover, and no distinguishing marks on the front. It also has a standard, built-in cloth bookmark. The pages are in good condition, with no tears or discoloration, which suggests it hasn't had much use since it found its way into the university library. According to the colophon, the original sale price was 350 Yen. There's also a thumb-sized stamp affixed to the colophon with a red circular seal stamped in the center of a green border that reads: Meiji shoin 明治書院 on the right and hakkou no akashi 発行の証 on the left in old-style characters. The green border also features the publisher's cherry blossom icon. The seal appears to be the author's; it looks like a stylized version of Kawashima 川島.

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I found this book, with a red, embossed hard cover and excellent binding, in a second-hand shop in the Netherlands in 2016. It cost one euro. The publishing date is not given--I checked various booksellers' sites and found it was first published in 1950 in London, and again in 1951 in the USA. Costs today for the book range from USD 1 to USD 12.

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"In Ghostly Japan" by Lafcadio Hearn (1899)

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"In Ghostly Japan" by Lafcadio Hearn (1899)

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I have several old books of Lafcadio Hearn. He wrote old culture of Japan, most of which were rapidly lost in the process of modernization from Edo to Meiji period.  This is the book which I bought from internet. For me, his point of view is quite fresh even he wrote our culture.

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Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore (1917 edition)

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Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore (1917 edition)

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I found this book whilst clearing out my Mother's attic. It is bound in suede with gilt and black illustration and printing on the front. It is very small, only about 10cmx15cm. The edges of the pages are slightly damaged but inside the book it is in perfect condition and reads very well. After some research I found out this book was published in 1917, my Dad found it in a second hand book shop in 1983.

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Shikoku 80 Shrine Pilgrimage Book (c1950)

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Shikoku 80 Shrine Pilgrimage Book (c1950)

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We don't have any really old books other than one my wife's grandma gave to me on our last visit to Japan. This book belonged to her husband and recorded his pilgrimage around the 80 shrines on Shikoku Island in Japan. At each shrine the monk there would write the name of the shrine in amazing brush ink calligraphy. The book is bound by string and looks handmade. It's probably only about 60-70yrs old but is part of a tradition that dates back a lot further and maintains the craft from those earlier times.

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"Facundo" by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1935)

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"Facundo" by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1935)

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The oldest book I have in my library is a classic from my country, Argentina. I bought this version myself from a used book store. As I open the book, the first page has a handwritten name "Maria Alejandra Barbieri" and a date: 1937. Also there is another handwritten thing wich explain to who belonged this book. I think it was from a girl in the second grade of primary/elementary school, whose name was Maria. The book itself smells like old paper and have an introduction from Joaquín V. Gonzalez, who was an intelectual from my country. The author, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, was the president  of Argentina from 1868 to 1874, and wrote this book in exile, because the gobernor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, wanted to kill him. That's the importance of this book: it portrays the life and geography about the early Argentina (la pampa, or the gauchos) and it seems to have a great inspiration from french thinkers and revolutionaries. The argentinian literature critics still don't know how to call this book, it doesn't look like a novel or a history novel, because there is a lot of fiction involved and some things that Sarmiento said happened to him, doesn't match with the history facts. That's why is so important: when he wrote the book he was planning the Argentina from the future, the books itself can be read as a proyect of what might be a civilized country. The fiction moving the reality.

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The Buddhist Sects of Japan: Their History, Philosophical Doctrines and Sanctuaries (1938)

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The Buddhist Sects of Japan: Their History, Philosophical Doctrines and Sanctuaries (1938)

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The oldest book in my collection was one I bought many moons ago after returning from a study abroad in Akita International University. The cover is red cloth and the paper is thick and yellowed with a subtle fray on the edges (perhaps from how it was initially cut?). The inside is stamped withdrawn from the library at the University of California, San Diego. Given the crispness of the binding and the pages, I'm not sure it has ever been read.

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The oldest book in my house is a 1904 edition of the collected works of Edgar Allan Poe, which my grandmother gave me. I believe it was her mother's originally. It's black and the only writing on the cover is a cursive "Edgar A. Poe" in the  lower righthand corner, which strikes me as unusual, but I don't know if it once had a dustjacket that hasn't survived. The full title does appear on the spine.

The book being an early-twentieth-century "commemorative edition" of the works of a nineteenth-century author adds an extra level, because while the book is already quite old, I believe the frontispiece is imitating an even older style. I don't really know enough about what books typically looked like in 1904 to say for certain, but you can see it's got a sort of yellowed background, as if to mimic old paper--the pages of the book are quite yellowed themselves by now, but it still stands out (in part because it's a color plate printed on glossy paper which hasn't aged quite as badly as the rest of it, though it is showing what looks like water damage.)

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Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (1891)

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Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (1891)

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A gift from my husband this Christmas, it's a 'new edition' of this classic book with coloured cookery pages. It has over 1500 pages, and includes ads!!

It's well worn, the binding is maroon with gold decoration and lettering.

This book is really fascinating as it came at the time of a huge growth in the middle class in England. While a majority of the pages are of recipes (and menus for various occasions, or the month), the passages on household management are fascinating. Apparently Mrs. Beeton (at the time my book was published she'd been dead for over a decade) plagiarized many of the recipes from other famous cookbooks of the time.

Not only is the book itself an interesting glimpse into the late 19th century in  England, the life of Mrs. Beeton is equally interesting.

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The binding is maroon with gold lettering, the Title in the original Greek.  The binding is worn, the pages in perfect condition. The book is written in Greek with English Translations.  It came to me when I was the Librarian for a High School Seminary.

This is not my oldest book, those are kept in another room in a glass cabinet.

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Bought in a charity shop. The paper is quite brown and there are no pictures. It gives an interesting insight into post-war society.

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The oldest book in our house is a 1954 copy of Find the Constellations. Unfortunately, it isn't in the greatest shape--the binding is awfully frayed and is currently held together by duct tape. It probably lacks a dust jacket too, but the interior is in nice shape! I got it when I was in fourth grade--the classroom I was in was getting renovated and my teacher encouraged us to take home as many books from the classroom library as possible. I was drawn to this one about constellations and star-gazing and another from the 60s about prehistoric animals. Not with me right now, but in my room at school I have an ancient Greek primer from the 1860s, given to me at Christmas by one of my older neighbors--no idea how it came into her possession!

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La Peinture Asiatique son histoire et ses merveilles (1954)

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La Peinture Asiatique son histoire et ses merveilles (1954)

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It's the oldest book I have here with me, a present from my passed grand mother. All paintings pictures are nicely glued on a very high quality "bouffant crème" paper . This book develloped my interest to asiatic paintings and culture, . The cover has some chinese ink black drops on it because of my lack of precaution when was younger.

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A very old book that is not in great condition unfortunately, it has mould on some of the pages due to storage in a damp place most likely and its spine as come lose leaving the covers hanging on. A nice book all the same

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Sete anos de Aventuras no Tibete, Heinrich Harrer (1959)

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Sete anos de Aventuras no Tibete, Heinrich Harrer (1959)

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This is the second portuguese edition of Seven years in Tibet by Empresa Nacional de Publicidade, 1959.
The book cover is really dark and gray. The main figure in the book cover stands out because its black (all black) and its lenght occupies all the book cover, from top to bottom. Inside there are some photos, explanatory to some cultural differences that otherwise would not be obtained.
I bought it a couple of years ago in a second hand street market, but without a doubt what grabbed my attention was the black sinister man/figure on the font cover.

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It's small and really light. The colours on the spine are really faded but the blue on the front and back cover is still relatively bright. I bought it two years ago at a special Pelican sales in a bookshop.

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Doge & Dogaresse, E.T.A. Hoffmann (1920)

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Doge & Dogaresse, E.T.A. Hoffmann (1920)

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The oldest book I own is a version of the short tale "Doge & Dogaresse" (translated as "The Doge and the Dogaressa" in English), written in 1818 by E.T.A. Hoffmann. The version I have was published in 1920 by a Hyperion Verlag, a publisher located in Munich. It was still published in the older Germanic script, and illustrated by G. Bohl. Fifty of the books were even hand-painted and signed, but alas, my version is not one of those copies.

The cover of the book is clothbound. It seems to have been bound with a glue-method.

I picked this one up in a second-hand bookstore in Amsterdam in 2011.

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Selected poems of Great qazaq (kazakh) writer (aqyn). 1936

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The Three Impostors, Arthur Machen (1923)

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The Three Impostors, Arthur Machen (1923)

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While this is by far the oldest book that I own, I came into it fairly recently. I wrote my undergaduate dissertation on The Three Impostors by Arthur Machen, and so sought out as old a copy as I could for research (and aesthetic) purposes. I balked at the cost of an actual 1895 first edition, so resorted to the first American edition, published by Knopf, from 1923.

My copy lacks a dust-jacket and is really looking slightly worse for wear. The covers are a deep blue but the branch-like pattern is faded and dusty. The binding, which I'm ignorant as to exactly how it is bound (sorry), is still holding together. The inside covers has this gorgeous yellow almost marble-like pattern.

Apologies that I cannot be more specific, I am doing this from memory as I have recently moved...

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I bought this textbook in a second hand book store in Kiev (Ukraine). Latin language was a mandatory subject in all schools before Russian revolution of 1917. It's a hardcover, pretty worn out.. The binding employes cloth, pages are yellow from time.. I took it with me, when I emigrated to Canada, but now I live in South Korea, so this book is not with me.

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (co-edition 1899)

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë (co-edition 1899)

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I picked this up in a an antique shop in Isle of Wight in England a few years ago. It's printed by Smith, Elder & Co - 15 Waterloo Place, London.  Bound in navy leather, it's in a surprisingly good condition, and has a preface and memorial by Charlotte Brontë. The typeface and layout is so beautiful, and it's an easy read, even 118 years on!

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I picked up this book in a second hand book store about three years ago. I cannot find the exact date of printing but the message gives 1895. It is not in too bad condition for 122 years old!

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I moved internationally several days ago and even then don't own many physical books, so the oldest book in our apartment is a 1967 printing of a Richard Scarry children's book that my stepfather gave me last year for our young daughter. I'm not sure who it originally belonged to, but it has obviously changed hands several times. It is hardback bound and at 288 pages, I am not sure I have ever seen a longer book intended for children. I'm not sure this type of book would be marketable today, but I still intend to read it to our daughter once she is older.

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I had two contenders but this is the winner by four years. It is 11.5 cms by 19 cms and is leather bound. A lad named Reuben has appeared to practice his signature at the back.
The second book is rather more interesting, " The Power of Religion on The Mind in Retirement, Affliction, and at The Approach of Death: Exemplified in the Testimonies And Experience of Persons Distinguished by Their Greatness, Learning, or Virtue". Leather bound and slightly smaller than the above.
Both books are believed to have entered my wife's family when new.

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English-Russian dictionary, published in 1949. It contains 20 000 words. It is interesting to see that our familiar words like "computer" or "Internet" don't exist there. But it includes some outdated words and geographical names.

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"Revision de Grammaire Francaise" (1949)

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"Revision de Grammaire Francaise" (1949)

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This book was published in 1949 by Harper and Brothers, New York. It was written by Agnes Houghton Boss and George Paul Borglum of Wayne University. The book is medium-sized, about 5 inches by 7 inches, a hardback covered in green cloth. The binding is neat, compact, and sturdy, employing textured cloth. On the cover, the title of the book and authors' names are printed in small, delicate, yet elegant typefaces, the title in italics, and the names in a serif font. On the spine, the authors' names appear in all caps at the top; the publisher's name is printed in all caps oat the bottom -- these are oriented vertically, upright if stored on a bookshelf. Between, the title of the book in italics appears, oriented horizontally, upright if the spine is viewed while the book is laid to its side, front cover facing up. The book is designed to help English-speaking students with revising French grammar, summarising the main points of French grammar. I obtained the book at a university book-sale at the University of Kansas.

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See other two images, the book was arranged for the new edition, (this one), two weeks before his death.

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See other two images, the book was arranged for the new edition, (this one), two weeks before his death.

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See other two images, the book was arranged for the new edition, (this one), two weeks before his death.

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The oldest book in my house is a copy of Dante Alighieri's "La Divina Commedia". My father picked it up at a booksale in Romania many years ago. It has the previous owner's name written inside. This edition is dated 1925.
The book itself is written in its original Italian text. The pages are uneven/rough cut. Cover is blue, with gold lettering on the spine.

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I didn't look on all our bookshelves, because as I looked I came across this beautiful book that I had not noticed before.  It belongs to my husband, and inside is a note that indicates it was a gift to his father.

The illustrations (by Maxfield Parrish) really stand out.

There are almost 100 poems, but as I look through them, none are familiar to me. I am not familiar with the author, who is apparently well known for his children's poetry.

It is in good shape, but you can see the stitching on the spine where it has pulled apart from the binding.

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Miles's Catalogue of Honour, London, 1610.

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Miles's Catalogue of Honour, London, 1610.

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This is a large 17th c. work on the aristocracy of England up to the reign of King James. It has been rebound in modern black buchram with stamped leather labels, Unfortunately the modern rebind has trimmed some of the text. The book is missing the first few pages and those pages were replaced with a manuscript copy of the contents. My guess would be that theses pages were added in the 19th c. but may be earlier.

The main body of the work contains the printed coats of arms of the people mentioned. I have seen other copies with the arms tinted.
I purchased the book in the 1970's.

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The oldest book in my little apartment is a copy of TS Eliot's poems from 1934 a seventh edition. It's pocket book sized, bound with green cloth bound book with faux gold writing, it gives me this impression that it had a sleeve initially, however, when I bought it from a secondhand shop it was already missing. The binding has been damaged, the book tilts forward, it seems from long term storage under something heavy, presumably other books. The paper is stained by brown spots, it is made with is thick unlike the paper used nowadays, with a grainy look and fairly ridged. Finally the book has a newspaper clipping in it about T.S. Eliot's play "The Family Reunion", which I found very insteresting.

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Encyclopaedia Britannica 1878  A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature.

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Encyclopaedia Britannica 1878  A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences and General Literature.

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A large heavy volume, 30 x 10 cm, 8 cm deep, small print in 2 columns per page, illustrated with etchings and maps, one of 26  originally.  This is the Ninth edition:  the first edition is quoted as printed 1771.  The authors are listed for the main articles.
This is an English development of the French Enlightenment Encyclopedia.
Bought in a secondhand book shop 60 years ago, sadly damaged at the edges

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A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1801)

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A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1801)

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The oldest book I've got is a 1801 edition of 'A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy'  by Laurence Sterne. It's a pretty battered copy that I got as a Christmas present from a good friend (along with a more current edition published in 2004 by Dover Publications), He found it in one of Edinburgh's many secondhand bookshops. It is a hardback, a little narrower than an A-format paperback that's bound in brown leather with gold gilding around edges and on the spine (along with small circular designs but it has been well loved so is hard to make out). It was published in London and the end papers have the pretty coloured ink marbled effect seen commonly in other books published in the Victorian period. It has a few pictorial plates and I also noticed that the page numbers are in the centre, at the top of the page just above the text and the numbers are in a larger font size than the text itself. It's a great book and although it is a 'novel' had an interesting influence on the travel writing genre, especially the way it was written and it's popularity in the 18th Century.

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The oldest book I have in my possession is a theater piece from A. de Musset. The book also has ilustrations by Fotanals which were the main reason I bought it. The covers are not the originals.

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Estidio topográfico de La Pampa y río Negro - Olascoaga 1881 

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Estidio topográfico de La Pampa y río Negro - Olascoaga 1881 

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The book belongs to the year 1881. It belonged to my great-grandfather. It contains topographic information never previously documented, until that time, about the territory of La Pampa and Rio Negro (southern Argentina). Until that moment there was no map that showed the territory and only lived indigenous tribes. Within the book you can find lithographs that show views of landscapes. Also contains a drop-down map printed on the same technique.
Dutch type binding.

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Our house is full of books. Many of them are from the last 50 years, a few from over a century ago.
Many years ago, I was trained in bookbinding, and recently took it up again as a hobby. 'Several Difcourfes, viz, Of the great Duties of Natural Religion... etc...' is a recent acquisition. Without boring you with the technical stuff,  the pages are in good condition, the binding is still solid, but the front cover is long gone, and the rear one detached. Covered in (probably) calf, well used over the years, with annotations ('preached on the 5th of November') throughout, what fascinates me about it is where its been, who might have used it, how it survived. It was printed "at the Rose and Crown in St.Paul's Church-yard". Bit different to "a Random House Publication"!
Books have their own stories to tell, beyond that which is written to their pages.

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It is a pamphlet volume of two albums dedicated to Russian painters Repin and Serov. That's not the oldest book in my possession, however, other are at the storage or at my workshop.

(additional photos are linked in the text)

Part dedicated to Repin is published in 1914. Part dedicated to Serov — somewhere between 1911 and 1917 (both books have pre-Soviet orthography). Supposedly bound at some moment before the Russian Revolution of 1917.

This book is important to me more because it was bought by my grandmother in Bucharest on the day of my birth. It was printed in the Imperial Russia, traveled to Romania, was bought there by a Russian expat, given to me as a present and returned to Russia several years ago. It may happen that it has missed the Soviet Russia completely.

Book is in hard-bound in half leather and linen cloth. Paper quires with light cardboard inserts on which painting reproductions are pasted. Endpapers are made with marbled paper.

Book has Romanian ownership markings, Romanian book store marks and a note made by my grandmother on the day of purchase — 11th of September, 1982.