What is the oldest book in your house? (January 2017) by KEIO FUTURELEARN

Example

fl_keio — 2016-06-23 09:51:02 UTC

The oldest book in my house was... shamefully, I don't have very old books at the moment in my apartment. But this used book of Edward W. Said's Orientalism does have number of traces from previous owners.. (though from the color of the paper, it is still not that old).

2017-01-09 03:10:00 UTC

One of the oldest in our house is The Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley published in 1847. It belonged to Thomas Tregenna Biddulph a family ancestor and he used it when he studied at Oxford in 1850. It is good condition and has the original cover. The cover is brown leather(?) with gold writing on the spine. There is slight water damage.

One of my oldest books "

gonzalovaldivia_davila — 2017-01-09 03:23:08 UTC

"El ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
From Biblioteca Mundial Sopena, Spain.

1920.

The pages are yellowed, but the book keeps its sepia cover, which depicts Both Sancho and Don Quijote.

I read it during faculté of literature with great pleasure.

The oldest book in my house is, "The Saints Everlasting Rest" from 1806.

jill31 — 2017-01-09 03:36:42 UTC

Jill Littlewood

This is the spine of the 1806 copy of

jill31 — 2017-01-09 03:38:41 UTC

"The Saints Everlasting Rest"Jill Littlewood

jill31 — 2017-01-09 03:42:22 UTC

Title page of "The Saints Everylasting Rest." 1806
Jill Littlewood

Kaempfer's Japan Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Originally published in 1727 as the central source of Japanese knowledge in the West. This version published as number 82 of 100, specially printed on handmade paper in 1906. It has many maps and foldouts. A beautiful symbol of Japan, the Chrysanthemum is represented in gilded gold on the front cover. I purchased the book in Hong Kong several years ago.

2017-01-09 03:45:52 UTC

Ten Thousand Leaves Noh Chant Book - New and Expanded Edition

2017-01-09 04:00:17 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house. This book was popular among noh chant amateurs. The first half describes various aspects of noh, such as its sacred origin, the 15 virtues of studying its chant, and the structure of stylistic schools. The second half features kouta (short chants) extracted from noh plays. The book features illustrations of plays, training and performance environments, as well as noh masks and props. Each page is made with a sheet of paper folded in two, and is bound with thread. Purple cloth covers the edges, to add some protection. The cover of the book is made with thicker carton, and a wave pattern is impressed on it.

The original title is : 新改正大増補/万葉小諷千秋楽 Apparently it was reprinted in Kaiei 7 (1855) and then further reprinted by request (?) (求版) in Meiji 38 (1905)

Ritsumeikan University ARC holds a digital copy here

Kaempher's Japan

2017-01-09 04:03:16 UTC

Beautiful Chrysanthemum

Kaempher's Japan

2017-01-09 04:04:06 UTC

Spine

2017-01-09 04:04:41 UTC

Kaempfer's Japan

2017-01-09 04:05:18 UTC

Note the uneven pages

Madame Bovary

2017-01-09 04:08:29 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house. I bought it at a small bookstore at my local library.

Madame Bovary, again.

2017-01-09 04:09:38 UTC

An old book I have is The History of New South Wales Vol II, which seems to have a library stamp on it (the Library of the Royal Empire Society, London). It is by Roderick Flanagan and was printed in the UK by Samson, Low and Son in 1862.

2017-01-09 04:16:30 UTC

I don't know how I come to have it but it includes history of my ancestor, Sir Charles FitzRoy, first Governor General of New South Wales

June 1889 edition of Shakespeares 'The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke'

2017-01-09 04:20:06 UTC

Bought at an antique book auction in England. It was one of 250 prints made and is hand illuminated and barely holding together. The drawing and bindings are beautfully aged

Reader's Digest edition of Pride and Prejudice.

2017-01-09 05:16:52 UTC

The oldest book in my house is a hardcover imprint from the 1990's. They took extra care to make this version resemble a classic hardcover, and the spine has a cloth cover. I live in a tropical place and paper is something that doesn't last long in this climate. If I owned old books they would certainly deteriorate quickly due to the humidity and the creepy crawly bugs that love to munch on them.

nitaboc — 2017-01-09 05:35:50 UTC

My books are packed away but here is one, printed in Great Britain circa 1930. It has lovely illustrations and written in a quirky manner

Tolstoy

2017-01-09 06:20:40 UTC

When I moved to Thailand, I only brought one of my grandfather's old books with me, a 1935 edition of Tolstoy's Tales of Army Life. All my other books on the bookcases seem rather modern by comparison.

Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide

2017-01-09 07:04:35 UTC

This is from 1979. Not an old book compared to other books on here by any stretch of the means but its availability is rare enough to collectors nowadays, because revised editions came out that obsoleted it.

The cover and spine are in good condition. Since it was meant to be a reference guide and was a gift from a friend, there are many notes scribbled into the margins highlighting various passages. Many of these books tend to separate from the cover as the glue begins to degrade from constant opening/closing - this specific one was more or less an expendable reference book that accompanied my friend as he first began playing Dungeons and Dragons in Britain, made the trip to California, and ended up where it is now in a pile of notebooks and dice.

I still refer to it from time to time! It is immediately recognizable on a bookshelf due to its large size (11 x 8.7 x 0.8 inches) and thick black cover. The front has a giant red monster on it, making it unmistakable.

Heinrich Heine

2017-01-09 07:15:11 UTC

The oldest book in my house is an 1887 edition of prose writings by Heinrich Heine. We have a lot of hardbacks from the 30s and 40s, and a coupleasure from the 19th century, but this is the oldest. It is it is hard bound not soft bound, and is sewn, rather than glued together. Each section has been printed on a big sheet of paper, then folded many times. This means the pages are uneven at the edges as they've been hand cut.

Heinrich Heine

2017-01-09 07:23:44 UTC

Heinrich Heine

2017-01-09 07:25:06 UTC

Arthur Schopenhauer - Schopenhauers Werke

2017-01-09 07:41:05 UTC

This two-band work is not the oldest book in my new house by far, but it is the one accessible while my library is being reinstated. It is a curated collection of texts by the German pessimist philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The book is greenish-yellow, is set typed with Victorian letters, and has traveled to my hands from 1890. I bought it at an antiquarian sale five years ago. It is in German, and feels much heavier than contemporary bound books.

Green Thumbs (1953) by Roscoe A. Fillmore

2017-01-09 08:01:24 UTC

I got this book in 2016 for $2 at a used bookstore that was moving. The font is old but the book is in great shape. The information inside doesn't really age; there is some new garden science but it's fun to read a 1953 paperback book

What is the oldest book in my house

jelisavasethna — 2017-01-09 08:10:09 UTC

The oldest book in my house is a book of poetry by a Slovenian poet Simon Gregorcic. The book was given to me 15 years ago by a husband of my cousin who was a great collector of books. Since I live in Japan, where are also give lectures on Slovenian language and culture, he thought this would be a good aid to and inspiration for my future work.

1752 Ovid's Metamorphoses in French

2017-01-09 08:23:50 UTC

Those three volumes are the oldest books in my house. I bought them for just a few euros years ago. I love the binding style, the golden letters and decorative motifs.

2017-01-09 08:56:29 UTC

1809 Volume 2 of Beaumarchais's Complete Works. It includes a copy of the Marriage of Figaro (wonderfully radical for its time).

Martin Chuzzlewit. Maybe not the oldest book in the house. MC first appeared as a book in 1844, but I don't know whether this is a first edition.

2017-01-09 08:58:22 UTC

Found in a Glaswegian bookshop

Jidai Kagami [時代鏡] (1862)

lonny_chick — 2017-01-09 09:18:08 UTC

The oldest book in my possession dates back to 1862 (Bunkyo 2), from the end of the Edo period. It is an illustrated woodblock print book called "Jidai Kagami" (時代鏡), which means "Mirror of the Ages". It is illustrated by the famed artists Toyokuni, and his student, Kunisada. The book was published by Wakasaya Yoichi, whose shop was located in the Shinmeimae, Mishima-chō area of Shiba, in Edo.

The book was purchased some years ago at Daishodō, one of my favorite old book and woodblock print shops in the Teramachi area of Kyoto.

Lady's Knitting, Netting & Crochet Book

2017-01-09 09:30:26 UTC

This book is in 3 volumes and was produced in Edinburgh in 1844. I bought it in the 1960's and have attempted to make a couple of the items. It has a wonderful dedication to the Right Honourable Lady Henrietta Fergusson from the author Jane Gaugain. It describes itself as 'the Lady's assistant for executing useful and fancy designs'

The oldest book in my house is Лев Николаевич Толстой "Кавказский пленник" ("A Prisoner in the Caucasus" by Leo Tolstoy), published in 1976. I took it from my grandma's bookcase. I have read it in childhood and left here as one of my favourite. The binding style isn't unique and complicated, because it is a amall book. There are 48 pages only but with images and a portrait of author on the first page. Fifteen's edition.

2017-01-09 09:52:46 UTC

Epitome Radicum Hebraicarum et Chaldaicarum (1615)

anton17 — 2017-01-09 10:01:06 UTC

The oldest book I have at the moment is Epitome Radicum Hebraicarum et Chaldaicarum by Johannes Buxtorf, published in 1615. I love early texts on linguistics and lexicography, and this is a text on the roots of Biblical Hebrew and Chaldean. I also have a copy of Etymologicon Linguae Anglicanae by Stephen Skinner from 1671, the first important etymological dictionary of English.

Liam O'Flaherty Insurrection (1959)

2017-01-09 10:03:38 UTC

The oldest book which I could find is the novel Insurrection by Liam O'Flaherty translated into Serbo-Croatian language. I do not know much about this particular book since it belonged to the previous owner of the house where I currently live. However, the book looks well preserved. It is a hardcover with thick sheets of paper.

2017-01-09 10:14:15 UTC

A prisoner in the Caucasus by Leo Tolstoy

Brehms Tierleben. (1893) volume 1, 3rd edition

2017-01-09 10:14:39 UTC

It's the oldest found. I think my parents bought it in the seventies.

I think this 1824 edition of the New Testament in Latin is our oldest. Its folios have been stitched with linen thread. Its cover is leather, probably kid, applied to boards with a linen spine. It is much annotated and has obviously been used as an aid to learning Latin.

2017-01-09 10:17:28 UTC

Jamie-Rose

The Poetical Works of Lord Byron

2017-01-09 10:30:53 UTC

This is a thick book which does not seem to have a publication date but a previous owner has written in it "Ashton W. Smith 1899". The pages are rough edged and a bit brown. I bought it when I was a student and interested in Byron's poetry.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1965)

2017-01-09 10:49:31 UTC

My oldest book is a classic by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations. It's an edition from 1976, published by Penguin Books and edited by Anglus Calder. Though the book's not particularly old, the thin pages of the book have turned yellow and started coming loose of the binding.
I bought it at a secondhand bookstore about a year ago. It's the first book by Dickens I've read, and it motivated me to read more of his classics.

judasdjinn — 2017-01-09 10:52:52 UTC

The oldest book at home. "Dai Nipon", Antonio García Llansó. I bought it a couple of decades ago. There's an online version: https://sirio.ua.es/libros/BEducacion/dai_nipon/index.htm

2017-01-09 11:26:48 UTC

1959 MacMillan edition of a 1902 Children's classic. To be repaired and recovered. Note the mildew damage on the spine and covers.

The oldest book I can find is 'You're a Brave Man Charlie Brown'. It's an edition from 1963. It is one of the few books that has followed me from childhood to my adult shelves.

di_minett — 2017-01-09 11:34:27 UTC

The collected works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson

2017-01-09 11:39:15 UTC

This is an 1869 edition. It came to us through my mother-in-law, a great lover of traditional English poetry. The binding needs attention, but this is a book to be read, and not so much an art object. However production values higher than cheap books today - Love the binding paper even though it is damaged. Coincidentally just found this old video about making such marbled paper. https://youtu.be/Vyga8VMWXKg

first edition1909.Very sadly eaten by moth, however all the wonderful plates with there covering of tissue paper are all preserved. illustrations by Arthur Rackam

2017-01-09 11:39:56 UTC

Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by JM Barrie

Between The Larch Woods and the Weir by Flora Klickmann.

2017-01-09 11:43:37 UTC

This book was published in Oct 1919. It originally would have had a dust cover but that has gone. The cover is blue paper. Some of the inside pages are different lengths making me think it was hand made. There is another book in this series with no publication date, perhaps earlier? Flora was an editor of 'The Girl's Own Paper' and was a keen naturalist and gardener. I bought this series second hand as we stay in her great grandmothers cottage in Brockweir the Wye valley England and often walk the paths she describes.

A Journal From Japan by Marie C Stopes

2017-01-09 12:54:54 UTC

A hardcover book published in 1910, with thick pages that have rough edges and look ever so slightly tea-stained with age.

Myths & Legends of Japan

2017-01-09 13:00:00 UTC

by Hadland Davis - 21cm x 14.5cm.
1912 edition with red suede cover, gold cranes and lettering. The pages are uneven, with gold edges; they are directly glued to the spine. The illustrations are dark, some with tissue protective pages.
Written and presented in a stilted style with little apparent consistency in the order of the tales.
It was purchased some 30 years ago in a local bookshop which specialised in Oriental books.

1950 Pocket Edition of Women in Love

2017-01-09 13:11:57 UTC

The book is cloth bound, with a somewhat tatty dust jacket. It is in fairly good condition given its age and has only a trace of the classic musty 'bookshop' smell. It was bought from a second hand bookshop and looks to have been given as a gift to someone in 1951.

Neil Hopkins

2017-01-09 13:20:06 UTC

Who else has found hand written dates in their old books?

Neil Hopkins.

Havelock the Dane

stevenicholls33 — 2017-01-09 13:33:10 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house. It was given to my great, great, granddad in 1923 as a Sunday school prize. It was passed to my Granddad by his dad, and then passed onto my mom. It's pages are so yellow they're almost brown and it looks a bit battered.

1800 Bible

2017-01-09 13:40:28 UTC

This is probably the oldest book in my family's library. It was purchased in Europe. It's bound in black leather and fits in your palm.

1946 Machado de Assis

2017-01-09 13:53:27 UTC

This is an edition by W. M. Jackson, the first Publisher house to edit and publish Machado's complete work. It is a dark hardcover with golden lettering. The title is "Histórias da Meia-Noite" [Midnight stories], but it is not a horror or fantastic collection of tales, but an assembly of some of Machado's short stories.
I bought it when I was researching the author. We used to use W. M. Jackson books as resource for the "original" text when we couldn't find the newspaper where his texts were first published. Just near the institute where I worked, there is the bookshop where I found this book. I bought it for R$10 just to read it in a bar while I waited some friends who were going to be late...

2017-01-09 13:57:01 UTC

Poems Ella Wheeler Wilcox. Can't find a publishing date but found she lived from 1850 to 1919. Small green hardback with relief design on front cover. Advert for her works on inside page. Gems from Wilcox: Faith-Hope- Love-Cheer
Japanese vellum embossed, 1s net each
Velvet, with picture end-papers,2s 6d net each
Publishers:London
: Gay and Hancock, Ltd

1833 Flora of Oxfordshire

2017-01-09 14:05:41 UTC

Walker's Flora of Oxfordshire, MDCCCXXXIII. Purchased by me online. First flora of Oxfordshire written in English instead of Latin. The hard cover is brown cloth with gold lettering. Not all pages are quite the same size; they are bound in 'signatures' of four sheets of paper each with thread at the spine. It has foxed pages and the cover is collapsing on the spine. Annotations (in antique handwriting) and inclusions from a previous anonymous owner.

Zakonik in Vladni list za Kranjsko vladavino 1. tečaj 1849

2017-01-09 14:30:48 UTC

Is a code, printed in 1849, for the monarchy of Kranjska. Is a fairly large book, and it appears to be one of a series, since we have 2 later editions of '53 and '55.
Is a hard bound book, of a greenish colour, with very fine and sleek pages. Written in Gothic letters which makes it hard to read. The pages in some places have fallen out. The front and back and spine are rather worn out, especially on the spine a section of about 5x5cm has fallen off, revealing a newspaper base.
None at home is sure where the books came from, only that they have always been around. Based on what I know on my family's past I'm assuming that the books were from my great-great-grandparents.
This is one of many old books we own, but other don't have a year clearly marked, hence I can't say for sure how old they are, only that by format, binding technique and font, I could assume they are form the 19th century.

Anatomy & Physiology for Nurses

gabrielpoonjoiwai — 2017-01-09 15:05:03 UTC

Its the 7th edition of Anatomy & Physiology for Nurses, of the Nurses’ Aids Series, published in in the September of 1964. The one i have is reprinted in the Feburary of 1969. Ordinary 18cm x 11cm paperback with yellowish coated papers, with tape holding the front and back cover. It belongs to my father.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

2017-01-09 15:06:01 UTC

The classic book that is the oldest one in my house was a gift to my grandmother by her grandmother. Lovely paper printing and illustrative work on dense paper, cotton bound.

Alice Errol & Other Tales

2017-01-09 15:16:07 UTC

This is the oldest book on my bookshelf, found in a charity shop. Published by W & R Chambers Ltd. London & Edinburgh. There’s no publishing date on it but think it's from late 1800's & within the front cover is a bookplate detailing it as a school prize for Florence in 1900!

Le Morte Darthur

2017-01-09 15:27:13 UTC

by Thomas Malory, 3rd edition with Aubrey Beardsley's designs, 1927.
This book belonged to my mother who loved anything to do with King Arthur. It is bound in black cloth, and the covers are bevelled with block tooling. The top edge is gilded and the other edges are uncut. This is a beautiful book full of wonderful illustrations that bring legend alive.

Popol Vuh

linita22 — 2017-01-09 15:34:59 UTC

1973 third edition, "borrowed" from my granny ^o^

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

nickleonard — 2017-01-09 16:05:45 UTC

This is a complete but mixed edition set of Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. The publication dates vary for the different volumes, but all are between 1903-1915. I picked up this set at a used book sale in Geneva, Switzerland, just two years ago.

"Le Bailly" - An ancient greek - french dictionary (1901 edition)

2017-01-09 16:06:43 UTC

This is a famous "short version" of the extensive ancient greek-french dictionary called "Le Bailly", well-known by french students who studied greek. Not sure it is my oldest book, for I also own a second own with many more books in it. It reminds me both of my love for Ancient Greek and Greeks and for the girl who gave it to me

The oldest book I have is a Japanese agricultural school book, Silk Worms, 1903.

bluemark2 — 2017-01-09 16:15:38 UTC

Serge de Diaghileff's Ballet Russe program souvenir 1916. This book belonged to my mother (a modern dance teacher and Asian dance soloist who worked with Ruth St. Denis). It is remarkable because of the incredibly rich print material of that time - the embossed cover, the ghosted watercolor patterns embedded under the text on each page, the richly reproduced prints of original paintings by Leon Bakst, dancers' photos in postures and attitudes that one will never see again on this planet. Here was a collaboration like no other - choreographer, composer (Stravinsky), visual art and staging...the program states, 'it is important to remember that the supreme technical excellence of individual dancers is the least remarkable element contributing to the sensational success of [this] organization. Phew!

2017-01-09 16:24:38 UTC

2017-01-09 16:43:57 UTC

2017-01-09 16:45:54 UTC

A Flight of Butterflies.

2017-01-09 16:46:39 UTC

I bought it several years ago in a second hand bookshop because it was the first concertina book I had seen bound professionally. It is a facsimile of an original published in Kyoto in 1904. It contains woodblock illustrations and as a printmaker this also interested me.

The Winged Destiny (1920)

amclellan70 — 2017-01-09 17:04:13 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house - The Winged Destiny by Fiona McLeod (actually a pen name for the writer William Sharp). This is a book on Celtic myth and legend and published in 1920 by Heinemann in London. It is cloth bound and I bought it from an internet bookseller when researching the folk traditions and beliefs of Scotland.
It has that old book smell which most of us will probably know from spending time in antiquarian booksellers. The binding is still good although the pages have yellowed somewhat, at least round the edges. The uneveness of the pages gives it the look of hand cutting by guillotine or similar machine.
I have really enjoyed owning this volume and reading the tales within its covers. It just pipped a copy of The Complete Works of Shakespeare to take the oldest book spot!

Probably not the oldest book I have – but the oldest I can find - is the Supplement to Josiah Conder’s “Landscape Gardening in Japan” published in 1893. It is large (28 x 37cm), and is bound (Western style) in a green cloth with gilt decoration front and back. It comprises some 40 pages (each protected by a tissue guard) with collotypes (60 images) of Japanese gardens – some of which no longer exist. The images were produced by Kazumasa Ogawa. Each image has a fairly detailed description of the garden. Josiah Conder (1852-1920) arrived in Japan, as a young architect, in 1877.I recall buying this book in the mid-1950s as a 9 – 10 year old at my school’s second-hand book sale for 1d (that is, one old UK “penny” – there were 240 pence to a pound sterling prior to decimalisation in 1971). Why I bought it, I have no idea, but I became very interested in Japanese gardens much later in life – then buying the main volume. This cost me rather more than 1 old penny!

2017-01-09 17:31:56 UTC

The genuine works of Flavius Josephus the Jewish historian (1849)The book is certainly quite different than modern books. It is end bound in leather

2017-01-09 18:22:54 UTC

I was searching for the only known reference to Jesus, that was somewhat contemporary with the time of his asserted life. That can be located in the antiquities of the Jews, both 18, chapter 3.

Old Afri

christelinebooysen — 2017-01-09 18:25:39 UTC

The

oldest book in our home is this Afrikaans bible it belonged to my aunt she bought it when she was younger. As you can see it has a dark brown hardcover binding it was issued in 1957 and was passed down in the family to the younger generation in my family . And Afrikaans is one of South Africa's
official languages

Arabic Koran (1925)

2017-01-09 18:38:06 UTC

I don't know if it is the oldest book in my house, but it is my favourite old book because of its binding and because it is a present of one of my friends, and it belonged to his aunt who was an Italian librarian and also arabist, Olga Pinto; on the book there is a dedication to her from C. A. Nallino.

The Royal Path of Life (1883)

2017-01-09 19:00:20 UTC

This book is bound in a green fabric. The gold lettering and black ivy design around the border are indented. It's very well worn and being held together by the mesh in the binding. It does contain some illustrations with tissue type paper covering each one. I haven't read it through, but it seems to be an advice and help book for any generic situation one might encounter in life. My 3x Great Grandmother bought this book in 1886. She wrote her name, where she was living and what year. It was passed down until my grandmother gave it to me six years ago. I have pictures, but it doesn't look like I can load it with my post.

The Iliad of Homer (trans. Earl of Derby)

rdwebster20 — 2017-01-09 19:02:01 UTC

Hardback bound in green fabric. It was written in 1864, and that's the only date I can find within the book, since there is no copywrite notice. I bought it a few years ago from a second-hand bookshop in the stable block of Wimpole Hall, a local stately home which had been owned by (among others) Rudyard Kiplings daughter.

I can't even find the title anywhere, it's so faded.

2017-01-09 19:05:34 UTC

This seems to be really old. REALLY old. I found to other books too (a book about Socrates from 1882 and a book called "Minderuner" from 1867), but this one seems much older. Judging by the text on the first pages, it seems to have belonged to a Danish/Norwegian prince at some point (Christian Frederik). The font looks really old, and the pages are thick and almost falling apart.
I remember we got it from an antique bookshop in Drammen, Norway where I lived before. There were rarely any other costumer except me and my mom xD. We became good friends with the guy working there and he sometimes even gave us books for free! This was one of them (and "Minderuner"). I think I was in 4th or 5th grade, and I really liked looking at all the old books, especially the ones with pretty binding and golden pages :D

A History of the Kings of Britain 1675

2017-01-09 19:09:19 UTC

Raised cords with a full leather binding and printed in spikey gothic script. Someone has hand -coloured most of the. Initial letters at the start of each section. It was given to my father by my mother on their wedding day and is one of the most treasured objects I possess. It doesn't look at all beautiful, but has a lot of character. The content verges on the totally mythical.
Jo Hughes

It's me again, with the old book from Christian Frederik

2017-01-09 19:16:56 UTC

Here's a picture with the inside of the book. The font is so old! I can barely read it. It's in old Danish, I think?

Sources of Japanese Tradition c. 1958

2017-01-09 19:18:51 UTC

I don't know if this is the oldest book in the whole house, but it was the oldest one I could get my hands on. It's one of my old textbooks from when I was an Asian Studies minor at Manhattanville College around 2000-2001, so it was already pretty old by the time I got a hold of it. Most students sold their textbooks back to the bookstore after taking their final exams, but I kept this one because the subject matter interested me so much. It's bound in a material that I cannot identify, but it has a texture to it, and there are used book stickers on the back cover from when it was in the college bookstore. Most of the pages are turned up at the corners, and the cover itself has some folds and markings. Otherwise, it's still perfectly readable, which suggests its sturdiness and that it will last for some time to come. The only images in the book are small illustrations near the headings of the chapters. The rest is all text dealing with the various religious and literary tradtions of Japan from ancient times up through the Edo period.

The Hanging of the Crane and other poems of the Home by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

2017-01-09 19:23:02 UTC

This book is one of the oldest I could find. It was published in 1894 by Houghton, Mifflin and Co. The cover appears to be gilded with gold. The endpapers are quite decorative and the frontipiece illustration has a small piece of tissue bound in front of it to protect it. The several illustrations appear to have a shadow on the opposite page, either created by many years of the illustration being pressed against its opposite page. I don't remember where I got this beautiful book.

Ask me a question about the heavens By Sam Rosenfeld

stephsegundo — 2017-01-09 19:27:38 UTC

I don´t know when I have it but, I remember that my father gave it to me.
This book i s for childrens or teenayers it help then to understand the universe.
So I think is interesting.

A Japanese Artist In London by Yoshio Markino 1911

matthewkill — 2017-01-09 19:34:32 UTC

This is the only book I own that is more than 100 years old. It contains a number of colour plates and yet the pages are cut very roughly. It's the tale of a Japanese artist trying to make his way in London. The condition is good though the cover over the spine of the book is coming loose.

pnpn261 — 2017-01-09 19:35:16 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house. I do not (yet) read Japanese, so I do not know it's age. It is full of what appear to be decorative patterns - perhaps for Artisans? If anyone can help me further identify it, I would appreciate it!

severin_sheldon — 2017-01-09 19:39:39 UTC

This book has published in 1849. Several other books in my house where published in the same era and look very similar but are about different topics.

Yoshio Markino

matthewkill — 2017-01-09 19:41:37 UTC

This is what the inside looks like ...

Yoshio Markino

matthewkill — 2017-01-09 19:58:13 UTC

The curiously uneven pages.

How To Identify Old Chinese Porcelain

2017-01-09 20:23:19 UTC

This book was first published in 1905, I have the third edition printed in 1912. bought it from an antique book store in Lewes more than 10 years ago.

Wuthering Heights (1940)

2017-01-09 21:02:26 UTC

I search for the book Wuthering Heights, the britain writer Emily Brönte. I have the edition 1940 traductor for Fernando de Macedo version in Portuguese. It's my favorite book, and I would like find the first edition the 1847. I receive the present with my fiance a few years ago, because he know I like the history. Looks good in my bedroom.

The Open Road- E V Lucas

2017-01-09 21:24:18 UTC

This is the oldest book I could find at my house. This edition was published in 1931. It has a very pretty image of flying swallows on the front and a lovely black and white stylised print of a forest with a rising sun in the front which I think is why I bought it many years ago! It definitely shows it's age on the outside as it is quite marked but does not look very well read inside!

2017-01-09 21:28:43 UTC

De gedichten van den schoolmeester (The poems of the schoolmaster). These are two editions of the same famous dutch book. One published in 1887, the other in 1908. Got these from my father, who was a schoolmaster (and quite the poet) himself.

1852 Lectures on the Formation of Character

2017-01-09 21:29:43 UTC

My oldest book was published in 1852 entitled Lectures on The Formation of Character by Rev. Thomas M. Clark. It is hard bound with paper that has a mottled patina. It is bound with two pairs of string running through the pages right at the binding. It is 3 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches. It was my Grandfathers book and he had marked meaningful passages with pencil. When he passed, his library was donated to Stanford University in California, USA, with the exception of about 50 books which went to myself and my sister. It has a very similar cover as the Red book published in 1849 which is posted several posts ahead of mine

The Open Road- E V Lucas

2017-01-09 21:42:04 UTC

This is the image from the inside front page.

Collections Towards a History of Pottery and Porcelain - Joseph Marryat (1850)

benjaminwoodling — 2017-01-09 22:28:49 UTC

In blue cloth boards, with some beautiful coloured plates inside.Not particularly rare or collectible, I purchased it online a few years ago now. It's an early work on antique porcelain not vastly different from similar guides you see today. Has a beautifully crafted inscription from Belinda De Trafford. The author is related (brother?) to the author of Children of the New Forest, Frederick Marryat. Issue date is near contemporary with the Great Exhibition. It's very V&A in style.

Bible, before 1919. Most of my books are in storage, but my mother-in-law has just passed on a Bible which belonged to her father-in-law, my husband's grandfather. It isn't dated, but is very much of its time. Crucially, for us, it has his name writt in, and the name of the ship he was serving in at the time, just after the end of the First World War.

2017-01-09 22:38:51 UTC

Demian (1946)

2017-01-09 22:39:59 UTC

Currently I am not in my hometown, but this is the oldest book I own that I bought in this town.
I bought it used, so it was like this when I first got it. I bought it in 2015 because I learnt that it inspired an artist to write one of my favourite works of that time, so I was very curious to see what it was about. The first edition if from 1946, though I have a sixth edition (1961) translated to spanish by Luis Lopes Ballesteros. The covers are taped with simple scotch tape and the colours are faded. The pages have a brown-ish colour and it smells like old books are supposed to. The story itself has a few typos but above all the old style looks good to me in my bookshelf.

Journey to the Center of the Earth; Julio Verne - 1972

2017-01-09 22:58:04 UTC

This is the oldest book I have in my shelf! I've read it too many times that I know the story just by reading some fragments and imagining the whole scene. This was a book that my parents bought in a old book store, so it doesn't have a family history to tell, but it has a sentimental influence to it.

Myths And Legends Of Japan - F. Hadland Davis

2017-01-09 23:09:24 UTC

The oldest book I have is this book containing many great tales from Japan. There is no actual publication date printed anywhere on this book for this edition, only a page that says it was first published in 1912, then reprinted in 1913, 1971, 1919, 1920 and 1928. So I can only assume it is from later than 1928, as searching online the 1928 edition is has a green cover. Searching online I cannot find any edition that looks like this one! It was published by George G. Harrap & Company Ltd. I also have the Myths and Legends of China, and Peru, but they are both not currently in my home.

The cover is embossed and textured, so you can feel the groves and pattern of the cover. The pages inside are very thick and have a very coarse feel to them, some with a slight horizontal line texture. The text inside is black print, in an almost typewriter style font, some letters are slightly darker than others. The page margins are also uneven, with the text having about 1/2 inch gap from the top of each page, but about a 1 1/2 inch gap at the bottom. This is also the same for the sides, the inner page has about 1/2 inch, but the outer pages have about 1 1/2 inch. There are also 32 colour illustrations in the book.

The pages appear to have been bound in the middle by some form of thread. The edge of the pages on the book opposite the spine, appear to be very jagged and very rough / frayed, they have the same effect as when you fold a sheet of paper in half, then tear it by running a ruler through the fold.

'The War in Pictures: The Fifth Year

2017-01-09 23:23:09 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house. I cannot find an author's name either on the book or online but inside, on the first blank page are the words 'John T Soulsby, 13.10.56', making it 62 years old! It has a leather skin and is bound by thread and some form of woven material like calico. On the front cover is an embossed seal, I am unsure of its meaning. The pages are yellowed and falling out, the title faded. It came into my family when a friend of my randad's gifted it to my dad due to his interest in the war.

Old Stories

2017-01-09 23:24:46 UTC

sadly I do not have any old books but this book has some of the oldest stories in Japanese culture. The title means something like "101 Japanese Tales of Long Ago". Eventually I hope I can read the same stories in a very old book.
James Watson

Shakespeare

2017-01-09 23:34:55 UTC

This is the oldest book I can find. Its the complete Works of Shakespeare and is leather bound. Unfortunately it doesn't have any information inside as to the date published or what edition. It has come down through the family but its history is unknown.

2017-01-10 00:09:23 UTC

"RIMAS Y LEYENDAS" by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (February 17, 1836 - December 22, 1870) a poem compilation.
This edition is Argentina, printed in 1942, already lost the front and back cover.
This was a gift from a friend of the family who is a writer and a teacher.

"Libro Cuarto de Lectura"

silvia_alvarado91 — 2017-01-10 00:30:12 UTC

(by Isabel K. Macdermott and Manuel Fernandes Juncos).
This is the oldest book I found in my house and it belong to my grandmother's father. It does not have any information of the printing date but its copyright is dated 1902. It has a lot of stories and poems of different authors and some notes made by the authors of the book.
The cover is made of hard cardboard and what I like the most is that the paper of the pages is neat and elegant even though they are already yellowed. It also has a lot of illustrations.
The first pages still have my great-grandfather's sign. He was also a writer and composer.

United States Japan Expedition by Wm. M.C. Perry, Vol. 1.

2017-01-10 00:30:21 UTC

This is the oldest book in my home, published (2nd edition) in 1856. Having read about the Meiji restoration and the cause of it, I was curious to learn about the Perry expedition, and so I got this book in 2016 March. It is a cloth-and-hardboard bound book, and the pages unfortunately are yellowed an crumbling in the edges. The typeset is familiar enough for me to read the book, but the place names of regions in East Asia are not the modern names, so make the reading more challenging. I am now half-way through the book, but I have to be careful as the pages are fragile. The edges of the pages are sharp however (not jagged edges).

The book is 12 inches by 10 inches in size, and about 2.5 inches in thickness. The cover is dark grey in colour, with embossing. The description of the book inside its front cover is "Narrative of the expedition of an American squadron to the China seas and Japan, performed in the years 1852, 1853, and 1854." The typesetting was done in such a way that the typed letters leave an impression that can be seen on the other side of the page. Inside the book, there are also some lithographs of pictures.

The binding has the appearance of the normal binding one finds with hard-cover bound books, with the book attached to the spine with threads.

Breve Descripción

judith_bascones — 2017-01-10 00:46:04 UTC

De La Geneologia De Los Reyes De España.

It is the oldest I have at home. it is written in old spanish. . It has old maps of spain and it must be written by The times of spain Kings. . It is about Kings genealogy in the old spain.

Private Notebook.

2017-01-10 02:44:46 UTC

The oldest book in my possession is my great grandfather's daily inventory of his budget throughout the Depression and the early WWII.

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan c.1912

2017-01-10 03:10:15 UTC

A very old book a rescued from my Great-Aunt's library when she was culling books to move into higher-care accommodation. It must have originally belonged to my Great-Grandmother because her name is inscribed on the inside of the cover and then was passed onto her children (my great uncle wrote his name on the first page in pencil). It was a well loved book, someone has coloured in a couple of the black and white etchings and I found a piece of notepaper with some very elegant handwriting on it that must have been used as a bookmark. The binding is quite fragile- it looks like the pages were stitched into sections and then the were collated before the binding was glued onto them to create the spine.

2017-01-10 03:19:24 UTC

The Silver City
A Pictorial Retrospect
February 28th 1931
This the oldest book, I have in our house. It isn't a flash book. It has been just stapled together. The front cover has come lose and I store it in a appropriate bag. The book is about my home city of Broken Hill, N.S.W Australia. It is basically a history book. It belonged to my maternal grandfather. And fortunately it wasn't thrown out.
During this exercise I realise I have a few books from my parents childhood but they are all in the late 1930's to 40's. As well, I have a copy of paternal grandfather's diary from WW1. My brother has the original, so I haven't included that.
Sorry no photo. The front cover though has the title, a black and white photo with cherub's either side of it. Followed by a short paragraph of the contents, with the date at the bottom.
Cheers
Christine

Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam

2017-01-10 03:26:29 UTC

US edition of The Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam (1909): Thomas Y Crowell & Co. New York. Printed by Vincent Brooks Day & Son Ltd. Lithographers, London. One of a series of gift books commissioned by Hodder & Stoughton. Illustrated by Edmund Dulac. 20 colour illustrations tipped in. Hardcover, on heavy paper, calligraphic text printed in colours: 19.5cm x 28.5cm. Note stitched binding. Cover is a printed design, not the 1st edition gilt cover. Illustrated endpapers. This book was a wedding present given to my grandparents in 1912.

2017-01-10 03:27:40 UTC

Rubiyat of Omar Khayyam

2017-01-10 03:30:41 UTC

Sweet Potato Recipes c. 1920

2017-01-10 03:48:06 UTC

My great grandfather loved to cook. This pamphlet-bound collection of sweet potato recipes came from him through my mother to me.
It was originally bound with staples, but only rust stains remain. The paper inside is paler than the cover, but the entirety is brittle and the paper is lightly foxed (shows pale orange spotting).

Faith Harrowby or The Smugglers' Cave by Sarah Doudney.

2017-01-10 04:24:09 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house bought from a secondhand shop. There is no publication date but is possibly the late 1800s as an inscription inside front cover states it was awarded as a prize, Girls 5th Class, Elliminyt Wesleyan Sabbath School, 1896. It is cloth bound with the signatures stitched and is in reasonably good condition. The cover and spine are beautifully illustrated and painted. The book also contains lovely etchings and little illustrations throughout.
(Sorry I can't do photo).

Momo (1993) by Michael Ende

2017-01-10 05:55:13 UTC

This is the oldest book I own, my father bought it when he was studying the uni. He gave it to me back in 2004 and it is one of my favorite books ever. The cover is with some damage but it is in pretty good condition. It smells like wet, dust and old. It has some drawings as well. It is well made because the pages have not fall at all. Great edition of this novel for Mexico.

Narrative Poetry 1880

2017-01-10 08:46:38 UTC

A book I found in a second hand shop a few years ago. The binding is a bit tatty now. Pages are foxed and worn. There is an inscription inside the front cover in neat cursive script, "Annie Sandalls, from her loving Uncle, William White, on her birthday 1880."

Memento Agricole by Larousse, 1923

2017-01-10 08:47:55 UTC

This book about farming methods was used by my great-grandfather who was a farmer in the French countryside (Haute-Saône). This book is embossed with the title and an image of fruits, vegetables and farming tools. It looks like there is a board binding covered in green cloth. It doesn't look like much but it was a necessity at a time when farming was the only food source of the family.

Giornale de' Santi Meditazioni, 1701

2017-01-10 13:33:02 UTC

This is the oldest book I have. It came from my grandmother, which had had it from her parents. The binding is damaged, the pages are dirty and there are many tears and creases. The cover is made of parchment and the binding is with 3 nerves

Ariadne auf Naxos, by Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1912)

2017-01-10 14:26:36 UTC

Hofmannsthal was a close friend of my great-grandmother. He wrote this libretto as part of his collaboration with Richard Strauss, and the opera premiered in 1912. There is a lovely gold-tooled, cloth-and-leather binding, and the end papers are made from Italian marbled papers. The title page includes a handwritten dedication from Hofmannsthal to my great-grandmother.

Complete Works of Goethe (1950)

2017-01-10 14:45:37 UTC

My oldest book has a leather cover, the borders are furnished with a marvelous marble design (I wonder how was that done) and the thin wax paper reminds me of a Bible. Ir is very well sewn and it is very resistant. It was in my parents house and very young I took it for my own library. There are three volumes.

Najnowszy Sekretarz czyli podreczny przewodnik do pisania listow (1887)

2017-01-10 15:25:29 UTC

The oldest book in my house is the collection of sample letters (invitations, apologies, condolences etc.). Written in Polish language. Belonged to my great grandmother. Provides interesting inside of manners of this time.

The Golden Book of Nursery Rhymes with Music (1952)

2017-01-10 15:43:42 UTC

The oldest book I have at home is The Golden Book of Nursery Rhymes with Music published by Blandford Press, London, in 1952 (but the book does not bear the publication year, and I had to look it up online). It is about A4 size/portrait and is bounded in an ordinary manner. It is hardcover and opens to the left (like most western books). It has a cover and the design of the cover and back cover is identical to the design of the book itself. Inside, some pages are coloured while the rest are black/white. As it is a nursery rhyme book, with music, there are scores for every song, and most songs are accompanied by at least one picture. There are 48 pages, and inside the back cover, there is a short list of other music books and another short list of recommended children’s books from the publisher.

The book was sent to my daughter by my mother in Japan. I do not remember seeing it myself as a child. Judging from the publication date of the book and by the fact it was with my mother, it must have been one of the books my grandparents bought for my mother when they lived in London in the ‘50s. My grandfather worked for a Japanese ship operator and was posted in London soon after the Second World War. At my parents’ and my grandmother’s homes, I see many old English books which were brought over to Japan upon repatriation, and this book must have been among them.

Though born and brought up in Japan, my grandmother majored in English and American literature in college. (I am not so sure how that was possible in the war-time Japan. I need to find this out from her.) So it is not surprising that she collected many books during her time in London and brought them back to Japan. She was keen for her children to maintain their English proficiencies after leaving England, and it is fun for me to imagine my mother and uncle keeping up with their English by singing nursery rhymes in this book.

Schillers sämmtliche Werke, Band 12 (1838)

2017-01-10 15:47:36 UTC

This is an older book in my collection, but I don't know much about its content. I purchased it primarily as a binding example from this time period and because of the nice marble endpages. The WorldCat record for the book shows it is not especially rare, but interesting to look at as an example: http://www.worldcat.org/title/schillers-sammtliche-werke-in-zwolf-banden/oclc/26917660

Rimas y Leyendas by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer

2017-01-10 15:49:36 UTC

The oldest book in my house is this compilation of poems and legends, edited in Barcelona in 1956. My grandfather bought it in the Rastro of Madrid and gave it to my mother, and she gave me the book when I was 15. Since then it's my favourite book :)

debby_vanvranken — 2017-01-10 16:47:32 UTC

German book (?1888?) This is my husband's grandmother's book. It is definitely religious, but I don't think it's a Bible. It's entirely in German although it was published in Wisconsin. The date mentioned in the forward is 1888 so that might be around the publication date but it appears in better condition than you'd expect for a book that old. Maybe it's closer to 1920 or so when she (my husband's grandmother) was a little girl.
My husband's grandmother was first generation German, and her parents spoke German more than English. I'm not sure how much she knew, but enough to read this book. I would think it may have been her parents' before it was her's. This is all guesses, because my husband never asked her about it and I don't read a lick of German.
It has gold leaf and thick pages, except for one thin tissue paper protecting an artwork of Jesus in side the front page.

The Works of Charles Dickens

2017-01-10 16:53:20 UTC

A collection of eight Charles Dickens novels and short stories (pictured below is 'The Tale of Two Cities' and 'A Christmas Carol'). There is no publication date printed but the company was Hazell, Watson & Viney Ltd. (London and Aylesbury). I estimate that the books were published 1880-ish. The collection was purchased by my parents a while before I was born (my mum can't remember exactly but in either the 1980s or 90s) from an antique shop - they fell instantly in love with the beautiful burgundy binding. The books are all in fairly good condition, considering their age (the one below is the most tattered owing to frequent reading). On a few of the books the material covering the spine has started to peel, there are a few peeking pieces of fraying string and there are deep lines of intersection between the first leaves of paper and the second owing to the slightly broken spine. The cover itself is made of wood and cloth and, from what I can see, has been painted over. The paint has started to wear away, leaving a speckled pattern on the front. Rope-like cloth binds the actual pages together. Bible paper is used and I believe it was once gold leaf, but time has made it difficult to tell.

2017-01-10 16:56:26 UTC

I come from a family of introverts - all of us prefer our own space to socialising, and we're all big book-lovers. So there are plenty of old books in this house. I have quite a collection building up myself. I don't know about my parents books (most of theirs are fiction paperbacks), but I have one in particular I can talk about. I'm not entirely sure how old the book is, but I know that I received it for my birthday or Christmas when I was very little - it may have been my first ever non-fiction book. It's a science book (I was really into science as a kid). It's pretty tattered now; though it's still mostly in one piece, the spine has completely gone. It's not quite as awesome as a lot of books on here, but it has sentimental significance to me.

Easy To Read Storybook

2017-01-10 17:12:23 UTC

(1828)
I have a collection of primers, but this one is dated the oldest. The publisher's mark (McLoughlin Bros.) is small, and the book itself seems poorly made compared to the hardbound primers of the same time period.
My grandfather must have owned this one as a child, as his cursive signature is in pencil in the front. My mother has no recollection of it.

Spinoza in Latin and Dutch (1895)

2017-01-10 17:24:27 UTC

No one in my house has read this book, yet. My husband bought it a few years back at a a used bookshop. We studied Spinoza in English translation at university and my husband thought he might one day use it to practice his languages.
The binding is a bit worn, and the pages yellowed and brittle, but the book doesn't show many signs of use. There is a pencil-written paragraph in Dutch on the flyleaf, but it doesn't look like an inscription as one would write in a gift book.
Volume II of II is missing.

I recently purchased a 1899 copy of Sir Launfal and other poems at an antique fair in my town, which is a republished collection of poems written by a British poet during the reign of Queen Victoria. It is bound in olive book cloth that has sustained sun damage to a large portion of the back and front covers (although, interestingly, the spine remains intact). There is a embossed floral design around the edges of the book boards, and the pages within are yellowed but not yet brittle. A hastily scrawled price of two pounds fifty is inscribed on the fly papers.

2017-01-10 17:31:35 UTC

Uji Yamada Kōbō Daishi Nijūikkashū Goeika

chancefl — 2017-01-10 17:57:36 UTC

(21 Poems from Uji Yamada for Kōbō Daishi), Ansei 3 (1857)
My wife and I purchased this small volume at a book fair in Kyoto in 2016. The text consists of 21 poems/songs for the famous priest Kōbō Daishi (774-835) and includes a portrait of the priest as well. The date is printed on the last page of the text.

chancefl — 2017-01-10 18:09:31 UTC

Arglistige Huren Praectis...

2017-01-10 18:13:37 UTC

1660
Found in an antique book store

Enciclopedia de Labores de Señora (DMC Encyclopedia of Needlework, by Therese de Dillmont)

debora_lustgarten — 2017-01-10 18:28:35 UTC

This book, probably dating to 1920, was given to me as I was learning needlework and lacemaking. It has an olive cloth binding, damaged on the bottom edge and hinges, and torn end paper and first pages (that's why I don't know the publication date).

Robin Hood and his Merry Men

2017-01-10 18:43:05 UTC

This book was at least published in the 1930s. The dye is running from the cover onto the pages itself and the book is falling apart.

Land & Engineering Surveying

technomage100 — 2017-01-10 19:10:35 UTC

This book is from 1875. I picked it up while in England about 10 years ago. I'm a surveyor so it was interesting to see how little the field changed until very recently.

Chungyong ŏnhae [中庸諺解, Vernacular Explanation of the Doctrine of the Mean]

2017-01-10 19:37:12 UTC

This book is a vernacular explanation to the Four Books of Chinese Confucian classics, Zhongyong [Doctrine of the Mean]. It is bound with thread (using five needle holes near the spine), sized 35.3 x 23.4 cm. It explicates the classical Chinese text of the Zhongyong in vernacular Korean, using Han'gŭl, the alphabetic writing system invented in mid 15th century. The cover is yellowish and used a thick paper with geometrical pattern based on water-chestnut flower, rubbed with beeswax. Printed with woodblock, it bears a printer's note at the end saying "edition from Ha Kyŏng-nyong's collection in Chŏnju, kyŏng-o cyclic year (1810)." This books was given to me as a present by a friend, Professor Ok Yŏngjŏng, who teaches bibliography at the Academy of Korean Studies, Korea.

Holy Family Catholic Bible

2017-01-10 19:37:37 UTC

This is our family bible. It is no great age about 70 years. It is beautifully bound, with lovely text and illustrations and a wrap around leather cover which is now showing its age. When I was a child it was used for family readings so its has more of a meaning to me than just an old book. So it's more family history than book.

Histoire de L'Expedition Francaise en Egypte 1838.

2017-01-10 20:45:37 UTC

When I was about 14 I had developed a serious interest in Ancient Egypt and assumed I would likely become an Egyptologist. My mother and I saw this set of early French drawings and maps from Napoleon's expedition to Egypt in a bookstore in Los Angeles, and I fell in love with it. My mother seeing how serious I was offered to buy it for me, but said it would be locked away in a closet until I had paid her back half the cost of it. This took me a year or so, but finally the day came when the brown wrapping paper could be removed and I got my first serious look at the three volumes and began to think about them. They have stayed with me ever since and as a postgraduate student I researched them much more carefully and wrote an essay about them which the notes belo are extracted from. The volumes are about 13x10 inches, in a landscape orientation. The are bound in a heavy cardboard covered with green marbled paper outside, and a similar paper inside. The spines are green leather with titles embossed in gold. Inside is composed of a variety of printed plates of antiquities, historic sites such as mosques and landscapes etc. There are a number of larger fold out maps and miscellaneous illustrations tipped in, with no accompanying text at all in one volume except for captions on the prints. What on earth is this set?
In the summer of 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte landed 54,000 men at Alexandria to begin a planned campaign of conquest, an expedition meant to make Egypt a colony of France. Thinking ahead, Napoleon emphasized making provision for the civil society he hoped to create by establishing a group of "savant"s, who would be integral to his military expedition, and at the same time pave the way for a tremendous institute of learning in Cairo which would take charge of documenting the history, geography, culture and natural history of Egypt. He referred to this work as the “Mission Civilatrice” and considered it one of the moral imperatives of his military action.

One of the most valuable members of the expedition was a young officer called Nicholas Conte. A self taught artist and inventor who was actually brought on to the expedition for his valuable technical knowledge of ballooning, Conte invented two tools in particular which were critical to the rapid mediatisation of Egypt for European consumption.

A new type of pencil (still in production) and a simple press he invented for printing illustrative plates for books – these made possible rapid and correctable work of recording under the adverse conditions of the military campaign. It was perhaps the energy generated by the ego and the charisma of Bonaparte as well as the enthusiasms of Conte and of Denon and others amongst the savants who were instrumental supporting French post revolutionary empire building. With these tools, a network created a sort of scholarly tipping point where the ideas and methods of science were increasingly applied to historical and cultural information. These technologies were instrumental in this, making interpretation of archaeological materials more accessible to the public, and encouraging others to seek detailed information previously accessible only to specialists. Mass production of high quality illustrative plates and secriptive text permitted an unparalleled collection of scientific, ethnographic, archaeological and social records.
In 1839 Parisian publishers Delain and Delamere brought out a 10 volume set based on, but developing further from the original Description de L’Egypte. This was edited by the politician and essayist Louis Reybaud, He offered a more retrospective and focused overview of the expedition and reflection on subsequent events with a selection of the plates based on Denon’s drawings from the original supplemented by some additional materials including sketches of members of the Commission by the artist Andre Dutertre which had not been in the original work. .Like the original, this set was published by subscription, and could be bound and augmented to the specification of the purchaser. This set however was in a smaller format and more affordable than the original.

Complete sets are now rare with many having been destroyed to provide individual prints for framing. My copy of psrts of the Atlas runs to three volumes and contains not only maps and site plans, but many of the plates that illustrate the first eight volumes of the original work.

Family Worship, A Series of Prayers

2017-01-10 21:44:56 UTC

The preface in the book says 1841, and there are Roman numerals. It's for worship services in the Church of Scotland, and published by Blackie & Son in either Glasgow or London. I looked at the pages briefly, making sure I don't disturb anything. The type is small and very hard to read in its ancient condition. The book has a plastic cover, and whatever type was on the brownish cover is now unreadable. I found a church bulletin inside from a church in Virginia. The bulletin is undated, and all I can tell is that it's printed by a printer (the type matches the book itself). I can't remember any church bulletins not done with a mimeograph, so it's been a long time since anyone used this book. It's from my mother's family.

The Funeral Sermon of Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, Mother to King Henry VII, and...

2017-01-10 22:11:42 UTC

This book is dated 1708 and was printed in Fleet Street, London. It has my father's signature, so he must have acquired it at some point, but I don't know when and he's no longer around to ask. It has a leather Cambridge binding, the back cover is detached. The handmade paper clearly shows the chain lines of the mould used to make it, but the quality is not very good: lots of imperfections and water drops, throughout.

2017-01-10 22:19:12 UTC

The Practical Astronomer, 1848

jjlavaque — 2017-01-10 22:32:38 UTC

This book was published in 1848. It's a primer about astronomy, telescopes, and the universe. It is so old the planet Neptune is not even in this book -- it only goes out to Saturn!

The Indexed Testament

2017-01-10 23:17:10 UTC

1902
This pocket book edition of the new testament was given to my father ( by his mother) when he enlisted and went to Borneo in World War II. The cover is imitation of leather but lightweight cardboard.

Captain Cook: His Life, Voyages and Discoveries

2017-01-10 23:53:05 UTC

I can't find any publication date but there is an inscription "Harry Wallace Banks, From His Loving Mother on His 18th Birthday, November 14th 1874". Published in Great Britain, printed by William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street and Charing Cross.
This book was inherited from my father, who I assume bought it at a second-hand bookshop.
I love the beautiful gold embossed cover. The binding itself is not in such good condition.

The Poetry of Flowers; Original and Selected by Rufus W. Griswold (editor)

melabonbon — 2017-01-11 02:34:39 UTC

I actually have no idea when or where I got this! Knowing me, I probably picked it up at a thrift store or the free box at a used book store, solely because I liked how it looks. Admittedly it's not in the best condition, but the front and back covers and the spine are tooled, and it looks like it may have been inlaid with gold foil at some point. There are a few names written inside the front cover in fountain pen, in nice script. I just did some research and apparently Mr. Griswold was quite an abrasive character, who also had a long lasting rivalry with Edgar Allen Poe, and at one point had a high reputation as an anthologist and poetry critic. This particular anthology has been reprinted a few times (most recently in 2012; this particular copy is from 1856) but the book that really cemented his reputation at the time (The Poets and Poetry of America) has since gone out of favor, as most of the poets he included have since faded into obscurity.

Manual of Police Regulations for the Guidance of the Constabulary of Queensland This book dated 1876 was a gift from a friend who knows I’m interested in paper deterioration. It is in very poor condition, the stitched binding is broken and the paper has been manufactured using wood pulp and is brown and very acidic and brittle with lots of pages with ‘dog eared corners’.

2017-01-11 07:16:57 UTC

Christine, Brisbane

The Practical Builder, 1946

2017-01-11 09:36:09 UTC

I found this book on Deptford market in South London. It was published in London in 1946 the year after the Second World War when London was starting to rebuild after being bombed. It shows modern and traditional techniques of building houses and larger constructions. It contains a lot of pictures and diagrams and chapters such as "wall construction", "painting and decorating" and "science and building". The tough no frills binding makes sense as it was intended as a reference book in an era when there was a short supply of materials and rationing still in place.

Teach Yourself Latin (1962)

2017-01-11 09:46:15 UTC

I love the older versions of the 'Teach Yourself' series. They can seem a bit dry compared to the modern versions, but I appreciate their direct nature. I studied Latin at high school and university, and I find the older books can cover some of the finer grammar points that the modern ones either miss or have renamed - I'm more comfortable talking about the subjunctive and optative than if-clauses. This book is actually one of my most recent acquisitions - it was on the give away table at the Melbourne Museum's library last year.

The Great Chemical Dictionary Czech-English-German-French-Italian-Latin (1941)

2017-01-11 10:22:26 UTC

Dictionary written by prof. Dr. Emil Votoček –the author of Czech naming system of molecules. It was given to me by my secondary grammar school ex-teacher of chemistry when I visited her in the school few days before her retirement. She was a great chemistry teacher and even she was 80 years old she taught us up-to-date informations. I study chemistry because of her.

Poems by James Thomson (1728)

2017-01-11 12:28:05 UTC

This book was acquired second-hand, I think when my mother-in-law worked at an Oxfam bookshop. The leather cover is worn and needs some repair. Generally the book is in very good condition. The paper is thick and horizontal texture is both visible and tangible. I like the mixture of fonts used and the way that many sections are dedicated to important people.

The Key to Theosophy by H.P. Blavatsky

2017-01-11 14:36:47 UTC

This seems to be a first printing of the second edition of Madame Blavatsky's exposition on the theosophical movement and it goals. It was published in printed in 1890. I acquired the book at a second hand book market in Chicago about a year ago. Though the paper is generally in good condition still, a large section of leaves has broken off from the binding. Stamps within the book indicate that the book was part of the collections of the library of the University of Chicago, which also explains the presence of a barcode on the back cover. Because a Library of Congress call-number appears on the spine of the book, I suspect that the current cover is not the original cover. This would be supported by the fact that the title of the book appears incorrect on the spine, it says "The Key to Philosophy" instead of Theosophy.

Encyclopedia abouth the Edo period 1861-1864

2017-01-11 14:38:34 UTC

The oldest book in my house belongs to my mother. It is an encyclopedia about the Edo period that was given to her by one of her mother's friends whose husband was an art collector. It is made of very thin sheets of paper which are folded in two and sewn with a thread.

Japanese Culture through Rare Books 1.2

r_brewis87 — 2017-01-11 14:45:27 UTC

The oldest book I have in the house is called "History of Northumberland, Tyneside, Wansbcek & Berick Divisions" There is no date on the book but it deals with families in the area, professions and a small bit of history. Its like a census of the area in the 1800's. There are no indications of who published the book or when it was published. Its old, not in very good condition, the binding is held together with cello tape!

The Patrician

2017-01-11 16:04:55 UTC

By John Galsworthy
Published by
William Heinemann,
1911.

bhagavad gita

2017-01-11 16:31:18 UTC

this book is about hindu scripture .

German grammar testbook (1919)

nora_toth91 — 2017-01-11 16:35:30 UTC

I don't know who used it my family, I found it recently when I was sorting the bookshelves upstairs.

“Legends and Lyrics, 1872

2017-01-11 17:21:43 UTC

Smooth paper, fairly typical hardback binding with uneven page edges, some clean-cut, others presumably cut/torn after binding. The front and back of the cover are deep blue, but the spine black. Bought second-hand. Written in by at least two different people, one signing 1898. Probably not the oldest book in the house, but certainly close to it. The dolphin and anchor in the image on the title page, common in the logos of publishers, may be derived from the one used by the printerAldus Manutius.

Oeuvres de Molière précédées d'une notice sur sa vie et ses ouvrages par M. Sainte-Boeuve (c. 1877)

2017-01-11 18:20:01 UTC

The oldest book in my home has unfortunately no date of printing, but it bears a bookplate inside the front cover as it was a "Prize for Proficiency" in Advanced French to a student of the Birmingham and Midland Institute, and the date on it is 1877 , so it can be no later than that. It is obviously in French (being a prize for Advanced French..), and it's a collection of all comedies by Molière
. It's a large book (800 pages, gilded edges) and very heavy; the spine and corners are leather and boards are more than half-centimetre thick... Inside it has marbled front and back pages, and it's wonderfully illustrated with hundreds of B/W engraved images (almost every page has one).
I don't believe it has a big value; I bought it used and it was not particularly expensive, but it's really a beautiful book. I'm a bit sorry that the relatives of the person who was awarded it decided to get rid of it. (Worse for them, and better for me! )

To Kill a Mocking bird

crjsmit — 2017-01-11 20:40:02 UTC

I'm afraid that the oldest book I have in my flat is to Kill a mocking bird (printed in 1989) Which is relatively recent compared to some of the other excellent books that have been shared on this board. Although the content and quality of the book as I assume many or all of you will be well aware of is of a mighty high standard. This is a really interesting task and its wonderful to see so many old books being shared. If I was at my parents house now, I am sure I would be able to share something of much greater age and my Dad has some books going back at least to the 1850's. This task has really given me some thought and I will now be on the look out for some older books that I can treasure :)

Lupo Alberto 1994 Collezione

2017-01-11 21:00:57 UTC

This comic collection is titled 'Lupo Alberto', it's from 1994 and it's the oldest book I could find home right now.

It's of a rectangular shape, black and white print, the binding is attached with glue through what is called "perfect binding".

It only costed 5.000 Lira, which is equal to 5 Euros or 4 US$.

It shows comics mainly of a funny wolf in a village with other animals, and is quite funny actually.

McGuffeys Eclectic Fourth Reader

2017-01-11 21:10:11 UTC

My oldest book is an reader that taught young students how to read. The spine has embossed flowers on its spine, and the spine and actual cover are two different colors despite not having a dustcover. I bought it from a statewide book and paper show that happens twice a year.

Mengelingen, by Willem Bilderdijk (1804)

2017-01-11 22:20:52 UTC

The oldest book in my house is 'Mengelingen', by mr. Willem Bilderdijk, dl. 1 & 2 en dl. 3. (Amsterdam: Johannes Allart, 1804). More than 200 years old, which means that it was edited in the time that Holland was oppressed by French revolutionaries, and later by Napoleon! Looking more closely, in the last chapter it continues poems made in 1808, so i don't know which is exactly the date of this edition. I got it from my mother, and she took it from her mother (born 1891). Bilderdijk (1756-1831) was a famous poet , cherished in Dutch protestant circles, beside the Bible. The book is treated roughly by me and i lost the cover, only the bookspine is left, which is in leather with the name of the author impressed on it, with lines impressed with gold. I noticed that at the end of each page there was also printed the first word of the next page. Conclusion: I do not know how to date this book..

Haydn's Oratorio, The Creation (pre 1906)

2017-01-11 23:20:59 UTC

This is a Novello and Company (London) pocket edition of the vocal score edited by Vincent Novello. The copy was signed by F S Cutting on 12 February 1906. It is 21cm by 15cm, the cover is tan and text red. At some stage the spine was reinforced.
There is is no record of the subsequent performances, but there is no doubt that large choir performance played and are still playing a key role in the cultural life of many countries

Select Collection of Novels and Histories. Vol 4 (1729)

2017-01-11 23:53:43 UTC

My work in Antiquarian books brings me into contact with many early books. This item contains the First publication in English of a novella by Cervantes 'The Rival Ladies', it is the lesser of the five novellas that this volume contains. Had his reputation depended upon this slight story his genius would be unknown to us.
The frontis illustration seems to depict Divine Inspiration in the form of a resplendant youth delivering the text of 'Don Quixote' to Cervantes.
Worn leather binding, simply decorated, front cover nearly detached, cord binding on spine.

The oldest book in the house: The works of Ambroise Paré, 1638.

cathode_wire — 2017-01-12 01:34:48 UTC

Codex. Has been rebound with mull at some point, which has now rotted away. Front cover is perhaps original. The book contains the signatures of several owners. Pare was the first military surgeon to stop cauterising wounds. He instead used turpentine and bandages, with better results! Book also contains recipes for the treatment of the black plague.

2017-01-12 04:10:09 UTC

Psychology of the Fighting Man (1943)

2017-01-12 04:51:44 UTC

The oldest book I could find was Psychology of the Fighting Man, copyright 1943 by the National Research Council (USA). I picked this up at Powell's in Portland, OR USA. Which is a bookstore so large it takes up an entire city block and requires a map to navigate properly; I highly recommend going there if you are ever in the area.

Aldine Reader

hindarochel — 2017-01-12 05:49:47 UTC

We home schooled our children for a number of years. One of my children had difficulties in learning to read.

I finally gave up the "new" methods and returned to the times of yore. I began with the McGuffy readers, and found they worked. From this I developed a love of old readers.

From one of the home schooling boards I purchased "The Aldine Readers", the first book being the oldest of them all, copyright 1916.

The stories and images are simple, gentle and full of love.

Historic memories of Cardinal Fabrizio Rufo's life by Abbe Domenico Sacchinelli. Unique Bokk, Naples, 1856, from typography of Carlo Cattaneo

cate_5_c_5 — 2017-01-12 10:09:17 UTC

cate_5_c_5 — 2017-01-12 10:15:34 UTC

Historic memories of Cardinal Fabrizio Rufo's life by Abbe Domenico Sacchinelli. Unique Bokk, Naples, 1856, from typography of Carlo Cattaneo

Autumn In Italy, 1829.

2017-01-12 12:00:16 UTC

Inherited by my Grandmother from her father and/or Grandfather. It's a small book with a hardcover with a marble covering. The pages are fairly thin and quite rough.

Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, (1933)

2017-01-12 13:58:25 UTC

2017-01-12 14:35:06 UTC

2017-01-12 14:35:58 UTC

The Universe by F. Pouchet. My copy dates from 1896 although it was preceded by 12 editions. Full of woodcuts illustrating everything from micro-organisms to astronomical bodies. Inherited from my grandfather. V. common in 2nd hand bookshops.

Wuthering Heights, Agnes Grey, (1933)

joeharrisemail — 2017-01-12 15:39:07 UTC

This twin tome is embalmed in a blood red cover. Hard back, the single block colour fronts a stoic countenance, saying nothing of its duel contents. Aside from the two novels respective titles painted in gold on the spine, there is nothing revealed in the face, except for a curious crest in the centre: a winged unicorn riding on cloud through stars, like a steadfast ward laid sentinel to watch over its keep; though nonetheless an enticing rune to a reader. Lifting the cover we are greeted by the lady of the keep herself, Emily Brontë: a portrait in pencil, encircled in a broad oval later denoted as the work of Branwell Brontë. It is here on the opposite side of the page that we are introduced to the unicorn, now facing left towards it’s master, as the particular seal of the publishers. Here and beyond is the paper: wonderfully aged, but not yellowed, and the text is generously packed into the pages, to suit the two novels; each stealing an entire page to impress their respective titles in this twin tome.

2017-01-12 18:07:41 UTC

Pages (Leaves) rather than books

inkdart — 2017-01-12 20:51:59 UTC

I have two items that are from very early books, but not the entire books themselves. The first I purchased around 1969 and it is a hand written leaf on vellum from a Book of Hours from the first half of the 15th century. Although it is quite small, it is in a very beautiful calligraphic style with floral decorations and gold leaf illuminations.
The second oldest piece I have is a vellum page from a book printed in 1472, The Decretum of Gratian, printed by Peter Schoeffer, a contemporary of Johannes Guttenberg.
Because it was produced in the early days of printing in Europe, the leaf has been created to resemble early manuscripts, i.e. it has larger, more colorful initial letters which were written by hand after the text was printed from movable type.
Both of the leaves are laid into books which were especially commissioned and printed by well known fine press printers from California...The Grabhorn Press and The Plantin Press. These books contain essays on the particular subject of the leaves and offer a scholarly context and background on the content and production of these beautiful pages from early and rare books. I acquired these books when I was quite young and working for a rare book dealer in Los Angeles.

inkdart — 2017-01-12 21:11:13 UTC

inkdart — 2017-01-12 21:12:26 UTC

A Bible

2017-01-12 21:22:17 UTC

A Bible from around 1920s.

Bibles

2017-01-12 21:57:28 UTC

The oldest copy in the house is from around 1980, but it looks the same as any ordinary book today. The pages have turned quite yellow with age.

The Speaker (1792)

2017-01-12 23:59:07 UTC

This is the second oldest book in our house (my husband will be posting the oldest). The book is full bound in leather and apart from some deterioration on the spine is in relatively good condition considering its age.
It contains a mixture of essays, poems and other writings intended to improve elocution (speaking) and we believe it was originally a school text book since several page margins are filled with annotations in different handwriting styles.

The Chant and Service Book (1984)

2017-01-13 01:27:28 UTC

This is the oldest book with a date I could find. It's a small, black hardcover book with a cloth cover. The pages are thin and beginning to develop dark spots. It's a collection of hymns and prayers that would've been used in a church setting. My grandmother always keeps an eye out for old books at used book sales by libraries and churches, but shouldn't remember where or when she found this one! Its spine is broken and the binding is fragile, so we keep it laying flat in the library.

In my space here I have the 1940 11th printing of John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. My parents purchased it in a used bookstore many decades ago. It's cloth bound, with a simple line drawing of Oklahoma migrants and mountains. The only words on the cover are on the spine with the author's name, the title, and the publishing company (Viking Press).I also have a 1952 edition of Steinbeck's East of Eden and a 1940 edition of Thomas Wolfe's The Web and the Rock.

2017-01-13 05:41:49 UTC

AEsop's Fables

2017-01-13 05:44:41 UTC

Certainly nowhere near as old as other shared books, but still a beautiful book with lovely typesetting and plated illustrations inside. A book passed to me from my Grandpa.

Dutch Catholic Bible (1891)

pat_fros — 2017-01-13 10:23:25 UTC

This is the oldest book in my house. It has been in the family for many years as far as I know. It is beautiful, but damaged. And it smells nice, I like the smell of old books! The cover is leather and it is full bound. It doesn't have the kind of very thin paper Bibles use to have.

pat_fros — 2017-01-13 10:30:05 UTC

Dutch Catholic Bible (1891)

sean_minors — 2017-01-13 11:48:22 UTC

The Modern Bricklayer

Memoirs of A Revolutionist

2017-01-13 13:04:19 UTC

Prince Kropotkin 1908
It is called the 'cheap edition.'
Card bound, coarse, roughly cut, crudely stitched. The edges of the paper have become friable.
An opportunistic purchase from a second hand bookshop, in Bakewell, Derbyshire. It's Kropotkin's political biography. As a child he was a member of the Russian aristocracy, radicalised by the brutality of the Czarist regime, he became a leading Anarchist philosopher, was imprisoned but escaped to the UK. He was also a leading naturalist and geographer.

Williams Family Bible (1901)This is a Bible that has been in my father's side of the family since the beginning of the 20th century. It is about 30 cm tall, with a worn embossed leather binding. This Bible has been heavily used; its binding is broken, many pages are loose, and they are interleaved with newspaper clippings, funeral programs and other bits and pieces of family history.

2017-01-13 14:07:13 UTC

Poems of William Wordsworth (1896)

2017-01-13 14:28:49 UTC

I bought this book from a second hand shop a few years ago. It's quite small in size, measuring 10x14 cm, and has a hard board cover, of which the bind and corners are covered with green leather, and which like the pattern on the cover, is gilded with a gold pattern. It also has gold leafed edges. There's no actual date of publication printed inside, but a previous owner has handwritten 1896 inside, perhaps to mark the giving of a gift. It's in surprisingly good condition, I was certainly surprised to see the date inside when I bought it. Another interesting feature is that the inside picture plate of Wordsworth is covered with a tracing paper, to protect it and prevent it from transferring to the next page.

Japanese style

2017-01-13 14:45:30 UTC

Referring prints and style etc

& Materialism | Thank You of http://www.ateneum.fi/nayttelyt/japanomania/?lang=en

A Tramp Abroad, Mark Twain (1891)

2017-01-13 14:57:53 UTC

I bought this book at a second hand bookshop a few years ago as I love Mark Twain and this edition has some hilarious illustrations.

2017-01-13 15:20:10 UTC

NAUKA BUDOWNICTWA PRAKTYCZNEGO CZYLI PODRĘCZNIK DLA BUDUJĄCYCH. Warszawa 1827
It is a practical guide in how to build houses.
This is one of many old books in my family collection. I would like to be able to say it has been there for generations but unfortunately it was just bought at an antiquary auction by my husband. I have chosen it for the handwritten notes you can see on the left cover. It is mostly measures conversions but to me it shows it has been actively used by the previous owner whats is and extra value.

Flowers of the Field by Rev. C.A. Johns

bee_halton — 2017-01-13 18:46:13 UTC

The oldest book in our house is called “Flowers of the Field”.

It is a black book with golden writing and light green flowers with brown stems on the front. The back is just black with an ornamental sign that showcases the letters SPCK. I did not know what that means in the beginning but had a look inside and found out it was published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. I assume that’s what the SPCK stands for. The spine again is black, with golden old-fashioned writing and the flowers. It states that Rev. C. A. Johns B.A. is the author and again mentions the SPCK.

It is still in a pretty good state even though the edges are a little frayed.

It is my husband’s book who bought it from a bookshop maybe on his holiday in Ireland. However, he can’t remember. He also can’t remember why he bought it. But he is interested in plants especially in edible plants so I could imagine that is why he bought it. He never knew it was from the “Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge”. It is the twenty-fourth edition from 1886.The 35th edition was published in 1949 which was the last (Google books Victorian Popularizers of Science). It might have been an inspiration for Christina Rosetti’s botanical emblems in “Called to be Saints” (Google Books: Christina Rosetti and Illustration) I do not know anything about binding methods and so I can’t say anything about it but it is a hardcover book.

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge still exists and it probably publishes books since 1698 (http://spckpublishing.co.uk/) . It is an Anglican Charity that wants to promote Christian Faith and values through books and Her Majesty the Queen is their patron. The SPCK was mainly responsible for founding Christian Schools in Great Britain and today also works in Prisons to help prisoners reintegrate into society through learning to read.

Robert Barclay's "Apology" (Philadelphia, 1805)

peggydaub — 2017-01-13 18:51:03 UTC

This is an edition of Robert Barclay's text explaining (and justifying) Quakers. It was first printed in England in the 1680s, but our edition comes from America in 1805. It is bound in a plain leather cover, typical of early American bindings. One interesting thing that has been added are handwritten notes on a list of people and when they died. Thus, it was used similarly to a family Bible in which notes on births and deaths were frequently noted by the owners. Neither my husband nor I can be certain where we got it, but we think it was a gift from a friend.

J. Akin's Description of Manchester ( a bit of)

2017-01-13 19:03:55 UTC

The oldest book in my house is in fact a chapter of a book dated 1795. For some reason, a book dealer or someone else has taken this book and divided it into chapters at some point – maybe selling chapters separately to make more money? I found this in a box of local history pamphlets in a second-hand bookshop in Clitheroe, Lancashire. I have discovered that it was taken from J. Akin’s “Description of the Country from Thirty to Forty Miles around Manchester : containing its geography, natural and civil, principal productions, rivers and canal navigations; a particular account of its towns and chief villages; their history, population, commerce, and manufactures; buildings, government etc”, published by John Stockdale, London, 1795. Apparently, the complete volume was furnished with 73 plates and two large, fold-out maps. The chapter I purchased concerns Manchester itself and I bought it because it has an interesting account of the man who invented Turkey dye and who lived in my own village. My copy has no plates or maps and I paid £6.00 for it. It is bound after a fashion by being stapled between two sheets of cardboard. I checked on Abebooks and discovered a complete volume on sale for £695. It’s a great pity that the original volume was taken apart – however, I would not have been able to afford it and find out this information if it hadn’t!

Hungry as the sea (W. Smith /translation to Spanish)

amanda5estrada — 2017-01-13 20:36:07 UTC

Well, I have to say that are some books in my house really old. But this one, it used to belong to my grandfather (my mom's father) that I've never met. My mother consider it like the biggest possesion she has; in this way she can remeber him, because he died when she was a little girl.

It seems really interesting and I'm willing to read it very soon.

Moby Dick (Herman Melville)

amanda5estrada — 2017-01-13 20:46:27 UTC

If try to rember my childhood, this book come to my mind. This book belongs to my father and he has it since he was a kid. So, this and few more have been my house for a long time.

It's a version with a lot of images, and is really easy to read.

Gramática griega

conservacion_uba — 2017-01-13 20:53:19 UTC

La descripción que doy es aproximada ya que estoy lejos del libro. Se trata de un libro en formato menor, tal vez un 16avo, de 1650. Me lo dio un amigo hace años, sabiendo mi pasion por los libros antiguos. Esta encuadernado en pergamino flexible, cosido a dos soportes de costura y tiene algunas anotaciones en lapiz, tal vez hecho por un estudiante.

An Older Book

2017-01-13 21:27:21 UTC

Bound in vellum. All page edges red. Printed in Amsterdam by Elzevier. Copperplate title page. About 7.5 x 12 cm.

The condition is not good. It has been read many times. All the same, it has not been mistreated. The plain printing and small size are related to its purpose. It was produced for student use. The small size is its most noteworthy feature. It was brought to the United States from the Netherlands about 200 years ago by an immigrant family.

Libro de los ejemplos del Conde Lucanor y de Patronio (Juan Manuel)

maric_10 — 2017-01-13 22:50:04 UTC

This is the oldest book I found in my house, it´s from 1939 and its name is Libro de los ejemplos del Conde Lucanor y de Patronio (something like The book of examples of Conde Lucanor and Patronio).
It´s a book used by my mom and aunt, when they were studying to be Literature teachers, here in Argentina. It´s a short stories book, with morals to teach in high school; though I haven´t read it.
The covers have been lined with fabric.

2017-01-14 03:17:33 UTC

Two old bibles, 1854 and 1864.

Little Wars: (HG Wells 1913)

2017-01-14 11:05:35 UTC

This book sets out the rules of how to play war games using toy soldiers, miniature canon and model cavalry. Although the game is still played by hard core gamers in England these rules have evolved into war games now played on the Internet using virtual armies. HG Wells was a pacifist and in his book he wrote: " "How much better is this amiable miniature than the Real Thing!"

Repin and Serov pamphlet volume (1914?)

stepan_chizhov — 2017-01-14 11:53:30 UTC

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.

Several Discourses (1697)

2017-01-14 12:25:09 UTC

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.

Estidio topográfico de La Pampa y río Negro - Olascoaga 1881

2017-01-14 16:16:04 UTC

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.

No hay burlas con el amor (1921)

2017-01-14 16:50:31 UTC

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.

A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy (1801)

2017-01-14 20:41:00 UTC

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.

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

2017-01-14 20:42:38 UTC

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

TS Eliot Poems 1909-1925

2017-01-14 21:19:13 UTC

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.

Miles's Catalogue of Honour, London, 1610.

ntl — 2017-01-14 21:19:43 UTC

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.

Poems of Childhood, Eugene Field (1904)

2017-01-14 22:01:53 UTC

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.

The Divine Comedy

2017-01-14 22:10:28 UTC

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.

Lorna Doone ≈ 1900-1926

2017-01-15 01:24:08 UTC

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

Lorna Doone ≈ 1900-1926

2017-01-15 01:29:29 UTC

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

Lorna Doone ≈ 1900-1926

2017-01-15 01:30:19 UTC

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

"Revision de Grammaire Francaise" (1949)

frr1053 — 2017-01-15 05:32:12 UTC

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.

English-Russian dictionary(1949)

orientalboy — 2017-01-15 06:03:54 UTC

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.

2017-01-15 09:09:51 UTC

A History of France (1791)

2017-01-15 11:12:07 UTC

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.

Richard Scarry's Best Story Book Ever

2017-01-15 11:39:00 UTC

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.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (1895?)

2017-01-15 12:50:23 UTC

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!

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

aasa1981 — 2017-01-15 13:01:10 UTC

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!

Latin Language Textbook (1915)

2017-01-15 14:08:53 UTC

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.

The Three Impostors, Arthur Machen (1923)

2017-01-15 14:15:59 UTC

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...

Abai Qunanbaiuly

2017-01-15 16:13:31 UTC

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

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

2017-01-15 16:34:56 UTC

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.

Our language, Simeon Potter (1950)

2017-01-15 18:10:54 UTC

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.

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

elsa_carrilho — 2017-01-15 19:21:05 UTC

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.

A Christmas Carol (1870)

samdriver0123 — 2017-01-15 19:23:33 UTC

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

La Peinture Asiatique son histoire et ses merveilles (1954)

2017-01-15 19:23:33 UTC

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.

Find the Constellations (1954)

bailey_franzoi — 2017-01-15 21:15:56 UTC

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!

The Olio cookery book (1948)

2017-01-15 22:06:17 UTC

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

The Medea of Euripides (1904)

2017-01-15 22:36:46 UTC

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.

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

2017-01-16 00:11:33 UTC

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.

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe (1904)

joyce_emma_e — 2017-01-16 00:51:30 UTC

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.)

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

2017-01-16 01:36:34 UTC

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.

"Facundo" by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento (1935)

2017-01-16 02:23:00 UTC

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.

Shikoku 80 Shrine Pilgrimage Book (c1950)

2017-01-16 10:30:03 UTC

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.

Lalla Rookh by Thomas Moore (1917 edition)

2017-01-16 11:10:07 UTC

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.

"In Ghostly Japan" by Lafcadio Hearn (1899)

2017-01-16 11:36:54 UTC

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.

f2hsjanderson — 2017-01-16 12:35:16 UTC

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.

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

2017-01-16 16:39:04 UTC

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.

Nihon otogibanashi 12 - Byakkoutai (1897)

2017-01-16 19:57:42 UTC

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).

Bible from WW1 and Tolkien Collection

2017-01-16 20:43:01 UTC

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?

"Tales" by Edgar Allan Poe (1953)

2017-01-17 01:58:34 UTC

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.

Little Women 1917

seren_dippy — 2017-01-17 10:27:21 UTC

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.

Yakusha nigao haya-geiko 1817

2017-01-17 10:38:43 UTC

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.

2017-01-17 19:47:30 UTC

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.

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

2017-01-17 20:13:43 UTC

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.

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

2017-01-17 22:23:00 UTC

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

Aspasia vol. 1 (1882)

2017-01-18 00:55:01 UTC

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.

The Nursery-Book

nartuhi444 — 2017-01-18 04:17:04 UTC

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.

Cambrian Plutarch

2017-01-18 05:42:13 UTC

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.

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

2017-01-18 15:43:07 UTC

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.

Board of Trade, continuous certificate of discharge

indigocarole — 2017-01-18 17:15:01 UTC

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.

Paroissien Romain (1890

2017-01-18 23:05:24 UTC

"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.

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

2017-01-19 00:08:01 UTC

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!

Un Ami Du Peuple

2017-01-19 03:36:19 UTC

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.

A Bird Book for the Pocket

flaminia_rossi1_1 — 2017-01-19 16:48:19 UTC

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.

Grundriss der chemischen Technik

2017-01-19 20:53:53 UTC

A book

Waverley tom I part II by Walter Scott (1955)

2017-01-20 15:50:42 UTC

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.

La noche Buena

2017-01-20 16:01:20 UTC

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.

Beatrix Potter presentation set

llgishi — 2017-01-20 16:08:10 UTC

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.

Poetry Book

2017-01-20 21:30:23 UTC

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.

2017-01-21 20:46:30 UTC

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.

The Human Body

2017-01-21 22:26:50 UTC

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.

Tales of mystery and imagination by Edgar Allan Poe

2017-01-21 22:39:22 UTC

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

History of All Saints'

2017-01-22 00:14:17 UTC

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

Tales of Mystery and Imagination, 1939 OUP edition

2017-01-22 00:51:42 UTC

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.

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.

2017-01-22 15:23:17 UTC

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 1872

2017-01-22 18:07:21 UTC

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.

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.

muddytobe — 2017-01-22 19:15:51 UTC

Connecting to someone I never knew

2017-01-22 21:01:01 UTC

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.

Oldest book

2017-01-23 14:55:54 UTC

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 !)

My oldest book

2017-01-25 23:03:15 UTC

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.

My oldest "not exactly a book"

2017-01-26 03:06:01 UTC

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.

A historybook about Goes

2017-01-26 10:21:37 UTC

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.

2017-01-26 10:42:07 UTC

One o my oldest books

2017-01-26 15:10:48 UTC

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.

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 :-)

2017-01-26 19:49:46 UTC

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

2017-01-27 03:00:22 UTC

Perspective Rectified by Arthur Parsey

2017-01-27 21:40:33 UTC

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!

2017-01-28 17:28:23 UTC

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2017-01-28 17:31:42 UTC

Yokohon

2017-01-28 17:32:04 UTC

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!

Madame de Villepreux

julien_maxudian — 2017-01-28 20:34:30 UTC

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.

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.

2017-01-29 16:48:09 UTC

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.

2017-01-29 17:22:08 UTC

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.

jmk3 — 2017-01-29 18:40:14 UTC

Escuela del Violín - Delphin Alard

2017-01-29 19:01:54 UTC

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

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

2017-02-01 11:13:08 UTC

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

Aristotle's Masterpiece

2017-02-01 18:24:32 UTC

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

2017-02-10 09:10:14 UTC

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

2017-02-10 12:07:10 UTC

The Bible

2017-02-19 07:26:06 UTC

An old Dairy

2017-02-24 09:06:31 UTC

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.

2017-02-27 20:59:47 UTC

Testamenti Novi (1556)

kvidler — 2018-02-10 10:20:09 UTC

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.

Chin P'ing Mei - PT-BR edition

2018-02-24 16:30:23 UTC

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.

2023-02-14 19:09:52 UTC

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.