It was a simple trip to the thrift store. My friend Amy called saying they had plastic doilies and I went down to look. They turned out to be paper and not what I was looking for. Then she said they had some old books. I was drawn to this one. The paper in it was amazing. Thought I could tear it up for collage work. I bought it for $1.00
Here is the front of the book, as you can see it looks old.
Then we looked inside to see the date published. Amy and I were trying to figure out its age, it was in Roman Numerals and i am not so good at that. Some guy came up he turned out to be a history professor from Idaho State University and when I mentioned I was going to cut it up I think he about died. He offered me double what I paid for the book but I declined. Then I thought I would probably keep it on my bookshelf for awhile anyways. The paper in the book was amazing. It looked old and felt very different, it was written in French. When we got home we looked it up.
It was written in 1768 by Voltaire, looks like its a first edition as far as I can tell. Looks like it might be worth some money. So I will not be cutting this one up. After a closer look the paper might be parchment. After Nano is over I think I will be spending quite a bit of time on the internet doing research on the book itself and book collectors sites.
I am very interested in this, Kate. There is nothing I think that I love more than books. I'd love to know how much you figured it was worth. It is a beautiful book. From the looks of it, it may be worth thousands...wouldn't that be something. I'd also like to refer you to John Ptak, who is Patti Digh's husband, as this is his field. He seems to be the sort of individual who would be willing to point you in the right direction, or even perhaps he could tell you in just a few moments about it. It sounds pretty darn exciting! xoO
ReplyDeleteThat's a really great buy. :) It's better you made sure how much it's worth before you sut it up. :)
ReplyDeleteWow! That is an amazing find. I often feel conflicted about cutting up really old books, so a lot of the time, I will make copies, instead. I'm glad you discovered what you had there, in time to save it.
ReplyDeleteWishing you many more blessings and a happy Thanksgiving, Kate!
Oh my gosh - this is one for saving!! Find another 'not quite so old' book for cutting up!!
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