Monday, December 20, 2010

Closings at Fairfax County Public Library

If you want to make a year-end donation to the Friends, plan ahead. The library is closed for seven days in the next 14 day periord. We only accept donations during library hours and the library has lots of closed days during this holiday period. 

The schedule for the next two weeks follows.
Monday, December 20, regionals including GM open at 1pm - 9 pm
Tuesday, December 21, regional branches open 10 am - 9 pm
Wednesday, December 22, open 1 pm - 9 pm
Thursday, December 23 CLOSED
Friday, December 24 CLOSED
Saturday, December 25 CLOSED
Sunday, December 26 CLOSED
Monday, December 27 George Mason Regional opens at 1 pm
Tuesday, December 28 open 10 am - 9 pm
Wednesday, December 29 open 1 pm - 9 pm
Thursday, December 30 CLOSED
Friday, December 31 CLOSED
Saturday, January 1 CLOSED
Sunday, January 2 open 1 pm to 5 pm


Tuesday, October 19, 2010

No Strollers or Large Bins in the Sale Areas


The book sale has a long standing rule that strollers are not allowed in the sales areas. That means you can bring the stroller into the building but you may not bring it into the small room where children's material is being sold, into the large sales room off the lobby, or into the aisles of the sales material out in the main library.Child carriers with solid frames that people wear like back packs are also not allowed in the sales areas. We do understand that it is inconvenient but it is just too crowded, especially Thursday night and Sunday afternoon.
Bin too big to bring into sales area
This year again large bins are not allowed in the sales areas. Again, there are places in the library you can leave them.
Box 10" high, 12" wide, 15" long
You may bring in boxes of the type frequently called Stor-Alls or Bankers Boxes. You may also bring boxes that printer paper came in, roughly 11" wide by 17" long. We will have containers you may use in the sales areas but we are going to ask that those big bins be left somewhere else.
Copy paper box is a good size.

If the containers you bring are disposable like these boxes, we ask that you bring a coat or blanket or something non-disposable to mark your collection. A few times we have had the unfortunate experience of people abandoning their piles. Most shoppers don't mess with other people's piles. An abandoned pile means books aren't available to someone who may want them. An object that most people wouldn't abandon helps us know that the shopper is shopping and will be back.  At busy times, we may limit how long you may leave your boxes.

I am one of those people who walk into the grocery store intending to buy two bags of stuff and walk out with four bags of stuff. If you are one of those people, do not fear. We will have bags and boxes here for you to use if you don't bring your own.

Now is a good time to remind readers that we do not accept credit cards or debit cards. We have a large number of banks in the vicinity so stop at the ATM before parking.

Do come to this sale. While I haven't counted each book, I can tell you that we have more boxes than any time in the past two years.









Friday, October 15, 2010

Fall Book Sale - Adult Display Case


The left side display case in the lobby of the Library is now full of special finds of adult books which will be for sale at the book sale starting October 21. Warning: we reserve the right to correct any mistakes we have made in the prices or descriptions being published here. We may remove a book if we detect a mistake.



The Haunted House Mystery, L.P. Wyman; Publ. A.L. Burt, 1936                 $75
No DJ; red cloth; volume 26 in series.

Seekrieg und Seemacht , Friedrich Lutzow; 1941                                2 volumes $75
In German; no DJ; some sunning and fading, tears and wear on binding.

Boots and Saddles, Elizabeth B. Custer; Harper & Bros., copyright 1885    $50
Brown cloth cover with gold decoration; with portrait and map. 

Annual Register or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature, for the Year 1770.  The fifth edition.   $60
No DJ; printed in 1794; Leather spine and corners with decorative paper; wear to covers; tight binding.

Kyoto Romance, Teruhide Kato with Liane Grunberg; First Edition by Unsodo Publ., 1992      $25
Soft cover; very good/near fine.

Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam; Edward Fitzgerald transl.; First printing of Pocket Book Ed., 1941      $20
Good; lovely illustrations by Gordon Ross.

Rossetti, Evelyn Waugh; Duckworth, 1975                                        $25
A new edition of Evelyn Waugh’s first book with an introduction by John Bryson; VG/VG; previous owner’s name on end paper.

A Boy’s Will, Robert Frost; Henry Holt and Co., no date.                         $75
No DJ; binding worn and spotted.

One Hundred Years of Korean Calligraphy (1848-1948)                $60
VG/VG in VG box; Plates translated into English.

All the Best, George Bush; My Life in Letters and Other Writings; Signed on pasted-in label; Scribner, 1999                  $50
VG/VG; some wear on corners.

Vlemk, the Box-Painter, John Gardner; Lord John Press, 1979; stated first edition, signed & numbered.        $50
NF/NF in mylar cover; illustrated by Catherine Kanner.

The Art of Building Cities, Camillo Sitte; Rheinhold Publ., 1945                             $50
No DJ; worn red binding; translated by Charles T. Stewart

Augustus Saint-Gaudens 1848-1907, A Master of American Sculpture; Musee des Augustins, 1999      $40   

Soft Cover, VG. 










Manual of Wireless Telegraphy for the Use of Naval Electronics, by Lt.Commander S.S. Robison, USN; US Naval Institute, 1909                                         $40
Binding worn and dirty with owners’ names on endpapers; tight binding.

The Convert Rolls, edited by Eileen O’Byrne; Irish Manuscripts Commission, 1981            $40
No DJ; VG maroon cloth binding with gold lettering.

Know Thyself, The Science of Life, George Howard Jones, M.D.; Peabody Medical Institute, 1881    $20
No DJ; bright blue cloth cover with bright gold and black decoration; gold page edges.

The Lives of Vasco Nunez de Balboa, Hernando Cortes, and Francisco Pizarro; publ. Marsh, Capen, Lyon, and Webb, 1840;             $25
No DJ; worn and spotted green cover; possible water damage.

Women’s Suffrage; The Reform Against Nature, Horace Bushnell; Scribner, 1869      $25
No DJ; lower fifth of spine cover missing; upper spine taped; owner’s name on front end-paper.

History and the Art of Printing, P. Luckombe; printed by W. Adlard and J. Browne, 1771         $65
Spine mended; decorative paper boards; ink markings on first few pages, rest clean; paste-ins from private library.

The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, Maria Augusta Trapp; J.P. Lippincott Co.; 1949, 4th impression; autographed by members of Trapp family.                                         $35
DJ has several tears; book good.







Bedu, Humberto da Silveira; Genoud Entreprise D’Arts Graphiques              $150
Fine/Fine in VG box; deluxe limited edition of 6000 copies; contains 176 photographs of Bedouins of Arabia

The Double-Faced Tablets from the St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, by V.N. Lasarev; Iskusstvo Art Publishers, Moscow, 1983            $30
Decorative boards, front and back; corners worn but body square.

Dones y Promesas: 500 anos de arte ofrenda (exvotos mexicanos), Fundacion Cultural Televisa, 1996     $60
Soft cover; VG with some wear on edges, spine

Traditional Papermaking and Paper Cult Figures of Mexica, Sandstrom; Univ. of OK Press, stated 1st ed., 1986  $25
DJ clean but with tears, book slightly cocked; address label on front endpaper.

Early Netherlandish Carved Altarpieces, 1380-1550, Medieval Tastes and Mass Marketing, by Lynn Jacobs; Cambridge Univ. Press, 1998                                         $60
NF/NF

Cristo, Esencia y Trascendencia, Xavier Escalada S.J.; Enciclopedia Guadalupana       $45
Good/good; corners bumped; oversized

Cyprus, Byzantine Mosaics and Frescoes; NY Graphic society, 1963                      $50
DJ good but with some tears; book binding clean; oversized volume in UNESCO World Art Series with 32 full-page color reproductions.

Pskovska Ikona XIII-XVI Vekov; printed and bound in USSR, 1990                      $40
VG/VG; Cyrillic inscription on front endpaper.

French Costumes Designed by Lepage-Medvey, with a Preface by Andre Varagnac; Hyperion Press, 1939      $30
Covers worn and some loose pages; prints crisp and bright, each with cover sheet.

The Working Farmer Devoted to Agriculture, James J. Mapes; Volume IV; Frederick McCready, 1853       $50
Very worn leather spine; decorative boards, also worn; pages show foxing and stains but text in good condition.

Florentine Codex, General History of the Things of New Spain, Fray Bernardino de Sahagun; 12 volumes; translated by Arthur J.O. Anderson & Charles E. Dibble; School of American Research & Univ. of Utah, 1975         $200
No DJ; red cloth binding in very good condition.

Narrative of the Expedition of an American Squadron to the China Seas and Japan, Commodore Perry;  3 volumes; 1856    $1000

Volume 1—lithograph opposite p. 144 missing; binding needs repair; all woodcuts and pages present
Volume 2—maps present but fragile; water damage to back binding and several pages at end with no printing
Volume 3—very good condition; all pages and charts present
All volumes have some yellowing of paper, particularly around margins, and some fading of binding.


Plate from Perry





A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method, Sir Banister Fletcher;  16th ed., B.T. Batsford, 1954    $25
No DJ, good condition.

Kokai Nikki: The Diary of the First Japanese Embassy to the United States of America, Muragaki Awaji-No-Kami; 1st printing, Foreign Affairs Assn. of Japan, 1958             $100
Soft cloth covers hand sewn; box is broken in several parts.

First Annual Report:  Resettlement Administration, 1936                  $100
DJ in good condition except for split along spine with small pieces missing; book has sun damage, crack on back endpaper, and loose in front;  large fold-out map bright and intact.

Batalla Contra el Olvido, Jaime Ardila & Camilo Lleras; Editado por Ardila & Lleras Ltda., 1985     $25
VG/VG

Henri Le Secq PHOTOGRAPHE de 1850 a 1860, Eugenia Parry Janis & Josiane Sartre; Musee des Arts Decoratifs, 1986        $17.50
NF/NF

Walk in Beauty, Connie Seabourn; autographed; Milbourn Publ. 1993       $30
VG/VG

The Wood and the Graver, The Work of Fritz Eichenberg; autographed by artist; Clarkson N. Potter, 1977    $30
DJ intact but with stain and some tears;  book top dirty; contents clean and prints sharp and clear.

Vida y Obra del Pintor Francisco Pradilla Ortiz, Ana Garcia Loranca & Ramon Garcia-Rama; Caja de Ahorros de Zaragoza    $20
VG/NF; some wear along DJ edges.

Yellowstone, A Century of the Wilderness Idea, Ann & Myron Sutton; autographed authors and Pat Nixon, et al; Macmillan, 1972                                         $35
G/VG in good box

Earthquake Conditions in Chile, Studies in Comparative Seismology, Bailey Willis; Carnegie Institution, Publication Number 382, 1929                $30
Soft cover; cover shows wear and some stains, but contents clean and tight; maps in back pocket.


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Special Children's Books in this Sale

One of the display cases in the lobby of the Library is now full of children's books which will be for sale at the book sale starting October 21. Warning: we reserve the right to correct any mistakes we have made in the prices or descriptions being published here. We may remove a book if we detect a mistake.

Dear Readers and Riders by Marguerite Henry, first printing from 1969, no dj, $10

The Christmas Cat by Efner Tudor Holmes, illustrated by Tasha Tudor, unpaginated, has a price-clipped dj, from 1976, $10

Cowboy Andy by Edna Chandler, illustrated by Raymond Kinstler, intact dj from 1959, a Beginner Book, $10

Hugh Loftings' Travels of Dr. Dolittle adapted by Al Perkins, illustrated by Philip Wende, intact dj from 1967, a Beginner Book, $10

Robin Hood by Paul Creswick illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, has 8 color plates with tissue guards, no dj, from 1917, $12


East of the Sun and West of the Moon by Kay Nielsan, 6 illustrations, 1 illustration missing, no dj, from 1932, $10

A Big Ball of String by Marion Holland, Beginner Book #5, intact dj, from 1958, stated 1st printing, $20


Prairie School by Lois Lenski, 1st edition, price-clipped dj, from 1951, $10

Take Joy selected and edited by Tasha Tudor, illustrated by Tasha Tudor, with dj, 1966, $10


The Private World of Tasha Tudor by Tasha Tudor and Richard Brown, illustrations by Tasha Tudor, photographs by Richard Brown, stated first edition, has a dj, 1992, $5

The Catholic Child's Bible in two volumes (Old and New Testaments), no dj,  Giant golden books, 1958, $10 per volume

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, 13 illustrations with tissue guards, 1 illustration missing, no dj, from 1911, $10

The White Company by A. Conan Doyle illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, 13 illustrations, no dj, reprint from 1930's or 1940's, $12

Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth, 14 pictures with tissue guards and a map, no dj, 1913, $12

Me by william Saroyan, illustrations by Murray Tinkelman, unpaginated, no dj,1st edition, 1963, $15

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry, unabridged, no dj, 1968, $20

Pinocchio by Collodi, illustrated by Copeland, has decorated end papers, no dj, 1904, $10



Pointers for Little Persons by Virginia Parkinson, photographs similar to claymation, 6 collectible hard covers with dj's, 1943, $20

Poo-Poo and the Dragons by C.S. Forester, illustrated by Robert Lawson, 1st edition, no dj, from 1942, $20

Little Black Goes to the Circus by Walter Farley, illustrated by James Schucker, a Beginner Book, with dj, from 1963, probable 1st edition, $12

The Day the Guinea-Pig Talked by Paul Gallico, illustrated by Dulac, price-clipped dj, from 1963, $10

The Giant Golden Book of Mathematics by Irving Adler, illustrated by Lowell Hess, no dj, from 1960, $10

The Pop-Up Book of Gnomes paper-engineering by Tor Lokvig, no dj, from 1979, $10

Panama's Jungle Book by Susan Core, illustrated by Anne McKeown, unpaginated, with dj, from 1942, $10

Christmas on the Isthmus by Susan Core, illustrated by Anne McKeown, a story in rhyme, with dj, from 1936, $10

The Little President by Don Calhoun, printed in black, pink, and green, with dj, from 1946, $15

Frances Tipton Hunter Picture Book by Marjorie Barrows, illustrated by F. T. Hunter, 20 full page illustrations, no dj, from 1935, $10

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Phones at the Library on Sunday

The recession has hit the libraries in Fairfax County very hard. The hours have been reduced, again. Staffing has been cut. One fall-out to the reductions is answering the phones. The staff no longer answers the phone on Sunday even when the library is open. The system went further and set the computer so the phone doesn't ring on Sunday even when the library is open. If the phone doesn't ring, the person calling can't leave a message and get a call back. The person calling will hear a message about the phones not being answered.

On Mondays, Regional Libraries in Fairfax County open at 1 pm. Before opening, the odds are good that the phone service will stay at the Sunday message. Just because Monday morning is a work day for most of the world, don't expect to be able to leave a message until after 1 pm.

If you try to call us, please make the attempt on Saturday before 5 pm or on Monday after 1 pm. I know it is frustrating but it is not in our control.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Stamps, United States Postage Stamps and Canadian Postage Stamps

Sample page of Stamps
We have been given a nice collection of postage stamps. They range in age from 1946 to 1984. Some of them are in binders with special pages describing the stamps. The stamps themselves are slid into holders, not attached in anyway.  The donation was from a serious collector and includes about 15 binders of these pages plus some pages not in binder. It makes for fascinating browsing to read about people and events commemorated in U.S. postage stamps. It is also interesting to see the change from largely monochromatic stamps to full color stamps.








In 1946 the Post Office commemorations including ones for the Smithsonian Institution and Statehood for Iowa. The Smithsonian stamp is monochromatic in brick red. The stamp for Iowa is monochromatic in blue.

I like the full color ones. The stamp here is Spirit of 76. You need to see a pane of 3 stamps to see the full picture. Looking at things like this makes me understand the fascination of stamp collecting.
Box of 1983 Stamps from Canada
 
There are also annual collections of Canadian Stamps. This one is labelled 1983. It is unopened and in shrink wrap. We also have the ones for 1982 and 1984 unopened.


If you are interested in acquiring some or all of these stamps or just want to know more about this collection, please contact us. If you are local, we can arrange a time for you to see this collection. If you are distant, perhaps, I can take more photos.

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Book Sale Dates Announced: October 21 to 24

The Fall Book Sale will start on Thursday, October 21, at 5 pm. For opening night, we have permission from Fairfax County Public Libraries to stay open until 9 pm. This is good news for shoppers because, normal library services will end at 6 pm. From 6 to 9 pm, the shoppers won't need to compete with library users for parking places. Since most of the staff will leave at 6 pm, we will have their parking places to use, too. Another bonus, after 6 pm, buyers have more choices inside the library for space for collecting their purchases before check out.

The bad news for shoppers is that you won't be able to combine book sale and library use unless you arrive before 6 pm. After 6 pm, you will not be able to check out books, use the library computers, get a library card, ask for help from the Information Librarian, or pay bills.

The sale will follow library hours on Friday and Saturday. Friday hours are 10 am to 6 pm. Saturday hours are 10 am to 5 pm. On Sunday, we will get a one hour jump on library hours (and get more parking spaces) by opening the sale at noon. Library services will start at 1 pm. Sunday hours end at 5 pm.

As an added bonus for families planning to come to the sale on Saturday, Annandale is having their Fall Festival. The morning parade will include the Annandale High School Marching Band at over 100 strong. Generally, there is a fair showing of candidates for public office as well. The Fall Festival continues with activities in the parking lot of Safeway on Little River Turnpike, about a mile from the George Mason Regional Library.

Friday, June 18, 2010

Graphic Novels in Japanese


Graphic novels are popular with a lot of people these days. This collection is unusual because they are in Japanese. I believe they are the Shonen Jump magazines because that is what some of the mailing envelopes say in English. The cover with the English word Boy appears to be number 50 with a date from 1992. (Fortunately for me, the date and the word printed is in English). The cover with the word DVD on the cover is dated 2007. These are just two from 3 boxes full.

We are running a trial of publicizing them on this blog. If you are interested in one or more, please contact the Friends at George Mason Regional Library by phone or email. The price is a bargain at $2 per volume if you pick them up. Please make the contact and an appointment first; don't just show up because only a select few people at the library can show you the magazines.

If you know someone who reads Japanese and likes graphic novels, please tell your friend about this great offer. I think they would make great summer time reading for a special person.

Rain, Rain, Sweet Summer Rain

Have you gotten rained on unexpectedly this week? Did you leave your umbrella at home to your eternal regret? Did the rain cancel some of your errands?

I can answer "yes" to all of those questions. I can also add a plea to our donors. When it rains, protect your books. Leave them indoors, safe and dry. Put them in a closed bag or box if you must take them out. Don't put the box on the ground when you open your trunk or your car.

Why do I care? I care because this week we were given some lovely books. Unfortunately the box was wet. When the box gets wet, the books inside get wet. The dust jacket wrinkles. The pages glue themselves together. The colors on the binding run. Mold or mildew grows. Wet books get other books wet. Our only recourse is to put them in the trash.

A related plea: bring your donations during library hours. We find books left outside at the back door. We find books left outside at the front door. One day, I found a bag of books under the opening for the library book drop. Many, many times these treasures have been rained on (or snowed on) before they are found and brought in.

We love your donations. We love them best when they are clean and dry.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Spring Book Sale Over

Our spring book sale has ended. We had wonderful books, generous customers, delightful volunteers, and beautiful weather.

Now we are starting to process books and CDs and VHS tapes and DVDs and Blu-ray DVDs and Sheet Music and Video Games and I don't know what-all for the next sale which will be in October 2010.

The dates aren't set in stone yet so I can't publish them.

I can tell all those who patronize Fairfax County Public Libraries to start noting the hours to take effect July 1, 2010. Most people are aware that only Regional libraries have Sunday hours now. As of July 1, the hours will also vary on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so you will have to pay attention to the time of day and the type of library to know whether it is open.

Friday, April 30, 2010

The Spring 2010 Sale Is On!

The book sale has started! We are open today from 10 am to 6 pm, Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from noon to 5 pm. Sunday, the books are half-price, but the selection is better today and tomorrow.

Our sale is made possible by:
  • countless donations of books, CDs, DVDs, videos, etc. throughout the year
  • hours and hours of volunteer time sorting and pricing the books
  • more hours and hours of volunteer time setting up, running, and taking down the sale
  • lots of wonderful customers. Hopefully you will be one of them!
Come. Shop. Buy.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Book Sale Quirks

First off, I find that technology is sneakier than I am. I had time at the beginning of April and I was thinking about various book sale blogs so I wrote several and only posted one. I thought that the date on the blog post would be the date I published the blog. I got surprised. It turns out to be the date I wrote the original entry. So now you know why we published so many entries for April 5 and 6.

Now about quirks in finding books at the book sale:
Today I was looking at the best seller lists. I was surprised to learn the Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has been listed for over two years. The Washington Post has it on the paperback non-fiction list at over 120 weeks. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson has been going longer at over 150 weeks. That is amazing to me.

Both of these books are memoirs and selling them poses a challenge to us. The George Mason Friends have roughly 50 different categories for books for adults. The one category for adults we don't have is "Memoir" or even "Biography". We have found that people interested in History might be interested in biographies of historic figures. Therefore, we keep the books about Lincoln with American History and the books about Napoleon in Military History. Following that line of thought, the latest book about a celebrity would be in Performing Arts. So Melissa Gilbert's book Prairie Tale would be with the books about Acting and Dance. A book about Michael Jackson might be in Music and might be with Celebrity Bios.

Under this scheme, where would we put Eat, Pray, Love? We have settled on the category of Travel. Our reasoning is that Elizabeth Gilbert wrote about her time in Italy, India, and Indonesia. Therefore, the book is similiar in some ways to the books people have written about there time in south of France (Peter Mayle comes to mind).

Where would Three Cups of Tea belong? We are still struggling with that. Since we put a lot of politics and current events in the History section, we decided to try Three Cups of Tea in with the World History, which is where you would find other books about current events in Afghanistan.

Are you looking for a particular biography or memoir at the sale? Ask one of the volunteers wearing a GM Friends apron if you need help finding a category.

Come to our sale April 29 -May 2. Shop. Buy.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

D. L. Moody Signature


One of the famous evangelists of the late 1900s was D. L. Moody. We have been given a Bible inscribed by him to someone in Baltimore. This is a well-used Bible but if you would like to touch something handled by D. L. Moody, then come to the sale. It should be in the display case on the left-hand side of the lobby.

We are hoping it finds a good home at the sale on April 29.

Books in French for sale April 29 to May 2



Do you read French? Are you studying it at school and would like something different from the usual literature? Consider coming to the book sale.

The pictured books are just a small sample of some of the fiction in languages other than English. I picked these because they are so varied in content.

We usually have books in Spanish, French, Italian, German, Russian, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean. There may be one or two books in various other languages as well.


Are you travelling this year? Consider getting a phrase book. Need to brush up on your grammar, check with us for that, too.

Don't forget to check the children's room for picture books in other languages.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Wordless Books: What Good are They?


There are people at universities who study all sorts of things and provide scholarly sounding terms for their students to learn. The terms enable those in the field to have a standard vocabulary to discuss their field. To the rest of us, it is jargon.

In Early Childhood education, seven different areas have been identified as important steps toward Early Literacy. As my own early childhood was a long time ago, I didn't fully appreciate some of those steps when I was first told them recently.

One of the steps involves being able to tell a story. So, Jack and Jill did three things. Jill fell down. Jack fell down. They went up a hill. Now, most of us know this English nursery rhyme. We know I just put those events in the wrong order. A person learning to read needs to be able to tell a story and put the events in the right order.



The only words in this book are on the cover. The story is told by the pictures. Any words you put to them are up to you the reader. These stories can be told in any language. They can be shared by readers and non-readers. They can be used to get people to write their own words to the story. Would a child of five put in the same level of detail as a middle-school student?

The book pictured is one of the books that will be available at the sale starting April 29. Our room with children's books always has someone staffing it who can direct you towards items of interest to you. It can be a pretty popular place with shoppers, so strollers must be parked in the lobby. The Fire Marshall tells us that the strollers in the room are a safety concern.

Special Books for sale April 29 to May 2


The George Mason Friends have two large book sales each year. The spring sale will be April 29 to May 2. If you go into the George Mason Regional Library, you will see that one display case has many old children's books. These books are not listed on Amazon for sale. They will be on display until 5 pm Thursday evening when the sale opens. They won't be sold in advance of the sale. The only reason for us to remove the book from the case is if we find a problem in the condition of the book that we had not previously noticed.


I know the display includes two books based on Walt Disney's movie Fantasia. There are two books by Marguerite Henry. There are seven softcover books of Uncle Wiggily stories. One book is described as being annimated which generally means there are moving parts. One is a Golden Book from the time when Little Golden Books had dustjackets.

Easton Press: Aeschylus' The Oresteia




We are selling two different copies of The Oresteia by Aeschylus published by Easton Press. Both are bound in leather with gilt edges, moire endpapers, and a ribbon sewn in as a bookmark. The title pages give the same information. The way to tell them apart is by their covers designs. The books also have different heights and widths.

We have two separate listings on Amazon for these books because each listing comes with a sample of what the cover looks like. When I was preparing to list the book on the right, I was looking for the translator, and illustrator, and the author of the Introduction, I also found the Publisher's Note. At the end of the Publisher's Note, I found that the bookplate with a previous owner's name, had been pasted onto the blank space at the bottom of the page. The book on the left has no bookplate.

Easton used the translation by E. D. A. Morhead. The introduction is by Rex Warner. The illustrations are by Michael Ayrton. The book is part of the series of the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written.


Now, for my disclaimer about my abilities as a photographer. I think the photographs are in focus. I think a true photogrpher would be hardpressed to find any other redeeming characteristic. I know the colors aren't accurate. The paper appears too yellow. The bit of the satin bookmark that is showing is too yellow. The bit of the moire endpaper is too yellow. The book doesn't look straight; that is my fault not the book's. The list goes on and on. I hope the photgraphs do provide enough information for you to think the books themselves would be a good addition to a collection.

Easton Books: Virgil's Aeneid as translated by John Dryden



A potential buyer contacted the Friends asking for photos of two books we have listed on Amazon. We are happy to try to comply with such requests. Unfortunately, the query came so that we need to reply through Amazon. We learned that replying through Amazon, limits the size of the photographs you can send. We couldn't figure out how to get the pictures small enough. Therefore, we are blogging about these books today. If the potential buyer doesn't like what is shown, maybe someone else will.

The first book is Virgil's Aeneid. Like all of Easton Press's books, this one is bound in leather and decorated in gilt. The color is a steel gray. The design is very interesting. I have no idea of the meaning of this design.




Easton Press used the John Dryden translation of The Aeneid. The illustrator is Carlotta Petrina. It is part of Easton's series of The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written.

The photograph on the right is the front edge of this volume. If you look closely, about the center of the photo will be marks on the gilt. Below is a photograph of the top edge of the book. The gilt is unmarked. You can see the edge of the ribbon bookmark in this photograph.






In some of these books, on the copyright page, it will state that the books are printed on archival paper. I am not sure if this particular book has that statement. I do know that the copyright of these books is not a reflection of the publication date. I will explain more about that later.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Grand Larousse de la Langue Francaise


In 1971, the Librarie Larousse published its first volume of a massive french dictionary. At that time the editors thought they could do this project in only six volumes. They were able to publish volume 2 in 1972 and volume 3 in 1973. About then, they figured out that six volumes wasn't going to cut it and they changed the title page to read "in seven volumes". Volume 4 was published in 1975, followed by 5 in 1976, 6 in 1977, and the final volume in 1978. According to Books in Print, this dictionary is still in print.

This great set of books is for sale through Amazon.com.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Next Book Sale April 29 to May 2

The Spring Book Sale will be April 29 to May 2.

The sale starts on Thursday night at 5 pm. Those who live in Fairfax County will wonder about that because the Library Hours end at 6 pm since the first round of budget cuts went into effect last July. We got special permission to keep the book sale open until 9 pm even though library services will end at 6 pm. For the casual library patron, checking out books and asking questions of librarians and paying fines and using the library computers all ends at 6 pm. The building stays open for those of us buying and selling books. We do this so we can offer some evening hours for people working most office hours.

On Friday, April 30 and Saturday, May 1 the sale hours match the library hours. On Sunday, May 2, the sale will begin an hour before the library services start. The sale opens early in the hope of letting our buyers get here and find parking.

For those who have never been to our sale, I will tell you that the library lot fills up. I ask that you find a legal parking space because those parking tickets can just ruin a perfectly good day. On Thursday when we are especially busy, the police are here to ensure public safety and that includes enforcing no parking in the fire lanes.

For people who don't want to come to the sale but are in the habit of using the library for study or meeting space, the Thursday of the book sale and the Sunday of the book sale are two times you might want to arrange to study somewhere else. The book sale doesn't use the Quiet Study Room and about two other tables in the library. The book sale does use the meeting rooms and 90% of the tablespace. The noise level also grows with the number of shoppers so it is not a quiet place to study during the sale.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Easton Press


Easton Press has a well-deserved reputation for producing beautiful books of incredible quality. They use a quality leather for the binding, decorate them with 22K gold, and gild the page edges. That is just the outside cover. Inside, they use archival paper, sew in a satin ribbon for a book mark, and use a silk moire on both the pastedown and front end paper. The pastedown is what you see when you open the cover on the cover side. The end paper is the first paper on the opposite side.

Easton Press sells directly to the consumer in a subscription. They have a number of series. One very popular series is The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written. The attention to detail continues in the selection of the writer and the title and the illustrator. Then they top it all off with a thoughtful Introduction. When collecting from Easton, you only get a book every month. Some of us are too impatient to wait. Fortunately, now there are Internet booksellers.


We have received a number of Easton Press books. We are still in the process of examining them for condition. Because we expect the buyer to be a critical and knowledgeable person, we are trying to be critical ourselves. We look for knicks in the leather, for anything marring the gilt edges, for the gilt of the binding to be flaking, for fraying of the ribbon, for discoloration of the silk moire endpapers. It is time consuming but we think that being able to describe a volume accurately is important.

Next posting, I will try to give you a list of the books we have. If you are impatient, contact us.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Petition for Fairfax County Public Libraries

Last week I promised to give the URL for the on-line petition regarding funding for the Fairfax County Public Library. I thought it would be a simple matter. I have found several references in print, including in a Washington Post article and a Connection article. It seems there are at least two on-line petitions. One is www.gopetition.com/petitions/restore-fairfax-county-public-library-budget.html. The other is www.thepetitionsite.com/1/save-fairfax-county-public-libraries.

I have learned that some Friends' groups are pushing people to sign a paper copy of a petition. This weekend, I hope that people who come in to George Mason Regional Library will see someone in the lobby with a copy of the petition.

Last July, the Fiscal Year 2010 began. The budget for the Library was cut 18% from the previous year. A lot of people lost their jobs. The budget to buy books, and magazines, and other matericals to circulate at the library was cut in half. Some people are beginning to notice because magazine subscriptions have expired. Each branch had to cut their spending on magazines and newpapers by 50%. A lot of bare shelves are now in the periodical area.

Other people are beginning to notice because the Library is getting fewer copies of newly published books. It used to be the policy that when a title was chosen to add to the system, every branch got at least one copy. Now, instead of 22 copies for the system, sometimes only four copies are added for the whole system.

If you go out on Saturday despite the snow in the forecast, stop in your neighborhood library. Ask about the next round of budget cuts.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Sulking isn't Pretty

OK. I admit it. There was Thanksgiving and Christmas and a bunch of snow days since I last blogged but the real reason is that I have been sulking. I know it isn't very adult of me. I am just so ticked that those who make the financial decisions in Fairfax County view Libraries as luxuries. They have always ranked as necessities to me. So, I have been sulking that I can't get my way.

I will try start telling you about the great books that pass through my hands. I even have some pictures of some of the books because I like the pictures better than the words I put together.

In the meantime, I hear there is an on-line petition in support of libraries. Tomorrow I'll get the address for anyone who is interested. In the meantime, do let your supervisors know what is important to you.