Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World
- Book Review,
by Lawrence Goldstone
Amazon.com
After years of competitive extravagance at birthday time, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone decided to limit themselves to $20 each, which is how they came to be in possession of a $10 definitive translation of War and Peace, complete with maps of the major battles and fold-out color illustrations. It is also how they eventually came to be the owners of a $650 edition of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit. Used and Rare, the Goldstones' tale of the journey from point A to point B, is a joyful celebration of their love of books. Rare-book dealers are a quirky lot; while one might invite you to caress an Adventures of Tom Sawyer worth thousands, another might turn you away altogether for no apparent reason. The Goldstones' enthusiasm is infectious, and, besides offering a lesson in used-book parlance, the pair remind us that for every book there are at least two stories: the one between the covers, and the one beyond the covers.
From Library Journal
The Goldstones are expatriate urbanites who fled jobs on Wall Street to live and write in the Berkshires. With a sense of adventure and fresh beginnings, they relate how they revived their life together and discovered the wonders of old books. Soon they were visiting used and rare book shops and auctions in the remote towns in the region, as well as in Boston, New York, and even as far away as Chicago. Along the way, the reader learns about the lore and minutiae of old books. As the authors flirt with collecting modern first editions, readers are treated to some of the fascinating stories of modern literature and get the insider's view of the arcane ways experts identify a first edition and decide what makes a book valuable. Readers also meet intriguing book sellers and collectors and others who inhabit the world of books. All in all, a delightful education in the book arts; recommended for public libraries.?Paul A. D'Alessandro, Portland P.L., Me.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
The Goldstones (Lawrence: Rights, 1992; Nancy: Mommy and the Murder, 1995; etc.) offer a sprightly paced travelogue that records their education in literary connoisseurship. Their interest in rare books began innocently enough when they challenged themselves to limit spending on birthday gifts for each other. Nancy walked into a Lenox, Mass., bookstore in search of a hardcover copy of War and Peace and discovered instead the large, arcane world of out-of-print books. With the discovery in Boston, weeks later, of a $40 first-edition of B. Traven's novel The Night Visitor, they were hooked. At a book fair the Goldstones are stunned to encounter a $50,000 1914 first edition Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. ``Fifty thousand dollars for Tarzan? Could it be that somehow Tarzan was great literature and we didn't know it?'' Through visiting all the best stores, attending fairs and auctions, and perusing catalogues, the Goldstones learn to read the dealers' idiosyncrasies and the terminology of the trade, and gain a perspective on the idea that the business of rare books is, after all, a business: Demand drives prices, and (as with antiques and other collectibles) what has value is whatever collectors want. (Soon they plop down several hundreds for a two-volume first edition of Bleak House.) In the manner of good travel writing, the authors' descriptions are evocative, their storytelling compassionate--and frequently hilarious. (``How did you find us?'' complains a midtown Manhattan rare-book dealer when the Goldstones arrive on his doorstep. ``We control our advertising very carefully.'') And to their bedazzlement, they encounter some real gems, the ``one of a kind,'' the ``utterly and completely irreplaceable.'' In the end, the authors concede, there is satisfaction to be found in more mundane discoveries, too. A sort of Year in Provence for book lovers: an entertaining armchair introduction to an esoteric but captivating subject. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
Review
"Charming."--The New York Times
"Their enthusiasm is everywhere infectious...delightful...the pages are radiant with a pervasive love of literature."--The Washington Times
"The authors' descriptions are evocative, their storytelling compassionate-- and frequently hilarious. A sort of Year in Provence for book lovers."--Kirkus Reviews
"Most books about books are as stuffy and musty as a 400-year-old binding, but the Goldstones' prose is as sprightly and readable as the 'modern firsts' they began to add to their collections. I read it in one sitting."--Rocky Mountain News
"An entertaining introduction to the world of book collecting."--Publishers Weekly
Review
"Charming."--The New York Times
"Their enthusiasm is everywhere infectious...delightful...the pages are radiant with a pervasive love of literature."--The Washington Times
"The authors' descriptions are evocative, their storytelling compassionate-- and frequently hilarious. A sort of Year in Provence for book lovers."--Kirkus Reviews
"Most books about books are as stuffy and musty as a 400-year-old binding, but the Goldstones' prose is as sprightly and readable as the 'modern firsts' they began to add to their collections. I read it in one sitting."--Rocky Mountain News
"An entertaining introduction to the world of book collecting."--Publishers Weekly
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