The Republic of Heaven

I've briefly looked through some of the threads and haven't really found anything that mentions preservation of books.

I'm purchasing three copys of "Lyra's Oxford" (one for reading, and two for mint condition preservation) and I was wondering how to best go about keeping the books free of dust and other elements that aren't good for books.

How do you keep your books?

Should I just not open the other two packages and leave the books in their protective wrappings? Over time will that damage the cloth map, or other articles included with the books?

Feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

I've kept TAS and TGC in mint condition but i couldnt be bothered to do so with TSK considering it was already battered when i got it (2nd hand you see.) Im not planning to keep LO in mint condition because i can't be bothered. Besides i think things are meant to be used not left in a shelf.

Anyway you could try keeping them in those plastic pouch things and then putting them in a box with padding. I can't think of much being able to go wrong if you do that.

There's probably general advice on the net that you could search for on google or something... all of my copies are dog-eared and much used.

i have a brand new unopened box set of the knopf cellestial paperback ones i got on holiday

most of my books are in terrible condition, i have a thirty year old copy of the hobbit (which i am currently rereading) which is all tattered with pages hanging off. I often have books lying all over the floor, its just life. As long as you can still read it there's ot a problem.

well my copy of the Hobbit is 40 ! years old as is scello(sp?) taped together everywhere. My copy of HP and the PS is damaged beyond repair for some reason though

The worst thing is when you find bits of whatever you were eating first time round in the pages

Or sand after reading on the beach... If you shake the book a bit you'll end up with a pile of it...

eloquent wrote:The worst thing is when you find bits of whatever you were eating first time round in the pages

I always try to avoid that yet almost inevitably I'll end up with a stain on the pages somewhere - my copy of The Amber Spyglass has a dirty great chocolate stain on the side which annoys me to no end. That and the text smudges on every few pages where my thumbs have been. Then again I suppose its worse still when you find the stains of someone else's food in a library book

You didnt tell me it was first edition!! In that case DO keep it in mint condition and NEVER lay a finger on it. . .ive got a first edition of HP and TGOF. They sell for about 20 quid now but that'll change hopefully. I didnt get into the trilogy straight away. It took me until. . .well 2-3 months ago to read any of them and yet i had TGC on my shelf for 3 years previously. Shame on me. . .

It's amazing how the value of books can increase after you've bought them. If I remember correctly TSK is going for almost 70 dollars since I checked the other day. Hold onto the books, they'll double or triple in price in a few years.

Take a look at this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3549678156&category=2232

All three first edition for a grand, eh? Wow...

Those three books have fairly similar covers to my three, which are 3rd edition and old enough to contain the woman daemon discrepancy. I'd like to think that they, too, might be worth a lot at some point. Not so I could sell them, just because it would be cool .

some guy e-mailed me, trying to sell me a copy of the haunted storm, a while ago... i don't remember the price he gave me for that because it was ridiculous (a lot more than it went for on eBay. he was going by referrals from "book experts"). however, he claimed he saw a first edition northern lights selling for 2.5k at abebooks.com... or 10k... one or the other.

keeping books in good condition, very generally:
dry place (no moisture - no mold)
dark place (no light - no fading)
don't touch it much (obvious reasons, wear & tear, fingerprints, skin oil)
stuff like that.

my books... the hardcovers have been lent to all my friends in every direction, so they're... alright, the fact that they're hardcover makes them a little more durable a bit... i usually remove the book cover before reading or lending it out... there are some stains on the pages... chocolate, candy canes (the books were christmas gifts). the paperbacks have actually been only read once, so they pretty much look like they've been read only once. minute creasing in one of the spines, stuff like that.

Third editions aren't usually worth near as much as first editions, but if they have a discrepancy, it signifigantly increases their value. But it all depends on what condition they're in, if they're in a smoke-free home or not, how they've been handled etc.

A first edition is worth nothing if it's torn up and abused

mistakes generally increase the value of books. however, there were several printings of northern lights with the woman daemon mistake in it, so i don't think it'll make too much difference for now.

donkey_booter wrote:ive got a first edition of HP and TGOF.

sorry if im not impressed but that book had the second highest first edition printed total ever (OotP being the first)

Thats why i said it was only worth 20 quid .

id ahev said less than that