A Passion for Books

by Harold Rabinowitz

  I’d never pass a bargain in a wanted book, however badly damaged it might be, hoping someday to replace it with a perfect or at least a better copy. But that is of other days: Now I buy not at all, for the burden of living in this mad-money age precludes this one necessity: for it isn’t a luxury.

  All collectors own “reading” copies, and in the following chapters many books mentioned are not available to anybody in first editions. Reading is the important thing; collecting first editions is only a means to that end.

  Another fairly good rule to follow is never to buy just because, for the moment, the author brings fancy prices. Popularity is not usually permanent. This is especially true of modern writers such as William Faulkner, James Branch Cabell, John Steinbeck, G. B. Shaw, John Galsworthy, William Saroyan, and others.

  The books of real merit are best, and the decision must be left to one’s own judgment, but on the whole, as regards fiction, at least, the best are the books that depict character. These are the ones that endure. Becky Sharp, Sam Weller, Pickwick, Sherlock Holmes, Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn, Tom Jones, are everlasting and so are the novels in which they appear.

  Collect to read and not to be in style. A collector should follow his own hunches or be guided by the best critics.

  In the book market there are frequent changes in values. A book by a forgotten author will suddenly attract new collectors, and one of the pleasures of collecting is in rediscovering a forgotten author of genuine merit. Alexander Smith’s Dreamthorp, 1863, has recently had a revival; and when is Kilvert’s Diary, London, Jonathan Cape, three volumes, 1938–1939–1940, going to be recognized for the fine book it is?

  There is danger in collecting all the books, pamphlets, and ephemera of an author since if and when the collection is sold a few good things will go at fancy prices and the balance for almost nothing. It is better, many collectors think, to collect several authors rather than just one. It is needless to collect every book by a favorite, though that has been my practice. It is better to collect the best of several of many writers, and that has been my practice, too.

  A fascinating chapter in modern book collecting was revealed after a magnificent feat of modern detection by John Carter and Graham Pollard in their book An Enquiry into the Nature of Certain Nineteenth Century Pamphlets, 1934 (London: Constable & Co., Ltd.; New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons). This is a fully documented exposure of a group of more than fifty “first editions” of such eminent authors as Wordsworth, Tennyson, Dickens, Thackeray, the Brownings, Swinburne, George Eliot, William Morris, R. L. Stevenson, and Rudyard Kipling, consisting mostly of “privately printed” or “pre-first” pamphlets. These appeared in all the standard bibliographies and were generally accepted for upward of three decades until the publication of the above book. Even now a few die-hards refuse to believe that Thomas J. Wise, M. A. Oxon., premier bibliographer in England in our time, was the forger of these pamphlets, aided and abetted, innocently or not, by H. Buxton Forman and the late Edmund Gosse.

  The exposure of the real character of these books, as Carter and Pollard said, introduced scientific methods that were never before applied to bibliographical problems. The paper used in the printing was analyzed under the microscope, and its evidence assessed in the light of some original research into the history of paper manufacture. The peculiarities of type were traced to the printer, and the involved story of the establishment of these books in bibliographies and in the rare-book market is patiently unraveled.

  Long before this book was written it was felt “that the privately printed first edition of Mrs. Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese (Sonnets by E. R. B., Reading, 1847) was not all that it should be.”

  Actually the Sonnets were first published to the world in the second edition of her collected Poems (two volumes, Chapman & Hall, 1850), but in 1894 Edmund Gosse told for the first time a story of their original printing in 1847. T. J. Wise, who had printed them, and Forman corroborated Gosse.

  The 1847 issue of the Sonnets, condemned by their paper and their type, is unquestionably a forgery. The evidence is so overwhelming that there “can be no possible doubt whatever.” They are still collectors’ items, but as literary curiosities and not as the real thing.

  Before 1861 rag paper was the only material used for the printing of books. Straw began to be used in 1861, and then ten years later esparto grass (an Iona coarse grass that grows in Spain and the north of Africa) was used, and any paper using esparto must have been made after 1861. Analysis showed that the paper in the 1847 edition of the Sonnets was made from a chemical wood and esparto. This was very careless of the forgers, who should have used rag paper.

  Whether the forgeries began as a joke and succeeded so well in fooling collectors that it was impossible to turn back, we will never know. Certainly Wise sold his reputation cheaply.

  All collectors are urged to read Carter and Pollard’s book, for it throws a lot of light on the length that certain bookmen will go to bilk collectors. On the whole, however, I know of no friendlier or more honest group than booksellers, either in England or in the United States. They are helpful, friendly, courteous, honest, and generally lovers of books themselves. It is a wise book collector who numbers among his close friends several book dealers.

  It was not very long ago that Oscar Lion of New York City, who has what must be the finest privately owned Whitman collection in America, was approached by a man who wanted to sell him a first edition of Leaves of Grass. It didn’t require much acumen to detect the fraud, as fraud it was, for Mr. Lion knew of the facsimile edition of the thin, green 1855 edition printed by Mosher in Portland, Maine. The volume had been “worked over” to make it appear old, but such was Lion’s sense of humor that he bought it anyway for a nominal sum, and it is now one of the items in his collection.

  A friend whose opinion on books I respect wrote to me with suggestions for some new paths in collecting. In general the collector will find prices cheap in such collecting, for it is demand that raises the price of books as it does everything else. He suggests American poetry before 1850 as a field of real interest. Many of the poets are obscure, but a collection would be worthwhile as the collector could contribute to our body of knowledge concerning American literature. Rarely are there more than one small edition of each, which makes the task a little easier. A collection of American plays could be made; not of the very early rarities, but all plays written by Americans during a stated period. Another field for the collector might be illustrated American books other than those by the much collected Frederic Remington and Howard Pyle; books with woodcuts, steel engravings, or lithographs; American bindings in leather and cloth that would throw light on the history of American binding and show how bindings have changed; a collection of old parlor table books; books by writers for girls and boys, not the rare paper juveniles, but the books by Oliver Optic, Horatio Alger, G. A. Henty, Edward Eggleston, Edward Stratemeyer, and so on. These are seldom reprinted and are vanishing fast. One could collect books with unusual inscriptions by former collectors, with considerable amusement and profit.

  Many collectors know that their greatest pleasure came from the search for and purchase of their books. Only recently a sprightly old gentleman of eighty-four voiced these sentiments. My happiest recollections of London are centered around my book hunting there, and I await the time when I can go hunting there again.

  It is also fun to collect single authors. Other paths suggest themselves: regional collections (a friend of mine has a magnificent collection of Vermontiana, which he plans to leave to the Vermont Historical Society); juvenile books; books on mountain climbing; war books; nature books; fishing books; modern poetry; books on painting and architecture; state guides (I have all the W.P.A. guides, some of which are getting increasingly difficult to procure); the best novels of various authors, one for each (such as Arnold Bennett’s The Old Wives’ Tale, Somerset Maugham’s Of Human Bondage, John Galsworthy’s The Forsyte Saga, Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy
); privately printed material; finely printed books; books illustrated by such men as Edward A. Wilson, Hugh Thompson, Arthur Rackham, Robert Gibbings, and Claire Leighton; military history; and many others. The number of paths possible for a collector to blaze are really unending.

  I consider the following modern English writers well worth reading and collecting: H. E. Bates, Sean O’Faolain, Mary Webb, Stephen Spender, W. H. Auden, C. Day Lewis, Christopher Isherwood, Evelyn Waugh, David Garnett, C. E. Montague, H. M. Tomlinson, Katherine Mansfield, Angela Thirkell, Joseph Conrad, W. H. Hudson, R. B. Cunninghame Graham, Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, Freya Stark, Gertrude Bell, Edward Garnett, A. Conan Doyle, John Galsworthy, H. St. John Philby, C. M. Doughty, T. E. Lawrence, D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, A. E. Housman, Llewelyn Powys, Richard Jefferies, Theodore Powys, Siegfried Sassoon, Norman Douglas, Edward Thomas, Edmund Blunden, Sean O’Casey, J. M. Synge, Henry Williamson, Neil Gunn, Neil Munro, Herbert Read, and Robert Graves. Others I leave for your discretion.

  American writers that I read and collect include William McFee, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Katherine Anne Porter, Kay Boyle, Hervey Allen, Stephen Vincent Benet, Thomas Boyd, Kenneth Roberts, Eudora Welty, Edgar Lee Masters, Theodore Dreiser, Carl Sandburg, Ring Lardner, H. L. Mencken, Robert Frost, Edna St. Vincent Millay, George Santayana, T. S. Eliot, Henry James, Logan Pearsall Smith, Willa Cather, John Burroughs, Rowland E. Robinson, William Beebe, D. C. Peattie (who writes too many books to maintain the standard he set with An Almanac for Moderns), John Muir, Ernest Hemingway, and of course others. I personally have a blind spot in the case of John Steinbeck and Saroyan, both of whom have innumerable followers.

  Good hunting!

  How to Care for Books

  ESTELLE ELLIS AND CAROLINE SEEBOHM

  An interesting volume for book lovers—and a delightful hit in bookstores—was the lavishly illustrated 1995 volume At Home with Books, in which the libraries of the rich and famous were pictured, along with wonderful pieces on books and book care. The following essay is the authors’ summary of the current state of book care.

  In 1880 William Blades wrote his comprehensive The Enemies of Books. This classic, though filled with stern admonitions, is as relevant today as it was a century ago. Blades’s work speaks to those who are building or restoring a library, starting a special collection, or those simply interested in preserving the books they read in their youth for their children and grandchildren. Just as people often think to create a protected environment for paintings or photographs, so should they for their books.

  1 Fire

  There are many of the forces of Nature which tend to injure books; but among them all not one has been half as destructiveas fire.

  —W.B.

  Blades calculates that not only is fire the most destructive of all enemies of books, but that only one-thousandth of the books that once existed still exist, thanks to what he calls the “fire-king.”

  Good housekeeping, according to the National Fire Protection Association, is the number one way to prevent a fire. As in a forest deprived of rain, overly dry conditions are conducive to fire. Climate control through central air-conditioning can guard against the drying and dust-promoting nature of heat. Some collectors use fireproof walls or containers and choose nonflammable or fire retardant material for library curtains.

  Smoking is as bad for books as it is for people. Not only does it increase the chances of fire because of a dropped ash or fallen match, but smoke can work its way into the pages of books and leave a smell behind. If you smoke, or have guests who do, be especially alert when you’re in the library.

  After studying the effects of a serious fire that caused considerable damage due to heat, Don Etherington, former conservator of the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, found that books that had been oiled resisted heat better than those that had not been treated. The smaller the book, the greater the damage. Leather bindings and labels, including those in glass-fronted cases, frizzled or looked bubbled, particularly those on upper shelves where heat was most intense. Rapid decrease in humidity may be the reason for this. Leather bindings should be put on lower shelves even in glass-fronted cases where they are, in general, better protected. Polyester dust jackets are also a good book saver.

  If fire or smoke does damage to your books, there are materials that can help you repair them. Jane Greenfield, author of The Care of Books, finds that Pink Pearl erasers work better than any other material for removing scorch marks. Damp sponges work best on smooth cloth but do not work well on paper. Extra-fine steel wool will take soot off leather bindings and leave them intact. However, she says, “Beware of chemical sponges which leave residual film. To get rid of any lingering smell after a fire, thoroughly air books out on a slightly breezy day. Stand books, fanned out, on a table in the shade, but do not leave them overnight. Some damage restoration firms can also provide equipment to dissipate residual odor.” To find such a firm in your area, check the Yellow Pages under “Fire and Water Damage Restoration.”

  2 Water

  Next to Fire we must rank Water in its two forms, liquid and vapour, as the greatest destroyer of books.

  —W.B.

  Aside from flooding through natural disaster or otherwise, water vapor or general dampness can lead to mold and disfigured books. As Blades describes it, “Outside it fosters the growth of a white mould or fungus which vegetates upon the edges of the leaves, upon the sides, and in the joints of the binding.”

  Doris Hamburg, in Caring for Your Collections, notes the warning signs of dampness and methods of treatment. A musty smell and the appearance of fuzzy spores are the tip-offs. If mold develops, as it is prone to do in seaside houses or in basements, remove the affected books and place them in a dry area. Then, on a sunny day, take the books outside and lightly brush the mold with a soft camel-hair brush to remove the spores. Dabbing, but not rubbing, with a kneaded eraser will show whether the material is too delicate to be brushed. If so, or if in doubt, bring the books to a professional conservator.

  Mold develops because of poor air circulation and too much humidity. So if you’re keeping books in glass-fronted bookcases, make sure that you open them periodically to provide essential ventilation. Mold grows at 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 65 percent relative humidity in stagnant air. It can be prevented or controlled by maintaining a library temperature below 70 degrees Fahrenheit and by allowing relative humidity to climb no higher than 60 percent, preferably keeping it closer to 50 percent. Air-conditioning and fans can be used for climate control. Dehumidifiers help through the warmer seasons. Humidifiers should be used in winter when a well-heated library also means too little humidity, which can dry out books and increase the risk of fire.

  If you live in a house that tends to flood, keep your bookshelves at least twelve inches from the floor. Collector Timothy Mawson recalls the morning he came into his New York shop after such in-house flooding. “A water pipe broke in the men’s room above and totally flooded everything. We used waxed paper between the pages of the books so they would not stick together and worked at it for nearly forty-eight hours, saving an enormous number of books.”

  If your books get wet, those that are not absolutely saturated can be dried by fan. Stand the books on several layers of paper towels or unprinted newspaper (available at art supply stores) and let one or two fans blow on them if possible; use a piece of Styrofoam under the opened book for support. Books can also be dried by placing paper towels or unprinted newspaper within the book, one every fifty pages or so. (Newspaper is a good absorber, but because of its acidic content it should not be left inside a book for too long.) The towels and/or newspaper should be changed often—a time-consuming operation. When books are almost dry (slightly cool to the cheek), close them and finish the drying under light weights. Softcover books can be dried this way or hung on a clothesline. (If your collection is seriously damaged by water, remind your insurance company that the longer wet books sit and mold forms, the higher the cost of restoratio
n; this may hasten an appraisal.)

  For books with coated paper, such as most illustrated books, freeze or vacuum drying is recommended. (This paper tends to stick together when wet and then dried by the usual method.) Wrap your books in freezer paper and pack them tightly in plastic milk crates. While taking books to a rapid-freezing facility is best, a home freezer can be used. After the books are frozen, they should be kept at −15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit until a vacuum-drying facility can take them to be dried. (In vacuum drying, water goes straight from ice to vapor.)

  Very few facilities offer these techniques of freezing and vacuum drying. For addresses to those in your area, contact WEL T’O Associates, P.O. Drawer 40, 21750 Main Street, Unit 27, Matteson, IL 60443; (312) 747-6660. Also check the Yellow Pages under “Fire and Water Damage Restoration.”

  3 Gas and Heat

  Treat books as you should your own children, who are sure to sicken if confined in an atmosphere which is impure, too hot, too cold, too damp, or too dry.

  —W.B.

  Blades, writing about the twin dangers of gas and heat, had witnessed the damaging effect his gas lamps had on books stored on upper shelves. The sulphur in the gas fumes had turned them into the consistency “of scotch snuff.” Today, air-conditioning and protective cases are the best guards against chemical threats.

  Though chemicals such as sulphur dioxide and other air pollutants are a potent danger to books, heat alone can damage books by drying out and destroying their bindings. Heat, Jane Greenfield says, increases the deconstructive power of acid that may be lurking within a book’s paper or ink, and causes a lowering of relative humidity.

  Designer Jack Lenor Larsen recalls visiting an elegant library years ago and being told that four maids would apply Vaseline to all the leather bindings twice a year to prevent them from drying out. For those without four maids or a lot of free time, the best preventative to heat damage is to maintain a library temperature of between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably at the lower end of the scale, and to keep books away from radiator and other heat sources.