Book lint…

The bits of flotsam and jetsam (literally and figuratively) that fall from the leaves of well used books. Every book dealer/collector I know has a list of favorite things that they have found in books that have passed through their hands. I thought I would mention a handful of favorites of mine and one or two that have been told to me. I welcome additions if anyone is so inclined.

It has been a good few weeks for book lint, I found a perfect four-leaf clover in the leaves of a late 1800s Twain. I have found a number of nice bookmarks, most are a dime a dozen, but a handful are really wonderful…old book dealers bookmarks, old library bookmarks, bits of wrapping paper laid in at a mark, period postcards and the occasional bill in various denominations. I like the ones that give some hint into the book’s past.

I bought a book a bookfair because I happened find a half dozen nude photographs of someone, circa 1970, laid into it. The book was a hard theology text…I was too amused to let it go. A gift note, from Tom Cruise and on a notecard with his letterhead, was found in another…the book was marginal, the association rather significant. I have found bits of original art, love letters and squashed spiders (one very large one).

The best (read, most painful) story I have ever heard was from a fellow dealer who sold a lovely set of the Works of Samuel Johnson to a well known university library. Several weeks later, he received a note from the curative librarian thanking him for books and expressing his surprise and pleasure at finding the “twelve original letters in Johnson’s hand” that were laid into the volumes. As the dealer noted, each letter was worth at least what the entire set sold for. The moral, of course, is to always collate your books…carefully.

If you have found something cool, shocking or just peculiar, let me know.