Show Us Your Oldest Books

[GwenLake]

Shorthand!

I know you all are dying to see my shorthand collection.
Here is the first part: 1927-1936

The Gregg Writer--September '27-June '28, A Magazine for Secretaries, Stenographers, and Typists
Gregg Shorthand-- 1929, Textbook
Graded Readings in Gregg Shorthand--1930, Supplementary material
Word and Sentence Drills in Gregg Shorthand--1930, Supplementary material
Gregg Shorthand Dictionary--1930, Dictionary
The Gregg Writer--December '35-June '36, A Magazine for Secretaries, Stenographers, and Typists
American Readings in Gregg Shorthand-- No copyright, but after 1913 and before 1929, Box Set
Contents:

A Man Without a Country, The Great Stone Face, Creeds of Great Business Men, Legend of Sleepy Hollow

 

[BeBopBaby]

How many Richard S. Prather books do you have, BeBop? I'd love to have the one you have there, Way of the Wanton! I'm a Richard S. Prather fan, and the one you have there is one of the many in the funny and un-PC Shell Scott series that I haven't yet read.
[/IMG]

I've heard that The Blackboard Jungle is pretty racy!

I think that is the only Richard S. Prather book that I have. Thanks for the interesting tidbit about him. That was always one of my favorite titles, "Way of the Wanton." I've never read the book though, it seems these books are getting increasingly more fragile so I tend not to read them so much anymore. If you would like the Richard S. Prather book, I'd be more than happy to mail it to you, just PM me your address. I'm sure I paid less than a dollar for it and it just sits on my shelf. I'd much rather it went to a good home.

I haven't read Blackboard Jungle either, but now my interest is piqued. I may have to read it now. lol

 

[Lucky Strike]

An old Salvation Army find:

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I think that is the only Richard S. Prather book that I have. Thanks for the interesting tidbit about him. That was always one of my favorite titles, "Way of the Wanton." I've never read the book though, it seems these books are getting increasingly more fragile so I tend not to read them so much anymore. If you would like the Richard S. Prather book, I'd be more than happy to mail it to you, just PM me your address. I'm sure I paid less than a dollar for it and it just sits on my shelf. I'd much rather it went to a good home.

I haven't read Blackboard Jungle either, but now my interest is piqued. I may have to read it now. lol

Thank you, BeBopBaby! I accept your offer. It's one I don't have and haven't yet read.

Interesting collection, GwenLake. My mother knows shorthand and still writes down the occasional note with it.


Lee

 

[GwenLake]

Interesting collection, GwenLake. My mother knows shorthand and still writes down the occasional note with it.


Lee

That's really neat! Do you know when she learned it? Also, what type of shorthand? Was she a secretary?

Boy, I sound nosy! It's just that shorthand is my hobby, so I get excited when I hear about someone who writes it.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

That's really neat! Do you know when she learned it? Also, what type of shorthand? Was she a secretary?

Boy, I sound nosy! It's just that shorthand is my hobby, so I get excited when I hear about someone who writes it.

She learned Gregg in 1952, and was a secretary at the atomic plant in Richland, Washington, in '54 (she interviewed visitors and employees, and wrote their passes to be on the premises), then at Gude's shoes in Los Angeles, totalling about eighteen months of being a secretary. Shortly after that, she met my father, married him, and has been a housewife since March of '55.

When I showed her your collection of books and magazines, she corrected my statement about using it to write the occasoinal note: she uses Gregg Shorthand REGULARLY! She writes LOTS of notes with it.


Lee

 

[GwenLake]

She learned Gregg in 1952, and was a secretary at the atomic plant in Richland, Washington, in '54 (she interviewed visitors and employees, and wrote their passes to be on the premises), then at Gude's shoes in Los Angeles, totalling about eighteen months of being a secretary. Shortly after that, she met my father, married him, and has been a housewife since March of '55.

When I showed her your collection of books and magazines, she corrected my statement about using it to write the occasoinal note: she uses Gregg Shorthand REGULARLY! She writes LOTS of notes with it.


Lee

For only being a secretary eighteen months, she sure retained her shorthand! A lot of people forget it rather quickly. Since she learned it in '52, than she probably learned Simplified Gregg, which came out in '49.

Thanks for feeding my curiosity! Your mom sounds like a wonderful woman.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

For only being a secretary eighteen months, she sure retained her shorthand! A lot of people forget it rather quickly. Since she learned it in '52, than she probably learned Simplified Gregg, which came out in '49.

Thanks for feeding my curiosity! Your mom sounds like a wonderful woman.

Once she learned it, she never stopped using it. I'll have to ask which version she learned. My mother is a wonderful woman. Starting December 30, 1955, when my older brother was born, she began raising her seven kids. She then cared for my father during his long illness (which started before I, the fifth kid, graduated high school in '81), until his death in September 2003. That's 47 years of non-stop caring. Now she's going stronger than ever and having fun doing every form of artwork she's always loved. And she still finds time to spend with her seven kids.


Lee
________________________

She's an amazing woman!

 

[GwenLake]

Once she learned it, she never stopped using it. I'll have to ask which version she learned. My mother is a wonderful woman. Starting December 30, 1955, when my older brother was born, she began raising her seven kids. She then cared for my father during his long illness (which started before I, the fifth kid, graduated high school in '81), until his death in September 2003. That's 47 years of non-stop caring. Now she's going stronger than ever and having fun doing every form of artwork she's always loved. And she still finds time to spend with her seven kids.


Lee
________________________

She's an amazing woman!

Can she be my hero?

 

[MrNewportCustom]

Can she be my hero?

For a nominal fee, yes. lol
Just kidding,

BeBopBaby, Way of the Wanton arrived in good condition today. Thank you very much for your generosity. I know I'll enjoy it.


Lee

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I'd forgotten about this book, even though it's one of my most recent acquisitions.

Audels Carpenters and Builders Guide. Copyright 1923, 1939. Theo. Audel & Company. Reprinted 1949.


Lee

 

[MrNewportCustom]

I finished Way of the Wanton a moment ago. Now it goes into the collection. Thank you, beBop.


Lee

 

[BeBopBaby]

I finished Way of the Wanton a moment ago. Now it goes into the collection. Thank you, beBop.


Lee

You're welcome!

 

[Jack Scorpion]

That's really neat! Do you know when she learned it? Also, what type of shorthand? Was she a secretary?

Boy, I sound nosy! It's just that shorthand is my hobby, so I get excited when I hear about someone who writes it.

My grandfather was an electrical engineer. He told me that one of the most important skills he learned in college (RPI in Troy, New York on the GI bill after WWII) was shorthand. I forget the number, but he said he had the most words per minute in his class.

I guess them engineers needed a lot of quick notes, too.

 

[Feng_Li]

My oldest book:

Printed 1855, volume three of a set of nine. Bulwer is famous for opening a novel with the line "It was a dark and stormy night."

 

[Kevin Noel Olso]

Not my oldest for sure, but actually my 'newest'! I just bought this at a local antique store an hour or so ago:

It looked interesting, and I vaguely remember thinking I might possibly have heard of this series of books. It's got a 1916 copyright, and just look at the cool cover!

Probably my oldest book is a copy of Goethe's Faust with a 1865 publication date I think, but I can't find it on the shelves right now. Another book in contention is an 1891 Zwicker's Practical Instructor For Engineers and Firemen. It was left me by a dear friend of mine. His wife passed it to me:

 

[Starius]

No one has posted anything here for a little while now so I will show a few more from my collection, as I had previously threatened to do.

This is "The Young Engineers on the Gulf" from the Young Engineers series, by H. Irving Hancock.
Published 1920, though a inscription inside indicates it was given to my father on Dec 18th 1957.

Here is one of my grandfather's college books.
"Railroad Curves & Earthwork, With Tables" By C. Frank Allen.
Seventh Edition, revised, published in 1931.

And here is one of my great-grandfather's college books.
"Principles Rules and Definitions for Bookkeeping" By Lloyd E. Goodyear.
Sixth Edition, published in 1918 in Cedar Rapids Iowa for the Cedar Rapids Business College.
(I love the little dash of Nouveau along the spine)

 

[Vintage Betty]

Some great books! Thanks for posting!

I've started a thread here of my books because it was taking me too long to find out what I had posted previously and I really confused myself.

I hope you enjoy it.

Vintage Betty

 

[MKL]

Great thread folks.

The oldest book I have in my library is James Durham's "Law Unsealed" dated 1703. Another oldie is Ambrose's "Looking unto Jesus" dated 1776. The larger Greek Testament on the left is dated in the late 1700's. The small book in the picture is a complete Greek New Testament that is dated in the 1828. It is only 3-1/2 by 2 inches. I need a glass to read it.

 

[hepkitten]

Old books -- be still my heart. MKL, I'm in awe. Can you handle the 18th C books enough to read them, or are they under glass, or...?

The oldest book I have is Ben Hur, 1880.

Then come the veterinary texts: Veterinary Materia Medica and Therapeutics (with entries on belladonna, caffeine, and cocaine!) 1901; Frohner's General Veterinary Surgery, 1905; and Veterinary Obstetrics, 1908.

But my most-read and most beloved vintage book, though not antique, is this:

My parents used this 1957 edition to plan their wedding, and from the time I was a kid, I loved to read it. The sense of the past appealed, even then...and as I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate more and more Emily's gracious common sense. My mom left the book to me when she passed away. It's one of my treasures.

Everyday Afternoon Tea, complete with silver...*sigh* Now that's civilization.