thebullbay: The Bull Bay Gift Guide: Antique...

thebullbay:

The Bull Bay Gift Guide: Antique Textbooks

While I was a student at Auburn, I started reading some work from a pastor in England from the late 1800’s that I thoroughly enjoyed. In hopes of finding more of his works for less than I could purchase them online, I search on ebay and was startled to find that there were listings for early editions of his works for a reasonable price.

This was somewhat of a gateway for me into my collection of antique books. I fell in love with books that had character and carried the marks of many people that had gone before me. One of my most prized groupings of books were textbooks that belonged to a civil engineering student at Auburn in the 50’s (also my major).

These books now sit on a shelf behind my desk at work and occasionally provide me with information I need for work and images of how things were done many years ago. And the best part is that the six books that belonged to the former student cost less than $30 shipped.

I hadn’t thought about books as a gift until a couple of years ago. The first time my stepmother saw my collection (which now spans several topics), I explained to her why I appreciated all of the books. Each book not only carried a story in typeface and illustrations, but also told a story of the previous owners. When Christmas came around, my gift from her was a three volume set of botanical books for that portion of my collection.

My charge to you is to take a topic that you know will relate to the recipient and look for a book that will provide a glimpse back at how that topic was addressed years ago. Speaking for a number of my friends, we all place great value in our antique books, often times more so than our newer books.

Click here to see more Gift Guide posts.