Worn Collars - Part Twenty-Eight - "Four Years" (D-1)

Worn Collars

Part Twenty-Eight

"Four Years" (D-1)

            For this to work... out... for... me... I will need some ‘give and take’:  For I to purchase the ‘it all’ of Arlington St. John’s estate contents... consisting of the now well understood threesome (his mother’s estate things, the boxed ‘(down by the) furnace’ books and... the old rare book room contents)... I will have to find... and exploit... some ‘give’ in order for me to ... “take”.  This is because Damny is in charge?  Yes... of course THAT but BEHIND this ‘that’ be too... ‘ability’ and Damny has, I have suggested... that; ability.

            He has ability.  To do this (purchase the ‘it all’ of Arlington St. John’s... estate contents).  I don’t... what?  Want this?  To happen.  Well... yes... I guess... that is true.  Selfish of me to put up a fight for the old... dead... rotten man and his rotten old (rare) book collection.

            Damny boxes Arlington’s book collection up in his mind carefully separating the ‘good’ from the ‘good’ from the ... ‘good’?  He does and he is good enough to know good and that Arlington’s old books are good to be good enough to be good

            For Damny.

            So I need... some give and take to ...give Arlington’s old books to me to

            Take.

            Not that Damny cares; it is all very clinical to him “Sir”?  NOT QUITE as clinical as my eye (I) feels he... feels so I.. eye... that and ‘cut slack’.  I do not want his ROPE of acquisition (“I WANT”) to become taunt... “around me”.  And... waiting... is in this too.  So where is the ‘give’ that makes for... I... a... take?  Is it going to be an ‘unpleasant’?  Or ‘do I’ myself?  Or... is it a natural occurrence; an act of nature that... “I”... GIVE” (Damny says and does this)... to I ...so I... naturally... ‘take’.

            I feel I like that last the best.  The reader may ‘think’ about it.  But for I, I FEEL it is the most logical...or:  Oh it cannot be that... a ‘logical’.  That means an I just gets it; a ‘give’ that allows me to ‘take’.  With ‘no contest’.  And this NOT noticed... too.

            There are two steps to this.  One is easier and directed more to those ‘furnace books’ while the second... incorporates this first directive, carries it into the old book room and ‘bets the house’.  It is a ‘put down’ to Damny that is the ‘give’?  I suppose.  I start at the furnace books... in their boxes.

            Down cellar... or in the living room (carried there by Steve); which box is which?  Or is it witch box is witch box.  Who looks.  Who knows.  Who cares.  Why?  To review:  All these old books in the boxes are Arlington’s coming and going ‘about’ ‘old book finds’ that he nominally purloined from bake sales and trash piles and librarians and bingo halls and summer clearance sales, fall festivals, winter carnivals and ‘spring has sprung’ type sources for (from) over forty years.  Is there something... ‘good’ (a true rare book)?  No.  But ‘none the less’ Arlington was more than able to act on a discernment and... discernment... he could act (do) too.  So... box by box by book by book “HE” “must have found something”.  Damny knows this too.  So then it would be the BOOKS; the actual ‘these old books’, and ONLY these books, that would ‘prove’ this furnace lot.  And what... could ‘prove’ mean?  IF Steve likes power tools and Arlington never had one (a power tool) and Damny knows this for BOTH... would he ‘able’ to ‘prove’ that... for himself.

            I bet not.

            Examples?

            Johnny Appleseed.  In “old book” form.  So... on the inside top of one box is one book that is titled “JOHNNY APPLESEED  A PIONEER HERO”.  “Yeah.”  1994.  Hardcover.  Printed pictorial paper covered boards (binding... “the covers”).  Ill. (illustrated).  34 pp. (thirty-four printed pages).  General held-in-the-hand appearance suggests the book’s design to be an intentional ‘vanity press’ (special-pretty-printed) style ‘look’ (appearance).

            Everyone likes Johnny Appleseed... right?  Or are indifferent... due to the “Yeah.  Hadn’t thought about him much.  Huh.” options.

            So the book is there; on top of the box.  It’s about Johnny.  Damny sets it out... of his way... on the floor... and pokes the rest of the box.  Steve doesn’t accidentally step on the book but ‘comes close’.  Damny puts the book back on top of the books in the box when he’s done with his poke in the box.  Time elapse 2.4 minutes.  Maybe.  Damny rolls through the poke of the ‘all the’ boxes.

            I never touch the boxes.

            I never poke the boxes.

            I never see “Johnny”?

            Actually I ‘see’ and ‘touch’ Johnny.  When the poked box is closed with Johnny on top the... books in that box do not settle back to the ‘tight’ packing job Arlington did when he packed the box fifteen (?) years before.  So... the fold flaps sort of stick up and, sort of, pop open so that... this happens whenever that box is moved so that... the “Johnny Appleseed” book sort of... is... exposed and I

            Look down at it sitting just inside the folded cardboard box top and...:

            I like Johnny Appleseed... as an American History Action Figure.  So... like... I SEE it (the book) there and LOOK DOWN AT IT.  PICK IT UP.  TURN TO THE TITLE PAGE.  LOOK AT THE PUBLISHING DATE ON THE BACK OF THE TITLE PAGE.  And... oddly notice... due to my ‘furtive glance’ professionalism, that TOO, the published book is a ...reprint... of an article that was first published in “Harper’s Monthly Magazine” in “1871”.

            “Cool.”

            And, as I said... I like.... “Johnny” stuff.  So... know... that ‘it (Johnny stuff) isn’t around’.  I put the book back on top of the books in that box.  That’s it.  Just a fluke.  Right?

            No.

            That book... is SOOO.... Arlington... that I...

            THAT I...

            MAY

            BE absolutely sure that ...THAT

            ALL

            Of the ‘boxes of books down by the furnace’ are FILLED FULL and closed up with... books “JUST LIKE THAT”; the ‘Johnny Appleseed’ book.

NOT... physically ‘just like that’ but... content wise (including cultural, intellectual, philosophical, aesthetic...i... cal, subject... i... cal, Art... i... cal and... eye appeal-i-cal, et al... old books... just like that. I...

            Am sure... because Arlington... I am sure... would do “THAT” (his ‘taste’); put into the boxes.  I like that; books like Arlington ‘would like’ and ‘do that’ with.

            Does Damny ‘like that’... too?

            And I “know” (may bet-on-self) that Steve ‘is out’ on ‘this’.

            Damny sells popular mystery titles ‘hardcover in dust jacket’ to... popular mystery readers who... “I LOVE THAT BOOK”.

            Are there any mystery books in the Johnny Appleseed box of books?  Did Arlington (ever) read a mystery book?  Did he... poke around and find old mystery books and... pack them in boxes down by the furnace?

            NO.

            So I start with Johnny ...in my mind... a ‘go from there’ mentally bouncing the boxes of old books off of “WHAT” Arlington would actually “LIKE” of ‘poking around old books and TOO... Damny... “where’s he at in this” and

            OK another example?

            “The book doesn’t even have it’s covers” and is a “piece of crap” to ...Steve who “ANYWAY” that box ANYWAY.   So that book sticks out of the top and

            So like...

            I poke it (the sticking up book) and “Hey; I know this”.

            “What is it?”.  You Say?

            It is a “Weems” “Washington” (Mason Locke Weems; “LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINTON).  Later edition; “Philadelphia” “1836”.  “Ahhhh... who cares”.  So... in ‘on a shelf’ in... Arlington’s rare book room is, among other ‘reference books’ (“books about books”) a copy of The Grolier Club “ONE HUNDRED INFLUENTIAL AMERICAN BOOKS PRINTED BEFORE 1900” that... I know... Arlington ...read... over and over... sort of... so

            I like... notice the ‘I know’... that connects that (to the Weems) because I know that ...notice that... TOO with the Weems for THAT’S WHY the whipped copy is in the box because the Grolier Club has the Weems biography of Washington as their number twenty-seven showing an ‘odd’ edition with a ‘rare imprint’ (Augusta, Georgia, 1806)... so like

            “WHY?”

            HUH?

            Because this-that-the... this book of THAT edition... being the FIRST edition OF... the this-that-the... IS just like the “Johnny Appleseed” myths TOO so... that... like... YOU read the Grolier entry with its description entirely... and... discover that WEEMS fabricated the George Washington-cuts-down-the-cherry-tree MYTH and first published it (first edition of) in the 1806 Georgia “TWO KNOWN COPIES” edition.

So I know that.  And Arlington knows that.  And I know that Arlington knows so

I know that is why Arlington has a beat-up late edition ‘on top’ of one of his boxes:  BECAUSE on page fourteen is the Washington CUTS CHERRY TREE DOWN myth.  Arlington poked it.  He found it.  He rescued it.  And put it in the box.  I poke it.  I find it.  Do I rescue it?  OF COURSE.

            Does Damny know?

            We know Steve doesn’t.

            Does Damny know?

            “NO.”

            And this ‘that book’ is, too, just like ‘all the books’ in the down by the furnace boxes... except that this one, AS I SAID I WOULD... ‘carries’ to Arlington’s rare book room.   Too.

            I know and UNDERSTAND what kind of books are in the furnace boxes.  Damny knows too but ...I bet... does... not... ‘understand’.  It is a natural process.  Of ‘give and take’.  

            I could be doing this to ...your books?

            I wouldn’t bother.

            You... ‘don’t have anything’?

            Arlington; a ‘box of his books’?

            He... probably... ‘has a something’

            Or two.

Worn Collars - Part Eight - "Emendation"

Worn Collars

Part Eight

"Emendation"

            The original emendation to the ‘to get a find out’ foundation of ‘read’ ‘books about books’ (the “work”) (Part Seven) came from the (usually) well educated, erudite and network savvy bibliognoste “DEALER” who regularly shortened neophyte old-rare-book-collector/seller ‘wish I could be’ self garnered ‘daunting’ view of the ...trail into the ‘hidden land’... by ...emendation... to “READ... CATALOGS”.  This means (it is still an emendation) ‘READ’ old rare book seller’s catalogs of old rare books they have for sale... with this emendation... emphatically supported with rare bookseller-bibliognoste jargon, respite, spittle, jabbing the air fingers and ‘glory days’ tales of applying this “READ... CATALOGS”.

            The neophyte generally did (does?) two things; take this sage emendation to heart as truth and ...then tried to find some of these ‘catalogs’ to ‘read’.  The first of the ‘did two things’ was misdirected for it only served the “DEALER” to make the neophyte a ‘minion’.  The second was hard, frustrating and confusing.

            For an example of the first, the neophyte finds a catalog, reads this catalog, embraces and stores the ‘valuable information’ found in the catalog and ...dutifully reports all this, as a neophyte minion does, to the mentoring dealer who promptly tells the neophyte that “this (rare book) seller’s catalogs are no good, the seller doesn’t know what he’s doing, the seller is a idiot, all of his books are not rare and that HE (the mentoring dealer) can, for sure, purchase ALL of the same books as are recorded in the catalog any time he wants for a fraction of that bookseller’s catalog price.  There is, too, a back blade edge to this extending emendation by I reporting that such a bombast will be, too, resonated in the ear drums of the neophyte EVEN IF THE rare BOOKSELLER and their CATALOG in question ARE, in fact, a TOP OF THE LINE rare book seller catalog; an ‘impeccable’.

            “WHY WOULD I WANT THIS IDIOT to KNOW ABOUT THAT (a good/great rare book seller and their good/great catalog)” is the premise behind this last.  Is that; this ‘too’, a surprise?  And how did this neophyte find that catalog anyway?  And... does this matter... today?  Answering...:  This is not a surprise.  ...The catalog came from the shrewd acquisition of a ‘run’ of a once top and now venerable-top “FIRM” (dealer’s rare book store) by... yes... a neophyte doesn’t have to hunt too hard these days to ‘find’ ‘old runs’ of ‘good/great dealer’s catalogs’.  (No one is seeking them).  And, again, does this matter?

            Yes it does... on two points.  One:  The smart phone is currently the biggest catalog of ‘rare books for sale’ (Advanced Book Exchange, Amazon, et al).  Two:  Few know how to use this (smart phone rare books for sale) well and what it actually means about rare books that

            I find and

            Work with

            At my rare book desk

            In my rare book room.

            Now we get down to some serious ‘sitted at desk’ rare-book-man-ship.  The A plus B equals C ‘sitted’ is the common action... not the solution... of our current ‘this moment’ of ‘rare books’.  An ...OLD... book is found, suppositioned to be a “rare book?”.  A sidestep to a ‘safe work space’ (flea market lobby or toilet area) is done:  It is...; step away from the book and look

            It

            Up

            On the “YOUR SMART PHONE”). 

“A “ old book...plus... BE for sale ...equals... SEE?  C is... “SEE” “How much it’s worth” 

“OH THAT’S SO EASY!”

            So now you are a rare book dealer and you may

            MAKE A LIVING ‘doing this’ (A+B=C).

            This is, really... really... the core status of the ‘playing field’ of ‘rare’ ‘book’ ah....

            “FINDING” ‘currently’.  That is the “A” rare book, the ‘does this “B” a rare book?’ and the “C” right here it says “HOW... MUCH” (a cash value) (“valuable”) “rare book” ‘this (book) is’.  It is a ‘whole’?  Simply add the “D”.  ‘D’ is...

            The “Good luck with that!”

And... you have... your... whole... destiny in the hidden land of rare books... ‘outlined’ “perfectly”.

            Once one has gained control of the hidden land using the tri-formula access ‘at hand’ on the ‘my smart phone’ one ‘has a number’ (cash value) for all the rare books one can find and know, too, how much to “SELL THEM FOR” too and... ‘oh you sweet thing’.  Yes... YOU may sit up at the front of the class and even TELL US ... all about HOW YOU DO IT.

            Yes... you have made an ass out of yourself and continue to do that every time the ‘your mouth’ opens in addition to... putting yourself ‘out of business’ TOO:

            “I HAVE

            “A BOOK

            “I FOUND

            “IT

            “ON ABE

            “FOR...”

            “Good luck with that.”

            “You don’t want it?”

            “No.”

            The price of the rare book; the “it’s valuable... SEE”, is not what makes a rare book rare and ...why... that rare book is rare...  This then, makes it (the old book) a... why... would “ANYONE”... ‘want it’ (want to buy the old... rare... book...

            And... be delighted to do that).

            The first iota of clearing this up is to understand that a true rare book is ...actually rare... soooo... ‘isn’t around’ meaning the proper ‘best’ for me on a ‘ABE ‘my smart phone’ search’ shows... no copy... ‘for sale’... at all... anywhere.  It is understood... that if, these days, a rare book ‘is not listed on ABE’ that means... what?  No one wants it?  It is too ‘not valuable’ to be ‘listed’... especially when many... many... many listed books have forty... fifty copies ‘for sale’?

I

            Specialize in rare books that have

            “No copy located”.  Those are good ‘rare books’.

            For example, a book that has ‘five copies’ recorded as being... in ‘five major library collections’ is

            “KNOWN”:  One may, making a pilgrimage to a ‘Special Collections’ in one of the libraries... ‘see one’ (a copy).  Therefore... in rare book jargon... this rare book is “KNOWN”.  THEN the I at the rare book room desk... work... gets a ‘more interesting’.  For this rare book... that there are ‘none’ for sale and “five” ‘in libraries’...:  What is this book about, what is this book physically, what is the SUBJECT that this book is about and WHAT does this subject mean to bibliognostes who look directly to subject scholars to ... WHAT IS THIS BOOK’S VALUE to SCHOLARS to then... VALUE to READERS to then... value to ‘library collections’ on this (whole) subject to then... value to collectors of books on this subject to then... value to collectors of books that are... then... rare books... that, I suppose... to end this litany...

            Do have

            Some sort of

            CASH VALUE.  But again;

            “Good luck with that.”

            So far I have covered two points; the emendation of ‘read catalogs’ and the soft ice that this old and venerable  emendation rests on in our current ‘rare book moment’.  At the end I came around the back side of the bush of these two by quiet steps AWAY from catalog listed (rare books) with cash price information to, being ‘sitted’ at my rare book room desk... to come at the cash price fixation by looking out over a broad open plateau of ... ‘just what’ is this ‘old rare book’ about (physically and intellectually)... and... reaching... by this route... an actual CASH VALUE... too.  The difference between the two routes to a rare book’s cash value is that my ‘involved in the evolved’ route... supplies me a severe and detail critique of the full value of a rare book; a foundation of “why?” this book... merits being ‘rare’ and having a cash value (“valuable”) and giving me a very solid path to having

            “Good luck with that”.

            I suppose I should go back over my route?  I prefer to ‘work with’ ‘smart phone’ “IDIOTS”.  They... ‘screw up’.  Maybe I should just leave them there... and go back to telling of Arlington St. John’s ‘old books’ and my ‘purloin’ of them?