Collecting Leather Books

[Bortaz]

For about 15 years, I've been collecting Easton Press leather-bound books. Their books are heirloom quality books bound in fine leather. And, to be honest, they are fairly reasonably priced. We're talking $50-$75 per book.

I have leather-bound, autographed copies of the memoirs of Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, and 2 complete, autographed sets of works by Richard Nixon.

I have The Easton Press' collection of the 100 Greatest Books Ever Written. I have most of their set of Classics of American Literature. I have a 6-volume set on WW2, a 6-volume set on WW1, and the 4-volume History of the English Speaking Peoples, all by Winston Churchill. I have a few of The Books That Changed the World. I have about a 3rd of their Library of the Presidents, and I'm hoping to soon get their complete Shakespeare and complete Hawthorne collections.

In total, I have approaching $10000 in books. I'm currently building a new home, and I can't wait to finally have nice, dark wood built-in bookshelves in my study, upon which to display my book treasures. The smell of the leather is yummy.

Anyone have any of their books?

/nerd

[Sir EvilFreeSmeg]

Nope. I'm too much of a geek. I want the entire Wheel of Time series (when that SOB Robert Jordan gets around to finishing it. Sniff.) bound into a single massive and leather bound volumn.

Beyond that, the only other book I want in leather is a Masonic Bible. I prefer my books to be readily transportable.

[Sokar Rostau]

First off it has to be asked whether you have actually read, or ever intend to read, these books or if they are just there to make you look intelligent.

I've never heard of Easton Press, but those signed editions sound nice.

I love books, especially antiques, and have some that are over 150 years old. And, yes, I have read almost all of them. It's a bit difficult to get through The Historians History of the World, though, because it's 98 years old and there is approximately 17000 pages of nineteenth century scholarship, spread over 25 hefty tomes, to wade through... I have mainly read the stuff I'm interested in.

There's a vellum bound copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses, at my local antiquarian book seller, from 1503 that I have my eye on at the moment, I just have to justify the $500 price tag and buying a book in Latin. It does have handwritten ink notes from at least three or four previous owners, including one lot that are certainly more than 250 years old judging by the spelling and style, which makes it interesting.

[Bortaz]

Nope. I'm too much of a geek. I want the entire Wheel of Time series (when that SOB Robert Jordan gets around to finishing it. Sniff.) bound into a single massive and leather bound volumn.

Beyond that, the only other book I want in leather is a Masonic Bible. I prefer my books to be readily transportable.

Bah, you classless reprobate!

[Bortaz]

First off it has to be asked whether you have actually read, or ever intend to read, these books or if they are just there to make you look intelligent.

I've never heard of Easton Press, but those signed editions sound nice.

I love books, especially antiques, and have some that are over 150 years old. And, yes, I have read almost all of them. It's a bit difficult to get through The Historians History of the World, though, because it's 98 years old and there is approximately 17000 pages of nineteenth century scholarship, spread over 25 hefty tomes, to wade through... I have mainly read the stuff I'm interested in.

There's a vellum bound copy of Ovid's Metamorphoses, at my local antiquarian book seller, from 1503 that I have my eye on at the moment, I just have to justify the $500 price tag and buying a book in Latin. It does have handwritten ink notes from at least three or four previous owners, including one lot that are certainly more than 250 years old judging by the spelling and style, which makes it interesting.

Yeah, I've read a high percentage of them.

EDIT: I didn't read the autographed ones, as I didn't want to mess them up.

[Amra]

Bortaz, I am jealous.

No, I don't have any of them.

You got some nice treasures there though.

But to be honest I have never seen the appeal in having something autographed.

[Sir EvilFreeSmeg]

Hey! I resemble that remark

EDIT:
Arma, I had Sean Hannity sign my hat as well as his latest book. It's the novelty more than anything. That hat now hangs on my wall until I can get Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck to sign it. Then I'm putting it in a shadow box

[AeroJonesy]

I have books I spent lots of money on, but no books like that. And no books I bought for fun.

[Bortaz]

I'd like to get this and this and this next.


EDIT: Oh, and this.

[Sokar Rostau]

But to be honest I have never seen the appeal in having something autographed.

They're worth a fortune.

Only problem is they also fall into a kind of priceless category. What a lot of people don't understand about owning a piece of history like a signed book is that you are a link in a hopefully long chain. The signed autobiography of a dead US President is already valuable, in both the monetary and historical senses, but when it is passed down to your great-great grandchildren it will be worth an absolute kings ransom. These are the sort of items that end up in museums and are called 'treasures'. You don't buy things like this to sell in a few years, you buy them to sell in a few decades at the earliest and a few centuries at the best.