Who am I and what do I know about book collecting?
I am Debra Harrison, a lifelong avid reader and lover of books. I had always dreamed of being able to retire with a personal library. It is an old fashioned notion in a country where one half of the high school graduates never read another book after they leave high school. As I passed my 50th birthday, I started to realize that I should get cracking on that long time dream if I wanted to see it come true. My goal was to have a home full of books - books I had read and loved enough to want to reread and books new to me waiting to be read.
My view of reading is best summed up in the following quote: "It is what you read when you don't have to that determines what you will be when you can't help it." ~Oscar Wilde and my view of libraries (both personal and public) in this quotation, "I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library." ~ Jorge Luis Borges.
I started out at local used bookstores... just picking up whatever interested me. In one shop, I picked up a book on FDR (I have always been a big fan of Eleanor). As I stepped inside my home, I immediately starting looking through my treasure and a piece of paper fell onto the floor. As I retrieved it, I discovered it was a note from Eleanor Roosevelt to her cousin Alice telling her to enjoy the book! I was delighted. I started researching everything I could about Eleanor, Alice and even found out the name of the artist who had created the notecard the note was written on. He and Eleanor wrote a children's book together. With a bit of luck and perseverence, I was able to get a pristine copy of that book, Christmas : A Story by Eleanor Roosevelt, Fritz Kredel (Illustrator) ...
On another occassion, I picked up a copy of a book by James Russell Lowell - a person of interest for me for a long time. Inside that book is a handwritten poem from James Russell Lowell to Oliver Wendell Holmes on the occassion of his eightieth birthday. I found my luck to be extraordinary. I was now in possession of an (I am sure) unpublished poem of Mr. Lowell's in honor of none other than Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.
Needless to say, I continued to haunt used bookshops for treasure and discovered Ebay and American Book Exchange. I started collecting some of my favorite authors: Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, William Styron, Pat Conroy, Stephen King - all books (mostly first or fine bound editions) signed by the author. I was in heaven. I consider my collection to be quite remarkable - What collector doesn't.
There was a lot to learn: how to determine first editions, where to find reliable signatures to verify (to TRY to verify) authenticity. This issue was greatly alleviated with the purchase of special editions and fine bound, special editions. My library is growing (along with my credit card balance). I discover I can buy lovely leather bound books by Easton Press or Franklin Press of not only signed books but wonderful classic books at very attractive prices, I have a leather bound copy of The Glass Managerie, Gone With The Wind, the entire set of F.Scott Fitzgerald, the 3 volume set of science fiction's Astounding Stories and many more...
I had already been a breast cancer survivor and now was diagnosed with 2 additional cancers, not related to the breast cancer or to each other. More chemo, bald again - But by now unable to work. I am book rich but cash poor and there is still the darn credit card bill to worry about. My response to that issue is this website. I will be listing books from my collection for sale here along with information for the collector. Information I would have been thrilled to know about when I first began collecting.
Some of it may seem elementry for some of you, dear readers, but bear with me. I hope to make this a resource for a wide variety of collectors. Hopefully, no matter what your area of book collecting, you will find information here... So come back... Come often... And Enjoy!
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