A shelf full of books

[pegkerr]

Mom mentioned to me recently that she and Daddy have been thinking a bit about their living situation. They are getting into their upper seventies, and perhaps it is time for them to think about moving into a condo. "Of course, we'll have to consolidate our things," she remarked ruefully.

"Well, if you ever get to the point of thinking of culling some of your stuff, I want to speak up for dibs on that Harper & Row collection you have of the classics of literature. And the three digest compendiums of the world's great literature."

"Really?" Mom said. "Well, you'd probably be the best person to get them. Why don't I just send them to you now?"

And so she did, and they arrived yesterday. This was a shelf full of books, about fifty or so, of classic novels and short story collections. They were one of the best things my parents gave to us kids: a collections of books that opened my imagination. I spent hundreds of happy hours curled up with these books, and it was there, within those pages, that I first dreamed of becoming a writer. Many of them were assigned in school, in junior high and high school, and it was nice to have copies ready at hand.

I unpacked the box with Delia, almost overcome with nostalgia and excitement. Ivanhoe. Great Expectations. The Swiss Family Robinson--I must have read that one dozens of times. Kidnapped. Two Years Before the Mast. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The Picture of Dorian Grey. Jude the Obscure. Moby Dick. Silas Marner. Pride and Prejudice. Native Son. The Moonstone. Jane Eyre. The Mill on the Floss. The Scarlet Letter. The House of Seven Gables.

"Which one should I start with?" Delia asked.

"Maybe Treasure Island. Or you might try Kidnapped, or The Prince and the Pauper or maybe The Swiss Family Robinson. You could try reading the first chapter of each, and see which one intrigues you the most.

I also gloated over the digest compendiums. In three volumes, these books gave a precis of hundreds of novels and plays, giving a list of major characters, a plot summary, and a few critical remarks about what was important or unique or groundbreaking about the work. I would often browse these digests when trying to decide what to read next.

I am delighted to have these books to share with Fiona and Delia.

I have the copy of Ivanhoe tucked into my bag today.

(But Mom and Dad: what happened to all the beautiful dust jackets???)

Comments

[naomikritzer]

My parents had a collection of the first version (there have been several, and I strongly prefer the first) of My Bookhouse Books. This was shelved behind the winged chair in the living room, right by a heat vent. I used to crawl behind the chair to read. These books had belonged to my grandmother (they were sold door-to-door in the 1920s and 1930s, apparently, like encyclopedias) and they were fabulous collections of poetry, fairy tales, folk stories, stories from plays... (One of my favorites from the collection was a story version of a play called The Melting Pot, in which a young Russian-Jewish violinist immigrates to America after his family dies in a pogrom, only to meet -- and fall in love with -- a young Russian woman who turns out to be the daughter of the officer who ordered the pogrom.)

I desperately wanted these books for my own kids, but my parents were in no hurry to give up their set. So, they tracked the books down for me on Alibris or Ebay and bought me a set. I recently introduced Molly to them, and she has been reading the first one, In the Nursery.

[carbonel]

I had just one of the "My Bookhouse" books (Through Fairy Halls), and over the years I've been attempting to collect a complete set. I have about 15 different volumes, but no complete set in any of the versions. I really want the 6-volume set in green, but I only have the first volume in a terrible (ripped pages, drawn on in crayon, loose binding) condition with the black cover.

I have a bunch of the 12-volume version that I'm hoping someday to trade for the missing ones.

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, that's AWESOME! I can feel your delight just reading about it :-)

[baldanders.livejournal.com]

{envy}

[lmarley.livejournal.com]

Hi, Peg. So good to hear your voice again!

I have a similar inheritance. Junior Classics, missing one volume (which I replaced on eBay.) I spent the happiest hours with those books! I didn't even know they were good for me.

[ravenspb.livejournal.com]

How wonderful! This some into your lives at a perfect time.

As to the dustjackets, so many people tossed them or abused them horribly. Many still do.

I am handling a collection with many American first editions for consignment that makes cry when I look at it. The covers are shredded or missing in most cases. The worst, from a historical and monetary perspective was a true first edition of "The Grapes of Wrath." I stopped breathing for a moment when I took it out of the box. Silverfish had been at it and the DJ was in two pieces. Still, it was like holding history in my hands. As resale item, it knocked several thousand dollars off of the asking price. I did sell it, but the memory of holding it will stay with me forever.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd had a collection like that as a child. I think my life might well have gone differently if I'd read differently growing up. Almost all of the classics I read as a child were fantasias like Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, the Oz series, The Wind in the Willows -- fine books, but no variety and not large with the role models. I didn't read most of the books on that list until I was in my teens or later.

[dreamflower]

I spent many similar hours with the Childcraft and the Richard's Topical Encyclopedia and the Books of Knowledge. I still have the full sets of both the former, but don't know what became of the last. *sigh*

[phoenixsong]

Oooo, I remember the Childcraft books! I would quite seriously read those things cover-to-cover.

My mom also has a set of Little House books from when she was a child. One or two of them are now missing pages, but it's a boxed set. Want, but I doubt I'll get them anytime soon -- not that I've got the room right now anyway. But one day...

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh, how wonderful. Lucky, lucky you.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

The Swiss Family Robinson was one of my favorites, too! For years I tried to include things like a little sewing kit, a Swiss army knife, and any other potentially useful items in my handbag - inspired by Mother Robinson.

[awallens.livejournal.com]

Oh you are the luckiest of the lucky!!

[redbird]

That is cool, both that you get to share them with Delia, and that your mother thought that way.

Some years ago, in the course of a discussion of inheritance one of these decades (may it not be soon) I mentioned to my mother that I was, in a low-key way, coveting a tiny vase that she had used for lily of the valley when I was growing up. She was startled, and told me it was mine, and no need to wait. It now sits happily on a shelf in my front hall, since I have no cut flowers small enough to put in it (the only place I've seen lily of the valley on sale is in Madison, though maybe I should try the big Greenmarket downtown in a month or six weeks).

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah, The Swiss Family Robinson is wonderful. I liked Verne's The Mysterious Island for many of the same reasons. Ever read that?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No, but the very dreadful movie that was made from it was a staple of my childhood.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

What, the one with the fight with the giant scorpions?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No, I just realized that I was thinking of "The Lost World" which was made in 1960. It was truly dreadful.

[handworn.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. I was confused because there actually was a dreadful movie made of The Mysterious Island which involved a fight with giant scorpions (which was nowhere in Jules Verne's version).

[alfreda89.livejournal.com]

What a great gift! (I curled up with the encyclopedia, and the Year in Review. Or my Mom's SF novels...)