I find it frustrating that two complex, dynamic, and difficult to perform pieces of real art like these concertos are completely ignored by almost everybody. This disc from 1999 was created on someone’s home computer, it comes on a store-bought writable cd, and the cover was printed on a cheap ink-jet printer. It is obvious they were just working within their budget, but I’m glad they did, I’m not being critical as much as I am admiring that they did what it took to get a recording of the live performance out there. I’ll never find this at a thrift store again, or anywhere else for that matter. I know that if this was farmed out to a company to create retail-quality copies, a run of two-thousand would be considered low. So I can’t imagine someone printed that number of these from home.
I picked it up for a dollar. And it was passed over by a lot of people looking at the other kinds of discs that were left on this half-off sale day. People will take their routine, generic, and mindless music all day long over actual works of art. Every time.
As a collector of books,(or, as I like to think of it, Assembler of the Grand Library of the House Rydberg) I present to you a common problem; on the left, is the first American edition of Manfred von Richthofen’s (aka The Red Baron) autobiography. On the right, is the 1995 Barnes & Noble reprint. I already had the reprint in my library, and while at the thrift store, I came across the older version, and was impressed by the wonderful cover.
Visually, I knew I didn’t have a book with that cover art, so to be sure, I checked my extensive and detailed list, and verified that I had the copy on the right, but I’d listed the author as “Stanley M. Ulanoff”, who was actually only the editor of the book. I didn’t remember this book as Richthoven’s autobiography, but only as a book about him. So, thinking this was a completely different book on the Red Baron, and an autobiography to boot, I bought this older version ($2.00).
Upon filing this away in its proper place on the shelf, I discovered that I now I have two copies of the same book. This kind of thing can easily happen, when a book is republished in a different decade, with a different cover, and I usually catch these 99.9% of the time when I check my list. Woe to me if I don’t check it the sacred list!
My further dilemma, however, is that the book on the left is such a delight with this really neat cover art, the old-book smell (1969), and yellowed paper with deckle edges. The reprint (1995) has a very generic cover, (someone just took Richtoven’s photo and slapped it on there with a solid white background and burgundy border) and normal-cut, non-faded solid-white pages.
So, the dilemma: which one do I keep? Shelf space is precious, and I can’t afford the space to start collecting different versions of the same book. The newer version’s only real selling point to me is that the paper is clean and white, and there is something about that which has a benefit all its own. I can’t explain it. I’m definitely not going to let the older version go, but I don’t want to let the newer version go. I’m the kind of guy who likes books in both old and beat-up, as well as brand-new condition. Each version has its own appeal.
I’m leaning toward keeping both of them, anyway. Neither is a large book, they are both the same size. I’m not sure of the method, but this newer version is a seemingly scanned-to-print copy and not a re-worked new version, so, a true copy down to the inside illustrations. And that art on the older edition is so good, with the large title and Iron Cross (And no, that has nothing to do with the Swastika, it is a native Prussian/German symbol/award that was commissioned by Frederick William III in 1813, and is still used today in the German Armed Forces.)
I’d inquire of anybody who acquires books as to whether this is a common problem, but I know if a person has a library of any great volume, than they occasionally have this most distressing dilemma. It is a far better problem to have than say, having books disappear from the shelves!
I recently finished a book by Eddie Rickenbacher, the United States’ ace, and it was the same size but in a deluxe format, gilded pages and all. A very interesting topic and recalled first-hand from the men to experienced the first air combat in human history.
This book features 176 paintings of World War II by John Hamilton. Looking at the research these photos required, and the skill, talent, and dedication by Hamilton, it is most impressive. I almost missed this book as it was in a random section of the thrift store’s books, and not where it was supposed to be!
I was at an estate sale on Thursday; there were some magazines I needed to come closer to completing my “America in World War II” set, published 2005-2019. Thirty cents apiece! While this magazine maintains a web site, they don’t appear to still be in print, which is too bad. Many magazines like this are going quarterly, thinner, or just disappearing.
I just noticed that the books in the set on the right are inserted backwards in the case. I had to wait a week for these to become half-off, they were both a great deal! Good for me, but a shame that most people don’t give a hoot about these subjects.
I never see things like this at the thrifts: military books on cd! This was a great deal! I have read Helmet for My Pillow, which is one of the two books that the miniseries The Pacific is based on.
I have a list, the purpose of which is to avoid what happened today: I purchased a book I have already. The line was long, and I just saw the book over the counter, so I bought it because: The title is generic, (World War II: A Photographic History) and the cover was totally different from the book I knew I had at home. However, they were the same size. I had to trek back to the thrift store to exchange it for a book I had my eye on, (Smithsonian: History) but wasn’t half off. Always consult The List.
It blows my mind how a well-written 800-page book like this can go for only $2. It is interesting how more recent books on historical figures have a different viewpoint compared to older books, for various reasons. Apparently, there were 1,500 people who knew Napoleon and left writings about him, and there is so much to discern from these writings because of different viewpoints, biases, various intentions, including from Napoleon’s own writings, it is difficult to figure out where the truth lies. Which is why newer books by good authors (presumably) can uncover what older books can’t. In the case of Soviet topics, Russia has vast archives which are limited, if allowed at all, to an author. Many things have never been released, and those that have give newer works a different result from older books.
Still, I like reading the older books and they all aren’t rendered obsolete by newer ones. “The Guns of August” (World War I) by Barbara W. Tuchman, and “Adolf Hilter: The Definitive Biography” by John Toland, for example, are still highly regarded even though they are both around fifty years old. It is a shame more people don’t pick up on such great reading, it isn’t as if it is too expensive to get into. And the stories are for the most part, real.
My favorite form of history book however are the first-hand accounts, those are never outdated by newly released material.
They were asking $125 for this entire set, two of which are on eBay for $250. My dad got them down to $60 and bought them for me. The second day of a garage sale makes the sellers more open to lowering prices, they had a lot of older books that didn’t seem to be moving, unfortunately. I almost bought a really good book on the Boer War that I already had, so, my list continues to pay off! The Folio Society makes great books, so this was a really good deal.
I made room on my premier bookshelf for my most precious cobra, that my brother bought me in Mexico in 1978. It should have been on this shelf many years ago!
randyrydberg.org 