I have an amazing collection of rare and antique books that any book collector would covet, and it’s literally invaluable—in that it has no value whatsoever, except in the currencies of aesthetics or entertainment.
It started innocently enough, when a decorative tome caught my eye on Pinterest. I pinned it, then created my own board, and soon Pinterest had me pinned.
Hello. My name is Marla Cooper, and I’m an antique book addict.
My virtual library is full of beautiful books with embossed covers, art deco fonts, metallic type and well worn edges. Whenever I see a new one, I gleefully add it to my collection.
I can go into my virtual library whenever I want and mentally run my fingers over their spines. I can almost smell them: slightly musty, like a two-hundred-year-old Parisian bookshop. (It doesn’t have to be Paris, but as long as it’s a fantasy, then Paris it is!)
Okay, I get that it’s not exactly the same, but who am I to hoard all the most beautiful books for my own enjoyment? I’d feel guilty keeping these all to myself. Besides, I don’t have to maintain a relative humidity of 35%, because the risk of mold is only real when the books themselves are.
I don’t have to be a nag about people washing their hands before they look at them. And I don’t have to worry about dog-earing the pages, or whether my maintenance routine will drop the grade of my handsome, first-edition volume of Shelley from Fine to Very Good.
The other great thing about my collection? Anyone can come look at it anytime they want! And you can feel free to stop by and borrow a volume or two of your own:
Those are absolutely beautiful! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing your library with us.
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Thanks, Cynthia! Drop by anytime!
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Gorgeous, Marla! I love all your Pinterest boards, by the way.
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Thanks, Lisa! I love Pinterest. So much fun to collect odds and ends on there.
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I clearly need to step my Pinterest game up.
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It’s really fun as you pin things to watch your feed change into a stream of things they think you’d like—and they’re so often right!
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These are gorgeous! My family somehow ended up with an 1847 edition of “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” by Acton Bell, aka/ Anne Bronte. It’s not in great condition, but it’s soooo cool.
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Wow, that sounds amazing! I have a few miscellaneous older books that I’ve picked up here and there (real ones, that is), but nothing quite that old!
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Great idea. Just followed your Pinterest board…I may set up something like this myself! Thanks for sharing your virtual collection.
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Thanks, Judy! We can start a book swap!
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