Death Notices Imminent for some signed/limited edition books (1 Viewer)

zoom man

Founding member
Is there a database where I should report their demise?
About a week ago I hurriedly dropped off 4 boxes of books at a friend's place and planned on going back, in again, about a week, to properly store them. She had me leave them on a floor in the spare bedroom.
So, a mutual friend calls me this morning..."Did you hear?, Elaine's house is swamped with 1/2 a foot of water?!"
After a couple of long hours, I buck up (yes, bad pun intended, just to certify my present state of mind) and call her.
"Are you OK Elaine," I first ask her, and she immediately begins to cry.
I lie and tell her I took my favorite and most valuable books. She knows nothing of books and settles down, later assuring me the rest are lying outside to dry, spines splayed in the sun!
I'm quite sure I stacked the 4 boxes in 2 piles, but who knows...
They're just books, right?! I'll let you all know who drowned when I know...
(They weren't all Bukowski books, by the way)
 
I don't even know what to say about that. Not that there's anything I could say that would make any difference.

I'm sorry for your loss.
 
If you can have them drying with the pages fanned, that will help prevent mold. It may be too late after a day or two. Read online about how libraries deal with flooding. Some tips there you could use to minimize further damage.
 
If we've learned anything from eBay, it's that they will still have some value to someone out there, even if they're damaged in a way that we might consider "trashed." A lot of people who could never afford these kinds of things in good condition will buy damaged copies. We've seen it and talked about it here many times.

It isn't much, but at least you wouldn't have to look at them and be reminded of The May Flood.
 
Sorry to hear, zoom. Excellent choice of timing for that white lie. Hopefully you can salvage a good portion. And as you say, they are just books. As a wise man once told me: never cry over anything that wouldn't cry over you.

I keep mine in an upstairs bedroom, but every time we have a nor'easter I envision a tree crashing through the roof. Damned one way or another...
 
Thanks guys. It does truly suck, though it does (after a few days) kind of help put things in perspective. I'm not going to see the aftermath until Monday...& to be honest, I'm hoping my 1st edition, very travelled-with-me (paperback even) Kerouac survived before some of the Presentation Copy etc. Bukowski stuff. I certainly mean 'some', not any, or all. I'm just more of a sentimental bastard than I thought and need to take inventory. Inventory of everything...crazy time of life for me right now. Ok, enough, thanks for sitting in the chair next to my cot?!
Purple, I know that looming tree you speaketh
 
Sorry to hear, zm. Detachment is the buddhist value that gives me the biggest pain in the ass for sure. Well maybe compassion, too. I would be interested to hear if any of them are still readable. I would definitely buy something old and readable in bad condition, because otherwise i couldn't afford it. :afb: I'm considering making photocopies of the poems from he older books from the university library collection - which is about as low as it gets. Having a copy of a real book, even if it's a shitty condition, would be better than leafing through some xerox.
 
Growing Beard, I will hook you up. Once I list the 'death notices' here, pm as to what title you would like. MJP is right about eBay finding a buyer for anything...hell, I've bought some ex-library books myself. Still, scared to death to see what I'm dealing with. You get 1st choice.
 
Well, half a foot of water appears to have measured only 3 or so inches, and the boxes didn't sit in the water long. Funny, too, how some of the books are really trashed, and others just slightly warped without even a stain. Only 3 Bukowski books got damaged....my Krumhansl bibliography looks real ugly, but I'm going to keep it. Growing Beard, Dangling in the Tournefortia 1st printing soft covered is yours if you want, and it's really not bad at all. The only other damaged Bukowski is a 1st soft Portions WineStained Notebook, and that's in a little worse condition, but still okay too, and yours for the taking; let me know. I lost some modern numbered/signed firsts (most of which is already thrown out but some are e-bayable) and of course the Kerouac I mentioned, but most of the sentimental stuff is salvageable with some Ziploc bags and cat litter.
 
Glad to hear that most of the Buk0wski survived unscathed. What kind of price are we talking for Dangling in the Tournefortia? My brief and generally ignorant search on Abe turned up a wide range of prices, and even then I can't say for sure that I was doing it right.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top