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Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World
When Nancy tracked down a ten-dollar copy of War and Peace in order to win a birthday bet with Larry, the Goldstones' love affair with old books began. Over the next three years they haunted every used and rare bookshop between New York and Boston that they could find, from dingy, dust-filled barns to elegant Park Avenue galleries. Starting small on cheap, out-of-print used books, their addiction soon graduated to first editions and, finally, to three-quarter morocco, custom-bound antiquarian classics that they could not afford. Along the way, they gained an education in books—and in people—that we can all savor. This warm and witty story is filled with eccentric characters, from a punk book dealer peddling fifty-thousand-dollar modern firsts to a golf-obsessed Shakespearean scholar with books on demonic possession in his basement. Part travel story, part love story, and part memoir, Used and Rare is an absorbing and delightful journey and a love letter to book lovers everywhere.
215 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
20 people are currently reading
3066 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Goldstone
45 books199 followersLawrence Goldstone is the author of fourteen books of both fiction and non-fiction. Six of those books were co-authored with his wife, Nancy, but they now write separately to save what is left of their dishes.
Goldstone's articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Hartford Courant, and Berkshire Eagle. He has also written for a number of magazines that have gone bust, although he denies any cause and effect.
His first novel, Rights, won a New American Writing Award but he now cringes at its awkward prose. (Anatomy of Deception and The Astronomer are much better.)
Despite a seemingly incurable tendency to say what's on his mind (thus mortifying Nancy), Goldstone has been widely interviewed on both radio and television, with appearances on, among others, "Fresh Air" (NPR), "To the Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR), "The Faith Middleton Show" (NPR), "Tavis Smiley" (PBS), and Leonard Lopate (WNYC). His work has also been profiled in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, numerous regional newspapers, Salon, and Slate.
Goldstone holds a PhD in American Constitutional Studies from the New School. His friends thus call him DrG, although he can barely touch the rim. (Sigh. Can't make a layup anymore either.) He and his beloved bride founded and ran an innovative series of parent-child book groups, which they documented in Deconstructing Penguins. He has also been a teacher, lecturer, senior member of a Wall Street trading firm, taxi driver, actor, quiz show contestant, and policy analyst at the Hudson Institute.
He is a unerring stock picker. Everything he buys instantly goes down.
Goldstone's articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Hartford Courant, and Berkshire Eagle. He has also written for a number of magazines that have gone bust, although he denies any cause and effect.
His first novel, Rights, won a New American Writing Award but he now cringes at its awkward prose. (Anatomy of Deception and The Astronomer are much better.)
Despite a seemingly incurable tendency to say what's on his mind (thus mortifying Nancy), Goldstone has been widely interviewed on both radio and television, with appearances on, among others, "Fresh Air" (NPR), "To the Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR), "The Faith Middleton Show" (NPR), "Tavis Smiley" (PBS), and Leonard Lopate (WNYC). His work has also been profiled in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, numerous regional newspapers, Salon, and Slate.
Goldstone holds a PhD in American Constitutional Studies from the New School. His friends thus call him DrG, although he can barely touch the rim. (Sigh. Can't make a layup anymore either.) He and his beloved bride founded and ran an innovative series of parent-child book groups, which they documented in Deconstructing Penguins. He has also been a teacher, lecturer, senior member of a Wall Street trading firm, taxi driver, actor, quiz show contestant, and policy analyst at the Hudson Institute.
He is a unerring stock picker. Everything he buys instantly goes down.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 215 reviews
January 21, 2014
This is a book for anyone who dreams of becoming a book collector. Nancy and Lawrence Goldstone didn't know anything about rare books when they started visiting antiquarian book shops -- all they knew is that they wanted nice hardback copies of the authors they loved to read. But they asked lots of questions and slowly learned the lingo, and we learn along with them. We discover the meanings of the terms "foxed" and "bubbling," and that "good" means bad in the rare book business. (The items labeled "fine" are in better condition.) The Goldstones started collecting modern firsts, which means first editions of 20th century writers, and every time they find something desirable, we share their triumph as they display it on their bookshelves.
What's so enjoyable about this memoir is how they include snippets of history about the books they find. They're excited that a book could have its own story apart from the one inside the pages. For example, they come across the one-of-a-kind book in which Herman Melville made notes in the margins, and those notes helped shape "Moby Dick." Another time they saw a square book that has no text on the cover and no title page. It was an early edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, which was a banned book at the time and was designed to look innocuous so it could be easily smuggled.
"Used and Rare" was published in 1997, and part of its charm is that all of the couple's bookshop adventures were pre-Internet. They weren't scrolling through eBay to find those precious titles -- they spent weekends driving to Boston and New York and poking around dusty shelves in bookshops all over New England. It made me want to go to a used book store this weekend and spend an hour or two. Maybe I'll find a nice first edition.
What's so enjoyable about this memoir is how they include snippets of history about the books they find. They're excited that a book could have its own story apart from the one inside the pages. For example, they come across the one-of-a-kind book in which Herman Melville made notes in the margins, and those notes helped shape "Moby Dick." Another time they saw a square book that has no text on the cover and no title page. It was an early edition of James Joyce's Ulysses, which was a banned book at the time and was designed to look innocuous so it could be easily smuggled.
"Used and Rare" was published in 1997, and part of its charm is that all of the couple's bookshop adventures were pre-Internet. They weren't scrolling through eBay to find those precious titles -- they spent weekends driving to Boston and New York and poking around dusty shelves in bookshops all over New England. It made me want to go to a used book store this weekend and spend an hour or two. Maybe I'll find a nice first edition.
October 25, 2018
A wonderful little book about the joys of book collecting. The writing is effortless and informal. I enjoyed it immensely.
March 21, 2009
Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone, both novelists, tired of birthday competitions to see who could present the more extravagant gift. They decided to limit their spending to $20 maximum and that’s how they came into possession of a translation of War and Peace each had wanted to read complete with original illustrations and maps for $10. The book was used, of course, or “previously read,” as Cadillac owners might say, and so began a delightful obsession (or “gentle madness” that many of us suffer from) that had the pair trekking through used book stores and gradually becoming interested in the more rarefied atmosphere of expensive and rare books.
Their largest purchase by the end of this delightful book is a $650 copy of Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit. The Goldstones are clearly a literate couple who delight in the content of the books as well as the joy of owning a first edition “first state,” unlike the people who purchase books by the yard (Strand Bookstore in New York supplies books to these customers) or the customers of the bidder at an auction the Goldstones attended who was buying up collections of out-ofdate leather-bound law books and relabeling them “The Collected Works of William Shakespeare” to fill up shelves.
The Goldstones’ write with wit and love about the world of books, yet see the irony in the way dealers mark up prices depending on the clientele or the location. (One of the reasons dealers attend the New York Antiquarian Book Fair is to check prices of books they might have in stock, so as to hike the prices when they see titles going for higher prices than they had originally thought.)
Popularity and demand drives prices rather than an author’s fame or writing skill, so a first-edition Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs might go for $50,000 while a very good condition Bleak House first edition might go for only several hundred. These authors capture the idiosyncrasies and elitism of some of the dealers: “How did you find us?” complains one dealer whose sign was clearly marked on the outside window and in the yellow pages; “We control our advertising very carefully.” This is a delightful book, part memoir, part travelogue, part love story, and with a sequel that I am intending to track down immediately. . . . I did. The title is. Slightly Chipped
Their largest purchase by the end of this delightful book is a $650 copy of Dickens’ Martin Chuzzlewit. The Goldstones are clearly a literate couple who delight in the content of the books as well as the joy of owning a first edition “first state,” unlike the people who purchase books by the yard (Strand Bookstore in New York supplies books to these customers) or the customers of the bidder at an auction the Goldstones attended who was buying up collections of out-ofdate leather-bound law books and relabeling them “The Collected Works of William Shakespeare” to fill up shelves.
The Goldstones’ write with wit and love about the world of books, yet see the irony in the way dealers mark up prices depending on the clientele or the location. (One of the reasons dealers attend the New York Antiquarian Book Fair is to check prices of books they might have in stock, so as to hike the prices when they see titles going for higher prices than they had originally thought.)
Popularity and demand drives prices rather than an author’s fame or writing skill, so a first-edition Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs might go for $50,000 while a very good condition Bleak House first edition might go for only several hundred. These authors capture the idiosyncrasies and elitism of some of the dealers: “How did you find us?” complains one dealer whose sign was clearly marked on the outside window and in the yellow pages; “We control our advertising very carefully.” This is a delightful book, part memoir, part travelogue, part love story, and with a sequel that I am intending to track down immediately. . . . I did. The title is. Slightly Chipped
November 17, 2018
"That's the good thing about firsts. You know they won't drop in value."
"That's true." As if we had any idea at all of what we were talking about.
"That means if we wait it will only go up in value."
"So we're actually saving money if we buy it now."
"Look, we can't just spend a hundred dollars on a book."
"Right."
(72-73)
-
An adorable book by a New England couple, detailing how they went from buying $10 hardbacks at their local secondhand dealer to attending rare book auctions in New York in " a period of profligate acquisition."
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"For the first time, we saw the type of fiction people collected, and we wanted it." 78
"Obviously, the stock at used bookstores, like pets, tended to reflect the personalities of their owners." 33
"What a collector needs most and usually has the least is self-discipline." 197
"The book business is a romance business. Sometimes the dealer tries to build the romance but in general, for the right books, it's already there." 194
"That's true." As if we had any idea at all of what we were talking about.
"That means if we wait it will only go up in value."
"So we're actually saving money if we buy it now."
"Look, we can't just spend a hundred dollars on a book."
"Right."
(72-73)
-
An adorable book by a New England couple, detailing how they went from buying $10 hardbacks at their local secondhand dealer to attending rare book auctions in New York in " a period of profligate acquisition."
-
"For the first time, we saw the type of fiction people collected, and we wanted it." 78
"Obviously, the stock at used bookstores, like pets, tended to reflect the personalities of their owners." 33
"What a collector needs most and usually has the least is self-discipline." 197
"The book business is a romance business. Sometimes the dealer tries to build the romance but in general, for the right books, it's already there." 194
March 23, 2021
Such a good book, I could barely put it down. Its a weird thing to say about a book about book buying/collecting, but it was incredibly readable. We follow Larry and Nancy Goldstone, whose journey into the book world began with a quest for a $10 copy of War and Peace. Just a few years later, and they are attending book fairs, bidding at book auctions, and acquiring first editions. While I am not at the point where I am spending hundreds of dollars on individual books, I can certainly relate to the lure of books, and how the pursuit of a book can be just as enjoyable as actually obtaining it. They seem fairly lucky to have encountered so many kind and generous book sellers, who are willing to share all of their knowledge and expertise with eager amateurs. But in this day and age with bookstores shuttering left and right, perhaps they are just grateful for anyone who cares enough to ask.
November 26, 2022
In the early 90s, Nancy Goldstone bought a nice used copy of War and Peace for her husband Lawrence as a birthday gift, and it set the couple onto an unexpected, delightful and expensive journey of book collecting.
Part memoir and part travel book, I enjoyed this little book very much--funny anecdotes of writers and books, colorful shop owners and antique book dealers (some friendly, some snobbish and others downright rude), even the book collecting jargons.
The book collecting described in the book was pre-Internet. Much have changed in last 25 years. Nevertheless, the Goldstones make me want to checkout the used bookstores nearby.
Part memoir and part travel book, I enjoyed this little book very much--funny anecdotes of writers and books, colorful shop owners and antique book dealers (some friendly, some snobbish and others downright rude), even the book collecting jargons.
The book collecting described in the book was pre-Internet. Much have changed in last 25 years. Nevertheless, the Goldstones make me want to checkout the used bookstores nearby.
February 1, 2015
I actually read this book to the end and found the scattered information and insights in it worth reading. I even was curious as to how this couple's foray into the world of used and rare book collecting turned out. But in the course of it I got so fed up with these two particular people that I have to give this book only 2 stars. For one thing, it is written in the cloying first-person plural, like The Virgin Suicides or Double Down, but they are no Barthelmes and no Eugenides. Then there was way too much detail about finding babysitters for their jaunts, way too many undercurrents of yuppie condescension to their Berkshire Hills neighbors, way too much bragging about their disposable income disguised as being self-effacing about their not being superwealthy (a $10,000 book was out of our range naturally, but we happily dropped $600 on an impulse purchase!), and on the whole they seem to not, in the end, have been able to "get" what it is that attracts people to buying or selling used and rare books. They rightfully disdain the fellow at the auction buying up tons of outdated unwanted leatherbound law books which no one wants at 99¢ each so that he can put fake "Complete Works of Shakespeare" labels on the spines and sell them by the yard to interior decorators in Florida. On the other hand, they seem superciliously amused by the eccentricities of rural book dealers—they can't get over the beards!—and they seem unable to comprehend that some collectors specialize in nonfiction, or even in buying books they haven't read yet. The idea of a scholar-collector or even avocational-autodidact-collector never occurs to them. Through what they confess is sheer inanition they drift into being specialists in "modern firsts"—i.e. first editions. Steinbeck, Capote, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner--they seem absolutely committed to not owning any rare books that are not common on high-school English syllabi. Dashiell Hammett is slumming. When they ask a dealer why it is that a book on whaling once owned by Melville, full of marginal notations, is worth less than a pristine first edition of Tarzan of the Apes with a dust-jacket, he patiently explains to them that there are a finite number of books out there and a finite number of collectors and that collectors are interested in what they're interested in and that people like Tarzan and that it's a market. But they went away still confused, and they go off to ogle a near-mint copy of Steinbeck's The Moon Is Down. The scene in The Great Gatsby where it turns out none of the pages are cut in the books in Gatsby's library would have been a great example for them to bring up in the part of the book with the guy buying up law books by the yard at the auction (see above), but I suspect that they haven't read The Great Gatsby. Sometimes they refer to buying a book because they loved it long ago, and they frequently describe shelving them at eye level after purchasing them so they can walk past and admire them, but they never mention *reading* the books they buy. They're more like Gatsby than they think. Other than Used and Rare, I've never read a book with so many prices listed in it that wasn't *itself* an auction catalogue, even though they scold those who are in it for the money. But they really really lost me when they write about finding a rare Henry James edition and THEN spend a paragraph telling the reader who Henry James is (!) (did they think I thought he was a big-band trumpeter?) and then they compare him to Edith Wharton and then of course they have to explain to me who Edith Wharton was and then they laugh about how popular Wharton was in her day, a superstar like Madonna really to hear them tell it, and how poor and struggling James was and then they find it a further irony that now, again to hear them tell it, nobody reads Wharton except for silly little people with beards in the Berkshires who just like her because she was local, and that in their opinion Henry James is superior to Wharton. It's at that point that I finally said, "Who the fuck ARE these people?" On their jacket photo they are posing together in a professional photographic portrait in three-quarter profile and they look like a suburban husband-and-wife real-estate team posing for the picture that goes on the lawn signs, and the blurb clarifies why it is that they always present themselves to book dealers as "we're writers." Well, they've done some magazine journalism as well as tossed out about a novel each which sank without a trace or a bubble; they're journalists is what they are. And that is the kind of book they've produced. AND they think James is better than Wharton. But wait, you might be saying, don't be so harsh; don't they have a right to that opinion? And I flip back to their jacket photo and I say, "No, actually. Those stupid fucking yuppies do not in fact have a right to that particular opinion."
May 3, 2018
This book was sooo wonderful! Nancy and Larry Goldstone take the reader along their journey into the world of used and rare books. And what a world it is! Everything was so fascinating! I learned so much!
They also discuss the stories of particular authors and books they like, which means (as it usually happens with the best "books about books") that my TBR increased exponentially. Just the bit about finding a good edition of War and Peace and how much Larry enjoyed the Maude translation sent me down a rabbit hole of Russian translations (of course I secured a Maude War and Peace for myself, but I also discovered, for example, that the Russian translation I had of a book of Gogol's tales was totally inadequate, and found a much better one).
The Goldstones are very funny, and they clearly love reading. It was like listening to two really good friends talk about books, and going with them to incredible shops, fairs and auctions that sell rare books (places that in real life I'd be too intimidated to visit).
Definitely a fun read for bibliophiles.
They also discuss the stories of particular authors and books they like, which means (as it usually happens with the best "books about books") that my TBR increased exponentially. Just the bit about finding a good edition of War and Peace and how much Larry enjoyed the Maude translation sent me down a rabbit hole of Russian translations (of course I secured a Maude War and Peace for myself, but I also discovered, for example, that the Russian translation I had of a book of Gogol's tales was totally inadequate, and found a much better one).
The Goldstones are very funny, and they clearly love reading. It was like listening to two really good friends talk about books, and going with them to incredible shops, fairs and auctions that sell rare books (places that in real life I'd be too intimidated to visit).
Definitely a fun read for bibliophiles.
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August 2, 2019Ένα βιβλίο που μιλά για βιβλία. Σπάνια βιβλία, μεταχειρισμένα βιβλία. Πρώτες εκδόσεις βιβλίων όπως Dracula, Bleak House, The Great Gatsby. Χαρακτικά, Έγγραφα, Βιβλία με αφιερώσεις συγγραφέων, βιβλία που άνηκαν σε διάσημους βιβλιολάτρεις, Δημοπρασίες βιβλίων, και λίγο μυστήριο.
Οι συγγραφείς αυτού του βιβλίου μέχρι το 1994 ήταν απλά συγγραφείς και φυσικά λάτρεις του βιβλίου ως αναγνωστικό μέσο κυρίως. Όμως επί την ευκαιρία των κοινών τους γενεθλίων στην ίδια εβδομάδα αναγκάστηκε ο ένας από τους δυο να κάνει δώρο στον άλλο ένα καλό βιβλίο από ένα παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο. Και εδώ ξεκινά η δίχρονη περιπέτειά τους (που καταγράφεται σ' αυτό το βιβλίο) στον κόσμο του συλλεκτικού βιβλίου. Γνωρίζονται με συλλέκτες, βιβλιοπώλες, εμπόρους, δημοπράτες, οι περισσότεροι απόμακροι και μονόχνοτοι όχι απαραίτητα φιλικοί με τους πρωτάρηδες στο κόσμο του συλλεκτικού βιβλίου.
Μία ηλίθια (οι άνθρωποι έκαναν το 3ωρο(?) ταξίδι από Μασαχουσέτη σε Νέα Υόρκη) 3 φορές που την επισκέφτηκαν δεν μπορούσε να τους δείξει τα βιβλία πρώτης έκδοσης που ήθελαν να δουν, πάντα με φτηνές δικαιολογίες. Μια γεροκαρακάξα δεν είχε δέκα λεπτά χρόνο να τους δείξει μια σπάνια έκδοση της νουβέλας του Ντίκενς A Christmas Carol σε μια προθήκη με την δικαιολογία ότι πεινούσε. Καλά μωρή τρως μετά! Αλλά αφού αυτοί πήγαν κάπου αλλού, επιστρέφοντας μετά από ένα τέταρτο η 'πεινασμένη' μιλούσε στο τηλέφωνο. Τελικά, απλώς τους απέφευγε. Δεν ξέρω αν θα μ' άρεσε να μπω σ' αυτό τον κόσμο. Παρόλο που λατρεύω τα βιβλία, και έχω 2-3 βιβλία προηγούμενων αιώνων στη συλλογή μου δεν θα ήθελα να συναναστρέφομαι με άτομα τόσο ψυχρά κι απόμακρα. Άτομα παγοκολόνες Ανταρκτικής.
Τέλος πάντως αυτό ήταν το μόνο αρνητικό που είδα από τον κόσμο του βιβλίου. Μου θύμισε το βιβλίο του Αρτούρο Πέρεθ Ρεβέρτε The Club Dumas που έγινε ταινία με τον Τζόνι Ντεπ ως συλλέκτη βιβλίων The Ninth Gate
. Αγαπημένη ταινία (υποκειμενικά πάντα)
Έπονται συνέχειες διότι οι συγγραφείς έγραψα άλλα 2 βιβλία μετά απ' αυτό για τα ταξίδια τους στον κόσμο του συλλεκτικού βιβλίου. Το συστήνω για όλους όσους λατρεύουν τα βιβλία. Είναι επίσης και εκπαιδευτικό καθώς μαθαίνεις εκτός από τις άγνωστες σε πολλούς πτυχές του κόσμου αυτού και βιβλιοσυλλεκτικές ορολογίες τύπου (fine condition, foxed, tipped, binding jacket κτλ). Διαβάστε το!
Οι συγγραφείς αυτού του βιβλίου μέχρι το 1994 ήταν απλά συγγραφείς και φυσικά λάτρεις του βιβλίου ως αναγνωστικό μέσο κυρίως. Όμως επί την ευκαιρία των κοινών τους γενεθλίων στην ίδια εβδομάδα αναγκάστηκε ο ένας από τους δυο να κάνει δώρο στον άλλο ένα καλό βιβλίο από ένα παλαιοβιβλιοπωλείο. Και εδώ ξεκινά η δίχρονη περιπέτειά τους (που καταγράφεται σ' αυτό το βιβλίο) στον κόσμο του συλλεκτικού βιβλίου. Γνωρίζονται με συλλέκτες, βιβλιοπώλες, εμπόρους, δημοπράτες, οι περισσότεροι απόμακροι και μονόχνοτοι όχι απαραίτητα φιλικοί με τους πρωτάρηδες στο κόσμο του συλλεκτικού βιβλίου.
Μία ηλίθια (οι άνθρωποι έκαναν το 3ωρο(?) ταξίδι από Μασαχουσέτη σε Νέα Υόρκη) 3 φορές που την επισκέφτηκαν δεν μπορούσε να τους δείξει τα βιβλία πρώτης έκδοσης που ήθελαν να δουν, πάντα με φτηνές δικαιολογίες. Μια γεροκαρακάξα δεν είχε δέκα λεπτά χρόνο να τους δείξει μια σπάνια έκδοση της νουβέλας του Ντίκενς A Christmas Carol σε μια προθήκη με την δικαιολογία ότι πεινούσε. Καλά μωρή τρως μετά! Αλλά αφού αυτοί πήγαν κάπου αλλού, επιστρέφοντας μετά από ένα τέταρτο η 'πεινασμένη' μιλούσε στο τηλέφωνο. Τελικά, απλώς τους απέφευγε. Δεν ξέρω αν θα μ' άρεσε να μπω σ' αυτό τον κόσμο. Παρόλο που λατρεύω τα βιβλία, και έχω 2-3 βιβλία προηγούμενων αιώνων στη συλλογή μου δεν θα ήθελα να συναναστρέφομαι με άτομα τόσο ψυχρά κι απόμακρα. Άτομα παγοκολόνες Ανταρκτικής.
Τέλος πάντως αυτό ήταν το μόνο αρνητικό που είδα από τον κόσμο του βιβλίου. Μου θύμισε το βιβλίο του Αρτούρο Πέρεθ Ρεβέρτε The Club Dumas που έγινε ταινία με τον Τζόνι Ντεπ ως συλλέκτη βιβλίων The Ninth Gate
. Αγαπημένη ταινία (υποκειμενικά πάντα)
Έπονται συνέχειες διότι οι συγγραφείς έγραψα άλλα 2 βιβλία μετά απ' αυτό για τα ταξίδια τους στον κόσμο του συλλεκτικού βιβλίου. Το συστήνω για όλους όσους λατρεύουν τα βιβλία. Είναι επίσης και εκπαιδευτικό καθώς μαθαίνεις εκτός από τις άγνωστες σε πολλούς πτυχές του κόσμου αυτού και βιβλιοσυλλεκτικές ορολογίες τύπου (fine condition, foxed, tipped, binding jacket κτλ). Διαβάστε το!
October 6, 2009
Two refugees from Wall Street retreat to western Mass. and discover the pleasures of shopping for used and rare books. There's really no plot, nor suspense, nor mind blowing conclusion ... just a fun and often funny relation of a series of generally happy afternoons spent in musty secondhand bookshops browsing for hardcover editions of modern literature. The authors meet a lot of nice and sometimes quirky book dealers, and they get to handle some extraordinary books (like Melville's edition of a book on whaling in which he left extensive notes). Mostly, though, the fine editions are out of their price range; and so, being sensible readers with a keen awareness of prices, they decide to build their home library from cheap and durable hardbacks, purchased from local dealers for about $10 a piece.
Used and Rare (1997) was written before Amazon.com or goodreads.com took off, so most of the book shopping is done the old fashioned way: Yellow Pages and a full tank of gas. In spite of the expense, the outings across New England in search of a good copy of The Great Gatsby or an early edition of H. P. Lovecrafts eerie tales sounds adventurous and romantic in a way that the point and click convenience of online shopping will never replace. Inspired by the Goldstone's example, I even opened our phone book to look under "Books--Used and Rare," and I was happy to find three dealers I haven't yet visited.
If you're looking for a very gentle introduction to the art and business of used, rare, and fine book dealership, Goldstone's humorous book is an encouraging place to start.
Used and Rare (1997) was written before Amazon.com or goodreads.com took off, so most of the book shopping is done the old fashioned way: Yellow Pages and a full tank of gas. In spite of the expense, the outings across New England in search of a good copy of The Great Gatsby or an early edition of H. P. Lovecrafts eerie tales sounds adventurous and romantic in a way that the point and click convenience of online shopping will never replace. Inspired by the Goldstone's example, I even opened our phone book to look under "Books--Used and Rare," and I was happy to find three dealers I haven't yet visited.
If you're looking for a very gentle introduction to the art and business of used, rare, and fine book dealership, Goldstone's humorous book is an encouraging place to start.
February 1, 2015
I came away from this book with mixed feelings. On the one hand, Used and Rare: Adventures in the Book World is a fun story about searching for, well, used and rare books. I love used and rare books, and I even like reading about them, so that part I quite enjoyed. On the other hand, the sometimes-entitled attitudes of the authors got to me. For example, they pop in on a bookseller who's just moved and is getting ready for a major book fair, and are disappointed when the owner won't let them look around anyway. Even though he's technically closed and the only books he has out are those which he's taking to said show. A few pages later, they discover that the only night they can make it to the fair is actually for dealers only--the information card they were given was wrong. They ask if they can come anyway, and are turned down. They seem to believe that a sympathetic bookstore employee would be willing to get them in anyway (he's not). So I guess it's the idea of not accepting "no" for an answer that rubs me the wrong way, and it happens throughout the books to varying degrees.
All that aside, the book is well written and researched, and I did come away with a sense of the rare book community (and to a somewhat lesser extent, the used book community). It is fascinating in its own way, but I think I'll stick to my habit of generally not caring about anything but the content of what I read, rather than the edition, rarity, and shape it's in (unless it's literally falling apart).
All that aside, the book is well written and researched, and I did come away with a sense of the rare book community (and to a somewhat lesser extent, the used book community). It is fascinating in its own way, but I think I'll stick to my habit of generally not caring about anything but the content of what I read, rather than the edition, rarity, and shape it's in (unless it's literally falling apart).
December 29, 2020
A close friend of my family’s is an antiquarian bookseller, so when I picked up this book I wasn’t completely unfamiliar with the subculture that it portrays. It was interesting to take a closer look at the world of used and rare books through this memoir of a husband and wife becoming engrossed in a new hobby. The descriptions of the booksellers themselves gave life to the otherwise somewhat mediocre memoir — from the eccentric couple who runs a used bookstore out of their barn to the high brow seller of a first edition of Gulliver’s Travels (think $50K), these booksellers provide fascinating character studies.
As someone who fills my home with books by searching for gems among the dusty bookshelves of secondhand bookstores and thrift stores, however, I had a hard time relating to the authors as they found themselves caught up in the spiral of paying hundreds of dollars on first edition books. (Their book collecting obsession was sparked by a $10 version of War and Peace — now, that I could connect with.) For anyone interested in experiencing a taste of the generally unfamiliar subculture of rare book collecting, this book fits the bill.
As someone who fills my home with books by searching for gems among the dusty bookshelves of secondhand bookstores and thrift stores, however, I had a hard time relating to the authors as they found themselves caught up in the spiral of paying hundreds of dollars on first edition books. (Their book collecting obsession was sparked by a $10 version of War and Peace — now, that I could connect with.) For anyone interested in experiencing a taste of the generally unfamiliar subculture of rare book collecting, this book fits the bill.
September 3, 2021
I love reading books about books. In Used and Rare, authors Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone are bitten by the collecting bug after one stumbles upon a copy of War and Peace as a birthday gift for the other. The concept that books have their own stories entrances the Goldstones, and they embark upon a journey to find books they already know and love in more valuable editions. Along the way, they also find new authors to read, as well as a number of fascinating book dealers who contribute to the Goldstones' book-collecting education.
I was delighted that the Goldstones pursued books that they would actually read, not just books as collectables. They clearly know and love literature. Their story was entertaining and I ended up adding more books to my own TBR list...and I now have a strong inclination to go prowling through all of the used books stores in my area to see what treasures might await.
Overall, it was amusing, educational, and well-written, and as a fellow book-lover, I recommend it.
I was delighted that the Goldstones pursued books that they would actually read, not just books as collectables. They clearly know and love literature. Their story was entertaining and I ended up adding more books to my own TBR list...and I now have a strong inclination to go prowling through all of the used books stores in my area to see what treasures might await.
Overall, it was amusing, educational, and well-written, and as a fellow book-lover, I recommend it.
October 3, 2021
The Goldstones are a couple who got interested in first editions and began driving around Massachusetts looking for ones they could afford. I started wondering if we had any in my parents' house where I am right now, and came up with firsts of The Winter of Our Discontent (although, a book club edition, which is worth much less), and In Cold Blood (though missing the dust jacket, which I'm sure is around here somewhere, under a pile of something else). I'll keep looking. There must be several thousand books here....
Larry and Nancy write in a banal style, and their tone could use work. (Also, the edges of the book had a little foxing.) A lot of the details here no one will care about, like their daughter's babysitters and how much they had to walk around the Boston Public Library before gaining access to the rare book reading room. I realized I had read his book Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits, and the Struggle for the Constitution, which was an interesting topic, the writing a bit dry. Nancy too became a writer of popular histories. Before writing or collecting, Nancy had at age 27 in the early 1980s been appointed head foreign-exchange options trader at Marine Midland Bank in Manhattan. She wrote the "Hers" column in the New York Times for several weeks, where she described how the bank's London office had a bulletin board "overrun with Christmas cards and pictures of naked women."
Nancy and Larry spend 200 pages searching for first editions, only to decide on the last page that first editions are "just affectations," that they don't really need them, they only need undistinguished hardcover copies because they're really just readers of good books.
Errata:
"Dr. Suess"
John "Geilgud"
"border" for boarder
The Depression (the Great one) is referred to about 15 times as the "depression."
August 15, 2019
If you love books then following this couple from 20+ years ago into the used and rare book collecting world is a treat to read. Their journey stumbling into book collecting becomes the reader's journey as they learn the fickle world of rare bookshops, first editions, dealers, collectors, auctions, and beyond. A simple, fast read - you will get the book collecting bug reading this!! (Makes one wonder just how many books they have today after two decades since it was published)
February 2, 2017
I particularly loved this book, but I came to it biased. I already love the Goldstones' historical non-fiction. Having already read (and loved) their 2003 book Out of the Flames, this book was even MORE fascinating to me. Out of the Flames is a book about one of the rarest books in history, Michael Servetus' The Chrisitianismi Restituto, of which only three copies remain. Reading Used and Rare, from 1997, shows us just how the Goldstones were introduced into the world of used and rare books...so Out of the Flames could not have been written without the experiences I read about in Used and Rare.
In addition, the Goldstone's views about books in general mirrors my own, so I also found their views and experiences in this book to be absolutely charming.
In addition, the Goldstone's views about books in general mirrors my own, so I also found their views and experiences in this book to be absolutely charming.
May 31, 2023
This is the most charming, cozy book that kept me smiling while following the Goldstones’ adventures. The book is incredibly well-written with the most delightful details about books, book collection, and the folks the couple encountered. From the beginning of the story, I knew the book would earn a spot on my “favorites” shelf and may even consider rereading it on a cold or rainy day curled up in a blanket with something warm to drink.
January 31, 2015
This book was so fun to read since at the time it was my world. I traveled the country buying and selling used and rare books for many years, and the Goldstone's perspective is insightful and a neat glimpse into this strange world. Things have changed dramatically since, due to the internet, but you'll learn about first editions and those who collect them in this fun tale of a couple's journey into the antiquarian book world.
August 20, 2018
I kept waiting for it to get exciting...it didn't.
July 21, 2017
I haven't re-read this in ages (long enough that this doesn't have a Goodreads review) but yesterday's book reminded me of it and luckily, it was on the the books that I brought over to Japan with me.
Used and Rare is the story of how the two authors got into book collecting. It all starts with a bet to see who can get the better birthday present within a budget. Nancy gets a lovely hardback copy of War and Peace and that not only allows her to win the bet, but sparks an interest in used books.
At first, they are content with lovely copies of hardbacks and don't care about whether it's a rare book (in fact, they avoid rare books because they think it's overpriced). But then they find a first edition of a book that's 'haunted' them for years and that gets them interested in rare books and points of issue.
Points of issue are basically the things (like typos and other mistakes) that differentiate one book from another. And apparently, you can differentiate between a first edition first printing and a second printing from it because you can't just rely on the words 'first edition'.
What makes this book interesting is the way they mix personalities and books. The dealers are interesting folk and I'd love to meet them, and the books are discussed in a way that was informative and did not interrupt the flow of the narrative. The only 'major' thing I disagree with them is that I liked Modern Book Collecting and didn't find the prose dry.
Re-reading this reminded me that this was the book that first introduced me to Josephine Tey, and contributed to the "TBR pile that may never be read" (especially books that aren't popular today). And I still want to read them - I just have to find them first. Perhaps I should go to Project Gutenberg and see if any of the books are there.
This makes me want to re-read The Yellow Lighted Bookshop and The King's English, both books about bookselling and books that I also brought over to Japan (it's amazing that I didn't go over the luggage limit). The only thing is that I have a pile of books (and ARCs from NetGalley) that I haven't read.
Still, if you're a fan of stories and books, you'll enjoy this. The author's love of books and stories shine through and it is an easy and fairly informative read.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
Used and Rare is the story of how the two authors got into book collecting. It all starts with a bet to see who can get the better birthday present within a budget. Nancy gets a lovely hardback copy of War and Peace and that not only allows her to win the bet, but sparks an interest in used books.
At first, they are content with lovely copies of hardbacks and don't care about whether it's a rare book (in fact, they avoid rare books because they think it's overpriced). But then they find a first edition of a book that's 'haunted' them for years and that gets them interested in rare books and points of issue.
Points of issue are basically the things (like typos and other mistakes) that differentiate one book from another. And apparently, you can differentiate between a first edition first printing and a second printing from it because you can't just rely on the words 'first edition'.
What makes this book interesting is the way they mix personalities and books. The dealers are interesting folk and I'd love to meet them, and the books are discussed in a way that was informative and did not interrupt the flow of the narrative. The only 'major' thing I disagree with them is that I liked Modern Book Collecting and didn't find the prose dry.
Re-reading this reminded me that this was the book that first introduced me to Josephine Tey, and contributed to the "TBR pile that may never be read" (especially books that aren't popular today). And I still want to read them - I just have to find them first. Perhaps I should go to Project Gutenberg and see if any of the books are there.
This makes me want to re-read The Yellow Lighted Bookshop and The King's English, both books about bookselling and books that I also brought over to Japan (it's amazing that I didn't go over the luggage limit). The only thing is that I have a pile of books (and ARCs from NetGalley) that I haven't read.
Still, if you're a fan of stories and books, you'll enjoy this. The author's love of books and stories shine through and it is an easy and fairly informative read.
This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile
August 15, 2023
2.5/5
This is a work that spoke to me at a very specific time in life and ended up missing its expiration date. If I had kept on my intended track of become a Bioengineer and gained greater income at the cost of less literary experience, I likely would have enjoyed it a great deal. However, the well laid plans of mice and men and all that, and as a librarian with a deep seated disdain for capitalism, I don't view the large scale tuning in to the minutest changes in rich WASP's psychologies that dictates the murders and resurrections of the various stock markets in the county called the United States as anything convivial to a truly life affirming hobby. I will admit to enjoying the Goldstones' gossipy tones more than not, and there is something rather nostalgic about the pre-Internet days where the Yellow Pages were actually worth something and many a hidden castle wouldn't get blasted to anathema by reviews excoriating the lack of heating or rudeness (that in the presence of a non-middle class looking WASP might easily reveal itself as racism) of the vendors. Still, it doesn't surprise me that this book showed up in the public libraries when it did and got weeded when it did, as this speaks to a very specific time frame, mindset, and income that is neither needful enough to make full use of a public library, nor well enough to become a stakeholder/library board member/some other shadowy power behind the vocational awe throne. As such, this proved a useful counterpoint as an easy read compared to the rest currently on my docket, but unless you're the sort of tourist that enjoys being constantly judged for aspiring (and failing) to fit in to the upper echelons of high society where every mercantile whim becomes art when the cash is flush enough, I'd advise you pass this by and read some of the books mentioned rather than yet another that simply talks about them.
This is a work that spoke to me at a very specific time in life and ended up missing its expiration date. If I had kept on my intended track of become a Bioengineer and gained greater income at the cost of less literary experience, I likely would have enjoyed it a great deal. However, the well laid plans of mice and men and all that, and as a librarian with a deep seated disdain for capitalism, I don't view the large scale tuning in to the minutest changes in rich WASP's psychologies that dictates the murders and resurrections of the various stock markets in the county called the United States as anything convivial to a truly life affirming hobby. I will admit to enjoying the Goldstones' gossipy tones more than not, and there is something rather nostalgic about the pre-Internet days where the Yellow Pages were actually worth something and many a hidden castle wouldn't get blasted to anathema by reviews excoriating the lack of heating or rudeness (that in the presence of a non-middle class looking WASP might easily reveal itself as racism) of the vendors. Still, it doesn't surprise me that this book showed up in the public libraries when it did and got weeded when it did, as this speaks to a very specific time frame, mindset, and income that is neither needful enough to make full use of a public library, nor well enough to become a stakeholder/library board member/some other shadowy power behind the vocational awe throne. As such, this proved a useful counterpoint as an easy read compared to the rest currently on my docket, but unless you're the sort of tourist that enjoys being constantly judged for aspiring (and failing) to fit in to the upper echelons of high society where every mercantile whim becomes art when the cash is flush enough, I'd advise you pass this by and read some of the books mentioned rather than yet another that simply talks about them.
June 25, 2020
This is an enjoyable short read about the perils of book buying, something I need to be reminded of as I have discovered eBay and the many book treasures I think I can't live without. Like the Goldbergs, I've started buying books I love, books I want hardbacks to exchange for the paperbacks on my shelves. But book lovers beware! Before you know it, you too may be purchasing first editions as you get sucked in the fascinating world of collecting. I would say this is a memoir-type read, not a serious primer about collecting, and I learned a thing or two. One of the aspects of the book that bothered me was the Goldbergs' ability to provide lengthy direct quotes from the book sellers they encountered. Did they record these interviews? The book is structured like a memoir, focusing on the hunt and discovery. That doesn't go along with the direct quotes; summaries of conversations would have worked better. But both authors, I gather, are novelists and that could explain the long quotes. In any case, this was a fun, fast read and I enjoyed it.
December 6, 2022
This book might make some people fall asleep but I absolutely loved it. I have always wanted my own personal library and enough disposable income to collect all kinds of new and used books, and this book simply fueled that desire even more! I loved learning about the rare/used book world from the Goldstones’ perspective and I learned about some incredible books and authors from the Goldstones as well. Since this book was published in 1997, I would love to know how eBay and Amazon have altered the used/rare book business and how the internet has affected the buying methods and bargaining strategies of collectors. I imagine it is much different now and probably even more competitive and expensive.
January 5, 2021
I liked the book... but only because I like old books.
To anyone who doesn’t hold at least a mild interest in old and rare books, this book would be absolutely unbearable to read. There is no narrative and no cohesion. Plot points are unrecognizable, if present at all. And the tone throughout seems pretentious and entitled.
I picked up a few good tips about book collecting from this book... but that’s about all I can say.
To anyone who doesn’t hold at least a mild interest in old and rare books, this book would be absolutely unbearable to read. There is no narrative and no cohesion. Plot points are unrecognizable, if present at all. And the tone throughout seems pretentious and entitled.
I picked up a few good tips about book collecting from this book... but that’s about all I can say.
October 4, 2025
This was pretty boring as books about books go.
"We went to this shop, they had this edition of a a book, the cover was dusty and green, it was $35, we bought it".
"We went to a book fair, we found this edition of a book, the cover was red and shiny, it was $300, that's too expensive, we didn't buy it"!
Just repeat those two phrases, substituting the price, colour and venue, over and over and over again, and that is the book!!
Boring, vapid, shite.
"We went to this shop, they had this edition of a a book, the cover was dusty and green, it was $35, we bought it".
"We went to a book fair, we found this edition of a book, the cover was red and shiny, it was $300, that's too expensive, we didn't buy it"!
Just repeat those two phrases, substituting the price, colour and venue, over and over and over again, and that is the book!!
Boring, vapid, shite.
November 8, 2025
Wow! I enjoyed this so much. I picked this up on a whim at a Used and Rare (ha) bookstore and thought it might be an interesting enough look at rare book buying and selling. I was not expected to be hooked by the actual story as much as I was. It was interesting, funny, and shared so much information about that world. Definitely one I'll be keeping around and looking more into other memoirs on this theme.
July 12, 2017
This was an interesting read about their journey with book collecting before the internet. I enjoyed reading tidbits about authors and books even though I don't intend to collect first editions or spend hundreds of dollars on a book.
August 1, 2021
Used and Rare: Travels in the Book World is one of my favorite types of books – a book about books! Written in 1997, evidently this was before the internet and Amazon and other internet booksellers. Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone decide they would like to buy attractive hardcover editions of their favorite books to replace paperbacks that are falling apart. They soon become addicted to visiting used bookstores. When they travel, their plans always include visiting bookstores to add to their personal library. Most of the books they collected were classics and as their collection mania continued, they tried to find first editions and bought many collectible books for hundreds of dollars. This was a wonderful trip back in time where you had to get out and hunt for a book you wanted instead of turning on your computer to order it. There is a sequel to this, Slightly Chipped: Footnotes in Booklore and sad to say, I’ll probably order it online.
September 7, 2025
I am just beginning my book collecting life, and it was an amazing read. I learned a lot, it was terribly well written and gives me hope, you don’t need a first edition in pristine condition if it is a book you enjoy and find it after a good search.
January 24, 2020
I enjoyed the anecdotes of their first experiences in the world of book collecting. A good book for book people.
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