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I wandered in to a local second-hand bookstore recently, and though they have typically been a disappointment to me in my previous encounters, I made a splendid purchase. Two hardcover, leather bound books: The Works of H.G. Wells, The Collected Works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The store also possessed Moby Dick, which the clerk informed me was somehow waterproof (he didn't appreciate the irony of it, though). Unfortunately, I had to leave Moby Dick behind, for lack of funds, but the other two I snatched up.

They were $8.50 each, which I call a fantastic find. I don't know about the value of the books, and truthfully, I don't care. They just look beautiful.

All that said, though, I'm not sure I know what to call them. "Beautiful Hardcovers" doesn't seem specific enough. I'd love to trawl the web for similar volumes, so that I can display them proudly on my shelf. They just have an air of ... culture to them that penguin softcovers will never convey, and I don't want to rely on serendipity to bring me more of them. I would search alibris, but again, that brings me to the problem of what terminology to include in my search.

Anyhow, here is a picture of one, if that helps categorize it. Maybe I'm an idiot in all of this, but my experience with books has mostly involved textbooks and softcovers.



Oh, also. A friend of mine has tried to lead me to believe that there are publishers around that one could request certain books printed and bound in this style. I have absolutely no knowledge of this sort of thing, and I'm not sure I trust this friend in the matter. Even if he's right, I don't understand the cost (I expect it to be high) or legality of the process, so any light someone could shed would be incredible.

Thanks in advance!

Quick searches...

Leather Bound is the term, and here's the section on Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... n9bzrf2b_b

Here's a favorite I've stupidly passed up in the bargin bins at Border's / Barns... I could've gotten it for $15 I think.
http://www.amazon.com/ULTIMATE-HITCHHIK ... 445&sr=1-1

The page that has the book's copyright info should have an ISBN-10, ISBN-13, or both. If you look that up (you can do it in a Google search, on any online bookstore's site, or an ISBN look up site like this one http://isbndb.com/) you should be able to find out some edition information including what the classification of that type of book would be.

I usually call them books, myself.

These look like they are probably some of the Easton Press editions. they put out some spectacular products, but they are sort of the Lexus/Audi of books, and that includes price.

--Patrick

CynicismKills said:

I usually call them books, myself.

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Story devices!

escushion said:

CynicismKills said:

I usually call them books, myself.

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Story devices!

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witchcraft

keeping the children from their prayers with unwholesome words like "b*m", "kn*ckers", and "kn*ckers"

PatrThom said:

These look like they are probably some of the Easton Press editions. they put out some spectacular products, but they are sort of the Lexus/Audi of books, and that includes price.

--Patrick

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Awesome. I just requested a catalog from them, although I will admit: some of them look pretty gaudy.

Their online catalog is making me angry though. I look at a bundle, and it says something like "Horror Classics" and it tells me that there are like ... seven books, over seven months, for $69/month, but it's not entirely clear what books are in the bundle.

I suppose I'll be looking mostly at ebay and alibris. Any other second-hand online bookstores anyone can recommend?

I have a really nice leather-bound edition of the "More Than Complete Hitchhiker's Guide" that looks an awful lot like that, produced by Longmeadow Press. The pages have gold edges.

On the copyright page it refers to itself as an "omnibus" edition.

Rob King said:

I look at a bundle, and it says something like "Horror Classics" and it tells me that there are like ... seven books, over seven months, for $69/month, but it's not entirely clear what books are in the bundle.

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Yeah. That (and the prices) are what keep me away.

Bound
Object(s)
Of
Knowledge

No batteries required, no DRM, portable, soundless, and stable shelf life.
Yeah, they have their advantages.

--Patrick