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Book collecting is a niche hobby that spans the global middle class to the ultra wealthy (as opposed to baseball cards which are mostly an American thing). A ra
by lefstathiou 6y ago
Book collecting is a niche hobby that spans the global middle class to the ultra wealthy (as opposed to baseball cards which are mostly an American thing). A rare book is easy to hide, easy to move, unrecognizable to most and quite liquid.
In October, someone dropped a box of books on the sidewalk in front of a library that was closed during Covid (along with its outdoor book drop which was locked). Many people had already rummaged through it by the time I got there with my 5 month old strapped to my chest. I came away with an autographed first edition, first printing of the intelligent investor. Hidden in plane sight.
- twox2 6y agoGreat find! I'd love to see it if you don't mind sharing a pic!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- lefstathiou 6y agoHappy to, please shoot me an email (mine is in my profile).
- cfontes 6y agoWow, that is indeed a great find. https://www.biblio.com/the-intelligent-investor-by-graham-benjamin/work/71120 https://www.biblio.com/the-intelligent-investor-by-graham-be...
- sjtindell 6y agoWow super cool, you could probably fetch a pretty penny if you made the pilgrimage to Omaha, Nebraska for the yearly Berkshire conference. The acolytes there might even make you a priest or something!
- TheManInThePub 6y agoWhat country to you live in? Because in the UK, taking an item that has very clearly been donated is regarded as theft and can be prosecuted as such (particularity for such a valuable item donated to a library). The fact that it was poorly secured is neither here-nor-there and would be considered victim blaming. I'm surprised somebody would openly admit to such a thing on HN. Perhaps cultural differences are at play.
- lefstathiou 6y agoI live in the US and in NYC in particular. In the city, it is common to donate your goods by leaving them nicely on the sidewalk for others to take. I do this routinely and have picked up numerous pots and pans, books and a vacuum cleaner. Many Libraries in the city have been closed for a year and the outdoor book drops have locks on them. Don’t need to be a lawyer to point out that the weather would have destroyed these books long before a librarian got to them. The library clearly was not accepting donations. Early in my life I was taught that you shouldn’t do or say anything you wouldn’t want posted on a billboard. Me discussing this openly on HN isn’t much different I guess. You’ll notice my handle also reveals exactly who I am. No hiding for me. To me (and I would argue to most reasonable people), there is a world of a difference between the circumstances under which I found this book and reaching into the book drop to take it. I would never have done that.