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Random musings: I collect “old books” and have for years. My excitement for the hobby changed about two years ago when I was watching a Sotheby’s auction disman

Random musings: I collect “old books” and have for years. My excitement for the hobby changed about two years ago when I was watching a Sotheby’s auction dismantle an epic collection that was a life’s passion and work to assemble of autographed first editions from some of the greatest writers of the 20th century. The problem with the hobby is that you can’t experience them (I rarely touch them and don’t let others) and perfect replicas are available online for free. Watching the auction, I realized that my kids won’t love this as much as I do and then they’ll just pawn it off just like what I was watching happen. I’ve moved on to collecting anime Cels among other things. Unfortunately those have a shelf life! Still enjoyable though… It’s one of the few collectibles that actually is a piece of the original.

pottertheotter 4y ago
Why a shelf life? Do the cels deteriorate?
- klodolph 4y ago
  They’re painted with paint that only needs to last weeks, at most. Depending on the exact choice of materials, you might see off-gassing, buckling, the paint flaking off, yellowing, fading, etc. It will all happen on a different timeline. I know old Disney cels could often last a long time, other studios used materials that were comparatively less archival.
  - 2b3a51 4y ago
    Interesting. Has anyone done the time lapse video of a cel fading out. I'm imagining against a window in an old warehouse or something.
    - ryanmercer 4y ago
      I think you just created a YouTube channel for an enterprising artist Part 1: paints cell then Part 2: cell gets destroyed in window during time lapse, then it could evolve even more testing different paints/paint brands/colours. I'd watch a handful of them.
lucifargundam 4y ago
I made an account just to respond to you(I'm a 100% lurker). I collect old (pre-1900) books not because I look for financial profit or an increase in value, but to preserve literature- especially older books that are less likely to have been scanned. What I usually do is I look for books that are on their last threads or are so old they likely won't survive much more abuse of time and tear- and scan/upload them so that they can survive as digital copies long after they turn into dust and mulch on my low-income bookshelves I made myself. I don't expect these works to survive much longer- much like the memories those older than me will disappear forever after they die soon(most people don't record their lives). So I do what I can to preserve the memories of the past by cloning them into shareable media. To me, once it's been uploaded- their antique value still remains the same, other people just get to have python-translated pdf/txt formats of the genuine physical copy.
- trevorkoob 4y ago
  Chiming in to thank you. The access to quality information on the web, specifically Ebooks, is what gives me hope for the future.
- robin_reala 4y ago
  Thank you for doing this. I produce PD ebooks as a hobby, and it simply wouldn’t be possible without source scans to reference (and transcribe where needed). Have you got a favourite “lost” novel?
- mftb 4y ago
  I just wanted to let you know that what you are doing is appreciated. More than once while researching something, I've been made aware of the fact that individuals making copies, is the most important factor in written works being preserved. It's hard to say how well digital media is going to stack up against paper, but it seems self-evident to me, the more copies, in the more media, the better.
- zafka 4y ago
  Hi please email ( link in profile ) I probably have several books that fit your description- Collected because I love books and collecting things :) Though not so old, I have my 1939 Grimm's fairy tails sitting next to me. It is in very sad shape, but still magical to me. It was barely 30 years old when I nabbed it from a church rummage sale.
betamaxthetape 4y ago
Interesting. Are there any guides you would recommend to get into collecting animation cels? For example, how to avoid fakes?
- lefstathiou 4y ago
  Re resources: check out this site which has a list of all active places to buy cels and how to maintain them: www.neotokyo.com Re fakes: The community is good about helping but hard to seek their advice without it tipping your hand. Some very smart members of the discord community. I don’t spend more than $1000 without verifying the frame or scene which captures most issues. I also have strong preference to own the douga + cel. Lastly, I don’t and wouldn’t buy cels doraemon or Pokémon without it being a full master setup. There is no way to verify a random show of pikachu.
usrn 4y ago
I'm the child of someone who accumulated books, not necessarily old ones but plenty of used ones. You should let people read books, that's the whole point. I often went into his office and pulled books off the shelf to read. If it weren't for that I would have never learned to program or learned a lot of the advanced math I did at an early age. I don't think people appreciate just how nice having easy access to physical books is, especially as a child. This was well after I had easy access to the internet too, modern technology doesn't really change this.
- shimonabi 4y ago
  That was maybe true in the past. I was bad at high school math and survived it because I was gifted a really good book by my aunt. Now you have Khan Academy and all sorts of legal and illegal online libraries.
  - boppo1 4y ago
    What book were you gifted?
    - shimonabi 4y ago
      It's not in English. It was a collection of solved examples of every concept.
derbOac 4y ago
Not to sound dismissive, but couldn't you specify in a will that a certain set of books is to remain together, or under certain conditions?
- lefstathiou 4y ago
  In theory yes. Ultimately they need to be in the hands of someone who cares (which in theory the auction accomplishes). Hundred year old books and manuscripts need to be stored in the proper conditions or they deteriorate quickly. My animation cels are in cabinets that control temperature and humidity.
- HWR_14 4y ago
  As far as I know, you can set limitations, but they are timelimited. I think you can bequeath the books with limits for anyone alive when you die, or maybe N generations hence. So, yes, you can. But you cannot prevent your great great grandson from getting the books as a set and promptly auctioning them off
HWR_14 4y ago
A collection might not be worth much to them. A suggestion might be to have them displayed at your funeral with instructions to bequeath them to attendees as a memento. That's if most attendees know about your collection (that is, would associate old books with you) and their actual value is low enough. A brawl over your one six-figure book wouldn't be the goal

pottertheotter 4y ago

Why a shelf life? Do the cels deteriorate?

klodolph 4y ago
They’re painted with paint that only needs to last weeks, at most. Depending on the exact choice of materials, you might see off-gassing, buckling, the paint flaking off, yellowing, fading, etc. It will all happen on a different timeline. I know old Disney cels could often last a long time, other studios used materials that were comparatively less archival.
- 2b3a51 4y ago
  Interesting. Has anyone done the time lapse video of a cel fading out. I'm imagining against a window in an old warehouse or something.
  - ryanmercer 4y ago
    I think you just created a YouTube channel for an enterprising artist Part 1: paints cell then Part 2: cell gets destroyed in window during time lapse, then it could evolve even more testing different paints/paint brands/colours. I'd watch a handful of them.

lucifargundam 4y ago

I made an account just to respond to you(I'm a 100% lurker). I collect old (pre-1900) books not because I look for financial profit or an increase in value, but to preserve literature- especially older books that are less likely to have been scanned. What I usually do is I look for books that are on their last threads or are so old they likely won't survive much more abuse of time and tear- and scan/upload them so that they can survive as digital copies long after they turn into dust and mulch on my low-income bookshelves I made myself. I don't expect these works to survive much longer- much like the memories those older than me will disappear forever after they die soon(most people don't record their lives). So I do what I can to preserve the memories of the past by cloning them into shareable media. To me, once it's been uploaded- their antique value still remains the same, other people just get to have python-translated pdf/txt formats of the genuine physical copy.

trevorkoob 4y ago
Chiming in to thank you. The access to quality information on the web, specifically Ebooks, is what gives me hope for the future.
robin_reala 4y ago
Thank you for doing this. I produce PD ebooks as a hobby, and it simply wouldn’t be possible without source scans to reference (and transcribe where needed). Have you got a favourite “lost” novel?
mftb 4y ago
I just wanted to let you know that what you are doing is appreciated. More than once while researching something, I've been made aware of the fact that individuals making copies, is the most important factor in written works being preserved. It's hard to say how well digital media is going to stack up against paper, but it seems self-evident to me, the more copies, in the more media, the better.
zafka 4y ago
Hi please email ( link in profile ) I probably have several books that fit your description- Collected because I love books and collecting things :) Though not so old, I have my 1939 Grimm's fairy tails sitting next to me. It is in very sad shape, but still magical to me. It was barely 30 years old when I nabbed it from a church rummage sale.

betamaxthetape 4y ago

Interesting. Are there any guides you would recommend to get into collecting animation cels? For example, how to avoid fakes?

lefstathiou 4y ago
Re resources: check out this site which has a list of all active places to buy cels and how to maintain them: www.neotokyo.com Re fakes: The community is good about helping but hard to seek their advice without it tipping your hand. Some very smart members of the discord community. I don’t spend more than $1000 without verifying the frame or scene which captures most issues. I also have strong preference to own the douga + cel. Lastly, I don’t and wouldn’t buy cels doraemon or Pokémon without it being a full master setup. There is no way to verify a random show of pikachu.

usrn 4y ago

I'm the child of someone who accumulated books, not necessarily old ones but plenty of used ones. You should let people read books, that's the whole point. I often went into his office and pulled books off the shelf to read. If it weren't for that I would have never learned to program or learned a lot of the advanced math I did at an early age. I don't think people appreciate just how nice having easy access to physical books is, especially as a child. This was well after I had easy access to the internet too, modern technology doesn't really change this.

shimonabi 4y ago
That was maybe true in the past. I was bad at high school math and survived it because I was gifted a really good book by my aunt. Now you have Khan Academy and all sorts of legal and illegal online libraries.
- boppo1 4y ago
  What book were you gifted?
  - shimonabi 4y ago
    It's not in English. It was a collection of solved examples of every concept.

derbOac 4y ago

Not to sound dismissive, but couldn't you specify in a will that a certain set of books is to remain together, or under certain conditions?

lefstathiou 4y ago
In theory yes. Ultimately they need to be in the hands of someone who cares (which in theory the auction accomplishes). Hundred year old books and manuscripts need to be stored in the proper conditions or they deteriorate quickly. My animation cels are in cabinets that control temperature and humidity.
HWR_14 4y ago
As far as I know, you can set limitations, but they are timelimited. I think you can bequeath the books with limits for anyone alive when you die, or maybe N generations hence. So, yes, you can. But you cannot prevent your great great grandson from getting the books as a set and promptly auctioning them off

HWR_14 4y ago

A collection might not be worth much to them. A suggestion might be to have them displayed at your funeral with instructions to bequeath them to attendees as a memento. That's if most attendees know about your collection (that is, would associate old books with you) and their actual value is low enough. A brawl over your one six-figure book wouldn't be the goal