I recently read a great post by Emily at Books, The Universe, and Everything about why people might buy copies of books they already own. For instance, she likes J.D. Salinger books. I admit I have a couple copies of Catcher in the Rye myself.Which brings me to my guilty pleasure...I collect copies of The Count of Monte Cristo. I'm really not sure why. Maybe it's because I love going to used book stores and finding interesting copies of my favorite book. The image to the left was the first copy I owned which I read in high school (and have re-read numerous times) and absolutely LOVE. It's still my favorite copy. I also have an old, water damaged hardback, no copyright information or publisher information which I found by accident in a box of free books from a garage sale. NICE!!
Which brings me to a slight annoyance. In high school I thought the "Count" on the cover was quite cute....which probably enticed me read the book the first time. But since then...seriously...what were the publishers thinking??
This guy is just...well, to me, not that attractive:
And this guy looks way too smug...or maybe he's taken WAY too much cold medicine:
And THIS guy! Boy...he kind of irritates me. Does he looks like he's bent on revenge? He reminds me of someone Jane Austen would have made fun of:
And this one? Yawn!
Anyway...so do you have a book or author that you collect? Why?
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When you commented on my post about collecting copies of Monte Cristo, it reminded me of a FOURTH reason I buy multiple copies that I had completely overlooked! :)
ReplyDeleteI collect copies of Hamlet. Normally, only the small, mass market paperback size, and I only like old copies. They are pretty easy to find at used book stores, and usually very cheap.
I love when they have notes in them - especially when they look like performance notes from people who actually acted in a performance of it.
Someday when I have a big house (ie-when I don't live in NYC anymore) I'll have a shelf that's full of copies of Hamlet. This thought makes me oddly happy. :)
Well, there isn't any ONE book that I have multiples of.......expect a couple I didn't think I had and bought, only to think "gosh, this seems familiar" and then look on the shelves and see it there.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do have a couple authors whom I have EVERY book they have written.
The first one is Stephen King. Even though I haven't read any of his new ones for a couple years, I still have them. This was my mom's favorite author, and instead of letting me read her books, she bought me my own. So, that is how that collections started. We BOTH have every book of his.
And now I have every book by Dean Koontz, and almost all of James Patterson. Mr. Patterson has A LOT of book though.
This last year I have been branching out in my reading materials, but I still get my old time favorites.
Hmm, "cold medicine guy" reminds me of Walter Mondale ...
ReplyDelete:) I've never collected same book copies. Interesting! I like Judy Blume, Shel Silverstein and Louis Sachar
ReplyDeleteI don't collect every edition of a certain book, but I do own about three different editions of Jane Eyre. I'll also collect everything a particularly favored author has written--Jane Austen being my most infamous example, or Sophie Kinsella. I could read either of those authors over and over again!
ReplyDeleteYou funny girl. While I'm addicted to books, I have never found the need to buy multiple copies. My mom does the same thing. I've never understood it.
ReplyDeleteToo funny! I don't really collect specific books but there are a few books that I have several copies--particularly Wuthering Heights. Mostly I get it as a gift because it is my favorite, so I don't seek it out. You are right on about all those covers! I especially loved the that Jane would have made fun of. :)
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