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What have you found written in second-hand books?

Started by Barry Admin, October 09, 2017, 08:09:39 PM

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BritishHobo

Wasn't me, but a mate of mine found a couple of notes in one textbook that really made me laugh in light of having just read JJ Abram and Doug Dorst's mysteeeeeeeerious meta-novel s.. In s., two college students bond in the margin notes of a book by their favourite (mysteeeeeeeeerious) author V. M. Straka. Lots of wanky, navel-gazing scribbles follow as the couple analyse and gush over the obscure themes and codes in the incredibly brilliant novel. Then my mate found the following in a real book and posted them on Facebook:




PlanktonSideburns

Would it be wrong to start fake signing books as if by the author before charity shopping them?


PlanktonSideburns

You know, like

To alison, Glad you liked it! X x x x x

Jordan Peterson

Or whatever


H-O-W-L

I had a 'review copy' of War of the Worlds I used for a bunch of writings on it and the themes within that has huge passages that I highlighted and annotated when I was younger. Me mam says she gave it to the charity shop so if any of you find it, you're welcome.

Aside from that I found a copy of The Golden Butterfly in a library sale that had an immensely detailled penis drawn on the inner cover that the librarians had tried to cover up with a large paper sticker, but over time the penis had won out over the fallible paper, and shone through like a proud knight of the realm. Didn't buy it, like a twat.

mothman

I had a (tasteful) nude photograph of my wife that I was using as a bookmark, back when I read physical books, and then I lost it. I sometimes wonder if somebody in a second-hand bookshop had a nice surprise one day.

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on August 25, 2019, 11:11:06 PM
Would it be wrong to start fake signing books as if by the author before charity shopping them?

I've often wondered about that. I had an old Christopher Hitchens book that he'd signed (genuine) that I sold a while ago on eBay for £53 - more than I expected, and my starting price was less than a fiver. But I did wonder how does the buyer know that I haven't just forged it after a bit of practice?

Some autographs come with a certificate of authenticity, but that doesn't seem worth anything to me.

I get the feeling a lot of McCartney signatures on auction sites aren't the real thing.

This post is petering out woefully.

Best wishes.

Attila

The super annotated Ted Williams book looks a lot like books I've reviewed -- can't make out the notes on that photo, but I tend to write a heck of a lot of notes, outlines, symbols, &c. I find that I don't read books for review in the same way I would for research or pleasure, and they look like New York city train carriages by the time I'm finished with them.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

Quote from: Attila on September 10, 2019, 07:25:48 AM
they all look like New York city train carriages by the time I'm finished with 'em.

FTFY.

ohno

On returning to his second year at Uni my son remarked he needed a Book by Hal Varian on economics but it was going to cost something around £80-100 so being the smartarse (tight-arse even) I am, thought I'd hunt the online second hand book stores. To my delight found one in absolute pristine condition, paid the seller £20 asking price received it and mailed it to him. Got a text from him the next day:

"Cheers dad, saved me some cash and a trip to the book store how much did that set you back?"

"Oh just £90 son, and no worries you can buy me a pint next time you're here"

"Really?" He says, Then sends me a picture of the inside cover where the previous owner had written..

"Good luck with your studies you can do it :)"  Bloody smiley face an all. Utter twat.

Gurke and Hare

Found in The Rough Guide to Vienna:

Food

Monday: Suckling Pig boiled shredded carrot, turnip + swede plus loads of horseradish. And Bubble + Squeak.
Roast Peppers + rocket balsamic dressing. Speck, mushrooms, pots, rocket + dressing
B'day
Prosecco Frustuck (Sii)
Wild garlic soup
Dandelion dumplings
W/garlic ravioli
Reisling 08 Josef Fischer
Federspiel                     Ried Himberg
                 WACHAU

Red Wine
Carnurlum
Excalibur 2006
[Big brace coming from those two lines pointing at: Taferner]
(Zw/Me/CS)

A colleague of mine bought a dictionary from a charity shop.  It was a very cheap kind, and also the middle pages were a bit wonky (and very obviously so) so it would probably have been bought as a flawed copy.

Inside the front cover, an inscription:

To John and Anne
With best wishes on your wedding day
Love, Mum
.

There was a date, too, that was just a few years before he bought it.  We puzzled at length - whose mum?  Why the very small gift (but also the love and best wishes) - was it all that mum could afford?  What went wrong with John and Anne?

Blue Jam

I once owned a second-hand book which had an address written in the front in biro, and it was "HMP" something. Back when you could still send books to prisoners, better times. I just hope the previous owner wasn't a nonce or something.

Captain Crunch

Found in The Rolling Stone Book of the Beats:



And some twat (probably Ben) had used a weed leaf as a bookmark.  I cringed so hard I almost broke a rib. 

Top book though, I'm enjoying getting back into this stuff. 

Keebleman

I have a Penguin edition of Howards End that I bought in Hay on Wye a few years ago.  There is a sticker inside saying that the book is the property of Haberdashers' Aske's Hampstead School, and below that there is space for whichever pupil has the book that year to write his name.  There is only one name: WG Lewis, who took possession of the book on 19th August 1958, so it is fair to assume that young Master Lewis is a shameless thief.

Anyway, as it was a sixth-former's copy there are lots of underlinings and cross-references, but my favourite annotation is at the start of Chapter 5.  The first sentence reads, "It will be generally admitted that Beethoven's Fifth Symphony is the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man."  Young Master Lewis has struck a line through 'Beethoven's Fifth Symphony' and above it written 'Heartbreak Hotel'!

timebug

Not me, but my pal Joe and I were talking books the other day,and he reminded me of his paperback copy of 'Bleak House' which he grabbed from a charity shop years back,on a whim. He abandoned it as he found it too much like hard work, but on flicking  through it as he bailed out, he found inside the back cover someone had written in Sharpie;'Fuck You Dickens you boring twat!'

Bosco13

Worked in a charity shop were a guide book to some European country came in.
On the inside cover a heartfelt letter from a student thanking a family for hosting her. She'd also stuck a picture of herself and was a ride.
I like to think the wife donated it to stop her husband looking at it.

Another book that had been given from a teacher to a student had a note written telling the child's mother to stop sending her to school with so many good luck charms and to get her swearing under control.

holyzombiejesus

Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on August 25, 2019, 11:11:06 PM
Would it be wrong to start fake signing books as if by the author before charity shopping them?

I gave my sister a book I'd read, and I fake signed it in what I thought was the most obvious way possible. I'd written something like "To ________, Thanks so much for everything, couldn't have written this without you. PLEASE, call me! xxx" but she thought it was real and so did my mum and they showed it to our extended family.

Johnny Foreigner

At Goldsborough. June 1908

28th February, 1985. To Debbie, with love from Jeremy. xxx

To dear ‟Greaty". With fondest love from all at Craiglockhart Terrace

Beatrice Hill. 30. XI. 20. sibi ipsi d. d.

With best wishes. Robert King. April 1995

J. R. Langland. Summer 1932

To Jon. Happy Christmas 1987. Love from Peggy.

markburgle

Tangential but when I was volunteering in an Oxfam I was shelving some new stock in the back room. One book opened a bit and three fivers fell out. Very welcome as I was jobless at the time

JesusAndYourBush

Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on August 25, 2019, 11:11:06 PM
Would it be wrong to start fake signing books

During the OJ Simpson trial he brought a book out.  A friend had obtained a copy and I borrowed it the day after he'd been acquitted.  Inside was written 'Free at last. OJ Simpson".

bakabaka

I used to sign any copies of my books that I found in bookshops [footnote (can't find out how to do them in the new design): just a couple of books on celtic art] . I think I was secretly hoping to be caught so I could say "It's OK, it's my book." but no-one seems bothered if people write in books in bookshops.

The only second-hand one with notes I ever got was a textbook for a university course. It seemed like a great idea to let someone else read it and just use their notes, but it turns out they were an idiot and had no idea about the subject so the notes were more off-putting and distracting than useful.

touchingcloth

I wish I could remember which book this was, but I had a second hand mystery or thriller book of some description where someone had - at the absolute perfect point for ruining the suspense that was building - pencilled in the solution to the mystery.

It's a brilliant lark. I'm almost tempted to donate my copy of Tinker Tailor to a second hand shop so I can scribble the name of the mole in a margin two-thirds of the way through.

evilcommiedictator

I found a 50-year old bus ticket in my Hobbit paperback back in the day, nice but pretty much useless

SteveDave

Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on August 25, 2019, 11:11:06 PMWould it be wrong to start fake signing books as if by the author before charity shopping them?



I bought a copy of "I, Tina" by Tina Turner (with MTV's Kurt Loder) for 50p to have something to read on the way from Southgate to Heathrow (approx 2.5 hours in real time) and when I opened it, it was signed "Love, Tina" When I got to Houston (Texas (America)), I asked if I could use their Google to check the signature. The results were inconclusive.

On a side note, last week in Oxfam in Dalston, I saw a woman furiously scanning the barcodes of books with an app on her mobile telephone. I presume she was looking for gold but technology has really ruined people hasn't it?

Neomod

Not written but I did find the programme to the Carl Giles memorial in an annual I bought.

As a Giles collector I was shocked

and stunned.

Not that he had died but I now had such a rare item in my collection.

PlanktonSideburns

got a Richard Ayoade book im probably gong to chazza after skimming

any thoughts for a fun message to put by him on it?

Famous Mortimer

Quote from: SteveDave on December 19, 2021, 10:08:29 AMOn a side note, last week in Oxfam in Dalston, I saw a woman furiously scanning the barcodes of books with an app on her mobile telephone. I presume she was looking for gold but technology has really ruined people hasn't it?
I saw someone doing that at a massive bookfair a few years back, and there were thousands and thousands of books there. I feel like any money they may have made wouldn't have been worth the tedium.

JesusAndYourBush

Quote from: PlanktonSideburns on December 19, 2021, 04:42:32 PMgot a Richard Ayoade book im probably gong to chazza after skimming

any thoughts for a fun message to put by him on it?

Ploppers.

SteveDave

Quote from: SteveDave on December 19, 2021, 10:08:29 AMOn a side note, last week in Oxfam in Dalston, I saw a woman furiously scanning the barcodes of books with an app on her mobile telephone. I presume she was looking for gold but technology has really ruined people hasn't it?

I've just remembered, in the same Oxfam, my wife once bought a small notepad so our son could have something to scribble on when we were on the bus and inside was the start of a (we presume) amateur murder investigation. I'll try and dig it out because it really made us go "Huh?"

Galeee

Slightly spookily, I found my own name in a copy of The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat, bought from Oxfam. It was a replacement copy for a lost lend. Or so I thought...