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There was almost a sonic boom as I grabbed it from the shelf!
Anyone else had a "Ha! You're coming home with ME!" experience with a classic UMSF-related book in a 2nd hand store?
Full Version: Classic books
Oooh... look what I picked up in a 2nd hand store today, for the ridiculous sum of eight and a half of your Earth pounds...
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There was almost a sonic boom as I grabbed it from the shelf!
Anyone else had a "Ha! You're coming home with ME!" experience with a classic UMSF-related book in a 2nd hand store?
Click to view attachment
There was almost a sonic boom as I grabbed it from the shelf!
Anyone else had a "Ha! You're coming home with ME!" experience with a classic UMSF-related book in a 2nd hand store?
Not a classical book, but I had a similar experience a few years ago in Boston, finally crossing the Atlantic back to home with an almost mint copy of a 1958 issue of National Geographics containing a fantastic article on the Pioneer moon probes! And I paid it less than 5 $!
Great bargain, Stu! I remember paying over £30 for that when it came out - seemed like an arm and a leg at the time.
Not exactly science but definitely a classic: I recently carried home with similar delight a copy of David Hume's 'Inquiries' which my college library was about to throw away.
Not exactly science but definitely a classic: I recently carried home with similar delight a copy of David Hume's 'Inquiries' which my college library was about to throw away.
Not MER related - but an orig book written by the skipper of the Endurance on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. A unique perspective on the adventure all the way to South Georgia via Hell and back. Found it in the basement of an old bookshop near Leicester Square while waiting to meet Chris Lintott and Jane Houston Jones.
Very long story
Very long story
QUOTE (Stu @ Oct 26 2009, 03:09 PM) 
Anyone else had a "Ha! You're coming home with ME!" experience with a classic UMSF-related book in a 2nd hand store?
Arthur C. Clarke's The Exploration of Space -- one dollar. Book Club edition from 1952.
Someone pasted the Book of the Month Club's flyer in the front:
QUOTE
One hundred and fifty years ago it was demonstrated that steamships could never cross the Atlantic. As late as 1903 is was proved that man could not fly. As we consider Arthur C. Clarke's The Exploration of Space, it is no more than fair to keep such facts in mind. Otherwise the offering of such a book to our level-headed membership might seem a fantastic gesture.
...
Yet, as matters stand now in 1952, it is becoming increasingly clear that within a half century (many scientists would say sooner) an attempt will be made to circumnavigate the Moon with an instrument-bearing rocket. Bolder spirits talk of an actual landing...
...
Yet, as matters stand now in 1952, it is becoming increasingly clear that within a half century (many scientists would say sooner) an attempt will be made to circumnavigate the Moon with an instrument-bearing rocket. Bolder spirits talk of an actual landing...
18 years later...
"The Moon", by Nasmyth and Carpenter,1885, with "Woodburytype" reproductions of photographs; 213 pp, and a thing of beauty. The cover boards are gorgeous deep blue, and on the front cover is a black-and-silver illustration, "Lunar Craters".
I also picked up the Times "Atlas of the Moon", 1970 (I think?) for less than a fiver in a shabby and unprepossessing shop off the Euston Road in London a few years ago, which was nice.
(Edit - "The Moon" was a needle-in-a-haystack moment whilst sorting through a small lorry-load (literally) of second-hand books my father bought for £40 on a whim, after daydreaming for years about having a bookshop; I got the job of sorting a large heap, 95% being pure trash of course, but there were also several first editions of George Bernard Shaw plays including "Saint Joan" and some other goodies. )
I also picked up the Times "Atlas of the Moon", 1970 (I think?) for less than a fiver in a shabby and unprepossessing shop off the Euston Road in London a few years ago, which was nice.
(Edit - "The Moon" was a needle-in-a-haystack moment whilst sorting through a small lorry-load (literally) of second-hand books my father bought for £40 on a whim, after daydreaming for years about having a bookshop; I got the job of sorting a large heap, 95% being pure trash of course, but there were also several first editions of George Bernard Shaw plays including "Saint Joan" and some other goodies. )
I got a nice stash this summer. My department was cleaning out rooms for renovation and they were going to throw away everything. Luckily I got to dig though piles upon piles of books and take home whatever I wanted for free! I snagged things like a book autographed by Ted Fujita (guy who made the tornado Fujita scale, among other things) and a copy of The New Solar System by Chaikin et al. Let's just say there were so many books, I had to go buy a new bookshelf at home.
Wow, I'm getting extremely jealous of you all!
Never got lucky with UMSF, but...how about an autographed copy of Niven's "A Gift From Earth" for $1.00 at a used bookstore in Anchorage, AK? A UK-edition paperback, no less.
Never got lucky with UMSF, but...how about an autographed copy of Niven's "A Gift From Earth" for $1.00 at a used bookstore in Anchorage, AK? A UK-edition paperback, no less.
My favorite 'classic' Mars book = "Vikings of '76" ... my blog has a great collection of classic books & magazines:
Left and rightside columns show covers but I'll build a new Mars-literature website with clickable covers soon
http://mars-literature.skynetblogs.be/
Left and rightside columns show covers but I'll build a new Mars-literature website with clickable covers soon
http://mars-literature.skynetblogs.be/
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