Alert Janeite Jessica Irene sent us a link to an article about a man who found an overdue library book in the floorboards of a house he was renovating. The book was due at the Alameda Free Library in 1919, and the book is Persuasion.
(Um, wasn’t that a movie plot?)
Inside the new library, near the reference desk on Dec. 27, 2006, Jane Austen’s Persuasion finally made it home to the Alameda Free Library. Chisaki thanked Schiess for returning the book — which could easily have sold as a rare book for no small amount. The book is a small, silken volume in very good condition published at the turn of the 20th century and purchased for the library in 1914. There are no pictures except for one line drawing at the frontispiece, featuring the scene where Anne Elliott walks on the seashore, just prior to Luisa Musgrove’s nearly fatal fall from the Cobb at Lyme Regis (Austen fans will recall the scene).
It’s a fun story, and neat that the library got the book back, but there’s more to it than a little feature story. Jed Clampett who found the book seems to think he’s struck Texas Tea or something, or perhaps the reporter Googled not wisely but too well.
A nearly complete set of Jane Austen’s works in 11 silk-bound, gilt-edged volumes, minus just one of her novels, is currently on sale on eBay for $1,500. The missing volume just happens to be Persuasion.
*coughoverpricedcough*
Listen, Gentle Readers: the Editrix has dabbled in collectible editions of Jane Austen, but she’s sitting back waiting for the eejits to clear out at this point. The prices have gotten completely out of control, led by greedy and unscrupulous (yes, unscrupulous) book dealers on eBay who overprice their “rare” books into the stratosphere, encouraged by unwary (or covetous) Janeites who pay their outrageous asking prices. We’ve seen sets from the 1990s selling for hundreds and hundreds of dollars–sets that one can purchase new at reputable bookshops for around fifty dollars. Don’t fall for it. Don’t pay those prices. Patience is the key, and knowing real value. You’ll be doing your fellow Janeites a disservice if you overpay.
