Random thoughts...

[Ben Staad]

Here is my quarterly whine about bookshelves..The nearest IKEA is 330 miles away. There doesn't seem to be any decent quality/priced glass door bookshelves anywhere else. Waaa. I'm done. Thanks!

[mhatchett]

That’s a wonderful story and one helluva deal...wow! Betty sounds like a great lady, preferring her husband’s bookcases go to a good home rather than to the highest bidder. You were certainly in the right place at the right time that day.

A picture of the famous $90.00 Book Case and the Raven that started it all!!

[RonClinton]

I'm a thrift store, consignment shop rat, so I’m always looking for good bookcases and have been pretty lucky finding them. My best buy was a $90.00 three tier barrister bookcase, with the Globe label. A bookstore that I frequented went out of business about 15 years ago. I had complemented the owner on a set of Raven bookends that she had on display in the past and she asked me if I would like to purchase them. She quoted me such a good price, I had to get them. That purchase led me to ask if she was selling any of her bookcases. Now here’s where it get’s interesting. She was keeping some of her bookcases because she planned to downsize and open at another location, which she later did. However, she had had an offer from a competitor, a person that she really didn’t think much of, for a lot of her stock and fixtures. The upshot was, a number of the bookcases had belonged to her deceased husband and she didn’t want this person to get them. So if I could give her $500.00 and have the bookcases out of the shop by closing that evening, she would sell me 12 bookcases, including 2 specially built 8 footers, three antique glass faced cases. The rest were older well built hardwood bookcases. Now, $500.00 wasn’t growing on trees, but I scraped it together and showed up with my truck in time to get the bookcases home and in storage before closing. Over the years I saw Betty a number of times and she always asked me how Paul’s Bookcases were doing. That’s really how I got most of my current bookcases, though I have sold a few on and upgraded when possible. My wife has me under strict control these days LOl!!

That’s a wonderful story and one helluva deal...wow! Betty sounds like a great lady, preferring her husband’s bookcases go to a good home rather than to the highest bidder. You were certainly in the right place at the right time that day.

[mhatchett]

They're not the true antique Globe Wernicke cases, but modern facsimiles thereof, and I am admittedly very pleased to have them. I was fortunate enough to get most of these 20 or so years ago when you could still get both decent craftsmanship in real wood *and* there was enough demand still for bookcases that they weren't so uncommon as to subsequently require special order and thus be rather expensive. I have a couple from that latter time frame and I'm sure I paid twice as much for each of those than I did for the earlier ones.

I'm a thrift store, consignment shop rat, so I’m always looking for good bookcases and have been pretty lucky finding them. My best buy was a $90.00 three tier barrister bookcase, with the Globe label. A bookstore that I frequented went out of business about 15 years ago. I had complemented the owner on a set of Raven bookends that she had on display in the past and she asked me if I would like to purchase them. She quoted me such a good price, I had to get them. That purchase led me to ask if she was selling any of her bookcases. Now here’s where it get’s interesting. She was keeping some of her bookcases because she planned to downsize and open at another location, which she later did. However, she had had an offer from a competitor, a person that she really didn’t think much of, for a lot of her stock and fixtures. The upshot was, a number of the bookcases had belonged to her deceased husband and she didn’t want this person to get them. So if I could give her $500.00 and have the bookcases out of the shop by closing that evening, she would sell me 12 bookcases, including 2 specially built 8 footers, three antique glass faced cases. The rest were older well built hardwood bookcases. Now, $500.00 wasn’t growing on trees, but I scraped it together and showed up with my truck in time to get the bookcases home and in storage before closing. Over the years I saw Betty a number of times and she always asked me how Paul’s Bookcases were doing. That’s really how I got most of my current bookcases, though I have sold a few on and upgraded when possible. My wife has me under strict control these days LOl!!

[RonClinton]

I read recently there is a cycle of Black books by Cornell Woolrich. I've seen the titles. Are the books connected at all? Cap

No, they're all independent standalones. They are: The Bride Wore Black (1940), The Black Curtain (1941), Black Alibi (1942), The Black Angel (1943), The Black Path of Fear (1944) and Rendezvous in Black (1948).

[c marvel]

I read recently there is a cycle of Black books by Cornell Woolrich. I've seen the titles. Are the books connected at all? Cap

[RonClinton]

Thanks. Although I am converting to cases with glass doors I am taking a much less expensive route. Most of mine are Ikea Billy cases with glass doors. Your cases have a much richer look and will outlive mine.

They're not the true antique Globe Wernicke cases, but modern facsimiles thereof, and I am admittedly very pleased to have them. I was fortunate enough to get most of these 20 or so years ago when you could still get both decent craftsmanship in real wood *and* there was enough demand still for bookcases that they weren't so uncommon as to subsequently require special order and thus be rather expensive. I have a couple from that latter time frame and I'm sure I paid twice as much for each of those than I did for the earlier ones.

[Martin]

Thanks, guys.

Martin, there are 3 more bookcases — two barrister-style and one standard — in an alcove on the other side of this room, but no way to include them all in one shot. There are 6 more bookcases in an upstairs loft, most of them also glass-fronted.

Thanks. Although I am converting to cases with glass doors I am taking a much less expensive route. Most of mine are Ikea Billy cases with glass doors. Your cases have a much richer look and will outlive mine.

[RonClinton]

Thanks, guys.

Martin, there are 3 more bookcases — two barrister-style and one standard — in an alcove on the other side of this room, but no way to include them all in one shot. There are 6 more bookcases in an upstairs loft, most of them also glass-fronted.

[Martin]

Beautiful Ron. I have about half my books behind glass at this point. My target is to get that number to over 80% this year. How many other rooms do you have books? I realized that I have books in every room that does not have running water.

[Ben Staad]

Fantastic looking library. Love the bookcases with the glass doors. Those are the ones on my wish list.

Not at all, I’ve been known to do the same a time or two. Speaking of home libraries, I just featured pictures of mine on Twitter today, if you want to have a look:

https://twitter.com/ron_clinton/stat...986778633?s=21

[RonClinton]

Is it weird that you can walk into your home library and put a book back unto a shelf, in it's spot, in basically the pitch dark?

Not at all, I’ve been known to do the same a time or two. Speaking of home libraries, I just featured pictures of mine on Twitter today, if you want to have a look:

https://twitter.com/ron_clinton/stat...986778633?s=21

[Brian861]

Is it weird that you can walk into your home library and put a book back unto a shelf, in it's spot, in basically the pitch dark?

"The Force is strong with this one".

[c marvel]

Is it weird that you can walk into your home library and put a book back unto a shelf, in it's spot, in basically the pitch dark?

No, it is not. You are a wise book collector and you are one with your books. If you place the book in the wrong spot, you'll get booked. ~Cap

[Ben Staad]

Is it weird that you can walk into your home library and put a book back unto a shelf, in it's spot, in basically the pitch dark?