The January
2020 meeting focused on stories of acquiring various books in our collections. How, when, or where the book was acquired
took priority over the book itself. Stories
of serendipitous finds, chance encounters with an author, and astonishing
prices delighted the group. From the book
which started a new collection or sub-collection to the collector's most recent
acquisition, these wonderful books were introduced with equally wonderful
stories of how they came into the collector's hands.
 |
| The Lost Childhood |
Greene,
Graham. The Lost Childhood and Other
Essays. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode,
1951. First edition. William Hood's copy. Hood was a CIA officer and novelist who is
best known as the CIA senior officer who signed off on the intelligence cable stating
that Lee Harvey Oswald was not considered a security threat. Based on this cable, the FBI removed Oswald
from its persons of interest list; six weeks later, Oswald was arrested for the
assassination of John F. Kennedy. Loose
laid in the book is a diner order ticket with a note on the back: "William
Hood left here Monday night!" Hood apparently
never returned to pick up his book.
 |
| William Hood's ownership signature |
The
collector describes the acquisition: "I first ran across this copy while
searching for another book online. I was
intrigued and almost purchased it right then, but I continued my search for
what I originally sought. I thought I
might return to it later, but I did not.
Less than a week later, a friend and fellow collector called me from a
small bookshop in New York where he was visiting. As he began to describe the book, I instantly
knew the copy he was talking about and knew I wanted it. Without hesitation, I asked him to get it for
me. Best of all, I did not have to pay
for shipping."
 |
| A. E. Housman's Last Poems with Graham Greene's ownership signature |
Housman,
A. E. Last Poems. London: Grant Richards Ltd., 1922. First edition. Graham Greene's copy. As a student, Greene was strongly influenced
by Housman's writing, and Last Poems was published in September 1922, the
same year Greene entered college and began studying poetry. Greene often quoted Housman in his
non-fiction, including citing a poem from this copy of Last Poems in his
first travel book, Journey Without Maps.
The
collector describes the acquisition: "This book popped up on my radar several
years ago. I had long wanted a book from
Graham Greene's library with his ownership signature in it, and this was a
prime candidate because of Housman's influence on Greene as a writer. The book was priced fairly but more than I wanted
to pay. After two and a half years of
constantly checking on it, I saw the seller pulled it from the sales inventory
and put it up for auction. With no
reserve and little interest from other bidders, I handily won the auction,
paying only one-fifth of the original asking price."
