From: zeleny@husc9.harvard.edu (Michael Zeleny)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books
Subject: Re: Books as decoration?
Date: 27 Sep 92 05:12:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: husc3.1992Sep27.011248.15879
Organization: The Phallogocentric Cabal

In article <1992Sep25.103119.1@mdcbbs.com> lay@mdcbbs.com writes:

>Sandra Loosemore writes:

SL:
>> Hmmm.  The 1898 edition of Mahan that I've been working on as my
>> bedtime reading also had some uncut pages.  Made me wonder how it
>> spent the last 94 years -- packed in a box in an attic somewhere?
>> 
>> Personally, I think books are made to be read.  It's only recently
>> that I've been able to afford books that have some value apart from
>> that derived from reading them (like this Mahan set), anyway.  After
>> spending the money on them, I feel guilty if I don't read them though!
>> 
>> -Sandra

R:
>Does it count to have read another copy of the book with uncut pages?

Of course not.

R:
>I've recently returned to the US after spending three years living and working
>in Paris.  While I was there, I began a small collection of books by the
>publisher Pleiade -- relatively expensive printings of "classic" works, often
>in an anthology form.

A small correction: `Pl\'eiade' is the name of a series published by
Gallimard.  The best among them tend to be recent academic editions of
classic authors (Baudelaire was the first one to be published by them, and
subsequently went through three successive editions, which are updated with
new bibliographic information in each new printing), including peerless
academic commentary and up-to-date texts complete with variant readings.
Others (e.g. Flaubert or Rabelais) are just unremarkable "luxury" editions,
typeset in a pretentious font on semi-translucent, scanner-resistant
"bible" paper, issued in a near-pocket format, and graced with colorful
24-carat gold-embossed sheepskin bindings, which have a tendency to fall
apart after only a few years on a library shelf.  In short, if you are into
fine editions, you are far better off looking for XIXth century books.

R:
>Now, it's still a chore for me to read long, involved stories or poetry in
>French, especially when the author in question has been dead a long time,
>(Laclos, Hugo, Baudelaire), or when the subject matter is filled with subtle
>imagery (Camus).  The easiest way for me to read in French is to make two
>passes: first read the entire text straight through, marking unknown words as I
>go along but not stopping to look them up right away -- for me, stopping to
>look up words takes away from the joy of reading in another language.  After
>completing a section, I'd go back and look up all the marked passages and add
>these words to my vocabulary list.  Then, list in hand, I'd re-read the text,
>usually with a better comprehension than the first time.
>
>Of course, this reading methodology is hard on books.  Throw in the wear and
>tear involved when reading in rush-hour metro traffic, and you're lucky if your
>copy survives to the end of the story -- not what you want when you're spending
>350F ($70) on a single volume.

The price is reduced 40-50%, as long as one is prepared to buy from the
real "bouquinistes" on the riverbanks.  Of course, this way you'll pay
through the nose for Gallimard freebies, like the annual picture albums and
diaries.

R:
>My solution was to buy a paperback version of any book that I thought I wanted
>in a Pleiade version, read it, then go back and buy the Pleiade for my library. 
>I can't honestly say that I'll cut all the pages of these books, especially
>when I've got an already-marked-up version in reserve.  Still, even with the
>pages uncut, I like the way they look on the bookshelf, and I don't feel guilty
>about not having read them!

Apparently your guilt-free approach to reading the classics has prevented
you from noting that, throughout its history, the series in question has
*always* been published with ready-cut margins.

>-Ron.

cordially,
mikhail zeleny@husc.harvard.edu
who spends his student loans on Italian 
motorcycles, Swiss guns, and French books
"Un de mes plus grands plaisirs est de jurer Dieu quand je bande."
Newsgroups: rec.arts.books