When You do What You Love...

The books and topics that get our vintage and collectibles team excited

Few aspects of professional life are as rewarding as working in an industry which reflects your personal interests. By great good fortune I have spent a decade and a half working among books. As Director of the Vintage program at ThriftBooks^®, I lead a team of like-minded bibliophiles who augment their passion for the printed word with many years of experience working with rare books. Each team member brings unique areas of expertise, and high standards of buyer satisfaction, to help source, list, and present Collectible books to ThriftBooks customers. Is it really work when you love a job this much?

A particular favorite exercise among the team is contributing to the Holiday Gift Guide. You ask a group of antiquarian book lovers, with myriad and diverse interests, which books they would recommend and the answers will be legion.

Of course, literature the world over holds pride of place among readers. Some of the most beautiful books which we classify as "collectible" are those which fall into this genre, and our most popular editions are published by Easton Press, the Franklin Library, and the Folio Society. If you are searching for a book which presents well, then look no further than these three publishers. Bound in leather, with gilt tooling on the cover, and decorative endpapers, the products of Easton Press and Franklin Library are keep-sakes for a lifetime. The Folio Society dresses their books in fine slipcases, and each volume includes highly skilled illustrations. They have a devoted following among book collectors. A waggish 19th Century American bibliophile once remarked: "I like my books to be as pretty as my daughters…" if you share this sentiment, then these are the books for you.

Somewhat surprising, at least to a person of my traditional taste, is the wild popularity among staff and customers for vintage Manga publications. This unique art form covers a wide variety of topics, from action adventure, to romance sometimes so racy that it would make any courtesan blush scarlet. Our most favored continuing storylines are those of Lone Wolf and Cub, Trigun Omnibus, and the ever-faithful Speed Racer. Even the works of William Shakespeare have been given the Manga treatment, we have Merchant of Venice and Julius Caesar right now, and the spicy tales of the Bard have met a media form which can do them justice.

A long-running and spirited debate enjoyed among the Vintage team is weighing the merits of the work of Stephen King with those of H.P. Lovecraft. There are devoted followers on both sides, and I shall remain as silent as the Sphinx regarding my own preference. At our processing center in Phoenix, Arizona we have on staff an authority on the different volumes and editions of King's magnus opus, where one can find a first edition of his novel Carrie, and a 1982 second edition of The Gunslinger; and in our Dallas, Texas processing center we have listed the contents of one of the finest collections of the printed work of Lovecraft, as well as previously unpublished works of his fan fiction. Spine tingling, both in the quality of books available, as well as the contents of their pages.

A genre which has an air of mystery about it is that of the vintage cookbook. Like a time capsule these collections of "receipts," as they were called for centuries, allow a peek into the taste and customs of ages gone by, yet are also a resource for the preparation of certain foods which form the foundation of many cultures. The Joy of Cooking is an honored favorite, as is Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child. More amusing than both of those, however, is the White House Cookbook of a century ago, wherein you can learn to roast an ox, or prepare syllabub for two hundred guests.

Best of all is when we encounter a book which resonates with the import of the author, or the impact its publication had. Of these, two of my favorites are an autographed first edition of Stride Toward Freedom by Martin Luther King Jr., or an exquisite miniature Bible, which dates from 1775. I am sure that each Vintage team member has had their awe-struck moment when they behold a copy of a book precious to them, or which they know will touch the heart of a customer. Again, is it really work when you love a job this much?

Read more by William Shelton