Hit the jackpot at a library sale by checking the bottom shelf

I found a 1967 field guide to mushrooms with hand-drawn illustrations for 50 cents at a library sale in Toledo. It was shoved behind a row of old textbooks on the lowest shelf nobody looks at. Has anyone else had luck digging through the stuff other people ignore?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_reese17d ago

Did you catch that story on NPR a while back about people finding rare botany books at library sales? That sounds like a total gem right there. Hand drawn illustrations from the 60s are way better than any modern photos, they just have this charm to them. I've heard field guides from that era sometimes have species in them that aren't even in newer books anymore because populations shifted.

leo60314d ago

Honestly, that NPR story stuck with me too. And @rowan_hayes is right, finding one of those at a price that doesn't hurt is a real stroke of luck. I remember flipping through a 60s bird guide once and there was a whole page on the Carolina Parakeet, which has been extinct for decades. It gives you this strange feeling, like you're reading a ghost story.

rowan_hayes17d ago

That's such a great find, it really is. I'm a little jealous honestly, those old field guides with the hand drawn illustrations are getting harder and harder to come by at prices that don't make you wince. The bit about species that might not even be in newer books anymore gives it this almost secret history quality, like you're holding onto something a little bit rare. Good for you for checking the bottom shelf too, most people just scan the eye level stuff and miss all the real treasures.