LEC Emily Dickinson

I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to share pictures of the table of contents for the LEC Emily Dickinson volume? I’m interested but have the latest FS selection and wonder how much overlap there is.

>1 RRCBS:

>2 abysswalker: thanks, really appreciate it!

Having just ordered this I am relieved to be pleased with the pictures above, but I do hope RRCBS wasn’t eyeing the same copy (180 bucks on Biblio vs. 240 on eBay, to keep flogging a dead horse)! It looks Fine in photos but I’m always a little concerned I’ll have black shoepolish on my hands as soon as I take a newly-bought black leather LEC out of the slipcase…

>4 GusLogan: I was considering that one! Ended up ordering a set of the HP poets series. 5 volumes for 75 US. I’ve heard good things about it the first HP series and think those will be good for what I want. I hope you enjoy your book! It definitely looked to be in really good condition!

>4 GusLogan: the LEC is my favorite edition of Dickinson's poetry and she is one of my favorite poets.

Dye transfer seems less likely to me with the LEC American poets series, but there is a risk of the leather drying out. Happily the copy I acquired had been kept well and is near fine, but I also paid some premium for that condition.

>4 GusLogan: I have noticed the price difference on different services, and I have always thought that it could just be that some services charge the seller more, and so they raise their prices on that service. With EBay I think the difference is that the sellers know that many buyers want to feel they are getting a bargain, and so they raise the price so that they can lower it and still get the price they need for the book. I had one book I had been looking at for awhile that was listed on EBay for $150. I noticed the same book listed for $120 on Biblio and thought I would see what the buyer said if I offered less on EBay, so I offered $100. They countered with their $120, which I passed on because I knew I could buy it anytime on Biblio for that price. I think even the $100 I offered is a bit high for the book in question, so I will let it go for awhile anyway. I found another copy in lesser condition and signed for $30, but I would still like to have the nicer jacket on the first copy, I just do not like the price. It shows that it pays to look around before you buy a book, especially a more expensive one.

>7 Bernarrd: the shipping charge is often fixed on eBay, whereas on Abe sellers often request additional shipping charges after you place an order. So the difference in total effective price is not always so clear cut. Also if you are outside the US, the eBay global shipping program is often more reliable and predictable, both in terms of tracking updates and in terms of unexpected fees (guaranteed no tax or duty fees on delivery, at least in Canada).

>8 abysswalker: While I am in the U.S., I do know what overseas shipping costs today. That is why I very seldom buy overseas anymore. I do not not mind paying for the book, but the shipping makes the price too much. I have been buying books through the mail for 40 years or more, and I remember the time, when most sellers had postage included in the price of the book, at least within the U.S. I used to buy several books a year from the U.K. or Australia, but I think I have only ordered one of two overseas books in the last year. The last one was from Australia and it was a rare Occult Detective title that I seldom see for sale, so the $180 price with $30 postage was not too bad of a price. But if I think I do not have to buy overseas to get a book, I usually will not. Paying $40 for a book with $30 postage, is too much of an add on to the price. At one time to buy a book from the U.K. I had to place an order through the mail, from a paper catalog that I had received in the mail, and then wait to see if any of the items I ordered were still available. If they were the seller would send an invoice through the mail and I would have to go to the bank and get a bank draft in pounds to mail back to the seller. Then some time later I would finally receive my books. Maybe a four month window from order til books received. If I really wanted a book I could call in an overseas order to increase my odds of getting the book at the cost of an oversea phone call. At some point the banks started raising the price of a bank draft and it became price prohibitive to buy cheaper books from the U.K. At least until more sellers started taking credit cards, and then with the instant orders of the internet it sped up the entire process. Some sellers would take my dollar checks, I guess they had a bank with reasonable conversion fees when my bank did not.

>6 abysswalker:
I worry - cynically and without any real cause, but the mind works mysteriously - that sellers will have touched black sheepskin books up with a spot of shoe polish for a quick photo op and sale. But I look forward to reading this one!

>10 GusLogan:

Lol, shoe polish? That'd be pretty bold. There are leather dyes you can use. Yes, the seller should still disclose the "repair" regardless. I've applied leather dye to a couple of leather labels and quarter leather bindings in my library I had no intention of ever parting with and results are sometimes great, sometimes terrible. I only do it when the leather is terribly sunned and it's not going to look any worse.

>11 MobyRichard: I have bought cloth books that have had dye applied to faded covers. Usually this is with books from the U.K. And is is normally on books that were fairly inexpensive to begin with. Like Mysteries, Science Fiction and Fantasy titles. I guess it is some product used there that we do not see in the U.S. You can see the dye because there is a different color on the inside edge of the boards usually. I have also gotten books that have been waxed from U.K. sellers. I do not see that much from American sellers. Although it does not look bad, if you are a stickler for originality in your books it is not the best thing.