I came across a interesting article by Richard Davies at AbeBooks.com.
The article tells of “treasures” or just plain interesting things found by readers of used books. Feel free to read the entire article, but I had to share some highlights of what people have found –
“A golf scorecard signed by Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.” (Sandy and Don formed one of baseball’s greatest pitching duos in the late 1950s and 1960s when playing for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Fred from Fred Dorsett Enterprises in California
“Once I found two business cards carefully taped together. I picked at the edge and they came apart revealing a three-foot long accordion folded panorama of 1970s pornography.
BL from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
“A wealthy, elderly woman in my town died a few years ago and left a large book collection with many fine books, much of which wound up in my inventory. The remaining books went to a local thrift shop, including a microwave cookbook which, as it turned out, contained 40 $1000 bills. The book was purchased by someone from out of town who was idling away the time waiting for her ride. She took the money to a local bank to verify its authenticity and that was how we heard about it. She didn’t give a cent back to the thrift shop, either. A deeply frustrating experience for many, I can assure you.”
Miep from Big Canyon Books in Carlsbad, New Mexico
This last story definitely caught my eye. Would you give the money back to the store? And have you ever found something interesting in a used book?
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Laura
on May 11th, 2009
@ 6:51 pm:
Hello Maria,
Now this is a fun question. I would not give the money back to the thrift store, BUT I would give it to my local food pantry. The only thing remotely interesting that I have found in a book was crumbs from someones lunch.
Marisa
on May 11th, 2009
@ 7:44 pm:
the thing that most interests me in a used book is when there are dedications. I love seeing how a book was gifted to another person.
Laura
on May 11th, 2009
@ 7:48 pm:
Marisa,
That is soo true. I love the dedications also. Sometimes I think about who I would dedicate a book to after spending so much time on it. That person would have to be pretty darn special, don’t you think so?
Mary M.
on May 18th, 2009
@ 10:12 am:
To be honest, I wouldn’t have given the money back to the store either – it didn’t belong to them any more than it did to the buyer, and as the buyer was the one to actually open the book, well, tough luck. I wish I’d find something interesting in a used book, but the only thing I’ve ever gotten were bookmarks, and usually battered ones. I like to check the dedications, though.
Tovah
on May 19th, 2009
@ 12:21 pm:
I’ve found notes, and the occasional bit of homework,nothing more interesting than that. but it was fun to read the notes.
Johanna
on May 19th, 2009
@ 9:05 pm:
I found a used lottery ticket once, plus it was 5 states over from the state I bought the book.