Sometimes I want just want to scream about how badly books get beaten up over the years. I worked in my school library during high school and couldn't count the times a book came back in with it's spine broken and I had to whisper sweet nothings as I nursed it back to health.
It's not often that I find a super old book in any kind of decent condition. But when I do, usually at my local Goodwill, I jump on them. I've got a few really old books there, mostly old Indiana State series textbooks. My mother has an 1830 something copy of Ivanhoe, I hate touching it. Every time I do I worry that it's going to fall apart. I recently bought "The