Into the Archive: $2/lb

The Allegory of Love - A Study in Medieval Tradition Paperback – January 1, 1963

by C. S. Lewis (Author)

Love is the commonest theme of serious imaginative literature and is still generally regarded as noble and ennobling passion. Love has not always taken such precedence, however, and it was in fact not until the eleventh century that French poets first began to express the romantic species of passion which English poets were still writing about in the nineteenth century. This book is intended for students of medieval literature from A-level upwards. Anyone interested in the "Courtly Love" tradition. Fans of C.S. Lewis's writings. – Amazon

I’ve had a copy of this for donkey’s years: badly marked up and with a cracked spine. The copy I got yesterday was just as old, and except for some fading on the cover is almost pristine. The vagaries of time, eh? I guess I can retire the ‘old’ one.

 

The Golden Ass: The Transformations of Lucius (FSG Classics) Paperback – March 31, 2009

by Apuleius (Author), Robert Graves (Translator)

The story of The Golden Ass is that of Lucius Apuleius, a young man of good birth who encountered many strange adventures while disporting himself along the roads to Thessaly. Not the least of these occurred when Apuleius offended a priestess of the White Goddess, who turned him into an ass. The tale of how Apuleius dealt with this misfortune and eventually resumed human form is conveyed by Robert Graves in modern English that is infused with a bawdy wit and sense of adventure that is "itself a small masterpiece of twentieth-century prose" (Kenneth Rexroth, Saturday Review). - Amazon

I have an unwieldy copy of this. The fact that this was a Robert Graves translation really drove the sale.

 

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart (Author)  

Born the bastard son of a Welsh princess, Myridden Emrys -- or as he would later be known, Merlin -- leads a perilous childhood, haunted by portents and visions. But destiny has great plans for this no-man's-son, taking him from prophesying before the High King Vortigern to the crowning of Uther Pendragon . . . and the conception of Arthur -- king for once and always. – Amazon

Getting a hardback copy that looks exactly like the copy I read back in middle school is great. Should be easier (certainly more nostalgic) to read than in my aging paperback.

 

The Dilbert Future: Thriving on Business Stupidity in the 21st Century 

by Scott Adams (Author)

Step aside, Bill Gates! Here comes today′s real technology guru and his totally original, laugh-out-loud New York Times bestseller that looks at the approaching new millennium and boldly predicts: more stupidity ahead.

In The Dilbert Principle and Dogbert′s Top Secret Management Handbook, Scott Adams skewered the absurdities of the corporate world. Now he takes the next logical step, turning his keen analytical focus on how human greed, stupidity and horniness will shape the future. Featuring the same irresistible amalgam of essays and cartoons that made Adams previous works so singularly entertaining, this uproariously funny, dead-on-target tome offers half-truthful, half-farcical predictions that push all of today′s hot buttons - from business and technology to society and government.

Children - they are our future, so we′re pretty much hosed. Tip: Grab what you can while they′re still too little to stop us.

Human Potential - we′ll finally learn to use the 90 percent of the brain we don′t use today, and find out that there wasn′t anything in that part.

Computers - Technology and homeliness will combine to form a powerful type of birth control. – Amazon

With the recent passing of Scott Adams, I’ve become more keenly aware of the need to sip deeply from the coffee cup of knowledge, and since we have no longer the living fount, we at least have in his books "the precious life-blood of a master spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life", as it were. There is an AI version of the man online which John tells me is good, but I’m still a little suspicious that extraneous content might start leaking in. I’m stodgy enough to trust books more for now.

 

Walt Kelly's Pogo Revisited: Instant Pogo / The Jack Acid Society Black Book / The Pogo Poop Book Paperback – June 25, 1974

by Walt Kelly (Author)

The cartoon antics of Pogo the Possum and his friends in Okefenokee provide a witty and satirical view of American politics, morality, social values, and behavior. -Amazon

Now this, this is probably the jewel in the crown of our day’s harvesting. Pogo books were hard to come by in the days of our youth, and only got scarcer and harder to obtain as the years went by. To actually get an old volume (and in very good shape, too) for so little seems nothing short of a miracle. Jack Acid and Poop? You sly old dog, Mr. Kelly!

 The Works of Josephus Hardcover – Unabridged

by Flavius Josephus (Author), William Whiston (Translator)

Josephus’s writings on ancient Jewish thought, background, and history are now more accessible than ever!
This renowned reference book has served scholars, pastors, students, and those interested in the background of the New Testament for years. The insight given into the Essene community, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the interpretations and traditions of the Old Testament in first century Judaism is invaluable. The outlook of Josephus, a late-first-century Pharisee and historian, on Jesus and the New Testament documents is enlightening and provocative. As an original reference, The Works of Josephus is essential to a full understanding of the first century, the time of Christ, and the New Testament. - Amazon

I’ve been wanting to get a volume of Josephus for a long time but have never found one for the right price (practically nil). To have all his work, in hardback, in one book – amazing. Sure, it’s in teeny-tiny eye-strain-o-vision, but nobody’s perfect. It’s a handy and intriguing doorstopper from the Ancient World.

 

Dilbert Gives You the Business (Paperback – January 1, 1999)

by Scott Adams (Author)

Dilbert in ... business!!?? – Amazon’s succinct review. A collection of business and office-themed comic strips, arranged by category, from Bosses to Teamwork.

 

Riddle of Stars (The Quest of the Riddle-Master Trilogy) Hardcover – October 1, 1979

Issued by the Science Fiction Book Club in October 1979. Collects the three books in the trilogy for the first time; The Riddle-Master of Hed (1976), Heir of Sea and Fire (1977) and Harpist in the Wind (1979). With an essay, "People and Places" by the author. - Amazon

I sold my old copy a few years back, but to find one in library binding, to have all three books in one cover (I have them in separate paperbacks), well I found that suddenly irresistible. I passed it by the last time we went; if it had been gone that would have been that. But to be presented with a second bite at the apple! I also have the lame excuse that it would make a good loner copy.

 

So we went to the Second Chance Bookstore near Geronimo before we had Movie Night (it was Network (1975), a film I had never seen, but one of John’s favorites) yesterday, and this time Kameron was with us. So I found these books, and I bought Kameron 4, and since John only found 1 we added it to the pile for ease of ringing up. To remind you of the deal, books here are sold by weight, $2 for every pound.  The total was a tad over $32, so about 16 pounds of books. You can hardly order one new book for under $32. A steal of a deal! As I explained to Kameron, you can’t go in hoping to find one expected book; the joys of the place are the unexpected windfalls and the thrill of the hunt.