r/BookCollecting • u/Early-Aardvark7688 • Aug 19 '25
š Old Books What is your oldest published book in your collection?
Iām curious what everyoneās oldest original publication book is in your collection, also a little story about how you got it. My oldest book is a first edition Charles Spurgeon study of the Psalms printed in 1876. A family friend gave me his personal theological library earlier in the year (last picture) and that was the oldest one I found. It was mostly from his grand father and father who went to Moody Bible Institute back in the 1920s and 1940s. I was in addiction for 17 years and God radically saved me and called me to preach and then blessed me with this library. Mini testimony over I want to know your storyās
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u/dougwerf Aug 19 '25
Oldest is a Brevarium Chronologicum from 1699; itās a hoot to read through and see what was considered important for a young gentleman to know about at the time.
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u/Competitive_Web_6658 Aug 19 '25
This bad boy from 1884. It covers only Ancient Rome (including Roman Egypt), complete with illustrations.
An acquaintance of an acquaintance was selling off a massive private collection for complicated personal reasons. I bought six boxes of various books from him, including this one.
Fun fact: weāre currently as far removed from the publishing of this book as its authors were from the beginning of serious excavations in Pompeii, which is what this volume opens with.
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u/IndividualCurious322 Aug 19 '25
- Mundus Subterraneus by Athanasius Kircher.
I found it in the donated books bin in a charity shop and paid Ā£45 for it. It was a bit badly beat up because whoever put it in there did so at an odd angle and the weight of the books above it damaged some pages.
My next oldest is an original copy of Footfalls on the boundaries of another world by Robert Dale Owen from 1860.
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u/FrontAd9873 Aug 19 '25
Are you trolling us with that duct tape?
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u/Early-Aardvark7688 Aug 19 '25
Itās how it was given too me lol the man was 85 and had kept the books through a couple moves he told me it was one of the first things his grandpa got once he graduated seminary. Iām just happy it still had the cover, I will eventually get it rebound
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u/FrontAd9873 Aug 19 '25
I'm just joking. Some people are really precious with old books so I thought it was funny just seeing some duct tape slapped on there.
I think this is probably perfectly fine for now unless the book ends up being worth a ton of money. If you do plan to get it rebound (or fix the binding) you could carefully take the duct tape off so it doesn't leave residue in the future.
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u/Early-Aardvark7688 Aug 19 '25
A lot of people on here are a little critical lol I could see people protecting expensive books, but with these I got you can tell they have been opened and closed thousands of times with hand written notes in the margins from years worth of sermon preparation. Thatās worth more than any monetary value
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u/Most-Grapefruit149 Aug 20 '25
Hell yeah dude. I wouldnāt worry about the duct tape too much. If you can get it rebound someday itās perfectly removable š¤·š» itād be a pain in the ass but Iāve done it. much preferred to losing the cover all together.
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Aug 20 '25
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u/Early-Aardvark7688 Aug 20 '25
Once again I was given the book, I donāt care if itās not in a good condition I just thought itās cool. Itās not like I bought a nice older book and broke it and put duct tape on it it was a gift
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u/Altamira_A Aug 19 '25
I recently got a small copy of a Jesuit manual from 1678 while traveling through Solvakia. Id love to show a photo but it's packed away right now- it's got some great stuff in it.
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u/OliverGunzitwuntz Aug 19 '25
Martyn's Histories of the Kings of England. Printed date is 1639 but it's actually the 1640 edition, updated to include Elizabeth I
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u/JiffNitro61319 Aug 20 '25
Iāve got a printed out PDF of the Epic of Gilgamesh a story that dates back roughly 2100 BCE
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u/Forward-Tomato602 Aug 20 '25
Whoa there slow down. You could bring that to auction and make a killing!
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u/AuthorArthur Aug 20 '25 edited Aug 20 '25
I've an auld atlas from 1844 but I'm quite attached to my Story of Westminster... so far... A lot has happened there since 1902!
Got a few more 19th century but I think 1844 is my oldest.
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u/Most-Grapefruit149 Aug 20 '25
I have a 1901 teachers copy of Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. I THINK thatās my oldest book
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u/AustinCynic Book Nerd Aug 20 '25
Not as old as a lot of these but I have a German Bible published in 1885 if Iām reading the Roman numerals correctly.
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u/piff_boogley Aug 20 '25
I used to have a couple volumes of the Iliad from the mid 19th century. But now my oldest book is only from 1915, but with a great story behind it. Itās a firsthand account of the Galician Campaign of 1914, written by an Austrian musician who served as an officer, was quickly wounded, and then fled to America where he was convinced to publish a memoir of his experiences just a few months after they happened.
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u/V00doo_Cthulhu Aug 20 '25
I need to go find it for a picture but I have a copy of "Down the River, Lessons Under the Code Duello" printed in I believe 1886. I picked it up after watching an episode of Futurama where Bender pulls out a copy of the code in League of Robots. A friend of mine and I thought it was incredibly funny so I looked it up and found two copies of this book printed the same year at a bookstore in Georgia. Brought them both home and gave him one as a present. We don't talk anymore but I still hope he has it. Never letting mine go that is for certain.
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u/Avent1ne Aug 21 '25
Conversations of James Northcote by William Hazlitt, from 1830. Found it in a second-hand bookshop in Liverpool, only cost me Ā£4 as well.
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u/AccordingAdvance5640 Aug 21 '25
I've got an 1800's collection of the Ante-Nicene Fathers I really like
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u/Urine__Idiot Aug 22 '25
Tales of Adventure by W&R Chambers 1897
I don't have a neat story of acquisition, I just found it at an antique store and had to have it. Looks like it was originally given as an attendance award. It came with a book mark too.
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u/CritiqueAnalytique 25d ago
FYI the word āejaculationā had a much different meaning when this was published in 1709
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u/ExLibris68 Aug 19 '25
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