How old is the oldest book in your library?

Question

Or how old was the oldest book you ever read?

The Count of Monte Cristo published in 1844 was the one I read.

Moe, I will try to remember that and I will try to not choose best answer until after 6 pm. Anything to help out friends.

Answer 1

1662

Miribilus secondus, the year of prodigies and experemynts ,(sic) the rest of the title runs to a whole page ..

there are reported sightings of, what we today call, UFOs

heading of one sighting starts, 'form of sword seen descending from cloud with fire from its handle' (think of a rocket launch or landing)

Answer 2

Oh dear, I have library books from back in the 80's! Maybe the oldest is about 19 years... It's not intentional! I've moved a lot and just forgot about them. The bad part is there are some libraries I'll never be able to check out from again... :(

Answer 3

You made me go look. I collect antique books, so I have several old ones. The oldest published one that I found was printed in 1857, titled "Inquire Within or over 3700 Facts For The People". Kind of an almanac.

I also have a copybook of poems, kind of like an autograph book as the poems are all written by different people, dated 1826. It is beautiful calligraphic handwriting.

There are several other from the 1800's, and one that may be older yet but the title page is gone, of children's stories. It is so worn that I can't even read the title. Other old ones have lost tier title page, so no date.

There is also a "Adventures of a Brownie", 1856, and "Billy's Christmas Tree," 1868.

And yes, I have read them all.

The best old one is "Dr Chase's Third Last and Complete Receipt Book", dated 1888. It was the household book of everything that went west in the covered wagons. Everything from farming and animal husbandry,childbirth, food preservation, recipes, household cleaning, laundry, everything you need to know to survive. Great recipes!

Answer 4

The oldest book I have ever read is owned by my son. ( outside of the Bible) It was given to him from a former employer . It was written during the Salem Witch trials in 1692. It speaks about various Indian raids going on and a great deal of the atmosphere surrounding the witch trials. Some of those accused of being witches were children and several members of families. Some probably had rabies or other such diseases that were not understood back then. The language used was very unusual in light of the world of 2007. The book went into great detail. It was in amazingly good shape. I almost hated to turn the pages for fear of damaging the binding.

Answer 5

I can't answer the second part. But I have several books that I bought at a used book store in Sauceleto (sp?) when I was eight years old. One is called "Pigs is Pigs." It's a very funny story about a family that was charged livestock rate for two guinea pigs instead of pet rate. The livestock rate was higher, so they refused to pay. The railroad employee was adamant that "Pigs is pigs." By the time the arguement was settled, there were quite a few more than two pigs to pay for. I can't find any info about it and the title page has been torn out, so I can't tell you how old it is.
I also have a copy of "Billy Whiskers Goes to the Circus" and "The five Little Peppers and how they Grew" from that shopping trip. They were not at all new when I bought them in 1964. Fun memory!

Answer 6

I have a 1903 encyclopedia called a cycolopedia and a 1919 Atlas. I have "Remember Pearl Harbor" written in 1941.

In fiction most are from the 70s and 80s. There are so good I read them again every few years. I have most of James Mitchner's, Aztec, The Far Pavilions, Sacajawea, and many others. Some are in tatters, but I won't part with them.

Answer 7

I have an old book that once belonged to my mother. The title is "A Woman Called Fancy" and it was written by Frank Yerby in the early 1950s. Mom always loved to read and had many books but this is the only one I kept after she died. I'm not sure why I kept it. We got rid of all the rest of them. I have read this book but it was many years ago.

The oldest book I've read (not my own book) was Pilgrim's Progress that was written about 1670. It was an old book from the school library but not any type of collector's edition. Tough reading assignment as I recall.

Answer 8

Got you this time, I think. I was just typing an answer to your seagull question, and by the time I posted it you had already picked best question and my answer got shut down.
What I was trying to tell you is that we both live in the same city, pretty much and you always close down your Q's so fast that I hardly ever get to answer yours. I do read all the Q&A's
and usually start back to front from where I leave off the day before. You must get up really early to post your answers, and by the time I get to them, you have already posted best answer and I am blocked out from answering them. I am asking you to please leave them open a little while longer, so that I may get a chance to answer yours. unless you want to block me and not let me answer any of your questions at all, whatever.
I really do not have an answer to this question, but got so fustrated trying to answer your seagull Q, and then getting cut off completley Thank you Moe. Now I will probably get a V for chating. But I don't do e-mail and I can't call you.


EDIT: THANKS WALLY, FOR ANSWERING ME ABOVE !!!

Answer 9

My husband has some books that date back to the mid-19th century. The oldest story I have even read was "Beowulf" in Old English in school. The oldest book was one my father had that was written and published in the 18th century.
I don't remember the title.

Answer 10

Partial list in my library:
1879 - Poetical Works of Tennyson
1880 - Life Of Henry VIII
1883 - Familiar Quotations
1883 - The Life of Saint Patrick
The only one I have not read is the Life of Henry VIII
Some of these books were handed down from my grandparents, some my mother bought over the years. As I said, these are four of many books I treasure and they are all in excellent condition. I wish I could hold up as well as they have.

Answer 11

Oldest book, from date when it was obtained: 40 years old (except for an old family Bible that dates to about 1850).

Oldest from date of publication: Plato-Republic, next oldest would be my Shakespeare plays and sonnets-written in the late 1500s to early 1600s.