Victory in My Hands,

Picked this book up yesterday for 1.99, wow, what ever happened to .50 books. After finding it on Abe books I was amaze what it was selling for, even newer ones. “Victory in my Hands, by Harold Russell.
https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?kn=Victory in my hands, Harold Russell&sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-topnav-_-Results&ds=20
Only this book was printed in Copenhagen, Denmark… dag-nab-it, if only I knew someone that could read Danish. @Any Jewelry Well that aside it appears first editions were in 1949 and I believe my book was published in 1950, which might make it a first in Europe. But The Roman numerals read MCMIL(which is not a date) 1950 would be MCML. WHERE AM I going wrong? MCMLI is 1951 but that’s not what’s printed.

‘Not sure why I bought a book I can not read. Duh!

Anyway, thank you for looking.

 

I think the Roman numerals are a date.

M (100O) CM (900) IL (49)

 

I have hundreds of books in my collection I cannot read.
You get used to it .

 

I'm heeding Libris' 'tough love' advice too ! I've purchased tons of old horse s***-damned if I know why ?

 

I still go on the theory that "if it looks interesting, it's valuable at least to me." I'm a puzzle junkie .

1949 yup. Thank you 6th grade math! If a smaller letter is in front of a larger letter, subtract the smaller one, so IL is 49.

 

I agree Evely-"I still go on the theory that "if it looks interesting, it's valuable at least to me." -it's the blasted mystery that always hooks me.

 

‘that would make sense, except they must count Roman numerals different in Denmark.

guessing the Romans skipped 6th grade…

 

Btw: 1949 would make this a first edition. Woohoooo!

 

There does seem to be flexibility in how the numerals are written. Without being able to cite specific examples, I can say that I have encountered variations in their usage. It's the same with Latin itself: usage changes over time, and it's not unusual for there to be periods when "purification" is espoused.

Look at the spacing of the numerals. It's not MCMIL, it's M_CM_IL.

 

This way of writing was a bit of a head scratcher, when I first saw it (1827).

 

indeed, now that make perfectly good sense. I thought the spacing was awkward at best but it’s blatantly obvious now. 1000 900 49

thanks

 

Here's an opportunity to learn a little Danish! You could buy a copy in a language that you read very well... then compare, and also buy a dictionary that compares the two languages. A fun project for 2024!

 

Great idea, but at sixty six, it would be easier to say I did that, then to actually do that. Ved at bruge en oversættelsesapp får jeg mere tid til at nyde et glas vin, mens jeg læser alt det vidunderlige indlæg her.

 

I used a translation app to understand this. Enjoy!