I have a copy of the 1852 edition of "The Federalist on the New Constitution Written in 1788, by Mr, Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Jay with appendix containing the letters of Pacificus and Helvidius on the proclamation of neutrality of 1793; also the original Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution of the United States. New Edition with the numbers written by Mr. Madison corrected by himself." (Whew) "Hallowell; Masters, Smith & Company. 1852" Of the cover the front board and spine are missing, the only remaining part is the back board, which is completely detached and has leather flaking off all around. The pages are slightly foxed around the edges throughout, and the text sections are darkened (caused by deterioration of the ink?) but the pages are not brittle, and are securely and neatly sewn, with a nicely curved and solid spine. There are a few small bug holes on the outer pages, but no loss of text. in other words - as a book - not so much , as a text block - maybe some promise . This is a book I would like to have on my shelves, not just on my e-book or packed away (a much more recent paperback) with my old textbooks. I have been making journals and reading about bookbinding for several years. I do not pretend to be an expert, or even competent at it. My question is, is this a book I can safely practice on, hoping to wind up with a nice volume, but realizing that I might botch it up completely, or is there some reason to preserve this particular book, and find another one to play with? Thank you in advance for your advice and opinions.
I like using viaLibri (vialibri.com), which also searches a wide variety of book sites. The only copy of the 1852 edition that came up on viaLibri is being sold for $50 on AbeBooks.
Not entirely. From a purely financial value point of view, how much I'm willing to "spend" on a practice book is kinda up to me - like whether I want to use really good leather and real gold leaf or not. My question was more aimed at 1) what IS the value of this book (which I now have an answer to), 2) is there a general feeling that amateurs should stick to books that there are so many copies of no-one cares (anyone for a beautifully rebound leather edition of "Gentleman From Indiana"?), and 3) is there anything about this particular book that screams DON'T. Since no-one has jumped in to say something like "get a professional - scholars value that edition because..." I think my question is answered.
As long as you've practiced already on a few lesser tomes, just do it. If this is your first one, then I'd use a Reader's Digest or something else that there are a gazillion of and no one cares.
