Do we have to leave? -- Pt. III

We'd scored the Cooper set and the Modern Library works, and so on half-price Saturday at the Gordon Ave. Library Sale, we were after some of the other things we'd seen but not yet pulled the trigger on.

The doors opened at 9 a.m., so we had ourselves out the door with plenty of time to spare -- or so we thought. Unbeknownst to us, the Charlottesville Marathon was well under way by the time we were headed out, and we hit some serious traffic on our way.

After re-routing ourselves, we made it over with enough time to spare that we had a few minutes to wait in line (or change a diaper, depending on which one of us you ask), and those few minutes in line were not wasted, as I learned that the SPCA Rummage Store is half-price in the book section on the first Saturday of every month. Noted!

Once the doors opened, it was game on. I made a bee-line to the area of the sale where sets were collected, and while I wasn't the first one there, I was the first to put my hands on a collection of Mark Twain's works, a collection of Nathaniel Hawthorne's works, and a collection of Ralph Waldo Emerson's writings. A total of 52 books for $57.50. Done and done.

It appeared that I was the only one after the Emerson and Hawthorne collections, while Twain was another story. One of the men who arrived to the section before me went after a different set first, providing the opening for me to get in and grab Twain. Almost exactly after the moment my hand touched the first book he exclaimed, "Ah, you beat me to it." I actually said "Are you sure?" and gave him an opening (why did I do this?), and he deferred, saying it was all fair and no worries.

We added a few more nonfiction/reference items before checking out, and deemed our three days at the Gordon Ave. Library Sale to be a rousing success. We can't wait for the next one!

Books added: 24 vol. set of the works of Mark Twain (c.1920); 14 vol. set of the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne (1890); 14 vol. set of the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1883)

Publishers (in same order):  P.F. Collier & Son Company; Houghton Mifflin, The Riverside Press; Houghton Mifflin, The Riverside Press

Years: See above

Where obtained: Gordon Ave. Library Sale, Charlottesville, Va.

Price: $57.50 total

Do we have to leave? -- Part II

So I made it through Thursday -- barely -- without heading back over to the Gordon Ave. Library Sale to make sure I could still snap up the G.P. Putnam's Mohawk Edition James Fenimore Cooper set, but I had to at least check on them today.

As we entered and headed directly toward the back to the section of sets, Deborah thought it'd be hilarious to play with my emotions by saying, "Oh, honey, I think they're gone..." Thankfully, they were not gone, and after the momentary fright, I was determined to take them home that day.

I did a little asking around to see who was in charge, and once I learned that I had to look for "Bill," that's exactly what I did. I found Bill in a makeshift office near the back exits, and approached him like so (paraphrasing somewhat):

"Hi. I am very interested in the set of Cooper novels you have back there, and was trying to wait until tomorrow when they are half price, but am worried they'll be gone. Since the set is not actually complete and is missing the two most popular works, would you consider selling them to me today for somewhere between the $50 price tag and what they'd be tomorrow?"

Bill: "Sure, how about $35."

"Deal."

So that was that. I loaded up one of the sale's empty plastic boxes with my new -- incomplete -- set of works by an author whom I admire and feel a connection to. Somewhere out there I will come across The Last of the Mohicans and The Prairie  to complete this part of our collection.

The fun didn't end there, though, as they had one bookcase dedicated to "small" fiction, meaning physically short books. Which we like, because two of the shelves on the cases we bought from the former Massachusetts congressional candidate do not allow for anything but short books.

Cue the Random House Modern Library hardcovers of the early-to-mid part of the 20th century. We had a couple prior to today, and we like their look. Classic, colorful when gathered together, and many different titles and opportunities to put together a unique collection of those editions.

We added a handful, and decided to sit tight on anything more until half-price weekend begins tomorrow.

Books added: The Republic, Plato (1941); Fathers and Sons, Ivan Turgenev (1950); Winesburg, Ohio, Sherwood Anderson (1947); The Old Wives' Tale, Arnold Bennett (1931); I, Claudius, Robert Graves (1937)

Publisher:  Random House, Modern Library

Year: Various

Where obtained: Gordon Ave. Library Sale, Charlottesville, Va.

Price: $2.00 each

Books added: The Works of James Fenimore Cooper, (30/32 vols.), James Fenimore Cooper

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Year: c.1896

Where obtained: Gordon Ave. Library Sale, Charlottesville, Va.

Price: $35.00 for 30 vols.

Do we have to leave? -- Part I

We walk by the main branch of the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library on Market Street in Charlottesville fairly often. It's on our way to or from a lot of places we go.

Recently, we'd been seeing signs posted on the building for the "Gordon Ave. Library Sale." I'd say our interest was piqued, but having only lived in Charlottesville for nine months, we had no sense of what the Gordon Ave. Library Sale was.

The sale kicked off on March 31, and is slated to run through April 8. Deborah's parents were in town for the first weekend of the sale, so we waited until today to find out what it was all about.

Ten minutes in, we never wanted to leave.

An entire basement of a library, at least four large rooms, filled with bookcases, piled with books, all for roughly the cost of a cup of coffee or less. It was too good to be true, yet it happens twice every year.

On this visit, we scouted the place out, learned what was what and where to find it, and learned that if we could keep ourselves from going overboard all week, our patience would be rewarded with half-price days on the final two days of the sale.

The most exciting find, for me, is one I am trying my best to hold out on until half-price weekend: A Mohawk Edition set of James Fenimore Cooper's novels (32-volume set), published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, circa 1896. Price on Wednesday, $50.

There were, however, two things about this set that gave me pause. First, it was missing the two (likely) most popular Cooper books, The Last of the Mohicans  and The Prairie. With two of the five "Leatherstocking Tales" missing, in addition to $50 feeling like too much on its own merit, it certainly felt like too much for an incomplete set. Second, the set said it had 31 volumes, which it did -- one volume was in there twice.

Choosing judgment over desire, I decided to wait it out, hoping that if no one had claimed them by the fifth day of the sale, that they would still be there three days later.

But that's not to say we left empty-handed. Aside from taking home a mountain of children's books for our daughter's burgeoning collection, we also rounded up various reference items of interest (Wildlife of North America, for example).

We're definitely going back.