It may be hot, but we need a second jacket

We've settled back into work and home life after our time off at the end of June, and while we were unloading our finds from our trip to Cincinnati, we noticed something was awry.

At one of our stops in Cincy, we found a really cool edition of Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights that contained wood engravings by the famous engraver/illustrator Fritz Eichenberg. The thing that made it interesting was its dust jacket, which had the title, author's name, illustrator's name and publisher all printed directly onto the clear plastic dust jacket (you can feel each raised letter), so that if you removed the dust jacket, you remove all of that info from your book's cover.

It is definitely unique. Sadly, it also appears to be very fragile. Here's a pic of what it looked like when we bought it (left) and what it looks like now (right), after having it with other books in a shopping bag for the trip home. 

The "G" in "Wuthering" is now almost completely gone, the "N" isn't far behind, and other letters on that right-hand side are a little less full than they used to be.

Needless to say, this was alarming, especially since a big reason we added this book was because of the dust jacket. So we had to go to work to save it, or at least try to save it.

Our first stop was Random Row here in Charlottesville. In addition to being the place where we acquired the Eichenberg-illustrated Jane Eyre, we had learned a few weeks earlier in passing conversation with Ryan, Random Row's owner, that he personally covers many of his store's acquisitions with a clear plastic dust jacket. So we thought Ryan would be the perfect man for this job.

And we were right. Ryan said he hadn't seen a dust jacket like this one before, and he would certainly help us out. At first, it was determined that the plastic on our Wuthering Heights was too brittle and fragile to be flattened out and covered in the normal way Ryan would cover a book. In fact, we noticed that the dust jacket is already missing pieces, notably on the spine, from being chipped away as a result of nothing more than being opened and closed.

So we regrouped, and after being unable to find a suitable alternative to Ryan's plastic cover, we decided to make it work for us in a different way.

Rather than use a full dust jacket, we essentially cut a piece to the size of the cover, and just used it as an overlay for the front only, taping to on a couple of edges and to the inside of the cover.

It's not necessarily pretty, but it's a solution that will hopefully do the trick, for now anyway. If not, we're open to any further suggestions on the best way to preserve this unique edition.

There's nothing wrong with being partial

We enjoy buying sets, whether two volumes or 22 volumes, and one thing about the way we buy sets is that they don't always have to be complete ... because that means we have something very specific to hunt for later on, which is always fun.

As a kid, I once put together a full set of Topps baseball cards one wax pack at a time, until all 792 cards were mine. So I am not opposed to exercising a little patience in the pursuit of completing a set.

With that in mind, today we added two William Makepeace Thackeray books to our collection, each a single volume of a two-volume work (at least these editions split the works into two volumes). They were both kind of buried on a $3.00 table at Random Row Books, and they are, I have to say, pretty sweet.

They are Thackeray's works The Newcomes and The History of Pendennis, and each is the second volume of the two-volume work. Both books are published by Smith, Elder and Co. of London/J.P. Lippincott and Co. of Philadelphia, and each was published n 1868. They appear to be from a multi-volume set (22-26 books?) of Thackeray's works.

Their covers are a lovely green, with gold lettering and design, and an intertwined WMT on the front cover. Aside from their age, their relatively good condition, and the allure of having to now be on the lookout for their partners, what also made these two easy to purchase were the illustrations throughout, which in the case of Pendennis were done by Thackeray himself, while in The Newcomes they were done "on steel and wool by Richard Doyle." They really do make the books.

Lastly, one thing that I also really found attractive about these two works was that you can literally feel the printed word on the pages. It's a small perk, but I absolutely love it.

Books added: The History of Pendennis and The Newcomes by William Makepeace Thackeray

Publisher: Smith, Elder and Co. of London/J.P. Lippincott and Co. of Philadelphia

Year: 1868

Where obtained: Random Row Books, Charlottesville, VA

Price: $6.00 total

An edgy find at Random Row

I first discovered W. Somerset Maugham in 2007 when I began working my way through the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels (to date, I've read 28). Reading Of Human Bondage whetted my appetite for more Maugham -- but it was The Razor's Edge that made it on to my top five favorite novels. Imagine my delight then when, on a visit to Random Row yesterday, I found a neat cloth hardcover edition from 1944 -- the novel's original publication year. It is in really good condition, and still has its dust jacket -- protected by a Brodart book cover. I was almost convinced that it was a first edition when I looked it up, but I couldn't find anything conclusive on AbeBooks or the Library of Congress site. Either way, it is a perfect replacement for the newer paperback edition I have. Random Row does it again!

Book added: The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham

Publisher: Doubleday, Doran & Co.

Year: 1944

Where obtained: Random Row Books, Charlottesville, VA

Price: $8.00

Organized thoughts on Random news

One of the two main free weekly newspapers in town -- C-Ville -- ran a story this week on the planned development of a site in town to add a hotel near one end of Charlottesville's Downtown Mall.

A few months back, a similar story ran in C-Ville, and it was our impression then that the development included only a single building, which currently houses a new pottery studio called City Clay. This week we learned, however, that the planned development of this area of town is also going to mean the end of Random Row Books -- as we've known it, at least.

I have written before that Random Row is my favorite bookstore space in Charlottesville. Daedalus is great, and has more books, and will probably yield more for us in the long run, but Random Row is just a great space with a great mission, and we've done well there for ourselves.

We've not yet been in Charlottesville for a year, but we've been around long enough to know that aside from being a really terrific bookstore with terrific people running it, Random Row has also been a valued community space, and a key component in the revitalization of the area of Charlottesville known as Midtown, which essentially describes the geographic area of Main St. between the University of Virginia and the Downtown Mall.

Random Row helped turn that part of town into a destination for the people who live in Charlottesville and the surrounding area, and they helped other businesses grow by proving it was possible to exist in that part of the city. And to know now that it's all going away so that a hotel -- which, despite the jobs it may bring to local folks, is really a business serving visitors -- is going to replace that whole stretch of businesses that has thrived in Midtown, is very disheartening on a citizen level, in addition to how it makes us feel as people who love used-book stores.

What does the impending change say about the value of books in a community? What does it mean that a town long trying to connect its two main ends will witness the removal of community-oriented businesses accomplishing just that, in favor of a hotel serving a temporary, ever-rotating population that has no stake in being a member of the Charlottesville community?

As I said, we haven't lived here very long, and the time we have lived here has largely been spent being either very pregnant or new parents, so we haven't exactly taken advantage of Random Row's community events, but just knowing that it existed in that way was enough for us. It's one of the things that we have loved about Charlottesville, that a place like that can do well here.

So where does that leave us now? We have been planning to visit Random Row for reasons related to "Get a Spine" itself, and now we will certainly add fact-finding about the future of Random Row to our visit. We'd like to think there is some kind "Save Random Row" movement brewing out there, at the very least to help find a new space if the current one can no longer be. But we'll get some answers, and provide an update when we can.

Our first recognition as bibliophiles

A hot May day deserved a trip to a local frozen-yogurt establishment, and while enjoying our sweet treats outside on the Downtown Mall, the owner of Random Row Books came walking toward us on his way through town.

We've been into his shop a few times (maybe eight or 10 now in 10 months), had some small talk here and there, etc., but we'd yet to encounter him outside the scene where it's obviously easy to place us.

But as he passed today, he said hello, we said hello, and then -- looking at our frozen yogurt -- he said with a smile, "You guys buy that with the money you got from selling that book I sold you?"

We got a good laugh out of that, wondered whether he meant the Sherlock Holmes or the Jane Eyre, and vowed to let him know soon that we don't sell what we buy. It's only for us.

'Man, you guys are fast'

On my suggestion, we decided to wander over to Random Row this afternoon, as it had been a few weeks since we'd visited. We arrived to find them gearing for an evening of an old silent movie showing with improvisational piano accompaniment. There is always something going on at Random Row.

As I scanned the fiction shelves, a Jane Eyre with an interesting spine jumped out at me. But it wasn't just the spine that was interesting. When I pulled it off the shelf, I saw the the cover was printed with an erie engraving of a line of uniformed schools girls, eyes downcast save for one, whom I presume to be the title character herself. It gave me a little thrill to look at, so I flipped through the pages and found similarly dark, sinister-looking engravings depicting different scenes from the book. They are fantastic.

I decided I had to have it. I showed it to Kristian and he wholeheartedly agreed with me. He had been busy too, and handed me a hardback copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray to replace our nondescript paperback version -- also with some interesting illustrations.

The owner remembered us from our Sherlock Holmes score a few weeks back, and when his eyes fell on our finds he exclaimed, "Man, you guys are fast! I just put those out today... " He was particularly chagrined about the Jane Eyre, since, as he informed us, the engraving artist, Fritz Eichenberg, is something special. Watch out, Random Row, we're fast.

We later looked it up on our own and learned that it originally came as a boxed set with Wuthering Heights. So now we're on the lookout for that, too.

Book added: Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë

Publisher:  Random House

Year: 1943

Where obtained: Random Row, Charlottesville, Va.

Price: $10.00

Book added: The Picture of Dorian Grey, Oscar Wilde

Publisher:  Illustrated Editions Company

Year: 1931

Where obtained: Random Row, Charlottesville, Va.

Price: $10.00

Bookseller Review: Random Row Books

Random Row Books

315 West Main Street

Charlottesville, VA

434.326.5501
randomrow.wordpress.com

Random Row books is a bookstore of used, rare and uncommon books. The large bookstore space is multipurpose, hosting community events such as concerts, open mics, film screenings and lectures. 

What we like: Excellent fiction section with lots of older editions. The owner is young and friendly and we always enjoy chatting with him when we pop in. The space is neat, like a big garage with bookshelves lining all the walls -- it isn't your average rowed bookstore and we like the feel of it. 

What we don't like: No complaints. Random Row is one of our favorites.

Would we go again? Again and again. 

A random discovery of Sherlock Holmes

For my money, the best bookstore space in Charlottesville is Random Row Books.

It's probably because it's a bookstore that also hosts many community-oriented events, and so it is a wide-open, loft-like space, though only a one-story building. I'm not sure of the history of the building, but it was possibly some kind of garage or warehouse in the past. Whatever it was, it makes for a gritty yet extremely welcoming bookstore space today. Plus, what other bookstore do you know where you can walk in looking for books, and walk out with a free set of sewing-machine needles for the old Kenmore sewing machine you just received as a gift?

Anyway, books line most of the walls, from floor to ceiling, and while browsing, I found a little corner shelf containing a couple of piles that looked to be yet-cataloged additions to Random Row's offerings.

In these piles I spied what looked like a worn-leather spine, with a crack or two, and as I am always curious to see how old a book that looks like that will be, I took it up and gave it a closer look.

It was The Sign of the Four, the second Sherlock Holmes story written by Arthur Conan Doyle. What it actually was was The Sign of the Four and A Study in Scarlet, which was the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes.