Understanding Rare Books

While it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when examining a book, the paper that a book's text appears on is more complex than meets the eye. When examined more thoroughly, there are many different paper textures and materials used to make sheets. The two primary classifications of paper are laid paper and wove paper. According to John Carter and Nicolas Barker's ABC for Book Collectors, laid paper is more textured, with visible lines called chain lines (Carter and Barker 2006, 138-139). These lines are a result of the wire in the frame that the paper was made in. Special Collections' 1677 copy of Saint Augustine of Hippo's Operum vol. 10 uses laid paper. The picture, taken through a special magnifying glass called a loupe and illuminated with a light sheet, shows the horizontal pattern of lines and a vertical stripe running down the center.

The laid paper of St. Augustine's Operum, seen through the loupe.  Augustine, of Hippo, Saint. Operum tomus. X post lovaniensium theologorum recensionem castigatus denuo ad manuscriptos codices Gallicanos, Vaticanos, Anglicanos, Belgicos &c. nec non ad editiones antiquiores & castigatiores. Opera et studio monachorvm Ordinis s. Benedicti è Congregatione s. Mauri. Parisiis, F. Muguet, MDCLXXXIII-MDCC. BR65.A52 L3 1700  v. X.

The more common type of paper, and the type used in Candle-Lightin' Time, is wove paper. Carter and Barker define wove paper as having a more granulated and less visible pattern (Carter and Barker 2006, 232). Candle-Lightin' Time uses two types of wove paper: uncoated and coated wove paper. Uncoated wove paper is just normal wove paper without any gloss on it, where coated wove paper is typically shinier and has an even less visible pattern. The book's endpapers, or the pages pasted down on the book's front and back covers, are uncoated wove paper of a buttery color. The photograph that displays a muted brown color and appears more textured is of the uncoated endpapers in Candle-Lightin' Time. The photograph whose texture is less clear and that has more of a shine is of the coated wove paper that is used throughout the vast majority of the book and on which the poems and photographs appear. Details about the production of Candle-Lightin' Time's paper are not known, but the title page credits the printing to the University Press of John Wilson and Son in Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

From left to right: the uncoated wove paper and the coated wove paper of Candle-Lightin' Time, seen through a loupe. Dunbar, Paul Laurence. Candle-Lightin' Time. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1901. PS 1556 .C2 1901. 

"Pagination" refers to the way a book's pages are numbered. Oftentimes, the pagination of a book does not start at one and end on the last page. In Candle-Lightin' Time's case, the first numbered page that appears is page 15, and the last numbered page is 127. No pages are missing or out of order. The first fourteen pages and the last page are unnumbered. Included in the unnumbered pages are the decorative half-title, a page with a photograph (the frontispiece), and the title page. The frontispiece appears on the verso, or reverse side, of a blank page. The frontispiece of Candle-Lightin' Time is a photographic illustration of an African American woman holding a candle. The image is bordered in a stylized pattern of dots and dashes. The page immediately following the frontispiece is the title page. The title page contains Candle-Lightin' Time's title, the names of its author, illustrator, and photographers, and its publication information. The title of the book is illustrated in green in Margaret Armstrong's stylized font with flourishing descenders (the "legs" of letters "g" and "y"). Around the title and creative credits is a black, stylized frame of lilies and two candles. 

From left to right: frontispiece for Candle-Lightin' Time of an African American woman with a candle, and the title page.

The page numbers, the text of the poems, and other text in the book are printed in multiple typefaces, or font groups. There are three fonts used in the book, and two typefaces. The first of these three fonts is used in the illustrated text of the title page and designed by Armstrong. It is a stylized font where letters like "G" and "Y" are illustrated with flourishing descenders; the lower case letter "h" has a flourishing ascender (the top part of the letterform). The title, Dunbar's name, and the publication information appear in this font in a green that matches the patterned borders featured in the rest of the book. The rest of the book's text is black. The other two fonts are written in a serif typeface, which is a type of font whose letters have some sort of flourish—or curve—on their stems.  The second font is an unidentified serif font and used on the dedication page and in the Table of Contents. The third font is a serif font used in the text of all the poems, and distinguished from the second font by slanted stems on the letters "E" and "G."

A number of features can make individual copies of rare books valuable. This might be the book's former owner (like War Path and Bivouac owned by former president Benjamin Harrison), a signature from the author, an inscription, where it was formerly held, why it was created, the materials used to make it, its condition, and how many copies of it there are. 

Little is known about any former owners of JCU's copy of Candle-Lightin' Time besides Gilman's booksellers in New York City (Mondlin and Meador 2003, 107-108). There are no words written inside the book or any signatures. Unfortunately, the book is also in poor condition. Candle-Lightin' Time is not especially rare among libraries in the United States, as WorldCat.org records at least 710 other libraries as owning a copy. Even in Cleveland, Baldwin Wallace University and Case Western Reserve University both own a copy. Dodd, Mead, the book's publisher, intended the book for mass publication and continued to print it at least 11 years after its original publication; this suggests that there could be more copies in existence other than those held by libraries (Dodd 1939, 36). 

Because there are many editions of the book out there, looking at some of the other editions for sale illuminate what factors can add value to Candle-Lightin' Time specifically. Of the editions being sold by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, the most expensive is $12,500. This is because the edition is sold with its gray dust jacket, which, among the catalogue descriptions from other libraries, is extremely rare for copies to still possess. The second most expensive edition sells for $4,800 and is signed by the book's author, Paul Laurence Dunbar. The fact that an unsigned edition with the dust jacket sells for more than double the price of a signed copy suggests that an edition with Dunbar's signature is less rare than an edition with the dust jacket intact. The other editions of the book sell for between $400 and $150, depending on their condition. 

Because JCU's copy of Candle-Lightin' Time does not have any features like the dust jacket or an author signature that would make it especially rare, the elements that distinguish it from other editions are slightly more mundane. Our copy is located in the Special Collections of the Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center, University Heights, Ohio, US. Its call number is PS 1556 .C2 1901. Its description in the Library's catalogue reads, "Note: Library copy bound in green publisher's linen cloth, stamped in dark green, maroon, white, and gold. Stylized flowers under a crescent moon, flower stems create border around image. Title stamped in gold, author stamped in maroon; title, author, publisher and stylized flowers stamped in gold on spine; top edge gilt. Unsigned, by Margaret Armstrong."

JCU purchased its copy from Gilman's in New York City, one of the numerous booksellers that made up the City's "Book Row" during the mid- to late-twentieth century (Mondlin and Meador 2003, 107-108). Although the exact date is not known, the operations of Gilman's and the checkout stamps indicate that the University purchased the book between 1964 and 1969  (Mondlin and Meador 2003, 105). The price paid for Candle-Lightin' Time is not clear either. 

Looking inside the book, the endpapers are a buttery color and fully intact. In the front and the back of the book, the pastedown where the endpapers attach to the front and back covers has separated slightly. On the front pastedown, there is a beige pocket labeled with the book's call number and containing a library card with two stamps from the 1970s, in addition to the names of the two patrons who checked out the book. On the front endpaper that is not attached to the cover is a checkout record slip with one entry from 1969 and two from the 1970s. On the back pastedown, there is a John Carroll University stamp, in addition to some faded, indecipherable writing in the top left corner. Though call number slips and pencil scribblings are not exactly the most exciting discoveries, they still make JCU's copy different from any other edition of Candle-Lightin' Time out there. 

The other distinguishing feature of JCU's copy is its condition. Candle-Lightin' Time's cover is still intact, though some of the corners are edgeworn, meaning that the cloth has worn away to expose the board inside the cover. There are a number of small spots left on the pages as a result of dampness or dirt. There is internal damage to the book's sewing.

The damaged sewing on pages 80 and 81 of Candle-Lightin' Time.

At the head of the text block, or the top of the book, some of the sewing has come undone, exposing the interior of the spine and making some of the pages loose. This damage is most apparent on pages 80 and 81. According to AbeBooks' "A guide to used book conditions," the sewing damage means that JCU's copy is in poor condition (AbeBooks n.d.).