Rare Book Monthly

Articles - February - 2010 Issue

To Reuse or Not to Reuse, That is the Question

Boxes can be good for more than one trip.

Boxes can be good for more than one trip.


He said they stopped using plastic-lined mailer envelopes which are NOT recyclable by the customer. They are now using U-line's single face rolls of cohesive corrugated wrap which sticks to itself and not to the book - but, not for thick books. It does not provide enough stiffness for thin paperbacks but it handles everything else.

"We have found the wrap cost competitive with plastic lined envelopes. In our view, packaging materials should be both made from recycled materials and be recyclable by the customer."

A comment on bubble mailers; When I receive one, I open it up, roll it inside-out and tape it into a roll, then use it to pad books that are loose in a box.

David Prendergast of Stick Figure Books had a different take on the subject. "I don't personally subscribe to the recycling approach," he said, "I believe that the packaging that surrounds a book, starting with the covers and the dust jackets (if applicable) is an important part of the buyer's experience." He notes that he is trying to target or impress people who appreciate or respond to quality packaging. "Ultimately though, I believe that it's OUR values that largely drive this. I use new and better quality packaging because it's how I want to do things. I wouldn't enjoy packing books in re-used materials. For others, the savings and the social reward of recycling are much more important. There's clearly room for both approaches."

Howard Prouty from ReadInk in Los Angeles had a comment about targeting audiences. He felt that in doing so, one "…ascribed far more importance to who you might (or might not) be 'impressing' with a new-packaging-only approach, and to what degree." He reminds us that the "target audience" for all used and rare booksellers "is made up largely of people who actually do buy used and rare books, not new books from Barnes and Noble. Thus, they probably are not going to be seriously put off by the fact that the wrapping material in which their book arrives is not brand-spanking new." To him the important thing "…in EVERY instance is to package and send the book in such a manner that it will get to the customer undamaged."

Ezra Tishman of Aardvark Books in Eugene, Oregon notes; "I purchase one or two big bags of recycled peanuts each year from a local UPS store (you have to ask specifically for them) and every time we receive parcels with these included, we just add them to the barrel. Because I run a busy search service I have occasion to purchase from a great many dealers and can't help but notice how each dealer packages books. But recycle or not, most provide me with ample packaging materials which are reused as often as possible. Addresses on bubble bags are crossed out and used as inner bags. Bubble wrap that can be separated from its packing tape goes right back into boxes as extra protection. When we send out higher-end books, we often use new, lightly taped bubble mailers in combination with rolled corrugated cardboard called a- or b-fluting, inside proper cardboard boxes, with a small note attached: "Feel free to re-use these materials".

Rosemary Elder at Roses Are Read Books asked a question: "How would cohesive corrugated wrap compare to Multi D book folders for quality and ease of use?" I have not used either, so if any of you have information about that please send her a quick email on the subject at rosesareread@comcast.net.

James Bennett from Primary Source Books in Tacoma, Washington, re-uses packing materials as much as he can. "I prefer to use new materials for packing higher-end books, but employ used materials for the lower end, if they are clean, not tape-coated and, in the case of boxes, structurally sound."

Ogden and Peggy Williams own Pine Tree Books. She tells me; "We have been using recycled materials for our book packaging for a few years. In our town (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) we have a refuse/recycle center. People toss their cardboard boxes into trailers. I bring home clean boxes with little or no lettering of all different sizes. We put a sign up inside the "swap shop" in a designated area inviting people to drop off their peanuts and bubble wrap. It took a little time for this to take off but now residents are doing it regularly. We are delighted to be doing this and it also keeps our expenses down, which in turn allows us to give our customers a better rate."

Rare Book Monthly

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    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Book of Hours by the Masters of Otto van Moerdrecht, Use of Sarum, in Latin, Southern Netherlands (Bruges), c.1450. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Albert Einstein. Autograph letter signed, to Attilio Palatino, on his research into General Relativity, 12 May 1929. £12,000 to £18,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: John Gould. The Birds of Europe, [1832-] 1837, 5 volumes, contemporary half morocco, subscriber’s copy. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Sotheby’s
    Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern
    Now through July 10, 2025
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: Ian Fleming. A collection of James Bond first editions, 8 volumes in all. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 1997, first edition, hardback issue. £50,000 to £70,000.
    Sotheby’s, Ending July 10: J.R.R. Tolkien. Autograph letter signed, to Amy Ronald, on Pauline Baynes's map of Middle Earth, 1970. £7,000 to £10,000.
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  • DOYLE
    Rare Books, Autographs & Maps
    July 23, 2025
    DOYLE, July 23: WALL, BERNHARDT. Greenwich Village. Types, Tenements & Temples. Estimate $300-500
    DOYLE, July 23: STOKES, I. N. PHELPS. The Iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498-1909. New York: Robert H. Dodd, 1915-28. Estimate: $3,000-5,000
    DOYLE, July 23: [AUTOGRAPH - US PRESIDENT]FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. A signed photograph of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Estimate $500-800
    DOYLE, July 23: [ARION PRESS]. ABBOTT, EDWIN A. Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions. San Francisco, 1980. Estimate $2,000-3,000.
    DOYLE, July 23: TOLSTOY, LYOF N. and NATHAN HASKELL DOLE, translator. Anna Karénina ... in eight parts. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., [1886]. Estimate: $400-600
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    July 8, 2025
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FRANCESCO PETRARCH (b. Arezzo, 20 July 1304; d. Arqua Petrarca, 19 July 1374). $20,000-30,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF THE VITAE IMPERATORUM (active Milan, 1431-1459). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF ATTAVANTE DEGLI ATTAVANTI (GABRIELLO DI VANTE) (active Florence, c. 1452-c. 1520/25). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. FOLLOWER OF HERMAN SCHEERE (active London, c. 1405-1425). $15,000-20,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. An exceptionally rare, illuminated music leaf from a Mozarabic Antiphonal with sister leaves mostly in museum collections. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. Exceptional leaf from a prestigious Antiphonary by a leading illuminator of the late Duecento. $11,500-14,000.
    Freeman’s | Hindman, July 8. CIRCLE OF THE MASTER OF MS REID 33 and SELWERD ABBEY SCRIPTORIUM (AGNES MARTINI?) (active The Netherlands, Groningen, c. 1468-1510). $10,000-15,000.
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    Forum, July 17: Lucianus Samosatensis. Dialogoi, editio princeps, second issue, Florence, Laurentius Francisci de Alopa, 1496. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Boccaccio (Giovanni). Il Decamerone, Florence, Philippo di Giunta, 1516. £10,000 to £15,000.
    Forum, July 17: Henry VII (King) & Philip the Fair (Duke of Burgundy). [Intercursus Magnus], [Commercial and Political Treaty between Henry VII and Philip Duke of Burgundy], manuscript copy in Latin, original vellum, 1499. £8,000 to £12,000.
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    Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
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    Forum, July 17: Yeats (William Butler). The Secret Rose, first edition, with extensive autograph corrections, additions and amendments by the author for a new edition, 1897. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, bound in dark green morocco elaborately tooled in gilt and with 3 watercolours to fore-edge, by Fazakerley of Liverpool, 1841. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum, July 17: Miró (Juan), Wassily Kandinsky, John Buckland-Wright, Stanley William Hayter and others.- Spender (Stephen). Fraternity, one of 101 copies, with signed engravings by 9 artists. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Sowerby (George Brettingham). Album comprising 22 leaves of original watercolour drawings of fossil remains of Cheltenham and Vicinity, [c.1840]. £6,000 to £8,000.
    Forum, July 17: Mathematics.- Blue paper copy.- Euclid. De gli Elementi, Urbino, Appresso Domenico Frisolino, 1575. £12,000 to £18,000.

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