A few weeks back, the Chicago Public Library announced an amnesty on fines for overdue library books. Running from late August through early September, this was not a first for the Chicago Library, but a rarity. They had offered such amnesty programs in the past, but the last time was 20 years ago. Appropriately, the library named it their “Blue Moon” amnesty (also coinciding with the rare blue moon which appeared in August).
There was precedent for the Chicago Library to be hopeful. A 1985 amnesty program returned 77,000 books, with an estimated value of $1.5 million. Just dating back to January 2011, the library estimated $2 million worth of books have not been returned. With $1.4 million in fines against them, the library board must have figured getting those $2 million worth of books back was more likely than the $1.4 million in fines due.
In announcing the program. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, “This program will allow parents and children the chance to start the school year with a clean record...” Little could Mayor Emanuel have imagined who would be making the most notable attempt to secure a clean record. It was not a Chicago school boy or girl.
The surprise of the amnesty came from a woman who walked in with a copy of Oscar Wilde's ThePictureofDorianGray.That in itself was a giveaway. Were she returning her schoolchild's overdue book, it would have been Twilight,HarryPotter, or something of that genre. Wilde may have been the greater writer, but as we see from those polls which show more people select George W. Bush as a great President than George Washington, in time we forget. Most schoolchildren, I would hazard a guess, don't know who Oscar Wilde was.
No, it was not the woman's daughter who took out the book. It was her mother. We know only two things about her mother. She liked Oscar Wilde (probably), and she neglected to return the book to the library. Why she didn't is a secret she took to the grave. That she no longer is living should not come as a great surprise. The book was taken out in 1934, 78 years ago.
When her daughter brought the book in, she was apparently quite nervous despite the amnesty. According to the library, she kept asking whether they were going to arrest her. That is an interesting twist to the concept of overdue book amnesties. While the library promised it would not fine her (which in this case would have been $10), they did not promise not to arrest her. There's a neat loophole here for libraries looking to exact revenge on those who make use of overdue book amnesty programs to escape justice!
Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. The woman was not arrested, she did not go to jail, and she didn't even have to pay a $10 fine. A policy at the Chicago Library would have capped the woman's fine at $10 – the value of the book. However, if the the overdue charges since 1934 had been added up, the penalty would have been closer to $6,000. ThePictureofDorianGray is a good book, but not that good.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: APRES DE MANNEVILLETTE Le Neptune Oriental
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSAS Eaux fortes de la Sicile et quelques vues d’Espagne
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: CASSINI DE THURY Carte générale et particulière de la France.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: JOUY; GARNERAY Vues des côtes de France dans l'Océan et dans la Méditerranée
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LA PÉROUSE Voyage autour du monde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LE GENTIL DE LA GALAISIERE Voyage dans les Mers de l’Inde
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: LICENT Hoang Ho, Pai Ho, Loan Ho, Leao Ho. Itinéraires suivis dans le bassin du golfe du Pei Tcheuly
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: FRENCH SCHOOL FROM THE 19th CENTURY Panorama d’Athènes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PEETERS Description des principales villes, havres et isles du golfe de Venise
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: PÉRON; FREYCINET Voyage de découverte aux terres australes
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: STACKELBERG La Grèce : vues pittoresques et topographiques.
Gros & Delettrez, 7 November: VALENTINER Atlas des Sonnensystems.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). The Thirteen Problems, first edition, The Crime Club, 1932. £15,000 to £20,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Dumb Witness, first edition, 1937. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Cards on the Table, first edition, The Crime Club, 1936. £2,000 to £3,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Carr (John Dickson)], "Carter Dickson" and John Rhode. Drop to his Death, first edition, Heinemann, [1939]. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Berkeley (Anthony). Jumping Jenny, first edition, Hodder and Stoughton, 1933. £800 to £1,200.
Forum Auctions Online Sale: The Detective Fiction Collection of John Cooper Ending 7th November, 2024
Forum, Nov. 7: Marsh (Ngaio). Overture to Death, first edition, The Crime Club, 1939. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: [Day-Lewis (Cecil)] "Nicholas Blake". The Beast Must Die, first edition, 1938. £750 to £1,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Brand (Christianna). Green for Danger, first edition, signed presentation inscription from the author, John Lane the Bodley Head, 1945. £600 to £800.
Forum, Nov. 7: Christie (Agatha). Murder is Easy, first edition, signed by the author, 1939. £3,000 to £4,000.
Forum, Nov. 7: Sayers (Dorothy L.) Lord Peter Views the Body, first edition, Gollancz, 1928. £6,000 to £8,000.
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RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
RareBookBuyer.com We Buy Librairies & Rare Books Nationwide ABAA Dealer
RareBookBuyer.com Specialized in Purchasing Institutional Collections & Deacccessioned Books
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Sotheby's Fine Books, Manuscripts & More Available for Immediate Purchase
Sotheby’s: J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. 11,135 USD
Sotheby’s: Edgar Allan Poe. The Raven and Other Poems, 1845. 33,000 USD
Sotheby’s: Leo Tolstoy, Clara Bow. War and Peace, 1886. 22,500 USD
Sotheby’s: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, 1902. 7,500 USD
Sotheby’s: F. Scott Fitzgerald. This Side of Paradise, The Great Gatsby, and Others, 1920-1941. 24,180 USD
Freeman’s | Hindman Fine Printed Books and Manuscripts, Including Americana November 14
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: LEROUX, Gaston. The Phantom of the Opera. FIRST AM. ED, FIRST ISSUE IN THE VERY RARE DUST JACKET. 1911. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD, John. A Monograph of the Trochilidae...Humming-Birds. L., [1849-] 1861. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: A COMPLETE RUN of Limited Editions Club publications, v.p. [mostly New York], 1929-2010. $50,000 – 60,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: ORWELL, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Lon., 1949. FIRST EDITION IN A VERY FINE DUST JACKET. $6,000 – 8,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: GOULD. A Monograph of the Ramphastidae...Toucans. L., [1852-] 54. SECOND ED. $35,000 – 45,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14:The Federalist. NY, 1788. FIRST EDITION, THICK PAPER COPY. $60,000 – 80,000.
Freeman’s | Hindman, Nov. 14: SELBY. Plates to Selby’s Illustrations of British Ornithology. Edin., [1833-] 34. $20,000 – 30,000.