Anyone know about books

[jtw1313]

This book just seems intresting to me just one problem no title page anyone help guess date e pluribus unum and eagle with shield on the front

 

[Ocean7]

first published on 25 April 1719 - no idea what version you have there. Could be late 1800's or early 1900's.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robinson_Crusoe

 

[jtw1313]

A couple of dates hand written in the book 1689 and 1844

 

[jtw1313]

Weird to me that this is on front and back of the cover

Can't find a similar one

 

[Breezie]

Does the title page look like it was torn out? Are there remnants of paper? Here's a website that might help:
Dating Old Books - How to Determine the Age of Undated Books

Great book
Breezie

 

[jtw1313]

yeah title page looks like it fell out

 

[jtw1313]

paper is very heavy like cardboard

 

[jtw1313]

Ayone know a email I could send this book to

 

[tamrock]

Try this lady I see on the show Pawn Stars...Here's he Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/romneyrebecca. Let us know if she replies?

 

[johnnyi]

As Ocean7 said, it is a printing from around the turn of the century. One of the "tells" is the acidification of the paper. Acids were first used after 1870's to whiten the paper (wood pulp used instead of the resiliant rag paper) with the downside being that years later that same acid would be destrying the paper making it dark and brittle. The large font is another tell, as is the style of the eagle, etc.. Still a nice book and a great read.

 

[Hendo0601]

So a few things about this book that kinda stand out to me....

First, why would a copy of Robinson Crusoe have the Great Seal Of the United States as the cover? According to regulations set forth the U.S. Senate has to approve of the use of the Seal in commercial applications or you face a penalty. Not sure when this was enacted but I can imagine its been in the law books for a while. UNLESS this book was owned by the government i.e. federal library or something along those lines. See regulation below:
18 U.S. Code § 713 - Use of likenesses of the great seal of the United States, the seals of the President and Vice President, the seal of...the United States House of Representatives, and the seal of the United States Congress
(a) Whoever knowingly displays any printed or other likeness of the great seal of the United States, or of the seals of the President or the Vice President of the United States, or the seal of the United States Senate, or the seal of the United States House of Representatives, or the seal of the United States Congress, or any facsimile thereof, in, or in connection with, any advertisement, poster, circular, book, pamphlet, or other publication, public meeting, play, motion picture, telecast, or other production, or on any building, monument, or stationery, for the purpose of conveying, or in a manner reasonably calculated to convey, a false impression of sponsorship or approval by the Government of the United States or by any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.

Second, the Great Seal on the front kinda jumps out at me as....well...wrong. The stars are in the top "blue" portion of the shield and not in the traditional (official) Star of David pattern above the Bald Eagle's head. I couldn't find any reference to this, but I did find images and artist's conceptions that are similar and some that have stars in both the shield and above the eagle's head. I messed around with the colors on the picture and was able to determine there are the requisite 13 stars in the shield. At first the shape of the shield stood out to me but there is evidence throughout history that the shape of the shield can vary, and it even states that the shape of the shield is not specified so there goes that theory LOL. The Bald Eagle's head also doesn't look very "Eagle-ish" it looks more like the Phoenix that the seal was originally designed with. Not sure if that means anything or not.

I could not find ANY reference to robinson crusoe being published with the Great Seal on the cover, so perhaps it was re-covered at some point? It looks pretty similar to the State Seal of Mississippi, but it only has 11 stars and I couldn't find reference to it having ever had E Pluribus Unum with it anywhere.

Maybe I am focusing on the wrong things here, but these are just a few of my observations. No matter the age it is a fantastic book, I have read it many times and enjoy it every time.

 

[jtw1313]

Funny to me that the first american edition was published between 1775 and 1777

 

[johnnyi]

Phoenix publishing company 1892

 

[arrington]

AddALL Used and Out of Print book search

Start here. It's the best price guide I've found.

 

[nhbenz]

Good job Johnnyi -- http://www.larryvoyer.com/RobinsonCrusoe/crusoe pages/phoenix_publishing.htm

 

[Hendo0601]

Lol well there you have it. I figured I was looking way too much into that front cover hahaha.