What kind of books last longer?

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Nov 8, 2009
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I'm looking to buy a set of books. I have the choice between hardback and paperback. Hardback would cost more of course and I would have to wait a while before I could get it. Paperback would be cheaper and I could probably get them soon. I have no problem waiting (my brother has the entire set that I'm currently reading) so I'm not nessisarily in a rush to get them. I just need to know what kind of books last longer. In the first of the series of my brothers (hardback) the hard cover tore apart basically where when you open the book the front cover and spine lay flat across, the spine detatched from the paper. Hes read the books a few times and I figure I will too when I get my new set and I don't want them to come apart. I just basically need to figure out what would last longest. Paperback or Hardcover. Plus they are in a box so the fact that the paperback covers will bend, doesn't really matter. So please help me out.
 
If you just want to buy books and read them a time or two then pass them on, paperbacks are good. Hardbacks are more durable if you want something to read and keep, though even those vary in quality of bindings these days.

If you want some books that will keep their value or even increase in value, buy antiquarian (old) or signed first editions. I learned that my Mother liked Grishom novels so I made it a point to give her first edition copies signed by John.

My own favorite books are a set of four, the Pulitzer Prize edition of D.S. Freeman's 1936 biography of Robert E. Lee. Treated well, handled and stored properly, they look like new even though they are 76 years old.

My oldest book didn't fare so well. It is an author's revised edition with notes 1851 edition of James F. Cooper's "The Pioneers" (subtitled: Sources of the Susquehanna), one of his Leatherstocking tales. It has loose cover boards. But then it is 159 years old. With reasonably careful handling, it is still very readable and likely worth more than it's original purchase price.

Learning to properly handle and store any book will increase it's longevity and help to preserve it's value.

Codger

On Edit: Paperbacks are usually printed on cheap acid paper stock which doesn't age well.
 
Hard covers will last longer generally speaking. Any book will last if you take care of it. For a set of keepers I would opt for the h/c.
 
Look around at a place were books get used a lot and are expected to last a long time... hmmmm.... how about... a library!?! I think you will find that, at most libraries, most of the books are hard-back.
 
Quick primer on book binding and quality. The very best and most durable bindings are hardcover or leather-bound books with sewn bindings. The best collector books, like Easton Press Editions, are leather over hardcover, (...though they can just be soft leather-bound, also, like the highest quality Bibles. Cambridge and Allans come to mind.) with sewn bindings and acid free paper. They are made to very high standards and will hold up to good use and will retain their value very well. The downside to these kind of editions is the price point. Easton Press books, for instance, sell at high prices.

In my opinion, todays hardcover books are too cheaply made to invest the often outrageous prices that publishers ask for. A brand new novel by any of the current popular novelists will be about $25.00, or so. But, almost all publishers print books on cheap, high acid paper and bind them with paper over card covers and the bindings are what is called "perfect-bound," which is anything but perfect. The pages are basically just set into glue and the whole text block is then glued onto spine and end papers, which are also glued onto the cover. Cheap materials, cheap binding methods, low quality.

Books printed before the seventies were, for the most part, all well bound, with sewn bindings, cloth covers and reasonably good quality paper. If you collect books by authors from the pre-seventies era, be sure to try to find well preserved, good quality early editions of their work. If you collect books by contemporary authors, be more careful. Some authors, like Cormac McCarthy and Stephen King will keep their value and even increase in value over the years. Take a good look at the prices of their first edition books on eBay, for example. I saw a single volume of Kings Gunfighter Series go for several hundred dollars, recently. Other authors, you might have to guess on whether their books are worth spending high dollars to obtain. And then, you'll have to treat them gently, so as not to break their bindings or crack their hinges, as happend to your brother's book. If you just are looking to obtain sturdy editions for your own personal enjoyment, to read over and over again, go for the hardcovers, but treat them kindly and don't expect them to necessarily hold their value. Hope this helps a bit.
 
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