Books and Book Grading

Today I am talking about grading books. I find a lot of fun and cool books and I put them for sale on etsy and eBay.

I found this great web site which has this lists grading qualities, and now I will be using this for describing condition of the books I am selling, and here it is:

http://www.biglittlebooks.com/grading.html Mint
	Perfect–never opened or read Some of these have been found in unopened boxed shipments of BLBs discovered in storage.
Near Mint
	Near perfect–seldom, if ever, read The book has: a tight binding; no missing pages; a bright glossy cover; unscuffed corners and edges; clean, unmarked pages.
Fine
	Mild usage–read, but well-treated The book has: a tight binding; no missing pages. The book may have: a cover that has lost its gloss but is otherwise bright; slight cracking along corners and edges (not fraying); clean pages; minimal light pencil markings; no defects in printing, binding, or cutting.
Very Good
	Average usage–well read, but well-treated The book has: no missing textual pages. The book may have: a somewhat soiled or faded cover; slightly frayed corners and/or edges; minor tears (up to 1/2″) at spine corners; minimal markings, but may be in ink.
Good
	Average usage–well read The book has: no missing textual pages; it may have a blank page missing. The book may have: loose pages; a somewhat soiled or faded cover; worn corners and edges (frayed); minor tears (up to 2″) at spine corners (minor tape repairs are acceptable if done carefully); pages that show usage; minimal markings that are heavy or permanent; minor defects in printing, binding, or cutting; some bending or warping.
Fair
	Harsh usage–well read The book may have: a loose binding and/or pages; no more than three missing pages; a scuffed or heavily soiled or faded cover; well-worn corners and edges; major tears (longer than 2″) at spine corners; extensive taping; pages that are very browned; extensive permanent markings; minor defects in printing, binding, or cutting; been extensively bent or warped.
Poor

Book pages

An affordable way to get great art is to frame a great illustration from a beloved book. I do it in my home and some pictures I have had up for years.

My store was started as a way to recycle, reuse beautiful old book illustrations from books that were damaged and unusable.

I had been framing them myself, but haven’t found a way to make that pay for itself, so now I mostly offer up the page, from a beautiful, damaged book, that you can frame yourself. It’s inexpensive and you can customize it.

Behind the Scenes

Behind the scenes of the brain factory here at GotchaChaCha. First I am showing off my new soft light boxes, which hopefully will make my product photo’s look better.

Then you see a table of the journals I have put together in  search of ways to utilize old books. Nothing quite work, sadly. It has been a while since I have looked at them, so I wanted to see what I had done with fresh eyes. Back to the drawing board! Hope to get something figured out to put in the store.

Idea for a Recycled Journal…

 

I Always Like to See Interesting Book Design

Here is a quick and interesting look and some interesting books.

Vintage Books for Sale at GotchaChaCha on Etsy

This book is for sale on my Etsy site. It is titled “Young Years Library, Best Loved Stories and Poems” Book 4, edited by Augusta Baker, Children’s Coordinator at the NYC Public Library, 1965. I found an article about Augusta Baker by Barbara Bader in The Horn Book Magazine.

Bader writes, “In the children’s library world and beyond, Augusta Baker was known for two big things — transforming the image of blacks in children’s books and enlarging the reach of storytelling.” She also tells of the encounter with the poet Audre Lorde, who at 4 years old met Baker and credits her with instilling the love of literature and reading.

So you can see for yourself, in this delightful compilation, with sharp illustrations, and classic stories. The inside is in great condition, the edges of the cover are a bit beaten up, see the pictures at my listing.

Now in the store

Just listed this on my store at Etsy

Trying something new: Float Mount, S-Hinge

I have some wonderful pictures of cats from the the Elf Book “Snuggles: A Real Live Animals Book”, published by Rand McNally, 1958. 

I am going to make a journal from the part of the cover I can salvage, it is pretty chewed up, and these pictures look like they might have had some moisture damage at some point, though they do not smell and the colors are bright.

I decided to try to do the S-Hinge, so you can see the edges of the paper, to reference that it is from a book, but worthy of framing and hanging up. This is what I came up with today. I am mulling it over.

This is really a cute picture. We are not going to think that the cats might be uncomfortable positioned like this.For sale soon on my Etsy site, GotchaChaCha.

New in store: more journals of the recycled variety

I am having so much fun making these! It has been a process, and the process shall probably continue to be tweaked, but I found something nice to do with these old books. I take the useful parts, and make something practical and functional, and I love utilitarianism. I use these books now all the time. The are happy, unique, and fun. Here are my latest two, up on my Etsy site GotchaChaCha:

New Stuff for the Gotchachacha Store @ Etsy

Horse Litho, framed

Journal made from old book:

Another Journal:

Gotcha Cha Cha @ Etsy