As I started to read through Presidential biographies, we started to acquire books from the rest of my reading list. I noticed one thing right away. The books seemed to be piling up, but they were all so inexpensive that I felt no guilt over my newfound pastime.
Instead of ordering most of my books online, which is easy to do, my wife and I turned my new hobby into a bibliophile’s version of Pickers. We combed thrift stores, bookstores, book fairs and antique malls. The idea was to build a Presidential library without the retail price tag. I have been keeping track of my book purchases since the beginning. Most books I have purchased have been in the $2-$3 range. Because I also enjoy collecting rare books from other categories, keeping the Presidential prices down was imperative to my book budget.
I was instantly astounded at how popular titles floated into our hands for pennies. Here’s a representative list.
Garfield, by Allan Peskin. $2.00.
This is a signed copy. It appears to be unread and in perfect condition. I found it buried in a cardboard box under the “Presidential” table at the St. Louis Book Fair. The gentleman in charge of the Presidential section was trying very hard to keep his patience with me, while I was opening dozens of boxes, digging through his overstock.
Theodore Roosevelt: A Life by Nathan Miller, $1.07.
This book is in perfect condition. There is no flaw.
George Washington, Four Volumes by James Thomas Flexner. $2.00 each
This was a thrift store purchase. The dust covers were abused and dated…but the books were a gold-medal find.
Thomas Jefferson, Dumas Malone’s Six Volume Set, $2.99 per book
My wife, Tammy, was out at a thrift store on her own and came across this beautiful set. We regularly see full sets of this, but…none at $18.00. If you find it, buy it. You’ll love Dumas Malone.
For $1.78, I purchased a particular biography of Lyndon Johnson that was a first edition. I brought it home and looked it up. It turns out that it sells regularly for $80. Of course I’m not selling it — but that kind of find can be addictive. I can’t buy a loaf of bread for less than most of these titles. Yet their value to me is high.
If you are simply looking for good Presidential bios, you will regularly see the popular ones on local thrift store bookshelves. This would include, among others, McCullough’s John Adams, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Team of Rivals, Caro’s LBJ series, every book you would ever want to own by Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon as well as any book that has ever been published on JFK, his wife, his family, his death, conspiracy theories and non-conspiracy theories.
At some point in the journey, Presidential bios do become expensive. By that point, you might not mind.
A treasure is a treasure and some treasures come closer in price to their actual value. After you’ve exhausted the nearly free books, you’ll find that you must move on to greater treasures with larger price tags. We have had great finds and excellent bargains at Atlanta Vintage Books, Haslam’s Bookstore and Wilson’s Book World in St. Petersburg, Florida, The Book House in St. Louis, Adams Books in Columbia, Missouri and Half Price Books (a chain). I have had found some compelling online deals as well, but I far prefer the bookstore finds.
At some point, if you are determined to read the through the Presidential bios, you will find that the next president on your list hasn’t popped up in your local bookshop. William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Martin Van Buren and Franklin Pierce aren’t in high enough demand. I have never seen a book on Chester Arthur in a bookstore. If you do, please send me the name of the shop for our next road trip.
Biography prices certainly climb higher with these lesser-known presidents and with some of the older definitive biographies. They may require more than $2.00, but they are rarely more expensive than the list price of a bestselling hardcover at Barnes & Noble. Treat yourself! You will be the only person in your neighborhood to have Young Hickory of the Granite Hills on your bookshelf (unless you live in New Hampshire).
Some titles with a prohibitive price tag may be available at your local library. Those who aren’t building a Presidential book collection may be best served to keep down the book clutter and use the library for all of the Presidential bios.
I’m sure someone out there is also using a Kindle or Nook. For those who like to take notes, this is also a good option. My Kindle allows me to highlight text, add notes to text and even export the quotes and notes. In general, I only use the Kindle for books I can’t find easily anywhere else. Theodore Roosevelt’s biography of Thomas Hart Benton is a good example. For the most part, I stick with the tangible, sensory experience of a well-made hardcover book.
Does price even matter?
Yes. No matter what your income level, you should look at your common book purchases as disposable. You won’t get that money back.
If you average $20 per book for a 200 book collection, you’ve invested $4,000 in unrecoverable funds. If you average $4.00 per book (my current average is just under that), you are only talking about an $800 investment over a period of 3-5 years. When I picked up Jean Edward Smith’s Grant, I looked at the cover price. $35.00. I paid $2.00. It is the same book with just a little mileage on it.
This is the reason I’ll probably never be able to rationalize purchasing a new car.
americanbibliography.com 