Book Lust

Madeleine L'Engle has long been one of my favorite writers, and about 10 years ago, I began to collect her books. It began innocently enough...wandering through a used book store one summer afternoon, I found a signed copy of A Severed Wasp for the very reasonable sum of $10. I'd read it previously and enjoyed it, and how cool to have a signed copy, even if it wasn't signed for me!

Of course, this wasn't my first L'Engle purchase. I already owned some of her children's books bought to read to/with my own children, along with some of her adult non-fiction. But I'd never thought about intentionally acquiring a collection of her books. That summer I spent a lot of time in used book stores. The Vermont city where I was living has several good ones, and they were a wonderful way to spend a summer afternoon. Mostly I was browsing, always on the lookout for an interesting old psychology volume (at the time I was collecting books by B. F. Skinner, as well as books on child development). And I began to look for L'Engle books as well, and bought a few, nothing rare, nothing valuable. Over the next year or so I picked up a few more of her books--some I'd read before, and some I hadn't. I began to look at her list of published books and count how many I owned. The book lust was growing.

A year or two later I discovered on-line used book sellers, and my quest became serious. I began to look for L'Engle's more obscure works, and over time I acquired a few of them. But there was one--Ilsa--that seemed to be totally unavailable, no matter how hard I looked. It was her second book, not very successful, and according to the few people I've encountered who ever read it, not very good. But I still wanted to have it.

When I started seminary, I gave up my L'Engle book quest--too many other books needed to be bought, and I have about 40 of her books now. Hadn't really thought about it lately. But tonight I clicked on an email from one of the better on-line booksellers and found myself searching for L'Engle books again. And what should they have listed but FOUR copies of Ilsa!

Ah, but they are not cheap, these copies of Ilsa. Nor should they be, I guess. One is a signed first edition--for $900 dollars. Not terrible for serious book collectors I suppose, but way out of my price range. The least expensive is a little over $200--still out of my price range this summer, which means, I guess, that I am not really a serious collector. But oh, I would like that book.