Perhaps you recall my post a few years back about a commentary on 1 Kings that I really wanted but that cost $2,736.18. This is a good commentary, but it’s not old and it’s not made out of gold. It was published by a major company (Anchor) in my sons ‘ lifetime (2001). It has 556 pages, all made out of paper. I was mystified why the book was so rare and so expensive. I consulted major seminary librarians. I scoured the net. I could find no reason other than that the book was out of print and no one was selling it.
Since that time I have maintained a constant search for this book. I receive daily email alerts whenever any books I am searching for are found and several times in the past year one was located and I placed an order. In each case, within a few hours or days, I received a message from the bookseller that the book was unavailable. Apparently someone beat me to it, or they realized that the book was really worth about $2,706.18 more than I had paid for it.
My patience has, however, paid off. It was not unusual last week when the book was located and I placed an immediate order. I was, however, shocked to find the actual book in my mailbox a few days ago. (Sidenote: the return address said “Bookmans” and I had a similarly named professor visit me that very same day. True story.)
Now I have that book. Here’s proof.
If you think this one is expensive, check out this one that may fetch up to $10 million in an upcoming auction.
UPDATE: The very first thing I looked up in this book was in error, unless Hiram reigned from 970-636.
UPDATE #2: Bonus points to any of my readers who can identify the shirt I’m wearing. Double points if you designed it.
I’m guessing you are wearing this shirt in grey!
ibex spring 99 i believe. and although i didn’t design it…wasn’t it EWZ?
Craig, that is magical.
Craig, I wasn’t aware that Todd had taken up smoking. That PhD must be getting to him.
Loved the post, and the comments!
Well… if you paid any more than around $24.00 you got ripped off… :) if you get the whole set from logos.com it averages out to a low price!
the whole old testament collection (58 volumes) is only a mere $1400.
http://www.logos.com/products/details/5740
Mondo – not quite. I paid $30, which means I saved $1,370 from what it would cost if I followed your advice. It’s only $14/volume if you care about books like Judith, think that volumes like Speiser on Genesis are worth anything, and don’t really care about owning *anything* but are satisfied with a license which could change at any time without your consent.
I bought that commentary this summer no problem. I don’t remember the actual price, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t $2,700. I did buy a lot of books this summer, so maybe I just don’t remember…
Natalie – yes. Craig – no!