Eggshell pages
The newest addition to my collection: Baedeker's Northern Italy (1909). This is the most fragile book I've handled. Some of the pages and maps are so brittle, they crumble like eggshell. The book has foxing and water stains; it certainly didn't have an easy life.
However, this was exactly the type of book I search for. I'm currently working on www.retrotravels.net, a non-commercial website that will highlight (no pun intended) the notations, marginalia and ephemera found in my personal collection of travel guidebooks (1880s-1930s). The site will attempt to present the ephemera and marked pages and maps found within the guidebooks as graphics. I will also try to reconstruct the journeys taken by these "retro travelers" based solely on the added marginalia and ephemera (like the notations shown here).
Eggshell pages
The newest addition to my collection: Baedeker's Northern Italy (1909). This is the most fragile book I've handled. Some of the pages and maps are so brittle, they crumble like eggshell. The book has foxing and water stains; it certainly didn't have an easy life.
However, this was exactly the type of book I search for. I'm currently working on www.retrotravels.net, a non-commercial website that will highlight (no pun intended) the notations, marginalia and ephemera found in my personal collection of travel guidebooks (1880s-1930s). The site will attempt to present the ephemera and marked pages and maps found within the guidebooks as graphics. I will also try to reconstruct the journeys taken by these "retro travelers" based solely on the added marginalia and ephemera (like the notations shown here).