Remembering My Best Find

I have had many good finds, but there is one that will always be the best. In 1997 and 1998, I built a set of Judy Bolton books, as best I could. The prices were very high at that time. I had to buy Jim Towey's reprints of #33-38 at around $25.00 each. I wanted original editions of #33-38, but I had to settle for the reprints. The only book that I did not have at all was #32 Whispered Watchword. I kept bidding on dust-jacketed editions of #32 at around $125, but I kept losing. I was not willing to pay above $125 for it. After a delay of some months, Jim announced that the reprint would be available in June 1998, and I ordered it.

In June 1998, I went to Memphis, Tennessee, on a trip to antique shops. At that time, Memphis was a hot spot for old series books. I am seriously not kidding. I found lots of wonderful books there that I could not find near home. It was amazing.

I went into one shop that was called something like "Art and Antiques." This is the type of store that usually does not have many books, and the books that are available are ones like Reader's Digest Condensed Books. Nobody wants those. I had little hope for finding anything good, but I went in anyway.

The store was laid out in an obnoxious pattern that made it very difficult to make certain that I visited each room. The rooms were set up in an odd fashion. The walls were more like partitions, and anywhere from one to four of the walls had doors that led to other rooms. I had to double back multiple times to make certain that I was getting into all of the rooms. I ended up walking through some rooms multiple times, and I even had trouble finding my way out of one group of rooms. I may not have even made it into each room. It was like a maze.

About halfway through this store I felt like leaving. I felt that I was not going to find anything at all, and I was wasting my time. I had a limited number of hours in which to visit stores, and I had many more stores to visit. This was the kind of store that I hate where I never find anything. I forced myself to keep walking, just in case.

I had turned right when I entered the store and meandered my way towards the back, through the center, as already stated I doubled back multiple times, and finally approached the front on the other side. In that last front corner, probably the second to the last room that I needed to check, I saw them.

As I walked through the door, there was an old desk a few feet inside the room. On that desk was a row of six Judy Bolton books with very high grade condition dust jackets. I could not believe my eyes. The books were #18 Living Portrait, #24 Forbidden Chest, #30 Phantom Friend, #31 Dragon's Mouth, #32 Whispered Watchword, and #33 Secret Quest. As I approached them, I remember muttering to myself something like, "Oh my God, oh my God, I can't believe it." I pulled out one of the books and checked the price, which was $4.50. Each book was $4.50.

I began trembling. This was the only time that I have ever started trembling because of a book purchase. I already had original editions of #18, 24, and 30, but I wanted original editions of #31, 32, and 33 very badly. I couldn't believe that I had just found the original edition of #32 right before I was to receive my reprint from Jim Towey, and for much cheaper.

I could not completely conceal my nervousness when I approached the register. I know that I was fidgeting the entire time that the cashier meticulously wrote down the titles of the books and the prices. I became even more anxious when the cashier commented about how neat the books were. I was very afraid that I would not get out of the store with them.

This was because I had had past experiences at garage sales when the owner would decide not to sell out of paranoid fear that the books were valuable. Whenever that has happened to me, the books were not valuable. I even had a book store owner once who seemed paranoid that the one Nancy Drew tweed book with dust jacket that I selected was somehow valuable and he didn't know it. I chose it because I needed that title and for no other reason. Geez.

So I waited while the cashier slowly wrote everything down. Towards the end, she looked up at me and said she'd be done soon. She obviously had picked up on my nervousness. I was trying hard to hide it, but I did not completely succeed. I finally paid for the books and got out of there as quickly as I could. Once I had the books in the car and knew they were mine to keep, my nervousness disappeared, and I was on the most magnificent high the rest of the day.

I have had many outstanding finds, but this one was by far the most emotional and satisfying experience I have ever had. I returned from Memphis the day after I made my wonderful purchase. Jim Towey's reprint of #32 was waiting for me at home. It was ironic that I purchased a reprint of #32 for around $30, yet was able to purchase the original for $4.50 right before I received the reprint.