Just out of idle curiousity, do you keep the dustjackets your books come in or toss them? I like them because they make my books look like the books I see in catalogs and I would hate to throw a jacket away and then later regret not having it but I must say a book just somehow has a good scholarly look to it when it's jacketless. (Of course, I'm talking about hardback books here.)

Keep all the dustjackets as the book will be worth more later. I personally take the dustjacket off while reading the book, but put them back on right away.If you check on any price guides you will see a noticeable difference in the book that has a dustjacket on it.
Rennie

I, unfortunately, got rid of most of my dustjackets in my library. Why, you may ask? Much of my library consists of boxed Collector's Limited Editions and they came standard without a dustjacket. So to keep the library in line with these books, I tossed out the dustjackets on the other books.

You have to admit that a stack of books without dustjackets does gives you that "classic" old library look. However, with book purchases in the recent years, I am keeping the dustjacket. The irony is that recently released boxed books are now coming with a dustjacket..go figure.

Dust jackets often provide information not available in the text itself such as a picture of the author, bio info on the author, and a summary of the contents. My new book 21st Century Coin Mechanics coming out August 15 has a beautiful dust jacket and contains the above mentioned info. A lot of time and expense went in to making the dust jacket. It would be a shame to discard it. You can look at the dust jacket as a PDF file by going to my webpage listed below this post, and clicking on the link at the bottom of the webpage labeled "dust jacket."

When I first began buying magic books, I discarded the dust jackets, but I don't remember why. However, I did save the end flaps from the dust jackets, for the reasons Larry has noted.

Now I leave the dust jackets on. The only problem is that eventually, the jackets start to get beat up and eventually split or tear in spots. I've taken some of the more valuable books and had them covered in Brodart archival plastic (like you see in libraries) to preserve the dust jackets and prevent further wear. But then your book collection starts to look like the shrink-wrapped trays of fruit and vegetables in the produce section of the grocery store.

So I'm not sure there's a good answer, except to read your books, enjoy them and take care of them as best you can. SETH

You can always fold the worn dust jacket and insert in the book as a bookmark.

I remove the dustjackets when I travel and replace them with brown paper dustjackets made from grocery bags. It keeps the linen or cloth covers from getting anything on them from sticky airplane tray tables or other outside influences. After I have read the book then I replace the dustjacket and it goes on my library shelf.

If there are passages I want to refer to later, then I have personal bookmarks that I place in the book(s).

yours,
Scott

Scott,
This is a great idea, you can even make notations on the grocery bag covers for later reference. Thanks for a (why did I not think of that) idea.
Rennie

Definitely keep the dustjacket because that will increase the worth of the book should it eventually go up for sale. Book jacket covers are a good idea if you decide to keep the cover on. They protect it from damage and stains etc. and can also protect it from the UV rays from sunlight. Brodart has a helpful website that offers some tips on preservation of books and other items you might want to preserve. Just Google "Brodart library supplies and furnishings".

I keep them.
however, more recently,
if I want to keep them from getting
damaged I'll put them together in a safe place
in case I want to sell the book.

I keep all my dustjackets. I enjoy the information they give as well as the colorful look of them. One more reason ,if I loan out a book I keep the dustjacket to remind me I have a book out. Just my 2cents ,works for me

This thread makes me smile because just a few days ago I was gazing at my library thinking "should I have tossed out a bunch of these dustjackets?"
The majority of my collection has them but when I was younger I wanted the 'old library look' so I tossed a bunch out. Others like the Vernon books I cut up because I wanted to frame pics of the professor! LOL
These days I keep them though. Reading this thread makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one who's tossed some out...

I've gone through periods of leaving the DJ's on and keeping them off. The late Colleen Urbanek, who was the owner of Colleen's used books in Houston explained to me that the main functions of the DJ were to keep the book clean in the bookstore and to make it more attractive to passing customers. However, once you bought the book, since the cover was more durable than the DJ it was a better idea to remove the DJ and put it somewhere safe, such as rolling it around a cardboard tube and keeping it in a long plastic bag. The main thing is to remember which of the bags what DJ is in.

DJ's are easy to tear and damage, but book covers, by and large, are fairly durable.

Indoors, you have very little chance of UV light damaging a book cover, as long as there is no direct sunlight shining on it. In fact, most glass filters out a lot of the UV rays that are in sunlight anyway.

If you are going to keep the DJ on your books, the Brodart plastic jackets are the best compromise. Do NOT try to substitute anything else, though. Some plastics contain chemicals which can damage your books. Others may shrink over time and cause other problems.

Thanks for the tip on Brodart jackets, Bill. Anybody have a good source for them? Saw some on auction sites sold as rolls, but any other recommendations for good dealers? Also, there are quite a few different "flavors" of the stuff - what do you use?

Hope this helps..

http://www.shopbrodart.com/site_pages/bjc/

Rennie

Brodart is the way to go.For over 25 years they have supplied their Mylar (acid free) protective d/j covers to the professional and book lover. Many private substantial libraries I have acquired over the years have had them and they have kept early covers and d/j's in excellent condition, practically as they were issued.

I disagree that protective Mylar covers make your library look like a grocery store, on the contrary it shows care and concern to preserve your book for your own enjoyment and for those of future owners. Value wise, undoubtly, preserved d/j's make the books 3 to 5 times, or more, valuable than one without it.

Go to any book fair and you will see.

Not only professionals advise to keep and protect d/j's but they also advocate to use of protective clear covers on early bindings lacking d/j's, to prevent cover damage. This is particularly true for Victorian era books that had pictorial/embossed covers that could not be re created today.

Without question, theres a huge difference in proudly owning/displaying a near mint book, and when the time arrives,to find a new owner than those with flaws that could have been prevented. Don't forget that those that cared to preserve their books have made them many years later, available to us, practically as they were issued.

I remember H Adrian Smith telling me that had he been alive when those beautiful books were issued he would have bought two copies, one to keep on a shelve and another one to peruse. That is a true book lover!

I've been using Bro-Darts and/or Gaylord (and a few other brands, no longer available) dust jacket protectors for almost 50 years. If the different sizing issue is a problem for you (keeping so many different book-height covers in your ready-to-use inventory, buy the material in bulk form, as rolls (I use 14 inch rolls). Pull off and cut the proper length for a dj from the roll (measure the length of a dj and add one inch to that measurement.

Then trim the backing paper to be 1/8 inch shorter than the dj is high. Stick the lower end of the dj into the seam side of the trimmed protector (this helps keep the dust out when the book is shelved), fold it over and rub it with a book bone or even a BIC lighter, to firmly set the crease. Trim the ends of the whole assembly (I use a rotary paper cutter, cheap at Office Max, etc.) to within 1/8 or 1/4 inch of the dj's length and put the now protected dj on the book.

The rolls I buy come in 300 foot lengths in 2 mil. archival mylar (or polyester), lined with archival white paper for backing, and designed for book no taller than 14 inches. This size will let you have one roll of covering material for almost every book you buy. This roll should cover 100-150 or more dust jackets. They can add many years to the life of a dj. I have many 100 year old books with dust jackets that are still in good shape. If they are covered the day a book buyer bought/received them, they will retain their fine condition for almost ever. My last roll just came from Bro-Dart, $74.00 delivered. That's about 50 cents or less per dj and still the cheapest insurance you can buy for a book.

My routine is: a book is delivered, I take it out of the box and cover the dj before handling or reading it. A five minute exercise.


dsalley13

PS: Both Bro-Dart and Gaylord (and one other library supply company) make available 4-5 mil acetate or Mylar in bulk rolls with no backing. Perfect for those books you have with no dust jackets with one caveat, it's hard to cut, as no paper cutter will fit the length dimension. It must be hand cut for height and width on a lay-out table.

Skin oils and dust are the enemy of books. Keep them off and out. And yes I do buy "reading copies" of collectible books when I can. Sometimes you can buy fairly cheap hc trade editions or even paper-backed trade editions of new books. The expensive collectible book can remain on the shelf as an investment. Unfortunately, this is pretty rare for Magic books. Usually the trade editions of some Magic books are almost $100.00 themselves. In those cases I buy just the trade (or only edition) HC or the collector's edition and try to treat it/them with all the care I can muster. 6,000+ books and counting.......... (over 99% Sci-Fi and Adventure fiction, my Magic library is a scant 100 hc books, approximately).

^^^ There is one exception to the "skin oils are bad for books" concept, and that is for leather bindings. Leather books benefit from frequent handling (by clean hands) due to the skin oils.

Hi All.

I've got 2 odd sized books: Vortex and Revelation, and the Brodart company doesn't sell single dust jacket covers and offered no help when I asked about getting just a couple covers (even if they were part of a larger order). What do people do to cover an occasional dustjacket that's an odd size? I don't want to buy 10 of these weird sized covers. I'm reluctant to buy a roll, because I don't think I'd find the right heights for future books, no matter how much I fold the covers.

Are there any other places that make covers comparable to Brodarts that sell singles?

thanks,

- Frank