Author Appleton

Writing. Fantasy. Sci-fi. Mystery

old books

News: restoring antique books

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One of my favorite pastimes when I was growing up was driving around with my mother to book sales. Especially sales at the small libraries housed in old New England buildings. Sorting through rows of books to find the types that excited and educated my young mind. It has always been a dream of mine to restore the “lost” treasures I found and read while growing up, and I am pleased to begin with The Sea Lord.

This year I am pleased to begin the expansion of Flaming Pen Press as my family business. Efforts include publishing Neverqueen2, setting up The Sea Lord for publication, and exploring re-opening Flaming Pen Press to original fantasy submissions.

The Sea Lord tells the life and adventures of Sir Francis Drake, whose boyhood home was a beached ship. Written in a very entertaining manner (but not an embellishing one) this work will particularly appeal to young men. Homeschool students will love the fluidity of the prose, as well as the lack of modern twisting of the history to satisfy current social trends. Instead of delivering opinions on Drake the author stuck to the story as history showed it.

I picked this old book up at a library sale many years ago and have since discovered that it has fallen out of copyright. It is a real gem that I know you will be glad you added to your personal library. The goal is to offer it in paperback and digital form.

The trickiest part of the process will be preserving the original illustrations, which brings you the mood and authenticity that I value in this work. Besides that it is a lot of time that I am spending to transcribe the text into a Word document. Some companies choose to scan the pages of old books and release them in that manner, but in doing so they risk loss of text and lack of an editorial eye.

The Sea Lord is merely the first in a large collection of antique books that I will be restoring over the years.

Q: Do you know of any old books that you wish were again available in print form?

How my Grandmother’s book keeps giving

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Growing up I read lots of books. I loved a good story. The tales of King Arthur and his knights, of fairy tales, of Christian allegories… they fueled the fire for storytelling. I grew up in rural Connecticut where small towns and their tiny libraries were the norm, and it’s amazing the treasures that could be found on those old shelves.

As a writer you can mine treasures from old books. It is an unparalleled feeling to look through a long-forgotten volume that, to your knowledge at least, may be the only copy remaining to the world.

Those little old town libraries had great book sales. Often you could pick up a hardcover copy of exactly what you wanted for a dollar, or a paperback for fifty cents. But what I was always on the lookout for were the old volumes. Hardback volumes printed at the dawn of the 19th century, or in the 1800’s. I focused on historical books because their accounts were not burdened by the modern perceptions of the author. Little did I know that some of the greatest treasures could be found in short story collections and poetry.

Some years ago I was visiting my grandmother (my father’s mother) and I told her my vision for using my own publishing company to bring old, long-forgotten volumes back into print. She went and retrieved a couple of books for me and I’ll never forget how pleased I was to get a heavy volume titled The Children’s Book of Poetry. It was printed in 1879.
old book page excerpt
I’ve not finished this book… not by a long shot! It is not merely a collection of poetry, it is an arsenal of stories drenched in variety and, most importantly, morally constructive.

The value in this book is that I can read these old pieces, none of which are thus far familiar to me, and find fresh inspiration. Inspiration that will help feed my creativity for years to come. All thanks to my Grandma. She is the sweetest lady and I’ll always hold this book with fondness, knowing that she gave it to me. I’ve already gleaned some great ideas from these “lost” pieces.

You see? The value in an old book (from the writer’s perspective) is the content it offers. Not its value or interest as an antique.

Q: Do you have any old books from which you might glean inspiration for new content?