
We accept most credit cards. See note at bottom.
WELCOME TO IDAHO JIMS BOOK STORE WE BUY, SELL AND COLLECT NEW - USED - RARE - OUT OF PRINT BOOKS
Harold (Harry) is our beloved book protector!
He is our 115 lb. Purebred GSD [German Shepherd Dog]
Our specialties include an exceptional collection of Rare, Antiquarian and Modern Catholic Historical books, Signed First Editions, Pacific Northwest Historical Books, and Native American Historical Books. Our selection of cataloged tomes will eventually contain well over 12,000 books.
The collection is rich in beautiful books reflecting virtually all aspects of Catholic Church History, Religious instruction, the lives of the Saints and many historical and current Rules and Functions of the Religious including the Redemptorist Fathers in particular. Our collection includes multi-languages including German, Latin, Dutch, Polish and of-course the majority are English.
Be patient and check frequently to see the lovely tomes. We strive to add many new books weekly.
**************************************** Member: NIBA - NORTH IDAHO BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION
Doing Business since January 1997
IDAHO JIM - CEO/OWNER
"If I were blind, I would still take pleasure in holding a beautiful book." Sylvester De Sarcy (Bibliofile)
"I am a gatherer, NOT a hoarder. I prefer to find, not to keep." Mitchell Wolfson, Jr. (Bibliofile)
"The
Scorn of the Bibliophile"
By
Jim Makovec (Idaho Jim)
I am a Bookman. I am a Bibliophile. I love books,
I cherish them, I collect them and I worship them. I am in constant search for the perfect
book. The soft supple leather, the
artisans design of the cover, the choice of the printers font, the texture, the
color, the feel and the smell of the paper and its relationship of the
illuminations. Finally, the writers flow
of words and the interest and imaginations past to me through his stories. This is a little of what a true Bibliophile
goes through in his choosing of fine books.
I read Bookman’s
books of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century. I read William Dana Orccutt, A.S.W.
Rosenbach, A. Edward Newton, Douglas C. McMurtie, Hellmut Lehmann-Haupt and
of-course George Talbot Goodspeed. These
authors give me insight as to what the Book is and how to respect it. The Perfect book is illusive. It is there but I have never found it. I’ve come close with the authors above but I
am still looking. William Dana Orcutt in
his book “The Magic of the Book” Little, Brown and Company, 1930 concerning his
quest for perfection writes in his introduction:
"I was amused to find that with the publication of my books
some of my reviewers and a few correspondents seemed seriously to think that I
believed the Quest to be ended. Imagine
the tragedy of so alluring an adventure becoming an accomplished fact – even
granting that it were possible! Where is
the Perfect Book to be found? In the
words of the author or in the heart of the reader? In the design of a type or in the skill of
the typographer or the binder? In the
charm of the paper or in the beauty of the illumination or illustration? It must, of course, be in the harmonious
combination of all of these, but the words of the author which find a place in
one reader’s heart fail to interest another; the design of a type that is
appropriate to one book is not equally expressive in all.
The word perfection has no
place in our language except as an incentive. To search for it is an absorbing adventure,
for it quickens our senses to perceive much that would otherwise be lost. If perfection could become commonplace, the
Quest would end, -- and God pity the world!
Until then each of us will define the Perfect Book in his own words,
each of us will seek it in his own way."
In
the quoted paragraphs above lie the scorn of the Bibliophile and a vailed
explanation of his addiction. There is
in fact no such thing as the Perfect Book. However, this is the key! This is
the key to the Bibliophiles addiction. In our minds the Book is there. Along the way at some point in time we have tasted and felt the emotion
given us by the hunt. From that point we
are as hooked as the devil in the Opium Den. There is no relief so to feed our emotion we continue the constant
hunt. We read, collect we touch and we
smell all of the wonderful books in our collection never to reach a
gratification. We always want the one
more tome with the magic quality we have not yet discovered. Mr. Orcutt also touches this subject further
on in his Introduction. He writes:
"A
writer may be born who combines the Wisdom of Solomon, the power of
analysis of Henry James, the understanding of Plato, the Philosophy of Emerson,
and the style of Montaigne. This
manuscript may be transformed into a book by a printer who can look
beyond his cases of type, and interpret what Aldus, and Jenson, and Etienne,
and Plantin saw, with the artistic temperament of William Morris and the
restraint of Emery Walker. There maybe a binding that represents the apotheosis of Italian, French, and English
elegance. A reader may be
developed through the evolution of the ages competent to appreciate the
contents and the physical format of such a volume, “for what we really
seek is a comparison of experiences.”
But until then, let the Quest go on!"
So you see what we seek is a
concept. An ideal that is always just
above and beyond our reach. As we come
close with another beautiful addition to our collection our dopamine churns in
our middle brain and we sit in our Library in a state of euphoria literally
hugging the tome we have purchased. As
we digest it, touch it, smell it and fondle it the dopamine slows and at some
point we shelve the wonderful book and begin our search anew knowing for a fact
that the next book we find may be that truly Perfect Book. Our life goes on and we are happy for the
euphoric situations in which we find ourselves. Every book is a joy and every book inserts into us a small portion of
that euphoria. It can be the children’s
nursery rhyme or it could be seeing the original Guttenberg Bible for the first
time. Each state has its own level, but
the feeling is there regardless of its extent. We are beyond cure and beyond help. The fact is we don’t want cure and we don’t want help. Our love for the book has evolved and it is
all encompassing. Whether you are at the
beginning of your book career or are a well aged Bookman, you know within you
what that feeling is. Rest assured
though, as a Bibliophile you are not alone. We are at all levels and at least one in a thousand of us have the
ability to actually find that book. I
know I will eventually find mine. Maybe
my next purchase or just maybe it will be that Bible that the Priest uses at my
funeral but I know in my heart that it is out there -somewhere - and I know I
will surely find it. |