Hand-written inscriptions?

[sib]

What do you think about hand-written inscriptions and messages in books. Is it ok or is it a sacrilege?

I quite like it when there

[angerball]

I lean more towards sacrilege. I wouldn't write in one of my books, and I wouldn't buy a second-hand book that had any writing in it. I think if someone wants to make notes, then they should use a separate piece of paper, or a post-it!

[Galactic Space Hamster]

It's fine for me. I think it's really very nice to have a message in the cover of a book. Whenever I have given books as presents I normally write something there.

[Adam]

I think it is neat to see what the person wrote, but I really don't like writing in the books that I have in my collection.

[The Green Fairy]

I don't write in any of my books but I have several old books with inscriptions in and I quite like them, especially one in a book of poetry that was, I think, given by a man to his loved one in which he declares his love and promises to be home soon. Worryingly, it is dated 1915.

[Kell]

I'm more inclined to slip a note into a book if I want to leave a message for the recipient. The only books I have with writing inside are those signed by the author and that's just how I like it.

[Icecream]

I asked a lady who gave Katie a book when she was born to write in the front, so Katie would know that it was her book and who it was from.

 

I like to see messages from people inside the covers of books. They tell stories of their own.

 

As for other things like annotation, I don't write in fiction books, and have only written in textbooks in the library at uni. I don't think I have written in any of my own. Howver, you should see the state of my bible.

[Mia]

I lean more towards sacrilege. I wouldn't write in one of my books.

 

I agree with Angerball. I try to keep my books in as pristine a state as possible.

[Echo]

I love it when there is an inscription inside a book I've been given as a gift. I like to go back and re-read them, and think about the person who gave it to me. My mom writes a message in all the books she gives me, and I sometimes do the same thing. For my nephew's first Christmas, I gave him a book and had my boyfriend sign it with me, so he knows his Aunt and Uncle!

[Angel]

The only books that I own that are inscribed are for special occasions. I have a childrens prayer book for my First Communion and a bible for Confirmation. Otherwise I think it is sacrilege

[Kell]

As for other things like annotation, I don't write in fiction books, and have only written in textbooks in the library at uni. I don't think I have written in any of my own.

You wrote in library books! OMG! I couldn't do something like that. I don't write in my own books so I couldn't even conceive of writing in a book that didn't belong to me!

[Adam]

I used to write in my textbooks back when I was in school

[Guest ii]

I do write a lot in textbooks, but only if they're my own. Couple of times it's happened that I've had the book from library, but noticed that there's so many comments I'd like to make, that I've had to go and buy the book for myself so that I can write in them.

 

I do like to write down small thoughts to my own books, and read them after some time. That way I can compare if I'm now experiencing the book differently. Like some books we read back in high school, they're full of notes of course as we dealt with them rather thoroughly back then. And now that I read them, I read my notes and think about the what I thought of them back then and how I feel about them now, and often those two are very different. Not to mention the books from my year at Sorbonne, those are really full of notes and post-its and little notes slipped in!

 

Interestingly though, apart from said textbooks, I never write on hardback books. Only books with soft cover. And never a highlighter, or pen, always pencil.

[nicnic]

I think inscriptions in books are a lovely idea, especially if you anticipate that it's something the person who is receiving will keep for a long time. If I was just give an ordinary fiction book to someone as a present, I wouldn't likely write in it, just in case they wanted to sell it on or give it away. Saying that, I love getting a 2nd hand book and finding someone's old inscription in it.

 

Regarding library books, I wouldn't write in them if I could possibly help it. At school, we were allowed to annotate certain texts in pencil providing we rubbed it all out at the end. Unfortunately, for some students, rules over photocopying are so stringent that they are unable to annotate even copies of texts. I think if academic libraries offered more books in an etext format, that could be annotated that would be a good idea. I write in my own, bought textbooks but even then keep it to a minimum.

[Oblomov]

It cuts both ways for me. Very acceptable, even desirable, if it is a hand signature by the author with a message or, if it is a used book gifted by one celebrity to another. But I hate the idea of Joe Bloggs's message to his one-time girlfriend defacing a used book that I want to buy.

[SteffieB]

I love it when there is an inscription inside a book I've been given as a gift. I like to go back and re-read them, and think about the person who gave it to me. My mom writes a message in all the books she gives me, and I sometimes do the same thing. For my nephew's first Christmas, I gave him a book and had my boyfriend sign it with me, so he knows his Aunt and Uncle!

 

 

Ditto! I have always asked for an inscription when a book is given as a gift, and I often keep the card that came along as a bookmark. These gifts are very sentimental to me and deeply treasured.

[Icecream]

You wrote in library books! OMG! I couldn't do something like that. I don't write in my own books so I couldn't even conceive of writing in a book that didn't belong to me!

Only ever in pencil, and I usually rubbed it out. Everybody does it at uni, plus wasn't that good at concentrating and i ad to.

[proserpina]

I wouldn't even consider the possibility of writing in books, like Kell mentioned I would probably add a card if I wanted to included an hand-written note.

 

I do have several books handed down from grandparents which have been written in and I like that because it offers me a sense of history.

[Echo]

Like I said, I only write in books I'm giving as a gift. I never write my name in them or anything like that. My grandfather owned a set of Shakespeare (small hardcover books, two plays per book) from 1901 and he wrote his name in every single one. They would probably be valuable, if not for that!

[Roger53]

I used to write in my textbooks back when I was in school

 

When I was in school they gave you the stick for that. But it was a long time ago.

 

I don't write in my own books, but wifey insists I write in ones I give to her for birthdays and so on.

 

But having said that, I love inscriptions in old books. They can be really interesting, especially with dates and names of the towns of previous owners. I have one where the previous owner wrote a paragraph on where and when she bought the book, so I added a similar one beneath. I wonder where it will eventually end up?

 

The best one I have must be from the late 19th century, and a lady wrote her address as something like "Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, just down from the gaol." It's a main road in Sydney. Possibly no street numbers in those days? Anyway, it is intriguing.

[Adam]

When I was in school they gave you the stick for that. But it was a long time ago.

 

Wow. Thats harsh. I would just leave funny messages for the next poor person that had to take the course. The trick is to be extremely nice to the librarian and your home free!

[pontalba]

One of my dearest books is one an Aunt of my mother's sent her in 1937, a copy of Jane Eyre, it is inscribed with a short note to my mother [who was 12 at the time] and the date.

 

That said, I hardly mark in hardbacks at all, now the paperbacks are a whole 'nuther ball game. I write notes, underline and make cross references, how else can I do it for a discussion? I did try once to use post it notes, and there were more post its than pages [practically] and quite unwieldy!

[frankie]

I don't mind inscriptions in used books, I think they are endearing (well, depending on the content of the inscription).

 

I once bought Astrid Lindgren's The Brothers Lionheart in a secondhand shop. It was quite an expensive copy for a secondhand book but I had to have just that copy because of what was written inside on the first page. Some child had practiced on his/her handwriting, spelling 'a' over and over again on the page, finishing with a careful attempt at the most refined 'The Brothers Lionheart' he/she could write

[Anika]

I like inscriptions in books if it's a gift to me from someone special, or if it's a really old book, and has the date and location included. I especially love finding bookplates in them (whatever happened to those?).

 

I would never write in any book I had purchased for myself. I don't even put my name in them.

[BookJumper]

Once more, it depends. I would not buy a book inscribed 'John Smith, 1990' (unless by John Smith we mean John Keats or past master of equal value), however I would buy a book dedicated by a lover to another, by a parent to a child, etc. It's needless defacement vs. history.