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Re: RARA-AVIS: The Glass Key



James Stephenson wrote:
> 
> James Mountain reacts to my lament about hyperinflated book prices--
> 
> > Well, justification hey??? How about: THAT'S WHAT PEOPLE WILL PAY!!!
> > Is that good enough?
> >
> 
> If it were only that simple.  Public institutions like a university
> research library must answer to the demands of faculty, students, and
> the general public, all of whom demand (rightly) that we collect
> material necessary for their studies.  Rare books and special
> collections departments are held hostage by dealers who justify their
> outrageous prices with just such "arguements" as James'.  A private
> collector can "just say no" to high prices; a library doesn't always
> have that luxury.
> --
> James Stephenson
> Rare Books & Special Collections Cataloger
> University of Maryland at College Park
> Email: js272@umail.umd.edu
> -

There is something ABSOLUTELY out-of-order in that debate.  The General 
Public want BOOKS, it want TEXTS.  The rare-book thing is a constipated 
trip, and, from a freudian point-de-vue, anal phase hooked.  I don't see 
the point of discussing prices of books in RARA-AVIS.  When I can put my 
hand on any second-hand book of a TEXT I did not previously read, I do.  
And IT MUST BE CHEAP.  Focusing on old and rare books is a way of 
evading the fact that you are no more able to focus on the text.  So 
fuck the collectors and the dealers, and please LET'S READ !

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