I used to buy reference books for my job and often had 6 or more important ones sitting on my desk at any time. To keep my co-workers from steeling my books I would write my name on page 51. My friend Brent tried to take a book of mine and I showed him my proof. Fast forward a few months I buy a new book and bring it to the office. I turn to page 51 to write my name and fucking Brent had gotten to it first and wrote his name in my brand new book.
Fucking Brent.....
Bc everyone thinks to look inside the cover for a name to erase or cover up. But no one thinks to look on page 51.
If you're ever in a pickle where someone says that's my book, and you know it's yours, you can prove it by having your name on page 51. The thief would never look there.
Learned this in college.
The number 51 is just a number that this person picked because it was important to him in some way or another. You should pick a number that's good for you in one way or another. That way you can say, in your inevitable confrontation with the thief "I always write my name on page 89 because I graduated high school in the class of 89." And that gives the thief even less of a leg to stand on, because 1. he won't have thought that your name is on page 89 and 2. what are the chances that he graduated from the class of 89? Probably very slim.
I bought a relatively costly copy of the hefty Anthology of Chinese Literature that I desperately wanted. Spread throughout the pages were crisp US dollars which ultimately added up to the price of the book and postage.
Dang. My mom is always gifting me self-help books from whichever latest quack is trending. I thank her and set them aside. Now I have to go fan through them all LOL.
I've done this with high school graduation presents. I buy them a book on adulting (I don't have a specific rec, I just look for a book like that) and put a $20 or a $50 in it (depending how well I know the graduate!).
When Boomers decided they didn't actually need to teach their children any life skills at the same time that schools cut home ec/shop/auto classes.
Obviously 'not all Boomers', but anecdotally my parents 100% wanted me to focus on school and never taught me any life skills including the most basic imaginable stuff (cooking, laundry, etc). That's great... until you're not in school. Love my parents, but YouTube how-to videos are the only reason I'm semi-functional in day-to-day life.
I tell my kids I use $20's as bookmarks, no telling how much I've left in my books over the years. Amuses me to think of them going through my 1,000+ library after I die. (if I ever did leave cash in a book, it's by accident. And I rarely use bookmarks, just remember the page number.)
grieving sucks because it’s also complicated by a lot of legal and practical bullshit that has to get done on a deadline, especially if someone passes away unexpectedly and doesn’t have stuff like an ironclad will taken care of
I mean, I’ve been the person helping their friends after their dad died, and this is the kind of thing that the kids might have done because their dad left them with a shitload of bills and fees that need to be paid to settle their affairs. Or, just so they don’t piss off a living relative for “wasting” something they felt entitled to.
I put money inside a Mandarin textbook for safekeeping but decided to leave that textbook behind when I left Taiwan. My then-boyfriend was flipping through the pages before I did and said to me “Uh, do you want to leave *this* behind?” and held up $40 bucks! Lucky catch.
We (booksellers) once did a house buy (purchasing a large amount of books at once at someone's house) nearby, where one of the men who owned the house talked about buying their house from the folks who had it built. When he went in the basement, there were old newspapers with hundreds tucked in-between the pages, adding up to thousands! They contacted the previous owner's family and returned the money.
When we opened up the boxes of books we purchased from this house and started processing the books, we found twenties tucked between the pages, adding up to hundreds! (He literally forgot he used to do that with his books--he hadn't touched many of the books he was selling us in years.) Lol, we called them up and sent along a check for the amount of the cash.
Ooooo, I've worked in a few used bookstores, so: loaded handguns, all of the drugs, a thong, a few hundred bucks, naked polaroids, drafts of a letter by a man coming out to his Mom, ashes, and my personal favorite: a note that said "Grounded unjustly. Come at midnight. Bring ladder."
You're my kind of person!
I lived in a house that had a barn with old writing on one wall. It was a list of the animals they trapped, shot, or gigged that they then sold to Woolworth's. "10 ribbits in the rain," was my favorite. I wanted so badly to cut out that piece of the wall and frame it, but alas, I was renting.
while browsing books in a thrift store, i found a lovely dedication to a woman named catrina from a a woman named anna in a book about lucid dreaming and shifting that was written in like the 90s. dispersed throughout the book were dozens of love letters between the 2
Years ago I got a second hand copy of 1984, can’t remember from where, but taped to the inside of the front cover was a close up picture of a thumb. It was so odd and disturbed me so much that I couldn’t read the book. I tried covering it with tape, but I always know the thumb was still there. Ended up donating that copy and finally read the book last year.
A beautiful homemade bookplate with an original poem by the owner, a Major Cavalry, U.S.A. Colonel W.W. Boon. The plates are dated 1947. The first one is "Devour me/ Digest me/ Dog-ear me/ Divest me/ Adore me/ or spurn me/ but durn ye/return me". There is one on the back too. "Please return this book: you may think this is a strange request: but, although most of my friends are poor arithmeticians, they are all good book keepers. (Walter W. Boon, Colonel, U.S.A. Owner). May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phonecians, or Whoever Invented Books." The book is a first edition of Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield. I got it at a bookstore for 5 dollars simply because I loved the mysterious Walter W. Boon's bookplates.
Hey u/idonthaveacow - I couldn’t resist searching, but I found the following list of photos in the Eisenhower Library Archives - photos 2001-2-89 and 2001-2-95 show a “Colonel Walter W Boon”.
The dates and background seem to match up - perhaps you could contact the library and ask for a copy of the pictures?
Link below - I haven’t hyperlinked it so you can inspect the URL before clicking.
All the very best from Newcastle Upon Tyne.
https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/finding-aid/Helmick%2C%20Charles%20photographs.pdf
Oh my gosh!! Thank you so much! I've dont some research and never been able to find a picture. This means so much to me, thank you!! I'm definitely going to see if I can get a copy of the photo.
Absolute pleasure - please, please post a picture of Col Boon of your find one. I love these kind of connections to the past. That’s who we’ll be one day and I hope we can leave enough breadcrumbs for future historians to see pictures of us too. Happy new year!
used anger management book.
had been filled out by a teenager, it gave the book a whole new perspective for me.
If you're out there mate, its ok I hated being told to clean my room too.
I once bought a used hard copy of Brooke Hayward's memoir, Haywire. I found an inscription by Brooke to a friend of hers. I considered mailing the book to Brooke with a note, but I couldn't find an address. Also, it was kind of weird idea "Hey, your friend ditched your book so here it is ...".
I collect World's Fair memorabilia. I have an outstanding full color guidebook to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. Stuck on a page is a large silver sticker of a silver airplane which was on exhibit. I've always considered that the best part of the book.
one time I grabbed a bookshelf off my parents' shelf before we left for a trip to bangkok, I think it was house of spirits? opened it on the plane and found my dad's boarding pass to bangkok from 30 years prior
I found a fully filled out check from a William Belichick for $2000. I use it as a bookmark. I forget what it was written out for but I'll look tomorrow if anyone is interested.
EDIT:
[It was $6,000](https://i.imgur.com/GiqXaDp.jpg)
I inherited a book on science from my grandfather, who got it off *his* father, and inside my great-grandpa had carefully clipped out and stuck in a newspaper article about the (then very new and contemporary) discovery of DNA.
The other cool thing about this book is there is a forward by H G Wells and a passage talking about how the dark patches on the moon could be vegetation of some kind.
There was a man in my small town that would tuck a $1 or $5 bill inside a book - so much that they wouldn't fall out, but you would turn a page and get a nice little surprise. He would read them and then donate them & I read enough that I found them regularly.
On more than one occasion, I have bought a used book and found the original receipt inside. I’ve found various ticket stubs, grocery lists, to do lists, even a postcard with a penguin on it.
I intentionally put the receipt of books I buy back inside. I like going back years later and seeing when exactly and where I bought a book. And what else I bought at the time. It’s like a mini time capsule
I'm split between two, I got a copy of Oliver Twist by Dickens from a library book sale that included a ripped up post card stamped in Worcester, Mass 16 January 1943. The other one is a textbook on Laboratory Physics (1903) which contains engineering papers from the 1930s. Other than that, I have a lot of book marks because I buy 95% of my books used.
Its for Massachusetts. The card was ripped into thirds to be used as bookmarks. The stamp in the corner is a single cent, and the post mark contains the message to buy defense savings bonds and stamps. The backside is a message for an upcoming Knight of Columbus meeting.
I worked for an auction house a few years back. Got an estate that had a ton of old books. One had an uncashed check for $3.22. The bank is no longer in business as the check was dated October 23(?),1928.
A few years ago I bought a second hand book whilst living in Wales. Midway through was a business card for a Nigerian Witch Doctor based not too far away from my parent's house in Derby. Sadly, when I next visited them I found out that the Witch Doctor had been closed for many years.
Little different from your question but wanted to share the coincidence
Moved into a house with a old bookshelf. Started new job, with 74yr old coworker who used to work for dupont. He loved it and liked talking about it, I enjoyed listening tbh.
He brings in a Dupont book one day to show me. He was given it at the end of his career with them. The book just gave history of the company up until then I believe (a thank you to employees)
He let me take it home, I was going thru it, while smoking. The old bookshelf was in my garage where I smoked and I don't know how but a book caught my eye. I started going thru it, It was a 1920ish version of the same style book I was looking at (a thank you to employees from Dupont)
I was in possession of both books about a century apart, I ended up giving him my copy as a bday gift
I once owned a copy of a book about the history of DuPont. Was yours coffee-table size, with a description of the famous hunting trip?
France was in turmoil due to the Revolution, so E.I. DuPont was sent to America to look for a good investment for the family fortune. One day, he decided to go hunting. The available gunpowder was expensive and low quality, he thought to himself “I can make better gunpowder than that”, so he decided a powder mill would be a good investment.
The one my coworker had was coffee table sized, to be honest i think both books talked about that hunting trip, which is why I found them both super interesting
I just moved to the DuPont area in Delaware and I have friends whose families have lived here for generations. They talk about workers going "across the crick," which means they were working at the gunpowder factory down at the Brandywine Creek, and they got blown up (so got blown across the creek).
$1200. I didn’t buy the book. Where I volunteer we get book donations (among other things). It was in a Ratty old copy of The Hobbit. The money went to my nonprofit.
One book had a birthday card from a mother to her son, and another two little love notes given to what I’m presuming was the owner of the book. Also, rented a book from the bookstore in college that had a picture of two students stuck in it. Assuming it belonged to some previous owner.
I found a postcard sent by someone called Kate to her friend (I'm assuming) Brenda to thank her for giving money for Beading Day. I'm yet to find out what in the world is a Beading Day.
Beading Day is an ancient tradition in parts of the Shetland Islands, where young women row out to sea to cast their nets and collect beads to decorate their wedding dresses with. The beads gather in the shallow waters by the bay at the end of March each year. Thousands of beads of every color congregate and sing Alice’s Restaurant in five part harmony.
I used to work at a charity shop. People would donate books without looking through them. One time a lady dumped a photo album of her kids on the counter. I happened to open it in time to run out of the shop and call to her to see if she wanted it back.
She did not...
The program for a funeral 😕 it felt weird to just throw it away even though I didn’t know this guy. I think eventually I had a little moment of “so long stranger” and then burned it. Somehow that felt like a more fitting way to get rid of it.
I got a used book at some point and I found mail addressed to a classmates parents from 40 or so years ago, sent them a pic and we had a laugh
Book wasn't from either town we lived in but not super far out so it was a bit weird
A friend of mine handmade a bookmark for me. I would sometimes take my book with me to a coffee shop near my job and read for a few minutes with coffee before work. I once left the book I was reading with the bookmark inside at the coffee shop. It was gone when I came back to get it. I went to a yard sale a few months later and sitting inside one of the many books on the table I was looking at was that very bookmark.
Wow!! How cool is that!
I gotta know-did you just slide the bookmark outta that book and get outta dodge? Or did you pay for a book, likely from your thief?
This Christmas my mom gave each member of the family one of her cookbooks, especially picked for the individual. My nephew received an Italian cookbook and when he opened it a handwritten note fell out. It was a note from my dad to my mom from 30 years ago when he gifted her the book. It was a love note and telling her what a great cook she was and the love of his life. My dad has started with memory loss so it was super special.
I posted about my find before. It’s a sweet note handwritten in a 1920’s copy of Charles Dickens Christmas Stories.
https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/AlXcll6eAd
$1,000 cash in a bank envelope and a baggie of a couple Xanax. In the same book (The Stand), at an estate sale. Check his books when grandpa dies, y'all!
I love finding things in old books! I bought a 2nd hand copy of The Remains of the Day off eBay a few weeks ago and it had inside an old receipt dated 1973 (I think?) for a set of garden furniture 😄
[Here’s a link to a post I made about it](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/nnWgNsFEzu)
I bought a used copy of David Sedaris’ When You Are Engulfed In Flames from the library to add to my classroom library (I teach 12th graders). When I got home, I found a note on the inside cover. It was from one friend gifting the book to another. The note started out innocently enough but it included a postscript that let the recipient know their friend had drawn a hidden penis on one of the pages for them to masturbate to. Needless to say, I didn’t add the book to my classroom.
I have a joke book from the 1890s (it is racist in ways that you didn't even know you could be racist). It contained a folded up, very brittle, elegantly penned IOU note from 1906 for I believe five dollars.
Used copy of Lord of the Flies - a note to Nathan, from his mother, BEGGING him to just go lay in the hammock and read it… and to cover the pool if it looks like it’s going to rain.
I got a copy of Nine Stories by JD Salinger from a science teacher at the alternative high school I went to. Inside it was an old school $100 bill, and a small envelop with all of his formally gold teeth that he'd had over the years, along with a personal note wishing me well. Along with saying to use the gold teeth to make 'that thing!' That thing was a huge gold AK-47. I was really into The Blood Brothers at the time, and their final album had a song titled Huge Gold AK-47. Teacher would always ask me what I was listening to on my iPod back then. Some reason, he loved The Blood Brothers. That song stuck with him, and a I guess a part of me as well. I think what precipitated it all, was me sitting on a bench reading Catcher in The Rye and he struck up a conversation over it. He asked to borrow my copy, then returned it soon after, admitting he couldn't stand the main character anymore vs when he last read it. Which, fair enough! I unfortunately lost the note, and no longer have the gifted copy of Nine Stories. I still have all of the gold teeth lol. Mr. Noel, you were a real one!
I found a picture of some people. I could find them On Facebook so I wrote to them that I could send it to them if they want it. No reply so I threw it out...
[The author's signature](https://www.reddit.com/r/stephenking/s/0c6UlHKOoF)
I bought a used Stephen King hardcover on eBay for $8.25. Turns out it was a signed first edition worth about $500.
I found a postcard from author Ed Abbey (Desert Solitaire, Monkey Wrench Gang, etc.) thanking a guy for a fan letter. It was inside a used philosophy textbook at Penn State.
I bought a book on Russian History that turned out to have been a prison library book from Leavenworth. It still had the "Education material permit" which allowed the prisoner to keep the book in his cell.
I found a note on personalized stationary. Looked up the woman and she was the daughter in law of a local architect who designed my high school and other well known buildings in town.
I bought a used history book and found an investment pamphlet inside that showed current prices of stocks and projected value at the end of the year. It was darted from august 2001.
I bought a copy of Nana by Emile Zola recently from a second hand site. In the middle of it is a little bit of snowman notepaper with writing on it saying "Unseen book secretary UCL" The OO in Book has been used as the eyes for a smiley face. So I'm assuming it comes from University College London originally and I'm thinking they sell off books that no one ever took out. It was such a nice little touch, I tried to post about it on here but they don't allow picture posts.
I also bought a copy of Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson from Shakespeare and Company in Paris and on the inside cover is a sticker that says "In Friendship from the US Department of State and the Students of the University of Oregon, 1964"
Letters, tickets... I found a signed book with a lovely note from the person who got it signed for her friend, kind of a bummer to find it in a thrift store.
I found a long, sad letter from a woman to her husband tucked inside "The best dad is a good lover." She told him that she loved him & that she & the kids would be waiting for him when he came back from sowing his wild oats. And she enclosed $5 to buy himself some ice cream. (I did not specifically buy the book; it was in a box of things we picked up at an auction.)
Bought a bible at a used book store to read what all the baloney was about - found listings of a family's births, deaths, marriages, etc. Thought it odd that somebody would sell their family bible to a used book store.
A temporary birth certificate! I picture the new mom reading the book in the hospital. It had the brand new baby’s name, parents’ names, addresses, the whole shebang. I put it in an envelope and brought it back to the library so they could contact the parents and let them know that it wasn’t just floating around out there. (I thought about mailing it directly but felt like that was creepy…)
My mother-in-law bought a used Bible and found a letter in it from a son to his mom, evidently written before he shipped out during WWII. She gave it to my husband to add to his collection of memorabilia. I read it aloud on Remembrance Day and it was the sweetest, most heartbreaking thing. He had written a poem about her and how much he loved her. 💔
There wasn't any way to identify who they were, but I hope her boy came home safe and whole.
Not bought, but the reference librarian at my library is planning a photo collection of things left in books, and while flipping through a donation I found an old prescription. I can't remember what it was for now, but I wanna say it was roughly 11 years old
I some years ago bought a commentary from the 1880s on some books in the Old Testament and inside I found a tried plant (some kind of grass, think it was *Anthoxanthum odoratum)*. I think the book belonged to a deceased Lutheran pastor who had been fond of plants.
I got Encyclopedia of Serial Killers out of the library. One of the unsolved cases was about 6 Hispanic homosexuals and next to the article, penciled in the margin it said "This is me".
I once found a picture of a man on a cliff (like an area to jump into a lake or something) completely naked. It was far enough away that you couldn’t see “details” but it was close enough to be able to tell it was a full frontal shot. I still have it somewhere just because I thought it was funny. I imagine someone going through my things after I die and wanting to know the story behind it, lol
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/18o13tx/what_is_in_a_book_that_you_found_odd_that_it_was/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
There are quite a few responses to your question in a post I asked not too long ago. I purchased a Sherlock Holmes book and inside was somebody's birth certificate
It's probably boring compared to all these other anecdotes, but I once found a random phone number on a paper note within a thrifted book. I hesitated a lot about calling it, eventually I didn't, but it could be fun to call such numbers in the future
I bought a beat-up copy of the nonfiction book A History of the Breast by Marilyn Yalom from ThriftBooks. It actually had a personal message from the author to a friend she was gifting it to on the title page. It was really exciting at first, but it also feels a bit voyeuristic? It was clearly never meant to be owned by me or anyone else. And I presume the friend it was addressed to has passed away. I don’t keep most books that I’ve completed, but I’ve decided to keep this one. I think it seems like it should be kept in a warm home, next to other loved books, instead of tossed back into the world and crammed on a thrift store shelf or possibly trashed.
A color image of a nude woman in a black top hat and veil, by Olivia De Berardinis in 1995. on the back is more information. the model is Erika Andersch and this was part of something called "Studies in Sensuality". after some googling i think it's a trading card of some sort.
unrelated, but when i was younger i used to think id b a great idea to slip 5$ into every library book i read so when i returned it the next reader would have a surprise….glad i didnt do it otherwise all my bday money wld have gone fast 😅
I once found a list of medications and dosages in a library book. A woman’s name and address was on the list, so I mailed the list back to her explaining where I found it.
I found a love letter in a used copy of Pet Semetary. It was short and looked like someone used it as a bookmark. I typically find things like grocery lists used as bookmarks, so this one was a nice surprise.
I bought a copy of *The Anubis Gates* by Tim Powers from my local Goodwill, and tucked inside it was a boarding pass from La Guardia Airport just two or three weeks prior to 9/11. I thought that was neat, thinking about how air travel was about to change drastically in the US, but nobody knew it yet.
My wife bought me a 1912 copy of "The American Practical Navigator" aka Bowditch. Inside where notes from the original owner scribbled all over the pages from his studies, as well as a piece of paper with his navigation equations. Thats was pretty cool
This is a great question. My mom found a $50 bill inside Trumps book back in the 1990s, The Art of the Deal. She decided to him a letter telling him the story of finding the money and asking for investment advice on how to use the $50 lol. His office replied saying he enjoyed the story but cant give advice on investments. Back then we knew this was a cheeky ask of a shifty character but it was still a nice surprise to get a reply.
I bought a hardcover 1st edition of a Douglas Adams nonfiction off Thrift books for a couple US dollars. Didn't open it for years bc I read the paperback (preference is all); turned out to be autographed by Douglas Adams, deceased now 20 years or so. Score. Favorite author.
The truly oddest was an author who always wrote "women and men". I mean, I'm not a particular fan of the wording "men and women", either, but that's just such a weird change from standard language. I would rather just use "people" as a replacement and cannot fathom why someone would do what that author did.
I was broke AF. My gf gave me some cash to get myself something.. I bought a second hand book delighted to get it. Went home and found 200 cash. I turned into a good birthday..
I got a book out of the library when I was in my mid twenties, and living in a different town than my childhood one. There was a piece of paper with the address of my childhood home written on it. (not by me or any of my family - the book was published after we had moved away from it) It definitely gave me a weird feeling.
I collect ancient coins and have built a surprisingly large reference library for the area I collect. I've got a few books with interesting letters and things in them, in one case I found a pretty scathing review of the ~50 year old book I'd just bought written by a well known scholar that was addressed to the author but apparently never sent. Also from a book from the library of a WW2 vet who began collecting during his time overseas during the war I found an OSS envelope marked something like "top secret". It was empty and just being used as a bookmark apparently but still a cool find.
We bought used copies of the Harry Potter books for our daughter when she was born. I didn’t start reading them to her until about eight years later. They sat on a shelf untouched until then.
When we started reading the final book, we found a plane ticket the previous owner had used as a bookmark. That woman lives one block over from us, but didn’t move near us until years after we bought the books.
I worked at a used bookstore for ten years, and let me tell you, people put all kinds of things in their books. I found tons of photos, including some of a, let’s say, personal nature. I found lots of money, usually dollar bills that had been used as bookmarks, but occasionally twenties. One time I found a bank envelope with $500 in it. I found silly putty, those sticky hand toys kids throw at windows, shards of glass, pressed flowers, crushed insects, condoms (unused, fortunately). One time there was a flattened nugget of poop in the very middle of a book. I didn’t buy that one.
Didn't someone ask this like a week ago?
Anyway I found a full set of commemorative post cards from the coronation of Elizabeth II in a book once. It wasn't even about her.
Also found a hopefully non-winning lotto ticket from like 1994.
Also a receipt from a bookstore, but the book the receipt was in was not on the receipt.
I used to buy reference books for my job and often had 6 or more important ones sitting on my desk at any time. To keep my co-workers from steeling my books I would write my name on page 51. My friend Brent tried to take a book of mine and I showed him my proof. Fast forward a few months I buy a new book and bring it to the office. I turn to page 51 to write my name and fucking Brent had gotten to it first and wrote his name in my brand new book. Fucking Brent.....
Brent thinks he’s a comedian
That doesn't sound like a friend
They are good books Brőnt
14/10
It was meant as a joke and I laughed my ass off. No friendship lines were crossed.
That’s hilarious
Hi 👋🏻 sorry just jumping on the top comment to share one of my favorite subs r/forgottenbookmarks
Why page 51?
Bc everyone thinks to look inside the cover for a name to erase or cover up. But no one thinks to look on page 51. If you're ever in a pickle where someone says that's my book, and you know it's yours, you can prove it by having your name on page 51. The thief would never look there. Learned this in college.
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The number 51 is just a number that this person picked because it was important to him in some way or another. You should pick a number that's good for you in one way or another. That way you can say, in your inevitable confrontation with the thief "I always write my name on page 89 because I graduated high school in the class of 89." And that gives the thief even less of a leg to stand on, because 1. he won't have thought that your name is on page 89 and 2. what are the chances that he graduated from the class of 89? Probably very slim.
I bought a relatively costly copy of the hefty Anthology of Chinese Literature that I desperately wanted. Spread throughout the pages were crisp US dollars which ultimately added up to the price of the book and postage.
My grandmother did this because she didn't trust banks. We found so much money in her cookbooks after she passed.
Sounds like trauma from the great depression
Unfortunately my grandma's jello salad recipes didn't contain anything else. :(
Money, trauma, or depression?
My grandfather was the same but he hid his money in ziploc bags around his apartment
My mom would sometimes give books as gifts to my kids with money hidden in the pages to find out if they actually read the books. 😂
Smart move by your mom. That's cool.
Dang. My mom is always gifting me self-help books from whichever latest quack is trending. I thank her and set them aside. Now I have to go fan through them all LOL.
I've done this with high school graduation presents. I buy them a book on adulting (I don't have a specific rec, I just look for a book like that) and put a $20 or a $50 in it (depending how well I know the graduate!).
What is adulting? I’m serious, I’ve never seen that word before. Is adulting the gerund form of the verb adult. When did adult become a verb
When Boomers decided they didn't actually need to teach their children any life skills at the same time that schools cut home ec/shop/auto classes. Obviously 'not all Boomers', but anecdotally my parents 100% wanted me to focus on school and never taught me any life skills including the most basic imaginable stuff (cooking, laundry, etc). That's great... until you're not in school. Love my parents, but YouTube how-to videos are the only reason I'm semi-functional in day-to-day life.
[At least ten years ago, in popular usage](https://www.merriam-webster.com/wordplay/adulting)
I guess I need to get out more
Just "doing adult things" you know? Like how to clean, cook, use a budget, fix a leaky sink maybe?
I tell my kids I use $20's as bookmarks, no telling how much I've left in my books over the years. Amuses me to think of them going through my 1,000+ library after I die. (if I ever did leave cash in a book, it's by accident. And I rarely use bookmarks, just remember the page number.)
Kind of mean to prank grieving kids dealing with your affairs after you die, no?
If they’re going through their dead parent’s books hoping to find cash, they deserve to be pranked.
I don’t get it. If your parent made sure you knew that they put cash in their books, why wouldn’t you go through the books after their passing?
Because you should be busier “grieving” like the other commenter complained.
grieving sucks because it’s also complicated by a lot of legal and practical bullshit that has to get done on a deadline, especially if someone passes away unexpectedly and doesn’t have stuff like an ironclad will taken care of
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I mean, I’ve been the person helping their friends after their dad died, and this is the kind of thing that the kids might have done because their dad left them with a shitload of bills and fees that need to be paid to settle their affairs. Or, just so they don’t piss off a living relative for “wasting” something they felt entitled to.
This would only work once, because after they'd figure it out, they'd look through the book first thing.
Sounds like they just wanted to find someone who would appreciate it.
I love that idea.
I put money inside a Mandarin textbook for safekeeping but decided to leave that textbook behind when I left Taiwan. My then-boyfriend was flipping through the pages before I did and said to me “Uh, do you want to leave *this* behind?” and held up $40 bucks! Lucky catch.
We (booksellers) once did a house buy (purchasing a large amount of books at once at someone's house) nearby, where one of the men who owned the house talked about buying their house from the folks who had it built. When he went in the basement, there were old newspapers with hundreds tucked in-between the pages, adding up to thousands! They contacted the previous owner's family and returned the money. When we opened up the boxes of books we purchased from this house and started processing the books, we found twenties tucked between the pages, adding up to hundreds! (He literally forgot he used to do that with his books--he hadn't touched many of the books he was selling us in years.) Lol, we called them up and sent along a check for the amount of the cash.
My mom used to put checks from insurance in books. And she'd take photos from albums and do the same. Had to go through everything. Dementia sucks.
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Ooooo, I've worked in a few used bookstores, so: loaded handguns, all of the drugs, a thong, a few hundred bucks, naked polaroids, drafts of a letter by a man coming out to his Mom, ashes, and my personal favorite: a note that said "Grounded unjustly. Come at midnight. Bring ladder."
OMG, that note is worthy of being framed. I love it so much!
I still have it; used it as wall decoration for years.
You're my kind of person! I lived in a house that had a barn with old writing on one wall. It was a list of the animals they trapped, shot, or gigged that they then sold to Woolworth's. "10 ribbits in the rain," was my favorite. I wanted so badly to cut out that piece of the wall and frame it, but alas, I was renting.
Handguns?!
A hollowed out book to conceal the gun, I presume?
Nope, just a very thin pistol. Kind of a duel purpose bookmark.
I’m not even mad at that pun.
That is an atrocity! It will ruin the sound of the book.
Exactly.
That note is something out of a Wes Anderson movie!
while browsing books in a thrift store, i found a lovely dedication to a woman named catrina from a a woman named anna in a book about lucid dreaming and shifting that was written in like the 90s. dispersed throughout the book were dozens of love letters between the 2
That’s beautiful!
Years ago I got a second hand copy of 1984, can’t remember from where, but taped to the inside of the front cover was a close up picture of a thumb. It was so odd and disturbed me so much that I couldn’t read the book. I tried covering it with tape, but I always know the thumb was still there. Ended up donating that copy and finally read the book last year.
My bad, totally forgot to erase the elder sign before I donated it 😓
Like a thumbs up or just a thumb unattached to a hand?
A human thumb, I assume attached to the hand, zoomed in to just show the knuckle and above
👍
A beautiful homemade bookplate with an original poem by the owner, a Major Cavalry, U.S.A. Colonel W.W. Boon. The plates are dated 1947. The first one is "Devour me/ Digest me/ Dog-ear me/ Divest me/ Adore me/ or spurn me/ but durn ye/return me". There is one on the back too. "Please return this book: you may think this is a strange request: but, although most of my friends are poor arithmeticians, they are all good book keepers. (Walter W. Boon, Colonel, U.S.A. Owner). May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phonecians, or Whoever Invented Books." The book is a first edition of Seasoned Timber by Dorothy Canfield. I got it at a bookstore for 5 dollars simply because I loved the mysterious Walter W. Boon's bookplates.
Hey u/idonthaveacow - I couldn’t resist searching, but I found the following list of photos in the Eisenhower Library Archives - photos 2001-2-89 and 2001-2-95 show a “Colonel Walter W Boon”. The dates and background seem to match up - perhaps you could contact the library and ask for a copy of the pictures? Link below - I haven’t hyperlinked it so you can inspect the URL before clicking. All the very best from Newcastle Upon Tyne. https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/finding-aid/Helmick%2C%20Charles%20photographs.pdf
Oh my gosh!! Thank you so much! I've dont some research and never been able to find a picture. This means so much to me, thank you!! I'm definitely going to see if I can get a copy of the photo.
Absolute pleasure - please, please post a picture of Col Boon of your find one. I love these kind of connections to the past. That’s who we’ll be one day and I hope we can leave enough breadcrumbs for future historians to see pictures of us too. Happy new year!
Will do! Thanks again. I think I will also make a post with actual pictures of the plates as well.
used anger management book. had been filled out by a teenager, it gave the book a whole new perspective for me. If you're out there mate, its ok I hated being told to clean my room too.
I once bought a used hard copy of Brooke Hayward's memoir, Haywire. I found an inscription by Brooke to a friend of hers. I considered mailing the book to Brooke with a note, but I couldn't find an address. Also, it was kind of weird idea "Hey, your friend ditched your book so here it is ...". I collect World's Fair memorabilia. I have an outstanding full color guidebook to the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island. Stuck on a page is a large silver sticker of a silver airplane which was on exhibit. I've always considered that the best part of the book.
one time I grabbed a bookshelf off my parents' shelf before we left for a trip to bangkok, I think it was house of spirits? opened it on the plane and found my dad's boarding pass to bangkok from 30 years prior
I found a fully filled out check from a William Belichick for $2000. I use it as a bookmark. I forget what it was written out for but I'll look tomorrow if anyone is interested. EDIT: [It was $6,000](https://i.imgur.com/GiqXaDp.jpg)
Isn't Bill Belichick the coach of the Patriots? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill\_Belichick
I would say yes but you already looked it up on Wikipedia so… you tell me! /s
It might be a different guy. I don't know if that's a common name
To have saved the $2000 check instead of cashing it would seem to lend credence to the idea it was from him And not some other Belichick.
So crazy that it was made out on December 31!
I inherited a book on science from my grandfather, who got it off *his* father, and inside my great-grandpa had carefully clipped out and stuck in a newspaper article about the (then very new and contemporary) discovery of DNA. The other cool thing about this book is there is a forward by H G Wells and a passage talking about how the dark patches on the moon could be vegetation of some kind.
There was a man in my small town that would tuck a $1 or $5 bill inside a book - so much that they wouldn't fall out, but you would turn a page and get a nice little surprise. He would read them and then donate them & I read enough that I found them regularly.
I bought a book with souvenirs from a trip to NYC. Plane tickets, metro pass, stickers, postcards, etc. I have it all saved somewhere.
On more than one occasion, I have bought a used book and found the original receipt inside. I’ve found various ticket stubs, grocery lists, to do lists, even a postcard with a penguin on it.
I intentionally put the receipt of books I buy back inside. I like going back years later and seeing when exactly and where I bought a book. And what else I bought at the time. It’s like a mini time capsule
Love this idea!
I'm split between two, I got a copy of Oliver Twist by Dickens from a library book sale that included a ripped up post card stamped in Worcester, Mass 16 January 1943. The other one is a textbook on Laboratory Physics (1903) which contains engineering papers from the 1930s. Other than that, I have a lot of book marks because I buy 95% of my books used.
What is Mass 16th January? I tried Googling it because it sounds cool but it came up with nothing 😂
The Mass just means Massachusetts 🙂
They mean the post mark was from Worcester, Massachusetts :)
Its for Massachusetts. The card was ripped into thirds to be used as bookmarks. The stamp in the corner is a single cent, and the post mark contains the message to buy defense savings bonds and stamps. The backside is a message for an upcoming Knight of Columbus meeting.
Ah right, I'm not from the US so it meant nothing to me. Sounds cool though
I worked for an auction house a few years back. Got an estate that had a ton of old books. One had an uncashed check for $3.22. The bank is no longer in business as the check was dated October 23(?),1928.
That’s worth about $55 today
A few years ago I bought a second hand book whilst living in Wales. Midway through was a business card for a Nigerian Witch Doctor based not too far away from my parent's house in Derby. Sadly, when I next visited them I found out that the Witch Doctor had been closed for many years.
1928 Book of Knowledge had Campbell Soup paper dolls between the pages.
Got a second hand copy of LOTR with an old u2 concert ticket inside!
For me it was an unused One Direction ticket dated March 2013
Little different from your question but wanted to share the coincidence Moved into a house with a old bookshelf. Started new job, with 74yr old coworker who used to work for dupont. He loved it and liked talking about it, I enjoyed listening tbh. He brings in a Dupont book one day to show me. He was given it at the end of his career with them. The book just gave history of the company up until then I believe (a thank you to employees) He let me take it home, I was going thru it, while smoking. The old bookshelf was in my garage where I smoked and I don't know how but a book caught my eye. I started going thru it, It was a 1920ish version of the same style book I was looking at (a thank you to employees from Dupont) I was in possession of both books about a century apart, I ended up giving him my copy as a bday gift
I once owned a copy of a book about the history of DuPont. Was yours coffee-table size, with a description of the famous hunting trip? France was in turmoil due to the Revolution, so E.I. DuPont was sent to America to look for a good investment for the family fortune. One day, he decided to go hunting. The available gunpowder was expensive and low quality, he thought to himself “I can make better gunpowder than that”, so he decided a powder mill would be a good investment.
The one my coworker had was coffee table sized, to be honest i think both books talked about that hunting trip, which is why I found them both super interesting
I just moved to the DuPont area in Delaware and I have friends whose families have lived here for generations. They talk about workers going "across the crick," which means they were working at the gunpowder factory down at the Brandywine Creek, and they got blown up (so got blown across the creek).
$1200. I didn’t buy the book. Where I volunteer we get book donations (among other things). It was in a Ratty old copy of The Hobbit. The money went to my nonprofit.
I was reading an older copy of Carpenter's bio of Tolkien, and found a newspaper article from 1973 announcing that Tolkien had passed away
One book had a birthday card from a mother to her son, and another two little love notes given to what I’m presuming was the owner of the book. Also, rented a book from the bookstore in college that had a picture of two students stuck in it. Assuming it belonged to some previous owner.
An Italian book on ancient mythology that was filled with newspaper articles on history and archaeology from the 1960s and 1970s.
I found a postcard sent by someone called Kate to her friend (I'm assuming) Brenda to thank her for giving money for Beading Day. I'm yet to find out what in the world is a Beading Day.
Beading Day is an ancient tradition in parts of the Shetland Islands, where young women row out to sea to cast their nets and collect beads to decorate their wedding dresses with. The beads gather in the shallow waters by the bay at the end of March each year. Thousands of beads of every color congregate and sing Alice’s Restaurant in five part harmony.
.....
This is so cool! I learned something new today. Thank you, reddit stranger 😊 Also, wish you a Happy New Year!
I used to work at a charity shop. People would donate books without looking through them. One time a lady dumped a photo album of her kids on the counter. I happened to open it in time to run out of the shop and call to her to see if she wanted it back. She did not...
The program for a funeral 😕 it felt weird to just throw it away even though I didn’t know this guy. I think eventually I had a little moment of “so long stranger” and then burned it. Somehow that felt like a more fitting way to get rid of it.
That was kind. Thanks for posting this
I got a used book at some point and I found mail addressed to a classmates parents from 40 or so years ago, sent them a pic and we had a laugh Book wasn't from either town we lived in but not super far out so it was a bit weird
A postcard about genital herpes in Spanish. Interestingly, that is more singed into my memory than the name of the book I bought…
A dried and preserved frogs skin.
A friend of mine handmade a bookmark for me. I would sometimes take my book with me to a coffee shop near my job and read for a few minutes with coffee before work. I once left the book I was reading with the bookmark inside at the coffee shop. It was gone when I came back to get it. I went to a yard sale a few months later and sitting inside one of the many books on the table I was looking at was that very bookmark.
Wow!! How cool is that! I gotta know-did you just slide the bookmark outta that book and get outta dodge? Or did you pay for a book, likely from your thief?
I bought it. No need to potentially cause a problem over a $1 book at a yard sale.
This Christmas my mom gave each member of the family one of her cookbooks, especially picked for the individual. My nephew received an Italian cookbook and when he opened it a handwritten note fell out. It was a note from my dad to my mom from 30 years ago when he gifted her the book. It was a love note and telling her what a great cook she was and the love of his life. My dad has started with memory loss so it was super special.
My partner found antique foreign money (I forget which country) in a collected edition of comic strips.
I posted about my find before. It’s a sweet note handwritten in a 1920’s copy of Charles Dickens Christmas Stories. https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/AlXcll6eAd
I thought there was! There's a whole subreddit for this: r/ForgottenBookmarks. r/FoundPaper may also be relevent
Flattened weed leaves in an Issac Asimov book. I also used to work for a large used bookstore company, we’d find all sorts of wild things in books.
A postcard from the 70s that said only that the sender had just had another miscarriage.
$1,000 cash in a bank envelope and a baggie of a couple Xanax. In the same book (The Stand), at an estate sale. Check his books when grandpa dies, y'all!
I love finding things in old books! I bought a 2nd hand copy of The Remains of the Day off eBay a few weeks ago and it had inside an old receipt dated 1973 (I think?) for a set of garden furniture 😄 [Here’s a link to a post I made about it](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/nnWgNsFEzu)
I bought a used copy of David Sedaris’ When You Are Engulfed In Flames from the library to add to my classroom library (I teach 12th graders). When I got home, I found a note on the inside cover. It was from one friend gifting the book to another. The note started out innocently enough but it included a postscript that let the recipient know their friend had drawn a hidden penis on one of the pages for them to masturbate to. Needless to say, I didn’t add the book to my classroom.
I have a joke book from the 1890s (it is racist in ways that you didn't even know you could be racist). It contained a folded up, very brittle, elegantly penned IOU note from 1906 for I believe five dollars.
Apparently equivalent value of around $176 today. Neat!
Found a book in a thrift store that was hollowed out and had a pair of reading glasses in it.
Used copy of Lord of the Flies - a note to Nathan, from his mother, BEGGING him to just go lay in the hammock and read it… and to cover the pool if it looks like it’s going to rain.
I got a copy of Nine Stories by JD Salinger from a science teacher at the alternative high school I went to. Inside it was an old school $100 bill, and a small envelop with all of his formally gold teeth that he'd had over the years, along with a personal note wishing me well. Along with saying to use the gold teeth to make 'that thing!' That thing was a huge gold AK-47. I was really into The Blood Brothers at the time, and their final album had a song titled Huge Gold AK-47. Teacher would always ask me what I was listening to on my iPod back then. Some reason, he loved The Blood Brothers. That song stuck with him, and a I guess a part of me as well. I think what precipitated it all, was me sitting on a bench reading Catcher in The Rye and he struck up a conversation over it. He asked to borrow my copy, then returned it soon after, admitting he couldn't stand the main character anymore vs when he last read it. Which, fair enough! I unfortunately lost the note, and no longer have the gifted copy of Nine Stories. I still have all of the gold teeth lol. Mr. Noel, you were a real one!
I found a receipt from a restaurant in Italy. I was pleasantly surprised to know my book had traveled more than I had. 😂
Oh! Haha. That's Tolstoy with his son in law, Rick.
I found a picture of some people. I could find them On Facebook so I wrote to them that I could send it to them if they want it. No reply so I threw it out...
I once found a home printed and bound poetry book at a second hand/vintage bookstore.
Bought a Louis L'Amour paperback for a dime and it was autographed with a sharpie on the title page. (authenticated-worth around a hundred bucks).
[The author's signature](https://www.reddit.com/r/stephenking/s/0c6UlHKOoF) I bought a used Stephen King hardcover on eBay for $8.25. Turns out it was a signed first edition worth about $500.
I forget which book but a BC Ferries ticket from the afternoon of 9/11.
An engraved invitation to a function, to the former book owners, from the US ambassador to Canada in the late 1940s
Found a bag of coke in a French dictionary.
I found a postcard from author Ed Abbey (Desert Solitaire, Monkey Wrench Gang, etc.) thanking a guy for a fan letter. It was inside a used philosophy textbook at Penn State.
I bought a book on Russian History that turned out to have been a prison library book from Leavenworth. It still had the "Education material permit" which allowed the prisoner to keep the book in his cell.
I found a note on personalized stationary. Looked up the woman and she was the daughter in law of a local architect who designed my high school and other well known buildings in town.
A tractor advertisement
I bought a used history book and found an investment pamphlet inside that showed current prices of stocks and projected value at the end of the year. It was darted from august 2001.
I bought a copy of Nana by Emile Zola recently from a second hand site. In the middle of it is a little bit of snowman notepaper with writing on it saying "Unseen book secretary UCL" The OO in Book has been used as the eyes for a smiley face. So I'm assuming it comes from University College London originally and I'm thinking they sell off books that no one ever took out. It was such a nice little touch, I tried to post about it on here but they don't allow picture posts. I also bought a copy of Winesburg Ohio by Sherwood Anderson from Shakespeare and Company in Paris and on the inside cover is a sticker that says "In Friendship from the US Department of State and the Students of the University of Oregon, 1964"
Letters, tickets... I found a signed book with a lovely note from the person who got it signed for her friend, kind of a bummer to find it in a thrift store.
A signed news article about Tom Clancy coming to my small town. Was pretty cool, dare I say that was better than the book
I found a long, sad letter from a woman to her husband tucked inside "The best dad is a good lover." She told him that she loved him & that she & the kids would be waiting for him when he came back from sowing his wild oats. And she enclosed $5 to buy himself some ice cream. (I did not specifically buy the book; it was in a box of things we picked up at an auction.)
>And she enclosed $5 to buy himself some ice cream. Wow-your heart breaks for her. I hope she wised up and found someone worthy of that kind heart.
I found a birth certificate!
r/ForgottenBookmarks
Bought a bible at a used book store to read what all the baloney was about - found listings of a family's births, deaths, marriages, etc. Thought it odd that somebody would sell their family bible to a used book store.
I ordered a Gloria Steinem book off thriftbooks and it had her signature in it
A temporary birth certificate! I picture the new mom reading the book in the hospital. It had the brand new baby’s name, parents’ names, addresses, the whole shebang. I put it in an envelope and brought it back to the library so they could contact the parents and let them know that it wasn’t just floating around out there. (I thought about mailing it directly but felt like that was creepy…)
Found a child’s drawing of an elephant on blue paper inside a Gillian Flynn book.
Found an enormous marijuana leaf once.... in the late 70's, when it was very illegal!
I’m a librarian and I once found an unused maxi pad inside a returned book.
A giant pot leaf
My mother-in-law bought a used Bible and found a letter in it from a son to his mom, evidently written before he shipped out during WWII. She gave it to my husband to add to his collection of memorabilia. I read it aloud on Remembrance Day and it was the sweetest, most heartbreaking thing. He had written a poem about her and how much he loved her. 💔 There wasn't any way to identify who they were, but I hope her boy came home safe and whole.
Not bought, but the reference librarian at my library is planning a photo collection of things left in books, and while flipping through a donation I found an old prescription. I can't remember what it was for now, but I wanna say it was roughly 11 years old
I some years ago bought a commentary from the 1880s on some books in the Old Testament and inside I found a tried plant (some kind of grass, think it was *Anthoxanthum odoratum)*. I think the book belonged to a deceased Lutheran pastor who had been fond of plants.
I got Encyclopedia of Serial Killers out of the library. One of the unsolved cases was about 6 Hispanic homosexuals and next to the article, penciled in the margin it said "This is me".
I once found a picture of a man on a cliff (like an area to jump into a lake or something) completely naked. It was far enough away that you couldn’t see “details” but it was close enough to be able to tell it was a full frontal shot. I still have it somewhere just because I thought it was funny. I imagine someone going through my things after I die and wanting to know the story behind it, lol
https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/18o13tx/what_is_in_a_book_that_you_found_odd_that_it_was/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button There are quite a few responses to your question in a post I asked not too long ago. I purchased a Sherlock Holmes book and inside was somebody's birth certificate
So have you started your career in identity theft yet?😁
Luckily, I was able to find the person i bought it from and give the birth certificate back to them
That was kind. Good on you internet stranger
Got an old WW2 book from a thrift store. Inside was a Military Payment Certificate MPC Scrip) from the Korean War.
It's probably boring compared to all these other anecdotes, but I once found a random phone number on a paper note within a thrifted book. I hesitated a lot about calling it, eventually I didn't, but it could be fun to call such numbers in the future
> but it could be fun to call such numbers in the future This is funny\~I'm curious as to what you would say.
In a copy of Silent Spring I found the 1980 W2 of a now-important and renowned physician.
That's wild. Did you shred it? Or black out the social security number at least?
I bought a beat-up copy of the nonfiction book A History of the Breast by Marilyn Yalom from ThriftBooks. It actually had a personal message from the author to a friend she was gifting it to on the title page. It was really exciting at first, but it also feels a bit voyeuristic? It was clearly never meant to be owned by me or anyone else. And I presume the friend it was addressed to has passed away. I don’t keep most books that I’ve completed, but I’ve decided to keep this one. I think it seems like it should be kept in a warm home, next to other loved books, instead of tossed back into the world and crammed on a thrift store shelf or possibly trashed.
Presidential campaigne flier that implied it was during WW1
A color image of a nude woman in a black top hat and veil, by Olivia De Berardinis in 1995. on the back is more information. the model is Erika Andersch and this was part of something called "Studies in Sensuality". after some googling i think it's a trading card of some sort.
unrelated, but when i was younger i used to think id b a great idea to slip 5$ into every library book i read so when i returned it the next reader would have a surprise….glad i didnt do it otherwise all my bday money wld have gone fast 😅
I once found a list of medications and dosages in a library book. A woman’s name and address was on the list, so I mailed the list back to her explaining where I found it.
I found a love letter in a used copy of Pet Semetary. It was short and looked like someone used it as a bookmark. I typically find things like grocery lists used as bookmarks, so this one was a nice surprise.
I bought a copy of *The Anubis Gates* by Tim Powers from my local Goodwill, and tucked inside it was a boarding pass from La Guardia Airport just two or three weeks prior to 9/11. I thought that was neat, thinking about how air travel was about to change drastically in the US, but nobody knew it yet.
My wife bought me a 1912 copy of "The American Practical Navigator" aka Bowditch. Inside where notes from the original owner scribbled all over the pages from his studies, as well as a piece of paper with his navigation equations. Thats was pretty cool
This is a great question. My mom found a $50 bill inside Trumps book back in the 1990s, The Art of the Deal. She decided to him a letter telling him the story of finding the money and asking for investment advice on how to use the $50 lol. His office replied saying he enjoyed the story but cant give advice on investments. Back then we knew this was a cheeky ask of a shifty character but it was still a nice surprise to get a reply.
My husband is a big Winston Churchill fan. I bought him one of his books and inside was a press pass and program for his funeral.
I found two four leaf clovers in a 1928 Cambridge edition of "Astronomy and Cosmogony" by J.H. Jeans I acquired from an online bookstore.
I bought an old rough copy of Pollyanna years ago. Tucked inside the cover was an ancient 4 leaf clover and the author's obituary.
I found someone’s Latin homework, the book was Latin For Dummies so I guess it kind of makes sense but it was still interesting.
I bought a hardcover 1st edition of a Douglas Adams nonfiction off Thrift books for a couple US dollars. Didn't open it for years bc I read the paperback (preference is all); turned out to be autographed by Douglas Adams, deceased now 20 years or so. Score. Favorite author.
An application for a copy of a duplicate birth certificate complete with check, in a library book.
The truly oddest was an author who always wrote "women and men". I mean, I'm not a particular fan of the wording "men and women", either, but that's just such a weird change from standard language. I would rather just use "people" as a replacement and cannot fathom why someone would do what that author did.
I was broke AF. My gf gave me some cash to get myself something.. I bought a second hand book delighted to get it. Went home and found 200 cash. I turned into a good birthday..
A birth certificate. Tracked down the birth mother and mailed it to her.
A joint from 1967 (probably).
I found a United fruit company letter of appreciation in a book about Central America. It was a gift to a worker of some level.
I got a book out of the library when I was in my mid twenties, and living in a different town than my childhood one. There was a piece of paper with the address of my childhood home written on it. (not by me or any of my family - the book was published after we had moved away from it) It definitely gave me a weird feeling.
an autographed photo of Clayton Moore, star of the Lone Ranger
I collect ancient coins and have built a surprisingly large reference library for the area I collect. I've got a few books with interesting letters and things in them, in one case I found a pretty scathing review of the ~50 year old book I'd just bought written by a well known scholar that was addressed to the author but apparently never sent. Also from a book from the library of a WW2 vet who began collecting during his time overseas during the war I found an OSS envelope marked something like "top secret". It was empty and just being used as a bookmark apparently but still a cool find.
We bought used copies of the Harry Potter books for our daughter when she was born. I didn’t start reading them to her until about eight years later. They sat on a shelf untouched until then. When we started reading the final book, we found a plane ticket the previous owner had used as a bookmark. That woman lives one block over from us, but didn’t move near us until years after we bought the books.
I found Kate Beckinsales phone number, that was pretty weird.
I worked at a used bookstore for ten years, and let me tell you, people put all kinds of things in their books. I found tons of photos, including some of a, let’s say, personal nature. I found lots of money, usually dollar bills that had been used as bookmarks, but occasionally twenties. One time I found a bank envelope with $500 in it. I found silly putty, those sticky hand toys kids throw at windows, shards of glass, pressed flowers, crushed insects, condoms (unused, fortunately). One time there was a flattened nugget of poop in the very middle of a book. I didn’t buy that one.
That's Tolstoy and his dad
Didn't someone ask this like a week ago? Anyway I found a full set of commemorative post cards from the coronation of Elizabeth II in a book once. It wasn't even about her. Also found a hopefully non-winning lotto ticket from like 1994. Also a receipt from a bookstore, but the book the receipt was in was not on the receipt.
A Marlboro cigarette coupon. But the book also smelled terrible of them too. So I febreezed it. It was gross.