What's the oldest and rarest books you have?

This can refers to two meanings of "old",
a book that you have been keeping with you for the longest time,
or a book with the oldest publication's or printing's date that you've ever possessed.

And for "rare" books,
it would be the books which have the most value either to you personally
or according to its availability in the public world.

I know I have quite a few books that are old, but I couldn't say if they were so old as to be note-worthy.

In terms of "rare" books.
My most personally valuable book is a signed copy of Speaker for the Dead. It's got my name in it and everything.
In terms of actual rarity, I have a limited run second printing copy of Tony Takitani by Haurki Murakami

I have a couple superman novels that Roger Stern wrote signed. But, other than that all my books can be found easily on amazon. I don't even have hard cover harry potters. I do have an ereader though, so I guess that is cool in the lit world.

I have a copy of what i believe to be, the un-Disneyned version of Cinderella. It's really different from the story most people think of when picturing Cinderella.
It's in excess of 100 years old, according to the date inside the cover. Something like 1902? I can't recall. I'm not sure on how rare it is, as i've never looked into it.

The only other books i would consider old & rare, are those that i have belonging to The Silver Brumby series. They were first published in the 50's/60's, and when looking to buy the first one, i had to buy it second hand, online, because it wasn't stocked in shops, as it had been out of print for such a long time.

The oldest book I've kept with me is "Bambi" which I've had for maybe 10-13 years.
The oldest book by date I have in the house is 1939.

I think the rarest one is my copy of "Der Löwe von Flandern". It's the German translation of a Flemish book, which is often seen as the pride of our people; it was the first Flemish novel in a time when Flemish was considered "filthy" and French was the norm. And it's about the battle of Courtraix, when Flemish peasants defeated the French army. (Flanders is the top half of Belgium, the lower half speaks French.)

The odd thing about the book is that it dates back to 1916... the First World War. Belgium was at war with Germany. What German would think it a good idea to translate a book like this in times of war? And it's a very pretty book, too: it has a gilded shield with a black Flemish Lion on the front, and it's entirely in old Gothic print.

The oldest book I have dates back to 1873. It's a bundle of poems by a Dutch writer.

I have a book from a few hundred year ago about Greek Myths.

And I have a first edition pride and prejudice *happys*

As for one Ive kept for a long time, by parents gave me a kids bible for my 5th birthday, and Ive kept that with me always

I have a book my grandmother gave me when I was six, it was a short Little Mermaid story - only the names of the characters had been replaced with mine, my brother's and my cousins'. =3 There used to be a printer offering that kind of "custom" books. I remember I had to read it out loud at the Christmas party when I got it, I was so nervous. @[email protected]

Another rare thing would be my two Jessica Peffer (NeonDragon) how-to-draw books, because they both have a sketch made by her in the cover. That makes them unique. :XD

I believe that my copy of Alice in Wonderland is my oldest by date, and Ender's Game is my favorite book.

I'd have to say my copy of Romeo and Juliet is the oldest and rarest book i own. it was printed in 1962 and has a grand pricetag printed on it at 18cents. not a common book to see in the format i won anymore actually the reason i have it is due to its rarity when i saw it in the used book store lol

Hm, I don't really know. I treasure most of my books. ^^

I have....a handwritten copy of the bible from Spain....

I cant pin a date....but its very very old...its been passed through my family for a long time

Hm, old for me is some of my paper backs from my elementary years that I still have, also my first grade reading book(the literature book that the class used we got to keep) even has one of my teacher's names signed in it.

I have an old encyclopedia that's like 100+ years old. The cover is almost torn off and the pages are so thin and fragile.

It's really big and dusty so I don't bring it out often but sometimes I like to look through it.

The book I've had for the longest time is a Disney book...well, there are three of them. I'm pretty sure that the Beauty and the Beat storybook is my oldest book, but if not it's the Bambi book. I have some books from the 1930s that I picked up...somewhere. They're a little worse for wear.

I don't know that I have a 'rarest' book...though, certainly the book that I've read the most in my collecting is called 'The Soulforge', by Margaret Weis. I loved that book so much in seventh grade...and now I don't even know why. I've grown out of it, that must be all...

I had some books once that I later saw in an antique store. Not sure how old they were and my parents probably gave them away.

I'm not sure how rare it is, but I've got a signed collector's edition of 'Interview With a Vampire'.

As for old books. I've got a lot of them, because I find it hard to let books go. XD Gah, I don't even know what my oldest one would be.

My oldest book and rarest was my moms Necronomicon and my Demonolgy book. :/ Both destroyed because someone didn't bring them in.

Hmmm... well, I have a lot of very old, hard-back books, one of them (Little Men) has ''To Pam, love Clive, xmas 1948'' written in faded in on the inside, so I know that one's at least that old.
As for the one I've had the longest, I have an old, tattered childrens' book called 'Peace At Last' that my parents used to read to my brothers and I over and over again when we were little. We've had that book in the family for about 23 years, and it's all falling apart, torn and been taped back together many times, but nobody can bare to throw it out.

I have a dictionary as old as time that I still use.
My oldest book, and my very first chapter book, was by Christopher pike. The spine is broken and worn, pages are yellow, and the front cover is actually missing. I think a dog might have chewed it off.

I can't lay claim to anything particularly old or rare - modern printings of 2000 year old Roman authors (in the original Latin) are probably the nearest I might come to the former, while a few somewhat uncommon, but not really rare books (like a compilation of some of Edward Gorey's work) are all I lay claim to of the latter. That said, in my desperate hunt for a biography of Vittoria Colonna, I borrowed and read a book from my university library written and printed in 1847 or '49 (another book from the same library - though from the late 19th century - had a few pages I had to take my pocket knife to, in lieu of an official and proper book knife).

I have quite a few 50's science fiction books, a lot of Robert Hienlen and Ray Bradbury that are no longer in print...although I have no idea what my rarest one is O-O

Most of my old books are school texts my parents have, and then books I have had since I was born.

As far as rare go... I would say in terms of money I have a good number of personalized signed books, I am sure by now a few out of print books and then some that are a first prints to boot and for living in the US a good number of books not in English, that I got in Japan.

I also love finding books at the local second hand shop, not allways rare or cheep but they are pretty, my copy of Hamlet is by far the best find. It sports original illustrations and is a good copy of it.