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The Waverley Novels

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MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 20/04/2015 13:35

PIL presented us with an enormous card board box containing at least 30 hardback volumes of 'The Waverley Novels' which they'd found at a car boot sale. Not a first edition (these are published in 1896). They've been gathering dust for 6 months - I have an era der full of 20th and 21st century literary fiction and haven't mustered the interest to read them.

We live in Germany, and in a very rural non cosmopolitan location, so charity shops are going to have no use for 120 year old books in English....

But they are 120 years old...

I can't just chuck them in the paper recycling!

Are they worth anything - condition is only "fair"...

Should I force myself to read them - will I find I enjoy them? I'm more Cory Doctorow or Kazuo Ishiguro or Peter Cary or Ian Banks inclined normally!

Anyone read them? A quick glance suggested they haven't aged the wayHardy and Austin have - or am I wrong?

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MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 20/04/2015 13:38

An e reader not an era der. .. hmmm

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Takver · 20/04/2015 14:29

I loved Ivanhoe as a teenager

I'd say at least Ivanhoe and Rob Roy are worth a try, but then I've always enjoyed 19thC novels.

How old are your dc - and do they read English? If they're 12+, they might enjoy them, they're very much classic adventure stories. (Mind you, given your user name, I'm guessing they're a bit young!)

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Takver · 20/04/2015 14:32

Sadly a quick search on Abebooks suggests there's lots of them that age around, so probably not worth much. They were very, very popular, they must have printed 000s, I guess

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Takver · 20/04/2015 14:32

Sorry, here's search results

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MrTumblesBavarianFanbase · 20/04/2015 14:47

Thank both of you!

My username really needs an update as we are past Mr Tumble now (though I credit him with helping my DD'S English at the very early stages :o ). DC are 9.5, 7.5 and 4 - older two read English, but more 'Fortunately the Milk' than Sir Walter Scott :o

Hmm I guess they can just gather dust for a bit longer ... Have moved them to the basement. .. not really sure what to do with them, but maybe dd or I will read them one day!