By David Rossiter – Contributor

A majority of the Bishop’s University library is papered wall to wall with textbooks or dense nonfiction publications dealing with subjects ranging from coup d’états to theoretical physics to early childhood education. But did you know that it also houses an impressive fiction collection in a small section of the basement? I did not until I started throwing my favourite authors’ surnames into the online directory and a few popped up.

This is how I happened upon a stack of Cormac McCarthy novels, my first thought being: wow these look old! McCarthy is an eccentric writer, first published in 1965 and gaining fame in the 90s. I became enamoured with his descriptive prose and unorthodox style when reading his 2006 Pulitzer Prize winning novel The Road.

Here in the basement of the Library Learning Commons I spread out the half dozen or so books. The Orchard Keeper and Suttree looked especially old and worn. Turns out they are both the first editions of the hardcover publications.

Wow. These are some of McCarthy’s earliest works. The Orchard Keeper was his debut novel in 1965 and Suttree was published in 1979. Both came out when he was relatively unknown and therefore neither had large scale printings for their first editions (making this even more rare!).

I love that this means Bishop’s likely has had them since they came out. I love the thought that I am sitting here on campus analyzing the themes of a novel just like a student over 50 years before me did. Reading a physical copy that is so old makes me romanticize the timelessness of this hobby.

Looking up the value of these editions for fun, I see that in certain conditions they could be quite expensive. In perfect condition and with a nice dust jacket (which none of the hardcover books in the library seem to have), these two novels are sometimes sold for a few thousand dollars each!

However, that is not super important to me, since I cannot keep my favourite books in that kind of condition for five years. How could people enjoy them for over 50 years and be expected to do the same?

What I think is cool is that this may be just the tip of the iceberg. What is the oldest original physical book in the Bishop’s University collection? What is the rarest? The most valuable?

If you find this as interesting as I do, maybe you will search for your favourite authors in the fiction section and wonder how many decades of Bishop’s students have handled the same books as you.