Big book

This came in the mail today:

It's a 1000-page reference book that I ordered from an American used book seller over abebooks.com last Thursday, back when the US/Canadian exchange rate was near but not quite at parity.

It is a former public library book that is in pristine condition. Seriously. The binding is a little wonky, but there is not one mark in it. (Thank you, Wolfeboro Public Library!)

I didn't expect it to arrive so quickly, so when I saw it in front of my door (the mailman had kindly left it there, underneath my newspaper), yes, I squealed.

Because not only is it an excellent reference book edited by one of the giants in the field (Richetti), but it cost me only $22 USD. That includes shipping.

So on the one hand, it's sad that this lovely though perhaps too-academic reference book was underused in a public library. On the other hand, it's great that it remained in excellent condition until I was able to give it the appreciative home it deserves. Used books, yay!