Tesser Well.
When I was in high school, I don't quite remember what year... I went to the Radisson garage sale one summer. Maybe it was before high school? Maybe I was with Meggie? In any case, I came across the Time Trilogy by Madeleine L'Engle--which I'm sure many of you are familiar with from your childhood. It consists of A Wrinkle in Time, A Swiftly Tilting Planet, and A Wind in the Door.
I was so excited to find them because my mom had read them to me as a child and I was looking forward to reading them over. The man sold them to me for a dollar each, and I passed him three singles, bagged my new books and I was on my way to find some other goodies.
When I got home I opened the book and flipped through it and, there, on the title page, read, "For Heather--tesser well--Madeleine L'Engle." I freaked out and quickly flipped through the other books--all three were signed! I ran to show my mom and everyone else in the house. I thought it was the coolest thing ever! I was amazed at my find, stored the books in my closet, and hoped I would find the time to read them later. But for the most part I forgot about them.
This year I bought A Wrinkle in Time on audiobook to listen on my car ride home. While listening to L'Engle herself dictate the book, I got hooked all over again! When I got back to school, I picked up my hard copy to finish reading and threw it in my bag to tote around with me and read between classes. I showed the signature on the title page with great gusto and immense pride to my friends who have read the books, watching their faces excitedly.
When I showed it to Pat and David, however, their faces lit up and they began exclaiming that the book I held was probably worth a lot of money. I always assumed it could've gone for fifty bucks or something, but Pat (whose parents, I believe, own a bookstore with plenty of used books) suggested we should check and see how much it went for online. He called his Dad to ask his opinion, and after a little bit of searching around the web, I found out that my signed copy of A Wrinkle in Time, alone, sells for $400!
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=madeleine+l%27engle&sgnd=on&tn=a+wrinkle+in+time&x=0&y=0
My book is ISBN 0374386137, 47th printing, 1988. And you can find a comparable one on this link!
Since I have the trilogy, all signed, I can't imagine what that would fetch! Could you imagine how much it would be if I had Many Waters, and whichever one follows that one? I can't believe it! Talk about a garage sale find--it was a real Antique Roadshow moment!
But I almost feel guilty obsessing so much over their worth, because reading through these books remind me of the value of my childhood. I seem myself as a kid with sticky fingers grabbing at the book as my mom tried to read it to me. Thinking at night about what it would be like to have senses other than my current five... imagining this horrifying grey workd with a looming, cement building... creatures with eyes and wings and fur and hooves... These books were a part of my childhood. And now what an adult I've become!--I find out what they're worth and I cringe to recalling that a few days ago I was reading my $400 book in the bathtub.
So now the child in me is thinking "Who cares what they're worth!" and wants to tote them around everywhere 'til I'm done reading them. While the adult in me wants to keep them clean and safe. But I think the two can come to a Happy Medium in the realization that I own something truly precious and special. What an interesting way to reconcile childhood and adulthood with a sentimental classic that is also very valuable--in more ways than one.
And as I read these special books through again, I feel extremely blessed by the lessons I learn from every character, beast, planet, and being. I feel like a whole new world is opened again.