Looking for complete library sets

July 15, 2007 9:42 AM

Where can I find things like "Penguin Classics Complete Collection", entire libraries? Do publishers (say Dover) offer such things on request?

I am aware of Strand's book by the foot, but I am looking for other suggestions.

posted by geoff. to Shopping (8 answers total)

Best answer: Two that I know of are Dalkey Archive Press and Library of America.
posted by mattbucher at 10:10 AM on July 15, 2007

Amazon
posted by fire&wings at 11:08 AM on July 15, 2007

I assume you are talking about the 20th Century classics? There are actually a lot of Penguin Classics. Not the answer you want, but you could try going through the list and ordering what you want individually...

complete list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Penguin_Classics_Library_Complete_Collection

more info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penguin_Books#Penguin_Classics

you can purchase many directly from Penguin here (try searching):
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/classics/graphicclassics.html
posted by shiwsup at 9:02 AM on July 16, 2007

Response by poster: I am looking to buy ~1,000 at a time ... I was hoping to get a discount or finding a retailer who caters to this. I am going to call around to interior designers to see what they buy when they have to put in a library.
posted by geoff. at 9:51 AM on July 16, 2007

Everyman's Library 100 Titles Set
posted by steadystate at 11:19 AM on July 17, 2007

I am unclear as to what you are really looking for. If you are looking for publishers complete sets (like Penguin classics, Dalkey, Everyman, etc.) then why do you care if they are 1000 copies or not? If you are looking to get 1000 or so books together on the cheap (must they be from the same publisher?) then there are bookstores (like the Strand as you mentioned) that cater to interior decorators or people who want to buy books by the foot. Here is one. Also, googling books by the foot brings up stuff like this. Nicholson Baker sort of talks about this in a really interesting essay called "Books as Furniture."
posted by mattbucher at 10:03 AM on July 18, 2007

Response by poster: Not for furniture, I was hoping to build a library quickly on classics and have it someone targeted, basically alternatives to what Penguin offers. I think I am just going to go with them. Thanks for the advice.
posted by geoff. at 4:38 PM on July 19, 2007

Oh, ok. The only other one I'd recommend is the Loeb Library, but I doubt they have as good of a deal as Penguin since they publish only hardcovers and Penguin Classics are all paperbacks.
posted by mattbucher at 5:53 PM on July 20, 2007