Paul Whybrow
Full Member
I've had some dealings with heavyweight books recently, not so much for their content but literally their weight.
I like to vary my reading, requesting a graphic novel or art book from my local library every week. Recently, I chose a retrospective of the cartoonist Gary Larson's career, a two volume set in a slipcase that contains every one of his published 4,337 cartoons from 1980-1994. He had the good sense, (and enough savings), to retire early and has resisted lucrative offers to return to his drawing board.
I noticed that the books were on the large side in the details provided on Cornwall County Libraries website, but nothing prepared me for the size when I walked into my local branch last Thursday. The two library assistants nodded at a huge box on the window sill behind the counter. The dimensions of the slipcover are 14" x 10" x 2" but it's the weight of the two volumes, which are printed on high-quality art paper, that took my breath away. I later weighed it, using my bathroom scales, and it's a hefty 14lbs.
I use a bicycle to do my weekly trek into town, so I practically wheelied all of the way home with Larson's tome strapped to my luggage rack. I've read it in sessions, as the weight spread on my thighs was crushing. It would never be stolen by a shoplifter—they'd get a hernia and tear their clothing apart trying to conceal it.
I see that it's been republished in three volumes—perhaps a reader expired trying to lift one of the two volume editions.
The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994 by Gary Larson (2003-10-01): Gary Larson: Amazon.com: Books
To add to my muscle training, I purchased a two volume set of The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on eBay. For a mere £3.21, I acquired 5,000 pages, containing definitions of 163,000 words. One thing that I don't understand, is how the online bookshop can afford to send them to me without charging P & P, for they're heavy enough to stun a moose! There are plenty of others available, so grab a bargain.
As an ex-librarian, I'm familiar with oversized books. Some of the ancient atlases I handled were vast needing two people to handle them safely.
These days, it's unusual to see really big books. In novels, speculative fiction writer Neal Stephenson's work takes up a lot of shelf space.
Have you come across any really large and heavy books?
I like to vary my reading, requesting a graphic novel or art book from my local library every week. Recently, I chose a retrospective of the cartoonist Gary Larson's career, a two volume set in a slipcase that contains every one of his published 4,337 cartoons from 1980-1994. He had the good sense, (and enough savings), to retire early and has resisted lucrative offers to return to his drawing board.
I noticed that the books were on the large side in the details provided on Cornwall County Libraries website, but nothing prepared me for the size when I walked into my local branch last Thursday. The two library assistants nodded at a huge box on the window sill behind the counter. The dimensions of the slipcover are 14" x 10" x 2" but it's the weight of the two volumes, which are printed on high-quality art paper, that took my breath away. I later weighed it, using my bathroom scales, and it's a hefty 14lbs.
I use a bicycle to do my weekly trek into town, so I practically wheelied all of the way home with Larson's tome strapped to my luggage rack. I've read it in sessions, as the weight spread on my thighs was crushing. It would never be stolen by a shoplifter—they'd get a hernia and tear their clothing apart trying to conceal it.
I see that it's been republished in three volumes—perhaps a reader expired trying to lift one of the two volume editions.
The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994 by Gary Larson (2003-10-01): Gary Larson: Amazon.com: Books
To add to my muscle training, I purchased a two volume set of The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on eBay. For a mere £3.21, I acquired 5,000 pages, containing definitions of 163,000 words. One thing that I don't understand, is how the online bookshop can afford to send them to me without charging P & P, for they're heavy enough to stun a moose! There are plenty of others available, so grab a bargain.
As an ex-librarian, I'm familiar with oversized books. Some of the ancient atlases I handled were vast needing two people to handle them safely.
These days, it's unusual to see really big books. In novels, speculative fiction writer Neal Stephenson's work takes up a lot of shelf space.
Have you come across any really large and heavy books?
Still, that was one of my favorite classes and I remember spending hours in those pages. 
