RoR: Forum

Well, I have more than 20, but not way more, so I opted for false modesty and took the penultimate choice.

"Books" does not include ephemera such as magazine and newspaper articles. In a fat folder of much more, I have a clipping from The Cleveland Press when The Virtue of Selfishess was released.

I did count tapes. I have Atlas Shrugged on tape (Highbridge; read by Edward Herrmann). I also have Ayn Rand's last public appearance on VHS tape - Steve Wolfer was in the audience. I counted those. I did not count the bootlegs of David Kelley lectures. But I did count The Philosophy of Objectivism: A Brief Summary by Leonard Peikoff (ARI, 1982). I did not count Peikoff's NBI 1967 An Examination Study-Guide to the Ethics of Objectivism because mine is a photocopy - I sold the original for a one-ounce silver "John Galt" round. I did not count the five sheets of Mint State Ayn Rand postage stamps.

My most recent purchase was Torres & Kamhi What is Art? The Esthetic Theory of Ayn Rand, which I found at a local Half Price Books last summer. I also have the Reader's Digest January 1944 with "The Only Path to Tomorrow: The Moral Basis of Individualism." After watching Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life by Michael Paxton (borrowed from the local library), I bought the companion book.

(Edited by Michael E. Marotta on 10/04, 10:59am)

Post 1

Friday, October 4, 2013 - 5:47pm

Show off.

Saturday, October 5, 2013 - 7:43am

Wait until Robert weighs in. He lives in the apartment that he rented for his books. I am pretty sure that several other people have been very dedicated over the years. Egoists are just shy.

Post 3

Saturday, October 5, 2013 - 5:04pm

If you count multiple copies*, then I have more than 20 as well.

Ed

*I don't have the sum total of experience that others like Steve Wolfer and Mike Marotta have -- I did not discover Ayn Rand until the 21st century (already in my 30's) -- but I am apparently attempting to make up for that by the intensity I take in the process. I practice "active reading" wherein you circle, underline, highlight, and create extensive marginalia -- there are some pages in some of my books where I have more words in the marginalia than there were originally on the page to begin with. At any rate, if you read like that, then you almost make the book unreadable (because of the elimination of white-space) ... so ... then ... you buy another copy ... and the process starts all over again.

:-)

Post 4

Monday, October 7, 2013 - 6:36am

Right, Ed! I have two copies (and a xerox) of Introduction to the Objectivist Epistemology. I xeroxed it from a library book about 1991 when I was teaching at a community college and then in factories. I bought one copy used - and used it - and then bought another to not use. I have had several copies of Atlas over the years. One, I marked up extensively with cross references. I put summaries in the TOC. When that wore out, I bought another. Then, I found a nice original paperback from c. 1960, a seventh printing of the 95-cent gold cover. And I have the tapes. Similarly, I have a hard cover Anthem, a sixth printing by Caxton, but I bought a ppb used to actively read.

The thing is though, that you and I are likely not unique. That reflects on sales figures. For one thing, only about five of my books were bought new. And we do have multiple copies. So, when they say that 24 million were sold, what does that mean?

Also, the Ayn Rand Institute gives away tens of thousands of copies. ("To date, more than 1.4 million copies of these Ayn Rand novels have been donated to 30,000 teachers in 40,000 classrooms across the United States and Canada." - ARI) They are a huge buyer. On the other hand, Anthem is popular as assigned reading in middle school and high school. Like Lord of the Flies, The Pearl, Call of the Wild, etc., Anthem is short and direct. I have seen cartloads of them going to and fro in schools. So, you have like 50 copies, and maybe 2000 or 3000 readers each year.

But unlike William Golding and Jack London, Ayn Rand's works are active elements of social change. You get these conservative politicians claiming to be "influenced" by Ayn Rand - and that's fine as far as it goes - but significantly, you do not get Democrats touting Gore Vidal or whoever as a major influence on their thinking.

Post 5

Monday, October 7, 2013 - 12:31pm

Nor, perhaps more significantly, do you see Republicans citing Buckley or Chambers or Kirk as influences.

Post 6

Monday, October 7, 2013 - 8:31pm

20+ ... plus one more

I just picked up a copy of Understanding Objectivism, edited by Michael S. Berliner (on MEM's suggestion in another recent thread) ...

:-)

Ed

(Edited by Ed Thompson on 10/07, 8:33pm)

Post 7

Saturday, October 12, 2013 - 2:17pm

hmmm - haven't counted, but the only known items not have is first printing hardback of THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS, and same for WE THE LIVING.....

all the videos, copies of most the Ford Hall lectures are still around here somewhere, as original newsletter and Objectivist issues, including autographed one, all the Branden hardbounds, several autographed, Hessen's books, Kay Nolte Smith's, both hardbound and paperback, same with Shelley Reubin's, and Erika Holzer's... and Kelley's, including copies of some of his lectures, the tapes of his Foundations of Knowledge, his various speeches, including the one which was used for the 'great schism', Barbara Branden's Efficient Thinking, Branden's original lectures on Objectivism, as well as the transcription, The Vision of Ayn Rand..... and other materials as well, mostly odd lots of related writings and things...

oh yes, Berliner's and Peikoff's books, and Tara Smith's, and the Journals and Marginalias, and so on... and Calumet K from the NBI impression... and Hugo's works, both in French and English, same with Rostand.... for what is worth...
(Edited by robert malcom on 10/12, 2:23pm)

Post 8

Wednesday, October 16, 2013 - 7:35pm

sorry, Michael - wasn't boasting, just that these things seemed to build up over the years - especially considering been associated with this, in one form or another, almost from the beginning... another of my cases of 'being in the right place at the right time', where my 'six degrees of separation' often have been three... weird, yes, but over the years have taken it in stride - after all, statistically, SOMEones have be 'one of those' kind of persons.....

Post 9

Thursday, October 17, 2013 - 9:30am

Robert, you already alluded to your library. It was that memory that triggered my motivation for the poll. If it was just me, it would not be interesting to me. I was hoping to bring you out of the closet, so to speak.

The sheer pleasure of collecting is shared by those who pursue Hummells, stamps, or rare books. Aside from that, though, I believe that some passions bring deeper rewards. My wife's interests include milk glass and Depression glass. The objects only carry limited information. It is why as a numismatist I concentrate on research, rather than acquistion of things: without the historical context, coins are just rocks.

So, too, with the works of Ayn Rand. What is online from ARI is generally meritorious. What is not is highly suggestive. The claims of a "rewrite squad" in the Parille vs. Valliant debate are nothing new. Napoleon claimed that Snowball was secretly working with the farmers.

That aside, just opening the pages and reliving the moment is rejuvenating. And, if I may, that ability to hold on to the original perception shows in your art.

Post 10

Tuesday, October 22, 2013 - 7:01am

Woops I just fat thumbed a vote link on my android. I don't even know which vote link I activated because I wasn't looking.

Post 11

Tuesday, October 29, 2013 - 12:36pm

You know, I didn't think to include tapes, which I have a few of, or copies of THE OBJECTIVIST. Books alone I am sitting right at the 20 mark. I include Leonard Peikoff in that but not the novel written by his daughter Kira, fine though it is.

Post 12

Saturday, November 23, 2013 - 5:42pm

I have the basics: We The Living, The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged. I've read Anthem before.

Post 13

Sunday, November 24, 2013 - 11:09am