Where can I find hard-to-find books like "From Wilderness to
Wilderness: Celestia. An Historical and Theological Overview of
Celestia, Sullivan County, PA" (by Dr. Wayne Bender), or just any book
on Sullivan County, PA?  I need to find one for my father-in-law for
Christmas.  THANKS!

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Request for Question Clarification by politicalguru-ga on 20 Nov 2004 11:31 PST

Dear Moca, 

"Just any book" is no problem - I've found a book that you can buy (if
he doesn't own it yet, that is) and get in 24 hours of so - "Sullivan
County's Borscht Belt" (a photo collection).

With rare books, it is much more complicated and there is no
guarantee, that you could get them by Christmas.

So, as an answer, I could offer: 
- Several links to stores that sell the book(s) that is/are readily available; 
- Ideas on how to find the rarer books.

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Clarification of Question by moca-ga on 21 Nov 2004 11:23 PST

Thanks!  Are the readily-available books, in your opinion, worth
buying?  I mean, are they good books, or just "available" books?  If
you think that they are good books, then I would very, VERY much
appreciate all the links you can send me for books to buy.

THANKS again!

Moca

Dear Moca, 

Neversink Valley Museum holds several books on Sullivan County (as
well as on other historical sites in the region):

Retrospect: an Anecdotal History of Sullivan County, NY / John  Conway ($15) 

Stephen Crane: Sullivan County Tales and Sketches / Stephen Carme (1968, $15). 

Both, and especially the latter, look good to me. 

Neversink Valley Museum - Book shop
<http://www.neversinkmuseum.org/book_list.html> 

A first edition of Crane's book is available for $25 from Between the
Covers Rare Books, Inc., as you can see in the site of the Antiquarian
Booksellers' Association of America:
CRANE, Stephen Stephen Crane: Sullivan County Tales and Sketches
<http://www.abaa.org/detailindex.php?recnr=110909447&membernr=1653&booknr=48496&source=froogle>

An 1949 version of the same book is sold by the Boston Book Company for $20
<http://www.rarebook.com/cgi-bin/nph-mgwcgi?MGWLPN=LOCAL&wlapp=ISITE&ONEBOOK=1~62405>

Another option could be to buy Muriel Spoden's "Historic Sites of
Sullivan County". It is available (used) for $52.49 in Moody's
<http://www.moodybooks.com/si/002312.html> - I should just mention,
that according to the description, this book was written by the
historical society, and is slightly "dry".

If you're looking for something really valuable, and can also afford
it, here's something really rare (and apprently available):
Author: 	Streby George. 	
Title: 	History of Sullivan County Pennsylvania; Memorial Edition.
This books dates back to 1921 (and is in an OK, but of course used,
shape), and is full of historical descriptions, etc. It takes them 6-8
weeks to deliver (but maybe because of Christmas they'll try to get it
by then) and costs $220 (you've read it right).
<http://www.astrologos.org/H_K/page000043.htm> 

I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
clarification on this answer, before you rate it. My search strategy
was to search Froogle (www.froogle.com) for the term "Sullivan County"
and to concentrate on books (about Pennsylvania).

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Request for Answer Clarification by moca-ga on 22 Nov 2004 14:00 PST

Unfortunately, I got too excited about the Stephen Crane book- it's
not Sullivan County, PA... it's Sullivan County, NY.

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Clarification of Answer by politicalguru-ga on 23 Nov 2004 05:28 PST

Sorry about that. This is really weird because I've checked the books.
I haven't found any other books as well. However, try your luck with
the historical society:

Sullivan County Historical Society
Meylert St. - behind Courthouse
Box 252, Laporte, PA 18626
570/946-5091

Very extremely thorough and intelligent response- I very much appreciated the help!