Contact information: Alan's Used Books
PO Box 775, Farmington, Michigan, 48332-0775, United States
Phone: 248-473-4566    
Email: gwenfoss@netrek.net
Website URL: http://www.gwenfoss.com/

. . .

Welcome to Alan's Used Books, a left handed bookseller owned and operated by Gwen Foss. We specialize in unusual and interesting quality used books. We are a proud charter member of TomFolio.com, the world's first and largest cooperative website of independent professional used bookdealers.

Alan's Used Books started in 1990 as an independent small press. Our bestseller continues to be The Church Where People Laugh, a treasury of Unitarian Universalist jokes. Our other popular title is A Who's Who of UUs, a compendium of brief biographies of over thirteen hundred notable Unitarian Universalists.

In 1997, the business expanded into used books on the acquisition of the library of Alan M. Foss, a close relative who passed in 1985. In 2002, we changed our name to Alan's Used Books.

Alan's Used Books is located in the northwest suburbs of Detroit, Michigan but we are internet only, NO open shop. We buy and sell unusual books, particularly history, science, engineering, folklore, music, ethnology, and various other intellectual topics. Our inventory includes a wide range of nonfiction plus a few odds and ends.

Click on These Links to quick-browse some of our specialties and unusual topics:

• Garage Sale (Items Priced $2.00 or Less)

• Clearance Items (Items Priced $6.00 or Less)

• Left Handedness

• Controversial Issues

• High School and College Year Books

• Higher Mathematics, Engineering, Computer Science

• Crime and Politics

• Shape Note Hymnals

• Symbology, Heraldry, Flags, Insignia

• Rare Books

• Books by and about Universalists, Unitarians, and Unitarian Universalists

• Items from Collection of Peter Foss, founder and vice president, Toy Car Collectors Club (toy cars, automotive history)

• All Current Items with Images

Alan's Used Books is a GREEN Business. We strive to be as environmentally friendly as possible. We recycle all empty cans, old newspapers, plastic bags and bottles and every other bit of recyclable waste we generate. We re-use most of our corrugated scrap and recycle the rest. Our shipping envelopes are made from recycled fibers. All of our bulbs are smart fluorescents and we have instituted other energy-saving and water-saving procedures. Our vehicle is old but it gets 30 miles per gallon. And, last but not least, we find loving new homes for old used books.

The small print: Except for a few of our own titles, we sell used books. This means that in most cases we have only one copy of an item available. Because millions of people all over the world can be viewing our catalog, it happens occasionally that an item we have listed as available will have been sold at the time you place your order. We remove sold items as quickly as possible, but there is always a delay in processing this data before the items are in fact removed. If you have any questions, please feel free to phone us (248-473-4566, US Eastern time) or email to the address above. We will be happy to hold items on your request for a reasonable period of time.

A note about condition: We sell used books. Some show wear-marks from previous ownership. But we never sell books with missing or unreadable text pages. All flaws are noted in the description. We use a simplified version of the standard grading scale, which from best to worst is: As New, Near Fine, Very Good, Good, Poor. Please read our descriptions carefully.

Featured Item
Buy Now US$8.00	Item number: 444. Foss, Gwen   Who's Who of UUs, a : A Concise Biographical Compendium of Prominent and Famous Universalists and Unitarians (UU Who's Who)  Publisher: Gwen Foss; Farmington, Mich: 2003. New Fourth Edition Softcover 120 pages; 8vo (9") 23 cm; MULTIPLE copies avail. Pr ice just reduc ed. Get your copy SIGNED by author with inscription at your request. Appendixes, brief biographies of 1350 important persons who happened to be Unitarians, Universalists, or both. ; Uutopics. ; Fold-and-staple binding. No defects. New book. ; Universalist Unitarian History & Lore Series; Vol. 2
	Appr.:  |  AUD 8.74  |  CAD 8.57  |  EUR 5.38  |  GBP 4.85  |  JPY 727.27  |  MXN 103.90  |  ZAR 60.61  |
Featured Item
Buy Now US$12.00	Item number: 9245. Beardsley, Josephine Illustrated by: Illustrated by Marjorie Peters   Tummy Tingles : (Children's Rhymes, Published by Wheat Flour Institute, Chicago, 1937)  Publisher: Wheat Flour Institute; Chicago: 1937. Very Good- Softcover 12 pages; 8vo (8.5") 22 cm; Stiff blue illustrated covers, monochrome drawings throughout including several fairies, 11 original short poems with rhyme and meter about bread, wheat, biscuits, rolls, muffins, pancakes, fairy gingerbread, etc, plus recipe for Fairy Gingerbread. ; Promotional item for 'good wheat flour'. ; Edges moderately worn, several very small chips not affecting text. No marks. Binding of two staples intact. Scarce. ; Drawings
	Appr.:  |  AUD 13.11  |  CAD 12.85  |  EUR 8.07  |  GBP 7.27  |  JPY 1,090.91  |  MXN 155.84  |  ZAR 90.91  |
Featured Item
Buy Now US$6.00	Item number: 9106. Riley, Alice C. D., and Jessie L. Gaynor   Songs of the Child World, Number 2 : (Book 2) 1904  Publisher: John Church Company; Cincinnati, Ohio: 1904. Good+ with no jacket Hardcover 110 pages; 4to (10.5") 27 cm; Orange cloth, brown lettering 63 original songs for young children, with tunes, lyrics, full piano in standard notation, some also with games or movements explained. ; Music by Gaynor, lyrics by Riley. Topics include: Family. Aminals and insects. Nature. Special occasions. Copyright 1904, no other dates, possibly an early reprint. A m a z o n b u y e r s please note: image does not match this printing. ; Front board and both endpapers spotted. Cloth worn but not frayed. Name and address erased from front endpaper. No other marks. Binding tight and square. ; Songs of the Child World Series; Vol. 2
	Appr.:  |  AUD 6.56  |  CAD 6.42  |  EUR 4.03  |  GBP 3.63  |  JPY 545.45  |  MXN 77.92  |  ZAR 45.45  |
Featured Item
Buy Now US$20.00	Item number: 9060. Kelley, Dale   Collecting the Tin Toy Car, 1950-1970  Publisher: Schiffer Publishing; Exton, Penn: 1984. Fine with no jacket Hardcover ISBN: 0904568512 200 pages; 4to (11.25") 29 cm; Slick dark blue pictorial covers, page of logos of Japanese export toys, rarity guide, 296 tin toy cars shown in high-quality glossy photos, with captions, many shown in multiple views, including about 150 photos in full color. ; Isbn 0887400124. Focuses solely on rather large toy cars, about 8 to 18 inches in length. Foreword by Al Marwick. Book from collection of Peter Foss, founder and president, Toy Car Collectors Club. ; No discernable wear.
	Appr.:  |  AUD 21.86  |  CAD 21.41  |  EUR 13.45  |  GBP 12.11  |  JPY 1,818.18  |  MXN 259.74  |  ZAR 151.52  |
Featured Item
Buy Now US$200.00	Item number: 9501. Braunschweig, Robert   Automobil Revue, Revue Automobile, 1960 : Katalog-Nummer 1960 Der Automobil Revue, Catalogue Number 1960 of Automobile Revue  Publisher: Automobil Revue; Bern, Switzerland: 1960. Good+ Softcover 338 pages; 4to (12") 31 cm; Parallel text in GERMAN and FRENCH. Magazine format, many full-pg ads. Articles by various authors. Tons of photos and diagrams, many in color. ; Very large and heavy. This item is from collection of Peter Foss, former president, Toy Car Collectors Club and Model Car Collectors Association. ; Crown lightly bumped. Backstrip chipped at heel, small piece missing, everything readable. Sticker scar on front. Interior clean, binding tight. Scarce in any condition.
	Appr.:  |  AUD 218.58  |  CAD 214.13  |  EUR 134.50  |  GBP 121.14  |  JPY 18,181.82  |  MXN 2,597.40  |  ZAR 1,515.15  |
Featured Item
Buy Now US$3.00	Item number: 6434. Foote, Henry Wilder, with L. Griswold Williams, et al.   Hymns of the Spirit, for Use in the Churches of the Free Spirit : Including, Services of Religion for Use in the Churches of the Free Spirit (Universalist Unitarian Hymnal, 1937)  Publisher: Beacon Press; Boston: 1937. Good with no jacket Hardcover 581 pages; 8vo; Red cloth, gilt lettering, 166 + 581 pages, indexes, 578 hymns with words and music, 78 responsive readings, numerous prayers and benedictions, 2 communion services, 16 orders of service including Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, International Day of Peace. ; Multiple units available. Q u a n t i t y d i s c o u n t to churches. Please use Ask a Question or Contact Seller for more info. Sales benefit First Unitarian Universalist Church of Detroit, Michigan. ; Fair to Good condition. No missing pages. Some have bookplates. All are quite worn.
	Appr.:  |  AUD 3.28  |  CAD 3.21  |  EUR 2.02  |  GBP 1.82  |  JPY 272.73  |  MXN 38.96  |  ZAR 22.73  |

Shipping Terms: Domestic economy rate (US media mail) $4.00, $1.00 addl items. Domestic air rate (US priority mail) $6.75 1st item, $1.70 addl items.

Non-US Customers: Overseas shipping is US$16.50 for First Class Mail International and US$20.00 for Priority Mail International. (Sorry, as of May 2007, the US Postal Service no longer offers international economy surface mail.) See info below on Shipping Fee Reductions for more details.

Special rates to Canada: US$11.00 for First Class Mail International and US$13.00 for Priority Mail International.

Shipping Fee Reductions: Based on the actual size, weight, and destination of your order, our standard shipping fees may be adjusted, in most cases downward. If we can, we will ship by Standard Flat Rate Global Priority Mail for US$14.50 (the book must fit in the flat rate envelope and your country must participate in this service) and pass the savings on to you. In rare cases where actual shipping cost will greatly exceed our standard fee, we will notify you in advance and let you decide before we ship your order.

Alan's Used Books apologizes sincerely for these high fees. We are at the mercy of the available services but we will always reduce your fee in any way possible.

We ship anywhere: We use the US Postal Service. If you require us to ship using a different service, an additional fee will be mutually agreed upon. Shipping times are affected by many circumstances we cannot control, and thus we cannot guarantee arrival time. Delays may be caused by many factors including airport slowdowns, security checks, and customs departments, to name a few. We will give you an estimated time of arrival and thank you for your patience.

Payment: We accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover; or personal checks, business checks, or money orders provided they are drawn in US funds. Checks should be made payable to Alan's Used Books.

To pay by credit card: Click on the Add To Cart button to use TomFolio's secure server. The button will appear next to, or below, the book description on the search results page. Phone orders can be accepted Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, US Eastern (New York) time.

All prices net. Discounts may be considered on large orders. TFD20A.