I had that from new too, it's sat on my bookcase next to me now but unfortunately most of the front cover is gone. I also have the hardback Star Wars - From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker sitting on the shelf next to it.
I think the oldest book that I have owned from new is my copy of The Hobbit published in 1975. It's so careworn and tatty that I don't even dare pull it off the bookshelf for fear of it disintegrating. I had to buy a new copy to read to my kids.
Oldest book of mine i can find, although there may be some in a relatives loft somewhere which i havent found, but it is a paperback version of Lord of the Rings with appendices
With this cover
http://www.tolkienshop.com/contents/media/l_lord_rings_paperback_1983.gif
A bible I was given by a great aunt when I was christened about 40 years ago.Not sure it has ever been read.....
Eric Williams: The Wooden Horse, since 1954;
Ian Allen's British Railway Locomotives Combined Volume, 1956
I have a massive stack of old Transformers comics which is probably my oldest collection of reading material.
However oldest books would be my hardback copies of Silmarillion, Hobbit & LotR which I got for Christmas in 1988
These were actually written in by the people who gave them to me in the cover so I know exactly when they were data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Neil
The mention of Bibles above reminded me .... I was given one as a present when I was a child , it went on a shelf and was never opened , I found it in storage a couple of years ago , and opened it. There was a five pound note in it .... and that was a huge amount of money at the time I was given it !!Useless now of course !! Serves me right for being a godless heathen data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Handbook Of Wireless Telegraphy 1938. I've never read it though and no idea how I came by it!! I think it was my dad's.
That depends on what you mean by useless.No matter how old, it's still valid.If you're lucky, your local bank will exchange it, but at worst the Bank of England will:
Bank of England | Banknotes | More About Banknotes | Exchanging Bank of England banknotes that have been withdrawn from circulation
The Secret Diary of adrian mole, aged 13 and 3 quarters is probably my longest standing book data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
One Hundred and One Dalmations data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7