As a player and a collector, I have purchased many books over the years.... and one thing that has always interested me is the history of the book itself...not just the story "behind the scenes" of the creation of the book, but the history of the book that you are holding in your hands at the moment, where has this book been, who owned this book before you, how did this book end up here, in this spot.......
Alot of times, one can get an idea by looking at the book itself, look for inscriptions, names written inside the covers, notes and corrections written within the text of the play, ......to me, this is one of the most fascinating components of collecting, ( as opposed to just studying the books for play).
I recently purchased a few books from Mr. Dennis Cayton, and during the course of our correspondence, I mentioned this to him.....and I mentioned a book that I had, which I have included a picture of below...
I am sure many of the mail players from a few years ago will remember Venice Ryan, and anyone interested in the history of this game will remember the name of Manson Teetzel.....
This book now has a history.....I know that this was there, at that time, it then went through the hands of Paul Ottey, then was owned by Earl Hangen, and now by myself.....
In the name of checkers history, I'll ask anyone with a library to look at their books, see if they can find anything, and share their findings with the rest of us.....
Regards,
Jay
Jay, John Caldwell bestowed his entire checker library to us many years ago. 
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