Thinking of it as a strange rite of passage totally helps. And I went and took pictures of the result, for records/reference, so--not sure what the rules are about posting 'em on the Internet, but I could probably email them to you, if you want! Not that that lets you poke at the books, but anyway.

The worst part about this job is that it has a time-limit. When I graduate there will be no more rare books fun, unless I get my MLIS and go into the field, which... I am considering, admittedly.