Swings And Roundabouts
I just have to crow a little.
Boo! I just got sent on a 120 mile round-trip for Real Work which ended up in absolutely nothing. A complete wild goose chase and a wasted day on a busy week.
Hooray! I discovered a secondhand bookstore on my way home, where I found both volumes of The Rev. A. G. L'Estrange's sizzling classic The Palace and the Hospital - Chronicles of Greenwich, written in 1886. I confess I'd only vaguely heard of it, but it looks great - appearing to be a fascinating mix of hard fact, dodgy speculation, Victorian whimsy and salacious gossip. My kind of book. I shall be sharing snippets and clippits with you as I enjoy them.
Not only that, I found an original and pleasingly well-thumbed copy of Baedecker's 1908 Handbook for London. I had been considering buying the 1900 version in reprint (Old House Books, a company worth investigating if you like difficult-to-find old books) but one that has clearly been used, complete with some rather strange newspaper clippings attached with a glass headed pin in the front is much more romantic.
So. A poor day for earning money. A good day for spending it.
Boo! I just got sent on a 120 mile round-trip for Real Work which ended up in absolutely nothing. A complete wild goose chase and a wasted day on a busy week.
Hooray! I discovered a secondhand bookstore on my way home, where I found both volumes of The Rev. A. G. L'Estrange's sizzling classic The Palace and the Hospital - Chronicles of Greenwich, written in 1886. I confess I'd only vaguely heard of it, but it looks great - appearing to be a fascinating mix of hard fact, dodgy speculation, Victorian whimsy and salacious gossip. My kind of book. I shall be sharing snippets and clippits with you as I enjoy them.
Not only that, I found an original and pleasingly well-thumbed copy of Baedecker's 1908 Handbook for London. I had been considering buying the 1900 version in reprint (Old House Books, a company worth investigating if you like difficult-to-find old books) but one that has clearly been used, complete with some rather strange newspaper clippings attached with a glass headed pin in the front is much more romantic.
So. A poor day for earning money. A good day for spending it.
Labels: Books
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
15:47
5 Comments:
Its a funny old world Phantom.
I wish I had the finances and the time ot find some old bookstores.
I love the idea of finding an old 'classic' telling me of the history of my part of the world.
I bet your 'Library' must be groaning under the weight......Oh, the joy of a well thumbed tome!!??
PS any suggestions for a skint novice locally??
To be honest I was bunking off - my Real Work had turned completely sour and I was in the area anyway.
My best advice for local book-hunting would be to not buy locally. I found these fabulous books 60 miles away in a bookshop that had marked them very cheap as no one local would be interested. So if you go on holiday, check out the 'travel' sections for London. Don't forget the selection (usually in a crabby old cardboard box)of pamphlets and leaflets - they'll be even cheaper.
Around here, the selection of second hand bookshops is pitiful - as opposed to just a few years ago when there were several of them, only Halcyon really remains.
You've just missed the Amnesty International Booksale I'm afraid - it was on last weekend and even I missed it. But if someone lets me know next year, I'll happily publicise it - around 35,000 books get shifted for a good cause every year.
I wonder. If I can think of a way to do it, maybe we could start some kind of Phantom Bookswap - for people who have duplicates or local history books they no longer need. I'll have a ponder. Maybe people can list books they want to sell / give away...
I'll have to think about that one.
Hello,
The Amnesty book sale will return this November, as we've a garage full of left over books to sell.
Last Saturday's sale made £11,700. We haven't got a date for next year, but third Saturday in June is our usual day.
Fantastic, Jim. I can't quite work out how I missed the sale this Saturday. Oh well.
Congratulations on the sum raised.
Give me a nudge in November and I'll let everyone know about it.
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