Old Book
I received this old book through the post today. It was published by Constable in 1926 and the page edges are uneven, thick and soft like sugar paper. Although slightly brown on the outside edges, the sheets themselves are still a creamy white and clean. It smells good - just the dryness of an old shop and not a hint of mustiness. When I hold it to my face the old air wafts from the pages and I am back in Mamgu's house and shelf of old encyclopedias I used to love to peer at in the gloom of her parlour.
posted by Clare Dudman at 10:52 pm
6 Comments:
I was rummaging recently in a box which contains my grandmother's books - all very ancient (100 years old) and a bit chewed unfortunately.
Found a few curiousities including an early paperback of Circa 1900 - Paradise Lost in the Pocket Poet's Series. It has advertisements on the back cover.
BTW what is the book?
"Google can digitize all books, but it can't replace the physical connection we get from a 14th century tome," says Julie Keller in her "The future of books resides in their past".
S :-)
AnneS: That sounds quite a trove to me. I love looking at these old books - you get such a glimpse of a by-gone age...all this peripheral stuff is almost as interesting as the book itself.
The book is a biography of an obscure French scientist whose name I can't remember...I'm going to have to come back to you on that one, Anne. The book has temporarily buried itself away, somewhere...Untidy? Moi?
Hello again, Dave! How nice to hear from you again. Ms Keller is right! Thanks for the link...
I love new books, but old books have a special life all of their own.
I just received an order (I feel like I'm promoting again!) from a wonderful US company who take old books and re-bind them into journals. I can't wait to use my new old books, and see what impact their covers have on the writing I do within.
http://www.bookjournals.com/
Jem: Just taken a look - it's a very appealing idea - which one have you chosen?
Each book is mostly unique, so the one I got isnt there any more, but it was a childrens story about a duck! I have a thing about ducks! I also got a juniour science book one for a friend of mine. I like the bold images in retro kids books, but some of the adult science / techonology / ethnograpy ones look great too. I'm sure I shall buy more in the near future. The quality is amazing, and they include all sorts of things from the original book like library pockets and handwritten dedications etc.
Post a Comment
Comments are subject to moderation.
<< Home