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The Bibliophilia Thread

(What do I do, apart from using extreme metaphors, excessively and inexactly?

At work, I try to survive. And assist others, usually by extended proxy, to do the same. Although it's all not really meant to be quite as personally-abrading as it currently is.
OK, you're a teacher.
 
OK, you're a teacher.

That's close to nearly being what I used to not be (when I was still working in academia).

Now I do something that's much-more complex and dangerous (well, it seems that way, for me). Perhaps one day I shall write a book about it.
 
FFS! Hmm...that looks very (very) like my lost 1st Edn 'Hobbit'. Bollox.... :-((

Chin up Ermintruder. Titch has started a fund raising effort to help you out and has donated £500 out of his own pocket to start things off.

The only Tolkien first edition I'm likely to be able to afford (did you see what the recent films did to prices?). It is in mint condition from 1982.


Does the recent translation of Beowulf count? If I remember correctly you bought a very exclusive edition.
 
Here you go.

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This last image is from the first page of a pair of (similar) texts in the book. Both are highly-abbreviated poetic retellings of Beowulf--and I think they're fabulous: just the stuff to interest the young or recite around the campfire.

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...and while rooting around for that I came across a fine first of Martin Amis's London Fields, which I have no recollection of ever buying or reading!

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Has anybody here read any Alexander Frater? He was once the Observer's travel corrspondent, although he must now be in retirement. His most famous book is Chasing The Monsoon, a Whicker/Proto-Palin-esque jaunt around the subcontinent that abounds with historical, geographical and sociological observation. I'm very fond of this book below, an extract of which I first read in Fiji, where Frater was born after his father and (IIRC) grandfather had finished converting the natives of Vanuatu to Christianity. I include the dustjacket blurb to give the premise. Great writer.

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I've got a 'to read' pile next to the bed consisting of two approximately three foot high stacks, plus all three drawers of the bedside cabinet.

Does that count as a collection? Or an illness?
I can beat that...sadly. e.g. I went into a second hand bookshop "just for a look" and cam out with two Freud volumes and one by Eysenck.
 
This was a Christmas present from a relative last year. I'd listened to the author (whose name I'm sure is familiar) narrate an abbreviated version on Radio 4, so I had a mental grip on the Borders' dialect which suffuses the narrative. The first page of the book sets out the aim of the book and he succeeds spectacularly: this book is brutally honest, and while you might come away shaking your head at his 'unreformed' views, you'll have a damned good idea how they were formed.

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I don't usually collect children's books (you wouldn't believe some of the prices--children tend to shred and deface and rarity equals value), but as an admirer of C. F. Tunnicliffe's stunning depictions of nature I had to pick this up when I saw a 1959 First Edition in near-mint condition (was it kept in a safe?).

In the case of Ladybird books--I'm led to believe--early impressions are not marked as distinct from the actual first batch, but in this case the presence of the errata slip is a pretty concrete distinguishing feature.

Given that this is a book for scavenging children, I'm not sure there has ever been such an important erratum (see below). More generally it's beautiful publication--I just need to wait a few years to find the companion editions in similarly good nick.

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More on the series here:

https://www.stellabooks.com/article/ladybird-nature-series-536-the-what-to-look-for-series

Not where I purchased this, but a fantastic bookseller, by the way.

And now there are two:

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Dug one of these books out for a browse following a discussion on another thread and found the other stacked beneath it. Two of my favourite artists.

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...this book is brutally honest, and while you might come away shaking your head at his 'unreformed' views, you'll have a damned good idea how they were formed.

I have never read anything by G MacD F that I didn't enjoy. Flashman, obviously, but also his less well-known books in what I think of as the Private McAuslan series.

His was a worldview shaped by what he experienced, definitely; and all the more to be respected for it.

maximus otter
 
I have never read anything by G MacD F that I didn't enjoy. Flashman, obviously, but also his less well-known books in what I think of as the Private McAuslan series.

His was a worldview shaped by what he experienced, definitely; and all the more to be respected for it.

maximus otter

I've read a number of the Flashman books, but never got around the the McAuslan series.
Brilliant author though--I quite agree.
 
I noticed that you have the page open to Gloucestershire, if you ever want any information or photos of places in the county just let me know.

Purest chance: I just flicked through and opened at some attractively laid-out pages.

Similarly though, if you'd like me to photograph the Gloucestershire section and upload it here, I'd be happy to
 
Purest chance: I just flicked through and opened at some attractively laid-out pages.

I thought it was likely just chance but wanted to offer just in case the county was of any particular interest to you.

Similarly though, if you'd like me to photograph the Gloucestershire section and upload it here, I'd be happy to

Yes, it would be interesting to see, thank you.
 
I thought it was likely just chance but wanted to offer just in case the county was of any particular interest to you.



Yes, it would be interesting to see, thank you.

Everywhere is of interest to me!

Will do at some stage tomorrow.

Here's some I took earlier. I bought a couple of batches of the post-war Britain In Pictures series. Despite the thin paper (still wartime economy) they're lovely books, profusely illustrated with stylish design.

None of these is in perfect condition, but none is too shabby either and a few of them had some interesting newspaper clippings inside, too.

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And I bought this before visiting Malaysia. It's a beautiful piece of writing, as you can see from the first page.

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I thought it was likely just chance but wanted to offer just in case the county was of any particular interest to you.



Yes, it would be interesting to see, thank you.

As requested.

The images are quite large; if you can't make anything out in the preview window, click the top right to show full-size.

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Thank you for that Yith. Most of those stories I knew but interesting to see them told slightly differently to the versions I know, and to see which of the local stories were selected.
 
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