I Love Old Books

There is something about antiquity that sets my heart to racing. I believe it has much to do with my love of history. But a part of it has to do with stories.

Things that belong to the past but live in the present. I have a few of those. But yesterday, my collection took a giant leap for the better.

The Young Midshipman by G.A. Henty, Ishmael by E.D.E.N. Southworth, and Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson



I was supposed to work all day. I won't go into detail about what kind of job I do because you all would shudder. Let's just say it's hard and takes all day. But yesterday my Dad decided to go home early.

The only thing that made it better was that he also let me stop at two antique shops. And I found these.

The cool thing is, aside from the fact that they are OLD, is that they are books I love, they were super cheap, and extremely rare to find. Well, I will clarify, Ishmael and the Henty are hard to find.



What I think is the neatest thing of all is that both of them are undated. I looked up Ishmael and all the web could tell me was that is was published c1900. Awesome, is it not? And the Henty has a beautiful inscription tucked inside the front cover which says "Josiah Mainwaring Bethany, Harrison County Missouri, a present from his daughter Elizabeth Spencer". {Which is really cool cause that middle name is unheard of, I don't know where Harrison Country is - though I suppose I could easily find out - and that must have been one loving daughter...}

Just imagine the stories these books could tell if only they could speak! Of nights up late, tucked in loving hands, a lamp set just right to reflect the crisp black lettering and well-worn pages... Oh, to know the life of a book! What an adventure...

All in all, it just made me happy. ;)