They are wonderful places to visit, especially if it's raining outside . . . like it was today. The smell of memory and antiquity fills the air, and knowing that some of the books you handle are older than the American Revolution makes you realize that you're holding history in your hands.
Like in G. David, for example. I was handling a volume of Shakespeare's plays that was printed in 1734!
Anyway, being in antique bookshops makes me act like a Primary girl walking to Sunday School--I'm very reverent. I speak in hushed tones. I run my hand gently across the spines of the books and carefully take them off of the shelves. I turn the pages slowly.
There are treasures in these bookshops. In the Haunted Bookshop, I found a first edition of C.S. Lewis's A Horse and His Boy. Price: About 200 pounds. (Just a little out of my budget.) But it was special just to handle it in my hands.
G. David had a well-preserved copy of The House at Pooh Corner. That was a beauty to see.
G. David also had first-edition copies of The Lord of the Rings. Those were behind a glass case, so I couldn't handle them (sigh). I felt kind of like a child going Christmas window-shopping and stopping outside the toy store, nose pressed to the glass.
Such beautiful, beautiful books.
glad you found the narnia books! and i thought of you when i saw the winnie-the-pooh ones, so i'm glad you saw those, too :)
ReplyDeleteOnce again...so jealous. I would have been just as excited as you!! :)
ReplyDeleteThis blog post pretty much makes me drool. I am so glad that you got to see all those wonderful books. PS You inspired me to reread Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. :)
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