A Week of Book Shopping

The missus and I spent the weekend in Victoria last weekend and it provided me an opportunity to visit some of my favourite book stores while we were there. It's always a nice weekend, a chance to eat out at some of the restaurants that we enjoyed during my brief posting there from 2007 to 2009 and just the fun of wandering around the lovely area that is Victoria. We stayed at a new hotel for us, the Chateau Victoria, and found it a comfortable place within easy walking distance to downtown and our room had a lovely panoramic view of the harbour. A very nice time all in all.

Anyway, back to books. Well, over the weekend, I visited Russell Books on Fort Street, Fairfield Books on Cook Street (after we had a nice brunch at Rosie's), Cadboro Bay Books (in Cadboro Bay) and Grafton Books up on Oak Bay Road. I also squeezed in a quick visit to Curious Comics Monday morning. I couldn't resist.

So over the next couple of days, I'll show you the books I managed to find; some good mysteries to continue various series I've been reading, a couple of SciFi novels, some fiction; basically a nice mix.

Actually, this first book was purchased a couple of weeks ago when Jo and I were at a local antique shop here in Courtenay. I saw this book while we were wandering through the store and it caught my attention.

It doesn't have a publishing date inside, but was published by British Books Limited during the reign of King George V.

It is such an interesting looking book, somewhat worn, but the sections inside are quite interesting.

They consist of -
A Bird's Eye View of English Literature
The Correct Use of English in Speaking and Writing
Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony
Dictionary of English Language (of course)
Supplements
Select List of Synonyms and Antonyms
Pseudonyms and Pen-Names
Dictionary of Notable Proper Names
Dictionary of Famous Men and Women
The Choice of a Career
Dictionary of Health
Dictionary of Commerce and Office Compendium
Tables of Weights and Measures
Motoring and Aviation - Dictionary of Technical Terms
Dictionary of Wireless Terms
Glossary of Scottish Words and Phrases
Classical and Foreign Words and Phrases in Common Use
Geographical Supplement
Complete Atlas of the World

So as you can see, a very useful book (I'm sure especially for its time) and the way it's laid out inside, with some lovely illustrations as well. It looks great on the book shelf.



Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World

 Grafton Books in the Oak Bay area of Victoria has so many lovely antique books and it's a joy to wander through. I've had my eye on this one particular book about the early days of cricket and football from the early 1900's, but it's so hard to justify spending $400-500 on a book.

But on Monday when we stopped in on our return trip to Comox, I did talk myself into buying this edition of Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. It was published in 1909 by J.M Dent of London and E.P. Dutton of New York.

As you can see from the cover, the book has colour illustrations from Arthur Rackham. While I was unfamiliar with him, Jo saw the name right away and told me he was quite famous as an illustrator.

Sure enough, this book is mentioned as one of his  notable efforts on the wikipedia page. The book is well-used, but still in very good shape and the illustrations are indeed quite excellent. I scanned through on the drive back home and it's really very excellent. I look forward to rereading in the future, but in the meantime, it does add a nice quality to the shelves. :0)

The final book for today doesn't quite have the age of the previous two, but it's one I saw in Russell Books, that caught my eye and I couldn't resist taking off the shelves. Sometimes you do buy a book for its cover.

Originally published in 1952, this tenth impression came out in 1956 and is actually titled The Terror of St Trinian's or Angela's Prince Charming.

The book just called to me from the shelf, it was amazing. I've seen parts of the St Trinian's movies; sometimes you just have to take a chance on a book, eh?

"How love came to St Trinian's, in the shape of a fatally handsome young Inspector of Secondary Schools attached to the Board of Education, is the theme of this book. The devastation caused by Mr Rupert Rover's charms, the ferocity of the struggle between his two principal girl-victims, the climax of the Great Fire - these breathtaking themes have been dealt with in a masterpiece of cooperation between Mr Searle and Mr Timothy Shy (of the News Chronicle) whose sense of romantic drama makes a perfect foil for the brilliant ruthlessness of Mr Searle's art."

Interesting, huh?

That's all for today, over the weekend I'll cover the other lucky purchases of the weekend past.

Keep on reading!