It has been ages since I checked in. I have just started university and have been swotting rather earnestly. I have still been shopping for books of course.
All posts by Olga
Inspiring Children’s Picture Book By Christopher Maxwell
Perth illustrator Christopher Maxwell is raising funds to realise his dream to produce an inspirational children’s picture book.
Each picture will span two pictures and be accompanied by inspiring quotes. Christopher Maxwell writes:
As children become more and more reliant on their technology to entertain themselves, they are missing out on the wonderful world around them. This message is conveyed by a boy who is inspired by objects in his room, creating different fantasy worlds after having his electronic devices taken off him. This encourages kids to put down their electronic devices and to use their own imagination instead of having it created for them.
An Alien in a China Shop
Spotted in the china cabinet at St. Vinnie’s. Looks like one of the volunteers has a sense of humour…I was tempted to rescue him but he looked rather adorable.
Mary Norton – The Borrowers and The Borrowers Afield 1st Edition
I’ve just picked up these two treasures, a third printing of The Borrowers and a first edition of The Borrowers Afield by Mary Norton, with illustrations by Diana Stanley. This is the first time I have seen these in hardcover and they are just gorgeous.
The Borrowers
Mary Norton, Illustrated by Diana Stanley
J.M Dent and Sons 3rd Printing 1955
For sale (for now, these might make their way back to my shelf) here.
The Borrowers Afield
Mary Norton, Illustrated by Diana Stanley
J.M Dent and Sons 1st Printing 1955
Noel Streatfeild Far to Go
I’ve developed this great delight for finding Noel Streatfeild books at random. I have yet to actually try and look up a list of her books unless I am marking them off on Goodreads, because I enjoy discovering new ones on my travels. A couple of months ago I read (and loved) The Growing Summer, which I decided was my favourite so far. I’ve just found a copy of Far to Go, a sequel to Thursday’s Child featuring the indomitable Margaret Thursday. I forgot how much I loved Margaret, and as I had no idea there was a sequel to her book I was over the moon. Hopefully I can squeeze this one in soon.
A New Jennie by Paul Gallico
Just because how awesome is this cover? I’ve not got two different Puffin editions and the original hardcover (but not a first edition yet!) This is the 1975 printing with cover art by Tony Meeuwissen.
Mary Elwynn Patchett Kidnappers of Space First Edition 1953
Kidnappers of Space
Mary Elwynn Patchett
Lutterworth First Published 1953
Really scarce title, science fiction story from the author or many horse stories, such as The Brumby, My Friend Flicka, set in the ‘future’ 1976 where two astronauts are kidnapped by the “Golden Men of Mars”
Copy for sale here.
Finding Richard III: The Official Account
Co-authored by the founding members of the Looking for Richard Project, Dr. John Ashdown-Hill, Dr David and Wendy Johnson, Annette Carson and Philippa Langley, Finding Richard III: The Official Account of Research by the Retrieval and Reburial Project covers not only the archaeological dig that led to the rediscovery of his remains, but the years of previous work that inspired the search. Rediscovering the actual location of Richard’s grave has been a source of interest for Ricardians for decades, and Finding Richard III examines both the near-contemporary accounts such as John Rous and Polydore Vergil and previous modern studies by Ricardians Audrey Strange and Rhoda Edwards. A study of Richard’s original tomb discusses payments made for the construction of the tomb, some early descriptions of it and how it succumbed to the elements after the Greyfriars church was destroyed during the Dissolution. A look at Leicester residents historian David Baldwin and Ken Wright’s attempts to persuade people that the River Soar theory was a myth is certainly interesting, even more interesting is how the myth actually took hold. Dr. John Ashdown-Hill’s genealogical research and discovery of the mtDNA sequence of King Richard III that was crucial in identifying Richard III’s remains is discussed, and a thorough outline of the work in securing the fund-raising and services for the archaeological dig and the costs of the dig itself. A postscript touches on various important events since Richard III was disinterred. The appendices include the Epitaph on Richard’s original tomb, an Archaeological Dig Cost Breakdown, the original pamphlet for an urgent appeal for pledges to the Greyfriars Project and an honour roll of those who donated to the appeal. And then there are the long-awaited documents pertaining to the original agreements between Looking for Richard Project, Leicester City Council and the University of Leicester Archaeological Services.
The Three Investigators The Secret of the Haunted Mirror Collins Hardcover
This is not the most difficult to find in the hardcovers – although it is one of the harder to find titles, number 21. But this is one of my absolute favourite Three Investigators covers.
Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators In
The Secret of the Haunted Mirror
M.V Carey
Collins 1st Thus 1979, Small Edition
Copy for sale here
Elyne Mitchell The Silver Brumby First Edition 1958
In all my years of finding Elyne Mitchell hardcovers this is the first time I have ever seen The Silver Brumby first edition. The paperbacks of these have been reprinted to death but the first edition hardcovers are really scarce. The jacket is pretty tatty but it’s a lovely thing to see.
The Silver Brumby
Elyne Mitchell, Illustrated Ralph Thompson
Hutchinson 1st 1958
You can see our copy for sale here (sold)
The Kitchen Magician ‘Food Glamorizer’
The local country op-shops seem to be stuffed with kitschy kitchenalia, and considering I now have many open kitchen shelves that are screaming to be filled with knick-knackery I am in trouble.Then again strange things happen when you move out to the country. I now put flowers in the bathroom. I spent two weeks on an obsessive hunt for a vase – for my bathroom.
One of my more amusing finds, the Kitchen Magician ‘Food Glamorizer’. I am seriously doubtful it would stand up to carving a pumpkin however, and this doesn’t look like it was ever used. But I was very happy to find it in the box complete with the instructions, everything from stringing celery to radish roses.
George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat by Clare Cherry and Claire Ridgway
The reader could be forgiven for assuming there is not enough left of George Boleyn to fill a book. After all his sister, the enigmatic Queen Anne Boleyn, has been the subject of centuries of debate, intense scrutiny and research. Even their eldest sister Mary, who left a single letter behind, is the subject of not one, but two biographies. The reader would also be forgiven for wondering what two historical researchers with a passion for Tudor history, one a first-time author, could offer us in regards to a man who lived in the shadow of his sisters for almost five centuries. What George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat offers us is not only an academic and exhaustive study of the life of George Boleyn, but a fascinating insight into the life of a courtier in the court of the notorious King Henry VIII.