Private library…

I have a small collection of very special elderly books. Some come from my own childhood and some from my parents’ childhood. But I’ve read them all and they are cherished.

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They’re stored in this bookcase and some are stored on a table that belonged to my ‘godmother’.

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Budge and Betty was Mum’s absolute favourite series and I have to say I loved it too. Based on a brother and sister who meet elves and have a range of adventures across the globe with them. Simplistic but fun.

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These go without saying. Still love the world they pull me into.

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These little books were adored when I was young and I still love the illustrations and stories. My favourite?

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This one … I love dogs. Even when I was four, I loved dogs.

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My small collection of miniatures, mostly from Bopress Miniature Books.

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The squirrel book is my own – a stumpwork stitched squirrel which I then bound into a small blank journal. The larger book behind is redolent of Victorian diaries and small sketchbooks. Very old and very personal.

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These two ‘comic’ books belonged to Dad when he was a boy. They are in terrible condition but are incredibly funny and much loved.

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This lot from my very early days at school.

And these, bound by my bookbinder grandfather – that was his profession.

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And finally the book on William Wallace – Dad found it in a second-hand shop when he was researching our Wallace family tree fifty years ago.

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Of course he bought it and whilst it could do with re-binding, it is much loved by me and like everything else in my little library probably should be stored archivally without light and with mylar covers and within acid-free boxes. But then it would be static and I wouldn’t see the collection every day and love the books and hold them – it’s the price one pays.