Vintage Book Treasures

vintage book finds

Last Tuesday M took me and H to my favourite book store in the world, or at least in Derbyshire. Scarthin Books in Cromford, Derbyshire is a fantastic book shop, it was at one time a house, but the collections of books grew and grew so that it is now a labyrinth of written words. Books are crammed in every corner, including the bathroom, yes a bathroom not a toilet, because an old bath sits hulking in the corner, and there is an alcove where vintage, and damaged books are kept. I sat myself down in a corner of the room and delved into a huge stack of musty books. The smell of old books has got to be among the best smells, better than bread baking in the oven, and almost as good as freshly brewed coffee in my opinion.

great thoughts from 1885

I spent over 40 minutes all to myself, as M took H off for a wander around Cromford digging through crumbling books. A few of which were too precious to tear apart for future art work. The treasures I brought home with me included the Great Thoughts book from a periodical dated from 1885 for £2, it have some lovely fonts and pages that will look fantastic paired with my illustrations. And the beautiful Rhetorical Dictionary that has a note scribbled on the front page saying that it dates roughly from 1755 or 1780, it is beautiful and heavily damaged with missing pages but I fell in love with its tattered cover less pages and for only £3. M said its too nice to tear up for my art as he leafed through it, and then the back cover fell off in his hands and he stared at it quietly for a moment.

music sheets

As I was about to leave the shop I had a quick look at the shelves just outside the door, with a note saying all books on the outside shelves are 50p and to place the money through the mail slot when the shop is closed! I mean how fantastic is that? I rifled through a few books and found Brahms sheet music, some sheet music for children's songs which I have neglected to picture. And a School Friend Annual from 1955 that M and M's mother both want to read before I'm allowed to use for any art work. The Requiem title page from the Brahms music sheets I have stained with black tea and M says he wants it framed as is for when we move house.

school friend from 1955

Did you catch that bit about moving house? We are in the process of getting things sorted out to move to a nicer slightly larger house on a beautiful street on the other side of town. Its all in the hands of the lawyers/solicitors at the moment so none of it seems real at the moment. I will let you know more when we know more. The house is lovely, it needs work, but the best ones do, the kitchen and kitchen floor need ripping out right away, and the garden is an absolute jungle. Where is Indian Jones with a machete when you need him? The best part is there is a third bedroom so that means space for an office/crafts room!

dictionary circa 1755 or 1780