Great Big Books

 I think very large books that are not dictionaries or cookery books are often thought of nowadays as coffee table books. Are all coffee table books very large? I tend to think of books so described as being shiny and new, usually unread, but toning in with the décor of their surroundings in such a way as to make them more ornamental than anything else. Who would want to be the first to put a mark on them? Certainly you can put them out on your coffee table without fear that they will be 'borrowed', because they are much too heavy. I would never have enough coffee tables for all my large books. However, I prefer smaller books, for reasons of portability, ease of reading and holding. I googled the term 'coffee table book' and found that they have certain characteristics in common: they are large, illustrations are of prime importance, text is usually sparse; the paper is high-quality, and finally, they are usually much more expensive than normal books.

The large books I am discussing today don't fulfil all those criteria. Although they are lavishly illustrated, there is a lot of text also. They are definitely for reading as well as for looking at. The first three are in the same series. They are “Vanishing Ireland”, published by Hodder Headline, Dublin, 2006, “Further Chronicles of a Disappearing World” published by Hachette Books, Ireland, 2009, and the most recent one “Recollections of Our Changing Times, also published by Hachette Books, Ireland, 2011.

These all are by photographer James Fennell and writer Turtle Bunbury. They follow the same basic arrangement, personal stories of elderly people in Ireland, with their photos alongside Most of the contributors are surprisingly much older than their images would imply. Their stories are simply fascinating and yet they describe in the main quite ordinary events. The style of writing is easygoing, the photographs are so lifelike that you feel as you read that you really know these people. Most of those within these covers are living in or near their original family home; in their lives they were not adventurers, nor keen travellers. Their lives are the lives of everyday folk, and yet there is something enchanting about them. My husband bought the first book in the series, and flew through it in a day. I bought him the other two for Christmas. If you buy them for yourself, they will definitely be very sought-after in years to come, not alone because they are so enthralling to read but for their value to social historians. In the photographs, besides the amazingly interesting faces of the subjects, you can see their kitchens and living rooms, the old fireplaces, the ranges, the pictures on the walls. Here is Paddy Gleeson, a farmer from East Clare who was born in 1904, talking:

'Once, I was coming to school and I met two fellows leading a three-year-old bullock with horns. On his horns was a placard -'The Land for the People and the Road for the Bullock'. And beneath the bull, they were dragging a man who was after evicting a poor widow woman from her home.' The widow's home had been knocked but 'the local people seen how fast it takes to build a house but they did it faster. She was evicted at ten in the morning and she was inside a house that night they built for her in the day! Timber and galvanised!'

In the second book, Denis Galvin from Kerry, born 1945, responds to an enquiry about his age:

'Stop a minute, if I were hung by a rope since I was in my early fifties, I'd be pretty quare looking by now.'   Well, it doesn't do to give too much away, I suppose.

In the third book in the series, Sam Codd of Wicklow, bonesetter, farmer and horse breeder, born 1926, talks about his cars:

'The first car I had was a Morris Minor and I never had anything else,' he says. 'I used to travel around a lot, as a bonesetter, and I do be in a lot of the old farmer places and all that craic. I had two cars here one time, one for taking the girls out on Sunday and one for everyday'.

As far as I can tell, it was the bones of animals he set, but who knows! He talks about the dances held in farmhouses after the threshing:

'They were great auld craic. I remember one lad, a fecker for doing tricks, who wasn't asked to the dance. So he got a ladder up to the house and threw a grain sack over the chimney and smoked out the people inside. He said “They asked me to the threshing, but they didn't ask me to the dance.” '

These books are indeed too beautiful to risk getting coffee rings on them. And if the surface of a coffee table is not available to someone to rest a mug on, I would imagine that mug rings would be an ever present danger. They are also fairly expensive, almost thirty Euro each where we bought them, but they are worth every cent.

Model and Miniature Railways, edited by Patrtick B. Whitehouse and John Adams, published by the Hamlyn Publishing Group Limited in First New English Library Edition dated 1976, turned up in a church book sale. It is full of photographs of miniature railways running through gardens, houses, countryside. There are tiny trains and ones big enough for children and even adults to sit on. Towards the back of the book are detailed plans of the little engines and carriages. When I saw this book I immediately thought “Sheldon would love this”. I don't know if you have ever watched the American situation comedy “The Big Bang Theory”, but Sheldon Cooper is one of the main characters in it. I never used to watch TV, but one day by chance I watched this, and now I know what it means to be a devoted fan. I watch every episode of it that I can. All the characters in it are wonderful, but most of all I love Sheldon. I saw an interview on Youtube with the actor who portrays him and it is amazing how different the actor is from his character. I think Sheldon probably has a type of Asperger's Syndrome. I find his character totally enthrallling, and the joy of the show is particularly in his relationships with the other characters. One of his many hobbies is model railways. If you get a chance to see this show, do take a look, and you will understand why this book would suit Sheldon. What a pleasure it would be to give it as a gift to him, and get one of his strange, grimacing smiles in return.

Two books by The Diagram Group, both on the subject of games and sports, well justify their size, and could easily sit waiting to be consulted on any kind of table or shelf within reach of the sports pundit or card player. These came from a Christmas sale in the local Community Centre. The first is “Family Fun & Games”, published by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York, dated 1992, and the second is “The Official World Encyclopedia of Sports and Games – The rules, techniques of play and equipment for over 400 sports and 1,000 games”, published by Paddington Press Ltd., New York & London, 1979. Although I am certainly no expert, I would guess that there is hardly a game not catered for in these books; card games of all sorts, parlour games, board games, all the rules for these are here in addition to, in the encyclopedia, the rules and regulations for every sport under the sun. I would say these books would settle many an argument for sporty types, and are worth their weight as reference books alone. They are in lovely condition; gone are the days when people donated torn or stained books to such sales, I am happy to say, and at a Euro each they were definitely a bargain. This is the sale where I heard a prissy seller say “My goodness, I didn't realise so many of the village people read books.” After hearing that, I was quite pleased to find two quite old and rare books, one signed by a rather famous author, in the boxes under her nose, and to realise that she didn't know an antique book when she saw one.

A highly colourful book full of easy to follow text and terrific diagrams and photos is “How Everything In The Home Works and how to take the sting out of repair bills” published by the Reader's Digest Association London 2003, Every machine and piece of home equipment you can think of is included, from electrical machines such as washing machines, kettles, breadmakers, ovens, to wheeled machines such as bicycles, scooters and roller skates. All kinds of cameras, analogue, digital and video cameras are covered, DVD players, CD players and so forth. The emphasis is on maintenance more than repair, the point being that if you understand your device and take care of it you won't need to call the repairman very often if at all. It tells you whether the job is one you can deal with yourself or is one that you should leave to the professional. The beginning chapters deal with safety, masks, goggles, how not to kill yourself, in fact. Reader's Digest books are ones that I think are very much taken for granted; I thought about this especially when I heard that the company might be in some difficulty caused by the financial recession. They are among the most useful books you will ever come across, just think of the Reader's Digest Book of the Car, or their gardening and houseplant volumes. Their digests and books are published in many languages; my sister and I became very competent at reading French in our teens, when our mother bought a boxload of French Reader's Digests at an auction. So it seemed natural that when I found “How Everything in the Home Works” sitting on a shelf in the recycling centre, I would make it mine immediately. It is in lovely condition, with not a single crease on a page, nor even a mark. I can't help wondering why it was discarded. The books to be found at the recycling centre in general call up that question. I don't wait too long for answers, for I'm away home with my new treasures.

Tiny Treasures

 Among the children's books at a sale I found a tiny little volume with board covers. I had never seen one so small. It's called 'The 'Midget' London, and was published by Wells Gardner, Darton & Co. Of London in 1901. It contains forty-four photographs of London and gives a concise and thoughtful history of each of the buildings, monuments and parks mentioned. The script is very easy to read too for so tiny a book.

When I brought this book home I googled it and found to my surprise that there is a whole world of little books out there; from small to tiny, and all sizes in between, paperback and hardback, fiction and non-fiction. Just key in 'miniature books' into the search box on E-Bay and you will see that pages and pages of these little books appear. Some are very affordable, and others are hundreds of Euro in price, for reasons of age, condition or rarity or sometimes all three. If there is anybody reading this who has an addictive personality, rein yourself in, because it would be very easy to get hooked on these books.

One point I would mention here is that in the category of miniature books you will often find doll's house books, but in the main these are just covers with the titles and authors inscribed on them, and very few pages inside, if any. In other words, these are usually not real books at all, just fronts like those which used to be bought for some big house libraries for show purposes: imitation books. As with everything, there are exceptions, but check before you buy.

Small books you have quite likely come across yourself already are the Collins Gem series, very colourful, sturdy, little volumes with laminated covers, all non-fiction in subjects such as yoga, gems, butterflies, birds and so on. The drawings and/or photographs in these books are very attractive and the print very easy on the eye. I have found that some of the covers crease easily, but other than that, I think they are grand little books, handy to carry in a pocket and easy to read anywhere. These are among the larger miniature books that you will see.

There is a series called Mini Classics, aimed at children, and they are likewise very colourful and the print is clear and easily read by the age group at which they are aimed. They are very soundly bound, with dust jackets, and no doubt they will become collectors' items as they age. Two I own are: “Beauty and the Beast” Retold by Stephanie Laslett, illustrated by Alison Winfield, and “Little Red Riding Hood”, also retold by Stephanie Laslett but illustrated by Martin Aitchison. The publishers are Shooting Star Press, Inc., New York, but I can't find a date on either book.

Running Press publish a series of these miniature books. They come in all subjects, non-fiction again. They are very little bigger than “The 'Midget' London”, that is, very small indeed. My two favourites are:

“Home - A Little Book of Comfort” published in 1996, which consists of poetry and prose excerpts by various writers all around the theme of home. There are the most lovely little illustrations in colour, by Barbara Strawser, whom I looked up online and found is a very popular artist in the U.S.; the covers and inside papers are also her work. It is a refreshing, cheerful little book, with a ribbon bookmark and usually a little key on the end of this as a piquant finishing touch This is missing on mine, and the ribbon is a little threadbare, but I love it anyway. To anyone who has ever loved a home, or maybe is only just hoping to have a home of their own, this must appeal; it would make a lovely housewarming present too.

The other one I really like is called “Native American Wisdom” published by Running Press, Philadelphia and London, 1993, and with photographs by Edward S. Curtis. In the introduction we are told that Curtis published a “twenty-volume masterwork: The North American Indian.....This book presents some of Curtis's most striking photographs. Accompanying them are statements of cultural values, beliefs and attitudes from a number of Native Americans who lived and experienced traditional tribal life in the years between the Civil War and 1930, the year Curtis finished The North American Indian. Their words preserve the wisdom, and the photographs give individual faces to history. “

These Running Press miniatures are truly lovely little treasures, complete with hard covers and dust jackets.

Not all of these mini books are non-fiction: Del Prado publishers of Madrid produce hundreds of fiction classics from around the world in miniature. I bought a volume of tales of Tchekov in this series myself, but ended up giving it to someone who loved it. Once again, the text is clear and easy to read. There are no illustrations for reasons of lack of space, obviously, but they are very well bound. However, I think they would have benefited from a ribbon marker, unless it is just mine that had none, because it is easy to lose your place in a book this size, as the pages are so tight that they close quickly if you do not hold them open.

There really are little jewels among miniature books. Most of them would be way beyond my price range. On E-Bay I bought “Browning – Thoughts – selected by Louey Chisholm” published by TC and EC Jack of London & Edinburgh. 'Ivory Booklets' is written inside, but I can't find a date, but it's definitely at least a hundred years old. Mine did have a red ribbon bookmark which has become detached, and there is a lot of foxing on the pages. It was very cheap on E-Bay, so I suppose I can't complain, and I do love a lot of the writings of the poet Robert Browning that I have read, which wouldn't be a huge amount. I suppose most of you will have come across:

             “Grow old along with me!

                  The best is yet to be,

The last of life, for which the first was made:
               Our times are in His hand
              Who saith “A whole I planned,
           Youth shows but half; trust God: see
                 all nor be afraid!”

                                             Rabbi Ben Ezra  

Little excerpts of prose or poetry such as this are very nice to carry in your pocket or bag for an idle moment. Once again, the print in this pocketsized book is clear and very legible, probably one of the more important details to be taken into account in the production

of these little volumes.

Now that you know about them, see what you can find for yourself, and happy hunting!

Old but still good

At a car boot sale a lovely smiley man was selling boxes of old books.  I looked through one of them and said without thinking "You know, some of these could be quite valuable."
"I'll tell you what, love"  he said. "They were my old mum's. I'm not selling them for the money.  I want them to go to someone who really wants them".  Then he looked firmly at me. " A fiver a box, love.  A whole box or nothing."
There was every sort of reading matter in there; instructions for old washing machines and Hoovers, a pamphlet on how to service an ancient-looking boiler, an inky-looking advertisement for a sale-of-work in a country school in October 1965. Underneath was the book which had drawn my attention first, a lovely copy of "Rambles in Eirinn" by William Bulfin, published by M.H. Gill of Dublin in 1908, together with a set of history books, in not such good condition:  "History Of Ireland From The Earliest Times To The Present Day", by The Rev. E.A.D'Alton, LL.d. M.R.I.A. The publishers were the Gresham Publishing Company, London and the date in Roman numerals 1912. The six volumes were described as Half-Volumes 1,2,3,4,5,and 6, a term I have never come across before.  At one time they must have been very handsome, with their green cloth covers with green lettering on a gold base and gold illumination. One had a damaged spine, and they bore the resigned air of books which had lain in an attic for many years.  However, they had been well used and loved - there were
very lightly pencilled notes in many of the margins, and here and there a pressed autumnal leaf marked a page. Looking through them again today, if the first chapter of the very first volume, entitled "Various Names of Ireland" is anything to go by, these books  are  unputdownable, although if I manage to get even part of the way through the 284 pages of the initial one, I will be doing well, for I have come across so many books I want to read since I started this blog that I would need another ninety years of life to have any hope of doing so.

In the box also, quite incongruously, were two fairly modern paperback editions of James Bond books, "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Live and Let Die".
I handed over the money, and in the course of a short conversation I discovered that his mother was dead two years, and he had only now started to sort out her things.  She had been almost ninety when she died.  I had to ask if she was a James Bond fan.  He laughed.
 - "She were a bit of a James Bond herself".  I was interested, but he turned away to talk to someone else and then went to root in his van.  I sensed the conversation was over.

Old books are so much about the people who owned them - where and why they bought them or who gave them to them, what they meant in their lives; fiction or non-fiction, books draw other stories in their wake as long as they exist.

In the first paragraphs of his book about his cycling tour around Ireland, Bulfin tells us -
"It was the last day of June, and the weather was perfect. The people along the road said it was "shocking warm" and "terrible hot, glory be to God", but after seventeen sweltering years at the sunny South I found it just charming.......it was a splendid dawn.  We seemed to have brought with us some of the sunshine of the South, for earth and sea and air were flooded with morning gold. It flamed in the soft clouds which dotted the sky.  It flushed the blue.  It lay on the hills.  It rippled on the water."  and so on, in warm words which mitigate a little the grey blue of the winter afternoon outside my window.  The book has many photographs of Irish locations, worthy of a visit for reasons of scenery or history or archaeology.  The photos particularly fascinate because of the changes in the depicted places since they were taken; the traffic in the Dublin and Cork of this book would not have offered the same threat to Bulfin that modern vehicles do to a cyclist.  How free it must have felt to travel the country's roads without fear of the monsters which now loom around every corner.

The front cover of Bulfin's work is quite undamaged, the title and author's name illuminated in gold and decorated likewise.  The smooth, cream-coloured pages bear some inconsequential marks but in general they are sound.

The technological and scientific advances we have seen today, unthinkable only a few years ago, make me speculate that there may well come a time when it will be possible to identify the people who once opened this book, maybe all books that survive. We have already overtaken James Bond and goodness knows where it will end.

 Such, I suppose, are the thoughts of many like myself who read their books and dream.

I have decided to become a book blogger

I think actually the books themselves have decided this.  They are everywhere in this house.  They live in sheds outside too. There is not a surface covered from the weather in and around our house where a book does not recline.  When someone decides to tidy them away, hey presto, more books take their seats.  Here is total book anarchy. They follow no rules of shelving, as to genre, alphabet or even size.  I was looking at them, and they were looking back, when suddenly I got the idea - I feel, I am sure, that they want me to blog about them.  I am going to talk about them, but I will not be reviewing them, not in the normal sense, anyway.  Each book here feels it is, an individual, and so I will treat them that way.  Every day I will pull a few books off my staggering shelves and talk about them.  Some I have read; many more, I plan to read; some I just hope to read but recognise that I may never do so.  But I can justify their existences by writing about them.

You know the joke about the person who can't think of a present for a friend, certainly not a book, because she has one of those?  That is one sort of person who won't be interested in this blog.  Then there are people like a neighbour of mine, who spends some days reading a book, following which he immediately unloads it onto someone else.  He has a coffee table with a tenancy of about three books, changing all the time. He does not understand how you can be fond of a book, as an item.  He has one he is reading, one he is going to read, and one that has outstayed its welcome, but will be gone as soon as he can get rid of it.

Books are a tradition in my family.  Not for literary reasons, though.  For books to read we went to the library. But as a hobby, my mother and my aunt went to auctions.  They frequently bought joblots, in many of which books figured largely.  I recall many days through the years when trunks, boxes, bags of books were delivered by the local auctioneer's man to our front door.  We pored through them for hours, admired them, but rarely read them.  Some were valuable.  Most were not.  Many have found their way to my house.   Mostly, however they are not fiction.  I find it hard to read fiction, and only then short books. So the only fiction in the main are so-called classics, a few additional solated favourites, and books in particularly  beautiful editions. Non-fiction books are my thing.  I stand holding a book on shoemaking, painting, handreading, meteorology, and I am the owner of these mysteries.  Or so I like to think, if I were only to start at the beginning of these books and follow through to the end.  These books empower.  In my case, they could empower. It is the possibilities within their covers that entrance me.  That is why they share my home. And that is why I want to write about them.