My parents had been somewhere in Kent, I can't remember where, and had obviously come across a second hand shop. My dad said he saw this old copy of The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens and thought I would like it, so bought it for me. There is no printing date in the book but some internet research leads me to believe that this edition was published in 1900.
I haven't yet read the book (I have a long 'to read' list) but regardless this is one of the books most frequently pulled off the shelf and looked at, simply because it is so beautiful. When I hold it, I wonder how many people have read it, and who those people were. Given the age of the book, the people who previously held it in their hands would have experienced the Blitz, had friends or relatives who were killed in the Trenches, walked though gaslamplit smog in London. They may have read this to the sound of The Beatles or The Kinks coming from vinyl record players. Perhaps some of them read this on a 'slam door', British Rail train, on their way to work, The Smiths playing on their Walkman.
I think it is time to share some photographs of this little piece of history...
The title page
The book is beautifully illustrated
This is my favourite illustration in the novel. I love looking at the detail in their clothes.
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