Endpapers, on the other hand, are fair game.
Were it not for these lovely endpapers, I probably would have put this worn, stained, slightly smelly book back on the library shelves. I’m glad I didn’t.
This is Because of the Lockwoods by Dorothy Whipple, who I knew about from my beloved Persephone Books. Her great rep and the illustration above prompted me to check out the book.
I may have been the first person to read it since 1968. Don’t you love inscriptions like these? What, I wondered, could be on page 43?
“Mrs. Lockwood had actually found herself thinking what she was saying and of course that ruined conversation.”
Putting personal adversion to old books aside, I am going try to buy a used copy of this book, if I can find the right edition. See if your library has it; I’m sure you’ll love it. Just look past the cover. (Hint to Whitney: Your library has it. Fic Whipple.)
1 Comment
March 9, 2009 at 8:20 pm
I love reading the inscriptions inside old books. My favorite one is inside a book called The Home Has A Heart by Thyra Ferre Bjorn (a lucky find at the used book store). It reads: To the sweetheart of my home, my darling wife Vera – From Harry on Mother’s Day 1972.