Wandering and Whispering

You won’t be surprised to hear that our eldest son, avid reader and collector that he is, offered to take me to Robert’s Bookshop in anticipation of my birthday. We enjoyed a beautiful Sunday-morning drive to the coast, through the lush spring mountain greenery, and arrived almost immediately upon their opening. As soon as we stepped inside and inhaled the old book smell, we felt the same rush of excitement we always do: I’ve mentioned before that the maze of aisles, the rooms within rooms, and the nooks and crannies can be quite overwhelming. There are a quarter of a million books in the store, and the owner says he has at least as many more waiting in the wings. In a word, it’s paradise. And so we began our wandering and whispering, and our handling, opening, and comparing of too many books to count. I found a beautiful two-volume set of the Life of Charles Lamb, by E.V. Lucas, published in 1905; a copy, too, of Moreau de St. Mery’s American Journey, 1793-1798, translated by Kenneth and Anna M. Roberts; a nice 1937 copy of Odell Shepard’s Pedlar’s Progress, being a life of Bronson Alcott; for fun, an illustrated 1913 edition of The Lighter Side of English Life, by F. Frankfort Moore, the drawings done by George Belcher; and finally, and 1833 edition of English Synonymes, by George Crabb. I could easily have brought home another forty or fifty books, but as we kept saying to each other, “We’ll get that next time,” knowing full well that if the books in question are sold in the meanwhile, others just as fascinating and wonderful will have taken their place.

Just a short note this time, with the hope that you’re well. I do worry about you, between health concerns and the nonsense you’re subjected to at work. Knowing how you love books, though, I couldn’t resist checking in. No reply is necessary. Rest assured, I think of you often, and am ever grateful for your friendship.

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