Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Old Books

Here I go again, posting from the iPad. No collages today; instead testing out filters to give different tonal qualities

I find old books interesting. I pulled these from my bookshelves, textbooks from elementary school days. I love the pictures! Most aren't photographs but reproduced paintings The color, the detail, the nostalgia makes them so very special. At least to me. 

Following are a few examples of what I found between the covers of these half-century-old books. The next to last photo is from one of my mother's grade school books, an Elson reader published in 1929.  All pictures are black and white. I have shown one from the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. Oh how I remember and loved that one as a child!

(And by the way, something that should be simple -- finding a way to insert my text between pictures -- has escaped me. Maybe with a bit more practice I'll figure it out.)

I'm finding posting this way has some advantages, like being faster. 

So I would ordinarily type this at the bottom but cannot:

Tell me if you like old books. Perhaps none so ragged as these but antique books that are collectibles.










14 comments:

  1. I treasure old books too. You have a nice bunch of them. I particularly like old children's books. The illustrations are usually so wonderful. Oh how I remember Dick and Jane and learning to read. That takes me back a ways.

    Darla

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    1. Me too Darla. Love the illustrations in the Dick and Jane books.

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  2. I do love old books, but then I love new ones as well. They both have their own special smell, like my two favourite perfumes. I wouldn't say I was that attached to children's books, though your illustrations are completely charming. Bill and I have a collection of a few books that belonged to some ancestors and we cherish them.

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    1. New ones, old ones. Love them all. I read on Kindle but it's just not the same. Love the feel and smell of a book.

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  3. i love old books, too, although i'm purging shelves right now of all books i don't think i'll ever read again. i have a few fairy tale books from my childhood, but i do re-read those lol

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    1. I have a hard time even getting rid of paperbacks although I have recently given away some that weren't my favorites. Love fairy tale books too.

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  4. Remember and love Dick and Jane books!
    Remember the "Anything Can Happen " so well.
    I love books too but I'm a late starter and want to read everything. I've been totally interested in the outdoors long enough.....time to divide my time. Sweet pictures.

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    1. But you are making up for lost time. Dividing ones time will be a good thing!

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  5. Oh, yes, I do love old books, and often bring one home. The illustrations in old children's books are so appealing, and I too remember Dick and Jane! I look out for reprints of the old Little Golden Books and buy them for my grandsons. My daughter likes to collect old Enid Blyton books, which I also read. Did you have those in America?

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    1. We may not have Enid Blyton books here. Have never heard of them. Might be similar to our Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books.

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  6. I love the texture, the fonts and the SMELL of old books :-) also the topics covered and the way text is written is intriguing - pointing at different perspective, values etc. of the society from the era the book is from.

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    1. The smell of the books is great. The way they are written is so different from now. I shudder to think of how many of the old books were destroyed because no one wanted them.

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  7. My mother had an Elson reader from the 20's; you've brought back memories. Yes to old books. Always think of Emily Dickinson when I pick one up "There is no frigate like a book, to take us lands away."

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    1. Hi Patricia J:
      Great quote from Emily Dickinson. We do go on a trip each time we read a book. How could anyone not like to read??

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