'Life is sweet brother... There's day and night, brother,
both sweet things; sun, moon, and stars, all sweet things; there's
likewise a wind on the heath.' - Lavengro
That is a quote from the front of a book
that I took off our shelf a couple of Sunday's ago.
The sun was streaming through the windows and
it seemed a pleasant way to spend an hour, or so,
just looking through the book.
The book is called
'The Open Road' compiled by E.V. Lucas.
It was first published in 1899.
Our edition was printed in 1914.
Mike and I bought it together
in July 1999,
on a day out to Keswick.
Or more likely, we were probably camping
at a favourite campsite just above Keswick
overlooking Derwentwater.
I know we bought it in 1999 as Mike has written the date in the front of the book.
There is an earlier dedication on the page and a date.
The dedication reads,
'For my dear wife
with the best of love.
Xmas 1918'
It is a book of verse and writings
and it has some lovely illustrations.
It was the illustrations
perhaps more than the writing that I think first attracted me to the book.
That's one of the illustrations in the first photo.
The other two photos
are of a piece of writing
that appealed to me.
You might enjoy reading it too.
It tells of a bygone age.
Click on the photos to enlarge
to make it easier to read.
The inspiration for this post came from Mildred.
Since then I've been doing lots more reading.
My daughter was good enough to send some books over via Mike
a few weeks ago.
Then Mike brought a couple back with him
on Thursday from another trip to the UK.
I do enjoy reading.
What do you like to read?
I'm still hanging on with Blogtoberfest.
Just about!
10 comments:
Lynne, what a beautiful book. How very wonderful that it has the earlier inscription in it. Like you, I love the artwork especially. With cold weather on its way, you will really enjoy the stash of books you are accumulating. Do the dogs hover around you when you are sitting in the sun reading? I hope you will have a very nice week.
Wow. The dedication is from 1918. That in itself is amazing. Looks like a wonderful old book. This is a good time of year to curl up with a book too. :-)
I have a very wide range in what I read - I like thrillers and detectives stories .... but I also enjoy curling up with 'chick lit'. so that I don't have to use my brain too much (you generally know by the end of the first chapter how it will turn out!) Recently I have been reading quite a lot of Jodi Picoult (bought from a charity shop!) Her books are always very different.
How delightful - telling us about the book & how you came across it.
I go through spells of reading then seem to not read for a while. The last book I read was set in Yarmouth , Isle of Wight & given to me by a Blogger friend when we met for coffee in Yarmouth.
My daughter reads ALL THE TIME ! She's 17 & dyslexic so is catching up for the years when she struggled with reading. She has so many books all over her room & usually Billy curled up on her bed while she reads !
There is something inevitably enchanting about books. There are always some books that will capture all our senses.;)
have a lovely Monday,
xoxo
I love old books! Especially if there are dedications- it makes me wonder who the book belonged to.
I love reading novels mostly, but really anything that crosses my path is fine.
Take Care!
Gosh, I love reading pretty much anything and everything ... I try not to get too bothered by genres or critic's choices.
I can't believe you have 'The Open Road' ... I have that exact same book ... I'll have to dig out my copy and look if it has a sweet inscription ... the coincidences of life always amaze me! :)
I read EVERYTHING. Right now I'm reading a lot of Angela Thirkell and author who wrote in the 30's and 40's mainly.
One of the best things about Autumn is the chance to curl up with a book and not to feel guilty that we should be tending the garden :D
I love to read period novels, such as those from Anne Perry. I love to travel back and imagine. I also love to read literature from Guatemala, especially that one that tells about Guatemala in colonial and conquering times. I think it is interesing to learn how the land that one has learned to love and appreciate evolved through the years. I often ask myself what it would be like had the decisions been other. For instance, what if the citizens hadn't chosen to fight for Independece from Spain? What would it be like? Would we be better? or worse?!
I am now trying to go back to "El Discipulo Perido" (Lost Disciple) by Leslie H. Whitten.
Have a lovely day!
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