Something Old... Something New

Well obviously I'm not getting married but a friend is and I was thinking... the something old something new is very pertinent to a new house. Obviously it would be very easy to buy new things for the whole house, to start afresh and just have new "everything" but the thing with that is, does the house then have a deep and interesting personality. Old items scream stories and interest.

Wow what a wonderful painting... well we brought that in Canada 10 years ago, we almost missed out flight because I just HAD to have it.

Goodness, those decanters are different ... these are from my grandmother, she received them on her wedding day 70 years ago.

Having stories behind objects in your home is what gives it depth, it what makes them interesting and warm.

Obviously all this is leading somewhere and here it is. I walked into Elizabeth's bookshop on Saturday and saw the most amazing old books at the counter. They were red and worn and very pretty. The subject is a biography of Samuel Johnson or otherwise known as Dr Johnson, a British author who made lasting contributions to English Literature of the 16th Century as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer and editor. Johnson has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history". Not the most exciting subject and to be honest I couldn't possibly see myself buying them... until I looked under the cover.

They were printed in 1887 and given to a new banker who had just completed his 6 month trial period. Amazing, totally amazing, and beautiful. They put this lovely little certificate on the inside cover of volume one. I can imagine just how lovely they must have looked in this mans home 130 years ago, maybe his wife put them in his bookshelf, he must have been young to have just started working and they didn't often change jobs by then so maybe she was a new wife with a new husband just starting a new job. Would these books have been carried from house to house as they moved up in the world. Were they handed down to sons or were they maybe sold off and have just sat in someones bookshelf waiting to be sold yet again... and now they are mine. How lovely is that thought?

So obviously I brought them..... had to. How can you say no to books like these? Maybe while I was in there I purchased a few other smaller sets.... I cant have these books feeling lonely now can I.