For the last twenty years I have attended a book sale held each October in Colchester in aid of the NSPCC. It is well supported and always packed out and over the weekend in 2007 nearly £20,000 was raised. Books are donated throughout the year and can be left at various designated holding areas and it is all highly organised and sponsored by a local estate agents who hand out hundreds of bags to cart your findings home in.
This year off I went again and, for the first time, have to confess I was somewhat disappointed at what was there. OK I appreciate that my choice of readings is not to everyone's taste and my love of battered, tatty second hand books is not universal, but I normally stumble across some great finds (one only this year) and come away happy with a great mix of stuff. This time, no. All the hardbacks were newish books, the amount of interesting looking, musty smelling old books was down to a minimum and instead boxes of Danielle Steele, Maeve Binchy (don't get me wrong I love her books), John Grisham, multiple brand new hard back copies of Joanne Trollope, Alan Titchmarsh (obviously bought for Christmas and chucked out as soon as possible), masses of chicklit and so on and so forth. I unearthed a wonderful old copy of a Miss Read book, complete with dust jacket, and a copy of an Anya Seton in hardback which I was glad to have, but other than there was nothing I felt overjoyed about. You may think I am really complaining about nothing when you have a look at the heap I came away with however and perhaps I am making too much of it.
I found a few Viragos but there were hardly any this year and came away and shall pass on to a charity shop as I don't want to keep any of it, unlike previous visits when I retained most of my haul. There was no feeling that I had stumbled across some really great finds nor was there a frisson of excitement on this visit at all.
But, I did find a wonderful edition of A Christmas Carol with the most superb illustrations and I could not resist it. OK I have five editions already but this one was such a treat. Published by "Raphael Tuck and Sons, publishers to their Majesties, The King and Queen and to her Majesty Queen Alexandra" which places it firmly between 1901-1911 which was the reign of Edward VII, smooth elegant paper and these wonderful illustrations. Cop a load of this one in the chapter on The Spirit of Christmas Present and in comes Mrs Cratchit with the pudding. Worth the entire trip alone.
On the plus side however, it is good to note that the place was heaving as always and the children's section was totally packed out with children piling up heaps of books on the floor that they wanted. The computer and computer games had obviously not taken up all the attention of these junior buyers, ranging from about 7-14. Very encouraging.
When moaning to a friend about my non-success this year, she heard me out, looked me in the eye and said "Elaine, does it occur to you that you might just have bought every second hand copy of every book you want by now and you have exhausted the market?"
Pass....
