Do You Love Books Too ?
When I was a child, I used to really love being given books as a present for birthdays or Christmas. Come to think of it, I still do ! I have always been interested in books. I love the smell, the feel of them – they are very satisfyingly tactile things.I:0:J
The term “bibliophile” certainly applies to me, despite the fact that it sounds like someone too fond of his drink ! My enjoyment of books though has now grown from feeling and touching them to actually reading them !
Remember the sudden downturn in the IT world some years ago with the Y2K scare ? Well, to cut a long story short, the substantial IT business I owned and ran got into severe difficulties as a direct result, leaving me with no job, no business, and very little money. I spotted a bookbinding business for sale in the local newspaper, which attracted me because of my interest in books. Fortunately, the business had four skilled employees, from whom I was able to learn the trade. Many would say this was a bit back to front ! We did theses for students, archival work for a major local university and large firms of lawyers as well as restoration work for private book collectors. I also began buying secondhand books, fixing them up where necessary, and selling some on the internet.
It didn’t take long before my very supportive new wife and I had enough stock to fill a lovely old double-fronted shop, and as the shop had space at the back for the bookbinding business, it was absolutely perfect.
Now retired, I still keep a small bookshop in a beautiful, remote village in the Karoo, in South Africa, where my customers are tourists and farmer’s wives – both few and far between ! But that’s great – I hate parting with any of my books anyway, and its like sitting surrounded by old friends all day !
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* Bibliophile (cognitive-edge.com)
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* Linking and Pageviews 1850 Style: The American Bookbinders Museum (treehugger.com)
* customizing a book, part one (newfry.typepad.com)
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