Monday, July 20, 2009

A little brass "book" bird,...

... bought during a day trip to Connecticut, looks right at home on the stack of books I also purchased that same day.


Last month I took Courtney to Connecticut for a weekend visit with a college friend. After dropping her off, Amanda and I set out to find a few junktique shops before heading home.


How lucky we were to find Blueberry Hill Antiques in Old Saybrook, CT! That's where I found my little brass bird (marked down to $1.50) and the majority of the books I bought. Most of them were from the FIFTY CENTS PER BOOK ROOM (actually, it might have been 25 cents - at least that's what Amanda remembers! I meant to post about this trip over a month ago, but with all that has happened I just haven't had time. Scary that in a month's time I can't remember if they were 25 or 50 cents!) I'm not sure if we hit a special sale or if those low prices are ongoing in that room, but we had a blast looking through the shelves of books!


This is my favorite - Little Miss Joy by Emma Marshall. It was originally published in 1892, but for the life of me I cannot find the copyright date in my edition. In doing a little on-line research I discovered that copyrights were not required prior to 1900, so I'm guessing this was printed some time in the 1800's...


I love it when the used books I purchase have inscriptions (everyone had beautiful penmanship back then!)... This faint pencil inscription reads, "Agnes Paulson, A Merry Xmas + Happy New Year. Your Aunt."


A pressed clover marks pages 94/95. Is that as far as Agnes got? Or does it mark a favorite passage, I wonder? The other books I purchased were One Jump Ahead, c1956; Lovely is the Lee, c 1945; The Cardinal's Snuff Box, c 1900; and My Friend Flicka, c1941 (that was one of my favorite TV shows from the 60's... yes, I was a complete horse nut)...


And look at these yummy children's books I found! The Lord's Prayer (copyright 1940), Hello, Joe (copyright 1961), and Through the Picture Frame (copyright 1944). "Nutty Sam" is the squirrel's name in Hello, Joe! (I think he lives in my yard now!)


And just look at this illustration from the Lord's Prayer book where the little boy is offering Sammy a peanut.... isn't it the sweetest?

One Jump Ahead, a book about horses by Pat Smythe, belonged to "Mimi Spencer" at one time, and here is the inscription in her book, dated June 1958, fifty-one years prior to me purchasing it.
I'll share some photos of Blueberry Hill Antiques in an upcoming post. It's an adorable shop and if I ever find myself back in Old Saybrook, CT, I'll definitely be popping in again (as well as another shop, Saybrook Recycled Furniture, Etcetera, that we didn't get to spend nearly enough time in before heading home!)...
Have a great week, everyone!
Donna

5 comments:

the undomesticated wife said...

I love finding inscriptions in old books, too. :)

Claudia said...

What wonderful finds, Donna! I love the old books and the inscriptions - so dear. And the little boy feeding the squirrel - I'd say that book was meant for you. I love your little bird, too!

Hope your Dad is doing well.

xo
Claudia

The Curious Cat said...

Gorgeous photos -like how you position the bird against the woodland wallpaper! I also love your comments about inscriptions - I never really thought about it but I think going forward I will inscribe books more often -it makes it that much more personal if years to come, someone opens it and catches a little glimpse of you...I still have books inscribed by grandma and it is still touching when I come across them now and then...

Shabby Chick said...

The bird is lovely! The books are great too, I think they look wonderful together.

Mel xxx

A New England Life said...

Great finds Donna! I love the old childrens books and still have several myself. My girls were allowed to read them for a short time before I reclaimed them due to being nervous they would ruin them.

Wouldn't it be neat to find out who Mimi Spencer was? Do you think she was related to Diana??? ; )

Sharon