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Lovejoy was a completely brilliant series from the UK in the early to mid 90s. it was about an antiques dealer who could sense things of age when he was near them.

I felt like him today as I wandered through Steptoe's 2nd Hand Store. I was wandering around, vaguely wondering what would be worth buying, when I stopped at a book case full of crap books like Dick And Jane. My eyes fell on three books in one corner. They were old. One was pre-WW2 old, and judging by the leather spines on the other two I guessed they were pre-1900s.

I opened the cover of the oldest looking one.



Needless to say, I bought them.



It's BRILLIANT! The bloke writes about using Mr Leewanhoek's new invention to look at the animalcules in stagnent pond water, Of Vulanof: "That there are fcarecely any Countries that are much annoyed with earthquakes, that do not have one of thefe Fiery Vents, And thefe are conftantly all in flames." and that light "it has the instataneous swiftness of almost two hundred thousand miles in one second of time, being much swifter than sound or the bullet from a large gun."



The second book is about diesel engines and was written in 1928. It's packed with the theory of the operation and has many line diagrams.



The third book is about the geogpraphy of Scotland, and was written in 1790. it has this wonderful hand-coloured map in the front.



All in all, I think it was $10 well spent.

Date: 23 May 2002 23:25 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tsjafo.livejournal.com
Congrats. Have you thought about copying that map, restoring the copy and framing it? I've got a weakness for old books and maps. *grin*

Date: 24 May 2002 00:58 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] dewhitton.livejournal.com
The map is a part of the book, so removing it would be wrong.

I have other old maps hanging on the walls: NSW/Vic/SA in 1860, Tasmania in 1850, and Sydney &NSW in 1823.

Re:

Date: 24 May 2002 01:29 (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tsjafo.livejournal.com
I'd never suggest damaging the book. More like taking it somewhere they can make a full sized scan and then working on the scanned image. Making repairs, etc.

I love old maps. I've also seen old blueprints framed as art. A friend had diagrams of a tug boat framed that was great.

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