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Thread: Today we went to pick up a bookcase from Freecycle and when we got there, the person giving away the bookcase was going to dump all the books from it (previously used as props in a play). I couldn't allow that, so I rescued them all. There were over 200. 1/
We spent the afternoon sorting them, deciding what to keep for ourselves, seeing if any were worth selling, and what to donate to charity shops. Very few of them actually ended up in the bin 
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A few of them were particularly interesting for their content or, more often, the inscriptions in the front covers. That's what I want to share 
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Starting simple, nice handwriting. January 1917-ish, based on the date of the book itself, and assuming it was gifted new. "Chummy" is strange nickname for someone who bought you a passionate love story book. [The Knave of Diamonds by Ethel M Dell] 4/
![Starting simple, nice handwriting. January 1917-ish, based on the date of the book itself, and assuming it was gifted new. "Chummy" is strange nickname for someone who bought you a passionate love story book. [The Knave of Diamonds by Ethel M Dell] 4/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ebi2fcKWkAAPYdA.jpg "Starting simple, nice handwriting. January 1917-ish, based on the date of the book itself, and assuming it was gifted new. \"Chummy\" is strange nickname for someone who bought you a passionate love story book. [The Knave of Diamonds by Ethel M Dell] 4/")
That wasn't the only Ethel M Dell book. Another [The Way of an Eagle] was from 'Nan Na'. I wonder if this was a grandmother, and if yes, if she knew she was gifting an erotic romance? Maybe Nan Na is another pet name. 5/
![That wasn't the only Ethel M Dell book. Another [The Way of an Eagle] was from 'Nan Na'. I wonder if this was a grandmother, and if yes, if she knew she was gifting an erotic romance? Maybe Nan Na is another pet name. 5/](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Ebi5DdlXkAAdwIY.jpg "That wasn't the only Ethel M Dell book. Another [The Way of an Eagle] was from 'Nan Na'. I wonder if this was a grandmother, and if yes, if she knew she was gifting an erotic romance? Maybe Nan Na is another pet name. 5/")
Bobby and Dad kept it simpler in 1947 and 1956 respectively. British schoolboy drama and war stories respectively. 6/
Speaking of schoolboys, I bet this was one, or an undergraduate: in a very grotty copy of Dumas' Twenty Years After. 7/
And on war, how about these finds. Firstly, I had no idea that there were things like Annuals of war photos? Who is buying these? An amazing resource for history, now, but wow, that's serious. 8/
Another war one - possibly my favourite from this thread: an account of being a fighter pilot, gifted from presumed female to presumed male, in 1941. In hindsight at least, that seems like a very serious sort of a gift. I wonder if they were sweethearts. 9/
How about this one, post-war. I like the idea that they grouped together to buy books (this one was a French biography) for displaced students. It resonates today, too. 10/
Just a couple more. A few books given as prizes. Books are great for that. This one from a Sunday school vicar in 1921 was titled 'Two Holidays or Dignity and Impudence' - it's a schoolboy adventure story (it's really racist). 11/
This one from a grammar school in 1923. Good attendance and hard work! Your prize is 'Tarnished Silver' by Mary Frances Outram. I'm not entirely sure what it's about but there's a lot of Jesus in it. 12/
From the same book, we find a birthday card tucked into it! Thanks Auntie Lizzie! 13/
A serious one here - a technical encyclopedia for a Navy specialist in 1954, but only Third Prize, better luck next time. 14/
And finally, another technical manual that I really liked - one for tuning radios and TVs from the 1950s.Someone left their own diagram in it. 15/
Nothing groundbreaking here, but it's cool that these randomly selected 200 odd books had all these glimpses into the lives of people over the last 100 years. Books are more than just their texts, and I hope e-books don't take away this lovely material aspect of literature. /End
