Books III: Wonders of the past

Books on my shelves are about papers, leaflets and cards too. Here is a set of 50 delightful little cards from a series of "wonders" put into their cigarette packets by Wills in the 1920s.

Books II: Jackets

Books with nice jackets (one bought in Hull in 1980, the other in Parksville in 1993)

Books I: Getting sorted

I sorted out my books over Christmas. It had been a job looming for years, as I moved from one house to another watching them get steadily more disorganised, spending more and more time looking for titles I knew I had somewhere, and never knowing quite where in the muddle to shelve new acquisitions. But …

My great great uncle captured by pirates

Jonathan Jones thinks the Hajj “one of the most brilliant exhibitions the British Museum has put on”. I often agree with what he writes, and I’m looking forward to seeing the show, though as I’d suspected that will have to be next week. Meanwhile, here’s a story about an English man who went to Mecca. …

The Hajj comes to London

Dropped into the British Museum on my way back from another Stonehenge meeting yesterday in London (of which more anon), and took these fuzzy photos with my phone. There must have been some interesting discussions in the early days of organising the Hajj: journey to the heart of Islam exhibition, not least about the sponsor …

Why that John Lewis ad was genius

The John Lewis Christmas TV ad came in for some stick as well as praise. I loved it so much I was tempted to rush to the keyboard the hour it was first aired. Today’s announcement of JL’s record-breaking Christmas sales (they got it right, then), gives me the excuse to write a quick note …

Eagle and salmon

I found this nice little drawing in an antique market in Hungerford yesterday. It’s by Henry Hunt, Canadian First Nations artist who lived on Vancouver Island (1923–85). I’m largely guessing here, but it looks like a decorative greetings card or souvenir that he might have produced as a cheap purchase for his art shop in …