Collecting Books. Not

There must be something about February...

Several of my fellow bloggers have been moved to talk about their libraries. Is it the long, dark evenings? The dreary weather? An excuse to sink into the comfy chair with a nice, hot mug of cocoa? Whatever the reason, I shall join them.

I use the word 'library' advisedly, because it sounds serious, scholarly, grown-up. What in fact they have there - taking up valuable space and straining the joists - are nothing more than 'book collections'. A book collection is like a gnome collection, but not as easy to mock. After all, most would agree that books are attractive and somehow worthy. Nevertheless, 'library' is still very much a euphemism for a bit of literary hoarding.

Don't get me wrong, I love books. The smell of them, the chunky feel, the way they look so welcoming when crammed just a wee bit untidily in a bookcase; they make a house a home. On this basis alone I would condone their acquisition. However, I seem to be much more ready to part with them than some! When we moved to Seaton in 2002 I used it as an excuse to thin my collection, well aware that many of my books were almost never opened. Goodbye BWP et al. I made a few bob and relieved myself of about two tons of box carrying. Moving from Seaton to Bridport provided a similar opportunity, also taken. Even now though, a number of my books are no more than home decor. Some of those are kept for sentimental reasons, but some are simply kept...

I don't really get that precious about books, and am always ready to loan them out, sometimes for ever. One or two good 'uns have gone that way. I used to have a fairly decent collection of fishing books, including the first annual of the British Carp Study Group. I bought it in 1974 I think, at a fishing tackle show at the Royal Horticultural Halls in Vincent Square, London. I loaned it out, and haven't seen it since 1970-something. Never mind, I can always get another from a second-hand bookseller...

er...or maybe not!

There is a slightly ironic footnote to this tale. Some years ago Mrs NQS returned from a tour of the Rickmansworth charity shops and announced that she'd bought a couple of books for me. Here they are...

Published respectively in 1980 and 1983, they wound up in my 'library' in exchange for something like a £2 donation to the British Heart Foundation. A copy of The Third BCSG Book is now being offered by the dealer in the screenshot above for £150! Tucked into one of them was the scrap of paper. As you can see, it is entitled 'Carp List'. Straight away that suggests to me a juvenile hand. A list of hefty carp follows, recording the weight, what type of carp it was, and the venue. Any carp fanatic reading this would instantly pick up on the venues, 'Conservative' and 'Fisheries'. These are both Colne Valley carp waters, both operated by clubs with a waiting list of about a hundred years. In other words, highly exclusive, don't bother to apply. The initials? LL = 'Large Lake', SL = 'Small Lake' and NL = 'New Lake'. I know this because I too was once a member of the 'Cons' club, as it was affectionately known. By the time I was fishing the Cons from about 1999 it held carp to over 50 pounds, including several over 40. Huge fish, hence why membership of the Fisheries and Cons clubs was so highly sought after. Judging by the size of carp in the list above, our mystery angler was most likely fishing the lakes in the 1980s. To be honest, that little bit of paper is probably responsible for me hanging on to those books. It adds a small measure of intimacy and makes me curious. Who was the angler? Was he young like I imagine? Why did he part with the books? What's the story?

Perhaps there is some middle-aged bloke out there now, going 'You know, I once had the 3rd and 4th BCSG books...I used to keep my list of carp in one of them. Now, who did I lend them to...?'