There's a Bring and Buy Book Sale tomorrow (Saturday January 11th) in aid of homeless charity Crisis, at the Telegraph Hill Centre Lounge, Kitto Road SE14 - adjoining St Catherine's Church. The sale runs from 12 noon to 4pm, with prices from 20p (paperbacks mostly five for a £1) to £2 (hardbacks 50p to £2) or maybe a bit more for something really special. You can also bring donations on the day of the sale if you are worried about where you are going to put all those books you buy!
I know there's some really good books, because I've donated loads. It's been painful, but I've just run out of room for more books. I ended up running out of space to hang up clothes as I'd started accumulating piles of books in the wardrobe too. So I've decided to pass on some classics that I hope will find a good home, to make room for some new ones. Here's a few samples....
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| O'Neill's Music of Ireland - the classic collection of fiddle tunes, I bought for my mandolin playing from Hobgoblin shop when it used to be in Cecil Sharp House, and I was learning to play at the Working Men's College in Camden. I have far more tunes now than I am ever likely to have time to learn. |
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| 'Reading Capital Politically' by Harry Cleaver - influential autonomist reading of Marx. In the early 1990s I went out for a meal with Cleaver in Brixton (and a few others including Massimo de Angelis). It was at the Satay Gallery, when it was in Vining Street where Fujiyama later opened. Nice food, good politics - but there's a pdf on libcom so I feel I can put it back into the stream. |
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| 'The White Goddess' by Robert Graves - never read this from cover to cover, but great to dip into for its idiosyncratic take on mythology and poetry. |
See books have histories and associations as material objects - where they came from, which rooms they furnished, who handled them - which digital documents lack. Now I've revisited all the memories attached to just these three examples, I know that I am at risk of buying back the books I donated. I must stay strong!
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1 comment:
A big "thank you" to Transpontine and all who donated such quality books. And those who came to buy (and some who took their initial purchases home then came back to buy more...).
We raised over £500 for Crisis which is a great result for a relatively small sale in a relatively small space.
It's a long time ahead but do note in your diaries Sunday 6th July as the next Pensioners Forum Sale in the Saville Centre, SE13 6LJ. Two or three times the number of books - but, unless Transpontine has another clear out, we might be hard pushed to match the quality.
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