A Special Gift

For Valentine's Day, I went looking for things I love to share with you and got sucked deeply into a tangent that I thought was far more interesting than the planned list...

I started with OLD BOOKS. Jessica put up something about old books last week, and I told her I had a bunch from my grandpa. This is just a subset of them.

The taller red one that you can't read is a copy of Robin Hood, with the gift inscription in the front cover dated 1911. The giftee, someone called Hamilton Barrett (or Arthur Hamilton Barrett), had several books in my grandfather's collection—I wish I knew someone who could tell me the connection, but I am guessing this is perhaps a cousin or uncle who had no children of his own. The small book that is almost completely gilted is a beautifully illustrated Pinocchio that has both the name above and my grandfather's.

The one that really caught me, though, was this one. Poetical Works by Thomas Moore. The leather of the cover has the cut-out and had a leaf pattern stamped into it—the author and title in raised letters. The gilting is definitely wearing off in places and the pages are very brittle, but the treasures inside?

First, the book opened to this page by itself. Four leaf clovers are rare—I think I've found one or two, but not often... here though, is a gift from some long lost relative... It's VERY big, as clovers go

And then, more special still... the history of the book (and some history of my family) in the front cover. The post-it was written by my grandma, who you all know was the best person EVER.

The notes say:

“Christmas present to Heather from her father. Dec 25th 1881.”

and then

“Tami, Hattie was Grandma Baker's sister. Grandma Baker was Great Grandmother Boyd's mother. Hattie and G. Baker (America Thompson) were raised by their Grandfather, Dr. Ford, after their mother's death during the civil war.”


So there we have it... what a wonderful Valentine's gift—a little connection to my grandma and my history, courtesy of my love for old books.


Have you ever had an unexpected treasure pop up and touch your heart like that? I'd love it if you shared!