As I was cleaning out my bookshelves in my office a few days ago… I stumbled upon a few very old books I had stashed away long ago. I love old books… the look and feel of yellowed worn pages and the frayed edges of leather… that was once soft and smelled new.

One little book I came across..it is very tiny… maybe pocket size and was dated 1877. Inside… written in pencil that is still very plain and visible are written ” a present to Claire Buchanan… from B.F. Buchanan”… with the date 1877 written on the bottom. It is a child’s book… and the title is The Two Fawns and Other Tales.

As I looked through this little treasure and read it’s pages… I felt transported back in time. Not just because writing and vocabulary were somewhat different then, but I felt connected to these two people… through these pages of this little pocket book… even for a few brief moments.

Somehow… this book, from ages past… found me… to give me pleasure in the here and now… and to connect to the past of by gone years. Something I have a deep passion for. History and tradition matters… it is who we are… who you are… and who I am.

My mind started  racing with so many questions, touching and reading this book.I wondered who they were, and how old the child was who had been gifted with this book? Where did they live and what kind of life did they have?

One thing I know for sure is that books and reading were important to these people and that this book was special… it was kept… and it is in good condition… and it was meant… many generations later to be found, read, and cherished by me.

A little bit of history for me to enjoy, ponder and keep alive forever.

I have decided that I am going to put this book under a glass dome… set it somewhere in my home… as a thing of beauty… interest and to capture what once was… and now is… a gift from the past… a gift in present time… and a gift for someone in the future.

Musings and old books,

Victoria