Hunter Gatherer: Old books

Of the many blogs I discovered while doing the Blogging Your Way e-course a few months back, Carousel is one of the few that I follow religiously. The woman at the helm of Carousel is Chi Feasey, a London-based fashion designer with a great eye and a bold, fabulous personal style. Chi first got me hooked by blogging about her brave decision to wear just Six Items or Less for an entire month. Her 30-day fashion diary is filled with fun and creative outfits, and had me virtually applauding by the time of its grand finale. 

One of my favorite features on Chi's blog is her "Hunter Gatherer" series, where she posts a collection of photographs revolving around a certain theme. From a skateboarder's haunt to folds of fabric, each series is intriguing and inspiring, with lots of details to get lost in. 

Inspired by and as a shout out to Carousel, I've decided to put together a little "Hunter Gatherer" collection of my own from my visit to Van Dijk en Ko. They had a large-ish selection of second-hand books, with many dating back to the 1900s. 

I love books and I love paper. Make them decades, even a hundred years old and you'll have me in a puddle on the floor. 

Most of the volumes that caught my eye were published between 1900 and 1930. It was a time when every printed book was precious and expensive, a work of art. This beautiful book on Dutch paintings, for example, has a stunning trifecta of binding, endpaper and bookplate. 

Old endpapers with a hand-drawn feel. The last really eye-catching endpaper I saw was in a hardbound copy of Harry Potter, but of course it was missing the character of a paper like this.

How they did branding in the old days: the bookseller's label in each book. Even the tiniest stamp had room for two fonts and a couple of flourishes.

Another art book with an amazing embossed hardcover.

And a tiny book of prayers that fits into a palm or pocket.

I love books with surprises, like a letter or postcard tucked into its pages. Jumping ahead a few decades,  I found this personalized astrology chart in an art book from the 1960s.

This "Electric Cookbook", which taught Dutch housewives of the 1960s to cook with that newfangled contraption known as an electric stove, held a sheaf of handwritten recipes. Check out that cursive.

This recipe lists currants, raisins, brown sugar and apple juice as its main ingredients. Sounds yummy.

Books and paper can be so lovely. This is why I'll probably never get a Kindle!

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This is my first Blog of the Month feature. Every month, I promise to send a shout out to one of the bloggers on my blogroll, in the form of an "As Seen On..." type of post. Let me know if you like the idea... and the post, of course!