The "Books Lost...Books Found" Story

My old book press from my teaching years.

It was an ordinary day.  Helping my wife with the house cleaning.  Ran the vacuum on the first floor and grabbed a cloth to do some dusting.  For years I have been dusting the antique book press which sits next to an old desk we found at an antique dealer many years ago.  The book press was used for years in my classroom when we made hand-bound books, but when I retired and the new teacher didn't want it, the principal told me to take it with me.  I claimed the press plus the old floor model guillotine paper-cutter, wooden teacher's desk, a few dozen wooden California job cases and drawer after drawer of old wooden and metal type pieces plus metal engravings that were of no use to anyone.  As I dusted the book press I checked out the three books that have been a part of our home since we moved into our Beach House over 20 years ago.  As I looked at the small bound books I was stumped as to how we acquired them.  Carol and I found that one book came from the Martic Elementary School where she went to school as a child while the other two came from the Pequea Township School District.  All three have the little "Date Due" flyer in the back of them showing how many times the book had been read and in one case, what year it was placed in circulation in the library.  Somehow over the years we acquired the three children's books and placed them in our book press when we moved to our current location.  And, today for the first time in my life I opened them and examined them. The following information describes the really neat children's books what I re-discovered: 

• Far from Marlborough Street by Elizabeth Philbrook.  

  

  
  

  This book was published in 1944 and is listed as a book for juvenile audiences.  The book tells the story of Nancy Wadsworth who could hardly believe her ears when her grandfather suggested she, ten year old girl that she was, go along on a stagecoach journey from Boston to Springfield.  It was in the year of 1793 and the roads were rutty.  But, who else could go?  Someone had to take the mysteriously valuable box to Uncle Jonathan to get him out of trouble.  The adventures she goes through from catching a horse thief to buying a moose are all explored in this book.  This book was actually one in Oprah's Bookclub.
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.  
  
  This is book 1 on the Chronicles of Narnia and tells how Aslan, the noble lion, freed Narnia from the spell of the White Witch.  The novel is set in Narnia, a land of talking animals and mythical creatures that one White Witch has ruled for 100 years of deep winter.  Four English children are relocated to a large country house following a wartime evacuation.  They are sent to the countryside to live with professor Digory Kirke.  The youngest visits Narnia three times via the magic of a wardrobe found in a spare room.  All four children are together on her third visit, which proves that the youngest was telling the truth.  You must read the book to find what happens to the children.  The book all began with a picture in the author's mind of a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels in a snowy wood, but it wasn't until he was about 40 that he made a story about it.  After reading some online notes about the book, I fell compelled to read it myself, being a child at times in my mind.
• A Horse Named Summer by Karen Bendick.  
  
  The book is based on a diary kept by the author when she was 14, therefore the style of the book is very simple.  The sentences are short and declarative and the illustrations, also by the author, are clear and unadorned line drawings.  The devotion the author had for her horse, which her family had rented for her over the summer, is quite evident.  Miss Bendick called her horse Sil Summer Salt and tells details about his care and comfort as well as the pleasure she took in riding him.  As the entries in the diary near the end of the summer, they indicate her transition to a more mature view of her relationship to the animal, which she began to liken to that of a parent and child.  Young girls will love the book it is said.  As I leafed through the book, reading passages, it reminded me of my wife as a young girl who too had a horse that she cared for during her high school years.  

All three books are now back in the book press, but can be removed if anyone would like to read them.  Just type me a comment and we may be able to arrange for you to borrow the books.  All three books have probably entertained quite a few children in the past half-century.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A popular book titled "A Horse Named Summer" which was borrowed close to 60 times.  On the back of it, but not pictured, was printed in all capital letters: I LOVE JOHN. 

Inside the book, "Far from Marlborough Street", can be seen dates as early as 1963.