My eye was attracted by this card mainly because it's so colourful and reminds me of books my grandmother had. But it's another one that has led me on a path of some discovery.
Although the card was posted in Amsterdam, it shows "Late nineteenth & early twentieth century children's books from the Opie Collection of Children's Literature" in the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford. From that I have discovered:
- The Bodleian has a fascinating Flickr account (here beginneth a verie profitable booke.., 1555)
- James Gall, Edinburgh, devised an alphabet for the blind.
- The Opies were anthropologists who researched nursery rhymes.
- Their collection of 20,000 volumes was partly acquired by, partly donated to the Bodleian in 1982.
- They lived and worked not 20 minutes from where I lived 10 years ago.
- Wikipedia is capable of contradicting itself within the space of a single paragraph.
I like this card a lot! Fairy tales are my favorite. : )
ReplyDeleteWow , this card it´s special , remember me the olds libraries , it´s interesting...^^...Other time from Spain...
ReplyDeleteOne of the best Postcard ever...!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't agree more with you on that wikipedia finding...:D
I quite liked your header image.
ReplyDeleteI love it! <3
ReplyDeleteThat's a great postcard. it reminds me why I sometimes do judge (and buy!) a by its cover.
ReplyDeleteFantastic, what a shame modern books don't look like this. I see a couple of my favourites are there, "At the Back of the North Wind" and "The Story of the Treasure Seekers".
ReplyDeleteIs it weird that a stack of books like these gets me as excited as if I were about to ride a hundred roller coasters? Wanna get my hands on them!
ReplyDeleteFantastic postcard. For 15 years Hubby and I owned a used bookstore in Minnesota. They no longer make books to look like that or are they cherished like they use to be. Thanks for sharing. grace
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that the picture reminds me of an old copy of Journey To The Centre Of The Earth. I've had it for so long now it's going brown.
ReplyDeletenice post you got there..
ReplyDeleteI can see why you were drawn to this postcard. I can think of many people I'd send it too.
ReplyDeleteNice postcard. I like it.
ReplyDeleteHaha! I love this little postcard but I love your interesting facts even more. Wikipedia is not to be trusted and you have to check everything you read there!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure I have a photo of the front door to the library somewhere but I know I definitely have photos of Radcliffe Camera. I was quite enchanted by that building!