Overtaken by Bibliomania

 

I love books, I love information, and I am addicted to the excitement of words. I cannot get enough of them. I have always been like this. I remember as a child being so frustrated because I wanted to read Babar and Madeline by myself but I was too little. My father had a huge dictionary on a music stand and he would tell me to look up words just for fun.  

As customary, I learned to read and write in school along with the rest of my class. Since then, I devour books.  

Today it is much easier to read because of the internet and with rapid speed I can Google any interest and get a slew of links to click. 

I also collect books, all kinds of books. If there is a book I have read from the library and really like it, I buy it for my collection.  

This brings me to being overtaken by bibliomania. I stalked this book for at least 5 years called Scat, the Witches Cat by Geraldine Ross January 1, 1958, it is a children’s book. I searched everywhere for that book online and in stores and no one had a copy. Not even libraries.  

This book was listed on eBay for that amount of time. The price was 59.99. So, I waited and waited until there was a price drop.  

The price drop never came but someone else posted the same book on eBay for 49.99. I still waited until I didn’t. I bought the book. I don’t know much about collecting old books so when it showed up, I read it and I saw that it had children’s writing in it here and there. Now I know why this book was 10.00 less than the other one.  

I am not sorry I bought the book because it is rare and I can sell it if I want to. Owning young books or old books is a privilege and an honor especially in a world where stories zip by via the internet. Old books hold a special place in history and very important to pass on to future generations. It is my distinct privilege to hold this piece of literature and history and eventually pass it on to the public.  

Georgia P.  Oct '22