An interesting sidelight to buying second hand books is finding books that have been either won as a prize or is a present from someone. The inscriptions on the front pages reveals a minor story of the background of the book. The books with inscriptions generate a lot of questions inside the mind that remain unanswered. Why did the recipient of the present/prize decide to dispose the books? Who were they? Are they alive now? They remain a mystery forever.
Two of the five books I picked up on Sunday turned out to be books that had inscriptions. It was another hot day in Hyderabad this Sunday as I set out for Abids. I had decided to return after just an hour’s browsing because it was too hot to be in the open for too long despite wearing a cap.
The first book I picked up was another copy of Peter Mayle’s ‘A Year in Provence’. It is my third or fourth copy. But this edition was a different one. It was by Pan books where as the other copies were of a different publishing house. This one had illustrations and had a different type. But it was in mint condition and I got it for fifteen rupees only. The other book I got at the same place was ‘A Choice of Words’, a book about using the right word in one’s writing. It was something I could learn from so I got it for fifteen rupees again.
A few hours earlier I had read the ‘Literary Review’ and the front page articles were on translations. Though I didn’t plan to buy any translations after reading the articles I didn’t hesitate to pick up ‘The Hunted’ by Mudra Rakshasa. It was an English translation of a Hindi novel translated by Robert A Hueckstedt from the original written by Subhash Chandra. It was a Penguin book and in good condition. I got the book for only twenty rupees.
The next book was a birthday present made in April 1984 as inscribed on the front page by the friend. The book was VS Naipaul’s ‘Mr Stone and the Knights Companion’. I got this slim novel with yellowing pages for only ten rupees.
The next book was another good book- RK Narayan’s ‘Old and New Stories’, a collection of eighteen new stories I haven’t read. It was on old edition of Indian Thought publications and the price on the back of the book said Rs 14-50 but I got it for ten rupees only. This book was presented to a seventh class student of Sujata High School in 19823-8 as a first prize in essay writing. I am not writing the name of the person for obvious reasons. But I wonder what made her give away this book now?
The Sunday’s finds had me thinking about all the books I found that had inscriptions on them. I have to take all of them out and maybe do a post. One such book I found a couple of years ago was a signed first edition of Jay Leno’s ‘Leading with My Chin’ that I got for only ten bucks. Sometime soon I will do a post on all such books with inscriptions and scribblings.
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