9/9/03

Dear Gillian,

I’ll be honest with you — I
bought you this based on
a misreading of the title.
Don’t worry though, this
gift is just to tickle you
over anyway. Once you
tell me your shoe size, I’ll
be able to follow-up a hot
lead I’ve got on attractive
acupuncture shoes so cheap
that even Andy will be able
to chip in.

Still, enjoy the book. It
looks promising — especially
since I fixed the title.

Yours Truly,
L.L.

Cranked Up Really High: Genre Gender Theory & Punk Rock, by Stewart Home

Found in A Castle of Books, Stanton, CA.

Christmas 1995
“We have stories
as old as the great seas
breaking through the chest
flying out the mouth
noisy tongues that once were
silenced,
all the oceans we contain
coming to light.”
–Chickasaw Indian saying

The stories that shaped your life…
Love Always
Jen

The Troubles by Tim Pat Coogan.

Thanks to Shannon Busby.

property
of
Mike who
is cooler
then his stupid
sis.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling.

Found in A Castle of Books, Stanton, CA.

Joey,
Lenore (?) has some great friends, and in my opinion
you are one of the nicest. I found this book as I was
looking for a card for you last night. I left all my friends
back east and it has been hard on me. This book described a
lot of my thoughts and I thought that you might enjoy it
also. Remember always:
You’ll conquer the present
Suspiciously fast
If you smell of the future
–and stink of the past.
Happy 20th Birthday–Martha

Thanks to Jennifer L. Coggins, who says:
“Hi, I really like your project–I’ve been interested in inscriptions for many years.
This is one of my favorites. I found it in a book of nature photos and short poems.”

12/06

Troy,
May you think great thoughts,
and always organize them
diagramatically.

Coli

Thanks to Gladys Hernando, who says:
“I found your project and immediately thought of this book I recently
acquired. It’s a book by David Byrne, the musician, of drawings which
map thoughts and ideas.They are simple pencil drawings using the form
of trees, root structures, charts, and different types of diagrams to
organize abstract thought, some funny, some serious, some scientific.
Its pretty cool. I read the whole thing in one night.
The book was published in 2006, and the inscription was written during
the same time. I thought it was kind of sad that whoever received the
book got rid of it fairly quickly. (I purchased it off of Amazon a
month ago.)”

Purchased July 22nd, 1996 by
Dorothy
age 87 years, 9 months

We’ll See!

Dare To Be 100 by Walter M. Bortz II, M.D.

Found in A Castle of Books, Stanton, CA.

Derek,

I hope this book
amuses you as much
as it amused me!!
Remember that I’m constantly
thinking about you, and I
can’t wait to see you
again!

All my love goes to you,
Stacey

The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. (purchased from Goodwill in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada in Summer of 2008)
Thanks to Jessica Eby, who says,
“I just came across your website.  Someone posted a link to it on the Book Talk forum at bookcrossing.com,
and it seems to be hooking a few of us bookcrossers   I knew the book I just finished had an inscription,
so it prompted me to check through some of my other books for more and take a couple photos.”

Brother dear -

I spied this
delightful
thing at our
favorite haunt
(old Pippen’s!) and I couldn’t
resist getting it for you!
As I read along, I had the
persistent feeling that you
(and not Eugene Field!) had
written it!

Happy reading, dear one!

Devotedly,
Weesie

Jan. 12, 1912.

The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac by Eugene Field.

Thanks to Jim Kuhn, who says:

“Old Pippen’s Book Store was a Baltimore shop at 605 North Eutaw St. The amiably psychotic
ramblings of Field are a real treat. Here’s a favorite passage from p. 97-8 of this copy: ‘…
Too few people seem to realize that books have feelings. But if I know one thing better than
another I know this, that my books know me and love me. When of a morning I awaken I cast
my eyes about my room to see how fare my beloved treaures, and as I cry cheerily to them,
“Good-day to you, sweet friends,” how lovingly they beam upon me, and how glad they are
that my repose has been unbroken. …’ The full edition can be found online here.

This was a gift to me last year from Mom (thanks Ma!) who found it at an antique shop in Sussex
County, NJ. Now one of my favorite flyleafs of all time.”

cheers,
Jim.

S. T. Arnett
January the 17, 1864
When this you see
remember me though
many miles apart we be.

Thanks to C. Fletcher of Atoka, Tennessee, who says:

“This is a small (4 x 6) Bible, leather-bound with part of a metal closure remaining on the front and back.
The top, bottom, and sides of the pages are gold gilt-edged, greatly faded.  The title page shows it was
printed in New York in 1858 by the American Bible Society.  It was found in my parents’ home upon
closing their house. Inscription:  Besides a child’s scribbling, there is an ink-written inscription by an adult
on the top right-hand corner in beautiful 19th Century penmanship.”

For Tara,
Because no one ever gave
you a book with an
inscription before,
because you love photographs,
because we are obsessed with
Elliott, and because I’m
in love with the world
through the eyes of a girl.
Seth

Elliott Smith by Autumn de Wilde.

Christmas 1914

Confession of Faith

I do not believe in a
vengefull vicious God.
My God is not the
author of any suffering
or pain or hatred or
envy or fear neither
in this life nor any
other existence, and he
will not Punish us for
anything that he has
Created in us, and he is
the Creator of all. He is mine
and I am yours.

Loving Daddy

The Dawn of a To-morrow by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

Thanks to Mary Herczog, who says, “I bought this book from a used bookshop in Pasadena a few years ago, just because of the inscription.”