Things in Books

Filed Under Poegles 

Great article on found items inside books- notes, letters, etc:

Howard Yeend, creator of thingsinbooks.com, a Web site where people can post photos and explanations of the items they’ve found in books, said one of the most interesting things he’s found is a letter from the book’s author. The book is “The Early Dominicans” by R.F. Bennett and in the letter, dated 1937, the author writes, “You have often said you wanted a copy of my silly work, when it was published, so now I send it herewith.” Photos of the letter and its complete text are posted on Yeend’s site.

Yeend, who lives in Oxford, England, launched thingsinbooks.com in July 2008.

“I think part of the appeal is that it’s somehow magical to be able to browse over the random leftovers of someone else’s life. These things are more than just trash, they’re markers; they direct us to a point in someone else’s life,” Yeend wrote in an e-mail.

A grocery receipt from 1987 in the Northeast branch collection shows that someone paid 15 cents for a sweet potato. Pieces of paper from everyday life can also be found in Lewis’ shoebox, which held a Carolina Power & Light bill from 1960 addressed to Leslie Gruber. Gruber, a Wilmington resident who worked for the Star-News and Morning Star for nearly half a century, owed the company $16.50 in June 1960.

For Owens, trashing these scraps and photographs is hard to contemplate. “I don’t want to think about it,” she said. “I feel like I eventually have to thow it away, but it’s painful . . . I’m in denial.”

More in the Wilmington Star

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