Comments for A New Look At Old Books

Comment on Dear Oxfam; Or, A Humble Petition by Becky

Becky — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:20:34 +0000

I despair at some of the comments people have left about Oxfam Bookshops. I love my local Oxfam Bookshop. The staff are friendly and approachable. I’ve also witnessed the heart warming charity they display towards “customers” that clearly are very lonely and need a little human contact. I spend quite a lot of time in there, browsing the kids section looking for a vintage children’s book to add to my collection, I’ve never seen any member of their team turn away a donation. In fact, when people enquire about what will be done with any books not put on sale, more often than not they are told that they will be sent onto other shops in the network, listed online or worst case recycled into items they use in the shops. Ofcourse I don’t know whether this is the truth but neither have I any reason not to trust what they say. I have also witnessed how some donors have specifically said they are dontaing to Oxfam because they know they will not just mark valuable books at £1.00. If I should ever be able to bring myself to donate any of my collection, my local Oxfam will be my number one choice to receive my donation.

Comment on Backing Winners; Or, The Mysterious Diary by Comte de Pinner

Comte de Pinner — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:37:43 +0000

One of those happy deals. Eclectica get £25 to spend on a few lattes etc., and you get a few hours of amusement gazing into a vanished world of callow aristos and the England of Dizzy (and Dolly–is that a filly?) and add value by your research — basically it’s a horse racing item and well worth the punt. Tally Ho! CDP

Comment on Backing Winners; Or, The Mysterious Diary by betweenthelines

betweenthelines — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 18:21:19 +0000

Many thanks.
The salary figure was the sort of sum I supposed it to be. Any wonder he had a party that night. He had gone there specially to bet, and watched the horse win by a fraction…

Comment on Backing Winners; Or, The Mysterious Diary by AnthonyA

AnthonyA — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 15:12:25 +0000

My first day reading your blog, and a great article to begin on, too.

Calculating the value of sums of money through the ages is tricky. The first and biggest question is what do you use as a reference point? Some simply figure a simple inflationary value. Some reference the price of goods, or multiple goods, as a reference. Salaries for common professions are not a bad reference, in my opinion. You also need to take into account remonitizations, as well, when the currency is exchanged for a new currency. Fortunately, with the British pound, I don’t believe this is a factor over this time period.

One web site which provides good answers to “which conversion do I use?” is: http://www.measuringworth.com/

Using the calculators on that site for the UK, I’d suggest that the £828 referenced in the diary above would be worth about £63,000 (2008 pounds) if the diarist were to go out and purchase something with the sum. In terms of a salary, the worth is nearly ten times that, as we have so much more stuff in our homes and other expenditures (electricity, telephone) these days.

Either way, it’s a considerable sum of money, equivalent to that of a mediocre national lottery grand prize winning ticket. The smaller sums that he was dropping at the whist table were pretty substantial, as well. Every pound was approximately eighty pounds in current purchasing power, so he was regularly up or down between two to eight thousand pounds at current prices. Which, today puts him into only middling high-stakes gambling territory, I believe. And while the trip to Paris comes in at about £7000, that probably was a moderately inexpensive holiday get-away at the time.

Hope this helps, and looking forward to reading your archives!

Comment on Dear Oxfam; Or, A Humble Petition by betweenthelines

betweenthelines — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 16:44:52 +0000

The part you refer to is a verbatim quote from the (ex)chairman of the PBFA; it is directly attributable and can be taken as the truth. As for the staff members you spoke to, perhaps you asked some that Trading Director David McCullough forgot to phone and directly inform of the boards’ latest trading strategies. I’m sure he’ll get round to it soon.

Comment on Backing Winners; Or, The Mysterious Diary by Emmy

Emmy — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 15:46:22 +0000

This is amazing! I’d love to research some more about journals and diaries. AND… I’m definitely going to read more of your blog

Comment on Dear Oxfam; Or, A Humble Petition by Elliot

Elliot — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 21:04:52 +0000

Because it’s reported in the Guardian that makes it the plain truth? We all know that the media can interperate things in a certain way. Have you asked Oxfam directly? As I said, I asked Oxfam staff and they seemed to know nothing of this new arrangement.

Comment on Dear Oxfam; Or, A Humble Petition by betweenthelines

betweenthelines — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:23:27 +0000

Here is the report from The Guardian about the Oxfam/PBFA stitch-up. The plain truth is that Oxfam bookshops are no substitute for the ones they replace; on the other hand they are not solely responsible for the decline of the second-hand bookshop. It is not a case of what they are, but of what they could be: vastly more profitable, far more interesting, valuable to book collectors and so on. It is the wasted opportunity and the arrogance that annoys collectors.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/nov/20/oxfam-secondhand-booksellers

Comment on Dear Oxfam; Or, A Humble Petition by Elliot

Elliot — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 20:21:02 +0000

Like Mark, i don’t recognise the Oxfam Bookshops described. I live in the Midlands where we have the benefit of at least four excellent Oxfam Bookshops. Each is slightly different but all have a wide selection of “old” and “interesting” books from vintage kids to rare local history volumes. Yes they all have a wall of fiction which includes chic lit. But venture further into the shops and you can usually find an item that gets the heart pumping. I too was concerned to read in the Book and Magazine Collector (purchased from an Oxfam shop) about the alleged deal between Oxfam and the PBFA members. I’ve asked a couple of staff about it and they’ve told me they’re not aware of any such “deal”. Certianly it doesn’t appear to have changed the stock in their shops in recent months. I can still always find plenty of special items to add to my collections. Yes it’s true that their books tend to be priced more acurately than other charity books shops – but is that really something to complain about? If they were lucky enough to have a Penny Black donated would we expect them to sell it for a penny just because they are a chairty and it was donated to them. Come on guys. I personally think Susan Hill has got it the wrong way round. It’s Oxfam that is being bullied. Everyone is taking pot shots at the chairty but the truth is that the causes predomiantely lie elsewhere. Oxfam are just an easier target – being busy trying to aid people and less likely to waste donor funds on defending themselves.

Comment on Holiday Books, Or, Teenie Weenies By The Sea. by Lorna Jenkin

Lorna Jenkin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 21:12:39 +0000

You mention the town of Lyme Regis’ official website; http://www.lymeregis.com is not the town’s official website – it is a private commercial site. The town council’s website, the official site, is http://www.lymeregis.org
Please look at our site – we have worked very hard to make it interesting and relevant to visitors and residents.
Cllr Lorna Jenkin, Lyme Regis Town Council.