(Just One...) of My Favorite Things...

An Old Book.
1841 (Pennsylvania): "Sigourney's Poems"

I have been wanting to write
this particular post
for awhile. And I am so
hope-hope-hoping that our good
'ol world never 'converts' to all electronic books.
If they do, (may God forbid this one thing...)
I will (would) be so hurt, annoyed, disappointed
and well-- betrayed, frankly.
This book, "Sigourney's Poems" was written in
1841 (I paid $3.00 for it at an old book-type
rummage shop in central Florida years ago
and gave it as a gift, to my hubby.)
Its contents are Victorian English-type
poems, many about death or the dying
(with titles like: "The First Morning of
Spring, 'Not Dead, but Sleepeth,' and
The Dying Mother's Prayer," for instance.
I have to be careful when I open it (I like it that way.)
The etchings (and there are many...)
are glorious both in detail and in subject matter,
such as the one above, simply entitled
"Hope." I love it so much that I
photographed and placed
it on my blog permanently,
as "If Hope Were a Person..."
[I was thrilled (today) to find that when
I enlarged this etching, the author's name,
W.G. Armstrong became (barely)
legible to me. I seriously dig etchings
...just think hard of the work--they took!]

I am having a lasting and an
on-going love affair
with this book!!
Now--its out there! If you hold it in your
hand, you can see what I mean.
It measures (just) 6 inches high
and 41/4 inches wide...and it fits perfectly
into the human hand. The cover is
a bumpy, nubby patterned texture
with a medallion centered on its cover.
It feels awesome in the hand to hold
because of its nifty texture and its
near perfect weight. The color is a
deep, strong navy gray-ish blue.
It is well worn. The binding (and all exterior
scroll work and the printed title)
is gilded in glorious, rich gold.
I mean the edge of each and every page shines.
When you hold it in your hand...its magic!
My imagination runs wild...just holding this book.
I guess that that is (just) the point here-
the one that I'm driving at.
[Will your book or my book be held---
years to come...
with love and tender care?
And will it-would it-could it-
evoke someone's imagination
to wonder (about me, us...our times?)]
I doubt if one could say that
about
a
cold,
a hard,
(larger) non-colored,
non-textured,
and a non-gilded
e-book.
Just let them try.