We promised ourselves that if we moved to Dublin we would make the most of living so close to so many great countries, and we are starting the year off with a trip to the UK.  One of the things I personally am so excited about is living within an hour flight (and then only a 30 minute bus ride) to Oxford.  Ever since I did a summer course there in 2001 I have been hooked. Now, since we are within a reasonable distance, I can attend some classes. I am SO excited - in 2 weeks I am doing a 2-day workshop on palaeography! (yes, I am a big geek) I have dabbled in it a bit while doing my masters, but now I will actually have some formal training in it, and from a renowned institution.  For those of you who don’t off the top of your heads, palaeography is the study of old handwriting, specifically in this case late medieval handwriting of England. 

As English history has been a passion of mine for over 20 years, this will be a great opportunity to enjoy a closer look at some original documents, as well as adding to my greater knowledge base. Since Reeves has to be in Redmond, WA for work up until the first day of the workshop for me, he will meet me in Oxford with the car at the end of the weekend (he is taking the car ferry over from Dublin to Wales) and we will go into London for 3 days, returning West to Wales to stop at Hay-on-Wye for a day so I can load up the car with old books and then drive north to visit some of the castles built by Edward II of England before we take the car ferry home again.  In all we will be gone a week.  I am so excited because I have not been to the UK since 2002 and I have been aching to return.

As a book buff, I love perusing used book store looking for treasures. My personal interest is mostly in the information contained in the pages and not ‘first editions’ necessarily, although I wouldn’t pass up a rare text if it presented itself.  My collection, which is at about 1200 books right now, and unfortunately about to bust out of our library, is quite eclectic. My true passion however is English history books, which are not as easy to find on the West coast of the US.  Therefore, I must again sing the praises of eBay and the treasures it reveals.

I just received my 'brand new' 1836 edition of  “Letter from the English Kings and Queens, Charles II, James II, William and Mary, Anne, George II, & C. to the Governors of the Colony of Connecticut, together with the Answers Thereto, From 1685 to 1749”  (gotta love the verbosity of titles pre 20^th Century!)   This is a really interesting and rare type of text which, to look for physically, would take maybe a lifetime.  Yet, through the miracles of the eMarketplaces, they have opened a new world to average consumers - I can sit at my desk in California and search centuries of literature from all over the world!

About the book itself, it was ‘written’ or I should say, the letters contained within were compiled, by R.R. Hinman, the Secretary of the State of Connecticut in 1836 and was issued to clarify facts about relations between the colonies and England in the early years (pre-revolutionary war).  Also, according to the seller, the book was found “hiding behind a wall in the state house in conn.” – I am still waiting to see if the seller has any other information about the provenance as it sounds like it could be very interesting!