The Aardvark Blog

An endless river of books, a dreck day, a warm hearth
11/12/2014

Today has seen several people bring in books to show me - sadly most of which were not really suitable. Such is the size of Aardvark Books that people sometimes assume that we buy every book that is offered to us. Unfortunately that  is not the case, and only one in four or five books is purchased for our stock. Of the rest many are given to us for sending on to charity. We tend to give books to the two local hospice charities, but are happy to make donations to other charities if they approach us. 

As a wise old bookseller in Bath once said to me, every book needs to earn its place on the shelves, There is no point buying a book because it is inexpensive and thinking that some-one will buy it eventually. A bookshop filled with eventual purchases has no room for the titles that people really want.

Still all booksellers are guilty of the sin of buying several books when they really only want one or two. An attractive jacket, a title that one has never seen before, an appealing provenance or bookplate - all of these can turn a bookseller's head - just as a finely turned ankle could do so much for the blood pressure of the Victorian male.

Yesterday I bought a small group that had a copy of Patrick Campbell's 'Fat Tuesday Tails' with a dust jacket design by Quentin Blake. This gem   of a book can be purchased from Aardvark  for only a few pounds, but the joy of the droll text, complimented by the exuberance of the design, makes it a real treasure. What better way of spending a trivial sum.         As the blurb comments: '...trust Campbell to point out that the state   dining room at the White House is rather smaller than the Duke of Marlborough's butler's pantry.'

But whilst all inside the shop has been laughter and good company, outside the elements have been doing their worst - a cold, damp, dark, misery of a day. So three cheers for whoever invented the woodburner.  The Aardvark heat colussus has been pumping out heat since 8.45am, and I have just banked it up to make sure that the bookshop stays    warm overnight. How amazing that so many people find their way to our door - and long may it continue.