The Aardvark Blog

Beautiful bright day, Peter May, Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts
24/02/2017

What an absolutely beautiful day here in Brampton Bryan - unofficial centre of the universe. A perfect early Spring day with bright sunshine and crisp cold weather. Because of the latter the woodburner is still roaring, but I feel some hope that it will not be long before Spring proper arrives and burning wood will be a thing of the past for another six months.

I have been suffering for a couple of months off and on with the dreaded winter chest cold, so yesterday I took another day off and went to see the long-suffering doctor ( I don't think I have met a single person this winter who has not had this particular virus at some time or another). A new course of anti-biotics and the return of sunshine seem to have helped, although this has gone on so long that it I am beginning to wonder if I will ever be free of it.

Still during my day off I started and finished one of the Peter May Enzo novels. We have been stocking these for some time, and I have heard good reports, but I hadn't got round to reading one myself. Well the reports were accurate, and whilst he will never enter the Pantheon of detective writers, Peter May is a good addition to my usual reading list.

I am also reading the wonderful 'Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts', which was an unexpected hit last autumn. Written by Christopher de Hamel ( the librarian of the Parker Library in Corpus Christi College Cambridge), it is an absolute delight. I am about half-way through and am reading it in chunks, because I really don't want to finish it. How incredible are these survivals from an earlier age, and how much they tell us about the glories that were lost during Europe's many cycles of destruction. I cannot recommend this book too highly.

Now I am back in I am getting on with preparations for our various projects. Notwithstanding my enfeebled state I have bought several small packets of books this week, and there are several house clearances which should come to fruition over the next few months. With an early London Bookfair in less than three weeks time, there will be no shortage of new admissions to the Aardvark shelves this Spring.