From the antiques market

We went to the antiques market, for some fun on Family Day. A lot of the booths had special sales on, so the place was pretty crowded. Ponytails bought records. Lydia found a teacup. Mr. Fixit bought a Polaroid camera. I was searching for one book but didn't find a copy there; but I did bring home a 1940's Pilgrim's Progress, and Herbartian Psychology by John Adams. You can read Herbartian Psychology on archive.org; it's a book that Charlotte Mason quotes in Chapter VII of her Philosophy of Education.

And two of us won free coffees when we "rolled up the rim to win" at Tim Horton's afterward. So all in all it was a worthwhile trip!

Books for Year Eight, from across the pond

Last year we read chapters from H.O. Arnold-Forster's History of England, using a downloaded PDF and printouts.  Enough of that, I thought.  Doesn't anybody out there have a hard copy?  The best deal, between the book price and shipping, was from a shop in England.  They also just happened to have quite inexpensive vintage copies of Van Loon's Story of Mankind and Marshall's History of English Literature.  And a paperback of The Trial of Charles I.  So, click click, there we were.  Canada Post helpfully delivered them to the wrong house--right number, wrong street--but we're used to that, and the neighbour there (who must have been puzzled at receiving a laundry-sized mail sack) brought them over on Sunday.

(like one of these)

The Arnold-Forster has been messily repaired with tape which is coming off too.  But I was not looking for a pristine copy--something with covers and real pages to turn was all I wanted.

All photos except the mail sacks by Mr. Fixit.  Copyright 2014 Dewey's Treehouse.

Treasures from the antique market, and a frugal thought

There are three or four antique markets in our area where Mr. Fixit goes regularly to pick up vintage radios for his business.  This weekend our Sunday afternoon family plans got changed at the last minute, so we decided to go for a browse at the two closest ones (across the road from each other).

Usually I just look at things, especially the stalls of vintage books (there can't be that many of us who actually like looking at old school books).  But this time I found one book to buy at each place.   I am much pickier than I used to be about bringing home books from anywhere more expensive than the thrift store.  They don't have to be in perfect condition, but they have to be things I don't see all the time.  They have to be either useful (like a very cool sewing book) or have something great in them to read, or be something we need for school.  Mostly, I have to like them.  If they're early-to-mid-20th-century hardcovers with paper dustjackets, so much the better.

(These aren't my photos, but they're like the books I bought.)

The White Deer, by James Thurber

Tales of a Grandfather, by Sir Walter Scott, in the Blackie's Famous Books edition.

I know the photo shows a Katy book instead, but they're all very much the same style, with the squiggly things up the sides and the list of other books on the back.  A new paperback copy of Tales of a Grandfather would cost about $30 (Canadian) if ordered through our local bookstore, because who orders Tales of a Grandfather?  This one was $10.  Sometimes antiquing actually saves money. (UPDATE: I realized later that this Tales is somewhat abridged, which does it make it less useful than I had hoped.  But I still like it.)