The new year is here and I am already buying old books. My first two house calls were in Hove, very close to home in Brighton. I bought a large and expensive collection of travel books in one house and then, a few days later, went to a beautiful flat on the seafront and bought three boxes of general books, including the one illustrated here. I never know what I’m going to buy, and I was very pleased to find this guide book to Hove from 1936. The gorgeous art deco illustration is by A K Macdonald and the text is by Wilhelmina Stitch, a very interesting author. It is a fictionalised account of a family who visit Hove for a holiday and fall so in love with ‘happy, healthy, Hove’ that they decide to move there. The book also has maps, colour photographs, and advertisements for local hotels and attractions.
I particularly need to buy good collections right now because the book fair circuit has already begun. I sold a lot of books at the huge PBFA York book fair earlier this month. Last weekend I had two fairs, one in Lewes, on Saturday, and one in London, on Sunday. In fact I have just worked out that I have sold 12 boxes full of books already this year. I urgently need to replace those books to sell at February’s book fairs in Tunbridge Wells, Cambridge and London. Can you help? Do you have a book collection to sell? If you do, please get in touch because I am always buying and always selling. I buy books, maps, photograph albums, ephemera, postcards, posters, music memorabilia, manuscripts, diaries, archives and more. In fact, if it’s on paper, please get in touch – you never know, and it’s worth a call to find out.
[divider_flat]Hove Corporation, 1936. First edition. Seaside towns spent a lot of money on these books as they wanted to attract customers to the area.