Book as Treasure
By Juliet Marillier | October 6, 2016 |
Do you have keeper books? I’ve blogged before about mine. They’re the ones I read over and over. They live on their own special shelf in my bedroom. I wouldn’t dream of reading them as e-books. I go back to them in times of stress or illness; I recommend them to others but never lend them out. A book finds a spot on the keepers shelf if it truly touches my heart, lifts my spirit or demonstrates a literary or storytelling genius of the sort I aspire to. Sometimes I find all three in one book.
Sometimes specific copies become personal treasures. I’m not talking so much of rarity or monetary value, though there are some very beautiful collector’s editions out there and I do own, and love, a set of Andrew Lang’s Fairy Books published by the Folio Society. I’m speaking, rather, of a book given or bequeathed by a well-loved family member or friend, or acquired under memorable circumstances; a book whose history makes it particularly special to the owner. It might be an old book – one of those in my picture is a 1906 edition, another dates from the 1940s. It might be too well loved to qualify as collectible anymore, its pages and cover bearing the marks of a long life – a venerable great-grandparent of a book.
My house has bookshelves in every room. I went on a hunt, looking for examples.
There was a minute or two of panic when I couldn’t find The Lord of the Rushie River by Cicely Mary Barker, a tiny book easy to miss between larger volumes. It surprised me how upset I was to think it might be lost. The Lord of the Rushie River was first published in 1938. It’s a story about a girl running away from her cruel guardian and spending a summer living with the swans. My beloved childhood copy of this book was lost long ago. When I found the 1972 reprint I was filled with joy. I remembered the story well, but even more clearly I remembered the colour plates: Susan in the rushes with the swans; the baker’s daughter putting bread in a little basket brought by the Lord of the River as he swam by; the return of Susan’s seafaring father with a beautiful dress that is snatched from his hands by the Lord and taken to Susan so she can greet her father looking like a princess. It’s a tale full of magic and hope. No wonder this little book is one of my treasures. I can see now what a powerful influence it had on me as a future storyteller!
The big volume in my photo is The Golden Staircase: Poems for Children chosen by Louey Chisholm, with pictures by M Dibdin Spooner, published in 1906. My mother owned this book as a child – her initials are neatly printed on the fly leaf – and it came to me when she died. She read the poems to me and my sister in our turn, and even in the 1950s we loved them: The Pied Piper, The Forsaken Merman (my favourite), The Inchcape Rock. They were grand and tragic; the colour plates emphasised the drama of the poems.
The third book pictured is another by Cicely Mary Barker: A Little Book of Old Rhymes. My mother was a musician, and when I read these rhymes I can hear the tunes – she must have sung them to us as children. I wonder if any of you know this one:
There was a lady loved a swine
“Honey,” quoth she,
“Pig-hog, wilt though be mine?”
“Humph!” quoth he.
No matter what blandishments the lady offers, the pig has only one answer: “Humph!”
These books are far more than the sum of their parts. They represent a priceless gift our mother gave us – the lifelong love of poetry, music, and storytelling. In our turn, my sister and I passed on that love to our children and through them to our grandchildren. These books were an early and vital part of my journey to become a writer. Mum, if you’re there looking over my shoulder, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Do your bookshelves hold a few treasured copies? Particular editions or books with a compelling history? Volumes with a symbolic value? I’d love to hear about them.
Photo image is the author’s own. Guarding the treasure are Cross Panda, aged 45, and Sparkle, who was rescued from the dump in the 1980s and painstakingly repaired.
Juliet Marillier has written twenty-four novels for adults and young adults and two collections of short fiction. Her works of historical fantasy have been published around the world and have won numerous awards. Juliet’s most recent series was Warrior Bards, of which the third and final book, A Song of Flight, was published in 2021. Her collection of reimagined fairy tales, Mother Thorn and Other Tales of Courage and Kindness, had its trade release in 2022. Mother Thorn is illustrated by Kathleen Jennings and published by Serenity Press.
Juliet is currently working on a two-book fantasy series. The first book in this duology, The Amber Owl, will be published by New Dawn in February 2025.
When not writing, Juliet looks after a small crew of rescue dogs.
What a beautiful term, Keepers Shelf. And yes I have one in my bedroom too that holds collections of my favorite authors from high school. Collections I have added to from second hand stores when the books are no longer in print.
My two favorites? Mary Stewart’s Touch Not the Cat. I love the sixth sense magical connection between the heroine and her lover. She doesn’t know who he is until late in the story. And Georgette Heyer’s, These Old Shades, because the heroine is so feisty and brave. I was introduced to these two authors as a young teen and I remember being immersed in these two stories in the haven of my parents’ home.
My daughter works at a book store and has been collecting leather bound books of classics. She just bought me a leather bound edition of Jane Austen-Seven Novels. She thought it would look nice on the living room shelf. But I’m thinking….Keepers Shelf!
I love Mary Stewart! She’s one of the authors I go back to for her clear-cut prose and compelling stories. She was able to create such rich historical settings, without ever using a word too many (I’m thinking of the Arthurian series rather than the contemporary romances, but I like both.)
Oh, I had forgotten Touch Not the Cat! I read it when I was about thirteen, and loved it. My favorite Mary Stewart is Thornyhold. I’ve read it many times–it’s one of my comfort books.
In fact I do have a keepers bookcase. And on the shelf that holds those epics (mostly fantasy) that I feel had a special influence on my own work, there is a copy of Daughter of the Forest.
Thanks for sharing some of your treasures, Juliet!
I’m honoured that my first novel is in your keepers bookcase, Vaughn!
I have both Keepers Shelves and Keepers Boxes.
Juliet, I love the feel and smell of a good old book. Although my e-reader is filled with priceless works of some of my favorites, it could never replace my 1975 edition of The Velveteen Rabbit. Always one of my favorite childhood books, I added it to my Keepers Shelves a few years ago when a second-hand copy crossed my path. I don’t know what happened to my original, but finding this was kismet, for inscribed inside was:
To Michael,
Love, Mom
Christmas 1977
I also bought an early edition of A Moveable Feast after the last UnConference. I’d read the book and, for me, it epitomized my experience in Salem with the WU Tribe, so I scouted out the oldest and most reasonably priced copy I could find on eBay. It’s hermetically sealed in Saran wrap on my shelf.
Then, somewhere in my Keepers Boxes are the complete, original editions of The Bobbsey Twins mysteries. I’m a fraternal twin (and loved mysteries), so those books spoke volumes to me. Literally.
Thanks for the post. I’m leaving here uplifted, remembering the varied worlds and journeys my favorite books have taken me.
Mike, that conjures up strong memories for me. I think my old edition of The Velveteen Rabbit went to the grandchildren, but it’s a book I would love to replace in my own collection. Have you read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, by Kate DiCamillo? It’s a children’s book, has pride of place on my Keepers Shelf and has a (china) rabbit as the central character. A truly special book about the transformative power of love, given to me one Christmas by my adult daughter.
The Bobbsey Twins – that’s a blast from the past! I seem to remember a serious older pair with dark hair – Nan and Bert? – and a mischievous younger pair with fair curls.
Oh, yes: the Bobbsey Twins. Nan and Bert were the older twins with dark hair. Freddie and Flossie were younger, with fair hair. The fifth character was Danny Rugg, the town bully. He regularly picked fights with Bert, and he always hit first. Just as regularly, Bert, limping home battered and bruised, was quizzed by his father about who had given the first blow. “Danny,” declared Bert. Relief all around, because Danny, not Bert, was the instigator. This was a constant theme throughout the books. Bert always told the truth and never hit first.
Now my fictional imagination is fermenting. Did Bert, that honest and upstanding boy, always tell the truth? Didn’t he ever, just once, give Danny one in the eye as the first blow? For the purposes of the series, with its heavily moral content, of course not. But we here can reinvent Bert if we wish.
They were like Goofus and Gallant from the old Highlights magazines. :)
No, I haven’t read that (Miraculous Journey) but have heard of it, of course. Now I’ll have to add it to my TBR and see if it makes the Keepers Shelves. With such a winning commendation from you (and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award), I’m sure it will.
Yes, Nan and Bert, Flossie and Freddie — brunettes and blondes respectively. The irony is that I have dark hair and features, while my twin sister has curly blonde locks and fair skin. It was like we were an amalgamation of both sets.
Think about this…I’ll have actually met you by the time you post again. See you in Salem. :D
The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (1930 edition)
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis
Bread Upon the Waters by Irwin Shaw
An Old Captivity by Nevil Shute
And many others. Old friends. Inspiration.
I can see I’m going to come away form this with a huge reading list containing some hard-to-find items. There’s nothing like a challenge!
An Old Captivity! I read it as a teenager and it sank right in and stayed. I was most taken by the fantasy aspect, but at the time I had no idea that the setting was real. I haven’t seen the book since, but now I think I will look for it in the library and see how it goes down now, decades later. Nevil Shute was no slouch as an author (see also East River, which I read at the same age, and from which I learned about the very real Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire), so I expect to enjoy Captivity again.
The entire Neville Shute oeuvre is now available in e-book!
What a fun post today. The Golden Staircase is familiar; I’m sure I read it as a child. On my shelf is The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum, illustrated by Michael Hague (autographed by Hague too, famous for illustrating Oz and Velveteen Rabbit). This is a story of how Santa Claus came into being: The forest of Burzee, wood-nymphs, Master of the World, and an abandoned baby. A real gem of a holiday story, which I featured on my blog in December. https://paulacappa.wordpress.com/2015/12/20/a-boy-named-claus-the-adventure/ if you like to view the images of the book.
That looks wonderful, Paula! What an interesting blog. I’m very aware of the heavy English and European content of my childhood reading – New Zealand was and still is part of the British Commonwealth and our library contents and education system back in my day reflected that. A lot of excellent American books for children passed us by, to be rediscovered much later.
One of my prized possessions is the oversized hardcover collection of Calvin and Hobbes that I bought about ten years ago. It doesn’t fit very well on my bookshelf so it sticks out quite a ways. I love it when my 11 year old daughter pulls out one of the three volumes and gets lost in the adventures of a young boy and his pet tiger.
James, there is a young person of similar age in our family who adores Calvin and Hobbes. There are editions (not hardback, sadly) in my house and hers. She, too, becomes completely absorbed in them even though she’s read them hundreds of times. The power of a genuinely great comic strip!
It really is one of the greats! Thank you for such a fun topic.
Every few years I re-read I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith, definitely one on my keeper shelf. This time around, I’m finally reading it aloud to my kids, and it’s holding up just as well as a read-aloud. And luckily, the kids are enjoying it, too–I’m not sure what I’d think if they didn’t like one of my all-time-faves! (As a side note, the kids are 16 and 13–this is an adult novel. We’ve read aloud all their lives, so they’re used to it–and they generally are pretty receptive to my choices, with only a very few notable exceptions where we’ve had to put a book down and move to something else. Still–my teen boys are loving this very romantic girl-centered book, which suggests that boys WILL read books about girls. But I guess that’s another topic….)
It would be an excellent topic for future discussion, Heather! We could also talk about reading aloud. My most marathon effort was reading the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy aloud, in nightly instalments, to my then 10 and 8 year olds over the course of about a year. They’re grown ups now with their own children to read to.
PS I love I Capture the Castle.
My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Chrisman Gannett. I loved that book but I don’t have a copy. Now I think I might have to get one. Beatrix Potter figured large in my early reading, as did AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh. Then there’s Black Beauty, which I probably read ten times. Then on to the Hobbit, LOTR and Andrew Lange’s Fairy Books. Also on my Treasure Shelf are three Kate Atkinson novels, Mary Stuart’s Arthurian series, the Once and Future King by T.H. White, and Jane Eyre. I, too, go back to these books when I’m stressed out or in need of escape. Such a magical post today, Juliet, and such wonderful responses from everyone!!
Susan, I am so loving the contributions! But it’s the midnight hour here in Western Australia so I’m heading off to bed, hoping for more gems to be enjoyed in the morning.
I keep every book I really like (which is partly why I just don’t do e-readers; if I like a book, I will want to own it in its physical form and will end up spending too much money!) Thought most of the books I have are ones I either end up buying myself, or putting on a list for someone to buy me for my birthday are Christmas, so I don’t have a ton of treasured books, per se. I DID have the (bad?) habit of never returning the required reading books I loved from high school; when a few years ago, I lent out my beloved copy of A Catcher in the Rye, I was quite put out when it was never returned to me. No more lending those!
Mary Kate, these days I lend books only to trusted friends. I had to replace my copy of Dorothy Dunnett’s Game of Kings twice. Perhaps the people I’d lent copies to didn’t understand the depth of my attachment to that author, especially her Lymond Chronicles. Best historical fiction ever!
What a lovely post Julliet. Most of my books from childhood are gone because we could only bring one suitcase per person. But I found AJ Cronin’s oop book ADVENTURES IN TWO WORLDS in a little used bookshop in Montana when we were driving across the country.
With every move, I’ve parted with half my books, but there are some I’ll never give away. AJ Cronin, LC Douglas, Rosemary Wells, Richard Peck, Kevin Henkes, Ayn Rand, and the 15 volume set of books by Dom Prosper Gueranger. Can you believe that St. Therese’s family also had these books? Wow! To even have this little thing in common with the Little Flower makes me happy.
I just walked around the house and counted 9 overflowing bookcases, Vijaya. That’s not counting the books in boxes. I pity whoever has to sort out my belongings when I’m gone, but I am fairly sure family members will treat the book legacy with respect, as my sister and I did with our mother’s much smaller collection. I just hope I never have to move house again!
What a lovely inheritance, Juliet.
When I was new to this writing game I crafted a story so fine that I knew it would win acceptance.
Except it didn’t.
I read that rejection letter and my dreams burst into flames. My faith in happily-ever-after was gone. But my husband still believed. And he gave me, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. It has a prominent place near my writing desk. Every time the rejection letters pile up and doubt overwhelms me, I look over at that book and keep writing.
Brilliant, Leanne! I can just picture that.
‘At the Back of the North Wind’ – George MacDonald
and Charles Kingsley’s ‘Water Babies’.
Both books inherited from my mother. The illustrations are stories in themselves.
A pair of wonderful fantasy classics.
Oh Juliet I have an original copy of the Lord of the Rushdie River. It looks more like the Old Rhymes one on the left in the photo. I picked it up in an op shop somewhere. I just got it for the colour plates in it really. I’ve always loved old things and thought it well worth protecting. I must go read it!
Jay, lucky you! It is a sweet story. When I’ve rediscovered books I loved in childhood (eg Alison Uttley’s Little Grey Rabbit series and the Beatrix Potter books) I’ve realised how much I must have pored over the illustrations as a child. They have a comforting familiarity and feel like old friends. (Of course as a mother and grandmother I have revisited them over the years.)
First time commenter, long time reader. My two ‘treasure books’ are The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, because it was my favorite story since the age of four. Gave me a firm foundation of a love of fantasy.
Second book (I swear I’m not sucking up) is Daughter of the Forest (followed closely by Son of the Shadows). While The Last Unicorn gave me a foundation of imagination, these books gave me a love of the magic right in front of me. All their events happen around a historical setting and most of the real wonder comes from the love between the characters when they’re given so much adversity to overcome.
That’s a pretty good first time comment, Brie! And I’m not just saying that because I love your insight into Daughter of the Forest.
While visiting with my cousin in California about a year and a half ago, we went thrift shopping. The stores we went to were charming. Of course my first stop is always the books. I can never have too many books, just not enough shelves or space to put them. In one shop I found a 1926 copy of Little Women. It is in wonderful condition. Its price? $5.00! I was very surprised and excited about it. It is the oldest book I own.
That was a remarkable find, Rebecca. Little Women is one of my favourite childhood books and is definitely one of my keepers – I re-read it frequently. The sisters felt entirely real to me and of course I identified strongly with Jo.
One of my favorite books as a child was Little Vic by Doris Gates. As a horse-crazy pre-teen, I loved the descriptions of life on the breeding farm and at the track, and galloped along as Pony stole the colt to rescue the campers from a flash flood. But most memorable was realizing, late in my reading, that Pony was (gasp) black. From starting gate to finish line, a terrific ride.
Sounds like a perfect read for you at that age, Christine.
What a wonderful memory stirrer! I’m looking at my keeper’s shelf right now. A go-together set of Grimms and Anderson’s fairy tales published in 1946 with the most wonderful paintings by Arthur Szyk — I have no idea who he was, but they’re so beautiful. A well- worn copy of The Secret Garden. A book of Robert Frost poems I bought when he spent a week on my college campus. And maybe most precious of all, my grandmother’s 1911 Brethren Women’s cookbook with her notes in the margins. I just wish I still had “Thumper”!
What a gorgeous keepers shelf that must be, Jean! I have the old family edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, published in the year I was born (1948.) It has line drawings by Josef Scharl. It lives in a small, glass-fronted antique bookcase with the other delicate old books, alongside my mother’s diary.
I have 25 to 50 of what I would consider my keeper books. Here are my top four:
“The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint Exupery
“The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment” by Thaddeus Golas
“Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah” by Richard Bach
“Messiah’s Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul” by Richard Bach
Incidentally, I would be so flattered is someone ever told me that one of my 15 books was one of their keeper books.
That’s quite a reflective, philosophical list, Ernie.
I feel humbled that a couple of people have mentioned one of mine in the posts above!
I have a few keeper books, but the three that I love the most are Little Women, for it was the first book I read, followed by Daughter of the Forest because it’s my favorite book, and then Jo’s Boys, which I only found this year after being 10 years looking for it (I am Portuguese and it’s really rare to find any other book besides Little Women from Louisa May Alcott here)
Other than those three I have the rest of Sevenwaters books, the Bridei Chronicles and Wildwood Dancing, along with the Harry Potter books and Pride and Prejudice.
My books are in great company on your shelf, Joana!
Thank you for this post. I’ve been silly-grinning for fifteen minutes as I read your words and the lovely replies. My very favorite keeper book is a first edition (1948) copy of Pilgrims Inn by Elizabeth Goudge. It is very small, and very plain, with no front or back papers and tiny font. The paper is some kind of pulp, and the first page assures the reader that this book is printed in full conformance with national economy standards. If one goes by the pencilled clues on the title page, it has been resold twice, once for £1.50, and once for 50p. That’s my purchase, at an Oxfam shop on Kensington High St. in London. I had long loved the book when I purchased it, and the stories told by the object itself have endeared this particular edition to me above all the (many) other books on my shelves.
How fascinating, Sally! A post-war economy edition. You could write a whole novel around the discovery of that little book.
What a lovely blog! My TBR list is bulging!
I have two shelves of keeper books. Here are some of the highlights:
The Diamond in the Window, by Jane Langton. As a child I didn’t realise that this tale of magic and danger was based on aspects of Transcendentalist philosophy. I simply loved it, and the images in it are still touchstones for me.
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett inspired a lifelong love of gardening and Yorkshire. I walked the Dales Way this summer.
The Scent of Water, by Elizabeth Goudge (hey, Sally Wallach! I love all of Goudge’s books.) I first read this as a teen and, on re-encountering it later, realised how much it had influenced my personal philosophy, my view of the world and relationships, my very self in fact.
Parzival, by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Innocence, quests, and honor: this book took my childhood love of King Arthur stories into adulthood.
The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings, but J.R.R. Tolkein. Aside from all the wonderful things we’ve said about the story, these books with their maps and songs and barely remembered histories gave me a love of scholarship that has carried me through formal schooling and beyond.
Birds of Paradise, by Paul Scott. This early novel by the author of the Raj Quartet resonated so deeply with me that I come back to it again and again. A coming of age story, it makes me consider the unreliability of childhood memory and the place of Arthurian honor and glory in today’s world.
I have a treasured copy of The Secret Garden too. I’m pretty sure that’s another I read aloud to my children, Yorkshire dialect and all. They’ve all turned out to be good gardeners. :) I also adored A Little Princess as a child.
I think I should revisit Elizabeth Goudge. It’s so long since I read any of hers I can’t remember them well.
It’s quite interesting. I love it and I will read this books. I’m Brazilian and I enjoy your Sevenwaters triology. Congratulations
Thank you, Yasmin.
‘Testament’ by David Morrell, because I want to improve to the point where I can write a novel as good as it.
I can’t recall if I’ve ever blogged here on novels that inspire us to write better, David, but that would be another great topic. I have a few of those.
Juliet,
Yes! Your post sent me scurrying over to my bookshelves. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening by Robert Frost is a poem I go back to time and again. The reassurance in these words are fundamental.
The adventure books by Enid Blyton are another part of my collection. The Mountain of Adventure, The Sea of Adventure and all the others lifted me out of childhood. No Hardy Boys for me! They triggered my sense of imagination and opened the possibility of far away places and adventure.
The Lord of the Rings would have to be in there. They’re calling this the story of our times, now.
For me, bar none, I treasure my books by James Clavell. I don’t think there’s another writer that comes close to him. He said something once. He said, “it’s very nice to hear that when someone gets a book of mine they start off by reading very fast and then slow down to make it last.” It doesn’t get any better that that.
It’s interesting; I wonder at what point books play a role in someone deciding they want to become a writer. I think it must go way, way back. For me I think it might have been the Enid Blyton books that were still part of childhood yet opened up the world of adults beyond. Through these books I learned that anything is possible as an adult, as a writer. Enjoyed your post.
Thank you, Rick. I, too, love that Robert Frost poem, so measured and thoughtful.
I feel convinced that our childhood reading plays a huge part in our decision to become writers, even if that decision comes many years later.
I read very little Enid Blyton as a child – my mother thought there was always something more worthwhile for me to read and the local children’s librarian didn’t stock Blyton, on principle! (Because of the quality of the writing rather than the content.) I did borrow some of the Famous Five books from my friends – only not the friend whose mother was the children’s librarian. It’s been fascinating to see how well some of Enid Blyton’s work has lasted and to observe how much my grandchildren have loved the Magic Faraway Tree.
Hi Juliet,
Yes, it is fascinating how some books seem to capture an era. Other books that many people were reading in the 60’s and early 70’s included everything by Carlos Castinada, Watership Down, Dune and Dune Mesiah and The Little Prince. I can’t think of anything since; maybe Harry Potter that captured people’s imagination but that somehow is not the same.