Stories About Not Being Afraid of Ghosts
Foreign Language Press Peking 2nd edn, 1979
pb 92pp, small split to cvr at btm of sp o/w VG+ 135 gms.
(Order reference 5405).

Adams, Ellinor Davenport (ed): The Illustrated Poetical Birthday Book with a supplement of female Christian names and appropriate quotations
John Walker no date
16mo, maroon faux leather bds with gold titling to spine + fr bd, all edges gilt, marking + wr to bd edges, two tiny entries o/w VG+ 150 gms
(Order reference 13356).

Arkell, David: Alain-Fournier: A Brief Life
Carcanet 1st 1986
8vo M/F 390 gms
(Order reference 10970).

Assorted: The Words Book 1985-1986
Words Publications 1985
8vo, no d/w, gold titling to fr bd + spine. No. 41 of 1000, signed by Phillip Vine, editor, on fep. 250 gms
(Order reference 9216).

Batey, Mavis: Alice's Adventures in Oxford
Pitkin Pictorials rep 1994
4to stapled sftbk 32pp, sl wr to edges of cvrs o/w VG++ 125 gms
(Order reference 12690).

Alice in Wonderland and Lewis Carroll belong to Oxford. She was the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church and he was one of the college tutors. Alice was born in 1852 at Westminster School, where her father, the Revd Henry George Liddell, was head master. She was four years old when the family moved to the Deanery at Christ Church. The rest of the family then consisted of her brother Harry, aged nine, and two sisters, Lorina, who was six, and Edith two years old. The first record of her meeting Lewis Carroll is an entry in his diary in 1856: 'April 25. (F). Went over with Southey in the afternoon to the Deanery, to try and take a photograph of the Cathedral: both attempts proved failures. The three little girls were in the garden most of the time, and we became excellent friends.’

Mavis Batey tells the story of Alice Liddell, the daughter of the Dean of Christ Church, and the immortal friendship with `Lewis Carroll', the mathematics don, which inspired the Alice books.
Mrs Batey, who is married to the Treasurer of Christ Church, has made a special study of the Oxford background to the famous Alice stories, which throws a new and refreshing light on Lewis Carroll.

'She saw an ancient city, and a quiet river winding near it along the plain, and up the stream went slowly gliding a boat with a merry party of children on board — she could hear their voices and laughter like music over the water'.
From Alice's Adventures Under Ground.

In a series of thematic chapters, the authors draw on their wide-ranging expertise to look at the Library's major holdings, and in the process illustrate the main aspects of book design and production over the centuries. With medieval books of hours sitting alongside contemporary paperback novels, the choice is wonderfully varied, from Leonardo da Vinci to Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, Joan of Arc to Judge Dredd, Aesop to Charles Dickens, and Babar the Elephant to Ian Fleming.

The superb colour plates, accompanied by a clear and informative text, superbly demonstrate the many facets of the art of bookmaking. This absorbing compendium, spanning six centuries, will be of interest to all those with a love of art, literary history and illustration.

Professor G. L. Brook is Professor of English Language and Medieval English Literature at the University of Manchester. He is interested in the study of dialect and was the founder of the Lancashire Dialect Society and the first editor of its Journal. In 1951 he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. His publications include English Dialects, The Language of Dickens (both in the Language Library), An Introduction to Old English and an edition of the Middle English Harley Lyrics.

All these quotes and many others are included in Gerald Donaldson's delightful anthology: Books. In this beautifully illustrated volume are hundreds of quotations about books being made, books being sold. books being read, disastrous books, successful books, and the problem and cure of bibliomania. A book for every book lover, dealer, curator or collector, Books is a truly original collection of insights, both lighthearted and earnest: it answers questions that few would have thought of asking, and it shows the literati at their wittiest and wickedest, such as Disraeli, who wrote on receiving an unsolicited manuscript: -Many thanks; I shall lose no time in reading it"; or Groucho Marx, who wrote with his usual kindness: -From the moment I picked up your book until I laid it down I was convulsed with laughter. Someday I intend reading it".

Since Lawrence's work is so intimately linked with his life and travel, the biographical introduction is presented in considerable detail. Other sections are devoted to his 'travel' books, plays, literary criticism, and other important works. Numerous references to key passages in the letters and miscellaneous prose help to familiarize the reader with the corpus of Lawrence's work, and with all major aspects of his thought.

Despite his exceptional creative gifts, Lawrence relied unusually on his surroundings for 'copy'. An appendix on people and places in the novels is supplemented by incidental identifications in the chapter on the shorter stories. aps, together with more than forty illustrations, complete this comprehensive guide to Lawrence.

If you think Geordies would do better to speak like BBC announcers, if you think the Queen's English is the only English there is, then this book is not for you.
Th« Dialects of England celebrates the rich variety of the regional and social dialects of English in all its forms, ancient and modem. It covers Zummerzet and Scouse, Cockney and Cumberland, Brummie and Berkshire, Nottingham and Norfolk. It deplores the trend towards linguistic uniformity urged on us by the self-appointed guardians of the purity of the English language.

English dialects are the result of 1500 years of linguistic and cultural development. Written in nontechnical language, this book outlines their history and their geography. It describes and delights in the diversity of vocabulary, accent, grammar and literature to be found among the dialects of England.