A scent of literature...

I've always thought that Yankee Candle (or some candle maker) should market a candle that smells like a library, or at least a good set of books. I would definitely run out and buy one... or two... or a dozen. :)


Well, evidently I am not alone in finding the scent of books appealing. I just learned today (thanks to a fellow bibliophile's email) that you can now purchase Paper Passion Perfume. Ok, so it's not a candle... and I doubt I'd wear it (who wants to personally smell like a book?), but it's a neat idea just the same. Such a shame it retails at $98.


Paper Passion Perfume

A Random Bit From My Life

Check out these Old Curiosity Shop themed dishes I was gifted yesterday! The set isn't complete (I'm missing the clock plates) and a few were chipped, but they were perfect to use for dinner during my book club's meeting last night. And timely too! We met to discuss Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. As always we had a delightful time of discussion and enjoyed some excellent food.

Bedtime Reading Anyone?

A friend linked to this the other day and I thought it was just too funny not to share.

When Life Gives You Power Outages...

I had planned to post a review today, but we had a power outage and I wasn't able to get online when I needed to.

Instead I read some of the book currently on my nightstand.

I think that's a fair trade, don't you?

Check back tomorrow for the launch of the second Maud Hart Lovelace Reading Challenge. Wow... It's the end of September, tomorrow it's October! Where has the month gone?

See you all back here tomorrow!

A Little Bookmark in History

Remember when I posted last month about finding the 1950s era Allsopp and Chapple Bookstore bookmark while reading a copy of Mrs. Miniver, which I bought at a used book sale?

It's rare that I come upon something like this really old bookmark so, my curiosity pricked, I read what I could about it online. I then happened to mention my discovery to a coworker who grew up near Little Rock. The other day she sent me the following picture:

Allsopp and Chapple Bookshop has long since closed, but the building still stands. Pretty neat little random piece of history.

A Little Bookmark in History

I have been reading Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther, which has been on my TBR pile for several months. I'm thoroughly enjoying this quaint pre-WWII English story including the fact that the book copy I have was published in the 1940s and smells just as an old book should. What I didn't expect to find while reading was an old bookmark. Somewhere around chapter five I came upon the following bookmark and figured it was probably from the seller previous to the seller I bought the book from... then I saw the phone number. I don't know the age, but I'm guessing this book mark dates back to the 1960s simply by the fact the phone number is only numeric and not a mix of alpha and numeric figures.

Further research into the bookstore Allsopp And Chapple in Little Rock, AR led me to the following information:

1. The bookstore no longer exists.

2. It was co-owned by Frederick William Allsopp (June 25, 1867 to April 9, 1946), but was sold in 1919 to a new owner. It was again sold in 1958 and at that time still operated under the original name of Allsopp And Chapple.

3. The "Chapple" in the bookstore name was James Chapple who might have been related to Mary Chapple Allsopp (Frederick's wife??).

3. Born in England, Mr. Allsopp emigrated to the US with his family sometime in the mid to late 1800s.

4. Although never the editor or publisher, Mr. Allsopp was a business manager of the Arkansas Gazette and helped to shape the future of Arkansas newspapers.

5. Mr. Allsopp was a life-long lover of books and eventually published books as well as co-owned the aforementioned bookstore, Allsopp And Chapple, which is said to have been the leading bookstore in the county at that time.

I wasn't able to find out anything more, but still it was fun to stumble upon a bit of history. Holding the bookmark I can't help but ponder the unanswered questions time has turned to mystery. Like, who was the customer was that bought Mrs. Miniver and was it at Allsopp and Chapple? Or did they buy another book and then reuse the bookmark while reading Mrs. Miniver? What was the bookstore like? How old is this bookmark? How did the bookmark end up in a book that was bought by me several states and at least 1,000 miles away?

History can be full of the oddest little mysteries.

Thought of the Day

Why don't they make a candle scent that smells like old books? Not that nasty musty smell, but that rich wonderful scent you come across while reading an old book from your library.

If they did, would you buy such a scented candle?