INSCRIPTIONS ON THE HEART...

I got this battered book from eBay a few years ago, and, like

most collectors, I prefer my books to be inscription-free.  However,

lately, I've started to find inscriptions fascinating, as they prompt me to

wonder about the people mentioned in them.  For example, just who was

Bryan, is he yet alive, was he still the apple of his daddy's eye as an adult

as he was as a child?  Did he give the book away, lose it, was it stolen - or

did his mother donate it to a jumble sale when teenage Bryan was out at

school one day?  Did he even give it a second thought, miss it, or was

it he himself who put it on sale on eBay, quite indifferent to the

token of his father's love for him that he was discarding?

Do you ever wonder about the people who originally owned

the second-hand books you've picked up in charity shops, jumble

sales, or eBay?  What's the most touching inscription you can remem-

ber, and do you ever wish that you could have an inscribed book you

received as a child from a now-deceased friend or relative, but

which you later gave or threw away, back again?  Do tell.

  

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