Photo Friday: London Bookstore Ephemera Shopping

London bookstore pile Sara Naumann

I love bookstores. All the more so if they’re old with creaky shelves and eccentric titles. And if they’re tiny, cramped and dusty, well…that’s my (admittedly odd) idea of heaven.

Last weekend my little family took a few days in London, home of some of my favorite bookstores. This time we stayed in a new (to us) neighborhood and I was lucky enough to stumble upon a combination antique-ephemera-bookstore down a small side street. I promptly abandoned both husband and child and devoted myself to picking through the precariously piled treasures on the shelves.

(Where else can you have an elderly gentleman quote poetry to you, or overhear this snippet of conversation: “My dear man, with regards to Ezra Pound…”? It thrills the English major in me.)

I had wanted to look for some sheet music and ephemera materials for my next round of PaperArtsy stamps—as you can guess, I use a lot of old text, handwriting and other little snippets for these stamps. This bookstore had a fabulous collection of old postcards—including several from a one Miss Pearl King of Cumberland Place, whose far-flung friends sent her postcards from Rome, Milan, Tuscany and Venice in the 1950’s. These have gorgeous old-fashioned handwriting and weathered postmarks on the back. Treasures.

The photo above is of one of the shelves full of sheet music scores. These are fabulous—the paper is old and fibrous, so it takes ICE Resin beautifully, and the little handwritten notes jotted in the margins are perfect for turning into stamps. Even just looking at some of the old musical score covers are a treat.

I came home with £15 worth of sheet music and postcards—money well-spent in my opinion—stashed into my suitcase for the quick trip back to Poland. Look for Miss Pearl King’s legacy in the next round of stamps!

Happy Friday!

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