Knights were a huge deal when I was a kid. Like Dinosaurs and Pirates, Knights were one of those essential pages of history which kids just wanted to jump in.
My bookcase was full of Knights and Minarets and tilt-yards. Ivanhoe and the Black Arrow leap to mind - in glossy hardbacks, the publisher of which escapes me. I know they weren't Ballantine. Those were matt with a grainy feel, not gloss like these.
Alongside classic kids novels were history books. History back then was about Kings and Queens and battles and castles. One book I adored was A Pageant of History. You could get one free in TV21 - see below - but mine will have come from Sweetens bookshop in Preston town centre I would have thought. My Mum and Dad must have had shares in the place the number of Sweetens books we had in the house. Sweetens always put a tiny oblong sticker on the inside cover giving their name and address.
The thing I liked the most about A Pageant of History were the simple line drawings of Kings and Queens of Great Britain going right back to before William the Conquerer 1066 . I would happily copy these drawings all day - mostly heads and crowns - in light blue Silvine drawing books like this.
God how I loved drawing in those thin side-on Silvine books. I think between Silvine, Collins and Paul Hamlyn my childhood education was sorted really. I drew in my final Silvine around 1981, which I still have in the loft. Its full of birds in watercolours. That was my twitcher period!
Did you draw in Silvine drawing books?
In my folk's old downstairs bookcase were more historical books. One was an ancient looking green hardback with pages of super thin paper. It was a book of Sir Walter Scott's stories and there were a few of these, from different antiquarian authors. I wonder where those books ended up? Probably the bin.
Another book of my Mum's was The Heirs of the Kingdom by Zoe Oldenbourg. I actually still have this. It was a gift to her in 1973 from my older brother. From Sweetens bookshop no less. I tried to read it last year but found the style hard going. I'll give it another whirl one day for old time's sake.
Did you like to read about knights of old readers?
