With today being Beltane I thought I'd browse for old Beltane paperbacks. I collect old novels and haven't got any with the ancient festival in them.
There are many modern novels but three old ones stood out for me, although I don't know any of them or the authors.
The Beltane Fires by Paul Bourquin. This edition is from 1964 in hardback.
The Fires of Beltane by Pamela Wallace. This is the 1978 paperback edition.
The oldest book I could find was Beltane the Smith published in 1915 and written by Jeffery Farnol. This is a hardback edition. Not sure which year. There have been many reprints of this novel and many different covers, which I imagine someone avidly collects given the number.
Do you collect old books?
Beltane is so obscure (at least in NZ) I had to look it up.
ReplyDeleteYes, I collect books, and still have many from when I was a boy. That includes about 70 or so by Captain W.E. Johns, mostly Biggles. I do not care what edition, it is the stories that interest me. Various other series. Annuals. All my model, aviation, military, film and TV titles, etc. I am a total bookworm, and could not live without my books.
Yes, I'm a bookworm too Paul. I hate having to get of any but we have had to over the years, letting them go at car boot sales. We simply had so many books. I remember when books were golden and we browsed through encyclopedias before the Internet took over! Beltane won't be that well-known here I don't think. I was reading today about the Maori winter festival in June to start the new Maori year, Matariki. It includes a kite festival in Auckland by the looks of it and I love kites festivals! There's one here near where I live. I wonder if any of them will go ahead this year? Do you get involved in Matariki?
DeleteI was never in to kites, my few attempts at building were not successful. NZ is currently at Alert Level 3, down from Level 4. If anything goes ahead in the coming months depends on further reductions in the Alert Level. I am waiting for the collectors fairs to start up again, but this is likely to be some time off. I would rather consult a book than the internet, but the latter does have its uses - after all I did discover Moonbase Central.
ReplyDeleteand I'm glad you did Paul! How cold does it get in winter where you are?
DeleteI am in Auckland. It goes down to single digits at night in the winter, but not below freezing up here, and snow is super rare (I have never seen any in over 50 years of living in Auckland). It can get much colder in some parts of the country, and skiing is a popular sport if you like being cold.
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