Things you found left in books

[Victoria Silverwolf]

What things have you found in books left behind by (presumably) a previous reader?

In my copy of Ice by Anna Kavan (a 1970 paperback of a 1967 novel) I found a bookmark from Uncle Hugo's Science Fiction bookstore in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The book must have somehow made its way from there to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where I bought it.

Other times I've found folded up sheets of homework, shopping lists, advertisements, receipts, etc., all used a bookmarks.

Any odd things you've found?

 

[mosaix]

1) A rasher of bacon.

2) A a letter dated 1918 from father to daughter encouraging her to play chess in a chess book about female chess players published in 1918. Found in a second hand bookshop. I would love to know how and when it got there.

 

[The Judge]

1) A rasher of bacon.

Cooked or raw??

 

[HareBrain]

A letter authenticating that the book came from the sell-off of the collection of western actor Jack Palance.

 

[mosaix]

Cooked or raw??

Raw but old and dried out.

 

[Peppa]

Now I understand why some people prefer to buy paper books.
Unfortunately, I found nothing interesting in the books, except for some old postcards that had obviously been used as bookmarks and a few other things like that.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Raw but old and dried out.

And a bit chewy...

 

[Astro Pen]

It was a monochrome photo. My favourite found bookmark is this happy pair, sitting in a 1950's Bond Minicar. I love it

 

[J Riff]

working the bookstore, I once found a 1930s anti-marijuana religious tract, plus lots of receipts for various things, and cool old bookmarks.

 

[Pyan]

In a charity shop book, an 1987 train ticket from Dorking to Leatherhead.

 

[Astro Pen]

In a charity shop book, an 1987 train ticket from Dorking to Leatherhead.

1987, how much was the ticket back then? 60pence?

 

[Pyan]

I'm afraid I can't remember, but that sounds about right. I can remember travelling by Tube when the average cost between stops was less than 10p, and you could buy one of these:

 

[JunkMonkey]

A letter in Danish written, in Denmark, in 1942 during the German occupation. Can't remember what the book was so if there was some book specific coded message from the resistance hidden in it, it's long gone.

 

[pogopossum]

1) A rasher of bacon.

This reader seems to have gotten around. I was a librarian for 35 years. My boss once did a display of things found in books.

And yes. One item a slice of raw bacon.
Another was a $20 American dollar with a note that said, "Anyone who reads this book should be rewarded." The patron who found it was quite generous. He donated it to the library.

 

[Runvävare]

I really like new books, to be more precise, paperbacks. I do buy second hand books at times, but that’s when I really want it, for whatever reason that may be.

As for finding anything, I’ve never found anything in a book except torn pages, someones’ scribbling or stains, and fingerprint marks.

 

[Peppa]

And yes. One item a slice of raw bacon.
Another was a $20 American dollar with a note that said, "Anyone who reads this book should be rewarded." The patron who found it was quite generous. He donated it to the library.

May I ask the name of the book? I'm wondering what kind of book they give you $20 to read.

 

[pogopossum]

Sorry. It was about 30 years ago. I do not remember the title. I do remember that it was a reward for reading an obscure quality work, not a reward for enduring a piece of ----.

 

[beccabear67]

It may or may not have been in a book, but found a piece of 1920's Italian paper currency in a box of books; it may have fallen out of one where it had been a bookmark. Have found proper bookmarks a few times, sometimes quite nice ones.

Maybe the coolest thing I found though was in a book/magazine on The Rolling Stones; there was a clipping from a '60s NME paper of one of the articles reprinted in the book/mag.

If anyone gets my books there's a large Japanese woodblock art book I've festooned with various paper things sent by penpals in Japan.

 

[Ray Zdybrow]

In a copy of "Jacob's Ladder: the Rise of a Catholic Community" by William Bedford and Michael J Knight I found a postcard depicting the funeral of Canon Hawkins in Eusterby (ok, Grimsby) on 26th of July 1913. The reverse has a halfpenny stamp of George V, postmarks 25 Aug 13 and some hard to read inscriptions in pencil, and the name and address of my auntie Lena in ink. Unlikely to mean anything to Chronners but sent shivers down my spine

 

[CupofJoe]

In a Star Trek audiobook I bought from a charity, behind one of the audiobook cds was a homebrew cd of porn. I've always imagined that it was some teenage boy's stash that was carefully hidden from disapproving grownups.