My Most Treasured Book

A Cheltenham Literary Festival Special in the Saturday Times a couple of weeks ago featured some well known authors describing the books they own and prize above all others. Simon Schama chose his Collected Works of Shakespeare that was given to him as a present at his Barmitzvah. It reminded me of The Works of William Shakespeare that was given to my father in recognition of his performance as a boy in Sheffield Repertory Theatre's production of "Sing a Song of Christmas" over the holiday of 1930/1931. It was signed by the whole cast and crew.

Then Brian Sewell chose Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows given to him by his mother on his seventh birthday. His was a 58th Edition bound in green cloth. Mine was from Gran, my father's mother, on my fifth birthday, Christmas 1949. Mine is a ninety second edition, and it is amazing that there have been so many editions since it's first publication in 1908. Sewell mentions the chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn". What a title for a chapter of a book. Rat and Mole rowing down the river and a bird piping as the sun comes up. The whole chapter is so beautiful, I never realised quite what a genius the author was.