My father was a teacher, thus of course he had friends who were teachers. One of his older colleagues died and left her library to him. My father never read any of the books, but he valued the collection. They were housed in our basement on old, solid wood library shelves that had been discarded at his school. The basement was also my lair, with a mattress on the floor, a collection of unusual artifacts, a stuffed and mounted owl (my Archimedes), and art projects in various states of completion. Whilst escaping to my private lair, I of course checked out this newly inherited library. The books were from before my time, mostly published in the 1930’s, but I didn’t notice that. Their titles intrigued me: Beverly Gray In the Orient, Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies, Penny Nichols and the Mystery of the Lost Key, and The Merriweather Girls on Camper’s Trail.
I had read Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon mysteries, but these found books were for older girls. I started reading, and I didn’t stop reading until I had read them all. These volumes took me out of my world, and I was fantastically rich from the experience. A section of my current library, devoted to some of the books from this time in my life, reminds me of the color-organized books of Stainless Carl’s bookshelf steps.
There was one set of books in this collection for which I felt particular affection. It was called My Book House. There were twelve books in the set, starting out light green and ending with dark blue. They are eighty-six years old now, and have faded a bit.
Each of the twelve volumes had an enticing title: Through Fairy Halls, From the Tower Window, and The Treasure Chest are a few. Volume One was the easiest to read, with simple nursery rhymes, songs, and folktales. Hans Christian Anderson, William Blake, The Gingerbread Man, and John Keats:
Over the hill and over the dale,
And over the Bourne to Dawlish,
Where gingerbread wives have a scanty sale,
And gingerbread nuts are smallish.
Isn’t that delightful?
Through Fairy Halls included Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, and Hansel and Gretel.
From The Tower Window had Chaucer, the Odyssey (retold), and The Legend of William Tell. They were a complete education!
My Book House was edited by Olive Beaupré Miller, published in 1921 by The Book House for Children in Chicago.
In memory of my father,
Richard Wiedemann
1932 – 1987
