Do You Love Books Too ?
All my life I have been interested this books. I vividly recall, as a child, the feel, the smell, the excitement of being given a new book for Christmas or a birthday. There is something very satisfyingly tactile about books, especially old, loved ones !
These days, I suppose I could be called a bibliophile, though it always sounds to me as though it means someone a little too fond of his tipple ! Although I still love touching and holding books, I am even more fond of actually reading them !
Remember the sudden downturn in the IT world some years ago with the Y2K scare ? Well, to cut a long story short, the substantial IT business I owned and ran got into severe difficulties as a direct result, leaving me with no job, no business, and very little money. I spotted a bookbinding business for sale in the local newspaper, which attracted me because of my interest in books. Fortunately, the business had four skilled employees, from whom I was able to learn the trade. Many would say this was a bit back to front ! We did theses for students, archival work for a major local university and large firms of lawyers as well as restoration work for private book collectors. I also began buying secondhand books, fixing them up where necessary, and selling some on the internet.
It didn’t take long before my very supportive new wife and I had enough stock to fill a lovely old double-fronted shop, and as the shop had space at the back for the bookbinding business, it was absolutely perfect.
