Friday 11th February - Persephone Books

I suspect Persephone Books has a bit of a cult following. And I am one of their followers. Here's how they describe themselves;

Persephone Books reprints neglected fiction and non-fiction, mostly by women writers and mostly mid-twentieth century. All of our 141 books are intelligent, thought-provoking and beautifully written and are chosen to appeal to busy people wanting titles that are neither too literary nor too commercial.

They used to have a lovely shop in Lambs Conduit Street, Bloomsbury, London, an old-fashioned shop in an old-fashioned street and handy for the Foundlings Museum and cafe nearby. But they have moved to Bath, which is not as convenient for me. Bath has just risen several places higher on my list of places to visit once I am able to go out and about again. (Covid. snarl snarl).

At first sight, the books look very dull in their uniform silver-grey covers. However that means that 'Persephone People' can instantly recognise each other by a single glance at the bookshelf;

https://heavenali.wordpress.com/persephone/

This person has got a very severe case of Persephone addiction! I have about half a dozen, I'm not exactly sure how many, and have decided to allow myself the purchase of one per month, as a minimum, oh, those last three words added themselves to my sentence all by themselves!

Here are my January and February Persephone Books; 'The Country Life Cookery Book' by Ambrose Heath, and 'Greenery Street' by Denis MacNeil. Lying across the top is one of the bookmarks which come with every book; I would have to go a-hunting to find which one this bookmark belong to. 

The secret inside the cover of each book is the vibrant pattern, taken from textiles of the period; the cookery book is all leaves and flowers and birds, with bookmark to match

Greenery Street features furnishing fabric of the kind that 'Felicity' may well have chosen for her new home. Sadly, I don't have the matching bookmark, as I bought this online from a charity supporting the East Anglia Hospices. It is a little bit battered on the spine, but I can live with this in the knowledge that I save £5 on the purchase price and have donated a little bit of money to the hospice. 

 Also, I see that one can buy replacement bookmarks! I shall order some, and at the same time a catalogue. Which unfortunately dispenses with the saving I made from buying a book second hand. No problem, if I buy another second hand book, I will have made up the savings... it's a new economic policy I am adopting.