Books II

And five minutes this morning in one of Presteigne's honesty bookshops. I found a collection by a modern English/Welsh (?Anglo-Welsh) poet called David Greenslade, a book called Weak Eros, which looks really good. And I was undecided about a single volume of Dr Johnson's essays on the English poets - Dryden, Milton, Cowley etc - which had no spine and no front or back boards. Printed in 1821, abook about obscure poets, in that condition, who else was going to buy it, even at 50p? There is something about the text and layout of books from that time that I love; thick paper, wide margins, heavy, crisp serif fonts. And I might actually read this one.