Clarence
Clarence, our water buffalo, has kept a beady eye over the bookshop for many a long year. It is rumoured that his entire body is the other side of the wall. It is also rumoured that he was smuggled into Scotland by a Victorian man wearing tweed and sporting a dubious moustache. The tales are endless. All we know for sure is that he was rescued from a Leith lane sale by Bert and is now our mascot and resident philosopher. If Clarence could speak he would say:
‘Being shot and stuffed was not the afterlife I’d hoped for. It seems to be going on for rather a long time.’
‘Don’t you dare use my horns to hang bags on.’
‘This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel and a barbaric ritual to those who have been on the wrong end of a shot gun.’
Twitter Feed
- Begins at 12pm on Friday at the Assembly Rooms. http://www.edinburghbookfair.co.uk/ http://fb.me/6hJVaUd
- can you feel the buzz? It's the antiquarian book fair calling to you. It's free to get in, but I can't promise... http://fb.me/KueKcdqjg
- Why did the mouse die in the Scottish Room? It was found next to Society of Antiquaries volumes. Bored to death.... ?
- They seek him here, they seek him there...blasted Orwell. No consideration. Could be anywhere - in Spain, down a mine etc etc. Not on shelf
- Just found a deid mouse in the Scottish Room. Puir Wee, sleeket, cowran, tim'rous beastie. An ex-mouse.
Recent blog entries
- In the beginning...
It has gone out of fashion in these post-modern times, but stories used to begin with a beginning, progress to a middle and conclude with an ending. Open-minded as I am, I have never minded a slight twist in the…
- Book Inscriptions # 1
You find all sorts of inscriptions in books, usually on the front endpaper, from the plain name and address to pledges of undying love. I came across one today at the front of a copy of ‘Grammont’s memoirs of the…
- A Scotch Carol
You find all sorts of interesting things stuck inside books: letters, tickets, obituaries, even money.
Today I found a Carol – a Scotch (or Scots) Carol in fact which I will now commit to cyberspace. It was typed on a small… - Move over skinny dog
Some customers are just funny. Funny peculiar I mean, not Funny ha-ha, though we have our fair share of those too.
One peculiar thing that these funny customers do is to go straight to a section where somebody else is already… - Dirty rotten thieves.
I don’t think we have a huge problem with theft but then again, I just don’t know. There are eight fairly sizeable rooms in the shop with thousands of books in each of them and although I try, it’s impossible…