Book Pox

My Dad has Book Pox.  Its a real disease. It means he is addicted to books--especially rare books--and its contagious, because now I have it too.  Whenever my Dad visits any town, one of the first things he does is look up the local book stores.  He usually spends at least half a day visiting them and always comes home with more books than he needs.  Since I am really the only one in the family who enjoys book shopping I usually go with him when I can, and we managed to visit four stores while he was here over the weekend.  My Dad is mostly interested in rare books, and especially loves 200-year-old leather bound editions of anything.  While I like old books too, I want my library to be readable, I don't want to worry about having books so old that no one can take them off the shelf and read them for fear of damaging them.  So, I buy oldish books that are still charming, but readable.  Lately, I have been trying to find hardcover editions of the books I currently have in paperback.  These are some of the treasures I found while book hunting with my dad:

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Shirley by Charlotte Bronte

Villette by Charlotte Bronte

Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell 

Sonnets from the Portuguese by
Elizabeth Barrett Browning...

...with the most romantic inscription
inside:
"I love thee with the breath, smiles
and tears of all my life."

Aren't they just perfect?  And, none of them were very expensive which makes it even better.  Oh, and not to worry, my Dad found a few for himself too...I guess we haven't discovered the cure yet.