Ladybird book biographies: Part 2

This is the second of these ‘book biography’ blog posts and it just happens to be a fairly brief one. Here is a copy of the What to Look for in Autumn book that is owned (and has been kindly lent to the exhibition) by Julia Waters. Julia works in Modern Lanugauges and European Studies so there is no obvious connection between her career/profession and ownership of this book. It seems that, as she herself has noted, that she simply ‘loved it as a child’.

A copy of What to Look for in Autumn belonging to Julia Waters

This copy has been laminated to protect it, a familiar treatment for many library books or those expected to see heavy use.

As with the copy I blogged about in the first post on this theme, Julia’s copy is an early edition that features the characteristic Ladybird patterned inside covers. Alongside this patterned interior, the corner of the flyleaf again reveals that early price of 2’6.

Price of 2'6 on the cover of Julia Water's copy of the 'Autumn' volume.

The standard price of Ladybird books in the early 1960s was 2/6 (two shillings and sixpence), as shown here on the dustjacket of Julia Water’s copy, where the dustjacket has been laminated onto the cover.

The tan-coloured stains of old sticky-backed tape marks in the photograph above and in the one below both reveal an earlier history of use. Was this copy once in an institutional collection, hence the laminated finish? What was the tape intended to adhere to these inside covers? We will almost certainly never know the answer to these questions but they certainly begin to highlight some of the subtle archaeologies of artefacts that careful visual examinations like this can highlight.

As Julia obtained her copy as a child and her copy has clearly had a ‘prehistory’, what this certainly indicates is that Julia obtained her copy second hand. In other words (and without seeking to reveal anyone’s age on an exhibition blog!) the book predates Julia herself. This also goes some way towards illustrating the enduring popularity of these books, which have been loved and will continue to be loved by subsequent generations of young readers.

Sellotape marks and pencil marks underlying laminate covering on this copy

Another history of use and perhaps a point of sale mark-up are shown in this image of Julia Water’s copy.

Whatever the earlier history of this particular copy might have been, as with Fiona Cummin’s example this volume is set to have a familial path of descent as it is also much loved by Julia’s 6-year-old daughter on whose shelf it normally lives when not on loan to MERL! Thanks to Julia and her daughter for letting us borrow it.