A Bad Bargain
Dec. 7th, 2018 08:56 amTurns out our "Complete" set of Dickens isn't complete after all- and the volume it specifically lacks is the one containing the Christmas Books. I had hoped to be deep into The Chimes by now but there's going to be a delay until the copy I ordered through Amazon arrives.
Our complete Dickens was an impulse buy. We haggled the shopman down to £60 from something outrageous but even so he got the best of the deal. It's a cheap edition from the early 20th century, printed in small type on coarse paper (so no pleasure to read) with only a sparse scattering of illustrations. Finding there's a volume missing (and perhaps more than one) puts the tin hat on it. One of these days, perhaps, we'll invest in something better; a set of the Oxford Illustrated would be nice. The Rochester bookshops are full of complete Dickenses and next time we're there I may look and see what they're asking for them....
Our complete Dickens was an impulse buy. We haggled the shopman down to £60 from something outrageous but even so he got the best of the deal. It's a cheap edition from the early 20th century, printed in small type on coarse paper (so no pleasure to read) with only a sparse scattering of illustrations. Finding there's a volume missing (and perhaps more than one) puts the tin hat on it. One of these days, perhaps, we'll invest in something better; a set of the Oxford Illustrated would be nice. The Rochester bookshops are full of complete Dickenses and next time we're there I may look and see what they're asking for them....