I went to see my father at the hospital again today. Before I entered the Hospital grounds, I went into a nearby church to say a few prayers. I noticed that Exposition was being held there, but I then had a sneezing-fit due to hay-fever, so out of respect for the Sanctissimum and the people present (lamentably just one or two, but it was around Midday on a Tuesday so that is understandable), I departed. I brought my father some lunch from a local cafe. I was only at the hospital for about 10 minutes, and they let him go. His neck still aches (understandably), but he is quite well now. My mother drove us home, but I asked to be dropped off at a nice bookshop.
I hadn't been in this bookshop for some years, and it was nice to be there again. I was hunting for various books (none of which they had) - among them a Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary, the O'Connell, and various Tolkien books. I did however pick up an original Humphrey Carpenter Biography from 1977, and a 1974 reprint of a Second Edition of The Lord of the Rings - not in terribly good condition, but better than nothing. The 1977 biography contains a number of different photographs of Tolkien throughout his life, some of which I had never seen before (among them a photograph of him with his students and faculty at the University of Leeds in 1921) and they are logically spread throughout the book, unlike the 2002 edition in which they're all in the middle. I shall make another journey here methinks. A lot of their books are about local history, but they also had a number of Art history books which interested me - among them a biography of Michelangelo; and various old English literature books.
A friend of mine, a Church historian, has also recommended another good second-hand bookshop opposite The British Library. He told me of this some years ago when he showed me an old edition of The Aeneid. (Perhaps they have an O'Connell!) The trouble is that I am so disorganised; I am always meaning to do things, but never get round to actually doing them! However, I shall be in London on Thursday, and I shall make the effort then I think. Nice end to a beautiful day!
The above photograph is of All Saints Anglican church, seen (roughly) from the direction of this bookshop.
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