Posted on by zenya

The magic of a book

I was shopping in a local thrift shop and came across a myterious book.

This book was placed in a plastic zip lock bag and the title was facing up towards me to see it was cloth bound and embossed with a horses head.

The title of it is… "Gleanings from the Desert of Arabia".. as you all know I live in Cairo,Egypt which was bulit on the Saraha Desert, so the title caught my eye.

It was for sale and I knew it was worth more even before opening the cover. Magic was there inside the book, inside my mind and inside my day.

I opened the book in the store and it only took the inside of the cover to know it was a rare wonderful book. Inside was written a card like from a library stating this book came from the library of the illustrator, Homer Davenport and inside the first page was hand drawn a picture of his horse Zetra, which was brought here in 1903 to Chicago and this book is all about the introduction of the Arabian horse to the USA and Uk.

I took it home and started to look on the net for more information on this author and book and found some wonderful information and finding it is worth more than I thought.

I am holding history in my hand and feeling the excitement from the author whom never seen his book published since he died the year it was published 1881.

My whole point about this book is..I really feel I was guided back to this store for this reaon…………THE BOOK.

Was this book placed in my hand like a winning lottery ticket?? What am I suppose to do with the funds this book might provide me? Do I buy a car and stay here and bulid up my life once more or do I take the money back to Egypt and live happily ever after?

with love,
Eve

16 Replies to “The magic of a book”

  1. that’s easy… you keep the book. read it carefully. show it to your friends…. etc. unless of course you find out it is practically priceless. then you go to egypt and live happily ever after.:up:i am a strong believer in mysteries… especially in relation to bookstores. and libraries. sometimes it almost seems like books just jump off shelves and into my hand, because it contains more than i even expected.but don’t forget what baha’udin indicated when he told the story…”i was walking along the path one day and came to a rock in the ground.on the rock was written…’turn me over and read.’ i did so, and on the other side it said… ‘why do you seek more knowledge when you pay no heed to what you know already?'”

  2. oh you are so wise my friend, and it’s so true..thank you for reading and sharing your wonderful words..news at 11 🙂

  3. Or, perhaps it is the mystery that Omar Khayam spoke of?XXVII
    Myself when young did eagerly frequent
    Doctor and Saint, and heard great argument
    About it and about: but evermore
    Came out by the same door where in I went.lokutus

  4. HI Lokutus,Also so very true, thanks for reading, I left you messages on yahoo I do hope you get them all?HugsEve

  5. Hi Eve!Have you seen that K4 is the member of the week?!?That’s great… She has an awesome journal.My bet is that you’re next. ;)Love,Dan

  6. Dear Eve, re Dan’s comment “My bet is that you’re next.”I’ll drink to that!!! :):)Love,lokutus

  8. Hi EveIt’s great when a book just catches your eye – especially when it turns out to be a real treasure like the one you just found!The best books are the ones that take you places – both familiar and unfamiliar. Speaking about Arabian horses – I am not sure if you have seen the movie “Hidalgo”. It’s excellent and I am sure that there are bits in that movie that you would be able to relate to :)JCL.

  9. HI JCL,Yes ! I did see that wonderful movie and I loved it so so much,Being an avid reader I do love books that take you places and gives you a different look on life.I have a few more people to show the book to and its so great to see their faces when they open the book it’s like they struck gold :)LoveEve

  12. books really are a huge key to how the human race is differnt from other races(animals) books really are magical, they hold knoledge, and they hold the persons spirit, a very good/strong example is a diary, or a jurnal/blog. without books to guid, teach, and influence us we would have no purpos, we would have nothing to seperate us from animals, we wouldent have an understanding of the past, and without and understanding of the past, the future is pretty much lost too.and fate is probably a big role in how you found the book, the author probably wan’ted someone like you to be inspired by it, so his death was not in vain. i could go on and on, but you get my point. books are magical, and i hope the book really does inspire you.-Nate

  13. HI ElmarNo ! you never told me that 🙁 now tell me :)I worked in an educational book store in Egypt.. that was nice since the kids who came in loved me and was teaching me Arabic too.NOw please tell me I think it would be an interesting story ..Eve sitting patiently for you

  14. Hi Eve,Your story made me ask myself if I told you that “once upon a time” I was a bookshop manager. Did I?See youElmar

  15. Well, there isn’t much more about it. 😉 I worked for several bookshops. I managed a small one in Bonn. At that time Bonn was still the capital. And later I managed a bookshop in Munich for one year. Then I became an area manager for the same company …So longElmar

  16. HI Elmar,but you must have some good stories from working in these stores :)You are shy about writing them I think 🙁 I can help :Das she trys pulling the words out of you Eve

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