advent

libraries have always been special places for me.

from my  first visit to roxeth library to the most recent visit to the local idea store (a flash building with lots of activities but not as many books as you would expect) libraries have always been somewhere i could dip my toes into amazing worlds of fiction or paddle in the stream of human knowledge. 

i loved the thrill of looking for books, searching for that elusive title, the joy of locating it.

mastering the card index at roxeth, moving on to the microfiche and the dewey decimal system, as used by college. then it was the online system and the library of congress classification system (not as much fun as dewey that’s for sure).

libraries used to be places where people would shush you if you whispered too loud. college libraries were places where places where people only complained id you spoke loudly. the idea store seems to be a place where silence is rare.

the one thing that has remained constant throughout all my trips to libraries is they all have a copy of the encyclopaedia britannica.

i have always wanted a proper encyclopaedia.

and if you are going to have an encyclopaedia you may as well get the best one ever – the encyclopaedia britannica. sadly the encyclopaedia is no longer published and is only available online, for a subscription price.

as this is my fantasy advent calendar i am not going to settle for an online subscription and so will get the printed version. i could get the regular 32-volume edition £1195 or i could go for the limited edition renaissance bound version at £2495, only 500 copies available. however the publisher has sold out of both versions.

that’s not part of the plan.

so it looks like i am going to have to try amazon. they don’t have it, but one of their market place sellers does. they are offering the regular edition for the somewhat inflated price of £4341.52, plus £2.80 postage (yeah i think that will just about cover the cost of shipping the 32-volumes).

well it is only money – so i’ll add it to my list. 

the regular edition

the limited edition