I got the translated version of Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Children's Stories from my mother when I was six years old. It was my first sophisticated book, since it had small fonts and each page contained more than few sentences, very complicated for children my age at that time. I liked it, but did not appreciate it until few years later. By then, the book was getting old, damaged to the spine, some pages torn and loose, thanks to those people who borrowed it and thought that they could just abuse it since the book was not theirs.
I preserved whatever left of the book, kept it well in my bookshelf, until much later. I wanted to buy the second copy, but the book has been out of print. I also brought my beloved copy to Singapore.
Hilda Boswell personally selected and illustrated the stories in the book. The illustrations were beautiful. As a child, I was so fixated upon the illustration, characters from her books appeared in my dreams. The lovely illustration of fairies, princes and princesses, flowers and animals really enlivened the stories she has handpicked.
The stories were also as unforgettable, she has achieved her objective when she said in her foreword, "...but the sort of stories that stick in your memory--that you are drawn back to time and time again." I can't tell which one is my favorites, I love so many of them. I love Our Field, Through The Fire, The Story of Fairyfoot, to name a few. And the image of Tom of Water Babies, swimming together with the fishes, or little David Copperfield sitting by the window sill in the moonlit night, still lingers in my mind.
I tried to find the english copy of this book, but I guess, never did try hard enough. I remember I was browsing through the children section in Dymock in Sydney, but I could not find it.
Now that I have my children, I really want to share this book with them, especially with my daughter. Not trying to be sexist, I believe my daughter will come to treasure this book better than my son. And there went my hunt for this book.
Kinokuniya and Borders have confirmed that this book was no longer available in the market. At that time, the idea of buying used book did not appeal to me. I bought a lot of used books before, but those were romance novels. I doubted I could find used copy that was still in excellent condition, since this book was first published sometime in early seventies to early eighties.
But as I did more and more searches, I grew desperate. The book has gone out of print for quite sometime. I could only find used book copies in the net.
So I made up my mind, I would buy even a used copy, so that I could read the original versions of the stories so close to my heart to my children. I went to Amazon UK, a mistake, since most of the marketplace book sellers did not do international shipping. I went to E-bay, found a copy, place a bid, so confident of winning, and found out that I was not the only one eyeing for this book. I did not take the outbidding well. Especially since the book was auctioned in British Pound currency, the book became so expensive for me. At most I would just pay for $15, since I still needed to pay a lot for the shipping cost as well. Since then, I learned that Hilda Boswell has many fans still searching for her books who's willing to pay high prices for her used copy books. And I am just a fan, but I will not pay excessively silly price for her book as I still have the other copy at home.
After being outbid in E-bay for many times, I found out that Y was about to visit US for business. He got me an address of his colleague that I could send the book too. I was still hopeful of winning a copy that I bid in E-bay. By the time I found out that I was getting outbid again (although I have raised my bid to $20), I was so fed up. I went to Amazon, and at that instant, bought a copy at US$5. In the description, it was described as very good with minor dents, but clean copy appeared never read.
From US, Y sent me a text message, "The inside is very good, some scratches at the cover, but barely noticeable". I sighed with relief, I have not been had by the Amazon marketplace seller. I turned into an eager child when Y came back from his trip (which was few hours ago) and handed me the book. It is really a treasure. The copy has some minor dents at the cover and its spine, but the pages really are excellent. They are as good as new. My daughter was also equally excited about the book, because I've been telling her that this copy will be hers, and she just loves story book. I don't really intend to let her know that she can only own the book when she's old enough to drive a car, so that she can appreciate this book too.
Meanwhile, I just want to share the news with the whole world, "I am now a proud owner of (another) Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Children's Stories!" And this book is indeed a treasure!
So, the next one in line...Hilda Boswell's Treasury of Poetry?
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