© Evening News 24, 28th July 2006
In early December 2007 a friend of mine who was working as a builder, restoring the Scientific Anglian bookshop down St Benedict Street, told me about some 'weird' books which him and his workmates had found in the attic of the old shop. Intrigued, I asked to see the books, and as soon as I saw them I realised that they were a unique collection. I was concerned that they stay together as a collection, and that they be looked after. To be honest, I also realised that there was a really interesting story here. So it was that I spent some of my first wage packet from my new job on acquiring the collection - a purchase which greatly pleased the builders incidently!
One of the six volumes I purchased in December 2007.
Subsequent to this, I discovered that the volumes had been acquired by the old owner of the bookshop, Norman Peake, in the early 1970s. Apparently, in the midst of his amazing, higgle-di-piggledy warren of a shop, he read through them with great interest (indeed, I think that there is a small example of his writing on the inside cover of the earliest volume, where he notes the date-range of the subject matter contained therein).
Mr. Norman Peake, proprietor of the Scientific Anglian bookshop. © Evening News 24, 28th July 2006
At some point in the future I intend to donate this collection to the Norfolk Studies Reserve Collection at the Forum library in Norwich. This is a wonderful public resource, and I cannot think of a more appropriate place for it to end up.
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