Books Become A Grail Of Life: an article, or musing, by GF Willmetts.

Once upon a time, before the Internet existed, the only ways to find rare out-of-print books that you wanted to read were visiting the library or haunting second-hand bookshops while relying on serendipity and a bit of luck. Often, I ended up with a few SF books I might never have come across otherwise but rarely the books I really wanted to read. It provides a sense of purpose in life and offers activities to engage in while visiting different towns. It did help to know what you were looking for, even if I had to stretch the local library service to see if they had particular books hidden away somewhere just to read them.

That all changed with the Internet. It’s not surprising that, aside from the Long River website, I occasionally gravitated towards AbeBooks and Alibris, and in recent years, I’ve also been drawn to sites like eBay. The only dividing factor now was the book’s condition and expense. When you have hundreds, maybe thousands, of booksellers to choose from, you would think everything is obtainable.

Not so. Therefore, certain books hold a special significance that even the warehouse in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ cannot conceal. You still have to look around and hope they’ll pop up eventually. Books are limited editions compared to the population, even if thousands are printed. Even libraries sell off their books, so there is no guarantee they will be accessible.

Assuming some of you here collect books and have a list of those you’ve missed or are still seeking, you likely experience similar frustrations. I work on the long term in my collections, and what you want to read will show up. I have a fondness for films and TV series, many of which are difficult to find. However, I have managed to locate and watch the majority of these rare ones, demonstrating that it is possible to achieve certain goals. Well, maybe one, the 1971 BBC1 version of ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream’.

I saw it on TV when first released and thought it was a brilliant adaptation and wondered about its fate. I know the British Film Institute (BFI) has a copy on file but has no plans to release it. Considering that it has the likes of comedian Ronnie Barker as Bottom, you would have thought it was a cert to sell. Perhaps it will find its way to the market one day. At least it remains intact. Books are easy in comparison.

I note books down that I’m curious about but don’t prioritise getting, and, with some, I’m wondering why. It’s a lot easier with films because sooner or later, some might get a repeat on TV if not available on DVD, like ‘Danger Route’ from 1967. Thank the Illuminati for the UK’s Channels 82 and 14 for showing so many 1950s-70s British films.

There’s still a matter of getting to read and watch all I’ve got, but you have to be opportunistic and get it when available and affordable, then hope the prices never rise. Having said that, I’ve acquired some expensive books that remain sealed in their original plastic, which I’m hesitant to open. Although I’m not likely to sell them, they would lose any significant value if I opened them and I needed to sell them. Eventually, though, they will be read. So many books, only one lifetime, but it looks like I have a long lifetime.

I have both huge and tiny books. Not the tiniest books that need a microscope to read, mind you. I do have some limits, but below the A5 size. I am genuinely curious about them. Quite how they sold in the shops, I don’t know.

Grail books have to be different for each person, depending on their taste. Occasionally, you might have seen them once and not even remember the title. That happened with the ‘Barris TV & Movie Cars’ book showing photographs of all the custom TV and film cars he made to that point. I only saw it briefly in a bookshop and didn’t get the name, and it wasn’t there the next week, and I thought I’d never come across it again. Seeing the title here, you know I found it. I knew who built them, and it was relatively easy to track them down on the Net. You also learn to pay attention to the bibliographies in case any other book looks ‘interesting’, although a little selective.

Books that are the source of information are likely to be worth picking up, especially on mythology, because you are hardly likely to rely on modern sources. I have a set of 1920s mythology books by H.A. Guerber covering the world with picture plates—an old term for photographs— of ancient statues and paintings, putting things in perspective. I read some in the town library, and I’m glad I have my own set in case I need to refer to them. They might be less able to comment, but the author’s perspective was the stories themselves, and it comes under the category of source research books.

I haven’t determined which type of writing is harder to get published until now. Fiction stands a greater chance of getting reprinted. Non-fiction, particularly in science subjects, can become outdated, making reprinting less likely. As with the examples above, a lot of the time it’s reliving earlier times or books that stirred my memory. A big book collection, especially where so much of my 4000-plus books have been read, is a representation of my life. I absolutely love books. Far better than digital books because at least you can see what you have, and it’s far easier to read.

I do think today’s generations are going to miss out on reading books for all manner of reasons. Reading a précis or thinking about watching a film version as a shortcut for exams will miss out on what was presented in the original source book. When I was younger, I didn’t recognise any metaphors, interpreting the content in the books as mere facts before applying an analytical lens. Oddly, my years as a reviewer haven’t really changed that much. I can pick up on basic themes, but a metaphor can change with the world. Spotting suppressed societies isn’t difficult, as they are always there.

My list of grail books is getting quite short now. I have a couple of pages listing books I wouldn’t mind reading, but they are not a priority. Some might not even be worth the bother, and I’ve still got many books to read and catch up on, many of which will pop up in reviews here. Often, I stumble upon something unexpectedly at a favourable price. Sometimes it feels like I’m tuned in for the right time.

I do have two that will seem out of reach, and this is not a request for them, but more a futility that works against them. It’s being very few available and too highly priced or never popping up on the markets.

The Eye of the Painter and The Elements of Beauty, published in 1960 by Andrew Loomis, is a notable work. For those who don’t know, Andy Loomis is the key artist who has taught so many basic art drawing techniques in his other five books, but his one book devoted to painting was sadly never reprinted. A couple pop up online, but £300 plus is too rich for my blood.

Considering how well his other five books were reprinted and sold, you would have thought it would have been a cinch for all of us who learnt art from his books. I suspect getting an original copy would have been tough for any publisher. So did the artists who bought it never give up their copies, and their relatives probably throw it away? The samples of Loomis’ paintings which I’ve seen showed how outstanding an artist he was, so this has to be an advanced class.

The Champions Colouring Book from 1968. I actually saw a copy based on the ITV TV series when young in Wymans, and, rather unusually, it was designed to tell a story of the three super-humans getting a call to return to the Himalayas to help them. I only scanned a couple of pages in the shop, intending to return and purchase it with my pocket money the following week. Unfortunately, it was no longer available. I have no idea whether it was sold or returned to the warehouse, where it inevitably got pulped. Who would have wanted them? Oddly, the distribution was spotty.

I doubt that any bookshop back in the late 1960s had more than a couple of copies. The thing with this one, unlike other colouring books I’ve seen during this period, was that it told a story, and the series was originally shown at 8 o’clock at night, so it wasn’t really targeted at children.

All right, so it’s not a reading book or even a picture book as such, but the desire to see if a childhood memory is supported after so long makes it a rare find, as I doubt it will resurface. If you google it, you’ll see a cross-reference to me. Some books are clearly either forgotten or not even known. The Internet isn’t perfect.

A little musing for today, but nostalgia is never dead while there are people out there like me who pursue and read books for the pleasure they give.

© GF Willmetts 2025

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