A fascinating, if somewhat spooky week at Rooke HQ. With a great many family Bibles added to our collection, as well as numerous editions of various Bond works by Ian Fleming, the excitement of the week was broken up by a large number of charmingly illustrated works about gardening, which provided us with a thankful break from ghosts and guns! But aptly, we'll start with one of our more otherworldly works...

The Ghosts of My Friends

Dated 1908, this work carries more ghosts than just its previous owners; indeed, it is a unique take on an autograph book. Created by Cecil Henland, the instructions to this interactive work detail that the user must 'Sign your name along the fold of the paper with a full pen of ink, and then double the page over without using blotting paper'. This creates a smudged 'ghost' of the user's signature, resulting in all sorts of exciting patterns and images becoming apparent. Perhaps you can see in our example, Nellie Sandifer's signature appears to be a genie floating about his lamp. Please do peruse our example of a very unusual and haunting autograph book; maybe you'll even spy the face of your firstborn child amongst its leaves!

The Excavations at Babylon

A very scarce first edition of Robert Koldewey's seminal work describing his undertakings in Ancient Babylon has been added to our collection. Koldewey was a pioneering archaeologist, who led many excavations across Asia Minor, Greece and Italy, and during his career he developed a technique used to excavate mud brick architecture. His work at Babylon remains his most well-remembered and important legacy, in particular of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Fascinating and very scarce in its own right, we enjoyed reading about the provenance of this work, which belonged to Evelyn Spottiswoode, a wealthy, divorced whisky heiress and breeder of West Highland White Terriers. Spottiswoode, who preferred to dress in tweed jackets and brogues produced for men, lived with Dorothea Macnee, the mother of actor Patrick Macnee, at Rooksnest House along with several other lesbians, staff, and as many as forty-five dogs. We enjoyed picturing the scene as Spottiswoode tried to catch a peaceful moment curled up with this exciting work!

Cool Orchids, and How to Grow Them

This aptly-titled work describes the tropical orchids as discovered, described and illustrated by Frederick William Burbidge, an explorer and botanist known for collecting numerous rare and exotic plants for the Veitch Nurseries. He introduced many remarkable plants to the United Kingdom, including pitcher plants, ferns and of course, orchids; a number of plants discovered by Burbidge have been named after him. Illustrated with beautifully coloured plates as well as vignette and full plate illustrations in black and white, we found this a charming botanical work, very cool indeed.

The Book of Fate

Another exciting occult work added to our collection this week was an 1827 edition of 'The Book of Fate, Formerly in the Possession of Napoleon Late Emperor of France'. Allegedly found amongst Napoleon's belongings following his defeat at Leipzig, the Oraculum was said to have been discovered in a Royal tomb of Egypt during a French military expedition in 1801, and subsequently translated for its new owner's use. Napoleon consulted the Oraculum often, and it was a driving force behind his successes. This is a very scarce and early edition of the English translation, and a fascinating piece of esoterica. You can peruse our other occult works here.

The Book of Wonderful Characters

Penned by editor James Caulfield known for his works describing remarkable people, this work describes all manner of incredible people from history, including Francis Battalia, a stone-eating man, Thomas 'Old Tom' Parr, who allegedly died at the ripe old age of 152, Eve Fleigen, who nourished herself on the smell of flowers alone, and Miss Atkinson, a pig-faced woman. This is a marvellous insight into the history of celebrity and the unbelievable; Caulfield's works were somewhat a precursor to circuses, freak shows and later, museums, detailing the astonishing lives (and in some cases, claims!) of the characters within. Our illustrated first edition is a scarce and insightful work, which you can peruse here.



Finally, our header comes from a 1964 first edition of children's work 'Achilles and the Twins'.