Hello! I’m Theresa, a new intern here at Beaufort, henceforth known as Beau Soleil. I feel my moniker is appropriate for two reasons–beautiful sun, for a summer intern–and it’s also a coy nod to my other job at an oyster bar–Beau Soleil is, of course, a boutique oyster from Canada. But anyway! Back to books!
A used bookstore in my neighborhood in Brooklyn has some vintage copies of my favorite books–not expensive first editions of classic books, but hardcovers from the 70s with fantastic covers.
It’s hard to justify buying a copy of a book I already own–but oh! The delicately frayed jackets, the charmingly dated font, that old book smell–and how nice they would look displayed on my bookshelves! (Once I have bookshelves, I mean–my library is currently supported by a wire kitchen rack.)
While you really don’t need more than one copy of a book, a beloved book, on the other hand, is hard to say no to–especially if the cover is unique, ancient, or foreign. New covers on classic books, while fun, don’t have the same thrill as unearthing a dusty relic with crumbling pages, last read decades ago. And especially treasured are old books gifted to you by someone you love–a book of my grandmother’s whose title frightened me my entire childhood (The Naked and the Dead), or my father’s copy of War and Peace from college, with his notes scratched in the margins.
So sometimes buying books is no longer just about reading them–they are for collecting, to remind yourself of earlier days and people from your past, for displaying as art objects, in lieu of wallpaper–
But, yes, most of all, for reading.