Croeso y Gelli
Have you ever wondered what happened to the millions of old books that get discarded weekly ? Many will end up in landfill or be burned, but one small town in Wales found old books gave a new lifeline. In 1960 an Oxford graduate, whose family had lived in town since 1903, founded a small used book store.
Move forward to 1977 and Richard Booth was in a boat on the Wye River when he raised a flag and declared Hay on Wye to be an independent kingdom. Some say he even declared himself to be the new monarch of the kingdom. Yes, it was a publicity stunt. Richard is a bibliophile and he has made his living by selling used books. He had chosen the town of Hay on Wye for his first bookstore. The result is a town that is known worldwide by bibliophiles.
There are now some thirty bookshops in a town that has a population of less than 2,000 inhabitants. The enthusiasm of bibliophiles to move to Hay and set up shop has resulted in the old cinema becoming a bookshop, even the castle remains are a bookstore and there are specialized stores selling maps and poetry. At any moment it is believed that the number of books in Hay runs into several millions. Richard Booth’s bookshop is still there, a reminder of how it all started.
Once a year there is a festival at Hay which attracts thousands of visitors who come to browse through the old books as well as listen to new authors talk of their latest works. Hay was chosen as the venue in England for Bill Clinton to launch his biography.
I last visited Hay two years ago, it reminded me of some things that I missed from the UK. There is something fascinating about being able to browse through the volumes, finding something that you have been seeking for years and coming away with the precious volume for an almost trivial price. It was at Hay that I picked up a copy of ‘Flame Bearers in Welsh History’, the standard history text used in Welsh schools over 100 years ago.
There are other towns that have followed Hay, notably Wigtown in Scotland, but Hay remains my favorite. Where else could you pick up ‘Dr. Butler’s Atlas of Modern Geography’ dated 1846, or the 1868 edition of ‘A practical treatise on the hive and honey bee’ ? Of course, not all volumes are old, there is a thriving trade in paperpbacks which includes everything from last month’s favorite to romances and science fiction of the 1960’s.
What would happen without these booklovers ? In 150 years time will we still find stores trading in Compact Discs ? Audio tapes are already a part of history, gramophone records were discarded in their millions to make way for these products.
The demand of students now for the latest technology, for speed, for moving visual effects, is something that colleges have to try and meet. That has resulted in many books being turned into electronic documents and many being discarded.
As I retrieved a copy of ‘A history of civilization’ this week (the title seems somehow appropriate) I paused and wondered whether any of these volumes might end up at a bookstore in Hay. There is a part of me that hopes that they will.
If you are fortunate to travel in the United Kingdom and visit Hay then I hope you also find time to visit Lichfield Cathedral to look at the Saint Teilo Gospels. The handwritten manuscripts date from 730 AD (over 1200 years old), possibly the oldest handwritten books in the United Kingdom.
Perhaps in another 150 years someone else will pick up Henry Beard’s ‘Latin for all occasions’ and enjoy a few choice phrases.
Will the printed word ever be replaced completely by electronic documents ?
Nullo modo !