A grand day out
The last time I posted I mentioned that I had donated 350 of my husband’s books to Robinson College in Cambridge. Last week I returned to Cambridge, the city where Peter and I met and got married. His books have now been catalogued by Robinson’s splendid librarian, Judith Brown. I had lunch with her and saw where the books are housed. I’m delighted that they have found such a good home and touched that they have been kept together as the Peter Blundell Jones collection. There is even a chair so that students and researchers can sit and browse. An inspiration for a new generation, I hope.
Next stop was the new crime fiction bookshop, Bodies in the Bookshop, which I’d been wanting to visit since it opened a few months ago. And what a treat that was! I had a lovely chat with Richard Reynolds and spent a happy hour browsing the shelves. There is a huge range of both new and second hand books, and fellow lovers of Golden Age crime fiction will find plenty here to tempt them. My purchases included books by Rex Stout, Margery Allingham, John Dickson Carr, and Carolyn Wells (appropriately Murder in the Bookshop). I will be back!
4 Comments
Margot Kinberg
October 7, 2024I’m so glad those books have a wonderful new home, so they can be used and enjoyed. It’s also a lovely memorial, too. Your entire day sounds terrific, and I’m glad you had the chance to go.
Christine Poulson
October 7, 2024Thanks so much, Margot. It was lovely to see them there – poignant, too, thinking of all those years ago when Peter and I first met.
John Sergeant
October 10, 2024Dear Chrissie,
I’m so pleased that it all came to fruition, and above all that you were delighted that Judith and Robinson did you and Peter proud. Before you both met he and I had our fifteen minutes of fame by organising a unique symposium on Organic Architecture at both the Bartlett, UCL. and Architectural Association (AA). We had no budget, no grant, and had contributors from Germany, Julius Posener, Belgium, Lucien Kroll, Sweden, Ralph Erskine and the USA., Bruce Goff. The audiences kept growing and we had to find larger halls at short notice, finally buses brought architecture students from all over the country and we hired Friends House (1200 capacity) which had no projection facilities. My students made a screen from sheets and scaffold poles which was let down from the clerestorey windows. We had charity bowls on the landings to pay for the hire. Those were the days!
Do let me know when you plan to visit Cambridge again so we can coincide plans. Thank you, Chrissie. John Sergeant
Christine Poulson
October 10, 2024What a wonderful event! It’s lovely to hear about this. Thank you, John. I see the acquisition of Peter’s books by Robinson as a continuation of your friendship which I know meant a lot to him. Yes, it would be good to meet. Will be in touch.