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March 29, 2024, 08:13:31 AM

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Charity/second hand finds

Started by MoonDust, January 08, 2018, 12:09:31 PM

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MoonDust

Found a book by George Holmes called Europe: Hierarchy and Revolt 1320 - 1450 in my local Oxfam bookshop. Was published in 1975 and I think it's now out of print, which is a shame because it's really good!

It mainly centres around Italian, French, German and papal politics in the late medieval period, something which up until now I know nothing about. It's very well written and accessible, and the author seems to have a good materialist/class-based analysis on the political upheavals of that period.

Lots of things I didn't know about, such as the pope residing in Avignon in France, rather than the Vatican, for most of the 14th century. Also didn't realise how loose the pope's authority was. I always imagined in the middle ages that the pope had lots of authority, when in fact the papacy was dogged by kings and nobleman all over Europe constantly challenging his authority and fighting against him.

Reasserts my belief I've had for ages that even in the middle ages, the workings of the church and European kings was way more to do with politics than it was religion. Even the crusades. The popes would normally call for a crusade whenever there was major wars going on in Europe. Crusades were a means to stabilise European politics as it would unite European kings under one cause. They had little to do with religion.

Glad I found this book. Opened up a new period of history to me.

Tell us about your second hand finds. Maybe from similar books that are good but no longer in print.

Attila

Years ago I bought a treadle Singer sewing machine from about 1904 for $15. Fixed up its oak case and that, but had no clue how to get the thing up and running (and was especially mystified on how to thread and refill its oscillating shuttle). By chance I was browsing a second hand shop near the university and found an old hardback Singer sewing course textbook from roughly the same time period. in addition to sewing basics, it had complete instructions on how to clean and maintain several of the then-current treadle modules, including mine. (Eventually I got a copy of the owner's manual for this specific machine, as Singer will send you a copy from their files -- but it was nowhere near as detailed or useful as this textbook -- best $2 I ever spent on sewing stuff).

That machine became my main sewing machine for years. Like everything else I own, it's been stuck in storage since I moved over here; I'd give a lot to have access to it again.