What have you found written in second-hand books?

[mothman]

You'll all be disappointed to learn that the nude (but tasteful) photograph of my wife, which I'd been using as a bookmark about ten years ago, has been found still on these premises. I'd long feared it had been left in one of the many new-release hardcover SF books my brother used to pass on to me (and I'd then give to a charity shop after reading). Instead she found it in her copy of Andrey Kurkov's Death And The Penguin, strangely.

[v00n]

Perhaps because of the allegations about Koestler, perhaps simply a bored student.

Rape allegations, most of which were confirmed. He also shopped one of his girlfriends to the Russian Secret Police.

CUNT indeed.

[jobotic]

That's a real "separate the art from the artist" conundrum for me. It's years since I've read it but have recently had a real urge to do so again, as it is a fantastic book. But yes, the man was a cunt.

(Victor Serge's The Case of Comrade Tulayev is perhaps better though and not written by a rapist).

[SpiderChrist]

Found a telephone contact list for a London Alcoholics Anonymous group in my copy of John Lennon's In His Own Write.

[cacciaguida]

You'll all be disappointed to learn that the nude (but tasteful) photograph of my wife, which I'd been using as a bookmark about ten years ago, has been found still on these premises. I'd long feared it had been left in one of the many new-release hardcover SF books my brother used to pass on to me (and I'd then give to a charity shop after reading). Instead she found it in her copy of Andrey Kurkov's Death And The Penguin, strangely.

Ha! That also reminds me to re-read DatP. Enjoyed it tremendously 10 or so years ago.

[pigamus]

Found a telephone contact list for a London Alcoholics Anonymous group in my copy of John Lennon's In His Own Write.

Doesn't Barbara Bach have beautiful handwriting?

[Swift]

Off the top of my head of books I have lying around...

Inside a penguin copy of Laurence Sterne's A Sentimental Journey, a label affixed to the front page stating that the book was bought in the Shandy Hall museum in 1982, and a picture postcard like advertisement for the Forresters Arms Hotel which google confirms as being nearby. 10 quid per person for bed and breakfast!

A penguin copy of Beowulf inscribed "C.R. Harrington, 1957" with a sticker stating "Canadian IGY Base, Lake Hazen, Ellesmere Island, N.W.T." and the coordinates. Related to this scientific project.

A hardback of a H.G. Wells book of the era with a dedication to someone "Happy Xmas 1916"

One of Jimmy Greaves' many books with original 1993 receipt, picked up last summer in a small Canadian mountain town.

Never really had much scribbling in books. The only one that stands out (and is not particularly interesting) was a rough sketch of northern France (presumably by a tourist) in a copy of Dubliners

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm reading "Gun, With Occasional Music" by Jonathan Lethem at the mo, and sadly the previous owner was the world's most literal note-taker. Every now and again, a paragraph will be highlighted, and in the margins it will say something like "Conrad is a drug addict". Perhaps they were just writing a very basic book review for a class, I suppose.

[Inspector Norse]

Got a book from the library last week and inside, having presumably been used as a bookmark, was a business card for the Senior Educator at the Nobel Prize Museum.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Bought a 2nd hand copy of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch and found a 17 year old clipping about Jackie Brown inside.