Charles Dickens’ superstitions revealed

A first edition copy of David Copperfield, due to be auctioned by Christie’s in June, reveals the extent to the Victorian writer’s superstitious nature.

If a knife is given as a gift, the superstition goes that the relationship between giver and recipient will end soon. To avoid this a coin or other gift must be given in return.

In order to banish bad omens, the writer inscribed his own personal copy of David Copperfield (the novel he described as his ‘favourite child’) and sent it to the owner of Sheffield tool company William Brookes and Sons after the manufacturer gave Dickens a box of cutlery.

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Bavaria to print ‘unattractive’ new edition of Mein Kampf

Bavaria has announced plans to publish a specially annotated version of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto Mein Kampf in an attempt to prevent neo-Nazis exploiting the book for propaganda purposes when its copyright expires.
The state of Bavaria, which owns the copyright, has repeatedly blocked attempts to publish new editions of the book because of fears it would encourage a rebirth of the far right.
However the copyright expires at the end of 2015. Bavaria says its plan to publish a “commercially unattractive” copy is designed to prevent the book being used for propaganda.

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New Releases

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After the Snow by SD Crockett

The year is 2059. At the center of the novel is 15-year-old Willo Blake, who remembers nothing of the world before the ice and snow that characterize the apocalyptic landscape in which he lives. His world is also a brutal one, as a nebulous power structure seizes the city’s means of production, and uses bureaucratic barriers and violence, as a means of keeping the already starving population further suppressed.

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The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World by Fred Dortort

The Timber Press Guide to Succulent Plants of the World: A Comprehensive Reference to More than 2000 Species.

A comprehensive guide to more than 2000 succulents, this groundbreaking book begins with an overview of where succulents are found and how they live, along with information on growing and caring for them. The remaining chapters consist of comprehensive, richly illustrated descriptions of the plants, including both familiar species as well as less common, more exotic plants. Each entry includes information on the plant’s native habitat, its cultivation requirements, and its horticultural potential.

As useful to novice growers as to collectors and those with an existing interest in succulents, this comprehensive, accessible volume will be the standard reference for years to come.

Book of the Month

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Death: The High Cost of Living

by Neil Gaiman


‘One day in every century, Death takes on mortal flesh, better to comprehend what the lives she takes must feel like, to taste the bitter tang of mortality.’
A teenaged girl named Didi insists that she is Death personified and meets many people including a suicidal young man named Sexton, a megalomaniac known only as “The Eremite”, and Mad Hettie who is looking for her heart.

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