The Case of the Bookcase

One of the questions that must be addressed when amassing such a collection as this is where will you keep the books? Some kind of excellent bookcase is going to be required, as I already have piles of Three Investigators books cropping up everywhere. So out I went to look for one. At the antique centre in Doune last year, I spotted a really nice sectional bookcase with glass front. It was priced at about £400. Fan me I hear you say, that’s a fucking lot, but after watching Cracking Antiques on BBC 2, I now know that, like buying Three Investigators books, buying shitey old furniture is an investment. So I nipped up to Doune to check out if they still had it. Alas, the barn that it was displayed in was closed with no sign of re-opening, so I left empty handed. Empty handed that is, after looking through the part of the antique centre that was open. Frankly, the stuff they had was exactly the same as what they had the last two times I was there. If you are reading this, Doune Antique Centre, CHANGE YOUR STUFF! Actually I had a nice scone and jam in the café. This Three Investigators collecting lark has its benefits.

On the trail of a decent bookcase, I also went to the antique centre at Garrion Bridge. They didn’t have anything decent either, so I nipped down to the Clydeside Antiques centre. They did have exactly the bookcase I was after, but it had a big sticker on it declaring it had been “SOLD”. So I had a sniff around and I found this:

A Three Investigators Sized bookcase if ever I saw one. Complete with classy glass doors. And at only £35, surely the best bargain I’ve found since I started this collection. It smells a bit like old furniture, which goes well with my Three Investigators books, which smell a bit like old Three Investigators books. I reckon it will hold a full set of hardbacks and about a third of the set of paperbacks, so I will probably need something else at some point, but this will do for now. I actually bought a cheap bookcase for £20 in Argos last year for my flat. It’s shelves are already buckling under the strain. This one has been kicking around since the 1930s by the looks of things, so I know what was the better deal.

Here is what my collection now looks like:

Here it is in all its glory:

Nice, eh?