We're all in search of Holy Grails.

Long ago (we are thinking about five years ago), I attended a book sale at the Boston Public Library with a friend who cited her interest in looking for her "holy grail" of books. I can't remember the title of the book, but I finally realized what I should call my ultimate book finds when I go used book shopping: Holy Grails.

And guess what? Just the other week I managed to find one! And a few crown jewels. I have to say that there must have been someone in the DC area who collects just what I do, and I managed to get there at the right time to find them. My interest in book collecting stems back to when I was perhaps in my early teens, if that, and I discovered a previously unknown book to me by Frances Hodgson Burnett called T. Tembaron at my local library's book sale. Up until that point, I had no idea that she had written anything other than A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, which are the ones you can typically find in print at bookstores. That started a lifetime of collecting the works of Burnett and other children's authors. Little by little, I am finding them all across the world (as I have found them in Wales and Scotland in addition to the United States). My main collecting focus is, oddly enough, Victorian children's literature, especially that with a moralistic bent, and books of facts.

So, I came full circle the other day when I stumbled across a first edition of the book, T. Tembaron, but this time with a dust cover. It might not be in the best shape, but it is all mine!

Then, in the "collectible children's literature" section, I came across a first edition of Elizabeth Marie Pope's The Perilous Gard, of which I actually own two softcover copies because I almost wore out the first so I thought it best to buy another when I saw it. I loved that book growing up. It's a retelling of the Tam Lin story, only set during the reign of Queen Mary (and into Queen Elizabeth). I only wish that Pope had written more than two novels. From what I read somewhere, she had a brilliant idea for a fourth book, but was stuck on the third, and then she died. Alas!

Finally, the Holy Grail (in minor) was a first edition of a Sally Watson book. It wasn't from the series that I am most fond of (her Scotland series), but this was the first time in all of my years of searching that I found one of her books in a used book sale of any type. So exciting!

To top it off, I found an 1833 copy of Cobb's Expositor, or Sequel to the Spelling-Book which has poetry written in the blank pages. Poetry! I love old books that has writing in it. It makes me happy.

What do you love to collect? Do you have any "holy grails" waiting to be found?