Our thanks to Pete Johnstone for sharing one of his latest West Wight People and Place stories with OnTheWight readers. Ed
It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to photograph Gail and Nick, who run Mrs Middlebrow’s Bookshop in Freshwater, recently as part of the West Wight People and Place project and to celebrate a notable bookshop anniversary.
Established in 2015, the bookshop is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year in the village.
“We scour the UK for scarce antiquarian titles”
The bookshop has a wide variety of books on sale. Gail says,
“However, one of our passions is Isle of Wight history, we scour the UK for scarce antiquarian titles, returning them home to the Island.”
Two examples of book acquisitions include a small volume of Thomas Hood’s poetry, which displays a dedication, written by local Victorian photographer Julia Margaret Cameron to Anne Thackery Ritchie (daughter of novelist William Makepeace Thackeray).
The second example is a beautiful leather-bound volume of Sir Richard Worsley’s History of the Isle of Wight dated 1782, which reveals an interesting Island association having originated from Henry Oglander’s library at Nunwell in Brading.
Oglander’s library broken up for sale after his death
The Oglander family date back to Norman times and research undertaken by Gail and Nick found that Henry’s library was broken up for sale far and wide after his death in 1874.
Gail says,
“We were delighted to find this exquisite example of a scarce and important Isle of Wight book and return it to the Isle of Wight.
“We also discovered the privately owned Royal Collection holds one of Oglander family books with the same bookplate as the one we hold.”
A natural supporters of a zero-waste economy
During the photoshoot we talked about the increasing number of new shops in Freshwater specialising in Retro and Vintage.
Nick said,
“This is good news as it’s a form of reuse and recycling.
“As a second-hand bookseller, we are natural supporters of a zero-waste economy.
“With more people visiting these specialist shops it can only be good for the local economy.”
You can follow Pete Johnstone on Instagram and read more of his stories published on the Isle of Wight Biosphere website.
