Ok...this is a bit of a tale. However, I'd been looking for "'Pi' in the Sky" by W.F.J. Harvey for some time. It's a history of 22 Sqn during the First World War written by a pilot who flew Bristol F2b Fighters with 22 Sqn. However, prices were beyond my reach, typically around $250 before postage. I did find a "version" for $67 but it was a bound photocopy of the original...definitely not something I'm interested in buying, and absolutely not for $67!
A friend pointed me to an original copy that was much more reasonably priced...just $70 but postage was exorbitant. "No problem" methinks, "We're heading back to Blighty for a family holiday, so I'll just get it delivered to my Mum's house and we can pick it up after we arrive in-country." (my dear old Mum had been visiting us in the States and we were flying back en masse with her). The same source also had a cheap copy of Norman Franks' "Dogfight" about the tactics of WW1 fighter aces...so I put that in the shopping cart, too.
With both books duly ordered, and feeling rather smug with myself, we arrived at my Mum's to be confronted with a note from the Royal Mail to the effect that "Nobody was home when we delivered these 2 parcels so we put them in a safe place...the green bin used for garden waste." A look in the bin revealed it was entirely empty because, apparently, the bin men had been round the day before.
I had a terrible sinking feeling that my two books were now being composted among my Mum's neighbours' grass cuttings and privet hedge trimmings. Unfortunately, by the time we got ourselves sorted, it was too late to drive to the "local" Royal Mail facility. However, I was all geared up to go in all-guns-blazing the next day to ask why on earth the postman thought it was a good idea to put parcels into a bin that would be emptied?
The following morning, my Mum's neighbour came round to welcome her home...and to deliver two parcels that she'd retrieved from the bin because she saw the postman put them in there and she was worried that they might get mixed up with garden waste.
Gleefully (my wife would say giddily) I opened the parcels and, sure enough, there were my two books. The Norman Franks book really is interesting, providing details of formations and the tactics employed throughout the First World War. The book was in excellent condition for the relatively small price I paid.
The Harvey book was larger than I'd expected, being A4 sized albeit a rather slim volume. It was in very good overall condition with some slight damage to the spine.
Thrilled, I opened the book to look at the contents...and what should I find on the first page?
Yep...the book was signed by the author. There was no mention of any inscription in the blurb associated with the book. If unsigned copies are being peddled for $250, I can't imagine what a signed copy might be worth.
I was hugely grateful to my Mum's neighbour for having the presence of mind to retrieve the parcels from the bin. Just getting the book was a huge relief given the foreboding news implied by the Royal Mail's "we put them in the bin" note. To say I'm thrilled to now own a signed copy of the book is a considerable understatement.
Wish I knew why good fortune smiled on me so many times throughout this purchase...but I'm a very happy man. I'm also extremely glad a signed copy of this book wasn't composted with the garden waste.