One sad part of the story is that the condition of the books may be due to Arthur’s death. I imagine Nell putting the books away since they were painful reminders of her loss. What a poignant story and a great piece of research.
Arthur John Gray was a captain in the 1/1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire regiment. He was killed in action 31st July 1917 and is buried in the Buffs Road Cemetery. He was the fiancée of Eleanor Fison of Fison’s Farm, Fen Ditton. Eleanor Fison was born in 1890 and lived with her family on Fison Farm in Fen Ditton. The 1911 entry lists her as an "art pupil teacher." She trained as a nurse and following the death of her fiancée, Arthur Gray, a book binder in Green Street, her career took her to several places abroad including Egypt. On her return to England she married Douglas Osborne Nicholes in 1926 and moved to 34 Rock Road. In 2017 Eleanor Fison and Douglas Nicholes' daughter, Pam Nicholes, described her mother’s early years and how she had met Douglas Nicholes. You can hear her daughter (born in 1928) talking about her mother (who got fed up with her sisters on the farm) and Pam talks about Arthur Gray who owned a bookbinding business on Grove Street. After Arthur was killed in the war, her mother Eleanor was "sent off" to work as a nurse for Prince Valdimar of Hesse, and then to work for another Prince, and then to work for King Farouk [though I think she likely meant King Fuad, who ascended the throne in 1917, and was King Farouk's father] in Egypt (to serve as a nurse because she was apparently quite a good one). Elanor met her husband Douglas at a birthday party after she returned from her job in Egypt. Douglas has served with the 3-4-7 in Egypt, and so they had Egypt in common. [Note: she mentioned artillery at one point, and the British 7th Mountain Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery was stationed in Egypt in WWI See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Garrison_Artillery). Audio interview of Pam Nicholes (Eleanor's daughter) link: capturingcambridge.org/places-in-south-cambridgeshire/fen-ditton/fison-farm-fen-ditton/. Arthur John Gray was born in 1892. He was educated at the Pearse school and then became a bookbinder. He joined the British Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Cambridgeshire Regiment. He then became a Captain in the 1st Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, and then a Captain in the Cambridgeshire Regiment. He died in Belgium on July 31, 1917 at the age of 25. Eleanor would have been 27 when John was killed. He is buried at Buffs Road Cemetery, CWGC Cemetery/Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, C.12. livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1425220 Arthur John Gray timeline: livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1425220 Brief History of the Cambridgeshire regiment: www.friendsofthesuffolkregiment.org/the-cambridgeshire-regiment.html#:~:text=For%20overseas%20service%2C%20the%201,the%2082nd%20Brigade%2C%2027th%20Division. I am curious to know which medals Arthur John Gray was awarded in WWI and the link to the site where you found them.
I like to think Nellie kept those books lovingly stored in their boxes tucked away in a closet or on a shelf all her life. The reason they look like they were bound just yesterday is because it was too painful for her to take them out and look through them very much, if at all, but she just couldn’t bear to part with them. They were probably one of the few things she had left of Arthur to remember him by. Truly a reminder that some books are more than leafs of bound paper with words printed on them.
A J G is buried in the Buffs Road Cemetery near Ypres: 1/1 Cambridge Regt GRAY Lt. A.J. died 1.8.17 ROW C grave 12 also shown as Captain A J Gray, died 31.7.17 son of Mr A B Gray of Cambridge. There is no personal message on his headstone.
is it possible to commission the cemetery to add a personal message honoring Eleanor and his bookbinding efforts? I suppose that's a matter of the descendants of the pair...
I’m sure that you’re right about that. At the time it was the next of kin who chose. I think that many felt that the austere and solemn dignity of the plain tombstone with name and dates was the right choice, and kept their grief personal and private.
In a death notice in the local paper his parents said “only and dearly-beloved son”. There was a short biography in the press too, which said that his friends had thought that he had a bright future with his artistic skills; and that he “was beginning to make a name by bookbindings designed and executed by himself” (Cambridge Independent Press 10 Aug 1917, Saffron Walden Weekly News same date).
@@Charstring thank you for reframing it in that way, before I would have thought it could only be positive to bring attention to someone by engraving something special about them into their tombstone, but you made me realize the possibility that those close to the deceased may not want such an engraving or may even consider such a thing as negative
I never expected a book video to leave me in tears. What a beautiful and at the same time tragic story. I don`t know if you will keep the books yourself, but if they are going to be sold, I hope they will be sold together. That way Nell and Arthur can continue their journey through time together in some way.
I was just going to say, I thought I was just watching a video about beautiful books. Even with the word tragic in the title, it didn't occur to me how tragic. 😢 Beautifully told, though.
And yes, I do hope they're sold together. I guess it's too much to ask that they be returned to her descendants - they probably didn't want them. That's why they were sold in the first place. But if the books can stay together, and maybe include the story of how they were made, by whom, and for whom, that would be so lovely. And maybe somebody will see this video, and contact the creator specifically to purchase them.
@@LoriPeaceYes, if, they should be sold as a bundle and hopefully with a letter about the findings. I do find that these two books with this knowledge have become more of a historical subject, more so than just being stunning books, and should be treated as such. Also makes you wonder, whether these books could have been engagement and wedding gifts accordingly. Tragic, yet beautiful, story.
"I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another." - All Quite on the Western Front
@@daftirishmarej1827Yes it is an exquisitely painful, deep and moving book. It completely describes the utter futility and tragedy of war on both sides.
@@daftirishmarej1827 Read Shadow of the Wind, published in the early 2000's. It has some of the most beautiful language I've ever read; I have pages of quotes from the book. Hope you enjoy!
I am fascinated by old cookbooks, THE most treasured ones I have are the ones where someone wrote in the margins to "correct" a recipe and make it more to their liking. The best ones have a butter stain, or clipped recipes from magazines or newspapers, better, a hand written card. Knowing this, my husband bought me one, full of clippings and notes, the spine is broken, the pages have a tomato sauce stain, but it was inscribed "To Delia Jameson, from Uncle John, Xmas 1912" and inside was a newspaper clipping, from my hometown, on the unveiling of a statue in 1922 I got curious, and with a grave finder, and census records, I was able to find out that not only had Delia lost her husband in WW1, but all 5 of her grandsons in WW2 She died in 1975
@@Grace-ms7un HA! I wrote some things for the Picayune back in the 70s. I see my time in NOLA as a missed opportunity as I didn't pay attention to the cook books in the thrift shops when I was there. * le sigh * Have you ever made any of the recipes?
@@Bluebelle51 not exactly but i definitely improved my seasoning game. I started paying attention to what spices went together how they got added to the dishes. Now i have seasoning recipe cards to make my own seasoning blends.
@@FigaroHey Not necessarily. Gifted is also the past participle of the verb to gift. Its use thus has been traced back to 1644, see Mirriam-Webster dictionary.
Loss, reminds me of an old lady showing me a locket photo of her fiancé killed in WWI, while waiting for a bus in 1966, now I'm the old lady and always remember her. The clam shell boxes did their job, the books are objects of beauty.
There is a poignancy to this comment, and it is something I grow more and more aware of as I move further and further into life. That you so much for sharing that memory.
@@jeme7339 The poster and the old lady were waiting for the bus in 1966. Now the poster is the old lady and will always remember the lady with the locket that she met while waiting for the bus in 1966. It's okay, you just need more caffeine.
I didn’t think I could be more impressed with you, but you have proven me wrong. This was so tender, so sweet and heartfelt that I am just in tears over it. I think those books, and Nellie and Arthur’s story was waiting for you, coming through the decades, waiting for a kind and gentle book loving soul to be ready to receive them and tell their story.
What a beautiful and heartbreaking story. Nell obviously loved Arthur to have kept them and Arthur obviously loved Nell. He cared about subjects she was interested so he put so much care in binding the books. What wonderful gifts.
In a foreign field he lay Lonely soldier, unknown grave On his dying words he prays Tell the world of Paschendale Relive all that he's been through Last communion of his soul Rust your bullets with his tears Let me tell you 'bout his years
Though the book story was sad, at least the woman went on doing good with her life, at least she wasn’t prostrated. Now, however, reading this lyric poem in entirety for the first time, wow that did bring tears to my eyes! Thanks for your post!
Oh, wow, i wasn't ready 😭 thank you for sharing this. Also, the fact that Peter Pan stays forever young and that Arthur, dying as a child will never get to grow up into the adult he should have been 😭😭
There are many stories hidden in older common objects - books, watches, silverware, mirrors, lamps, etc. Stories we will never know. Your tale of the two books is a powerful reminder of loves and losses, gifts and their givers, smiles and gratitude - all those emotional elements that are somehow embedded in an object that we may have inherited or purchased as an antique. It adds to the value of the object just knowing, or most often, fantasizing as to its history. I much "enjoyed" your emotionally respectful recounting of the love story of Nell and Arthur. Thank you for the time and effort you put into the research and your thoughtful presentation.
This is my first video of yours and it broke my heart, not only seeing the beautiful books, and hearing the tragic story, but seeing you, so deeply, deeply moved by their story of lost love in pointless war. Thank you for sharing this heart breaking story with us. You gave them another moment of life as you spoke of them, and I think it was truly beautiful. Thank you.
It’s so odd how the story of 2 people you never knew about and have never heard of can bring someone to tears. Such an amazing story about 2 people who very obviously loved each other with all their hearts. THANK YOU!!! For making this video and telling us about the lives of 2 people.
Thank you. It's one moment from the thousands of lives ripped at that time. Thank you for giving their story the humanity and life they deserve. If you ever sell these, please include a letter with your findings. In fact, maybe prepare the letter now on acid free paper and slip it into the boxes, so that no matter what, their story will definitely travel with the fine craftsmanship of these books.
I think that's an excellent idea. Another person might not know how to go about researching these people's lives, but they might really enjoy knowing about them.
That was very moving. It made me think of the tiny little bible in a locket that was given to me when I was a child by a lovely woman named Lil Sparkes. She and her husband Charlie lived in a small rural home near my grandparents. They moved there from Montreal after he returned from WWI, having been severely gassed and with shell shock. He was not expected to live long, but over 50 years later they were still alive to make me tea and give me that tiny bible which I still have (I'm 62). A happier ending than our poor Nell and Arthur.
Hello Tom, As a pensioner on state pension, I cannot own books like which you show us.. But I do love looking at the wonderful books which you highlight. I collect Romany of the BBC books, which are very cheap. Some are first editions , some are signed, but to me they are invaluable. The first naturalist on the air, and prerunner to others , like David Attenborough, and Chris Packham, as a child they motivated me to engage with nature, . I didn't read Enid Blyton, I read these books, and I owe so much to them. They enriched my life. Joan
Thank you for sharing your diligent tracing of the story. It is masterful. Those books are relics of love, loss and constancy. So personal. There is a potency in holding a book that was printed during the life of the author--and all the people--or person--who bought it or was gifted held it. An incredibly touching episode.
To have these books in such perfect condition there almost had to be a tragedy. If Arthur had survived, if they’d married and had children, these books would almost certainly have been treasured, but they would have been handled and read numerous times, by children and probably grandchildren, and they would bear the marks of time and use. I don’t know how to end this comment any more than you knew how to end the video. Sometimes beauty springs from tragedy. But it doesn’t make it any less tragic.
Please keep searching. Find her descendants and tell them the story. You and others have truly renewed my love for books that tell a story in more ways than one. Thank you.
I suspect she didn't have any descendants. So many men died in WWI that there were loads of widows and unmarried women after it that many couldn't find a husband even if they wanted one. If Nell spent he life nursing in far flung places it is probably because she had no family ties. 😢
from my short research with the siteTom mentioned in the video, she had a daughter called Pam Nicholes. Sadly I also found an announcement for the death of a Pam Nicholes in Cambridge earlier this year, looking for claimants. This is likely how Tom managed to acquirethe books in the first place.
Yes, these would be discovered out of a death estate rather than "come up" somewhere to then be reintroduced to the original owners. That's how it usually goes. And the gossip only really places importance on these family affairs once it's no longer in the privacy of the family. If you're feeling emotional as the fly on the wall about somebody's life, you'd do better to live more carefully for your own. I know I would only be ridiculed if I were to suggest something like, binding the modern equivalent of loose printings. That would be taking the digital edition of a video game, and producing it as a an individual physical edition, which is scantly even legal in this modern copyright world. And if permissable it would only be taken as fiddling with plastic toys, without the regality of something like pearly white Roman statues with their anime figurine paints worn off.
What a very moving story and thank you so much for bringing it to us. Two beautiful books revealing a heartbreaking story of love, duty and loss. I’m not ashamed to say that as a 62 year old man, I shed a tear. Bless you.
You brought this beautiful and touching story to life while bringing me to silent tears. Arthur's work , so accomplished and aesthetically pleasing to these uninitiated eyes spoke so clearly of a pronounced and dedicated love for his Nell... Such a beautiful way to start my day, with the delicate hush still hanging in the air. Thank you. ❤
Those books hold a story, and much more than the ones in their words. I’ve often said you can look at an old book and almost see the people who had them before and also that we leave as much of ourselves with a book/story as we take with us but the two books you have there…. Words cannot express the solemness of their own stories that are connected to them, just wow!
This is the Internet at it's best. A thoughtful, informative video with excellent commentary by someone who has done the research. It's even better because of the further research done by viewers of the video which complete the story. Thank you for posting this and for the people who continued the work. They really are beautiful books too.
What a sad, amazing story! I'm a librarian and I know how many stories (and how mach history) books can tell beyond the words: I believe books are fragments of eternity
This must be the finest story I have watched since I joined YT. We’re in London on a visit soon, and as part of looking at what to do the Florence Nightingale Museum is on my radar, as much because I’m presently reading a Woodham - Smith (Constable, 1991) biography on this iconic female.
This is a wonderful video. I love the stories behind the books, even when there’s a tragic undertone. I have a first printing of Byron’s _Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage_ in absolutely dreadful condition. It’s extremely worn and has various names and dates and notes scribbled throughout. Yet I don’t mind. Researching its provenance and the previous owners has been fun, albeit very challenging. Above all else, actually reading the book itself is a joy.
in a certain way I like to think you've kept him and his love alive. I think we all just want to matter and have an impact on each other. "Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways, men can be immortal."
Thank you Tom for sharing this, and giving life to this love story again after 114 years. It's incredible to hear, and it leads me to reflect on just how many other love stories were cut short because of WWI. I too find myself at a loss for words, but I'm so thankful to know a little about Nell and Arthur now. You were meant to find these books
It never ceases to amaze me finding out about the history of everyday objects. Thankfully books are easier to track the history of. Those are absolutely gorgeous books and in such great condition. Absolutely and utterly heartbreaking story though.
Thank you for tracing and researching the stories of the lives of the people who at one point in time, owned these wonderful objects. We defeat death, by remembering those who had lived before us. Please continue telling their stories.
As sir Terry Pratchett said - “No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”
Thank you for doing that research. This really is a sad love story. It is truly sad that someone that could create such beautiful books died in such a horrible way. To many people die in wars that should never have occurred. The fact that Nell kept these books in such condition shows you how much love she had for him. As a widow myself there are certain objects I have that I would be heart broken if anything happened to them. That is love. Thank you again!
I recently bought a box of very plain books from the sixties. "Three kilograms of Reclam books" for (I think) 5 Euros. They are from the GDR, very small print (saving paper), simple paper-back books. I thought that the seller was one of those people who clean out deceased's home at the request of the descendants. In a couple of the books I found a simple rubber stamp with a name. In some other books I found the same name, prefixed with a "Dr." So I googled him. And he turned out to be a well-known university professor in East Berlin who had died last year. And only then I had a look at the sender's name. According to the Wikipedia page it most probably was his son (the name matched). Given the research subject of this professor, which is close to my own long-ago studies, a large part of the books actually interest me very much, and the discovery of the name of the previous owner created an odd sort of lien (is this the right word?). Without the slightest reason, these books have now become a lot more valuable to me than they were when I had received them and opened the box. Odd, but that's how people work, it seems. At least I do.
Occasionally the UA-cam algorithm unearths a gem. Thank you so much. For me this is about the patina of meaning that gets attached to objects. What is a treasured memory? What does it mean? What is value? I once spent a long time with thinking about the artistic impulse: why paint pictures? Of course there is a market aspect but in the end I decided that capturing light in colour had to do with wanting to share energetic vibration. The craft you are sharing extends that idea. The care ( for which read love) that one person put into the outer wrapping of someone else's created work adds a completely other dimension to the meaning of the actual work itself. Clearly they were treasured by the recipient but in a very bittersweet way. Too beautiful and painful to be actually read. Hence the condition you found them in more than a century later. You have touched this 63yo single man very deeply.
Hearthbreaking... These books found you, not otherwise. Their story was supposed to be found when we are so close to 31 July. Thank you for taking the time to research all this. It is such a special way to honour their life, after so many years. I hope you can find somehow their descendants.
Excellent research and great story. So often items are unique from history and you know they carry a story but so often there are not enough clues to go on to find the roots and origins. I don’t think it is such a sad story though. A romantic story that is the most appreciated does not end as “and they lived happily ever after”. Those stories are for children’s books and I guess how Disney used to make movies. WWI I guess is still remembered in England because it had such a huge impact. I live in Texas and my family left England in 1660. In our family the only member who found himself in a French trench at the Battle of Argon was my Uncle Ferguson Hussey. He was gassed in the last gas attack from the Germans and it was mustard gas. He lost 1/3 of his lungs but he returned to Oklahoma and took up farming and bootlegging. He ended up being targeted by a rival mob gang and was burned to death in his home in Jan of 1934. The only other impact WWI had on our family was the fact that we made allot of money off the price of wheat, cotton and oil. We were involved in those businesses at that time. But I don’t find the story you told to be sad, but instead we should be so lucky to at least know the story. I was hopping you would be able to tell us what became of the girl though. Did she go on to marry another and have a family? Obviously they are all dead now because they would be 134 years old. So you knew ahead of time that who ever or what ever the story was, the owners were long dead. I often watch these You Tube films where they show old photos that have been colorized and think… “that kid is long dead… that lady is dead…. Those horses are dead… etc…. And wonder what their story was. In your case you struck it rich with an actual story… good going and thank you for putting it up on You Tube!
oh, Tom. This story. May the person who comes to take care of and love these beautiful books remember them and think of them in quiet moments with the books.
This story, no. But stories? History? Collection? archives? The digital will imprint our small stories in history just as physical has. There will be (and are) stories from digital loss and discovery carrying memories and humanity towards the future.
What an incredibly moving story! As the rare books cataloguer at Dartmouth College, like you, I loved to research the often unrealized stories associated with some of the volumes that came across my desk. And, likewise, the books that found their way into my own collections -- sometimes as serendipitously as the two you described, but none with the poignancy of your wonderful acquisitions. Thanks for sharing your heart wrenching tale; it should be an inspiration to all fellow bibliophiles.
A particularly great video, Tom. I am glad these books found their way to you, many others wouldn't have given them such a careful look. I also really appreciate your lack of editing/jump cuts and your genuine interest and passion. You told this story in a dignified and thoughtful way. It is a sad story, of course, but also beautiful in its way, much like these books themselves.
I could not just move on, after this, to the next video in the playlist. I paused it, just as you were reaching to stop it, it seemed, and I thought for several minutes about Nellie and her Arthur. It made me think of books I have and have had, and how often I had wondered about prior owners. i will still wonder, but it might be a little easier now, to accept that I will never know.
Wonderful video Tom, if not touched with sadness. Yet despite that, a thread of love through these books, a deep human connection between the past and the present through the beauty of books and for that we can all be grateful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this video. I appreciate your sensitivity about the horrible events so many years ago. The cruelty of war really cannot be comprehended in it's totality - even a small glimpse is heartrending.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful books, and the heartbreaking research you discovered about Nell and Arthur. May we never forget all the lives lost and torn apart.
This video was so beautiful! You can tell where the story was going just by the years, but still heartbreaking to have such a young and talented man cruelly taken from the world so young. Nelly had clearly taken care of these books and I hope they either stay in your possession or the next person who takes over the care of them is aware of their history
Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed your research. And I was very moved by your story. This brought home the tragedy of war! Twice in 50 years the splendor of British youth was stripped away. Heartbreaking. Heartrending. The end of war cannot come soon enough.
Your dedication to his (their) memory was wonderful, and beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing, and for putting effort into this research and discovery that clearly struck you in such a personal way.
Thank you for another fascinating journey into the past. Gorgeous books. Whenever I handle old book I can’t help but think of the people who handled it and read it before me. Great video Tom.
Thank you so much. 'Enjoy' is wholly appropriate. Joy is more profound than mere happiness. How can we shed the tears for the hundreds of thousands of tales, just one of which is so beautifully detailed here? I don't believe we can. We must enter a deeper state of compassion, every minute of every day.
This is both fascinating and heart breaking. I love how every book does not only contain a story within its pages, but a story of the people who have held it. Thanks for making this, Tom!
I began watching this to find out about the beautiful bindings and found myself crying for the lost love of these two souls over 100 years ago. Not all great, or tragic, romances are shared. You brought their story to life once more. Thank you for introducing Arthur and Nell to us through Author’s lovely work! Although a tragic story, I know many are happy to have a glimpse into their world. We can, through telling the stories of the past, can avoid the same paths, learn to be more unconditionally loving through the empathy we feel listening to stories such as theirs, and remember our time here with one another is short. Thank you Arthur and Nell for this gifted reminder and thank YOU for imparting this to us all! 💚
Well done...All stories are like this, with no ending , just this strange sensation of loss. I've a small painting given to me by a friend of my wife. The friend died ( quite young...early 60's) and its only the other day 15 years later ( too late) that I realised why she gifted it to me and why it should become a family heirloom but will anyone else be interested?
Yes the heart strings are plucked and the idea of reading such a book with such a tale behind it is so beautiful. I find it hard to see why a relative still living would wish to part with such a family history statement of their truth. I hope it one day finds its self once more with the family member who would cherish it. I’m such a romantic. Sorry
What a beautiful Video who have shared with us. My tears and thoughts to that generation who endured such horrors that we could never imagine today. I was so touched by this. Lest we Not Forget. Thank you in your diligence in bringing this to us.
Thank you Tom, you did a marvelous job in giving us such a bitter sweet memory of these two books, yes they are not just objects but truly things to cherish in their own right. After this my sadness was profound in melancholy thought but still buoyed that this beautiful sad story had not been lost to time and these books now have added meaning and will continue to be cherished, very glad I have just found your channel and subscribed.
I don't have the right words - many of the comments here say things better than I can. What I heard in your quiet words was respect for the gifts given and for the feelings of both young people. Through the respect, the pain that you feel while you are telling the story reduced me to tears. Knocked sideways, indeed. Thank you for bravely and compassionately sharing Arthur and Nell's story with us.
What a beautiful yet tragic history to find. What also strikes me is how you ended the video, and how similar it was to how his life just ended. No great fanfare, just 'finished' with no great resolution. And surely it must have felt that way for her as well, receiving what was to be his final letter to her, so final, without it intended to be 'the end'. Thank you for the emotional rollercoaster this has been, it was exceeingly moving, and you have brought me to tears, though not at all in a negative sense.
No one is lost, they are remembered. These two books give us a glimpse of two personalities from the past. And one imagines how Arthur binds these books with much love, how he builds the packaging to preserve the gift in its beauty and how he finally writes the inscription in the book as an expression of his deep love. And we think about how Nellie must have taken the news of the death. Did she remarry? How did she keep the gifts all this time, in memory of her Arthur? Today we can still feel the love when we stroke the leather, admire the craftsmanship and look at the inscription. And let us take a moment to remember these loving souls.
This is one of the most amazing and moving videos I've ever seen on UA-cam. When picking up old books from second hand shops (not in your league!) I often wonder about the previous owners, but there are rarely enough clues to work from.
What a sad but incredibly interesting story. I hope that keep both books for your own collection. But, if you do decide to sell them, that you only sell them together and that the buyer knows and understands the significance of doing so! Thanks for sharing this :)
@@thominaduncanson7596 True but don't overlook the prevailing ethos of Materialism and Darwinism. It was the "democracies" that precipitated the war and refused to end it.
What a beautiful story - sad, but beautiful. You should write down everything you said in this video and place the transcript inside a new box containing both books. If you can find photos of Nell and Arthur, put them inside too. Even if you decide not to sell the books, they will, eventually, go elsewhere and Nell and Arthur should go with them. Thank you for such a sweet video.
Wow. More than one story for each of those books. Definitely made with love and artwork in their own right. I think many of us take pause at any history of that era. Thank you for sharing everything about those books
A truly touching story of an age where tragedy was a constant visitor. This story, although not stated, is imbued with a very deep love that was not allowed to blossom.
Gosh, this makes me almost cry.... This is a so beautiful memento for these two lovers, kept preserved by his book bindings and documented by your video, respectfully presented. Thanks for that!
When I heard the year and saw florence nightingale, I felt like there was no way this story didnt end in tragedy.. what great loss, what tender love that she must have carried in those books even as she moved on. Sometimes, grief looks like a pristine book tenderly kept in a box, a gift worth more than its materials. Thank you for sharing.
As soon as you mentioned Ypres and Passchendaele, my heart broke. Those beautiful books are now a memorial to young Arthur, who died on the first day of what was Dante’s Hell. Reading what happened to those boys on July 31st 1917 brings tears to my eyes - 4.5 million shells exploding into the German lines in torrential rain, creating flooded and muddy craters where the bodies of casualties from previous battles had been buried, 100,000 boys charging into constant machine gun fire through that horror landscape at 4am. If I had the money, I’d buy Nellie’s books to make sure they stayed together. The Peter Pan would be magnificent.
Books will always exist when they are treasured by so many of us, for so many reasons. Having worked in all kinds of libraries from tiny public libraries to huge National libraries, I have been honoured to be able to handle many precious books, often having to wear gloves to prevent damage. The story of the physical work of the bookbinder, his love Nell and his death as a young man in war is poignant and important. Arthur has left a legacy that he may not have realised is so precious. Thanks for sharing this story with us. From Australia.
I have a leather Chaucer that is 200 years old. The spine is split and the gold has faded but other than that is in good shape. Various family members over the years signed it. My grandmother had a first edition set of Kipling in that red binding that were literally falling apart. She also had a first edition of Ulysses signed by Joyce that my great grandfather smuggled in from Paris in the 1920’s but when she “ went away with the fairies”, she actually burned it.
Hello Tom, that was an amazing piece of detective work. I so enjoyed the way you presented the beautiful books and all the information that you unearthed. That was a masterful piece of story telling of the history of the books, and with such a sad ending.
As a former and perhaps future antiquarian bookseller, there are a lot of bits of people's lives within old books. Bookplates, bookmarks, inscriptions, tickets, letters. The story you told was poignant and thought-provoking. Thank you.
This was so amazingly poignant. You made long departed lives come alive again. Bless you, and thank you for your work! I’ll never look at an old book the same again.
Did not expect to be brought to tears when I clicked on this book binding video. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful discovery. Books really are so special, as fragile as people can be but still capable of out lasting us
The difficulty and strength of love during war is remarkable. My grandfather fought in World War I and thankfully made it home again. While he wasn't a bookbinder, he did write to his fiancé - my grandmother - regularly while abroad, and I am lucky enough to have the box containing those letters and cards. They are a touching reminder of their affection that remained unbroken by distance and global conflict.
One sad part of the story is that the condition of the books may be due to Arthur’s death. I imagine Nell putting the books away since they were painful reminders of her loss. What a poignant story and a great piece of research.
Arthur John Gray was a captain in the 1/1st Battalion, Cambridgeshire regiment. He was killed in action 31st July 1917 and is buried in the Buffs Road Cemetery. He was the fiancée of Eleanor Fison of Fison’s Farm, Fen Ditton. Eleanor Fison was born in 1890 and lived with her family on Fison Farm in Fen Ditton. The 1911 entry lists her as an "art pupil teacher." She trained as a nurse and following the death of her fiancée, Arthur Gray, a book binder in Green Street, her career took her to several places abroad including Egypt. On her return to England she married Douglas Osborne Nicholes in 1926 and moved to 34 Rock Road.
In 2017 Eleanor Fison and Douglas Nicholes' daughter, Pam Nicholes, described her mother’s early years and how she had met Douglas Nicholes. You can hear her daughter (born in 1928) talking about her mother (who got fed up with her sisters on the farm) and Pam talks about Arthur Gray who owned a bookbinding business on Grove Street. After Arthur was killed in the war, her mother Eleanor was "sent off" to work as a nurse for Prince Valdimar of Hesse, and then to work for another Prince, and then to work for King Farouk [though I think she likely meant King Fuad, who ascended the throne in 1917, and was King Farouk's father] in Egypt (to serve as a nurse because she was apparently quite a good one). Elanor met her husband Douglas at a birthday party after she returned from her job in Egypt. Douglas has served with the 3-4-7 in Egypt, and so they had Egypt in common. [Note: she mentioned artillery at one point, and the British 7th Mountain Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery was stationed in Egypt in WWI See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Garrison_Artillery).
Audio interview of Pam Nicholes (Eleanor's daughter) link: capturingcambridge.org/places-in-south-cambridgeshire/fen-ditton/fison-farm-fen-ditton/.
Arthur John Gray was born in 1892. He was educated at the Pearse school and then became a bookbinder. He joined the British Army as a Second Lieutenant in the Cambridgeshire Regiment. He then became a Captain in the 1st Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, and then a Captain in the Cambridgeshire Regiment. He died in Belgium on July 31, 1917 at the age of 25. Eleanor would have been 27 when John was killed. He is buried at Buffs Road Cemetery, CWGC Cemetery/Memorial, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, C.12. livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1425220
Arthur John Gray timeline: livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/1425220
Brief History of the Cambridgeshire regiment: www.friendsofthesuffolkregiment.org/the-cambridgeshire-regiment.html#:~:text=For%20overseas%20service%2C%20the%201,the%2082nd%20Brigade%2C%2027th%20Division.
I am curious to know which medals Arthur John Gray was awarded in WWI and the link to the site where you found them.
Thanks for sharing your findings.
@@0tt0z You bet. I appreciate your interest.
in depth research. Thanks for sharing
@@nct948 You are welcome.
Thank you. This was a very good display of facts. This story represents, to me, what happened to so many at that time.
I like to think Nellie kept those books lovingly stored in their boxes tucked away in a closet or on a shelf all her life. The reason they look like they were bound just yesterday is because it was too painful for her to take them out and look through them very much, if at all, but she just couldn’t bear to part with them. They were probably one of the few things she had left of Arthur to remember him by.
Truly a reminder that some books are more than leafs of bound paper with words printed on them.
A J G is buried in the Buffs Road Cemetery near Ypres: 1/1 Cambridge Regt GRAY Lt. A.J. died 1.8.17 ROW C grave 12 also shown as Captain A J Gray, died 31.7.17 son of Mr A B Gray of Cambridge. There is no personal message on his headstone.
This makes it even sadder, knowing there was no personal message on the headstone.
is it possible to commission the cemetery to add a personal message honoring Eleanor and his bookbinding efforts? I suppose that's a matter of the descendants of the pair...
I’m sure that you’re right about that. At the time it was the next of kin who chose. I think that many felt that the austere and solemn dignity of the plain tombstone with name and dates was the right choice, and kept their grief personal and private.
In a death notice in the local paper his parents said “only and dearly-beloved son”. There was a short biography in the press too, which said that his friends had thought that he had a bright future with his artistic skills; and that he “was beginning to make a name by bookbindings designed and executed by himself” (Cambridge Independent Press 10 Aug 1917, Saffron Walden Weekly News same date).
@@Charstring thank you for reframing it in that way, before I would have thought it could only be positive to bring attention to someone by engraving something special about them into their tombstone, but you made me realize the possibility that those close to the deceased may not want such an engraving or may even consider such a thing as negative
I never expected a book video to leave me in tears. What a beautiful and at the same time tragic story. I don`t know if you will keep the books yourself, but if they are going to be sold, I hope they will be sold together. That way Nell and Arthur can continue their journey through time together in some way.
I was just going to say, I thought I was just watching a video about beautiful books. Even with the word tragic in the title, it didn't occur to me how tragic. 😢 Beautifully told, though.
And yes, I do hope they're sold together. I guess it's too much to ask that they be returned to her descendants - they probably didn't want them. That's why they were sold in the first place. But if the books can stay together, and maybe include the story of how they were made, by whom, and for whom, that would be so lovely. And maybe somebody will see this video, and contact the creator specifically to purchase them.
@@LoriPeaceYes, if, they should be sold as a bundle and hopefully with a letter about the findings. I do find that these two books with this knowledge have become more of a historical subject, more so than just being stunning books, and should be treated as such. Also makes you wonder, whether these books could have been engagement and wedding gifts accordingly. Tragic, yet beautiful, story.
I was crying before the video. This made it worse.
What beautifully bound books and what better gifts. The story is so tragic. Did you sell them?
"I am young, I am twenty years old; yet I know nothing of life but despair, death, fear, and fatuous superficiality cast over an abyss of sorrow. I see how peoples are set against one another, and in silence, unknowingly, foolishly, obediently, innocently slay one another." - All Quite on the Western Front
People don't use such expressive language any more. Beautiful.
I've never read All Quiet on the Western Front. Does that quote sum it up?
Thank you
Ukraine and Russia today.
"Blessed are the peace makers"
@@daftirishmarej1827Yes it is an exquisitely painful, deep and moving book. It completely describes the utter futility and tragedy of war on both sides.
@@daftirishmarej1827 Read Shadow of the Wind, published in the early 2000's. It has some of the most beautiful language I've ever read; I have pages of quotes from the book. Hope you enjoy!
I am fascinated by old cookbooks, THE most treasured ones I have are the ones where someone wrote in the margins to "correct" a recipe and make it more to their liking. The best ones have a butter stain, or clipped recipes from magazines or newspapers, better, a hand written card.
Knowing this, my husband bought me one, full of clippings and notes, the spine is broken, the pages have a tomato sauce stain, but it was inscribed "To Delia Jameson, from Uncle John, Xmas 1912"
and inside was a newspaper clipping, from my hometown, on the unveiling of a statue in 1922
I got curious, and with a grave finder, and census records, I was able to find out that not only had Delia lost her husband in WW1, but all 5 of her grandsons in WW2
She died in 1975
I love old cook books too. My favorite in my collection is the Creole Cookbook from 1901? Published by the Picayune, a newspaper from New Orleans.
@@Grace-ms7un HA! I wrote some things for the Picayune back in the 70s.
I see my time in NOLA as a missed opportunity as I didn't pay attention to the cook books in the thrift shops when I was there. * le sigh *
Have you ever made any of the recipes?
@@Bluebelle51 not exactly but i definitely improved my seasoning game. I started paying attention to what spices went together how they got added to the dishes. Now i have seasoning recipe cards to make my own seasoning blends.
@@Grace-ms7un That's AWESOME!
He gifted her a book about herself, a nurse and another about himself, a boy who never aged.
Oh wow. That is incredible.
Wow! What a beautiful, empathetic, interpretation, expressed so eloquently.
I had the exact same thought.
No, he GAVE her. "Gifted" is an adjective.
@@FigaroHey Not necessarily. Gifted is also the past participle of the verb to gift. Its use thus has been traced back to 1644, see Mirriam-Webster dictionary.
Loss, reminds me of an old lady showing me a locket photo of her fiancé killed in WWI, while waiting for a bus in 1966, now I'm the old lady and always remember her. The clam shell boxes did their job, the books are objects of beauty.
There is a poignancy to this comment, and it is something I grow more and more aware of as I move further and further into life. That you so much for sharing that memory.
This comment made me teary- eyed 😢
Same here, now I'm the old lady.
?? WW l wasn't in 1966.
@@jeme7339 The poster and the old lady were waiting for the bus in 1966. Now the poster is the old lady and will always remember the lady with the locket that she met while waiting for the bus in 1966. It's okay, you just need more caffeine.
I didn’t think I could be more impressed with you, but you have proven me wrong. This was so tender, so sweet and heartfelt that I am just in tears over it. I think those books, and Nellie and Arthur’s story was waiting for you, coming through the decades, waiting for a kind and gentle book loving soul to be ready to receive them and tell their story.
So well said, I second your comments, so touching a very gentle-soul I think this young man…the Bookseller, made me cry. 🥲✨
As a bookbinder, 30 years in this stopped my heart.
What a beautiful and heartbreaking story.
Nell obviously loved Arthur to have kept them and Arthur obviously loved Nell. He cared about subjects she was interested so he put so much care in binding the books.
What wonderful gifts.
In a foreign field he lay
Lonely soldier, unknown grave
On his dying words he prays
Tell the world of Paschendale
Relive all that he's been through
Last communion of his soul
Rust your bullets with his tears
Let me tell you 'bout his years
I see you are a man of culture
…of death metal culture- from Iron Maiden!? Who woulda thunk it-such moving lyrics! New respect!
Though the book story was sad, at least the woman went on doing good with her life, at least she wasn’t prostrated. Now, however, reading this lyric poem in entirety for the first time, wow that did bring tears to my eyes! Thanks for your post!
As an Irons fan, my eyes prickled when Tom said Paschendale.
Oh, wow, i wasn't ready 😭 thank you for sharing this.
Also, the fact that Peter Pan stays forever young and that Arthur, dying as a child will never get to grow up into the adult he should have been 😭😭
There are many stories hidden in older common objects - books, watches, silverware, mirrors, lamps, etc. Stories we will never know. Your tale of the two books is a powerful reminder of loves and losses, gifts and their givers, smiles and gratitude - all those emotional elements that are somehow embedded in an object that we may have inherited or purchased as an antique. It adds to the value of the object just knowing, or most often, fantasizing as to its history. I much "enjoyed" your emotionally respectful recounting of the love story of Nell and Arthur. Thank you for the time and effort you put into the research and your thoughtful presentation.
This is my first video of yours and it broke my heart, not only seeing the beautiful books, and hearing the tragic story, but seeing you, so deeply, deeply moved by their story of lost love in pointless war. Thank you for sharing this heart breaking story with us. You gave them another moment of life as you spoke of them, and I think it was truly beautiful. Thank you.
It’s so odd how the story of 2 people you never knew about and have never heard of can bring someone to tears. Such an amazing story about 2 people who very obviously loved each other with all their hearts. THANK YOU!!! For making this video and telling us about the lives of 2 people.
Thank you. It's one moment from the thousands of lives ripped at that time. Thank you for giving their story the humanity and life they deserve. If you ever sell these, please include a letter with your findings. In fact, maybe prepare the letter now on acid free paper and slip it into the boxes, so that no matter what, their story will definitely travel with the fine craftsmanship of these books.
I think that's an excellent idea. Another person might not know how to go about researching these people's lives, but they might really enjoy knowing about them.
😭heartbreaking. You're a teriffic story teller. "Enjoyed" IS the right word.
That was very moving. It made me think of the tiny little bible in a locket that was given to me when I was a child by a lovely woman named Lil Sparkes. She and her husband Charlie lived in a small rural home near my grandparents. They moved there from Montreal after he returned from WWI, having been severely gassed and with shell shock. He was not expected to live long, but over 50 years later they were still alive to make me tea and give me that tiny bible which I still have (I'm 62). A happier ending than our poor Nell and Arthur.
Hello Tom,
As a pensioner on state pension, I cannot own books like which you show us.. But I do love looking at the wonderful books which you highlight.
I collect Romany of the BBC books,
which are very cheap. Some are first editions , some are signed, but to me they are invaluable. The first naturalist on the air, and prerunner to others , like David Attenborough, and Chris Packham, as a child they motivated me to engage with nature, . I didn't read Enid Blyton, I read these books, and I owe so much to them. They enriched my life.
Joan
💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Is there any greater compliment to one's life than to have someone say: "My life is better because you were in it."?
Thank you for sharing your diligent tracing of the story. It is masterful. Those books are relics of love, loss and constancy. So personal. There is a potency in holding a book that was printed during the life of the author--and all the people--or person--who bought it or was gifted held it. An incredibly touching episode.
To have these books in such perfect condition there almost had to be a tragedy. If Arthur had survived, if they’d married and had children, these books would almost certainly have been treasured, but they would have been handled and read numerous times, by children and probably grandchildren, and they would bear the marks of time and use. I don’t know how to end this comment any more than you knew how to end the video. Sometimes beauty springs from tragedy. But it doesn’t make it any less tragic.
Please keep searching. Find her descendants and tell them the story. You and others have truly renewed my love for books that tell a story in more ways than one. Thank you.
I suspect she didn't have any descendants. So many men died in WWI that there were loads of widows and unmarried women after it that many couldn't find a husband even if they wanted one. If Nell spent he life nursing in far flung places it is probably because she had no family ties. 😢
@@matthew9871 -- She married Douglas Osborne Nicholes in 1926.
@@matthew9871 But she was married, so might have had children
from my short research with the siteTom mentioned in the video, she had a daughter called Pam Nicholes. Sadly I also found an announcement for the death of a Pam Nicholes in Cambridge earlier this year, looking for claimants. This is likely how Tom managed to acquirethe books in the first place.
Yes, these would be discovered out of a death estate rather than "come up" somewhere to then be reintroduced to the original owners. That's how it usually goes. And the gossip only really places importance on these family affairs once it's no longer in the privacy of the family.
If you're feeling emotional as the fly on the wall about somebody's life, you'd do better to live more carefully for your own.
I know I would only be ridiculed if I were to suggest something like, binding the modern equivalent of loose printings. That would be taking the digital edition of a video game, and producing it as a an individual physical edition, which is scantly even legal in this modern copyright world.
And if permissable it would only be taken as fiddling with plastic toys, without the regality of something like pearly white Roman statues with their anime figurine paints worn off.
What a very moving story and thank you so much for bringing it to us. Two beautiful books revealing a heartbreaking story of love, duty and loss. I’m not ashamed to say that as a 62 year old man, I shed a tear. Bless you.
Your tender and respectful telling of their story and the effect it had on you resonates with me. Thank you, dear soul, for blessing my day.
The tears are welling, an absolutely a fabulous story. Thank you for sharing.
Please, don't ever separate those two books...
Tolkien's generation...Thank you!!!! How many beautiful books he could have made...
You brought this beautiful and touching story to life while bringing me to silent tears. Arthur's work , so accomplished and aesthetically pleasing to these uninitiated eyes spoke so clearly of a pronounced and dedicated love for his Nell... Such a beautiful way to start my day, with the delicate hush still hanging in the air. Thank you. ❤
Those books hold a story, and much more than the ones in their words.
I’ve often said you can look at an old book and almost see the people who had them before and also that we leave as much of ourselves with a book/story as we take with us but the two books you have there…. Words cannot express the solemness of their own stories that are connected to them, just wow!
This is the Internet at it's best. A thoughtful, informative video with excellent commentary by someone who has done the research. It's even better because of the further research done by viewers of the video which complete the story. Thank you for posting this and for the people who continued the work. They really are beautiful books too.
You verbalize the experience of exploring these books very well. I can't help but imagine the scent, one of my favorite things ✨
What a sad, amazing story! I'm a librarian and I know how many stories (and how mach history) books can tell beyond the words: I believe books are fragments of eternity
What a beautiful way to describe books.
@@etruscanmagic Ditto!
Thank you for this beautiful and moving story. What a waste of life war is. My grandfather survived Ypres but saw his best friend killed there.
This must be the finest story I have watched since I joined YT. We’re in London on a visit soon, and as part of looking at what to do the Florence Nightingale Museum is on my radar, as much because I’m presently reading a Woodham - Smith (Constable, 1991) biography on this iconic female.
This is a wonderful video. I love the stories behind the books, even when there’s a tragic undertone.
I have a first printing of Byron’s _Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage_ in absolutely dreadful condition. It’s extremely worn and has various names and dates and notes scribbled throughout. Yet I don’t mind. Researching its provenance and the previous owners has been fun, albeit very challenging. Above all else, actually reading the book itself is a joy.
in a certain way I like to think you've kept him and his love alive. I think we all just want to matter and have an impact on each other.
"Every man has two deaths, when he is buried in the ground and the last time someone says his name. In some ways, men can be immortal."
"A man dies when he is forgotten". - Dr. Hiriluk
Thank you Tom for sharing this, and giving life to this love story again after 114 years. It's incredible to hear, and it leads me to reflect on just how many other love stories were cut short because of WWI. I too find myself at a loss for words, but I'm so thankful to know a little about Nell and Arthur now. You were meant to find these books
What an incredibly fascinating and moving history. Thank you for sharing that.
It never ceases to amaze me finding out about the history of everyday objects. Thankfully books are easier to track the history of. Those are absolutely gorgeous books and in such great condition. Absolutely and utterly heartbreaking story though.
Love your focus on books as "everyday objects." Absolutely agreed.
Thank you for tracing and researching the stories of the lives of the people who at one point in time, owned these wonderful objects.
We defeat death, by remembering those who had lived before us. Please continue telling their stories.
As sir Terry Pratchett said - “No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone’s life is only the core of their actual existence.”
Thank you for doing that research. This really is a sad love story. It is truly sad that someone that could create such beautiful books died in such a horrible way. To many people die in wars that should never have occurred. The fact that Nell kept these books in such condition shows you how much love she had for him. As a widow myself there are certain objects I have that I would be heart broken if anything happened to them. That is love.
Thank you again!
I recently bought a box of very plain books from the sixties. "Three kilograms of Reclam books" for (I think) 5 Euros. They are from the GDR, very small print (saving paper), simple paper-back books. I thought that the seller was one of those people who clean out deceased's home at the request of the descendants. In a couple of the books I found a simple rubber stamp with a name. In some other books I found the same name, prefixed with a "Dr." So I googled him. And he turned out to be a well-known university professor in East Berlin who had died last year. And only then I had a look at the sender's name. According to the Wikipedia page it most probably was his son (the name matched). Given the research subject of this professor, which is close to my own long-ago studies, a large part of the books actually interest me very much, and the discovery of the name of the previous owner created an odd sort of lien (is this the right word?). Without the slightest reason, these books have now become a lot more valuable to me than they were when I had received them and opened the box. Odd, but that's how people work, it seems. At least I do.
That's what books are for and what they do.
Occasionally the UA-cam algorithm unearths a gem.
Thank you so much. For me this is about the patina of meaning that gets attached to objects. What is a treasured memory? What does it mean? What is value?
I once spent a long time with thinking about the artistic impulse: why paint pictures? Of course there is a market aspect but in the end I decided that capturing light in colour had to do with wanting to share energetic vibration. The craft you are sharing extends that idea. The care ( for which read love) that one person put into the outer wrapping of someone else's created work adds a completely other dimension to the meaning of the actual work itself. Clearly they were treasured by the recipient but in a very bittersweet way. Too beautiful and painful to be actually read. Hence the condition you found them in more than a century later.
You have touched this 63yo single man very deeply.
Hearthbreaking... These books found you, not otherwise. Their story was supposed to be found when we are so close to 31 July. Thank you for taking the time to research all this. It is such a special way to honour their life, after so many years. I hope you can find somehow their descendants.
Excellent research and great story. So often items are unique from history and you know they carry a story but so often there are not enough clues to go on to find the roots and origins. I don’t think it is such a sad story though. A romantic story that is the most appreciated does not end as “and they lived happily ever after”. Those stories are for children’s books and I guess how Disney used to make movies. WWI I guess is still remembered in England because it had such a huge impact. I live in Texas and my family left England in 1660. In our family the only member who found himself in a French trench at the Battle of Argon was my Uncle Ferguson Hussey. He was gassed in the last gas attack from the Germans and it was mustard gas. He lost 1/3 of his lungs but he returned to Oklahoma and took up farming and bootlegging. He ended up being targeted by a rival mob gang and was burned to death in his home in Jan of 1934. The only other impact WWI had on our family was the fact that we made allot of money off the price of wheat, cotton and oil. We were involved in those businesses at that time. But I don’t find the story you told to be sad, but instead we should be so lucky to at least know the story. I was hopping you would be able to tell us what became of the girl though. Did she go on to marry another and have a family? Obviously they are all dead now because they would be 134 years old. So you knew ahead of time that who ever or what ever the story was, the owners were long dead. I often watch these You Tube films where they show old photos that have been colorized and think… “that kid is long dead… that lady is dead…. Those horses are dead… etc…. And wonder what their story was. In your case you struck it rich with an actual story… good going and thank you for putting it up on You Tube!
oh, Tom. This story. May the person who comes to take care of and love these beautiful books remember them and think of them in quiet moments with the books.
Kindle can never create the magic of those two beautiful books. There is more to reading than just the words.
This story, no. But stories? History? Collection? archives? The digital will imprint our small stories in history just as physical has. There will be (and are) stories from digital loss and discovery carrying memories and humanity towards the future.
... but thankfully there are audiobooks. Good ones!
What an incredibly moving story! As the rare books cataloguer at Dartmouth College, like you, I loved to research the often unrealized stories associated with some of the volumes that came across my desk. And, likewise, the books that found their way into my own collections -- sometimes as serendipitously as the two you described, but none with the poignancy of your wonderful acquisitions. Thanks for sharing your heart wrenching tale; it should be an inspiration to all fellow bibliophiles.
A particularly great video, Tom. I am glad these books found their way to you, many others wouldn't have given them such a careful look. I also really appreciate your lack of editing/jump cuts and your genuine interest and passion. You told this story in a dignified and thoughtful way. It is a sad story, of course, but also beautiful in its way, much like these books themselves.
I could not just move on, after this, to the next video in the playlist. I paused it, just as you were reaching to stop it, it seemed, and I thought for several minutes about Nellie and her Arthur. It made me think of books I have and have had, and how often I had wondered about prior owners. i will still wonder, but it might be a little easier now, to accept that I will never know.
Wonderful video Tom, if not touched with sadness. Yet despite that, a thread of love through these books, a deep human connection between the past and the present through the beauty of books and for that we can all be grateful. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this video. I appreciate your sensitivity about the horrible events so many years ago. The cruelty of war really cannot be comprehended in it's totality - even a small glimpse is heartrending.
Greetings from a Texas subscriber and fellow bibliophile. I loved your moving story supported by meticulous research. Your channel is amazing.
Thank you for sharing these beautiful books, and the heartbreaking research you discovered about Nell and Arthur. May we never forget all the lives lost and torn apart.
This video was so beautiful! You can tell where the story was going just by the years, but still heartbreaking to have such a young and talented man cruelly taken from the world so young. Nelly had clearly taken care of these books and I hope they either stay in your possession or the next person who takes over the care of them is aware of their history
Thank you! I thoroughly enjoyed your research. And I was very moved by your story. This brought home the tragedy of war! Twice in 50 years the splendor of British youth was stripped away. Heartbreaking. Heartrending. The end of war cannot come soon enough.
you have such a gentle demeanor and such beautiful eyes. a perfect teller for such a tragic story
Perfectly said.
Your dedication to his (their) memory was wonderful, and beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing, and for putting effort into this research and discovery that clearly struck you in such a personal way.
Thank you for another fascinating journey into the past. Gorgeous books. Whenever I handle old book I can’t help but think of the people who handled it and read it before me.
Great video Tom.
You've just restored my faith in humanity 💚
Thank you so much. 'Enjoy' is wholly appropriate. Joy is more profound than mere happiness. How can we shed the tears for the hundreds of thousands of tales, just one of which is so beautifully detailed here? I don't believe we can. We must enter a deeper state of compassion, every minute of every day.
This is both fascinating and heart breaking. I love how every book does not only contain a story within its pages, but a story of the people who have held it. Thanks for making this, Tom!
I began watching this to find out about the beautiful bindings and found myself crying for the lost love of these two souls over 100 years ago. Not all great, or tragic, romances are shared. You brought their story to life once more. Thank you for introducing Arthur and Nell to us through Author’s lovely work! Although a tragic story, I know many are happy to have a glimpse into their world. We can, through telling the stories of the past, can avoid the same paths, learn to be more unconditionally loving through the empathy we feel listening to stories such as theirs, and remember our time here with one another is short. Thank you Arthur and Nell for this gifted reminder and thank YOU for imparting this to us all! 💚
Well done...All stories are like this, with no ending , just this strange sensation of loss. I've a small painting given to me by a friend of my wife. The friend died ( quite young...early 60's) and its only the other day 15 years later ( too late) that I realised why she gifted it to me and why it should become a family heirloom but will anyone else be interested?
Yes the heart strings are plucked and the idea of reading such a book with such a tale behind it is so beautiful. I find it hard to see why a relative still living would wish to part with such a family history statement of their truth. I hope it one day finds its self once more with the family member who would cherish it. I’m such a romantic. Sorry
The most moving presentation I have ever watched. Well done, sir.
What a beautiful Video who have shared with us. My tears and thoughts to that generation who endured such horrors that we could never imagine today. I was so touched by this. Lest we Not Forget. Thank you in your diligence in bringing this to us.
A testament of youth, indeed! What a wonderful video. Thanks for this presentation.
Thank you Tom, you did a marvelous job in giving us such a bitter sweet memory of these two books, yes they are not just objects but truly things to cherish in their own right. After this my sadness was profound in melancholy thought but still buoyed that this beautiful sad story had not been lost to time and these books now have added meaning and will continue to be cherished, very glad I have just found your channel and subscribed.
I don't have the right words - many of the comments here say things better than I can. What I heard in your quiet words was respect for the gifts given and for the feelings of both young people. Through the respect, the pain that you feel while you are telling the story reduced me to tears. Knocked sideways, indeed. Thank you for bravely and compassionately sharing Arthur and Nell's story with us.
What a beautiful yet tragic history to find.
What also strikes me is how you ended the video, and how similar it was to how his life just ended. No great fanfare, just 'finished' with no great resolution. And surely it must have felt that way for her as well, receiving what was to be his final letter to her, so final, without it intended to be 'the end'.
Thank you for the emotional rollercoaster this has been, it was exceeingly moving, and you have brought me to tears, though not at all in a negative sense.
No one is lost, they are remembered. These two books give us a glimpse of two personalities from the past. And one imagines how Arthur binds these books with much love, how he builds the packaging to preserve the gift in its beauty and how he finally writes the inscription in the book as an expression of his deep love. And we think about how Nellie must have taken the news of the death. Did she remarry? How did she keep the gifts all this time, in memory of her Arthur? Today we can still feel the love when we stroke the leather, admire the craftsmanship and look at the inscription. And let us take a moment to remember these loving souls.
This is one of the most amazing and moving videos I've ever seen on UA-cam. When picking up old books from second hand shops (not in your league!) I often wonder about the previous owners, but there are rarely enough clues to work from.
What a sad but incredibly interesting story. I hope that keep both books for your own collection. But, if you do decide to sell them, that you only sell them together and that the buyer knows and understands the significance of doing so! Thanks for sharing this :)
Imagine how long it would have taken to find his information only a few years ago.
World War I such a wicked wasteful tragic sacrifice of so many good and great men with amazing gifts. It should never have happened. Thank you.
The real wickedness was how carefully that war was planned by the banking family. Always follow the money, and the wives.
@@thominaduncanson7596 True but don't overlook the prevailing ethos of Materialism and Darwinism. It was the "democracies" that precipitated the war and refused to end it.
It so easy to think of history of just events and we forget that history of real people. Thank you for sharing Nell and Arthur's story.
Thank you so much, the situation so immediate, so real. Heartbreaking.
Oh my Goodness!...this has given me Goose-bumps and brought me to tears...so very thoughtful and brave of you to share it...thank you...dgp/uk
What a beautiful story - sad, but beautiful. You should write down everything you said in this video and place the transcript inside a new box containing both books. If you can find photos of Nell and Arthur, put them inside too. Even if you decide not to sell the books, they will, eventually, go elsewhere and Nell and Arthur should go with them. Thank you for such a sweet video.
Wow. More than one story for each of those books. Definitely made with love and artwork in their own right. I think many of us take pause at any history of that era. Thank you for sharing everything about those books
A truly touching story of an age where tragedy was a constant visitor. This story, although not stated, is imbued with a very deep love that was not allowed to blossom.
Gosh, this makes me almost cry.... This is a so beautiful memento for these two lovers, kept preserved by his book bindings and documented by your video, respectfully presented. Thanks for that!
When I heard the year and saw florence nightingale, I felt like there was no way this story didnt end in tragedy.. what great loss, what tender love that she must have carried in those books even as she moved on. Sometimes, grief looks like a pristine book tenderly kept in a box, a gift worth more than its materials. Thank you for sharing.
I’m echoing every other sentiment on this thread, please never break the books up. That was edifying, you were compelling.
I was touched by your wonderful story - love your channel!
As soon as you mentioned Ypres and Passchendaele, my heart broke. Those beautiful books are now a memorial to young Arthur, who died on the first day of what was Dante’s Hell. Reading what happened to those boys on July 31st 1917 brings tears to my eyes - 4.5 million shells exploding into the German lines in torrential rain, creating flooded and muddy craters where the bodies of casualties from previous battles had been buried, 100,000 boys charging into constant machine gun fire through that horror landscape at 4am.
If I had the money, I’d buy Nellie’s books to make sure they stayed together. The Peter Pan would be magnificent.
Books will always exist when they are treasured by so many of us, for so many reasons. Having worked in all kinds of libraries from tiny public libraries to huge National libraries, I have been honoured to be able to handle many precious books, often having to wear gloves to prevent damage. The story of the physical work of the bookbinder, his love Nell and his death as a young man in war is poignant and important. Arthur has left a legacy that he may not have realised is so precious. Thanks for sharing this story with us. From Australia.
I have a leather Chaucer that is 200 years old. The spine is split and the gold has faded but other than that is in good shape. Various family members over the years signed it. My grandmother had a first edition set of Kipling in that red binding that were literally falling apart. She also had a first edition of Ulysses signed by Joyce that my great grandfather smuggled in from Paris in the 1920’s but when she “ went away with the fairies”, she actually burned it.
Hello Tom, that was an amazing piece of detective work. I so enjoyed the way you presented the beautiful books and all the information that you unearthed. That was a masterful piece of story telling of the history of the books, and with such a sad ending.
This is a wonderful video. Thank you Tom 💯🙏
As a former and perhaps future antiquarian bookseller, there are a lot of bits of people's lives within old books. Bookplates, bookmarks, inscriptions, tickets, letters. The story you told was poignant and thought-provoking. Thank you.
My interest in old books is close to zero, and yet this video had me hooked from start to finish. Very well done.
This was so amazingly poignant. You made long departed lives come alive again. Bless you, and thank you for your work! I’ll never look at an old book the same again.
Brought me to tears. These books serve as testimony to the love this couple shared. Thank you.
Did not expect to be brought to tears when I clicked on this book binding video. Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful discovery.
Books really are so special, as fragile as people can be but still capable of out lasting us
The difficulty and strength of love during war is remarkable. My grandfather fought in World War I and thankfully made it home again. While he wasn't a bookbinder, he did write to his fiancé - my grandmother - regularly while abroad, and I am lucky enough to have the box containing those letters and cards. They are a touching reminder of their affection that remained unbroken by distance and global conflict.
Unreal that they survived and that story can still live on for a century.