I was pleased to find a Ward Lock & Co edition of Susan Coolidge's What Katy Did on Bath Market yesterday. Beautifully inscribed "Christmas 1923, from Dada to Muriel", its original purchase sticker is still inside the back cover, showing that it was bought from the famous department store A W Gamage Ltd of Holborn, London for two shillings and sixpence. Gamages first opened in 1878 and became famous particularly for its stock of wonderful toys. It finally closed in 1972. In a letter dated 19 July 1922 to Elsie Kipling, his eldest surviving daughter, Rudyard Kipling wrote "I to Gamages in Holborn where, with everything else, they sell gold-fish."
Looking forward to our next meeting at Bath Library this coming Wednesday 7 September at 1030, when we will be discussing The Wind in the Willows. The summer holidays mean that we'll still be missing a couple of regular members, but we look forward to seeing everyone again in October after we will have read The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff.
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