"The best place to hide something is where everyone can see it."
- Sherlock Holmes, Sherlock Holmes and the Secret Weapon (1943)
Mr. Holmes hides the plans to a new anti-Nazi bombsite
in a hollowed out volume of Shakesphere.
When I was a kid, I loved reading teen detective novels: Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, The Hardy Boys, etc. The formula for these series was the same: a small close-knit group of teenagers; had fabulous adventures while foiling the nefarious schemes of some pretty serious bad guys (Nazi spies, Russian spies, smugglers, thieves, bank robbers...) - all under the unsuspecting noses of all of the adults around them.
There was always a secret door, or a secret passage, or a secret key, or a secret compartment, or a some super-secret papers hidden in a hollowed-out book. I guess that's where my love of book boxes came from. Still I did not actually own one until recently. I was in my local arts & crafts store (stocking up on supplies) when I saw a display of these book boxes.
Poems: Antiques et Modernes
Alfred de Vigny - Paris
They came in two sizes: large (13x9) and medium (10.5x6.5). A set of two - on sale ;-) - were $15. But what really sold me was the quality. The book boxes are made out of plywood, covered in distressed burlap (maybe cotton fabric?) and there's a different distressed piece of parchment on each cover - very Old World and very pretty.
It would be fun to say that I've hidden in them a super secret set of sensitive documents, from my latest espionage caper. But my book boxes hold something much more precious to me - the cards, letters and Emails given to me by my students over the years. Les documents les plus precieux, oui? Yes, the most precious papers...
Boites Livre (Book Boxes)
Previous Show and Tell: Vintage Tea Tins
Vivre! Rire! Aimer!
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