How And Why Wonder Books II

Another post on the excellent How and Why Wonder Books series of nearly 100 titles (see 9 February below). Previously  I described the high quality art work, especially the covers. How I was introduced to them via my late sister Bernadette Bazzoni  having  about 10 books bought by our father.

 I now have about 77 of these, and the amount of detailed information in many of the humanities subjects: Crusades, Lady of the Lamp,Old Testament  is surprising. Some of the scientific texts such as Interplanetary Travel have suffered as a result of rapid scientific advance. Written in 1960 some of the stated 'facts' become erroneous following planetary probes and the Apollo missions.
And today the discovery of Gravitational Waves again renders some information in many physics texts inaccurate. The hypothesised wave by Einstein is now confirmed. Gravitational waves have been detected between galactic bodies & originated a trillionth of a second after the Big Bang

Titles published after 1974 are usually rare. Snakes published in 1975 above. It features the cheaper photograph which the Americans opted for to lower production costs at this time.

Another American title.Looks quite effective until you realise it's one desk lamp pointing at a curtain!


A British only title next! These are rarer as fewer were printed. Everyone wanted a copy of  Dinosaurs. This one is from 1970 as it's in the  transition from imperial to decimal coinage. Hence two prices:

Worst artwork of the series during the 'illustrated cover era'


Another rare one but with a fabulous artwork-

Here the very rare British title Heraldry

Finally the rare and expensive Arms & Armour with a stunning illustration-

The very last titles of the How & Why Wonder Book series-

Never seen or heard until recently these ones:

• 6596 Rare Animals       6597 Ancient Egypt 6598          Oil 6599 Parliament
• 6600 The Ice Age                 6601 Arab World - this will be very interesting as it predates the Iran Revolution & everything that has happened since

Sidcup - better than you may think!

I was visiting relatives in Petts Wood last week. Actually carrying my mother's suitcases, being a good son, and that she can't lift heavy objects due to muscle tissue being removed through cancer operations ( a genetically hereditary form of cancer, more on that another time) and because my  beloved sister Bernadette Bazzoni cannot do it as she was murdered (LOTS more on that at a later date). And was reminded of

I had a slightly unusual childhood in that much of it was divided into multiple  concurrent locations:
Sidcup (home) which was above Kennards hairdressers on Main Road opposite Leslies freezer shop.
St Pauls Wood where my maternal grandfather lived, & where I would spend many a weekend
Wapping- where my sister and her mother lived & many of dad's fellow Cockney relatives. Here I would  spend every other weekend
Peckham - maternal relatives lived & my mother & I would be in Peckham at least once a week outside of school terms 
Norwich- maternal grandmother and her Spiritualist Church organ playing. Chunks of school holidays
Alfriston- One of the places my father was evacuated to & he maintained a close link, which was fantastic as it remains a fantastic rural idyll.
Algeria, Tunisia- repeatedly reminded my parents that I was too young to remember being there, which was very annoying in missing out on such a valuable cultural experience, more so as later the peace & beauty of Algeria was ripped asunder by a brutal and bloody civil war.

The point to all this reminiscing is that I have often wished I grew up in a more vibrant, artistic & spiritual environs. But of the ones I did experience, Sidcup does a special significance.
The town still had a throw back to an earlier time, probably still Edwardian, especially noticeable in the autumn and once the leaves had died, gathered into auburn piles starting to rot in the foggy autumnal air, Sidcup came into its own, it seemed suited to that season. Whereas summer time had a vitality which Sidcup couldn't match.