A couple of years ago I was sorting an uncatalogued batch of old children books. At random I leafed through a thin grey book, from the 1870s, with a beautiful p

A couple of years ago I was sorting an uncatalogued batch of old children books. At random I leafed through a thin grey book, from the 1870s, with a beautiful print on the cover of a young boy in furs on a viking ship. Inside was a tender dedication from a grandpa to his grandson. Something about adventure and wonder as I recall. Getting a peek into the relationship between an old man and his grandson, well over a hundred years ago, was really something. It enlightened the otherwise mundane job of sorting these books for me. It made the book some much more than an example-document of 19th century children literature, and turned it into historic artefact of children culture.