A Volunteer Job

It’s a sunny but cold New England morning with the promise of bitter cold to come. Here I sit in my cozy home and thankful to be here except for one thing. I won’t be venturing out to my new "job". Sometimes the most unexpected and extraordinary things can happen. Last month a childhood friend contacted me to find out if I’d be interested in cataloging the personal library of a friend of hers. “This will be the most amazing volunteer opportunity you could ever get.”, she said. And so it is!

It seems that just down the street and around the corner there sits hidden among the trees, atop a hill overlooking the bay, an impressive 1870s Victorian which has been inherited and occupied through the years by female members of the original owners. The current owner is in the process of turning it into a house museum and study center in Victoriana. These facts alone were enough of an enticement, but when I walked through the doors for the first time I was hooked. The house and its contents are mind boggling … the result of the melding of several prominent families in state history from the mid-19th century to the present. Now imagine what treasures the 3000+ book collection must hold!

My "office" is in the billiard room on the top floor with a spectacular view of the bay through the winter landscape. I’m beginning the project with my specialty, children’s books. So far I have found early and first editions of The Secret Garden, Peter Pan in Kensington Garden, Pinocchio, Winnie the Pooh, Little Women and the works of Jules Verne among many other significant but lesser known titles. I am using The Encyclopedia of Collectible Children’s Books: Identification and Value by Diane McClure and Rosemary Jones as a resource but if anyone knows of other particularly useful guides or can offer advice, I’d appreciate the information.