I have found traces throughout so many books at the library that I thought this would be a walk in the park, however, this task proved to be very difficult. I must have looked through a hundred books trying to find that distinctive script and paper. I realized that it really is unique to see how much better the materials, craftsmanship, and paper were from that time in history. You notice it after the first fifty books. The paper is still white and vibrant after a hundred years. I finally found what I was looking for in the PR section. Specifically, the Shakespeare stacks. There were quite a number of old books from the turn of the century, but alas, most had the distinctive mark of current times; bad penmanship and ballpoint pen.
In a copy of “Shakespeare: The Man And His Stage” I found a gift inscription that read:
To Barry Lufino,
Second of a great line
A souvenir
Theater Royal Huddersfield
July 16th 1923
From Alfie (illegible)
It was written in a cursive, flowing hand that one just does not see anymore. The ink was both thick and thin saying that I had struck Trace gold. I immediately did an internet search and found that someone had already found my trace. I ignored that and pushed on.
I found nothing on the two names in the inscription. It was a mystery of who these people were, but the book had come all the way from Northern England to our library over ninety years ago. I was able to dig up some information on the theater, however. that the Theater Royal had burned down in 1880 and then rebuilt. It was a beautiful, massive, brick building that was demolished in 1961 for a garden market. Unfortunate, but the march of progress moves on and the invention and popularity of the moving pictures really did nothing for the theater.
I will keep my eye out while in the stacks from now on for traces from this time period. They are very distinctive and are completely unlike the handwriting of modern times. I found it fun to try to find these old traces of people that had come before me and look forward to finding more in the future.