Object of the month, December 2009
History of the Chartist Movement by R. G. Gammage
Every month a volunteer will chose an interesting object, book or document from the Library collection, which will be displayed in the hall of the Library.
December's object is the 'History of the Chartist Movement' by R. G. Gammage.
Maxine Peake, actress and friend of the Library, read a passage from ‘Born with a book in his hand' about Ruth and Eddie's search for Gammage, at a recent event for volunteers.
Ruth and Eddie Frow talk about Gammage:
" As we brought more and more books, we found that we needed still more... One or two books assumed the importance of the Holy Grail in our lives... One of these was Gammage's History of the Chartist Movement. Over the years we perfected the technique of going into a bookshop, one of us engaging the bookseller in idle conversation using the question, "Have you a copy of Gammage?", as an opening ploy, while the other scanned the shelves at leisure and without interruption. After a time, the question became academic and we knew we would never achieve the happiness of owning a Gammage. But one day in Steedman's in Grey Street, Newcastle, one of us was up a ladder while the other worked the lower shelves. Suddenly there was a strangled cry and the ladder shook. White and shaken, we both checked the top shelf and there, for a reasonable sum, was a copy of Gammage. We paid our money and went for a coffee to restore our frayed nerves. But a dimension had gone for our lives. It's not the kill, but the chase that is most fun."