Cleaning can lead to odd finds.

Whilst cleaning up some boxes that have sat in the living room for far too long I came across some "treasures." There was a fifty pack of blank CD's, a USB toy microscope, a brand new LAN card, miles of cable, and a very nice backpack Mark misplaced sometime ago. Also found: a used up compact, some slippers, and two crochet hooks, all of which he got when his grandmother died. It was rather an eclectic mix of odds and ends that made the evening's work actually enjoyable. I couldn't wait to see what was in the next box.

By far my favorite find was the set of books that were behind the boxes. They are Mark's and have been here since we moved in, but I never really noticed them before. Each book is bound in brown cloth with gold lettering. The lettering, however, is pretty well worn off. That's why I had only noticed them before as a brown mass of book spine. It wasn't until I was down on the floor removing the boxes in front of them that I could see them for what they were—a time capsule from the past.

The whole bottom shelf of a bookcase is lined with these books. They are all part of a set published in 1924 entitled The Outline of Knowledge. The knowledge outlined appears to cover the whole range of human thought. Take the first volume is Evolution and Romance Through the Ages. As far as I can tell the first half of it explains evolution up to the coming of man. The second half then tries "to make the actual human life of the past understandable and interesting from the romantic angle." And this is only the first book! There are books on philosophy, religion, all the sciences of the time, poetry, art. A little of everything from everything. All the stuff that was considered knowledge. Or at least everything J. A. Richards, the editor, considered knowledge. I can't wait to thumb through all this stuff.

It's crazy how the more books I read the number books I want to read grows exponentially. When will there be an end? When I am finished.