Walt Disney once said that there was more treasure to be found in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island. The gift of imagination is a booty beyond comparison, of course, but a bookseller often makes other amazing discoveries within the pages of a book. This month, the Treasure Trove  auction celebrates that more material plunder -- the individual items were found in secondhand books or in boxes of books. The booty includes an original programmes for the production of T.S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, a Japanese purse and several vintage magazines.

Not everything found in books can be included in the auction for practical reasons. One of my favourite findings was a child's grafitti in a copy of Nanette Newman's (1976) Vote For Love. The book had been put aside for the Valentines theme ... but then I discovered the previous owner had angrilly inked out all references to religious icons or the word 'Jesus'. The bizarre riches found in books is the subject of a Top Ten (see below).

The Treasure Trove theme will run through April alongside the Past Perfect theme, books on history including transport history. Treasure Trove items are available through auction while the Past Perfect books are available to buy immediately through Buy it Now (so no need to wait ten days for an auction to end, buy it and your book will be in the post immediately and on its way to you).

Happy hunting,

dene october