Antiquities & Oddities

//Antiquities & Oddities
­
  • Sorry, this product is unavailable.
  • Hiding under the witness protection programme, Rick Jarmin gets nervous when his old flame Marianne recognises him as her fiancè who vanished years ago. But before he can assume a new identity, the man he put in jail is released and comes to pay his respects. Rick and Marianne are thrown together on the run across the country, barely evading the police, gangsters and an amorous veterinarian. Also stars David Carradine, Joan Severance  and Bill Duke.
  • Book III of The Saint vs Crown Prince Rudolph. The Saint had decided to turn over a new leaf.  But he hadn't reckoned with Prince Rudolf - nor with his old adversary's hankering for diamonds! Why would a man as rich as Rudolph care about the comparatively small value of the Montenegrian Crown jewels?
  •  A fabulous collection of over two dozen of Joyce Grenfell's well-known sketches and song lyrics, including Stately As A Galleon, Shirley's Girlfriend, Thought For Today, At The Laundrette and I'm Going To See You Today.  Often cheeky, sometimes sly and satirical, often poking fun at the sacred cows of the English and all have a point to make.

  • De Vaca was one of hundreds of men who left Spain in 1527 on an expedition headed by Panfilo de Narvaez. The mission was to explore Florida.  This is the eyewitness account of how an expedition of over 600 men and five ships was reduced to a band of four half-mad survivors who staggered into Mexico City, having unintentionally become the first Europeans to cross the American Southwest via Texas, Ne Mexico and Arizona.  It is the quintessential travel horror story.
  • A fascinating history of Christmas carols and their meanings. Who was Good King Wenceslas? What are the pagan origins of  The Holly And The Ivy? And - of course - what was the partridge doing in the pear tree? Carols first appeared in the Middle Ages, when a carol was any song sung with the singer standing in a circle; they were banned under Puritan law and united the soldiers on both sides on the Western front; and they are the longest running tradition of Christmas.
  • First published in 1880, here is Heidi's story -  a young Swiss girl whose parents' sudden death leaves her to be brought up by her Aunt Dete - a hard-working woman who loves Heidi, but does not have the time or resources to look after a child in busy Frankfurt. She leaves Heidi with Heidi's grandfather, who lives in the Swiss mountains. The lonely, embittered old man lives like a hermit on the mountain-top and has nothing to do with the people in the village below. Known to all as “Alm-uncle”, Heidi's grandfather is good-hearted but mistrustful of the villagers. He refuses to send Heidi to school and allows her to roam the pastures with a mischeivous young goat herder, Peter. They become good friends but events take a turn when Aunt Dete decides that Heidi must stay in Frankfurt and learn to earn a living as a companion to a rich invalid child, Clara, and soon learns to read and write along with the little girl. The city begins to take its toll on the young Heidi and she becomes ill and depressed, longing for the open spaces. How Heidi returns to her beloved mountains, reforms her crotchety old grandfather and helps Clara regain her health forms the rest of this perennial classic. With illustrations in colour and black and white by Pelagie Doane.
  • Inimitable (definition): that which defies imitation. For years, Mikes wrote witty articles and books on every aspect of British life, pricking pomposity and praising decency.  Contains chapters on how to avoid travelling, wine snobbery, television, how to be class conscious and how to remain poor.  Mikes may have emigrated from Hungary - but he wouldn't live anywhere else.  Illustrated by Nicholas Bentley.
  • What's in a name? Well, plenty, according to this interesting little booklet.  The word 'dunce' meaning slow-witted or dull is from the name Duns Scotus, a brilliant medieval teacher; Dick Whittington, mayor of London, did exist but is not the legendary poor boy with a pet cat seeking his fortune; Robert Louis Stevenson's infamous character Dr. Jekyll was based on a real man; Old 'Uncle Tom Cobbleigh' was a hotblooded and amorous red-headed man; Lady Godiva did get her gear off  as a result of a bet with her husband - and Mother Goose did write a swag of nursery rhymes! Loads of interest in a small package.
  • Over 150  original images guaranteed to cross your eyes, baffle your brain and frustrate your friends - there's even one dated from the time of the Ancient Romans. In colour and black and white.