A Quest Completed

I had another post written, but it can wait. I found my Holy Grail today. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Something elusive that I’ve been searching for since I moved back to the States eight years ago. The nes plus ultra of my years of hunting.

It all started quietly with a mid-afternoon visit to the Book Thing, Baltimore’s free book place. I had cleared out some books I hadn’t read, and that I decided I really wasn’t interested in reading. As I wandered back to the biography section, I do what I always do… sort of glaze my eyes over and scan the bookshelves to see if anything grabs my attention. My eyes are searching for a particular pattern – a shape and style that they’ll instantly lock on. Secondarily to that, they’re also searching for another pattern. Sort of like a lion searching for, say, a zebra or a giraffe on the veld.

There, on the top shelf, with perhaps a little glow to it, sat my elusive quarry. It was a little faded, so I had to take a second glance. And when I saw what it was, I let out a gasp and an exclamation, loudly enough, apparently, that the man down the aisle asked if I was okay.

That’s right… It’s the rare giraffe edition of Osa Johnson’s Four Years in Paradise. And it’s a first edition!

This book revolves around the four years Osa Johnson and her husband, Martin, spent on a lake in Africa, which they named Lake Paradise.

Osa’s subsequent book, I Married Adventure, is the more well-known and available of the two books. In fact, I’ve probably found five or six copies over the years, and have given them away, here on the blog. You can frequently spot it in design and decorating blogs, as it makes a very attractive addition to any tablescape or bookshelf. Here are some images I found in a quick Google search.

Dionne Design… don’t much care for the chain across the book, and its implications.

From Domino. You really have to hunt for this one.

Lisa Dreissig

From a hilarious article in the New York Times: You Are What You Stack.

Lonny, Issue No. 1

From way back in 2007 on Style Court. I still love this image.

My clever friend, Jane, over at Empress of the Eye, made a pillow out of the

I would be remiss not to mention Kate Spade’s take on the book in clutch, iPhone and iPad covers.

Oh, look! It’s the book case from my old house, found on Pinterest!

I was really thrilled to find Four Years in Paradise, and regardless of what the New York Times says, it will have a special place on my bookshelves. Oh, if you want your own copy of Four Years, be prepared to shell out some big money. I’ve seen it anywhere from $400 to $900! Or you could just buy the perfume collection!