I really had planned to write about something else, but after A Gustaf Bryngelson posted his great blog, and others followed up, I decided to do my blog too about personal items, namely these four books.
These four little books, small enough to fit in the pocket of a tunic, are not especially rare, they have some water damage, and they are worn to the point that serious book collectors would retreat in disgust if offered them. They have little monetary value, but their value lies in the context they are in, as long as they stay together.
They are:
Petit paroissien du Soldat – A prayer/mass book for the soldier.
L’instruction théorique du Soldat – The theoretical instruction for the soldier.
Almanach du Troupier pour 1916 – The soldiers almanac of 1916, a humorous book.
Sois bon Soldat! – Be a Good soldier! Written by a veteran of the French army.
What makes them interesting together is they obviously come from one tunic pocket, and have been carried during the war by one soldier.
They are curved and shaped together, and water has seeped into the pocket, and from the shape of the books and the pattern of the water damage, one can easily determine what order they were in in the pocket.
What saddens me is that the soldier has actually written his name in the theoretical instruction book, but the writing, being in pencil on smooth paper, is so worn that it is hardly possible to see, and absolutely illegible. It would have been so great to identify the actual soldier who carried these, but there is sadly no way to do that.
So, these four have historical value from the context that they are in, being together. That value far exceeds their monetary value individually, which is practically nil.
Someone actually carried these in their pocket at the front, for a long time judging by the wear, and in the wet and horrible conditions at the western front. Having something to read was obviously valuable enough to carry the extra weight in the pocket. And, he kept them, did not throw them away after the war. Some nameless soldier read these books.
To me that makes them valuable in themselves, and I will never split up the four.
