Connecting Through Time: Henry Harrod

TV programmes such as 'The Repair Shop' highlight the way that people invest genuine emotion in artefacts. Sometimes feeling can be generated via an object in an entirely unexpected way. So it was a few years ago, when, during a visit to Rochester, Kent,  I stepped into 'Baggins Book Bazaar', a delightfully large and labyrinthine second-hand bookshop. As a bibliophile and book collector, my attention was soon drawn towards a handsome spine of a work published in 1857 entitled, 'Gleanings Among the Castles and Convents of Norfolk'. 

The book was essentially an antiquarian work, but one notable for a degree of intellectual rigour within the parameters of the time it was produced. Illustrated with lots of useful ground plans and handsome engravings I could see it would be a useful addition to my library. I then noticed the bookplate (above) and realised that it was the author's personal copy. Looking at the (very reasonable) price of the book I suspected the bookseller may have missed this 'detail' and I resolved to purchase it. 

Researching the work, I discovered that the notice of the author, Henry Daws Harrod's death published in the 'Norfolk Chronicle' on January 24th, 1871:

'Died, suddenly, at 2 Rectory Grove, Clapham, Mr. Henry Harrod, F.S.A., aged 53. Mr. Harrod was a native of Aylsham, and commenced practice as a solicitor, at Norwich, where he resided some years. He was best known for his devotion to antiquarian pursuits and by his contributions to the Transactions of the Norfolk and Norwich Archaeological Society, of which he was an honorary secretary, in conjunction with Mr. R.G.P. Minty. His principal work was 'Gleanings from the Castles and Convents of Norfolk'. Possessed on remarkable skill in deciphering old documents, his services in this respect were taken advantage of by the Corporation of Norwich, Lynn and other boroughs, whose ancient records he undertook to arrange. Mr. Harrod was local secretary of the Society of Antiquaries, of which he was a Fellow, and of the Archaeological Institute, and a corresponding member of the New England Historic Genealogical Society.' 

Sitting enjoying a cup of coffee at a Rochester cafe in the summer sunshine, I already felt a degree of connection with Henry, musing how he must have turned these very pages... and then it happened! I opened a page and realised that, pressed within, was a single sprig of dried flowers - the same variety as that on his bookplate:

I don't think it unreasonable to assume that Henry himself must have placed this sprig into his personal copy of his major work whilst strolling in a garden on a Victorian summer day. Holding this in my hand I marvelled at the potential power of artefacts to connect us emotionally over time and recalled the quote from Søren Kierkegaard that, 'life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards'. It has made me wonder about the hands and shelves this work has been held by. By a series of seemingly random happenstance I am its current custodian and, as such, I will include a copy of this post in order to contribute a little to its ongoing 'story'/journey as it passes onto others in the mysterious future. 

<*(((((><( The Fallible Flâneur