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The Aston Authors' Collection

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A Schoolmaster looks back Rugby-playing Man Shadow of shadows All in a Lifetime

Reflecting the considerable talents of both masters and former pupils of King Edwards, Aston is the number of books they have had published. A project to collect as many of these as possible*, and place them in the School Library, has become known as 'The Aston Authors' Collection'.

Books already donated include, by masters:

'Maurice et Angèle' (Billy Lumb)

'Rugby-playing Man' (Watcyn Thomas)

'A Schoolmaster looks back' (Frank Jones - autographed!)

'The Batsford Book of Tapestry Weaving' (Alec Pearson)

By L G Brandon, a former headmaster:

'A Short Economic and Social History - the Dark and Middle Ages'

'A Short Economic and Social History - Modern Times'

A Survey of British History - Book II (1485-1714)

'History - A guide to Advanced Study'

'Tudor topics for study and discussion'

'What do we know about Jesus?'

'J M Keynes'

And by former pupils:

'A Million Ocean Miles' (Sir Edgar Britten)

'Shadow of shadows' (Ted Allbeury)

'All in a lifetime' (Walter Allen)

Life of Proust (G D Painter)

On learning of its existence Ted Allbeury's children, Sally and David, donated a complete set of his works (more than 40 novels) to the Collection.

Other known authors include Malcolm Cormack (leading authority on English artists, with books on Turner and Constable), and Colin Wheildon (book on Fonts).

If you have, or would like to help purchase, books for the Collection please contact Brian Roberts, whose 'brain child' this is. (Actually he first proposed the idea in the 'Aston Edwardian Magazine' of 1975!)

With many AOEs going on to get Ph.Ds., it would be nice to think they might bequeath their theses to the Collection. So much effort having gone into them, and so few copies being made, it is perhaps unreasonable to ask them to part with these during their lifetime!

Instead, would you please consider sending (to Brian) the title of your thesis and location of the (university) library in which a copy has been deposited?

* May 2007: The Collection has just received its hundredth book.