On Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:26:25 +0000 (UTC), BM wrote:
Hi bassem
Post by BMMoussa, the topic of old books is an interest of mine. Next time I am in Lebanon,
I'd like to go to the souq to see what I can find. Is there more than one souq in
Tripoli?
not sure how things in Lebanon are those days, what i am describing is from
past experience, most of my collection got thrown away, or giving to my
nice , which in turn, donated it to her local school, when i left Lebanon
in the mid 80's, none of the book i had then where below 50 years old,
including arabic litretures, my memory failing me here, but some of those
were outdated medical books from pre 1900.
when i went back to Lebanon in the early 90's, my first question to my mom
was, where are my books?, but was all gone.
Post by BMDo you know if there are there other places that sell old books in Lebanon (Beirut, Saida
etc.)
never been outside Tripoli area, 3akar, 2ebeh, 2almoun, abou samrah, bab el
tebeneh, jabal terboul, zegharta, el arez, el batroun Beirut only to the
airport.
alot of treasures went and still go for peanuts due to ignorance, i once
found a 1 lira 3othmaliyieh, (not the golden one), was at least 300+ years
old, gave it to a friend of mine before i left as token of a friendship, i
still have old lebanese Coins :-), francs, 2 francs, 25cents, 50cents,
lira, and also notes, lira - 100.
maybe i already have told you this, but during the illegal excavation and
building on the cost shore of El-Mina, they came across unmarked
French/Italians soldiers graves from 1920 and downward, used to be part of
an Italian catholic missionaries school, was only just still functioning
when i left, most of the artifacts including coins, and war memorabilia,
even golden teeth, all sold for peanuts to few individuals who knew how to
get top dollars for them abroad, (not going to mention names).
but i can tell you stories you wouldn't believe, i still believe Lebanon is
full of old history treasures, and most real estate developers knew that,
and used it as excuse to dig.
perhaps you know about the old trick of a haunted houses to scare people
away?
there's many souq, but they are all on one street stretch, i used to look
for the street book sellers instead of the book shops, always good results,
Friday, Saturday and Sunday was the best days for vintage book hunting.
Post by BMThere must be tons of private collections in colleges and religious institutions.
Is any such library holdings open to public?
not aware of any, but they do exist, example, when a local militia then,
opened a none occupied apartments that belong to a bankrupt bank owner
(long time dead, not going to say names here), they found 2 rooms with wall
to wall bookshelf library, most of the book ended up on the street as
rubbish, some got picked up and maybe used as wrap for bezer we 3abid
etc..., sad but true.
Family member sent me a picture scan of my grand father (mother side), i
never knew him, he died when mom was still a young child, the interesting
bit?, well you have to see it for yourself Bassem in Person, is like
stepping back in time . :-)
Moussa
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