A comprehensive guide to Charity Gift Books - books in which famous contributors gave their work for free and from which all profits went to charity. Back in the last century (especially in wartime) many of our well-known charities raised money through selling a book - either a lavishly illustrated coffee-table book in which the beautiful pictures were accompanied by written contributions from the famous or, on occasions, something more quirky. In many homes, these books were the most beautiful in the house. Normally, such lovely things would be beyond an ordinary person's means. But not these - and because they usually sold in large numbers, many of them can still be found in second-hand bookshops, at affordable prices. They make a great collection for anyone with a passion for books today. Most are a compilation of full-page pictures from famous artists, short stories by famous writers, specially commissioned poems and pages of sheet music, 'private' photographs (of the famous again), autographs and scraps of facsimile handwriting. Here is an illustrated guide to practically every one of them.

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