Old postcards, the stub of a boarding pass and illegible annotations in the margins are routine fare when rifling through books in a second-hand shops.
However, for shoppers at the Oxfam Bookshop in Hove, East Sussex, it’s books belonging to one of the world’s most famous rock stars that they are perusing.
Nick Cave, who lived in Brighton for more than a decade with his wife Susie, donated more than 2,000 books — from Salman Rushdie to Ian McEwan, from a first edition of Johnny Cash’s novel Man In White to a recipe book about aphrodisiacs.
Cave lived in Brighton for several years
PATRICK RIVIERE/GETTY IMAGES
The Australian singer-songwriter decided to donate the books after the collection appeared in a travelling art exhibition that included a recreation of his office, complete with his library. They went on sale on Thursday for the same prices as all the shop’s stock of between £2.99-£4.99.
Ian Falkingham from Oxfam, who helped arrange the donation, said the star’s team had got in touch in early June to ask if they wanted the books, and the charity had jumped at the chance.
“Apart from the fact he’s an extremely famous person, it’s very similar to what happens all over the country all the time,” Falkingham said. “You’ve got to make space in your house for the next set of books, don’t you?”
On Friday morning, a crowd of people were leafing through pages, finding mementos from the singer’s life spent travelling the world, from the boarding pass for seat 4A on a Lufthansa flight to Amsterdam in the name of Cave/Nick Mr to a map of America setting out the dates of a 2007 tour, with Madison Square Gardens circled. Inside one is a crushed, empty packet of Camel cigarettes.
A copy of the Christopher Hitchens book The Missionary Position, a controversial critique of Mother Teresa, contains a discoloured old envelope with the words “Lukes tooth” written in Cave’s distinctive handwriting. His son, Luke, is now 34.
An old envelope with the name of one of Cave’s was found in a Christopher Hitchens book
Cave’s publicist said the singer did not want to comment on the donation, explaining: “He thinks the discoveries will remain intriguing mysteries for those who find them.”
Falkingham said the collection, which spans philosophy, history and art as well as hundreds of fiction paperbacks, gave a “unique” insight into Cave’s mind. Staff say a customer had spent £200 and left with several bags. By Saturday morning there was a long queue inside the Oxfam on Blatchington Road.
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Lara Woods, 40, who lives nearby and works in advertising, bought five books including The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov and Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. She was sent by a friend who had seen a post about the sale on Reddit. “He’s a massive Nick Cave fan and sent me a message saying: ‘You’ve got to go!’” she said.
Lara Woods with her haul
HUGO DANIEL/THE SUNDAY TIMES
Liz Gogerly, who lives locally and works as a ghost writer, had already visited twice and bought a recipe book about aphrodisiacs with an inscription from “Nancy”, which she speculated could have been Nancy Sinatra. Cave’s early band the Boys Next Door, who became the Birthday Party, covered her song These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.
She regretted not buying a Jungian psychology book that “stank of fags” and had pink handwriting in the back, which might have been the singer’s. It had been sold by the time she returned the next day.
Gogerly said: “My friend bought a book about fashion in Paris and there was a note to [his wife] Susie in it, she was thrilled, it just said: ‘Dear Susie, I think you’ll love this book.’”
Many books have sentences underlined or passages marked with spidery, tiny black annotations in the margins. On the back inside cover of The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman, by Louis de Bernières, the black handwriting details copious page number references, including “good vs evil 221” and “bad advice 147”.
A Christmas message inside one of the books from the filmmaker Peter Sempel
There are also several that were given as gifts. Inside a copy of The Trials of Persiles and Sigismunda by Miguel De Cervantes, Peter Sempel, the Australian filmmaker, has doodled a cyclops-type figure and written: “For my favourite blues singer Nicholas E.Cave Xmas ‘89 in my favourite f****n’ town N.Y. Your old friend and fan Peter Sempel.” On the next page are quotes from Albert Camus including: “The path of struggle leads me to the flesh.”
An inscription by the Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, inside a copy of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, dated December 2, 2005, says: “Nick, Hope you like it. It’s kind of mental.”