Magical Books

Dear Dreamers,

Many things have happened since my last post. The friends I have made here and the the incredible mix of expressions and humours are.... well... let's just say I cannot drink any kind of liquid around these people.. It ends up being spat out or coming out my nose they are just all so funny! 

First of all a cute royal baby boy has been born. Congrats to the gorgeous royals. This meant however that all the big bells in all the old churches near my residence on campus have been going off. We students thought they were broken, they had been going off that long.

MAGICAL BOOKS - from the middle ages to middle-earth

The Bodleian's summer exhibition takes as its theme the work of some of the foremost modern exponents of children's fantasy literature, members of the group of writers informally known as the 'Oxford School': C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Susan Cooper, Alan Garner and Philip Pullman. From its unique holdings of these authors' papers, the Library will display a selection of Tolkien's original artwork for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; C.S. Lewis’s 'Lefay notebook' and his map of Narnia, and manuscripts of novels and poems by Alan Garner, Philip Pullman and Susan Cooper. Also featured in the exhibition will be some of the books and manuscripts that contain the myths, legends, and magical practices on which these Oxford-educated authors freely drew for inspiration. This historic material is housed in the Bodleian where the Library scenes in the Harry Potter films were shot.

Sir Thomas Bodley re-founded the Bodlein Library. In 1610 he was instrumental in its future years of massive collecting of books. Bodley made a deal with the then biggest publisher in London, Stationer's company to put a copy of every book published in the University Library. 

Above are Tolkien's first drawings of Gandalf.  

Above was one of the first attempts by C.S Lewis to draw the map of Narnia. 

I have booked tickets for an exclusive lecture by Dr Stuart Lee to hear all about Tolkien and his manuscripts, I will hopefully report back with amazing secrets and facts.

I have never been as happy as I am here in Oxford City my fellow dreamers. Being where these great authors walked, dreamed and created; makes me hopeful about my own literary pursuits. Kisses. 

Stationary and Antiques in Oxford...

Scriptum. 

Stationary, leather books and just gorgeous knick knacks galore...

Antiques on High

This little shop is such a hidden gem, there was like 20 different antique dealers sharing this building. It was like shopping through different eras and tastes.. Instead of flooding you dear reader with mountains of pics I will show you the highlights. Particularly amazing was the huge bible I found and of course all the antique guns, knives and war medals!

This knife below is a Skein-Doo it is a traditional scottish knife worn in the sock.. The handle is made of stag horn and was made in the 1940's

The above bible was huge!

Just for you guys to understand it was 2, A4 pages big :o) 

The prize jewel of what I bought today was this edition of "Persuasion" by Jane Austen that was printed in 1909... Which I paid 4 pounds for.. And the cute little porcelain ring box was just darling to get. 

Goodnight dear readers.

The Making of Harry Potter ♥

Yesterday after 2 hours of travel, Mikayla and I went to the making of Harry Potter Studio Tour at Warner Bros. in London. There is nothing else to tell you, dear reader. Except, it was amazing. There are a lot of pics but if you make it to the end, there is a video you will not regret watching. 

Also this post is dedicated to my sister Jade Fitton, who is a die hard fan. Love you Jade.

Seeing things like Dumbledore's office made it seem more real.

350 paintings were commissioned and painted for the Harry Potter film. 

HAGRIDS HUT!

We were told, out of all the animal actors the hardest to train and do scenes with, was with the owls.

Below is the boys (H.P, R.W etc.) dorm room.

Below is the REAL "Mirror of Erised". 

BUTTERBEER, it is only sold in one other place in the world. In Orlando at Universal Studios. Tasted like creamy ginger beer. 

LOVE THIS GIRL

This is my favorite picture of the whole tour. (Above not the spider one below). 

The real Diagon Alley...

 If only I was picking out my wand. 

Thankyou for reading/looking this far. This model of Hogwarts made Mikayla and I emotional. Love you all, kisses.