40 Times People Were So Surprised By The Things They Found In Second-Hand Books, They Just Had To Share
The treasures inside second-hand books aren't limited to the texts they possess. From time to time, readers leave all kinds of gifts for others to discover. Some of them, like a pair of glasses, are simply forgotten between the pages but every once in a while, a good samaritan leaves behind a little thingy just to make your day. Continue scrolling through this list by Bored Panda and check out what I'm talking about for yourself! Oh, and upvote your favorite entries along the way.
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Found A Little Surprise In The Library Book I Borrowed
There are no official data for the size of the second-hand book market. But according to a survey by Statista, in both the UK and the US more than half of us are choosing to buy books second-hand instead of new.
Patrik Oqvist from World of Books, the UK's largest second-hand book retailer, believes the market is growing by 8-10% a year.
"There's no stigma to buying second-hand now," he told BBC. "We take them to the beach and spill coffee on them, but they don't stop working because of that." Other reasons might be important for buyers as well, for example,the lower price, and the fact that they're recycling.
Nothing Like Picking Up A Book And Finding A Photo (And Autograph) Of The Author Inside
And, of course, there's the chance of finding something unique. World of Books received a call last year from a grandmother in Australia who had ordered an annual that she remembered owning as a child, full of quizzes, mazes and puzzles. When she got it, she couldn't believe it was her own original copy, with the inscription from her parents to her.
These 4 And 5 Leaf Clovers I Found In This Nearly 200-Year-Old Book
That's pretty awesome. My eyes immediately went to the words "immortal shamrock" on the page on the left. Which is also pretty awesome.
I Found This In A 1949 Children's Book I Bought Today
It is Eletelephony, by Laura Elizabeth Richards. Not written by her, of course, since she passed away in 1943.
Used Books Store Has A Wall Of Forgotten Bookmarks
Note Found In "The Book Of Outdoor Gardening" By Smith And Hawken
Dear Mommy,
I think that you are very very pretty.
Love,
Lacey
I love you Mommy
My Son Found A Report Card From Nearly 100 Years Ago In His Library Book
Somewhere Back In Time, The Former Owner Of These Glasses Is Still Looking For Them
It looks like they have been in there so long, they have cracked the binding. Found in "The Story of a Fight" by Hugh Lloyd
In A Vintage Hemingway
Found Tucked Between The Pages Of A Secondhand Textbook I Bought
Found A Dried Lizard Between My Book's Pages
I Found This In A Random Book On The Shelves Of A Cafe
Found In An 1860's Bible
Beautiful Photo Found In A Copy Of "Birds Of Alaska"
Found This Neat Little Metal Bookmark In "The Life Of Colonel Paul Revere" From 1909
A 1970's Plane Ticket
Found This In House I’m Tearing Apart In A Book Like Someone Wanted To Keep Them Don’t Think It’s Real Money
This is a currency used in the Philippines when japan invaded our country..
My Mother Found A 108-Year-Old Ticket To A Fair In An Old Book Being Used As A Bookmark
that's f*****g amazing. First the condition of the ticket, and then the beautiful design
A Guy In My Japanese Class Found This In The Back Of His Book. Can Relate
We Found This Lovely Lady In A Book We Listed Yesterday. She Has Been Trimmed From A 19th Century Women's Periodical Or Magazine
Received At Our Donation Center. Someone's Drug Stash In A Book
Found A Cool Surprise In My Library Book
A Message And A Coin
"Rember me
To my dear friend Hazel, keep this book and read it in your spare time. It was great fun seeing u & I hope to do this again. Until that time keep in touch.
Your friend, Juliana R"
Is noone going to point out that Hazel did not, in fact, keep this book?
One Key, Tied To A String. Found In A Sealed Envelope From The Gladstone Hotel In New York City
The book was "Dr. Priestley Investigates" by John Rhode
That seems like the beginning to a mystery. Now you've gotta go to that hotel, they'll see the key and take you to a weird room in the basement that has a locked box in it that has been there as long as anyone can remember. Inside that box you'll find everything you need to complete your journey.
A Charming Handmade Bookmark Found In "Little Women"
Found A Dog License From 1919 In "The Oregon Trail"
Found In An 1860's Era Bible
This from an age when "Healthy" and "Harmless" could mean trace amounts of arsenic and lead, high quantities of opium or morphine, and quite a few other unwanted ingredients makes me question it's safety. Good news though, this seems to still be in use (at least a modified version of) and this card is now a collectible. Also, there are no listed problems with this powder, so maybe it really was a safe one.
A 30-Year-Old Ticket Stub To Van Halen's Monsters Of Rock Tour
The book is "Between the strokes of night", a sci-fi book from 1985 by Charles Sheffield. This "bookmark" might be from the original owner
Things I Have Found In Books
Amongst all these letters, photos and bookmarks you will see a report from the Adult Parole Board dated 1987. The person mentioned had been in Pentridge Prison since late 1977 for a very vicious murder committed under the influence of alcohol. The eleven page report states that he was quite intelligent and articulate but had been in trouble while in prison and had been moved around the prison system.It also says that he was hoping to start a new life once released and planned on changing his name. Whether he was released, or when, is unknown as I can find no record of him after the date on the parole papers
An eleven page report ? That should have left a pretty bump in that book !
Dead Bookworm Found In A Late 16th Century Book
Could Someone Explain What These Save Buttons Are Doing In The Back Of My Book?
I showed one to my niece and asked her what did she think it was. She guessed a 3D printout of the save icon.
Found In Textbook. Guess They Were Lightening Up The Mood
Found In My Copy Of "Moby-Dick"
Found A Garden's Worth Of Pressed Flowers And Plants In A Book From 1833
Found in volume five of "The New Testament with Commentary and Critical Notes by Adam Clarke" published by B. Waugh and T. Mason
I’d take them to a local botanical society or university Botany Department. It’s possible some of those plants have changed in almost 180 years (if these are vintage to the publication date of the book), or may have become rare. Probably not, but maybe. Someone (botanist or botany student?) might be interested in identifying them and comparing them to modern versions.
Sometimes What You Find In An Old Book Is A Bit More Exciting Than The Old Book Itself
Found This In A 1947 Red Cross First Aid Textbook
That Time Edgar Allan Poe Fell Out Of My Library Book. This Academic Baby Daddy Just Made My Day
Favorite Photos I've Found Left In Books
now you have been able to experience some of the happy moments in other people's lives without them forcing you to
Ambassador And Madame J. H. Van Roijen Red Cross Membership Card From 1956
There is some nice background story to this man. Herman van Roijen was a member of the Dutch resistance in WWII and captured multiple times. After the war he became minister in the dutch government. From 1950 until 1964 he was ambassador in Washington where he served 4 presidents. He was known for his undiplomatic openess, was one of the most respected analysts of American Politics. When he left, the New York Times paid tribute to him in a long article on him. I’m very curious what book this membership was found! https://www.parlement.com/id/vg09lljh08xs/j_h_herman_van_roijen
Vintage Paper Doll Pieces Found In "Joyful Songs"
Found These In A Book I Bought At A Used Book Store. Money Distributed In The Philippines During The Japanese Occupation
There's another image with similar money paper... They are asking if it is real.. Image #32
Ring Found In "Some Tales From Uncle Remus" By Joel Chandler Harris
Advertising Button From The Dairymen's League. Found In "Farms And Farmers" By William H. Clark
Wife's Great-Uncle Passed Away. His Only Possessions Were An Old Radio And A Little Book Of Pics From The War. Found This One In There. Hitler's House, July 1945
One Of My Favorite Finds. An Invitation, Of Sorts, Written On A Singed Piece Of Paper
Pledge Marilyn Clark,
Well, it's begun and now we'll see if you can take it. I want you to find out who I am and leave me a note in my mailbox today. I'm sweet, shy and innocent. Also, I'm a blonde, about 5'. Find out what has happened to me recently and know all about me.
I have some work for you.
Your Beautiful Initiator
Found in "A Sociology of Education" by Wilbur Brookover
Here's One Of The Strangest Finds: A "Sensation" Hair Net
Unexpected Find Found In A Book
A Book I Found At The Thrift Store Had A Secret Compartment With A Check In It
wow. i find it funny how theres an ACTUAL built in compartment in the book... was not expecting that XD
Found In My Used Book
Forgotten Somali Notes As Bookmarks
Homemade Laminated Bookmark Featuring The Statue Of Liberty. Found In "Learn To Bake... You'll Love It!"
So cute. When I worked with children, I'd laminate little pieces of art they created and gifted to me and use them as bookmarks, too. Still have a couple in random spots. Sweet memories.
Got Home From A Used Book Store And Found This Bookmark
Here's A Stick Of RAM I Found In Tracy Chevalier's "Remarkable Creatures"
Found This Forgotten Bookmark
Be Careful Out There Reading Adventurers. Found This In A Library Book
"CAUTION: Reading can be very addictive and fun!"
Homemade Bookmark. Found In "The Submarine Boys' Lightning Cruise" By Victor Durham. Published By Saalfield, 1910
I Found Nick Offerman's Autograph In His Book At Target. None Of The Other Books Had It
Doll Dress. Found In "The Mysterious Image: A Nancy Drew Mystery" By Carolyn Keene
Forgotten Bookmark 3: Kevin. This Is His 6th Grade Picture From 2001. Kevin Is My Favorite. His Nose Was Missing When I Found Him
Found In A Copy Of The Sparrow I Picked Up From Thrift Books
If they mean thriftbooks.com I have gotten many books from them with sweet notes, doodles and photos in them. It somehow makes the book an even better read.
This Is By Far The Sparkliest Forgotten Bookmark We've Seen
So far we've seen receipts, photos, postcards, candy wrappers and even used popsicle sticks in returned books
South Australian Apple Users' Club Member Card Found In A Book
Fabric Patch For The Bear Cub Scout Program With A Safety Pin
Found in "Adventures in the Haunted House" by Page McBrier
Empty Box Of Mr. T Crayons Found In "Encyclopedia Brown Carries On" By Donald J. Sobol
Found This Book Of Matches From Lee's Hawaiian Islander, Lyndhurst, Nj
Took A Book From A Free Library - Found $20 And It Was Dated Christmas 2001
What's The Most Unusual Thing You Have Used As A Bookmark? We Found This Gem In A Book
Medusa Bookmark Found In A Book
Eek! This Cockroach (Cut From A Much Older Book) Was Found In A Copy Of "Monsters" By Leonard Wolf
Found In A Library Book
"I need to get rid of my anger before I let anyone in again"
Kiss Found In "The Grove" By John Rector
United States Army Patch. Found In "Vanguards Of The Frontier" By Everett Dick
Found This Book Review
"This is a scarry book Im note afrayd to"
Scary But Adorable Dinosaur Drawing Found Between The Pages
Don’t Have A Bookmark? Try Using A Taco (Actual Photo Of An Actual Book Found In The Book Drop At My Library In Indiana A Few Years Back)
Found In Moore, Oklahoma Along With A Bookmark For Square Books In Oxford, Mississippi
Found in "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Found This Children's Play Badge (It's Metal And Pretty Solid) In "Springboard To Tokyo"
A Time Traveler From The 70's Greeted Me When I Opened This! Found In "Free To Be... You And Me" By Marlo Thomas
Friend Just Found This In An Old Shakespeare Book. Any Idea How Much They Owe Now?
Our Worker Found This Lock Of Hair While Doing An Inventory
Spider In A Book. One Of My Coworkers Found This In Volume 3 Of "The Family Shakespeare" From 1807
Ok, I am now going to leave random bookmarks that I drew myself in books because why not.
I was going through my grandparents-in-laws book collection and came across an 1880 $10 bill. I showed it to them, they had no idea it was there. They put it back in the book and back on the shelf. Years later, they said they donated the books to a library. I asked if they took the $10 bill out. They forgot about it again. Someone got a nice collectors item probably worth a bundle.
I just had to say I love your screen name, lol :) Gave me a smile on a very early morning!
Load More Replies...
Not long ago we found a birthday card with 50€ (55$) in a library book, we explained it to the librarian who got us in touch with the previous renter, checked that he was the the recipient of the birthday card (his name was on it) and gave him his birthday money... this young 18 year old guy was so surprised and pleased, he offered us a box of chocolates 😉
If you come across something meaningful or valuable in a library book, please consider taking it back to the library so they can hunt down the owner. Our software could tell us the last person to have the book, so we were happy to return things to our patrons.
The library I used to work for enacted measures to preserve anonymity in checking out library books. The Patriot Act gave the government access to this information which was previously protected by the first amendment. As soon as a book is checked in the record of who last checked it out is purged. All we know is the number of checkouts in a given calendar year. It's better that way, really.
Load More Replies...
I freaking love this post so much. It really made me happy that like you get this insight on peoples lives and its just such a special moment captured between the pages of a book. More posts like this BP <3
At a fleemarket, I found a book with drawings and poems published just after WW2. To my astonishment I found this (Dutch) Jew star between the pages. P1080203-5...3383ec.jpg 
Wow. It must be like touching history. I'm just curious. Were the artists/poets survivors of the war?
Load More Replies...
Now I want to go look in used book stores and see if I find any cool stuff.
Check out Goodwill, etc type of stores. They have a great selection.
Load More Replies...
I have a photo I found in a book that I purchased on eBay. Unfortunately, it was from one of those online eBay book shops and not from a private seller. And I have no idea how to find out anything about it and it's driving me nuts lol! Everyone told me to just throw it out but I can't, it has me intrigued! It's a young girl holding a white cat.
I think I'm going to get me some more secondhand books to read (and maybe find treasures in.) I have found little notes and bookmarks in books previously. I also have a used copy of The Scarlet Letter with annotations written in it, probably from some student who read it for school.
Gonna leave a half empty page from my Death Note inside my Bram Stroker's Dracula copy, and then sell it. Gonna be fun!
I was writing a history and architectural survey on an old house in Arizona. The woman had donated the house to the city for a museum and her books on racehorses to the university. While going through the books and photo albums I found this little book with "JWS" scratched into the cover. The first page read "continued from last diary May 15, 1866." The university gave me permission to copy it and after a couple of years of transcribing the diary was donated to the Philadelphia Historical Society. JWS was a teacher and one of the leaders of the schools for the Freedman's Bureau after the war and opened his own school in Philadelphia later. On a page where he had talked about a walk where he and a friend had found wildflowers I found 2 dried flowers that probably hadn't been seen since he put them in, 120+ years prior. Sadly Jacob died a young man, not long after he married his beloved "Rachie" (Rachel) which was what he was preparing for at the end of the diary.
A few years back, there was a trend among HP fans to give away copies of the HP books with little notes in them, that said how much these books have meant to the previous owner. It's the only time I followed along on an internet trend. I still think of the person who might have bought my old copy.
My grandma passed away 5 years ago. I inherited her book collection. I can still find a small surprise in some of them. It' s like silent regard from the other side ❤️
I published 'The Richest man in Babylon' in the Netherlands. I gave it as a wedding gift and placed a €50,- bill and a postcard inside. Years later i got a message: 'We have found your wedding gift when we are packing to move'
my great-grandmother left me a bible with pressed flowers and the note cards her (second) husband had sent with them...it was a sweet surprise to see cause she was never particularly sentimental when i knew her.
I keep finding notes my mother wrote to herself in books I inherited when she died. It's been nine years and I'm still finding them. Hurts every time.
Ok, I am now going to leave random bookmarks that I drew myself in books because why not.
I was going through my grandparents-in-laws book collection and came across an 1880 $10 bill. I showed it to them, they had no idea it was there. They put it back in the book and back on the shelf. Years later, they said they donated the books to a library. I asked if they took the $10 bill out. They forgot about it again. Someone got a nice collectors item probably worth a bundle.
I just had to say I love your screen name, lol :) Gave me a smile on a very early morning!
Load More Replies... Not long ago we found a birthday card with 50€ (55$) in a library book, we explained it to the librarian who got us in touch with the previous renter, checked that he was the the recipient of the birthday card (his name was on it) and gave him his birthday money... this young 18 year old guy was so surprised and pleased, he offered us a box of chocolates 😉
If you come across something meaningful or valuable in a library book, please consider taking it back to the library so they can hunt down the owner. Our software could tell us the last person to have the book, so we were happy to return things to our patrons.
The library I used to work for enacted measures to preserve anonymity in checking out library books. The Patriot Act gave the government access to this information which was previously protected by the first amendment. As soon as a book is checked in the record of who last checked it out is purged. All we know is the number of checkouts in a given calendar year. It's better that way, really.
Load More Replies... I freaking love this post so much. It really made me happy that like you get this insight on peoples lives and its just such a special moment captured between the pages of a book. More posts like this BP <3
At a fleemarket, I found a book with drawings and poems published just after WW2. To my astonishment I found this (Dutch) Jew star between the pages. P1080203-5...3383ec.jpg
Wow. It must be like touching history. I'm just curious. Were the artists/poets survivors of the war?
Load More Replies... Now I want to go look in used book stores and see if I find any cool stuff.
Check out Goodwill, etc type of stores. They have a great selection.
Load More Replies... I have a photo I found in a book that I purchased on eBay. Unfortunately, it was from one of those online eBay book shops and not from a private seller. And I have no idea how to find out anything about it and it's driving me nuts lol! Everyone told me to just throw it out but I can't, it has me intrigued! It's a young girl holding a white cat.
I think I'm going to get me some more secondhand books to read (and maybe find treasures in.) I have found little notes and bookmarks in books previously. I also have a used copy of The Scarlet Letter with annotations written in it, probably from some student who read it for school.
Gonna leave a half empty page from my Death Note inside my Bram Stroker's Dracula copy, and then sell it. Gonna be fun!
I was writing a history and architectural survey on an old house in Arizona. The woman had donated the house to the city for a museum and her books on racehorses to the university. While going through the books and photo albums I found this little book with "JWS" scratched into the cover. The first page read "continued from last diary May 15, 1866." The university gave me permission to copy it and after a couple of years of transcribing the diary was donated to the Philadelphia Historical Society. JWS was a teacher and one of the leaders of the schools for the Freedman's Bureau after the war and opened his own school in Philadelphia later. On a page where he had talked about a walk where he and a friend had found wildflowers I found 2 dried flowers that probably hadn't been seen since he put them in, 120+ years prior. Sadly Jacob died a young man, not long after he married his beloved "Rachie" (Rachel) which was what he was preparing for at the end of the diary.
A few years back, there was a trend among HP fans to give away copies of the HP books with little notes in them, that said how much these books have meant to the previous owner. It's the only time I followed along on an internet trend. I still think of the person who might have bought my old copy.
My grandma passed away 5 years ago. I inherited her book collection. I can still find a small surprise in some of them. It' s like silent regard from the other side ❤️
I published 'The Richest man in Babylon' in the Netherlands. I gave it as a wedding gift and placed a €50,- bill and a postcard inside. Years later i got a message: 'We have found your wedding gift when we are packing to move'
my great-grandmother left me a bible with pressed flowers and the note cards her (second) husband had sent with them...it was a sweet surprise to see cause she was never particularly sentimental when i knew her.
I keep finding notes my mother wrote to herself in books I inherited when she died. It's been nine years and I'm still finding them. Hurts every time.
