Every day, I receive email alerts from eBay when something matching my search term "antique handwritten diary" shows up. Yesterday was no different. I always quickly look for the ones marked "Buy It Now" to check out first, in case there's something I need to grab promptly, and yesterday there was one listed in the UK for £100, which wasn't an unreasonable price, so I clicked on it.
Immediately while viewing the pictures, I recognized the handwriting - and then a name. This was one of Vivian's diaries!!! From 1933. I grabbed it as fast as I could. And then I thought to ask the seller if perhaps he had any of her other diaries. It was worth a shot.
Boy was it worth it.
He has 13 more of Vivian's diaries.
Now, I know we haven't gotten to reading her 1937 diary yet (thank goodness! Now we can go in order), but believe me when I say she is a wonderful writer, telling stories, sharing her feelings... and I am so happy to have found more of her journals.
Now... I'm just waiting for him to determine how much he wants to sell them for. But in the meantime I'm contemplating how to get them. Brexit makes it difficult to ship outside the UK, so he's willing to mail it to a friend of mine in London. However, that's what I did for Vivian's last diary, and after my friend mailed it to me, although we avoided VAT on it, it got stuck in customs for a month. I have been tossing around the idea of visiting London - I've wanted to for ages and really want to do it this summer - and now I have even more reason. But everything is far too expensive for me - hotels and even rooms on Airbnb. Just getting to London is complicated. Driving isn't possible, the train is over $300, and flights, although cheap, involve getting to and from the airports... so last, is the 12 hour bus trip. So I would be taking the bus. All I need to do is find a place to stay, now, so that I can safely pick up Vivian's diaries and bring them back.
I will keep you updated on how the rescue mission goes!