From The Personal Library Of Edith Chase

I have loved visiting Topsmead State Forest since I was a little girl. Now that I live nearby, I visit frequently for walks, picnics, and reading. But I had not been inside the English Cotswolds inspired mansion at the top of the hill until this summer. We visited a second time just a few weeks ago. During the late spring through early autumn you can visit for free on weekends when they have tours open to the public. My favorite room was instantly the library. I had a nice gander of the room during our first visit, however, it was not until recently that I had a chance to truly pursue the books on the shelves.

What’s funny is that last winter I made a little post on Instagram imaginatively pretending that Topsmead Mansion was a secret library. Little did I know that there really was a library hidden inside! All this time I thought the old house was mostly empty. How wrong I was.

Edith Chase, the woman who had this house built in the 1920s, lived here until her passing in the 1970s. She was a wealthy woman of Chase bank fortune. She shared the home with her two closest friends, Mary and Lucy. This library is their personal collection. None of the women married, and I realized how rare to find an old home library completely curated by and for women. All of these books were theirs. In fact, I cannot recall of knowing another old home library collection made completely by women, although I am sure there are some.

They had all the classics, including Shakespeare, but the collection was purely based on their personal interests from local New England authors to books about England, France, and Ireland. They had books on gardening, poetry, cottages and home building and about famous authors like A. A. Milne, The Bronte sisters, Jane Austen, and Edith Wharton.

I was even more surprised to find books on their shelves that I have at home on my own bookcases. Edith, Mary, Lucy and I share a similar taste in literature, minus the modern contemporary romances of today. Based on this library alone, I believe we all would have been good friends if we had lived at the same time. I am only sharing the library as I believe it would be rude to share the rest of the house. I highly recommend visiting and going on a tour of your own and making a donation to support Topsmead. The cute kitchen is worth the visit!

Now, let me show you around the library at Topsmead.

I realize this photo does not show it, but there are book cases on the right hand side of the big window and the entire wall to the right as well. This is a room purely dedicated to the love of books. I would like to give you a tour with the cell phone photos I snapped up during my visit. I took all these photos because I wanted to remember the names of these books to search for myself. You might also be delighted by some of the titles.

“Helps to Happiness” in the photo below is a book I bought myself earlier this year! I was surprised to find that we had several of the same books.

I would love to find a copy of this book by Louisa May Alcott:

I am adding A Spring Walk in Provence, The Spell of France, and the Fine Art of Reading to my future book list.

“A Backward Glance” is the autobiography of Edith Wharton. I recently thrifted a copy online and I look forward to it coming in the mail any day now.

I also thrifted a copy of “So You’re Seeing New England.” I am very interested to know what an antique guide book has to say about New England and how much it may have changed (or stayed the same) since then.

“The Vermont Tradition” is a book I also recently thrifted. It was written in the 1950s and is a love letter to Vermont and the people. As a New England girl whose father is from Vermont, this book sounded like one I should have in my home library. The introduction is also quite progressive for the time period! I have a feeling I am going to enjoy this book. I am also a big fan of Elizabeth Von Arnim (and cannot find this book. “Love” anywhere), and I am interested in finding this book, “Christmas Roses” by Anne Douglas Sedgwick. I have been very inspired by these shelves.

Using Edith, Mary and Lucy as my book guides, I also ordered a thrifted copy of “Speaking of Jane Austen.” Their library is so intriguing to me. I wish I could borrow a few of their books! Thrifting copies of books that sound enjoyable to me has been a fun way to find new-to-me vintage books that I am looking forward to reading. As a big Jane Austen fan, I am very excited to see what this book about Jane Austen’s life and her books has to say.

“The Three Brontes” by Sinclair is an expensive book to thrift (or at least the copies I have found so far). I’m going to keep it on my list to find a cheaper copy along with “The Little French Girl” by Anne Douglas Sedgwick. I have already added quite a few of their books to my reading list! What about you?

A thrifted copy of “Mr. Pickwick’s Christmas” by Charles Dickens could make for a fun Christmas gift to give away this year. I know that author Louisa May Alcott very much loved Charles Dickens’s “The Pickwick Papers.”

“My Summer In A Garden” by Warner is a book I bought at a used bookstore in Cazenovia New York this past April.

The poetry book to the right below is also a book of poetry that I own at home. I had found my copy at the Book Barn in Niantic many years ago.

There are books in almost every room of the house. This little shelf is in the guest room.

And this is the reading nook situated at the top of the stairs.

The lilacs were blooming in autumn. How spectacular and rare.

Thank you for coming on this bookish journey with me. I don’t know about you, but I am always interested in the books that people add to their personal bookshelves. Discovering the books in Edith Chase’s library was a delight. I hope you enjoyed seeing her book collection as well. Perhaps some of the books pictured here will be of interest to you as it has for me.

I also recently visited Orchard House, the home of author Louisa May Alcott, and the birthplace of Nathanial Hawthorne in Salem MA, a well known New England author. I will happily be sharing the journey on the blog with you this autumn. Which book on this post looks like something you want to read? Tell me in the comments below.