As a rule I studiously avoid McIntyre and Moore Booksellers. Is a dangerous place; I cannot go in without buying something new and exciting. It rarely has what I want, but always has what I didn’t know I needed. Yet after a satisfying dinner last night, we took a stroll and ended up standing in front of the bookshop. We went in, and I came out with (only) two books.

The first, Greek Footwear and the Dating of Sculpture by Katherine Dohan Morrow, was too curious to pass by on. Going through every extant piece of Greek art by period, it reads like an Audobon field guide to sandals.

The other is an out-of-print book, History and the Homeric Iliad , by Denys Page. As one section on the layout of the walls of Troy is based upon the dubious research of Heinrich Schliemann, I’m sceptical as to the accuracy of what’s inside, but the other portions of the book are entirely new to me and should prove to be enjoyable.

My stack of books waiting to be read is growing ever larger.