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| Mr. Van Dinh Huy with his book space |
From the “Rainbow” books
Van Dinh Huy recounted: “Back in 3rd grade, I became fascinated with Russian pictorial magazines in Vietnamese. From then on, I started searching for books published by Rainbow Publishing House, such as “The Adventures of Mit dac and His Friends”, “The Scarlet Sails”, or “Giamilia - Tales of the Mountains and the Steppes”… Those books had hardcovers, printed on beautiful white paper, and of course, they were truly wonderful. Since then, I have had a love for books and especially enjoyed collecting literary works”.
One childhood memory that remains etched in Huy’s mind took place when he was in 7th grade. During a math lesson, the teacher gently asked the class about their dreams for the future. Without a moment of doubt, Huy stood up and said that someday, he wished to own a small bookshop. The teacher smiled warmly and replied: “Your dream may be humble, but it carries a quiet, beautiful meaning…”
At present, Van Dinh Huy has owned 3 large bookcases filled with thousands of books, mostly literature and history. “Building” such a rich and valuable collection has been a long journey driven by his passion for books. Huy shared: “Back in 10th grade, after I bought and read the book titled: “Chuyen khao ve Hue” (stories about life in Hue) by Tran Kiem Doan, I came up with the idea of collecting books written by authors from Hue throughout different periods. Now, I’ve gathered almost all literary works by Hue writers, along with many books about Hue itself...”
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| A selection of special and aesthetically book editions |
Alongside his passion for collecting books, Van Dinh Huy is also a well-known photography artist in Hue. He shared: “After long stretches of work, when life becomes overwhelming and exhausting, the quiet joy of being with my little family and my dear “friends - the books”, helps me slow down and find peace again. Just holding a book, tracing its spine or cover, and reading a few lines is enough to make me feel completely at ease. Photography is another passion of mine. If you look closely, you’ll see that many of my photographs are inspired by literary essays, especially writers such as Mr. Tran Kiem Doan and Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hoang…”.
From the old spreads of secondhand books
Among book collectors in Hue, and even in several other provinces and cities across the country, many people know of the young book collector Do Minh Dien. He has loved books since childhood; but it was only when he came to Hue for university that the student from Phong Thai Ward finally had the opportunity to access a wide variety of books and began his journey of collecting them.
Do Minh Dien recalled: “As a student, it’s really hard for me to have money to buy books. In those days, I mostly hunted for books at secondhand book stalls along Hung Vuong, Nguyen Hue, and Nguyen Truong To streets… Later on, hoping to find rarer titles at cheaper prices, I began visiting scrap-paper shops to buy books sold by weight. To my astonishment, buried in those old burlap sacks were many remarkable books, some printed before 1975, even before 1945”.
Similar to Van Dinh Huy, the young history student from Hue, Do Minh Dien, also went through a lot of days of skipping meals and saving every little expense just to buy books. Later, when he started working, his passion for books grew stronger. He patiently searched and managed to buy many precious books from family book collections in Hue. As he said, “If I don’t buy them in time, I’m afraid those valuable books will “leave” Hue, and that would be such a loss”.
Dien recalled: “3 years ago, there was a family on Phan Dang Luu Street (Hue City) decided to sell their private book collection, an enormous library, both in quantity and in value. Among the books were many unique titles and rare magazines, such as the series Than Kinh Tap Chi and Lap Truong, etc. The problem was, the price of the entire collection was far beyond what I could afford, 1.6 billion VND. I even tried to introduce it to several institutions and organizations in Hue, but no one showed interest (perhaps the price was simply too high). Not long after, a book collector from Ho Chi Minh City flew to Hue and bought it without hesitation. Even now, when I think about it, I still feel a deep sense of regret…”.
To this day, Do Minh Dien’s book collection has grown to more than ten thousand volumes, including many rare works and even unique, one-of-a-kind editions. Among the most remarkable are over 200 volumes of the BAVH in French, the University of Hue Journal published before 1975, and more than 60 copies of Vu Trong Phung’s novel “So do”, from its very first editions printed before 1945 to later ones, etc.
Do Minh Dien shared: “For book lovers, simply valuing books is not enough, one must truly love them and cherish them. Every time I hold an old book in my hands, I can’t help but think about the spaces and times it has traveled through over the decades, sometimes nearly a century, surviving war, rain and sun, storms and floods, and the care of its previous owners who protected it so that it remains almost intact today. That is the soul of a book, beyond the literary, historical, or scholarly content it carries within its pages…”