Bocca finds his Kinglake

The following story continues from my post:
http://commenting-the-commentaries.blogspot.com/2006/09/writing-lesson-from-winston-churchill.html
As that post it is taken from Geoffrey Bocca's, “Best Seller : a nostalgic celebration of the less-than-great books you have always been afraid to admit you loved “ in this case pages 20-21.

"I then trundled back to Charing Cross Road. Tremulously, I entered the dustiest secondhand bookshop I could find. The proprietor was sitting alone reading A Rebours by J. K. Huysman. He looked up and raised his glasses to his forehead.
“Would you by any chance have a set of Alexander Kinglake’s nine volume History of the Invasion of Crimea: Its Origins and an Account of Its Progress Down to the Death of Lord Raglan?”
He said, “What?”
I repeated the question in full. He frowned as if he did not know what I was talking about, and said, “I beg your pardon?”
gathering the remains of my breath I said, “Would you have a set of Alexander Kinglake’s nine-volume history of the invasion of Crimea?”
Was I, I wondered about to be the straight man in one of cicilization’s oldest jokes? Was I to turn my back rudely and mutter under my breath as i left, “Go f--- yourself,” giving him the chance to riposte, “aye, and go f--- Alexander Kinglake’s nine volume History of the Invasion of Crimea: Its Origins and an Account of Its Progress Down to the Death of Lord Raglan?”
What the gentleman said was, “You don’t have to raise your voice. I heard you the first time.”
“Then why do I waste my time . . .”
He held up his hand. “Be patient, my dear sir. Be understanding. You are clearly a man of culture. It was simply that i liked to hear you say it. Nobody has asked my for that set in fifteen --- sixteen years. The first time you said it I could not believe my ears. The second time the words sounded so mellifluous and beautiful. I was all but unmanned. As you said it the third time, sir, it seemed that the whole rich mosiac of my life as a secondhand book dealer was spreading in front of me in all its multitudinous hues to the very limits of the far horizon. You are talking to a man you have made very happy. is that not enow?”
“Indeed, i am very pleased, but let me put my question another way. Do you have it?
He shook his head, “No.”
. . .
The pesky book dealer cried, “Wait, sir! I don’t have it. But somewhere up or down the Charing Cross Road, some dealer will have a set be assured. Perhaps in a cellar warehouse in East Grinstead, perhaps in poor condition. whatever they ask, offer half. If you don’t buy it they will never sell it. Now, leave me please; this has been a very moving experience. I may even close my doors for the day.”"

A writing lesson from Winston Churchill

This story is quoted from the English novelist Geoffrey Bocca’s “Best seller : a nostalgic celebration of the less-than-great books you have always been afraid to admit you loved “ (pages 16-19)

"All at once I found myself with a chance not to be missed, and moreover with the courage to ask the question. I spoke up. 'Sir Winston, I am a writer, and I want to be a better writer. I know how much you were influenced by Gibbon and The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I have read this too, with great profit. Have you another writer you especially recommend?'
...
"He said on word to me....The word he said was, 'Kinglake'.
...
"I had to wait until I returned to London to look up Kinglake. This is what one of the encyclopedias says.
...
While a student in 1835 he travelled Throughout the East, and the impression made on him was so powerful that he was seized with a desire to record it. "Eothen", a sensitive and witty record of impressions keenly felt and remembered was published in 1844 and enjoyed considerable reputation. In 1854, he went to Crimea and was present as a spectator at the Battle of Alma. He made the acquaintance of Lord Raglan, the British commander, whose widow subsequently placed all of the commander’s papers at the writer’s disposal. For the rest of his life Kinglake was engaged in the task of completing this monumental and largely ignored history. Thirty-two years elapsed between its commencement and publication of the last volume and nine volumes appeared in all.
...
"Churchill’s guideline to me was clear. forget the lifework, read ‘Eothen’, a title already familiar to me.
...
"I read Eothen with joy and with love possessed, and put it down saying, 'Thanks, Winnie.' I knew one of Winston Churchill’s unpublished secrets.
"A couple of years later I found myself alone with Churchill after dinner at La Capponchina. I reminded him of our earlier conversation, told him how much I felt enriched by Eothen, and asked him to recommend other reading. Churchill’s first leson had been concluded in a single word. This time he was twice as expansive. What he said was, ‘More Kinglake‘.
I said, ‘B-but, sir Winston, the only other thing Kinglake ever wrote was his nine-volume history of the invasion of the Crimea. It is completely unread.’
"Churchill’s eyes twinkled the way they so often did in wartime propaganda photographs. He pushed a thumb into my dress shirt. ‘Read it, my boy.’ he said. ‘as you say, nobody reads it. so no one can accuse you of plagiarism, can they?’ "


This story continues on;
http://commenting-the-commentaries.blogspot.com/2006/10/bocca-finds-his-kinglake.html