Book Surprises

Encountering Books I Never Knew Existed

I love the serendipitous surprise that seems to happen most often while browsing in secondhand bookstores. That joy of encountering a book I never knew existed. The possibilities that open when considering a new translation or unknown illustrations. It’s like new worlds open right before my eyes.

In just the past 30 days, I’ve come across three book versions I didn’t know existed before. I discovered two of them at Landmark Booksellers and another online:

The Odyssey of Homer

Translation: Lawrence of Arabia / Wood Engravings: Barry Moser

I kicked off 2025 reading through the King James Version of the Bible illustrated and designed by Barry Moser. Moser’s work captivated me and I can still see many of the images when I close my eyes. They made the stories and people in the Bible come alive.

I’ve been very interested in different translations of The Odyssey over the past few years. I first saw a copy of an Odyssey translation by T.E. Lawrence in Scotland last year and quickly opened to the first lines to see how he handled the Greek “polytropos.” I realized Lawrence did more of a prose telling of the story instead of a translation. I hear it is good and Lawrence even mentions that through his adventures, he came to know a little bit about the world of The Odyssey.

Here is a beautiful version of The Odyssey that combines Moser and Lawrence of Arabia. What a stunning combination and edition!

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The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri

Translation: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was quite the surprise to come across a three volume set of The Divine Comedy and to see the translation completed by Longfellow. I did not know that he had made a translation of this work. I have not read Dante yet and am not sure what translation I will use when doing so, but it’s nice to know this one exists.

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The Jerusalem Bible

Lithographs by Salvador Dali / Translation of the Book of Job by J.R.R. Tolkien

This one blew my mind. First off, I never knew that Tolkien had translated a book of the Bible. And second, I never knew Salvador Dali had painted for a Bible. Here’s a listing of this Bible. It looks incredible.

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What are some book versions or translations you’ve come across lately that came as a complete surprise?