Desperately searching for a book. Can you help? Thanks.

[Ihavethebestdogs]

I know it would mean a lot to the person...

They were with their mum (now sadly no longer here) when it was purchased.

I know it:
was not a large book but was quite thick;
was made up of poems (longer, epic poems I think);
was a hardback book, white with a loose-leaf cover;
was illustrated (cover and / or inside, I'm not sure...) with illustrations in the style of Quentin Blake (they can't be totally certain, so the illustrations may be by Quentin Blake himself);
contained poems which were about famous people (historical figures and possibly other famous individuals);
may be out of print as it was purchased some time ago.

This is all I have to go on at the moment. I would love to be able to find this book for them!

I know how amazing you lot are at finding the most obscure titles with the skimpiest of details, so I'm really hoping you can help.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much!

This is on Abebooks.co.uk - Favourite Poems of Famous People by George Leon Varney. Don't know if it's what you are after, but might be worth a look.

When did they get it?

It sounds familiar. Wish my uncle were still alive I feel he’d know.

It’s not 1066 and All That by any chance?

Nope, 1066 isn’t poetry. I still feel the answer is on the tip of my tongue though.

Something by Hillaire Belloc?

OP - can I thank you for this thread. As a result I decided to try and, once again, try to find a book that has haunted my memories for nearly 40 years. I think I’ve found it. A bookseller on Abe is going to take some more photos for me tomorrow. Am so excited!

Was it an anthology aimed at children, even if some of the poems weren't necessarily originally written for that audience? I ask because of the illustrations you mention.

This one? www.amazon.co.uk/Quentin-Blake-Book-Nonsense-Verse/dp/0670852287?dplnkId=09d90486-46cd-4b99-b3e2-60d71ed78641&nodl=1

celebrity poems and QB illustrated, published 1990.

any idea when it was purchased?

edited for retention fail 😝

I feel like my grandparents had a book like this, I want to say it was called a children's treasury or a treasury of poetry or something?

Do you know when they bought it? Was it new then?

Was it by one poet or an anthology?

I had a white hardback poetry book called Kings and Queens by Herbert and Eleanor Farjeon. Although it wasn't a thick book thinking about it.

That looks promising. Hope the OP comes back! https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1750646200/kings-and-queens-by-eleanor-and-herbert?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_uk_en_gb_a-books_movies_and_music&utm_custom1=k_Cj0KCQiApNW6BhD5ARIsACmEbkXOOPAg2RAgFviZfzSomA0-KWDeAyKVcx5Vw0eClfyQT50xoA_kEuoaAlpOEALw_wcB_k&utm_content=go_21818461172_169452876176_717564633350_pla-314262775427_m__1750646200engb_572074390&utm_custom2=21818461172&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiApNW6BhD5ARIsACmEbkXOOPAg2RAgFviZfzSomA0-KWDeAyKVcx5Vw0eClfyQT50xoA_kEuoaAlpOEALw_wcB