Ethical qualms aside, the biggest problem in collecting second-hand-books-that-have-been-inscribed-with-personal-messages-from-their-previous-owner(s) is finding the buggers in the first place. I have not been blessed with any innate inscription-dowsing abilities. Nor do I fancy (on the whole) spending countless number of hours trawling through the shelves of secondhand bookshops in the vain hope of accidently uncovering some heartfelt scrawl. Fortunately, though, I have made the acquaintance of a number of booksellers from across London who are kind enough to keep an eye out for me and put aside any inscribed books they happen to stumble on. And so a big thanks to Terry at Spitalfields market, Jon and Paddy of Word on the Water, Merissa at the British Heart Foundation charity shop on Holloway Road, and the team at Skoob Books off Marchmont Street (without whom a strange little fetish would have struggled to flourish).

It was while I was collecting my latest find from Skoob Books that the manager, Chris, asked if I was interested in visiting their warehouse in Oxford and having a look at some of the items they've found inside secondhand books over the years. Now, Skoob's warehouse is home to more than a million volumes – one of the largest private collections in the UK, with each insertion and inscription dutifully collated – so needless to say I jumped at the chance. (It's probably worth mentioning here that this is not a storehouse of remainders or pallets of books that nobody wants. Rather, each volume is a previously-read book, bought with the commitment to "find another reader if at all possible", the admirable mission being to resist the shredder and the digitiser and preserve the context, as well as the content, of the printed word.) And so it was that, one bright and balmy day, Chris drove me to an industrial estate just outside the city. Here, I was allowed to wander the musty aisles, before being taken into one of the offices to gaze upon the fabled Wall of Found: a series of noticeboards that I was given permission to partially dismantle for the purpose of this piece.

Pressed flowers

Secondhand book inserts

Do people still press flowers and leaves between the pages of books? Or has this practice gone the way of making one's own perfume out of petals, playing penny-up-against-the-wall and buying imitation-leather bookmarks?

Bookmarks (see above for picture)

Not surprisingly, bookmarks are a common find in secondhand books. And here is a rather nice selection. Personally, my favourite is the black imitation-leather RSC bookmark. Which made me wonder: whatever did happen to imitation-leather bookmarks? Once upon a time, no family outing to a museum or zoo was complete without coming away with a souvenir imitation-leather bookmark. Now, they're like hens' teeth. I assume there's some perfectly reasonable, environmentally sound explanation for their disappearance, but the world does seem a slightly less civilised place without them… (anyone?)

Dog-photo, tickets, etc

Secondhand book inserts

A business card, an inspirational poem-cum-bookplate, a blurred photograph of an inquisitive chocolate-brown dog, a child's handmade card, an ad for Spokes & Son's Motor Cycle Service, and an itemised bill for rooms 10-11, of the Caledonian Hotel, Callander, circa 1953. Surely, we have all the necessary ingredients for a good William Trevor short story right here…

Telegram

Secondhand book inserts



Or perhaps a novella by Graham Greene ...

Postcards

Gooderham

A random selection of postcards. Less dramatic than the letter, perhaps, but far more aesthetically pleasing (with the odd exception).

Tickets

Secondhand book inserts

Assorted ticket stubs, stamps, a cheque, gift vouchers. Flotsam and jetsam, odds and sods, 10 cents off Flako corn muffin mix.

Photos

Secondhand book inserts

Some faces at last. These are just some of the photographs that grace the Wall of Found, having slipped out from between the pages of books. Who these people are – or were – and their connection to the books, I don't suppose we'll never know - which makes them seem all the more poignant.

Kensal Green

Secondhand book inserts

And, inevitably perhaps, we end here, with one of the more macabre finds: a map of Kensal Green cemetery. Though, as I was half-expecting to find locks of hair, fingernails and the like, this was a small mercy.

The Secret History of Second-Hand Books: an Exhibition, compiled by Wayne Gooderham, is running at Foyles Bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London until Thursday 13 December.