This children’s book written for Puffin in 1963 introduces us to the original ’Stig’, a character created by author Clive King, and I assume provided inspiration for Clarkson and the Top Gear team when they came up with their mystery driver for Top Gear.

When this battered copy arrived at The Sussex Book Collector, the unmistakable cover illustrated by Edward Ardlizzone took me back to my childhood when I would devour books like this whilst curled up on the sofa on a wet afternoon, and turning the foxed and yellowed pages now seems to release distant echoes of clattering pans as my long-gone mum got busy in the kitchen. If I had bought a new copy of the book I’m not sure it would mean quite so much - this is a first edition that has been through many hands; the spine is broken and pages creased, so it has little monetary value, but to me this is a time machine and it’s destined for my shelf rather than going for sale.

Companies such as WeBuyBooks, SellItBack, musicMagpie and other online book-buying services have made clearing unwanted books appear incredibly easy. Simply pick up a book. Scan the barcode. Get an offer. If they want it.

And that is the important point. These companies aren't offering to buy your entire book collection. Their systems are deciding, book by book, which titles they currently want. That might work to your advantage when you've got a small pile of modern paperbacks. But what happens when you're clearing a hundred or more books and they don’t all have barcodes or even an ISBN number?

What would it have been like to sail almost 50,000 miles around the British Empire with the future King George V and Queen Mary?

Petty Officer Harry Price can give us a pretty good idea.

In 1901, Price was serving aboard HMS Ophir, the ship chosen to carry the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York on their remarkable nine-month royal tour. The voyage took in Malta, Ceylon, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Mauritius, South Africa and Canada. 

But The Royal Tour 1901 isn't an official royal account. It is something much more personal, it's a facsimile of Price's own handwritten and illustrated journal, recording what he saw and experienced from the lower deck.

Every year, huge numbers of books become unwanted. They are cleared from homes, or left over in charity shops or simply replaced by newer editions. But an unwanted book is not necessarily a waste book.

In fact, research for the Publishers Association found that most people already recognise this. When asked what they do with books they have finished, 34% said they pass them to friends or family, 33% donate them to charity shops and 12% sell them online. Only 7% said they throw them away.