When my grandfather passed away back in 1997, I inherited a huge amount of stuff. He was a person with many hobbies, a collector and generally a hoarder. In 2001, when my parents moved to Tuscany, they brought my grandmother with them, and I went to live in my grandparents’ flat. Many of the things that belonged to grandpa remained where they were: the enormous bookshelves in the living-room (which became my studio), the vinyl records collection (more than 2,000), many of his paintings and paintboxes, photographs, postcards and other ephemera.

Among the things he loved was building plane and boat models and designing & building scale models for miniature trains. During my relocation in Spain, I found many beautiful catalogues he had been collecting since the 1950s. What’s amazing is their overall condition: many present no sign of discolouration or decay, and the paper is of a surprisingly good quality. All of them display wonderful illustration and typography. Here’s a small sample. More to come when I manage to find time to scan them properly. (Click on the images to enlarge)

Märklin 1954

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Trix Express 1954 — front cover

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Trix Express 1954 — back cover

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Trix Express 1955

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Trix Express 1958