Vintage Observer's Books Cacti, Birds' Eggs, Fly Fishing and House Plants Set in Yellow, Orange, Navy and Green

Cacti, house plants, birds' eggs and fly fishing: four hobbies that all reward a patient person, gathered here in four vintage Observer's Pocket Books with some of the brightest spines in the series. Sunshine yellow, burnt orange, deep navy and jade green, each finished with its Warne series number at the foot (27, 18, 68 and 45), and the red lettering on House Plants is a particularly cheerful touch.

The two indoor titles show how the Observer's series kept pace with changing tastes. Cacti, by S.H. Scott, caught the postwar fashion for succulents on sunny windowsills, while House Plants arrived in 1972, just as spider plants and Swiss cheese plants were taking over British living rooms. Birds' Eggs comes from an earlier era of country walks and nest spotting; collecting wild birds' eggs has long been outlawed, so today it reads as a charming slice of social history as well as a guide. Fly Fishing is a 1977 first edition, carrying only its original publication date, and belongs to the later run of numbered titles that appeal to anglers as much as collectors.

Each book measures roughly 14.5 x 9.5cm (5.75 x 3.75 inches). The colours are strong enough to hold their own on a busy bookcase, but we think they look happiest beside real plants. Stack them under a small potted cactus on a kitchen windowsill, or stand them upright next to a trailing fern in a bathroom. For a fishing enthusiast, they make an easy gift alongside a vintage reel or a few old flies in a frame.

All four are hardbacks in their original boards and come without dust jackets. They show light wear to the edges and corners and gentle toning to the page edges in keeping with their age, while the colours on the spines remain bright. The photos show the set clearly, so please take a look through them.

Four small books, four very different pastimes, and one rather splendid stripe of colour for your shelf.