Review by Neil Radford James Ward: Adventures in Stationery, Profile Books, 2015. ISBN 978-1846686-160. RRP $19.99 pp1-280   James Ward is obsessively enthusiastic about stationery. His favourite place on the internet is the Early Office Museum (www.officemuseum.com) and when on holidays he likes to visit such sights as the 7m tall paper clip statue in Norway, and the Pencil Museum in the UK to gaze in awe at the world’s longest pencil (7.9m). One doesn’t need this level of enthusiasm about stationery to find his book unexpectedly fascinating, a trivia buff’s treasure trove. Ward has researched the history of every conceivable stationery item and presents their stories in an often amusing way, ideal for the layperson who need not delve too deeply into the technicalities of, say, the evolving design of paper clips or the different types of fountain pen nibs. The secrets of paper clips, pens, pencils and their sharpeners, erasers, rulers, adhesive tape, staplers, the Post-it Note and others are all revealed. My favourite stationery item must be the combination ruler, letter weigher, magnifying glass, compass, protractor, spirit level and set square (advertised as 'the Xmas gift that’s different'. Adventures in Stationery would be a different Xmas gift for that special friend who yearns to know that in 1949 Biro produced a ballpoint pen with a built-in cigarette lighter, or that by tradition the Director of MI6 always signs his correspondence in green ink. Dr Neil Radford is a retired librarian (former Sydney University Librarian 1980-1996) and a volunteer and contributor for the Dictionary of Sydney. Neil's articles for the Dictionary include The beginnings of Anzac Day commemorations in Sydney, War Memorials for World War I, War Memorials for the Sudan and Boer Wars, and War Memorials to World War II and later conflicts.