Veteran rocker Nick Cave has donated around 2,000 books from his private collection to charity and fans have been delighted to pick up bargains filled with the singer’s handwriting, notes and ticket stubs.
Nick Cave has donated around 2,000 books from his private collection to charity.
The veteran rocker emptied out his library and passed on tomes on subjects including philosophy, art and history as well as fiction to the Oxfam Bookshop in Hove, East Sussex – the town where Cave lived for more than a decade with his wife Susie – and they went on sale last week (17.07.25) priced between £2.99 and £4.99.
Ian Falkingham , who helped arrange the donation, told The Sunday Times newspaper: “Apart from the fact he’s an extremely famous person, it’s very similar to what happens all over the country all the time. You’ve got to make space in your house for the next set of books, don’t you?”
A bookshop employee – who was named only as Richard – told the Argus newspaper: “It’s a very interesting donation. The types of books are very wide ranging – there’s philosophy, art, religion, even old fiction paperbacks.
“It’s an incredibly varied donation. He clearly held on to his books, some of them are quite old.”
Richard went on to explain the books owned by Cave had previously been featured in a touring art exhibition before being put into storage.
The books are not labelled as being from the star’s private collection, but fans have delighted in finding handwritten notes and annotations from the singer in the copies they’ve published along with mementoes such as airline tickets, maps and cigarette packets.
Cave’s publicist told The Sunday Times: “He thinks the discoveries will remain intriguing mysteries for those who find them.”
The publication reports a copy of Martin McDonagh’s play The Lieutenant of Inishmore was signed by the playwright himself, who wrote: “Nick, Hope you like it. It’s kind of mental.”
Other books said to have gone on sale include novels by Salman Rushdie and Ian McEwan as well as a first edition copy of Johnny Cash’s book Man In White.
Nick and his wife Susie used to live in Hove – part of the city of Brighton – but they moved to Los Angeles several years ago following the death of their son Arthur, who died aged 15 in 2015 after falling from a cliff, and they now spend much of their time living in London.
In his Red Hand Files blog, the musician previously revealed the lyrics of his song Heart That Kills You help explain why they decided to leave the town.
He wrote: “The words of the song go someway toward articulating why Susie and I moved from Brighton to L.A. Brighton had just become too sad. We did, however, return once we realised that, regardless of where we lived, we just took our sadness with us.
“These days, though, we spend much of our time in London, in a tiny, secret, pink house, where we are mostly happy.”
Nick Cave donates 2,000 books to charity
