A cardinal's wallet, not a book, tops Tom Ayling's eight-video week
Howard Carter before Tutankhamen, a first edition of A Christmas Carol and Tolkien's Hobbit dinner filled out the antiquarian bookseller's shelf.
Tom Ayling
Story of Why this story? The channel's weekly summary: what went up this week, what is drawing views now, and where the channel stands among similar channels.
This ISN’T A Book!
When is a book not a book? Tom Ayling, the antiquarian bookseller who films the rare things that pass through his hands, put that question in a title, "This ISN'T A Book!", and it became the busiest of his eight uploads, passing 100,000 views inside a week.
The object is a decorated holder bearing a coat of arms, and viewers worked out its purpose almost as fast as the video did: a wallet, tied in the comments to the Corsini family. One sharp-eyed viewer counted the tassels on the heraldry and argued they mark a bishop rather than a cardinal. Another saw the shape of the ivory diptychs of Roman consuls in it. The most liked observation is simply that it looks like the folder a restaurant brings the bill in. Several people would like to know what kind of documents it once carried.
The rest of the week ranged widely. There was Howard Carter before Tutankhamen, from the years when the Egyptologist was still a young artist copying tomb paintings. There was a first edition of A Christmas Carol, the Dickens story first published in December 1843, plus Tolkien's Hobbit dinner and two videos promising "the truth" about a beautiful book. The newest upload, about Thomas De Quincey's Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, the anonymous 1821 memoir of the title's "sensation", was moving fastest of all on its first day.
Views ran well above the channel's usual pace, while subscribers rose gently, by about a thousand. Among the collecting channels nearest its size, Skill Check and MiniminterCollects had the bigger weeks, and Audrey Thirtyacre was quiet.
Published on Trari
Where next?
What viewers say
It looks like a holder for a bill in a restaurant.
@Mil-v5pSee it on YouTubeWhen I first saw the coat of arms, I thought “man this looks like a rudimentary wallet!” and I was right!
@BlazeTheGamer1See it on YouTubeAt that moment Neri Corsini was "only" bishop: there are only five tessels on each side, as a bishop. A cardinal has 15 tessels on each part.
@luigisauchelli6292See it on YouTube
7 more comments
Is funny how many historical artifacts are just stuff for daily use.
I bet that cardinal didn't expect that holder to survive so long.@nidohime6233See it on YouTubeThere he goes again, teaching us more cool stuff that we didn't even know we needed to know!
@Ardi337See it on YouTubeThe decorative theme, the dimensions and, above all, the form clearly recall the ivory diptychs used by Roman consuls and subsequently adopted by the Late Antique Church.
@lucaavellis7398See it on YouTubeThey had very big pockets back then, under the robes.
@blazel462See it on YouTubeLooks like a stylish menu.
@newyorknightSee it on YouTubeThe incredible detail. The fact that it lasted so long in such good detail, it was a daily use item but it must have been very much treasured by its owner. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and the item. Beautiful.
@InnariGardensSee it on YouTubeLove your always fascinating research!
@Lou.BSee it on YouTube
Public comments from the video's page on YouTube
Is this your channel?For the channel's owners and team: a ready picture, text and badge for your audience
Share the story with your audience. Everything is ready:
For an Instagram story or a WhatsApp status
For a community post or your channel's description
For your website
You may use the picture, the badge, and link it to this story.
The videos drawing views on Tom Ayling right now
The TRUTH About This Beautiful Book42,785 views · 2026-10-04
Howard Carter BEFORE Tutankhamen27,659 views · 2026-10-05
A Christmas Carol FIRST EDITION24,795 views · 2026-10-06
The TRUTH About This Book22,937 views · 2026-10-06
Tolkien’s Hobbit Dinner!18,979 views · 2026-10-02
This ANONYMOUS Book Caused A SENSATION13,605 views
- Channel
- Tom Ayling
- Subscribers
- 352,000 ▲ 1,000 this week
- Channel views, last 7 days
- 744,829
- Videos published this week
- 8
- Video published
- October 3, 2026
- Video views so far
- 103,562
- Views on its first day
- 33,063
The numbers
Here is how Tom Ayling's channel and his newest videos did over the week.
💡 Test your knowledge
Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, the subject of Tom Ayling's newest video, was written by whom?
Thomas De Quincey published the memoir anonymously in 1821, first in the London Magazine.