tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87962216687648672272024-03-13T06:48:49.745-05:00Bibliophemera<br>ephemera related to books<br><i>their owners, sellers, publishers, printers, binders, etc.</i>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.comBlogger294125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-54509727519253133002022-02-25T18:05:00.005-06:002022-02-26T10:35:33.300-06:00A Bookaholic and Bibliophile in Ukraine<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidyDFHNx1fTsM6qgXux0JfFMIMFVDKyQlnXfu3Y_cIhVesHXywUWLBIppP--sSpkIqxdvBuxZ2ZXhwaGDCoPluuT6Dn0mNVM2BSRcCL1h8Pb8C5N5ISxfVGaVZPyfH0hVDS2rwKGZVSu4HdFzHfeEJvNm_V2WAx8IJ18tvayH-e5iAJWwX90EEnsDLtw=s675" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="478" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEidyDFHNx1fTsM6qgXux0JfFMIMFVDKyQlnXfu3Y_cIhVesHXywUWLBIppP--sSpkIqxdvBuxZ2ZXhwaGDCoPluuT6Dn0mNVM2BSRcCL1h8Pb8C5N5ISxfVGaVZPyfH0hVDS2rwKGZVSu4HdFzHfeEJvNm_V2WAx8IJ18tvayH-e5iAJWwX90EEnsDLtw=w227-h320" width="227" /></a></div></div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">A favorite piece in my <i>Bibliophemera </i>collection is an unused postcard illustrated by Ukrainian artists Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv. It features two interesting, whimsical creatures embracing each other while maintaining engagement with their books. Cat-like and bird-like, one in high heels and one barefoot, one with a long tail and prominent ears and one with tail feathers and no visible ears, both with beaks, and both with books. They can’t put their books down even in this intimate moment. Appropriately, they are labeled Bookaholic and Bibliophile. Might they even be an imaginative rendering of the artists themselves?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">Romana and Andriy were both born in Lviv, Ukraine in
1984 and continue to live and work there. The illustration on the postcard is a fitting depiction of their artistic lives where books and their illustrations comprise
their passion for illustration, book design, and writing.
Together, they started <a href="https://agrafkastudio.com/" target="_blank">Art Studio Agrafka</a> in Lviv where they have produced
award-winning books and illustrations. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and military conflict in Eastern Ukraine motivated the two artists to respond with a children's book about war. They wanted to help parents talk to their kids about the subject in a way that might help them understand some of what they may have experienced. On the blog <a href="https://blog.picturebookmakers.com/post/160979819916/romana-romanyshyn-andriy-lesiv" target="_blank">Picturebook Makers by dPictus</a>, Romana and Andriy discuss how their picture book about war enolved.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">As I write this, February 25th, 2022, day two of a Russian military assault on Ukraine is coming to a close. Lviv in far western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, is not under siege at the moment, but the future for the entire country and even the region is uncertain. What is certain is that they will not escape the war's effect on their country and its people. </span><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"">I wish them the best in the worst of times upon them now.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">H</span><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"">ow will this war shape their art? Perhaps one day they will produce another picture book on their and their country's experiences. How tragic that events have conspired to even imagine another such book. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgFElzNscu9rTMyYFJ7Ubm5Y2EXgFGOHQ_yTaRJUfNkeFXWEPzq3BNasNWXMbN0H1f5fh_2a-gYx43HPZwax_IltAJYaeeD21k591281ZV4dzu6VAIYdHjwuz_asyDUW46M0OBI8d54HsXU5Jg6skcHfNxyy8G2jKNeQi-9bgjF7xQ84QTJp0wxiJImw=s640" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="640" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjgFElzNscu9rTMyYFJ7Ubm5Y2EXgFGOHQ_yTaRJUfNkeFXWEPzq3BNasNWXMbN0H1f5fh_2a-gYx43HPZwax_IltAJYaeeD21k591281ZV4dzu6VAIYdHjwuz_asyDUW46M0OBI8d54HsXU5Jg6skcHfNxyy8G2jKNeQi-9bgjF7xQ84QTJp0wxiJImw=w320-h226" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face="Verdana, "sans-serif"" style="line-height: 115%;">An informative article on the two artists and their collaborative process is <a href="https://starylev.com.ua/news/lets-talk-illustrators-187-romana-romanyshyn-and-andriy-lesiv" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><p></p>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-55954963411710806092021-11-28T15:51:00.005-06:002021-11-29T09:11:26.477-06:00Boston's Old Corner Book Store: Woodcut by S.S. Kilburn, 1870<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-agbc6yu9XbQ/YJGslxZdc1I/AAAAAAAAKpo/aEUmKwHljssuzejPUynwEsV8JeqWmrGAACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/img081.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1122" data-original-width="2048" height="218" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-agbc6yu9XbQ/YJGslxZdc1I/AAAAAAAAKpo/aEUmKwHljssuzejPUynwEsV8JeqWmrGAACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h218/img081.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />An 1870 billhead for A.C. Stockin, New England agent for Harper & Bros. Educational Publications, would be a rather unremarkable document of Boston business history were it not for the woodcut in the upper-left corner. In addition to dressing up the old paper receipt, that illustration provides a window into Boston's rich publishing and bookselling history as well as an introduction to the artist who created the woodcut--S.S. Kilburn.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-reWK8sbVh0I/YJGtRrOv_YI/AAAAAAAAKp4/7EJn3c-c7rsduMdfvRWtNwyhO5ZRG77jACLcBGAsYHQ/s885/img081%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="599" data-original-width="885" height="272" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-reWK8sbVh0I/YJGtRrOv_YI/AAAAAAAAKp4/7EJn3c-c7rsduMdfvRWtNwyhO5ZRG77jACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h272/img081%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vhNsqzS9oQc/YJGtRwOxHkI/AAAAAAAAKp8/_cGdH90ebJAA_5dDQLPcCICT297Brx1TQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/img082.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1117" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vhNsqzS9oQc/YJGtRwOxHkI/AAAAAAAAKp8/_cGdH90ebJAA_5dDQLPcCICT297Brx1TQCLcBGAsYHQ/w220-h400/img082.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><br /><p>The engraving reveals an active corner of publishing and selling books. In addition to the Old Corner Book Store, there is Boston Map Store and A. Williams & Co., Publishers and Booksellers. Noticeably missing, though, is signage for A.C. Stockin, whose billhead hosts Kilburn's woodcut. Kilburn's choice of engraving subject seems odd in light of the fact that his client's place of business is not pictorially represented on their business correspondence paper. However, A.C. Stockin was just up the street a few blocks from the Old Corner Book Store at 135 Washington Street. Still a curious choice of imagery, the reason for which may never come to light.</p><p>Also nearby was Kilburn's office at 96 Washington Street. Samuel Smith Kilburn (1831-1903) was a 19th-century artist and wood engraver of some note in Boston. Originally from Boston, he traveled around the country before the Civil War and his sketches appeared in various publications and periodicals such as Gleason's Pictorial Magazine and Ballou's Pictorial He returned to Boston and continued his work there. He died in Newton, Massachusetts in 1903. </p><p>Collected examples of his work are found today in the Boston Athenaeum and Museum of Fine Arts Boston. And with at least one blogger.</p>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-82134909107449288412021-05-05T17:58:00.003-05:002021-05-05T18:39:55.929-05:00Cinderella Stamp for an Elusive Bookstore<p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RA_EcUhNsoE/YJMiUVV6gSI/AAAAAAAAKqg/ZnqDwdY7s90Z_w-pI3BnHjH_oEkf2mNCwCLcBGAsYHQ/s580/img088.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="452" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RA_EcUhNsoE/YJMiUVV6gSI/AAAAAAAAKqg/ZnqDwdY7s90Z_w-pI3BnHjH_oEkf2mNCwCLcBGAsYHQ/w311-h400/img088.jpg" width="311" /></a></div><br />Here is a Cinderella stamp with a colorful illustration announcing that Knud Rasmussen's bookstore is moving to another location on the Vesterbrogade, the main shopping street of the Vesterbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Information on this bookstore is elusive, but it was likely named for Greenlandic-Danish polar explorer and anthropologist, Knud Rasmussen (1879-1933), who has been called "the father of Eskimology." <p></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I can find more information about the bookstore, I will update this post. With a name like Knud Rasmussen, it would be fitting if the inventory consisted of books on polar exploration, the Inuit, Greenland, Anthropology, and the like. Books of science, adventure, and the humanities. Did they relocate for more room (a positive) or cheaper rent (possibly a negative) and did World War II, which was around the corner, have anything to do with the bookstore's demise? Or does it thrive yet under a succession of name changes? There's more to the story I'm sure.</span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The stamp measures 3.5 X 4.5 cm and dates to the 1930s when the company that produced it, Andersen & Bruun, was in business under that name (1931-1939). </span></p><p><span face=""Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></p>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-43846348922676675082021-05-01T15:43:00.003-05:002021-05-02T16:59:21.302-05:00Paris Book Shops: Looking In, Looking Out<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Two apparently different book shops in Paris. Two different women at their windows. One looks in at the books, the other looks out from within the display window where she is arranging books. They are separated in time by twenty years or more, but are united here in this space by their photographs, a display of books, and a little imagination.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mXutpBCWyoo/XlwgFkwUm6I/AAAAAAAAKT4/s_qUFIbhPLsh99hJgXHwLB5lVoGi1cO4gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img082%2B%2528640x451%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="451" data-original-width="640" height="226" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mXutpBCWyoo/XlwgFkwUm6I/AAAAAAAAKT4/s_qUFIbhPLsh99hJgXHwLB5lVoGi1cO4gCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h226/img082%2B%2528640x451%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WF1jEEqnT9U/YI2WaVsNNrI/AAAAAAAAKkE/8myQHMyXnH4cslM3fu2-tIqMCU5C0SJcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1201/img060.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1186" data-original-width="1201" height="317" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WF1jEEqnT9U/YI2WaVsNNrI/AAAAAAAAKkE/8myQHMyXnH4cslM3fu2-tIqMCU5C0SJcwCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h317/img060.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The top image is a wire photo by Elaine Beery taken from inside the Village Voice Bookstore in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, 1986. I acquired it because of the way the young woman looked at the books on display. There was something deep and thoughtful in her expression frozen in the blink of a camera's shutter. And was that a hint of sadness in her eyes that had nothing to do with the books or just the wistful gaze of a book lover on a restrictive budget?</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hvnKeM7NGpo/YI227qt6ZHI/AAAAAAAAKkM/0buMqdnnfTkcGMNAMaV6SZO54K_eBoU0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s884/img082%2B-%2BCopy%2B%25282%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="807" data-original-width="884" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hvnKeM7NGpo/YI227qt6ZHI/AAAAAAAAKkM/0buMqdnnfTkcGMNAMaV6SZO54K_eBoU0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/img082%2B-%2BCopy%2B%25282%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">By contrast, the young woman working in the display window, peers out cheerfully. She smiles and seems to enjoy her task. She is surrounded by books. The back of this vernacular photograph indicates Paris and 1962 with a question mark. I found it for sale online a few years after finding the 1986 photo and knew immediately the two belonged together, complementing each other across the years. </div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aVtpCZOms8/YI26ZdYT0zI/AAAAAAAAKkc/djb7NIuUoxUosj4jhGMoA_Magl16UGKuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s428/img060%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="416" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-4aVtpCZOms8/YI26ZdYT0zI/AAAAAAAAKkc/djb7NIuUoxUosj4jhGMoA_Magl16UGKuwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/img060%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Were the two images actually from the same book shop at the same moment, one might conclude that the young woman on the outside found herself daydreaming about killing an afternoon browsing books inside. The inviting smile that greeted her from inside caught her attention and her escape into this other world of books beyond the glass was a foregone conclusion.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0f3At4CwkJo/YI27Gt_5gdI/AAAAAAAAKko/64O4Gw_uTYYnHg74-MzU5O8HRpbnuJbHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/together.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="344" data-original-width="800" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0f3At4CwkJo/YI27Gt_5gdI/AAAAAAAAKko/64O4Gw_uTYYnHg74-MzU5O8HRpbnuJbHgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/together.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><br /></div><br />
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-22744431978246289722020-04-26T17:39:00.000-05:002020-04-26T17:39:26.348-05:00A Bookmobile for all Ages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So <a href="http://www.ala.org/conferencesevents/celebrationweeks/natlibraryweek/national-bookmobile-day"><b>National Bookmobile Day</b></a> was several days ago--April 22nd to be exact--and I had no idea there was a day for that. Better late than never, I have a couple of wire service photos to share about a bookmobile in 1949 making the rounds for its patrons young and old in Muskegon County, Michigan.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5PIVBblMJUg/XqX58-o1tLI/AAAAAAAAKX4/3iDOjH2x7-cZoz-IpFmXeUmbCIPMZrOMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1290" data-original-width="1600" height="321" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5PIVBblMJUg/XqX58-o1tLI/AAAAAAAAKX4/3iDOjH2x7-cZoz-IpFmXeUmbCIPMZrOMQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/img820.jpg" width="400" /></a><br />
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The message inherent in the pair, intended or not, conveys the joy of books for all ages, but I also see something in there about reading habits developed early in childhood staying with children throughout their lives.<br />
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The young children in the bookmobile appear totally engrossed in the books they have found. A line forms outside the bookmobile and anticipation builds for finding a treasure inside.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bypd9I97ARg/XqYEm_Jd_qI/AAAAAAAAKYQ/xNnSPChpe7szelAWrA3vHKdcXlSFvizVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img820%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="767" data-original-width="863" height="355" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bypd9I97ARg/XqYEm_Jd_qI/AAAAAAAAKYQ/xNnSPChpe7szelAWrA3vHKdcXlSFvizVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/img820%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is equal engagement with books by the older couple in the second photo. The woman, with her warm smile, appears to enjoy her selection while the man intently ponders two books in his hand, perhaps trying to make a decision with the help of the woman in the bookmobile.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eygHo9Fzgjc/XqYJOxT2ByI/AAAAAAAAKYc/PQGD3makdNE-sb_PfySGge38spAnfTXLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img822%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="763" data-original-width="1062" height="286" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eygHo9Fzgjc/XqYJOxT2ByI/AAAAAAAAKYc/PQGD3makdNE-sb_PfySGge38spAnfTXLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/img822%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The contrast between the two photos begins and ends with the age of the readers. The greater message here is about the enjoyment derived from books and reading, which knows no age limit and is indeed a lifelong pursuit. </div>
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These two wire service photos are credited on the back to photographer Bervin Johnson of Whitehall, Michigan. The librarian, or perhaps bookmobile volunteer, is listed as Mrs. Conrad Caughey. It's a shame her own name wasn't printed because it's an interesting one--Lake Erie Caughey (nee Evans)! There's a story there, I'm sure. I found that bit of information through some basic genealogy searches, but I could find nothing about her work for the Muskegon County Library and their bookmobile. However, I can tell from the photos that she made people happy throughout the county with the pleasure of books.</div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-74968880675866639722020-04-21T16:37:00.001-05:002022-05-28T07:30:23.982-05:00A Photographic Bookplate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G9094iXtWy4/Xp8lF2_1fSI/AAAAAAAAKW4/QHx4LbF1F6ovpgy5oE4-xbSoUTHg4ALggCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img775%2B%2528577x640%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="577" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-G9094iXtWy4/Xp8lF2_1fSI/AAAAAAAAKW4/QHx4LbF1F6ovpgy5oE4-xbSoUTHg4ALggCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/img775%2B%2528577x640%2529.jpg" width="180" /></a>I've been wanting to write about this bookplate since acquiring the book I found it in about eight years ago--<i>Handel, </i>by C.F. Abdy Williams, published in 1901 by both J.M. Dent & Co. (London) and E.P. Dutton & Co. (New York).<br />
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The bookplate's setting features a meadow or pasture, where a young man, John Woodroffe Garthwaite, sits in a chair with a book in his hands and a dog by his side. The current pandemic reminded me of this image and the parallels to social distancing activities we are practicing today to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19).<br />
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Of course, the scene was composed for reasons other than fighting a pandemic, but the finished product carries a visual message about social distancing into the future some 120 years. Mr. Garthwaite certainly appears socially distanced from any person and is enjoying a fine social distancing activity--reading!</div>
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The book's publication date and some genealogy research on Garthwaite help date the bookplate to circa 1901. John Woodroffe Garthwaite was born in 1882 in Oakland, California. If he acquired the book in the year of its publication, he would have been about 18 or 19 years of age. He appears to be about that age in the photograph<br />
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Besides a coincidental scene that speaks to isolation today, the particularly interesting thing about this bookplate is the choice for the image's medium--photography. When you think of bookplates, particularly from more than a century ago, engraved images or illustrated designs come to mind. A photographic bookplate circa 1900 seems quite unusual to me because I cannot find any other examples of one. Surely there are, but digging around the Internet with various combinations of keywords for other examples has yielded nothing for my efforts so far.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WAvkgqRvVpE/Xp9rNGF1z8I/AAAAAAAAKXc/-fq1Mu3vMYcyCxBbMaHS4zAEXVAIRjq8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img776%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="654" data-original-width="506" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WAvkgqRvVpE/Xp9rNGF1z8I/AAAAAAAAKXc/-fq1Mu3vMYcyCxBbMaHS4zAEXVAIRjq8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/img776%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="307" /></a></div>
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I also find the image's setting interesting. While many graphic designs include an image of a personal library or collection of books, the young man, or whomever originated the idea, decided against a still-life illustration in favor of a photograph that evokes action--the physical activity of reading a book.<br />
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The natural world of the meadow may have played a part as it did in the Art Nouveau style of that time. From roughly the 1890s to World War I, Art Nouveau influenced artistic endeavors from graphic design to architecture. Many illustrated bookplates from that era reflect flora and fauna of the natural world.<br />
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Whatever the influence or reasons for producing such an interesting bookplate more than a century ago, I'm glad it was created and found its way into the twenty-first century in fine condition. Handel has not fared so badly either.<br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-1554627055529215002020-04-09T10:35:00.000-05:002020-04-09T10:37:05.033-05:001966 Tokyo Bookstore Idea for the 2020 Pandemic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As businesses close and struggle to stay afloat during these social distancing times, necessitated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many in the retail sector have been able to adapt by adding delivery or curbside pickup services. I don't know of any bookstores offering this service, but a Tokyo bookstore in 1966 offered a novel concept for the time that parallels 2020 efforts to get control of the deadly virus. </div>
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The Japanese bookstore in the wire photo below was called a "drive-in bookstore" by the press. It may well have been drive-in, as the image doesn't appear to show a drive-<i>through </i>for the car.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wuLH6KXoq64/Xoz_YFg_GwI/AAAAAAAAKVc/oczjwspjzXYq6dhcfxXV6z_-RsLpSQprwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/img766%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="470" data-original-width="1600" height="116" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wuLH6KXoq64/Xoz_YFg_GwI/AAAAAAAAKVc/oczjwspjzXYq6dhcfxXV6z_-RsLpSQprwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/img766%2B-%2BCopy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Further research, in an attempt to identify the bookstore by name, was unsuccessful. But some interesting information about the business revealed the bookstore comprised a nine-story building with more than a million books in stock. All one had to do was drive up to the window, tell the "pretty clerk" which book or books you wanted, and the order would be placed via closed circuit TV. Turnaround time was estimated to be two minutes. Unless you were stuck in a long line, I suppose.<br />
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Actually, I did find another version of a drive-in bookstore created when a driver couldn't stop before crashing through the front window of Southworth's Bookstore near Purdue University in 1958. The owners of the store cleverly, and with a sense of humor, made lemonade out of lemons during the repairs by advertising their business as "Purdue's only drive-in bookstore!"</div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-79511192273604182362019-08-09T11:44:00.000-05:002019-08-09T12:35:03.171-05:00Abbey Road (the book): A Bookstore Poster<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-32iB9GYNDz0/XU1XKbJKuNI/AAAAAAAAKHQ/ceC_rQd-mqMFdE7aMvLDMJgiV-_GX_EGwCLcBGAs/s1600/img080%2B-%2BCopy%2B%2528640x328%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="328" data-original-width="640" height="164" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-32iB9GYNDz0/XU1XKbJKuNI/AAAAAAAAKHQ/ceC_rQd-mqMFdE7aMvLDMJgiV-_GX_EGwCLcBGAs/s320/img080%2B-%2BCopy%2B%2528640x328%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The photo of the Beatles, led by John Lennon, crossing the street above is from a photo shoot that produced one of the most recognizable and iconic record album covers of the 1960s, and all time for that matter: The Beatles' 1969 Abbey Road album. But this isn't the photo used for that album's cover, although it may appear to be at a glance.</div>
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Fifty years ago on August 8th, 1969 (I'm a day late getting this out), this photo of the Beatles was taken outside of London's Abbey Road Studios. The Beatles titled their 1969 album after the historic studios in which they recorded it and crossed Abbey Road in a photo shoot that resulted in the album cover below.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nyojrpkd-qk/XU2TMR7EX6I/AAAAAAAAKIQ/EgT7ThuEqJEhailEFD-l9QUjENq-fcfIQCLcBGAs/s1600/AbbeyRoadAlbumCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="620" height="240" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Nyojrpkd-qk/XU2TMR7EX6I/AAAAAAAAKIQ/EgT7ThuEqJEhailEFD-l9QUjENq-fcfIQCLcBGAs/s320/AbbeyRoadAlbumCover.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Another image from that photo shoot was used for the promotional bookstore poster below that advertised Brian Southall's book, Abbey Road, published in 1982, with a Foreword by Paul McCartney and Preface by George Martin. The book's dust jacket illustration matches what you see on this 12 X 17-inch poster. And what better image to illustrate a book about the famous recording studios than this one, even if it isn't the exact image used for the album?</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQC1V9KaN3w/XU2EtAFvzsI/AAAAAAAAKIE/XWfN80hlQAw6pVzqPRG2Sb1SQFGXV8BHACLcBGAs/s1600/AbbeyRoadBookPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="903" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQC1V9KaN3w/XU2EtAFvzsI/AAAAAAAAKIE/XWfN80hlQAw6pVzqPRG2Sb1SQFGXV8BHACLcBGAs/s400/AbbeyRoadBookPoster.jpg" width="281" /></a></div>
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The differences between photos for the album and the book are obvious. On the album cover, the Beatles are crossing the street from left to right and visible traffic is distant. Paul McCartney is barefoot and holding a cigarette. Contrast that with the outtake photo used for the book's jacket and promotional poster. The Beatles are walking back across the street, right to left, and there is a double-decker bus nearing the crosswalk. Paul is still barefoot, but his cigarette is missing. </div>
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Another of the six photos shot for the album cover went to auction in 2012 and fetched £16,000 (about $25,000)! It also showed the Beatles in reverse direction from what made the final cut for the cover art, but Paul, sans cigarette, was wearing sandals in that one. </div>
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Perhaps a 'backwards' photo is more appropriate for the book jacket as the book takes a look back into the history of the famed Abbey Road Studios.</div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-30081404016258163732019-06-10T18:04:00.000-05:002019-06-10T18:11:17.836-05:00R.I.P. William D. "Bill" Wittliff (1940-2019)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I'm sad to hear of Bill Wittliff's passing yesterday, June 9, at age 79.<br />
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He was a creative force in Texas as an author, screenwriter, photographer, publisher, bookseller, book collector, and designer of books and ephemera. Al Lowman, in <i>Printing Arts in Texas </i>(1975)<i>,</i> wrote, "Quite likely there is no more diversely creative talent in Texas today than this gifted designer, artist, sculptor, historian, writer, photographer, and poker player."<br />
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I never really got to meet him other than exchanging greetings and thank yous at a book signing in Houston in 2007. I bought five copies of <i>A Book of Photographs from Lonesome Dove</i>, a collection of his photographs on the set of the Lonesome Dove miniseries in 1989. He was the screenwriter for that much beloved and now classic Western. He personalized a few copies for gifts, signed just his name on a few copies, which went up for sale later in my online shop, and, of course, I kept one copy he signed for my wife and me. It is certainly a treasured keepsake.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RD7EBVweJiA/XP7PkH1BSPI/AAAAAAAAKDY/RNe71-vf8nc4Oj1tSoqew8tI_srKbrwkgCLcBGAs/s1600/Wittliff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="698" height="293" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RD7EBVweJiA/XP7PkH1BSPI/AAAAAAAAKDY/RNe71-vf8nc4Oj1tSoqew8tI_srKbrwkgCLcBGAs/s320/Wittliff.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have a small collection of ephemera designed by Bill Wittliff, much of it signed or inscribed, and I wrote about a few pieces for this blog in 2010. I thought I'd dust off one of them and repost it rather than just reference it with a link. The images needed improvement and the writing gets tweaked a bit, but it's essentially intact from 2010.<br />
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About a decade ago I stumbled upon a Texas bookseller's online listing of ephemera designed and printed by William D. (Bill) Wittliff and his Encino Press in Austin, Texas, circa 1960s-70s. The price was very reasonable and I did not hesitate to make that collection part of my collection. In keeping with the content of this blog, I've selected one of several book-related pieces to feature here--a brochure for the second annual meeting of The Collectors' Institute<b> </b>in 1969. Wittliff signed (initialed) the back of the brochure.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FUAc37xnEqY/XP7C_pGWXaI/AAAAAAAAKDE/j1V6wfgcZxU_EJa4_cx7sfLxWbXfLcOrQCLcBGAs/s1600/img476%2B-%2BCopy%2B%2528640x503%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="640" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FUAc37xnEqY/XP7C_pGWXaI/AAAAAAAAKDE/j1V6wfgcZxU_EJa4_cx7sfLxWbXfLcOrQCLcBGAs/s320/img476%2B-%2BCopy%2B%2528640x503%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zym22CchtlA/XP7C_nH4ZoI/AAAAAAAAKC8/yO-61lpC0OY3udo_Kic7_vQra7awDSMHwCLcBGAs/s1600/img476%2B%2528640x502%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="640" height="251" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zym22CchtlA/XP7C_nH4ZoI/AAAAAAAAKC8/yO-61lpC0OY3udo_Kic7_vQra7awDSMHwCLcBGAs/s320/img476%2B%2528640x502%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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I had never heard of this group before, so I did a little research to see what it was exactly and what became of it (assuming it is no longer around). The Handbook of Texas Online has an article on the Collectors' Institute, submitted by the former (and only) president of the Collectors' Institute, Jenkins Garrett.<br />
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I learned from Garrett's article that the Collectors' Institute existed from 1968 to 1980. It was "a private association of collectors of library materials, including books, manuscripts, documents, and maps, cosponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin."<br />
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Reading further, I realized this group's collecting interest focused on some pretty interesting material and, to that end, invited some of the giants of Texas Belles-lettres, publishing, and book design to speak to the group. What an opportunity that was! Workshops were also held to address collector interests.<br />
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The meeting's itinerary, presented inside Wittliff's brochure (below), gives an indication of what one could expect at these meetings. Looks like some pretty distinguished bookmen giving talks, conducting roundtable discussions, or being honored. Very interesting and educational, by all appearances.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ACLA9RqMpDc/XP7C_ld7E_I/AAAAAAAAKDA/IsONuZuqDfgwtaXMTUn-yU2X7C5TjR6xgCLcBGAs/s1600/img477%2B%2528501x640%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="501" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ACLA9RqMpDc/XP7C_ld7E_I/AAAAAAAAKDA/IsONuZuqDfgwtaXMTUn-yU2X7C5TjR6xgCLcBGAs/s400/img477%2B%2528501x640%2529.jpg" width="312" /></a></div>
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The group had twelve such annual meetings, but never met again after the 1980 meeting. I don't know why, perhaps interest waned toward the end.<br />
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I hope to find more ephemera and related items about this organization and its meetings and workshops. Meanwhile, here's Jenkins Garrett's article:<br />
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COLLECTORS' INSTITUTE. The Collectors' Institute was a private association of collectors of library materials, including books, manuscripts, documents, and maps, cosponsored by the Texas State Historical Association and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas at Austin. It was organized on November 23, 1968, with more than 150 members. Between the fall of 1969 and 1980 twelve annual meetings were held, with programs of general interest in the area of publishing, authors, and collections. Speakers included Carl Hertzog, Hallie Stillwell, Lawrence Clark Powell, Archibald Hanna, J. Evetts Haley, and John Graves. In addition to annual meetings, workshops were held each spring. The workshop programs focused on questions of interest to collectors, such as identity, preservation, repair, and maintenance of printed and manuscript material.<br />
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Through 1973 transcripts of the meetings were published and distributed to the membership. Jenkins Garrett was president of the Collectors' Institute from 1968 through 1980. From its organization in 1968 through the fall of 1970 Kenneth Ragsdale, a fulltime staff member of the Texas State Historical Association, served as voluntary secretary and coordinator of the institute. In 1974 John Payne, a fulltime employee of Humanities Research Center, volunteered to take over these responsibilities. He served through the fall meeting of 1980. The organization was discontinued after that meeting.</blockquote>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-1491314620667775512019-04-15T17:44:00.000-05:002019-08-19T05:57:58.720-05:00Emil Jeschke - German Books in Cleveland<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OP33lZTbGWg/XLTyQ7NhZFI/AAAAAAAAJ-4/q4qiGsUpUHcO7lWQ2T8JciNEYSinbixzQCLcBGAs/s1600/img534%2B%25281280x1074%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1280" height="268" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OP33lZTbGWg/XLTyQ7NhZFI/AAAAAAAAJ-4/q4qiGsUpUHcO7lWQ2T8JciNEYSinbixzQCLcBGAs/s320/img534%2B%25281280x1074%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here's an old billhead from 1887 for Cleveland, Ohio
bookseller, Emil Jeschke. He was a dealer in German books and periodicals. As
stated above the graphic in the upper-left corner, he regularly imported books
on every German steamer: "Books for technical and artistical use."<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NH5IXFBe8Hw/XLT1jYhtjJI/AAAAAAAAJ_c/RhORMH78qqgL4STjMQ7X3QNoLJQ5reK4ACLcBGAs/s1600/Mugler_Engraving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="535" height="289" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NH5IXFBe8Hw/XLT1jYhtjJI/AAAAAAAAJ_c/RhORMH78qqgL4STjMQ7X3QNoLJQ5reK4ACLcBGAs/s320/Mugler_Engraving.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Speaking of "artistical," Jeschke employed a local engraving firm, Mugler Engraving Co., to create a fitting logo for his correspondence. The result, which is featured on this billhead, is a display of German books (authors Goethe and Schiller are indicated as is publisher Kosmos). Atop the stack of books is what appears to be a bust of Beethoven.</div>
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This July 1st transaction appears to be for one of the
periodicals Jeschke advertised - three current year issues of "Season" (May, June, July) at 30 cents
each. "Season" may be an abbreviation of a title and from the English spelling, it does not appear to be a German language periodical.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Emil's profile on the Internet some 130 years later is
pretty thin. His business ended several years after this transaction took place. A
notice in Publisher's Weekly from 1891 indicates a sheriff's sale was conducted
to dispose of his stock of German books on January 17, 1891.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>From books to baskets?<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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The next mention of Jeschke I can find is later that same year in an 1891
Cleveland, Ohio directory, where he is listed as a basket manufacturer by the
same name at the same business address that is on his bookseller billhead.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A reference in the archives of the Cuyahoga Probate Court indicates a lawsuit against Emil Jeschke in 1891, which probably had everything to do with him closing the bookstore and liquidating his assets through the sheriff's sale. </div>
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If nothing else, Jeschke appears to have been resilient, though transistioning from a bookstore to a basket making enterprise is a curious development, to say the least. Looks like he had some competition with at least six other basket manufacturers in Cleveland. I'd bet the competition wasn't that stiff in Cleveland for selling German language books. Perhaps the market wasn't there by 1891 to sustain a bookseller with that niche. Hopefully, the basket market was.</div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-51793331788313469582019-04-02T05:00:00.000-05:002019-04-02T05:00:05.979-05:00Harry Falkenau - Bibliophile and Antiquarian<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NEztspuJXC0/XHxZSJClBmI/AAAAAAAAJ1c/6HlI9n6-ovwVLtfKC3ft3V27S6aWsqaxQCLcBGAs/s1600/img515%2B%2528382x640%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="382" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NEztspuJXC0/XHxZSJClBmI/AAAAAAAAJ1c/6HlI9n6-ovwVLtfKC3ft3V27S6aWsqaxQCLcBGAs/s320/img515%2B%2528382x640%2529.jpg" width="190" /></a>Bibliophile and antiquarian are but two words to describe Harry Falkenau (1864-1907) of Chicago. And he was quite accomplished at both, as well as oration, but his real passion was music. This 1903 postal card, however, introduced me to Harry the bookseller and his penchant for rare books as both collector and dealer.<br />
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The postal card here served as a business communication, or receipt, to Iowa College Library in Grinnell, Iowa, acknowledging receipt of payment for an unnamed book.<br />
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Falkenau gained some notoriety as a Cornell University student when he defended Walt Whitman's <i>Leaves of Grass</i> against obscenity charges in 1882. A gifted orator, Falkenau was selected three years later to deliver a commencement speech at Cornell and Whitman surfaced again. His speech was titled, <i>The Poetry of the Future as Foreshadowed in the Writings of Walt Whitman</i>.<br />
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He also composed music and played violin and pianoforte. He was a member of the Irving Literary Society (a regular venue for his musical performances), a Fellow in Literature for a year after graduation in 1885, and worked as an Assistant Librarian. He could play Chopin's Nocturne and teach Chaucer and Shakespeare, both of which he did his last year at Cornell.<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4URZ17NdPyU/XHxmhsAVm7I/AAAAAAAAJ1s/aIZJgzrZIx8Y6o2QmDyad6ab3uNHInj8wCLcBGAs/s1600/Falkenau_image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4URZ17NdPyU/XHxmhsAVm7I/AAAAAAAAJ1s/aIZJgzrZIx8Y6o2QmDyad6ab3uNHInj8wCLcBGAs/s320/Falkenau_image.jpg" width="240" /></a>His love of music and literature created a natural career path, first as a drama critic in San Francisco and later for the Chicago Herald. It's uncertain what prompted him to transition from music into books at that time in his life. Perhaps he was burned out with writing and needed a change of scenery. Whatever the case, it was likely a natural progression given his background and tastes.<br />
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He bought an antiquarian book shop in Chicago at 46 Madison Street. The 167 Madison Street address indicated in his stamp on the McKinley Postal card was his second shop, where he apparently dealt in rare books the rest of his brief life. He died at age 43.<br />
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During his tenure as an antiquarian bookseller, Falkenau left little in the way of content for future Internet searchers a century later. There is a decent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Falkenau"><b>Wikipedia page</b></a>, which supplied much of the above information and there is the postal card now in my collection that corroborates his business address and nature of his stock. Little else was found during my searches, other than newspaper mentions, until I stumbled across an old newspaper article that featured him as a bookman.<br />
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So Harry Falkenau was part of a queer class (anachronistically speaking) of Chicago men who knew first editions and lived in their books! This 1897 article published in the Inter Ocean, an old Chicago newspaper, begins with a harsh admonishment of book buyers who have little or no interest in a second-hand shop that deals in rare books: "<i>The ordinary, uneducated, ignorant, unintelligent, and ignoble man regards a second-hand bookstore with as much lack of interest as a bicycle rider does a blacksmith shop.</i>" </div>
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These poor souls who are satisfied with an “<i>eighteenth edition or two hundred and fiftieth thousand</i>” printing of a book unknowingly advertise themselves as “<i>philistine and shoddy</i>.” How’s that for a snooty attitude toward the general public of book buyers?<u1:p></u1:p><o:p></o:p></div>
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The unnamed reporter who wrote this article didn't have to go far for his story. Falkenau's shop was in the Inter Ocean building. The reporter quoted Falkenau as having claimed to possess the largest stock of its kind in the West and then wrote that Falkenau “<i>fed an eager, aspiring reporter with many facts about the business yesterday.</i>” I take this to mean that the above characterization of the man on the street who doesn’t know squat about books comes from the mouth of Harry Falkenau himself, unless the eager, aspiring reporter exercised some literary license with what he heard. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Much of what follows in this article is Falkenau's musings and grumblings about the rare and used books trade and how business is conducted. Interestingly enough, a lot of what he has to say still holds true for dealers in the trade today.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>To engage in this business needs a peculiarly constituted man. It is an art rather than a business. A second-hand bookseller must know every one of his large stock as well as a horse trainer knows his horses. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The stock kept has to be immense, because there is no regular place where stock can be replenished. He must buy his stock when it is offered to him, and then he must wait until the man comes along who wants the particular books. There is a saying among second-hand book dealers that there is “a man for every book in the world,” just as there the right man for every woman, but to bring the two together is as difficult to bring the right man and woman together. Thus it happens in the book trade that there are many divorces, and many books that languish in single loneliness.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>It is interesting, however. There being no fixed prices for old books—so much depending on condition, etc.—the gambling element enters largely into it. The hunters’ instincts are also appealed to. As an instance, a man picked up an original edition of Tamerlane from a lot of rubbish for 10 cents and sold it the next day for $1,800 . You are on the hunt all the time, and you can never tell in what odd corner you may come upon your quarry.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Most of the books are got through the sale of libraries. These are sold through the death of the owner, through poverty, through moving away. Books cannot be compressed, or lessened in weight. And they damage considerably through moving. The carefully selected library of the father falls to the son of sporting proclivities, and to him they simply waste room. These the book dealer gets hold of and puts again into circulation among those who appreciate the gift of the gods. <o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>The old book dealer begins generally, as Mr. Falkenau did, by being a collector. When he goes into the business, he gives up collecting, because he then realizes the immensity of his undertaking, and the impossibility of ever even approximately realizing it. Collecting old books is like seeking the everlasting fountain of youth, or the philosopher’s stone, and the only ones who are ever cured of the mania are those who turn dealer. Others, especially if it takes the turn of collecting first editions, keep on, ever hopeful, till their death. That is one of the mitigations of the disease; as in consumption, the patient is cheerful till the last.<o:p></o:p></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Then after the funeral, the sorrowing widow sends down to the dealer, to make an estimate of dear John’s books; and though she pretends to think that she is getting woefully cheated by the price offered, she really is so much amazed at what his old rubbish is worth that she quickly accepts the offer, thinking that there is probably some mistake and that he will find it out if he goes away and thinks it over. (For John always represented to her, when finances were under discussion, that his books cost him but a trifle.) </i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thieves are especially hurtfully, he reports, to booksellers who regard their books almost as friends. Stealing a treasured friend goes beyond hurtful, it is insulting. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Falkenau appears to view practitioners of his trade as tender-hearted and vulnerable to anyone who shows the slightest interest in his first editions, original imprints, etc. Even though a dealer may suspect a book thief in his midst, he cannot resist showing his treasure because "<i>who knows but that his heart will be turned by books, even as men have been won by women--far less fascinating than books.</i>"</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">One last observance from Mr. Falkenau on how he interprets what outsiders see when looking in at the bookseller and what he thinks of booksellers.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Common people think of book-sellers as isolated hermits, who live in a miraculous manner by the grace of God for denying themselves from the world and for burying themselves in dry but worthy occupation. But old book men regard themselves as the aristocrats of the business world. They form a guild of their own, and through their paper, keep in touch with one another all the world over; in touch in a mercantile and in an intellectual way.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Obviously, Harry Falkenau had a passion for books and for his trade. He had a passion for music. What was missing? Something... With all the contentment he seemed to have in his life, it was a surprise to learn of his suicide in the newspaper report below. He was "despondent" (blamed on insomnia) and had retired to a fruit farm in Michigan to live and hopefully get the rest he so badly needed. It wasn't enough. A family friend provides insight in the obituary as to what his family life was like. He evidently hid his depression very well. Perhaps a closer inspection of the Inter Ocean reporter's article on Falkenau will provide some clues as to an underlying mental illness. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;">The News-Palladium (Benton Harbor, Michigan) January 22, 1907</span><br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-42145160584422620902018-08-06T08:55:00.000-05:002018-08-06T08:55:08.044-05:00F.R. Wendemuth's Checker Books<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pmaQTPAtojc/W1eM6IOARYI/AAAAAAAAJro/Maj8Z_VU18QE45XFhz5AikNCGPc4rNdUwCLcBGAs/s1600/WendemuthCheckerBooks1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1442" data-original-width="862" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pmaQTPAtojc/W1eM6IOARYI/AAAAAAAAJro/Maj8Z_VU18QE45XFhz5AikNCGPc4rNdUwCLcBGAs/s400/WendemuthCheckerBooks1.jpg" width="238" /></a>An unusual specialty for a bookseller and publisher--books about the game of checkers. In this little sales brochure, Wendemuth is promoted as the largest dealer and publisher of checker books in the world.<br />
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Wendemuth (1860-1938) was not just a bookseller and publisher with a narrowly-focused inventory; he was also the draughts editor of the Chicago Daily News and a former draughts champion of Illinois and Chicago. The December 2010 issue of the ACF (American Checker Federation) Bulletin named him as one of the greats of the Chicago checker players.<br />
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So he knew what he was talking about when customers inquired about books on draughts, or checkers. By the way, if you don't know, draughts is the British word for the game and checkers the American equivalent.<br />
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In this little catalog, Wundemuth promoted his books as investments, advising customers to always buy First Editions. Let's check in on some of his investment advice and see how certain purchases played out in the last century.</div>
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Listed among the Two-Move Restriction Books is <i>Banks vs Jordan 1914 Match</i> in cloth covers for a dollar. A quick online check of bookseller inventory for that title results in two copies in the $40 range. </div>
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Staying with this category of books, let's see what <i>America vs. Great Britain 1927 </i>yields. Wendemuth describes this hefty 459-page book as one of the greatest works on the game. He had it in cloth for $5 and De Luxe Full Morocco Binding for $10. I have a cloth copy priced at $12.50, but the front cover is damaged. Better condition copies in cloth binding run up to $75 with varying grades of condition, signatures, etc. I didn't find any bindings in full Morocco, but they'd probably start somewhere at the $100 level. </div>
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If the two titles above are any indication, then, yes, first edition checker books have appreciated in value. As an investment, though, there's relatively little upside for having held onto them the better part of a century. Unless that investment was in the pleasure of building a fine collection of books on checkers. </div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-30602608324469018142018-07-24T10:30:00.000-05:002018-07-24T17:17:55.888-05:00<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>A Rudolf Flesch letter to a bookseller </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>(high readability score!)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Rudolf Flesch (1911-1986), a writer, readability expert, and proponent of the Plain English Movement, collected books on language, English, and writing. So it comes as no surprise that a letter he wrote to a New York bookseller in 1948 included an order for a book on language and a request for more books on the subject, particularly rare books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Flesch, an Austrian immigrant who fled to America ahead of Hitler's invasion in the 1930s, had earned a law degree in Vienna, but in his new country, his scholarly pursuits turned to Library Science (Ph.D. from Columbia University), reading, and writing about the English language.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In 1955, he wrote the classic, <i>Why Johnny Can't Read and
What You Can Do About it</i>, which advocated phonics for teaching students how
to read. The book was a best-seller. Parents loved it, educators not so much.
Today, more than 60 years later, cognitive neuroscientists still advocate it as
an important tool in teaching reading skills. And many educators remain
ambivalent about its use. In 1981, Flesch was compelled to write <i>Why Johnny Still Can’t Read</i>, but the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2018/05/19/why-johnny-still-cant-read-and-what-to-do-about-it/#b12bd2f2e221"><b>Reading
Wars</b></a> have continued to this day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Flesch was not a fan of the
Dick and Jane books used at that time to teach children to read, but he did like Dr. Seuss
books and his praise wound up on the dust jackets of some of those books. And he
may have been indirectly responsible for Seuss’ best-known work, <i>The Cat in the
Hat</i>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the December 23, 2002 New Yorker, Louis Menand writes that John Hersey,
who like Flesch deplored the teaching methods for young readers, mentioned Dr.
Seuss as an author that publishers should consider for inspiring school children to
read. William Spaulding, director of Houghton Mifflin's education division, read both Hersey's article and Flesch's <i>Why Johhny Can't Read</i> and proposed a list of words similar to the word lists in Flesch's book for Seuss to use in creating a story that first graders could read. Seuss initially balked at the idea, but worked with it and the words provided him, eventually culling out those he would use to write the story. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When Flesch mailed his typed, signed letter to Schulte's Book Store to order
A.P. Herbert's </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What a Word,</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> he had already published two books by this time: </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Art of Plain Talk</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (1946)
and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Way to Write</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, with A.H. Lass (1947). He was working on his third book,
</span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Art of Readable Writing</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> (1949) and perhaps Herbert’s book found
a place in his reference library for that project.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also in 1948, <span style="background-color: white;">Flesch published in </span><span style="background-color: white;">the Journal of Applied Psychology</span><span style="background-color: white;">, </span><i style="background-color: white;">A New Readability Yardstick</i><span style="background-color: white;">, in which he first proposed his Reading Ease Formula, which became a standard readability formula for the U.S. Department of Defense and other government agencies. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Against this backdrop of language studies and efforts to improve readability in the post-World War II era, Flesch's 1948 letter to a bookseller provides an interesting snapshot of a process at work, underscoring the importance of a relationship with a knowledgeable and reputable bookseller. Those booksellers and relationships still exist, but the Internet era has taken its toll on both. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A concluding thought on Flesch and the books he collected in addition to the A.P. Herbert title in this letter is this: What happened to those books, Flesch's personal library, upon his death? Surely it was a substantial collection on the topics of language, reading, and writing. Was it donated to the archives of a university library or similar institution for scholarly studies? Or did his heirs inherit them? Or, hopefully not, did they scatter to the four winds? I've not been able to find "Flesch papers" or Flesch's book collection intact anywhere through online searches. In the event they sold at auction and re-entered the second-hand market, I've searched high and low for evidence of this, such as books with Flesch's bookplate (if he used ex-libris) or other marks of ownership. Taking a cue from the previous paragraph, perhaps I should find a reputable bookseller with a specialty in the subjects Flesch collected. </span></div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-45287827706228531082015-11-18T13:44:00.000-06:002015-11-18T13:44:00.339-06:00The Handsomest Book Store on Earth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have ephemera touting various book stores as "the best," "the biggest," or "the cheapest." But I've come across only one book store that made the following claim:<br />
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<i>The Handsomest Book Store on Earth</i></div>
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And that would be the St. Paul Book and Stationery Co., at Fifth and St. Peter Streets in St. Paul Minnesota, according to the postal history below:</div>
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This 1895 ad cover for the book store claims its superior physical beauty, yet refrains from an illustrated representation of the premises on its business stationery. Did handsome apply to the exterior, interior, or both? What were the criteria for such a superlative?<br />
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Many other postal covers I've seen for like establishments have included illustrations of the building in which they set up shop. St. Paul Book and Stationery Co. chose to use that space on the front cover of the envelope to tell you something about their business. I would argue that was much better use of the space.<br />
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Instead of looking at the handsomest book store you ever saw, you could learn something about the business, which just might lead to your patronage in that handsome space. </div>
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You could learn about the kinds of books they stocked, their ability to help you start a home or school library, the stationery products and engraving services offered, the variety of office supplies on hand, and maps, globes, and charts, as well as other desirable school supplies.</div>
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And if you decided to visit their store, I suppose you'd just have to judge for yourself how handsome the place was and if it lived up to their claim as the handsomest. </div>
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In an 1889 edition of Caspar's Directory of the American Book, News and Stationery Trade, I found an entry for St. Paul Book and Stationery Co., which indicated that the business got started in 1879 under that name, but its origins went back to 1859 under different ownership.But I haven't been able to find an image for the shop at the address on the cover above.<br />
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In absence of any evidence to the contrary, they get the benefit of the doubt for having been the handsomest book store on earth.<br />
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For now.</div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-59656507856493698742015-11-08T14:01:00.000-06:002015-11-08T14:07:30.937-06:00Books offered by F.F. Hansell & Bro., New Orleans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In 2009, I blogged about an old billhead from <b><a href="http://bibliophemera.blogspot.com/2009/02/ff-hansell-bro-new-orleans-1900.html">New Orleans bookseller, F.F. Hansell &Bro.</a></b>, dated 1900. There wasn't much information on that piece to indicate what kind of stock Hansell had in his store, but comments on that post indicated office furnishings were in the mix along with a few books. I wondered if they sold "real" books or maybe just account books and ledgers for businesses in addition to a few school texts a standard author or two. That question was answered with a recent addition to my collection--a Hansell brochure/catalog of popular books and standard authors representing an impressive inventory of quality literature. Real books.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AbRe_uHOLRA/Vj9XZtvQmUI/AAAAAAAAJBM/PFiYysUG7F0/s1600/HansellHomeLibrary1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AbRe_uHOLRA/Vj9XZtvQmUI/AAAAAAAAJBM/PFiYysUG7F0/s320/HansellHomeLibrary1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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This undated (appears circa 1900), 7 X 10-inch folded sheet features Hansell's Home Library on the front (and continuing on the next page), with 204 cloth-bound volumes dressed in gilt tops to choose from. Titles such as Aesop's Fables, Alice in Wonderland, Emerson's Essays, Carlyle's French Revolution, Robinson Crusoe, Swiss Family Robinson and on and on. Standard works in literature, history, travel, etc.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNZbqJoz4QI/Vj9XbXy5ncI/AAAAAAAAJBY/FTzP3HEhyVU/s1600/HansellHomeLibrary3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="234" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PNZbqJoz4QI/Vj9XbXy5ncI/AAAAAAAAJBY/FTzP3HEhyVU/s320/HansellHomeLibrary3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Page three above advertises Hansell's multivolume sets of standard authors, bound in half calf. Here you would find Dickens' Complete Works in 15 volumes, Gibbon's Roman Empire in 5 volumes, and many others considered standard authors of the day.</div>
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Continuing that multivolume theme, the last, or rear, page offers a small sample of the great authors' works in small books, bound in leather or cloth. The illustration of the Dickens set implies that these sets came housed in a leather case. The "New Century Library" refers to the edition and the publisher<br />
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Thomas Nelson's name keeps coming up as publisher in repeated searches for these pocket size editions, though the publisher is not named in Hansell's brochure. It's doubtful that F.F. Hansell used the same name as Thomas Nelson did for their multivolume sets.<br />
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Regardless of the publisher, this little advertising piece shows that not only did F.F. Hansell deal in "real" books, they offered an impressive array of literature in various affordable editions and bindings for the reader or student of serious literature.</div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-59230515964368663132015-10-21T12:45:00.000-05:002015-10-21T12:45:00.852-05:00Rare Bibles and Johnny Appleseed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Edwin Alfred Robert Rumball-Petre (1881-1954), a dealer in rare Bibles, who also wrote about collecting Bibles, during the first half of the twentieth century issued this bulletin because he wasn't selling enough rare Bibles to warrant producing a new catalogue. That and the itch to write something prodded Mr. Rumball-Petre (let's go with R-P for the remainder of this post) to conceive and write the little bulletin below. This is No. 1 of how many I don't know. Maybe sales picked up and the bulletin run ended with No. 1.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3MNnFi_IC0/Vetk6E9jY-I/AAAAAAAAIws/U5c_Fcb3pAo/s1600/Rumball-Petrie1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-M3MNnFi_IC0/Vetk6E9jY-I/AAAAAAAAIws/U5c_Fcb3pAo/s400/Rumball-Petrie1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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And with this bulletin, R-P dropped what he called the impersonal "we"* of the catalogue writing and commenced with an informal, conversational, and humorous style complete with asterisk to explain the pronunciation of his name along with a description of himself in bookselling terms:<br />
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<i>*Why not take this opportunity of saying that clients who address "Rumball-Petre" with "Dear Sirs," make a 2-vol. edition of what is only one. It is in almost mint condition in spite of nearly sixty years circulation. The oft-mispronounced part of its title can be set right by reference to Funk's "What's the Name, Please?" where the reader is told to pronounce "Petre" as "Petyr."</i></blockquote>
And here I thought this was going to be a serious-toned piece of literature on rare bibles. There is a bit of that, but R-P was a gifted writer who could communicate effectively with a lighter touch. Click on the images below to enlarge them to a readable size and enjoy this little bulletin.<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">R-P dealt exclusively
in rare Bibles as a bookseller and wrote a number of books and articles about
them for collectors, with a focus on early American Bibles. The catalogues he
produced, titled <i>Bibles of Yore,</i> have become rare and collectible
in their own right, along with some of his books about rare Bibles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">He wrote about other
subjects as well, but this man of Bibles was also a man of the cloth--Rev.
Rumball-Petre, minister of the Unitarian Church in Rochester, New York. And that's about all the biographical information I could find on this man, outside
of clues within this bulletin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">Searching the far corners of the Internet with a
variety of key words yielded Rumball-Petre’s length of time in this world, his
birth place (London), and where he died (Los Angeles). Beyond that, it’s as
difficult finding anything else as finding copies of his very scarce
catalogues. Fortunately, this bulletin offers a few more clues that help piece together a sketch of his character. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">Aside from his sense of humor and intellect,
with regard to the scholarly pursuit of researching and writing about rare
Bibles, this bulletin reveals a streak of generosity driven by a desire for preservation of some of the treasures that passed through his hands. Moreover, that desire was for preservation in the most appropriate institutions. To that end, he donated a copy of <a href="http://printinghistory.org.uk/leafpages/1584-plantin-27.html"><b>Plantin’s 1584 Biblia Hebraica</b></a> to the Vatican Library and a Greek Testament once owned
by a descendant of Pocahontas (John Randolph of Roanoke) went to the Library of Congress. No doubt they could have fetched him a nice price from private collectors, but he apparently felt a “higher
purpose” for those rarities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">R-P includes in his inaugural bulletin a few
paragraphs on how he deals with his customers regarding prices. The tone
strongly suggests a genial, straightforward approach and willingness to
negotiate if at all possible. He also hints that some titles are priced lower
than market value, though he has no wish to undersell his colleagues. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">He concludes with a few thoughts on the wanderings
a few centuries ago of John Chapman, otherwise known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Appleseed"><b>Johnny Appleseed</b></a>,
American folk legend. As the story goes, Johnny Appleseed wandered the
countryside of the American frontier planting apple seeds. What's this got to do about rare Bibles?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">R-P writes that what is usually forgotten in Johnny Appleseed stories is that he carried a Bible with him and tore out pages for pioneer families
that did not own a Bible. An interesting combination--forbidden fruit and the
word of God! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, serif;">Rumball-Petrie (let's conclude with his full surname) placed one of those
pages, or leaves, pretty high on his want list. That John Chapman carried a Bible with him
during his frontier treks is undisputed. That he tore pages out of it for
those in need of spiritual verse, who knows. I’d bet, though, that an elusive, perhaps
mythical leaf remained elusive for a certain rare Bible dealer in the last
century. And the story, myth or not, lives on.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-38223219808023037992014-06-24T18:19:00.003-05:002014-06-24T18:37:32.053-05:00Autographs from Goodspeed's, June 1932<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>At a price to fit any purse...</i><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e4_Wk1RRxo4/U6n0PvrzNsI/AAAAAAAAIHM/RdR7jIPu5PU/s1600/Goodspeed_Autographs1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e4_Wk1RRxo4/U6n0PvrzNsI/AAAAAAAAIHM/RdR7jIPu5PU/s1600/Goodspeed_Autographs1.jpg" height="320" width="186" /></a>When you thumb through this little catalog from <b><a href="http://www.ioba.org/standard/2008/07/books-about-bookselling-the-bookseller%E2%80%99s-apprentice/">Goodspeed's</a></b> Boston bookshop, you'll want to load your purse or wallet with wads of cash (no credit cards) and jump in a time machine for a bargain basement shopping spree.<br />
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Rare and collectible autographs found in letters and other paper items are for sale at prices that seem ridiculously low even for 1932.<br />
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For example, right on the front cover of this booklet, no less an American icon than George Washington is represented by two signed letters (below) for the measly sum of $200 and $150, respectively. How many zeros would be added to the asking price for the same letters offered for sale today?<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyq2Wyc7RU4/U6n00VaQVOI/AAAAAAAAIHo/OcFkuH-4LBI/s1600/Goodspeed_Autographs1+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xyq2Wyc7RU4/U6n00VaQVOI/AAAAAAAAIHo/OcFkuH-4LBI/s1600/Goodspeed_Autographs1+-+Copy.jpg" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
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If the above prices are too rich for your blood, how about 85 bucks for a one-page document signed by Washington... and countersigned by Thomas Jefferson. Eighty-five dollars???<br />
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Letters from Presidents Madison and Monroe were evidently not as popular with collectors, as their signatures commanded a mere $35.<br />
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But there's also an Abraham Lincoln signed document for the same price. Other presidents range from $25 to $100: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Millard Fillmore, Zachary Taylor, Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover. And other Lincolns are priced at $100.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXUzvhbdHZ4/U6n0QBVK6zI/AAAAAAAAIHQ/tTpcx8sYEcE/s1600/GoodspeedAutographs2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wXUzvhbdHZ4/U6n0QBVK6zI/AAAAAAAAIHQ/tTpcx8sYEcE/s1600/GoodspeedAutographs2.jpg" height="287" width="320" /></a></div>
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Speaking of Garfield, there's a particular interesting collection of eight signatures that are connected to his assassination: Garfield himself; his assassin, Guiteau; the judge in Guiteau's trial, as well as counsels for defense and prosecution and three surgeons, whom I assume testified in the trial. All yours for $20.<br />
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Lest you think only American presidents made the cut for this catalog, there's plenty for the bibliophile also.<br />
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How about a Charles Dickens letter for $50? Signatures on letters, envelopes, and checks for James Fenimore Cooper, Washington Irving, and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were priced in the $5 to $35 range. The list of well-known American and British authors goes on and on at prices that just make you shake your head. For classical music lovers, there's even a Franz Liszt full-page Christmas greeting to a friend for $2. Wow.<br />
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Now, if you bought any of the 303 items listed in this catalog, Goodspeed's would let you add any two items from the back cover with their compliments.<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2jou90nTDA/U6n0Pjq5vTI/AAAAAAAAIHI/Ey2HAKo1Now/s1600/GoodspeedAutographs3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2jou90nTDA/U6n0Pjq5vTI/AAAAAAAAIHI/Ey2HAKo1Now/s1600/GoodspeedAutographs3.jpg" height="640" width="374" /></a></div>
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For that nice offer of a few freebies, I'd have to travel back to 2014 and google some of those names to help make my selections. Or just accept whatever was available. I would imagine they went pretty fast.<br />
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And what would I have bought from the catalog? Everything!<br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-63879775990267597172014-05-01T06:05:00.000-05:002014-05-01T06:10:49.759-05:00Bookplate for a Hooper Hooper<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here is a bookplate with an unusual pairing of the same middle and
last names: Samuel Hooper Hooper. <o:p></o:p><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZyQEn2OPk0/U1_wnKoWZsI/AAAAAAAAICw/t6-FbgXWHdg/s1600/books+108+(550x713)+(2).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6ZyQEn2OPk0/U1_wnKoWZsI/AAAAAAAAICw/t6-FbgXWHdg/s1600/books+108+(550x713)+(2).jpg" height="400" width="307" /></a></div>
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The bookplate features a boar's head, which can be found in other family crest or armorial designs. But I'm not sure what the button-like objects are or represent.<br />
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Samuel Hooper Hooper showed up quickly in an Internet search that landed on a BOSarchitecture.com page featuring a building Hooper once lived in. The site also offers some biographical information on Hooper:<br />
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<i>"Samuel Hooper Hooper was a real estate investor and investment banker. In later years, he became a wine importer. He organized and led the Boston Assembly society balls for many years, and was a founder and the first president of the Tennis and Raquet Club."</i></blockquote>
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His biblio connection? He was a member of "one of the oldest and most distinguished independent libraries and cultural institutions in the United States:" <a href="https://www.bostonathenaeum.org/about/mission-history"><b>The Boston Athenaeum</b></a>.</div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-3628903097756863062014-04-29T12:25:00.000-05:002014-06-18T13:44:09.419-05:00Tennyson in the Land of Pecos Bill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Lord Alfred Tennyson, the great poet laureate of England, never visited America, but his writing was known throughout the land, even in the arid region of Pecos, Texas in 1893 a year after the author died.<br />
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Only a few decades or so before, Apache and Comanche tribes roamed the area and only a few intrepid pioneers had attempted settlement in that remote part of the state. Thanks to railroad expansion in the 1880s, a bit of civilization came west to Pecos, including Mr. Tennyson, all dressed up in Morocco. I'm not sure what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pecos_Bill"><b>Pecos Bill</b></a> would have thought about that. <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT98eQeFoAc/Uxht9oRyFZI/AAAAAAAAH1c/azoPJifgGd0/s1600/nla_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dT98eQeFoAc/Uxht9oRyFZI/AAAAAAAAH1c/azoPJifgGd0/s1600/nla_front.jpg" height="235" width="400" /></a></div>
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Above is the receipt for a $10 Class D membership, whatever that is, good for 10 years in the National Library Association. W.V. Glascock is listed as the agent who sold the membership. Mrs W.T. Monahan is the new member and probably anxious for some fine books to provide a little culture in her home in a desolate region of the West. </div>
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In addition to her membership, Mrs. Monahan would also receive a presentation volume of something written by Lord Alfred Tennyson. The receipt just indicates Tennyson, no title to go with that. But it was a nice copy bound in Morocco. Perhaps Mrs. Monahan had a choice of books from which to select her first book. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8dhA0WPSx-8/Uxht9RNYTGI/AAAAAAAAH1g/clu_efE5BDU/s1600/nla_back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8dhA0WPSx-8/Uxht9RNYTGI/AAAAAAAAH1g/clu_efE5BDU/s1600/nla_back.jpg" height="233" width="400" /></a></div>
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The Chicago Public Library has in its Trade Catalog Collection an 1891 catalog from the National Library Association at the address indicated on this receipt. That helps confirm the company was in business for at least a few years. </div>
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The reverse side of the receipt advertises for agents to sell memberships and offers testimonials, including one from <a href="http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/publishers/donohenn/DONOHENN.HTM"><b>Donohue & Henneberry</b></a>, a reputable book manufacturing concern in Chicago that claimed a good business relationship with the National Library Association for more than just a few years. An endorsement from them was pretty solid. Quite possibly, they were supplying the books to the National Library Association. In 1890, as the link above indicates, they began publishing a series of inexpensive editions of popular novels. So the timing is consistent with the date on this receipt and three years later one of those editions may have landed in Pecos, Texas.</div>
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As for recruiting agents to sell the books in the far corners of the country, the National Library Association made their pitch as follows: </div>
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<i>Gentlemen and Ladies looking for healthy and pleasant employment, to represent our association. We have over 200 Teachers, School Superintendents, Principals of Schools, and Clergymen now engaged in procuring members for the National Library Association. The business is much pleasanter than canvassing for books, and energetic solicitors earn from $100 to $200 per month.</i></blockquote>
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It goes on to offer testimonials from the kinds of individuals that are in their apparent target population for prospective employees. W.V. Glasscock fit the profile. He was a teacher, or at least earned a certificate from one of the state's normal schools in 1889. An article in the Austin Weekly Statesman, from August 29, 1889, states the the Education Department in Texas granted certificates to... a list of qualified students follows, in which Glasscock, of Ellis County, Texas, was named a recipient.</div>
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In a 1902 obituary for Glasscock's brother (Ellis County Archives), W.V. is listed as a survivor and said to be a rising businessman in the county. Could selling books as a young teacher a decade earlier have been a part of that?</div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-73386125565264462142014-02-21T04:15:00.000-06:002014-02-21T04:18:09.341-06:00Everybody's Library in Malta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here's one of the smallest pieces of paper in my collection from one of the smallest countries in the world--a cash sale receipt from <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta">Malta</a></b>. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lC0oB6K0R1Q/UqDrwmhgSCI/AAAAAAAAHu8/JYP9wlS1ACU/s1600/img112.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-lC0oB6K0R1Q/UqDrwmhgSCI/AAAAAAAAHu8/JYP9wlS1ACU/s400/img112.jpg" height="400" width="325" /></a><br />
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In Valletta, the capital city of this densely populated Mediterranean country south of Sicily, is (or was) Everybody's Library at 35 Archbishop Street. An apparent sale is recorded on the front side, while the reverse seems to have some tax-related notation.</div>
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Did the customer buy a Penguin paperback or a book about the penguin? And would "-12-8" be a date? The answers to those questions don't exist. And maybe the book shop doesn't either. Judge for yourself in the photos and link further down.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xAEjwuF0WLs/UqDr0ALkNVI/AAAAAAAAHvE/VBIdBcY6Jkc/s1600/img113.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xAEjwuF0WLs/UqDr0ALkNVI/AAAAAAAAHvE/VBIdBcY6Jkc/s400/img113.jpg" height="400" width="327" /></a></div>
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Measuring 3.5 X 4 inches, this receipt, which appears to be at least 60 or 70 years old, is the only paper remnant of this book shop I can find on the Internet. In fact, the only other indication of its existence can be found in several photographs. The first two below are courtesy of <a href="http://guljaholland.wordpress.com/artist-statement/"><b>Gulja Holland</b></a>, an artist and photographer who posted these photos on <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/amateur530/"><b>flickr.com</b></a> and granted permission to post them here.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8dfFHmBqcJ8/UqDtBlg4rZI/AAAAAAAAHvM/R_s7tLUx0rs/s1600/Everybodys_Library_Malta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8dfFHmBqcJ8/UqDtBlg4rZI/AAAAAAAAHvM/R_s7tLUx0rs/s320/Everybodys_Library_Malta.JPG" height="217" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tMJ6zsb2_iE/Us_D6xVxYZI/AAAAAAAAHwI/_AHYW54zi40/s1600/everybodys_library_valletta_malta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tMJ6zsb2_iE/Us_D6xVxYZI/AAAAAAAAHwI/_AHYW54zi40/s1600/everybodys_library_valletta_malta.JPG" height="224" width="320" /></a></div>
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These images appear to represent two entrances (front and rear) or an old location and new location for the book shop. Since these images were first discovered, I have found others on flickr.com to give different perspectives on this establishment, one which shows displays in the storefront windows, though there's not a book in sight. New and different business, old sign? Regardless, the images are interesting. See them <b><a href="http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=everybody%27s%20library%20malta">HERE</a></b>.</div>
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And for some perspective on Malta's location, see the map below. The red circle in the larger inset map shows Malta's location below the boot of Italy and Sicily. The country directly south of Malta is Libya.</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NyYWSIHmqf4/UwcghD6XTUI/AAAAAAAAHyg/brcgqVD-OGI/s1600/Malta-Map.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NyYWSIHmqf4/UwcghD6XTUI/AAAAAAAAHyg/brcgqVD-OGI/s1600/Malta-Map.JPG" height="239" width="320" /></a></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-18809278798912483552014-01-10T06:59:00.002-06:002014-01-11T23:32:58.318-06:00Books of the Southwest: J.F. Collins of Santa Fe<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>Books of the Southwest</i> is the title of a 1920s-era catalog from bookseller J.F. Collins of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Given its brevity and size, it's not so much a catalog as it is an advertising brochure for some of the store's stock in the genre of Southwestern literature.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n5PD4W5cU9o/Us_S2TXLqOI/AAAAAAAAHww/T4d1hQA6DRc/s1600/img157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n5PD4W5cU9o/Us_S2TXLqOI/AAAAAAAAHww/T4d1hQA6DRc/s1600/img157.jpg" height="640" width="356" /></a></div>
Authors Charles F. Lummis, Mary Austin, Will James, and Charles A. Siringo jump out at me, as I've had their books in stock at various times.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fztFPww-3gE/Us_S528c0II/AAAAAAAAHw4/VYfPnZSIXd4/s1600/img158.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fztFPww-3gE/Us_S528c0II/AAAAAAAAHw4/VYfPnZSIXd4/s1600/img158.jpg" height="301" width="320" /></a></div>
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This 6 X 6.5-inch folded paper is printed on half of one side (the "front") and entirely on the other side (the inside pages). More than 60 titles are listed and one book is featured with a description: <i>Old Santa Fe</i>, by Ralph Emerson Twitchell.</div>
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Twitchell also has the highest-priced book listed in Collins' catalog--<i>Leading Facts of New Mexico, 5 Volumes</i>, for $100, a good amount of money for the times. If you wanted to buy the set today, Xochi's Bookstore & Gallery in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico appears to have the only copy advertised online, and at the appreciable sum of $850.</div>
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Most books in the Collins catalog are priced around a few dollars, but a few had hefty price tags for the 1920s. In addition to Twitchell's set, there was also <i>Spanish Mission Churches of New Mexico</i>, by L. Bradford Prince for $25. You can still find a few copies today in the relatively reasonable price range of $50 to $100. </div>
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Researching Collins and his book shop did not yield much information about the bookseller and his longevity in the business. I did find the labels below at <a href="http://www.sevenroads.org/Bookish.html"><b>Seven Roads Gallery</b></a>, always a good source of images advertising booksellers from around the US and beyond.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WApYojQVMGA/Us_SsJGQjeI/AAAAAAAAHwo/gtC_SxFnTI8/s1600/JFCollinsLabels.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WApYojQVMGA/Us_SsJGQjeI/AAAAAAAAHwo/gtC_SxFnTI8/s1600/JFCollinsLabels.JPG" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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The most revealing bit of information about the business I could find, other than the catalog itself, is a Christmas-time <a href="http://newspaperarchive.com/santa-fe-new-mexican/1926-12-13/page-8"><b>newspaper ad</b></a> from the Santa Fe New Mexican, December 13, 1926. It provides more information about the business and inventory beyond books they carried.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vU-WIonJPnU/Us_WohazK8I/AAAAAAAAHxE/eg5BUqUpbZE/s1600/CollinsAd_12131926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vU-WIonJPnU/Us_WohazK8I/AAAAAAAAHxE/eg5BUqUpbZE/s1600/CollinsAd_12131926.JPG" height="320" width="248" /></a></div>
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On a somewhat related note, the <a href="http://www.texasbooksellers.org/austin-book-paper-photo-show" style="font-weight: bold;">Austin Book, Paper & Photo Show</a>, presented by the Texas Booksellers Association, is this coming weekend (January 11-12, 2014). Texana and Western Americana books and materials are prominent at this show each year. Some of the titles in Collins' stock nearly a hundred years ago will no doubt be available this weekend from various dealers in Austin, albeit at much higher prices than Collins could have dreamed of getting for them!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wVLetAX2A4s/Us_cpES7lhI/AAAAAAAAHxU/bbyMEuNjH9M/s1600/img335.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wVLetAX2A4s/Us_cpES7lhI/AAAAAAAAHxU/bbyMEuNjH9M/s1600/img335.jpg" height="288" width="400" /></a></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-60039259949773347072013-11-08T19:43:00.000-06:002013-11-21T20:58:03.475-06:00An author's letter to Jacqueline Kennedy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4taKT670fKw/Un2O3nuuW_I/AAAAAAAAHtI/ZnQ131lEKZo/s1600/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4taKT670fKw/Un2O3nuuW_I/AAAAAAAAHtI/ZnQ131lEKZo/s320/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-SqJIBNTsg/Un2O04XqQgI/AAAAAAAAHs8/wk-pLLSQV68/s1600/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-j-SqJIBNTsg/Un2O04XqQgI/AAAAAAAAHs8/wk-pLLSQV68/s200/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+001.jpg" width="167" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In May of 1961, British journalist and author, George Bilainkin, sent an inscribed copy of his 1947 book, <i>Second Diary of a Diplomatic Correspondent</i> to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the new First Lady of the United States,
Jacqueline Kennedy. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He also included a typed, signed letter on his letterhead and indicated a few pages of interest to the First Lady and perhaps the new President, whom he had known and met with on several occasions in 1945 at the close of World War II.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-udYuch619TQ/Uo7IFpea23I/AAAAAAAAHug/-R7a-Du5VeI/s1600/07699_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-udYuch619TQ/Uo7IFpea23I/AAAAAAAAHug/-R7a-Du5VeI/s320/07699_4.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The book and letter were sent to Mrs. Kennedy in advance of
an upcoming trip to London, in which the author hoped to meet with both, or at
least the First Lady, and revisit a few sites pertinent to his meetings, as a
journalist, with a young Jack Kennedy in 1945. He also knew the President’s
father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., when he was the United States Ambassador to the
United Kingdom. Bilainkin also expresses his wish to take Mrs. Kennedy to lunch
and, as if that weren't enough, further requests she bring photos of herself, her husband, and his parents!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Kennedys, on their first trip overseas, while in the
White House, went to Paris, Vienna, and London. They were in London June 4-5,
1961 and it seems all but impossible that they had the time or desire to meet
with a journalist whom the President had crossed paths with in 1945. Certainly,
it was never a consideration.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>For the First Lady of the United States of America, from an old admirer and all-weather friend of the Kennedy clan. </i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>George Bilainkin May 1961</i></span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aaqrJ1wUjHM/Un2O61TggOI/AAAAAAAAHtM/FGN2E5c-Qi4/s1600/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aaqrJ1wUjHM/Un2O61TggOI/AAAAAAAAHtM/FGN2E5c-Qi4/s320/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+009.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is unknown, though, if Jacqueline Kennedy actually
received this book, looked through it, and showed the author’s marked passages
to the President (pages noted under the inscription above and in the Index). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But it is intriguing to ponder that this book could have been
in the possession of one or both for a time. They left no writing of ownership or
annotation behind to confirm that. The book eventually found its way into a
Washington, D.C. estate and later into the second-hand market, letter intact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On its own merit, this book is an interesting history from a diplomatic correspondent’s
point-of-view at the end of World War II. His intimate portraits of heads of
state he met, such as Tito, de Gaulle, Churchill, and diplomats such as the aforementioned
Kennedy, fill the pages of this follow-up to his 1940 published diary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But it's the inscription and letter to First Lady, Jacqueline
Kennedy, and the speculation that she or President Kennedy kept this on the White House bookshelves for awhile, that makes this particular copy even more interesting.</span><br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-31857125857580963312013-11-05T10:43:00.000-06:002013-11-05T10:43:58.408-06:00Houston Book Fair at the Museum of Printing History<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here's the most recent addition to my collection of bookish ephemera, an ad mailer for the 11th Annual Houston Book Fair at the <a href="http://www.printingmuseum.org/" style="font-weight: bold;">Museum of Printing History</a>, Saturday, November 9, 2013.<div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9o2zND8vB7E/Unkfav-xbYI/AAAAAAAAHsc/liI28dHtIX8/s1600/img260.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9o2zND8vB7E/Unkfav-xbYI/AAAAAAAAHsc/liI28dHtIX8/s400/img260.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-91356480437981157662013-11-02T11:23:00.000-05:002013-11-02T11:23:00.611-05:00The International Miniature Book Society<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tpO7yHGNdXQ/UksbLWKxTMI/AAAAAAAAHhA/NsbhVl8VsxY/s1600/img141.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="120" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tpO7yHGNdXQ/UksbLWKxTMI/AAAAAAAAHhA/NsbhVl8VsxY/s200/img141.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Regarding a recent acquisition of ephemera</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><a href="http://bibliophemera.blogspot.com/2013/08/a-handlist-of-miniature-books-from.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><b>collected and preserved by the Rasmussens of California</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">, here is another sampling of what that sight-unseen purchase contained.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cv9I5mVGUzE/Uksdch5EB_I/AAAAAAAAHhM/r1fm2_0ixGI/s1600/img142.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cv9I5mVGUzE/Uksdch5EB_I/AAAAAAAAHhM/r1fm2_0ixGI/s320/img142.jpg" width="206" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is the very first issue of the <i>Newsletter of the IMBS</i>, published by the International Miniature Book Society in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia, August 1984. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was edited by Dr. Martin <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 20px;">Žnideršič and designed by Kazimir Rapo</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">ša. The editor starts the newsletter with the following:</span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Dear Lovers of miniature books,</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">In front of you is the newsletter of the new international organisation which wants to bring together the interests of lovers of miniature books from all over the world.</span></i> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">The stated goal is for a quarterly issue for the months of August, November, February, and May. The editor states that this first issue is an experimental one and that the final shape of the newsletter, with member collaboration, will gradually become clear. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">For anyone interested in miniature books, I have scanned the contents of this newsletter and presented the pages below (page 1 is above). Click on a page for an enlarged view. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Articles include the following: </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">First International Exhibition of Miniature Books in Ljubljana</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Bibliography of Miniature Books</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">How the Symbol of the International Miniature Book Society Originated</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">Miniature Books in America</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">, </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">The Greatest Miniature Book Artist</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"> (</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Károly Andruskó</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">), and </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">In the Olympic Year, Three Olympic Miniature Books</i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;">. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Back on the first page, the concluding paragraph states: </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 20px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>With the first number of our newsletter we are enclosing some information about the kind of plans we have for the society's future work.</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i> </i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">The first of those enclosures (below) is a single paper, folded, and printed on both sides with information about the IMBS, its founding, its aims, and a brief membership application section.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other enclosure is a five-page list (List No. 1), folded catalog-style, of miniature books available for sale through the International Miniature Book Society (see below). The books are listed by country--Yugoslavia, Eastern Germany, and Hungary.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And there you have it--the complete inaugural package from the fledgling IMBS to members and prospective members. The society does not appear to exist today in its original form. The complete lack of information available on the current status of the society supports that assumption. The latest reference I can find is from 2004--<a href="http://www.wlotus.com/BookArts/WLG/Timm.htm"><b>The </b></a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.wlotus.com/BookArts/WLG/Timm.htm"><b>Distinguished Book Award from the International Miniature Book Society</b></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The </span><a href="http://www.mbs.org/index.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Miniature Book Society</b></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, on its About MBS page, offers, perhaps, a clue to the demise of the IMBS. It indicates that it (the MBS) began in 1983 in the United States and now enjoys a worldwide membership. So, possibly, the IMBS was eventually folded into the MBS, as the need or interest in a segregated international society eventually gave way to an all-encompassing organization.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If my assumption of the IMBS' demise is inaccurate I'm sure I will be corrected sooner or later. </span><br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8796221668764867227.post-46068766490168147612013-10-08T11:39:00.000-05:002013-10-08T11:39:33.178-05:00A Naples Library bookplate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EjJxT5N09bw/UlQuJH2fxQI/AAAAAAAAHns/mVbRyOOERg4/s1600/025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EjJxT5N09bw/UlQuJH2fxQI/AAAAAAAAHns/mVbRyOOERg4/s200/025.JPG" width="125" /></a></div>
This copy of <i>Ship of the Line</i>, by C.S. Forester contains a Naples Library bookplate that triggered an instant memory of being on a ship in Naples, Italy about this time last year (see <i><a href="http://bibliophemera.blogspot.com/2013/01/a-napoli-booksellers-postcard.html">A Napoli Bookseller's Postcard</a></i>).<br />
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Now, which Naples was this library in? I knew it wasn't in Italy, given the English printing on the label, but how many towns in the US are named Naples?<br />
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Naples, Florida seemed the most likely choice, but as I looked through the book for clues, I found a sticker on the endpapers in the back of the book that stated this book came from Naples, <i>Maine</i>.<br />
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I've been to Maine a number of times, but never heard of a town named after Old Napoli. If you hug the coast in your Maine travels, you'll miss Naples. Although inland about 30 miles or so northwest of Portland, it does boast of a waterfront location--freshwater instead of salt water like its namesake in the Mediterranean. Naples, Maine is a resort town on Long Lake.<br />
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From the library's <a href="https://www.facebook.com/naplespubliclibrary?hc_location=timeline"><b>Facebook page</b></a>, below is a photo of the library from which the Forester volume got kicked out. Looks like an inviting place to read or browse for books.<br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0