Bibliophemera

The News Book Store in Goshen, Indiana had this Rand McNally children's book guide printed for them with the front cover of the stapled booklet customized to feature their business name. There is no date, but the time period appears to be circa 1920s-30s. A quick check for first or early Rand McNally printings of a sampling of these books confirms that time period. The complete title of the guide is Books for Boys and Girls with Guide for Selection . The first page in the guide serves as the title page and contents page and indicates Rand McNally as the publisher of all the books listed. Click here to see another piece of Rand McNally ephemera I featured on this blog, which includes a very brief history of the company. A brief description of this guide is also found on the first page, stating: Rand McNally books for boys and girls have been especially selected and edited by competent and experienced editors and educators for the entertainment, inspiration, and education of...

Going through my Holman Archives of donated ephemera recently, I came across a set of promotional pieces for a 1968 Roger Beacham (Bill Holman's imprint) publication: Bookplates for Libraries , by Edward Hampton Shickell. I recalled reading a post on the Library History Buff blog about the book and thought these items would provide a tie-in from the printed ephemera angle. Included here in this "prospectus package" are an announcement, a brochure, and a piece featuring William R. Holman's Introduction to the book. Each has a distinct job to do for promoting the book, but collectively they function as a prospectus. First up is the announcement of the book and a pre-publication offer. The oblong design opens to nearly twenty inches in length, features a brief description of the book and author, and examples of four bookplates accompanied by this statement about the book: A reference work which answers every librarian's need for appropriate and well designed bookpl...

During America's Civil War, Charles Carroll Soule of Boston joined the 44th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment to fight for the North. John W. Park , of prominent Southern heritage, joined the Confederate cause, signing up with the Regimental Staff of the 1st Georgia Reserves . It is doubtful that their paths ever crossed on the battlefield, but they did cross about a quarter-century later in a business transaction involving books. Charles C. Soule, a Harvard graduate, became a bookseller sometime after the war and was the proprietor of the Boston Book Company. John W. Park became a prominent lawyer and was one of the organizers of the Georgia Bar association and eventually served as its president. In those professional capacities, these two accomplished men would cross paths because of their chosen fields after the fields of battle. I have evidence of this in the correspondence below. On September 6th, 1890, Soule wrote to Park about a credit to his account and enclosed a list of sec...