Bibliophemera

  This oversized postcard announcement for a book shop appearance by African American author J. California Cooper was mailed on January 5 th , 1991 and got to me via Madison, Wisconsin, and who knows where else, in 2025. On Juneteenth appropriately enough—the holiday that commemorates the ending of slavery in the United States. Also appropriately enough, the book that the author was reading passages from and signing for customers was set during times of slavery and the Civil War. From the ad on the postcard: “J. California Cooper’s novel, FAMILY, tells the story of four generations of an African-American family whose emotional and spiritual center is Always, a young woman born into slavery. Her mother Clora narrates a tale set in the years just before and after the Civil War. It is a tale in which racism is replaces slavery and humankind continues to suffer from its mental chains. But Always sets into motion two ironic plans to ensure the deliverance of her children. And with h...

Here's the most recent addition to my collection of bookish ephemera, an ad mailer for the 11th Annual Houston Book Fair at the Museum of Printing History , Saturday, November 9, 2013.

Things that readers leave behind in their books are referred to as flyaways. Sometimes these things are used as bookmarks, sometimes the book is just a convenient place to stash something for safekeeping. Now where did I put that twenty dollar bill? I've never found money between the pages of a book. I usually find the more typical ephemera like scraps of paper, deposit slips, receipts, envelopes, and gum wrappers. But I've also found autographed baseball cards, long newsy letters, utility bills, airline tickets, and photos. See thingsinbooks.com for more examples of the interesting, unusual, and downright strange flyaways that people find in their books. The most interesting (or perhaps most touching) thing I ever found was a small collection of Valentine cards and notes from two little girls to their father, penned about 1960. I found them several years ago and thought they must have been put in the book for safekeeping and were long forgotten. I decided somebody should get...

Today is Go Texan Day in Houston. This annual event is ushered in with trail riders on horseback in a symbolic ride from points north, south, east, and west. These trail rides, which last from days to weeks, all converge in Houston's Memorial Park today. The trail riders and their parade through downtown Saturday, along with the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest at Reliant Park, kick off the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo , a celebration of Western heritage and culture that officially starts March 2nd and will run through March 21st. When I was a kid in elementary school, we used to get Fat Stock Day as a holiday from school. That's how big a deal it was. They don't do that these days, but many folks still dress Western for work on this day, wearing their jeans, boots, and cowboy hats. Enough of that... this is about ephemera and, accordingly, I have a piece of ephemera related to the appropriate book for the occasion, Going Texan: The Days of the Houston Live...

Here's an invoice from 1955, W.M. Morrison - Texas Books. Morrison (1914-1981) was a collector, bookseller, and Civil War historian. He was also a publisher of reprints and original works of Texas history. In 1963, Morrison published Texas Book Prices (updated in 1972). During his carer, he issued 340 catalogs, which have in themselves become collectible for their bibliographic and reference value. More associated with Waco, he opened his first book shop in Houston in 1954. Herbert Fletcher (Anson Jones Press), whom I've blogged about, was a mentor to Morrison. A year later, as indicated by this invoice, he sold an interesting book that's now part of my stock: Park Hill , by Carolyn Thomas Foreman (1948). Park Hill is a scarce title dealing with the town that became a publishing center of culture and historical research pertaining to Chief John Ross , the Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears , and the Oklahoma Territory. The book was sent to a customer in Oklahoma Ci...