Bibliophemera

Sir Thomas Phillipps  (1792-1872) was an ardent bibliophile, collector, cataloger, publisher, and intense sufferer of bibliomania.  In the title of this post,  Bart.  refers to  Baronet , a hereditary honor by the British Crown. Phillipps once aspired to collect every book and manuscript ever written. In his attempt to do so, his estate, Middle Hill, was full to the gills in every room with the objects of his obsession.  So immense and staggering was his collection, it took well more than a hundred years after his death to disperse all of it through auctions and private sales.  Today, Phillipps might be characterized as a hoarder.  In 1848, he received this envelope below, opened it, and read its contents, possibly book or manuscript related. Somewhere along the way to present day, the contents became separated from the envelope. There's no telling where the letter went, but the envelope found its way here.   The letter, with ...

An early booksellers' association in America was The Booksellers' League of New York, founded in 1895.   Princeton University Library   has a collection of related ephemera in their Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Manuscripts Division. I have one item in my collection, a copy of which may also exist in those archives: An announcement for the 1936 Annual Dinner and Dance of the Booksellers' League at the Aldine Club. Thomas Wolfe was a featured speaker at the dinner that evening. An early booksellers' association in America was The Booksellers' League of New York, founded in 1895. Princeton University Library has a collection of related ephemera in their Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Manuscripts Division. I have one item in my collection, a copy of which may also exist in those archives: An announcement for the 1936 Annual Dinner and Dance of the Booksellers' League at the Aldine Club. Thomas Wolfe was a featured speaker at ...

From 1994-2001, Grolier, Inc. published a series of collectible cards called Story of America . They were issued by subscription only in decks of 20 cards, one deck at a time, and each card featured an historically significant event, place, or person in American history. Frankly, I never even heard of this set of cards, but if I had I doubt I would have guessed there could be a card for a book collector. But there is such a card and it is for Arturo Schomburg (1874-1938). Arturo Schomburg and his sister in 1905 Arturo Schomburg (about whom I was also unaware) was no ordinary book collector. He was a prolific collector of books and ephemera about African American history, heroes, and accomplishments. But there was more to the man than just collecting books, as you will see. One of his elementary school teachers inspired in him the passion to collect this history, but not in the usual manner you would expect from a teacher. Schomburg and the rest of his fifth grade classmates received a...

The economy of late has drawn more than the occasional comparison to the Great Depression. And a once stalwart company such as General Motors is looking more like Government Motors these days. Against such a backdrop, I found (and had to add to my collection) a Great Depression-era print ad for a General Motors product--a 1934 Chevrolet Master Six Sedan. The kicker for me, and the reason for this post, is that Chevrolet used a bibliophile to represent its target audience for the ad. Most unusual, to say the least, and quite interesting to a bibliophile in tough economic times 75 years later. Chevrolet, along with other auto makers, was undoubtedly struggling in 1934--smack dab in the middle of the Great Depression. The ad campaign above decided to go after those who still had some disposable income and try to persuade them to lower their standards (my interpretation) and spend their money on a more economical model--the Chevrolet Master Six Sedan. This bibliophile is no car connoisseur...