Bibliophemera

In the letter below, Stefan Lorant ordered five books in 1949 from a book store in New York. Was there anything significant about that? Before I investigated the purchase further, I wanted to know something about the buyer, Stefan Lorant. In a nutshell, Stefan Lorant (1901-1997) was a Hungarian-American author, editor, photographer, filmmaker, and pioneering photojournalist. An article about Lorant, found online at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh site refers to him as the first major editor of modern photojournalism. Michael Hallett, in the title of his biography on Lorant (Scarecrow Press, 2005), anoints him the Godfather of Photojournalism . One of the first things I learned about this native Hungarian is that about 1919, Franz Kafka helped him get a job as a violinist in a Czechoslovakian movie house at age 19. Not bad for starters.  It got even better and I became intrigued with the letter writer and what led him to this business correspondence with a booksell...

Here' an 1865 letter from the Providence, Rhode Island bookseller Sidney S. Rider, signed with the company name of Sidney S. Rider & Bro. On the surface, it looks like a short note from a bookseller to a prospective customer. But lurking among the few lines in reply to an inquiry is a good bit of history for the bibliophile. Rider wrote to a Mr. Moulton in reply to Moulton's inquiry about a book of "Drayton's Poems." Good bookseller and stickler for details (if not punctuation) that he was, Rider provided a careful description of the book: Mr. Moulton The copy of Drayton's Poems is in superb condition, folio 10 1/2 x 16 1/4 inches--large clean margins--plates in fine condition--binding old calf mottled--sound--the copy came from the library of J.H. Markland Esq the last surviving member of the celebrated Roxburghe Club--lowest price $20. Respectfully, Sidney S. Rider & Bro. This brief response offers clues for the curious bibliophile to r...

Back to my small collection of William D. Wittliff ephemera (started with this post ), here is a piece published by Wittliff's Encino Press in 1966. It's a four-page brochure, for lack of a better description, that presents a two-page letter written by Frank James, brother of the infamous outlaw, Jesse James. Most everyone has at least heard of Jesse James. Frank was Jesse's older brother. Together, and with other members of their gang, they robbed banks, stage coaches, and murdered. After Jesse was murdered himself, Frank turned himself in and was acquitted at a trial for murder. He went straight afterward, working in a variety of jobs, including shoe salesman, ticket taker at a theater, and telegraph operator. He later made money off his criminal past with lectures and tours of his farm that included the grave of Jesse James, who had become a legendary figure of the Wild West after his death. The most interesting thing I read about Frank James came from the Wikipedia page...