Bibliophemera

  Charles Keller Reed (1851-1921) immersed himself in nature from an early age. This led to work in taxidermy, which encouraged his interest in ornithology, natural history, and art. He later wrote, edited, and published books about birds, many of which were illustrated by his son, Chester Albert Reed. I wonder if Chester illustrated the stationery for his father's business correspondence. A site devoted Chester A. Reed, offers a well-researched article by Michel Chevalier on Chester K. Reed's fascinating life and work with ornithology and books. https://chester-reed.org/.../charles-k-reed-businessmant.../ Boost post Like Comment Send Share

N. Tibbals & Sons have an agent in their New York basement at 124 Nassau St. So states the trade card for their publishing and bookselling business. The back of the card states their agent is now in their basement with a bunch of very cheap books. And you need to come and see for yourself. These books have just come in from New York (Isn't Tibbals in New York?). And did they mention how cheap they are? The front of the card has the typical colorful Victorian, flowery decor, this one with butterflies. These images seldom, if ever, have anything to do with the business indicated on the card. But this card reiterates the business pitch on the front also, not the business name. In case you missed the message on the flip side, these guys have a basement full of very cheap books to sell you. There's an agent down there, too. According to Publisher's Weekly, Volume 52 , in an obituary for Nathan Tibbals, N. Tibbals & Son started in 1848 and conducted business for years at ...

Here is a stapled booklet of bookplates for children, dated 1918. They were sold by Lloyd Adams Noble , Publisher. The booklet contains three different designs to choose from. Each page has three of the same bookplate in perforated panes with an adhesive on the back for moistening and applying to the book. A protective guard between each page prevented the bookplates from sticking to each other. This booklet is missing one bookplate at the back, otherwise it is completely intact with minimal wear despite its age and supposedly having been handled by children. I have seen individual plates for sale from these booklets, but a whole booklet appears to be quite scarce. I'm not sure when this series of bookplates started or ended, but this set is copyrighted 1918 and I know the bookplates were still being published in 1921. A Lloyd Adams Noble title from that year, Pieces for Every Day the Schools Celebrate, by Deming and Bemis , contains ads in the back in which it is stated that three...

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...

Isaiah Thomas was born on this day: January 19, 1749 . This portrait, by Ethan Allen Greenwood, was found at the Web site for The American Antiquarian Society along with the biography (copied at the end of this post) of the man who has been referred to as the "Father of Ephemera." He was a patriot in the American Revolution, a publisher, a printer, and a bookseller. Early in the nineteenth century, he recognized the significance of printed ephemera in America's young history and the need to preserve it for the historical record of a growing nation. After his retirement from business, he pursued writing a history of printing in America and founded the American Antiquarian Society, for which he wrote the following justification: We cannot obtain a knowledge of those who are to come after us, nor are we certain what will be the events of future times; as it is in our power, so it should be our duty, to bestow on posterity that which they cannot give to us, but which they ma...

A bookseller from Iceland more than fifty years ago created this bit of ephemera with a double-biblio angle for my collection--books and philately ( bibliophemera and bibliophilately ). This is an interesting postcard from the Icelandic bookseller Snaebjorn Jonsson & Co., The English Bookshop , in Reykjavik. They sent this postcard to Scott Publications, Inc., a publisher of stamp catalogs and other publications pertaining to stamp collecting (I used to get their catalogs when I was a kid). Of interest is the identification of a bookseller in Iceland and the Icelandic history depicted on the stamps used to mail the postcard. The history deals specifically with antiquarian books and manuscripts. The two stamps on the postcard are from a 1953 set of five issued to commemorate Iceland's literary heritage. I've been researching these stamps and the literature depicted on them for the better part of this year. The leads have been hard to come by, but just as I had pieced togeth...

Click anywhere on the photos for an enlarged view Think of E.P. Dutton and you probably think big publishing company. But this major publishing house got its start as a retail bookseller. Edward Payson Dutton started the company in Boston, as a retail bookseller, in 1852. In 1864, Dutton branched out to New York (in the building depicted by the billhead graphic), where they also started publishing books. Their focus in the beginning was religious titles. If the billhead above is any indication, it appears that religious titles were still a strong suit into the 1870s. 1864 was a busy year for Dutton. As mentioned, he opened the new branch in New York and introduced a publishing segment to the business. But back in Boston he also purchased Ticknor & Field's retail business, which was located in the Old Corner Bookstore. There, the mantle of a fine literary tradition passed to Dutton. Ticknor & Fields had occupied the building for some 20 years and had published the works of a...