Bibliophemera

Here's a letter from an Indiana bookseller in 1907, more notable for its letterhead than anything else I can find about its author. In addition to books and Bibles, The Book Man sold magazines and stationery along with games, pictures, and miscellaneous items. O.L. Hall, who billed himself as "The Book Man," typed this out, perhaps from his book shop, one summer day more than a hundred years ago in Portland, Indiana . His Walt Whitmanesque pose (Whitman below) makes for an impressive centerpiece in his letterhead. Mr. Hall's tone in this letter to the Liss Mapping Co., in Lima, Ohio, shows his patience is wearing thin with the mapmakers a few counties over in the next state. He's not about to let unanswered letters and a little detail about Liss having gone out of business deter him from getting what he wants. He stubbornly makes another request in one long, rambling sentence: Gentlemen; I have written you twice, and received no answer and I have been informed th...

Ramon F. Adams was a prolific author, bibliographer and lexicographer on the subject of cowboys, range life, and the American West. The "idiot printer" is Bill Wittliff (he wrote it, not me! see below), whose Encino Press published this piece shown below in 1967. Mr. Wittliff's inscribed bit of self-deprecating humor graces the backside of a piece of printed ephemera from my recent acquisition of Wittliff/Encino Press material. Why Wittliff refers to himself this way, I'm not sure. An inside joke peraps, or just his sense of humor. Whatever, I'm glad he added this personal touch. It made me smile. I know it's his writing because all the other pieces in the batch of his epehemera I obtained have his handwriting in either initials or signed inscriptions. This appears to be a mock-up or announcement of some sort for the forthcoming book by Ramon F. Adams : A Cowman & His Philosophy . The Ramon Adams Collection at the Texas/Dallas History and Archives, Dall...

Here's a nice descriptive piece about printed ephemera, which I was pleased to receive from William R. Holman . It was a nice surprise and most appreciated. I tried fitting it into the side column for permanent display, as its wordsmithing is most appropriate for this blog. But it just wasn't readable scaled down to fit. So here it is in a regular post, which is better than not sharing it at all. Enjoy! Mr. Holman's memoir, The Orphans' Nine Commandments tells the incredibly poignant story of what a young Oklahoma boy had to overcome during the Great Depression to find success in life as an innovative librarian, award-winning book designer, printer, publisher, and writer. I feel honored that he shared with me his thoughts about printed ephemera. Thanks again, Bill.

Cataloging books the other day, I came across an 1890s multivolume set called Messages and Papers of the Presidents . Inside one of the volumes was a slip of printed paper with a bookbinder's message: How to Open a Book . The set was published by the Government Printing Office, so they are the likely source of this piece of paper, which reprints a passage from a publication titled, Modern Bookbinding . No other bibliographical detail is included for that title, but I have found a magazine from that era, Modern Bookbinding and Their Designers . No clue, though, as to the author of this particular piece. You might wonder (I did) why there would be a need for instructions to open a book. And if you put those instructions inside the book, doesn't that defeat the purpose somewhat? Opening a book is not as easy as you might think. At least if you read these instructions and try to follow them. Here's the gist of it in the opening run-on sentence: Hold the book with its back on a ...

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...

As I have posted recently about a few pieces in my ephemera collection related to book design and the printing arts, particularly in Texas, I thought I'd share this link: The Handbook of Texas Online - Printing Arts for anyone interested in more information on the subject. This page from the Texas State Historical Association site offers an overview of printing history in Texas through biographical sketches of the state's greatest practitioners of book design and fine printing. For further reading: The Printing Arts in Texas , by Al Lowman, published by Roger Beacham (William R. Holman's imprint), 1975.

With all the horrible news coming out of Haiti recently because of the devastating earthquake, I remembered a bit of history I learned about the country via the bookplate below. I wrote about it on another blog more than three years ago and it seemed timely to revisit it now and rework it for this blog. This is one of the more interesting bookplates I've come across in recent years. It depicts Haiti's first military force, the Gendarmerie d'Haiti , which was established in 1915 during U.S. occupation and commanded and supported by U.S. Marines. Quite likely, the previous owner of the book had been a U.S. Marine in the Gendarmerie d'Haiti during that time. I found the book at a Houston Public Library sale several years ago and, though it looks battle-worn, I bought it for the author's inscription inside and because of my interest in the subject. The book is American Ballads & Folks Songs , by John A. Lomax and Alan Lomax (Macmillan, 1934), first edition, inscrib...