The Best Thing About Being A Bibliophile

We’ve been spreading ourselves pretty thin in the book shop lately.  Ron is busy crafting some beautiful clamshell cases for my Louis Bromfield collection (more about that later); I have been burning the midnight oil to close out the books for the tax season, and trying to keep up with cataloging new book inventory to keep up with books going out the door.

So this week I thought I’d keep it simple and share with you a few links to sites I have stumbled upon that WOWED me and might be of interest to you.  The best thing about being a bibliophile is that life is never boring — there is always something more to learn!

For those of you interested in decorated bindings, here is a link to the holdings in the University of Rochester (NY) library:  http://www.lib.rochester.edu/index.cfm?page=3886

For some beautiful examples of Sarah Wyman Whitman bindings, and a biography of the artist, this information from the Rare Books and Manuscript Department at the Boston Public Library will be your cup of tea:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/sets/72157604192955355/

For those of you who are fans of great book illustrators, you may enjoy this JVJ Publishing website, devoted to classic illustrator biographies:

http://www.bpib.com/illustra.htm

Enjoy!

Landmark Books – First-Rate History Series for Readers and Collectors

“One of the most critically acclaimed, best-selling children’s book series ever published.” – The New York Times

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde, by Harold Lamb (NY: Random House, 1954) World Landmark Series

I doubt you hold affectionate feelings for any history textbook that you read during your school years, or that you have any brilliant memories of what you learned from its pages.   But if, while growing up, you were lucky enough to read the vividly written history books in the Landmark series, what you read there may still be burned into your memory; you may even still have the books.

George Washington - Frontier Colonel, by Sterling North (NY: Random House, 1957) American Landmark Series

 

The Story of Atomic Energy, by Laura Fermi (NY: Random House, 1961) World Landmark Series

The original Landmark series of children’s books are high quality non-fiction, hardcover books that focus on the legendary people and events in American history.  They were written for children and young adults, generally ages 10-15.  Children enjoy reading these books.  Because the content is rich and they are expertly written, many adults enjoy reading and collecting them as well.  They are very popular with home-schoolers.  It’s been said that if a student were to read all of these books through their years at school that they would have a better history education than 95% of all high school seniors.

Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia, by Margaret Cousins (NY: Random House, 1952) American Landmark Series

The books were the brainchild of a thinktank at Random House and were published between 1950 and 1970, utilizing the best authors they could recruit.  Many were award-winning authors, or people who had expertise or first-hand experience in the subject matter.  The series included writers such as Sterling North, Pearl S. Buck, John Gunther, Quentin Reynolds, Van Wyck Mason and C.S. Forrester.

Random House issued the first 103 titles in the Landmark book collection in illustrated dust jackets and offered these trade editions for sale in department stores and at retail booksellers.   Random House also offered the first 103 titles in the collection as book club editions, issued from the same print runs as the trade editions. The book club editions were issued monthly for $ 1.50 plus shipping, and can be identified by the “Young Readers of America Selection” notation on the front inside flap of the dust jacket.  The book club editions can occasionally be found with the “letter from the author” which was included. Keep in mind that the signatures on the letters are facsimile signatures; they are not actually hand-signed by the authors.  First Printings will have a “First Printing” statement on the copyright page, and a price on the dustjacket flap (if jacketed).

Young Readers of America Selection (Book Club statement at top inside front flap)

In 1963, with the publication of volume #104, Random House began to issue the Landmark books in pictorial cover format which featured cover art printed directly on the boards of the book, and were no longer issued with dust jackets. First printings of volumes #104 through #122, and later reprints of the earlier 103 titles, were issued in the pictoral board format.  The books were illustrated either with two-color drawings or clear photographs.

Landmark books are the American history series.  There are 122 titles in all and they were published from 1950 to 1970.  The American Landmark books have a small banner-like logo with the series number in the upper right corner on the front of the dust jacket.

World Landmark books are the world history series and there are 63 titles, published from 1953 to 1968.  The World Landmark books have a circular logo with the series number in the upper right corner of the front of dustjacket.

The F.B.I., by Quentin Reynolds (NY: Random House, 1963) American Landmark Series

The original Landmark series books are out of print but most are readily available at reasonable prices through used book stores.     Prices are quite reasonable on Landmark books—generally $10-$20 or less, depending on edition and condition.  As in any book series, some titles are going to be much harder to find than others, and the rarer ones can be higher-priced – even in to the three figure range.  The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd by Whipple is considered the rarest of all – it is Volume No. 122 – the last in the series.  The first book in the American Landmark series (#1) was The Voyages of Christopher Columbus, by Armstrong Perry.

Here is an alphabetical list of all the titles in the original American Landmark and World Landmark series (185 in all):

 Abe Lincoln: Log Cabin to White House by Sterling North
 The Adventures & Discoveries of Marco Polo by Richard J. Walsh
 The Adventures of Ulysses by Gerald Gottlieb
 The Alaska Gold Rush by May McNeer
 Alexander Hamilton & Aaron Burr by Anna & Russell Crouse
 Alexander the Great by John Gunther
 The American Revolution by Bruce Bliven Jr.
 Americans into Orbit: The Story of Project Mercury by Gene Gurney
 America's First World War: General Pershing by Henry Castor
 Andrew Carnegie & the Age of Steel by Katherine B. Shippen
 Balboa: Swordsman & Conquistador by Felix Riesenberg
 The Barbary Pirates by C. S. Forester
 The Battle for Iwo Jima by Robert Leckie
 The Battle for the Atlantic by Jay Williams
 The Battle of Britain by Quentin Reynolds
 The Battle of the Bulge by John Toland
 Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia by Margaret Cousins
 Ben-Gurion and the Birth of Israel by Joan Comay
 Betsy Ross & the Flag by Jane Mayer
 Buffalo Bill's Great Wild West Show by Walter Havighurst
 The Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad by Adele Nathan
 The California Gold Rush by May McNeer
 Captain Cook Explores the South Seas by Armstrong Sperry
 Captain Cortes Conquers Mexico by William Johnson
 Catherine the Great by Katherine Scherman

Chief of the Cossacks by Harold Lamb
 Clara Barton, Founder of the American Red Cross by Helen Boylston
 Cleopatra of Egypt by Leonora Hornblow
 Clipper Ship Days by John Jennings
 Combat Nurses of World War II by Wyatt Blassingame
 The Coming of the Mormons by Jim Kjelgaard
 The Commandos of World War II by Hodding Carter
 Commodore Perry & the Opening of Japan by Ferdinand Kuhn
 The Conquest of the North & South Poles by Russell Owen
 The Copper Kings of Montana by Marian T. Place
 The Crusades by Anthony West
 Custer's Last Stand by Quentin Reynolds
 Daniel Boone and the Opening of the Wilderness Road by John Mason Brown
 Davy Crockett by Stewart H. Holbrook
 Disaster at Johnstown: the Great Flood by Hildegarde Dolson
 The Doctors Who Conquered Yellow Fever by Ralph Nading Hill
 Dolly Madison by Jane Mayer
 Dwight D. Eisenhower by Malcom Moos
 The Early Days of Automobiles in America by Elizabeth Janeway
 The Erie Canal by Samuel Hopkins Adams
 Ethan Allen & the Green Mountain Boys by Slater Brown
 Evangeline & the Acadians by Robert Tallant
 The Exploits of Xenophon by Geoffrey Household
 The Explorations of Pere Marquette by Jim Kjelgaard
 Exploring the Himalaya by William O. Douglas
 The F.B.I. by Quentin Reynolds
 The Fall of Constantinople by Bernadine Kielty
 Famous Pirates of the New World by A. B. C. Whipple
 Ferdinand Magellan: Master Mariner by Seymour Gates Pond
 The First Men in the World by Anne Terry White
 The First Overland Mail by Robert Pinkerton
 The First Transatlantic Cable by Adele Gutman Nathan
 Flat Tops by Edmund Castillo
 The Flight and Adventures of Charles II by Charles Norman
 Florence Nightingale by Ruth Fox Hume
 The Flying Aces of World War I by Gene Gurney
 The Flying Tigers by John Toland
 The French Foreign Legion by Wyatt Blassingame
 From Casablanca to Berlin by Bruce Bliven, Jr.
 From Pearl Harbor To Okinawa by Bruce Bliven Jr.
 Garibaldi: Father of Modern Italy by Marcia Davenport
 General Brock and Niagara Falls by Samuel Hopkins Adams
 Genghis Kahn & the Mongol Horde by Harold Lamb
 George Washington Carver by Anne Terry White
 George Washington: Frontier Colonel by Sterling North
 Geronimo: Wolf of the Warpath by Ralph Moody
 Gettysburg by MacKinlay Kantor
 The Golden Age of Railroads by Stewart H. Holbrook
 Great American Fighter Pilots of World War II by Robert D. Loomis
 Great Men of Medicine by Ruth Fox Hume
 Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis
 Hawaii, Gem of the Pacific by Oscar Lewis
 Hero of Trafalgar by A. B. C. Whipple
 Heroines of the Early West by Nancy Wilson Ross
 Hudson's Bay Company by Richard Morenus
 Jesus of Nazareth by Harry Emerson Fosdick
 Joan of Arc by Nancy Wilson Ross³
 John F. Kennedy & PT 109 by Richard Tregaskis
 John James Audubon by Margaret & John Kieran
 John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor by Armstrong Sperry
 Julius Caesar by John Gunther
 King Arthur & His Knights by Mabel Louise Robinson
 Kit Carson & the Wild Frontier by Ralph Moody
 The Landing of the Pilgrims by James Daugherty
 Lawrence of Arabia by Alistair MacLean
 Lee and Grant at Appomattox by MacKinlay Kantor
 Leonardo da Vinci by Emily Hahn
 The Lewis and Clark Expedition by Richard L. Neuberger
 The Life of Saint Patrick by Quentin Reynolds
 The Life of Saint Paul by Harry Emerson Fosdick
 Lincoln & Douglas: The Years of Decision by Regina Z. Kelly
 The Louisiana Purchase by Robert Tallant
 The Magna Charta by James Daugherty
 The Man Who Changed China: The Story of Sun Yat-sen by Pearl S. Buck
 Marie Antoinette by Bernadine Kielty
 Marquis de Lafayette: Bright Sword of Freedom by Hodding Carter
 Martin Luther by Harry Emerson Fosdick
 Mary, Queen of Scots by Emily Hahn
 Medal of Honor Heroes by Colonel Red Reeder
 Medical Corps Heros of World War II by Wyatt Blassingame
 Midway, Battle for the Pacific by Edmund L. Castillo
 The Mississippi Bubble by Thomas B. Costain
 The Moniter and the Merrimac by Fletcher Pratt
 Mr. Bell Invents the Telephone by Katherine B. Shippen
 The Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd by ABC Whipple
 Napoleon & the Battle of Waterloo by Frances Winwar
 Old Ironsides, the Fighting Constitution by Harry Hansen
 Our Independence and the Constitution by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
 The Panama Canal by Bob Considine
 Paul Revere & the Minute Men by Dorothy Canfield Fisher
 Peter Stuyvesant of Old New York by Anna & Russell Crouse
 The Pharoahs of Ancient Egypt by Elizabeth Payne
 The Pirate Lafitte & the Battle of New Orleans by Robert Tallant
 Pocahontas & Captain John Smith by Marie Lawson
 The Pony Express by Samuel Hopkins Adams
 Prehistoric America by Anne Terry White
 Queen Elizabeth & the Spanish Armada by Frances Winwar
 Queen Victoria by Noel Streatfeild
 Remember the Alamo! by Robert Penn Warren
 The Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler by William L. Shirer
 Robert E. Lee & the Road of Honor by Hodding Carter
 Robert Fulton & the Steamboat by Ralph Nading Hill
 Rogers' Rangers & the French & Indian War by Bradford Smith
 The Royal Canadian Mounted Police by Richard L. Neuberger
 Sam Houston, the Tallest Texan by William Johnson
 The Santa Fe Trail by Samuel Hopkins Adams
 The Seabees of World War II by Edmund Castillo
 Sequoyah: Leader of the Cherokees by Alice Marriott
 Simon Bolivar, the Great Liberator by Arnold Whitridge
 The Sinking of the Bismarck by William L. Shirer
 The Slave Who Freed Haiti: The Story of Toussaint Louverture by Katherine Scherman
 Stonewall Jackson by Jonathan Daniels
 The Story of Albert Schweitzer by Anita Daniel
 The Story of Atomic Energy by Laura Fermi
 The Story of Australia by A. Grove Day
 The Story of D-Day: June 6, 1944 by Bruce Bliven Jr.
 The Story of Oklahoma by Lon Tinkle
 The Story of San Francisco by Charlotte Jackson
 The Story of Scotland Yard by Laurence Thompson
 The Story of Submarines by George Weller
 The Story of the Air Force by Robert Loomis
 The Story of the Naval Academy by Felix Riesenberg Jr.
 The Story of the Paratroops by George Weller
 The Story of the Secret Service by Ferdinand Kuhn
 The Story of the Thirteen Colonies by Clifford Lindsey Alderman
 The Story of the U.S. Coast Guard by Eugene Rachlis
 The Story of the U.S. Marines by George Hunt
 The Story of Thomas Alva Edison by Margaret Cousins
 The Swamp Fox of the Revolution by Stewart H. Holbrook
 Teddy Roosevelt & the Rough Riders by Henry Castor
 The Texas Rangers by Will Henry
 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson & Bob Considine
 Thomas Jefferson, Father of Democracy by Vincent Sheean
 Tippecanoe & Tyler, Too! by Stanley Young
 To California by Covered Wagon by George R. Stewart
 Trappers & Traders of the Far West by James Daugherty
 The United Nations in War and Peace by T. R. Fehrenback
 The U.S. Border Patrol by Clement Hellyer
 The U.S. Frogmen of World War II by Wyatt Blassingame
 Up the Trail From Texas by J. Frank Dobie
 The Vikings by Elizabeth Janeway
 The Voyages of Christopher Columbus by Armstrong Sperry
 The Voyages of Henry Hudson by Eugene Rachlis
 Walk in Space: the Story of Project Gemini by Gene Gurney
 Walter Raleigh by Henrietta Buckmaster
 The War Chief of the Seminoles by May McNeer
 The War in Korea: 1950 - 1953 by Robert Leckie
 The West Point Story by Col. Red Reeder & Nardi Reeder Campion
 Wild Bill Hickok Tames the West by Stewart H. Holbrook
 Will Shakespeare and the Globe Theater by Anne Terry White
 William Penn: Quaker Hero by Hildegarde Dolson
 William the Conqueror by Thomas B. Costain
 Winston Churchill by Quentin Reynolds
 The Winter at Valley Forge by Van Wyck Mason
 The Witchcraft of Salem Village by Shirley Jackson
 Women of Courage by Dorothy Nathan
 The World's Greatest Showman: P.T. Barnum by J. Bryan III
 The Wright Brothers by Quentin Reynolds
 Wyatt Earp: U.S. Marshall by Stewart H. Holbrook
 Young Mark Twain & the Mississippi by Harnett T. Kane

“The outstanding children’s books of this half century….  without parallel in the field of children’s literature.“

–Rev. Dr. Leo J. McCormick, Supt. of Schools, Archdiocese of Baltimore

“Any pre-adolescent who has not feasted on them has been cheated.“

–Dr. Henry F. Graff, Associate Professor of History, Columbia University

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 5,300 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Bringing Joy with Books – A Christmas Story

Via Crucis, by F. Marion Crawford (NY: MacMillan, Author's Edition, 1899)

The thing that makes bookselling in the used & rare book trade gratifying is the warm feeling you get when you connect the right person with just the right book.   This year, we will be thinking about someone named Roy at Christmas, because we happen to know that he is getting a very special present from one of his family members.  I feel safe in saying this, as Roy does not have a computer, or use one, so what I write here will not be a spoiler.

He lives in a trailer by a small creek in a tiny hamlet not far from us.  College educated, he digs ditches for a living – and has for many years.  These are very precise and difficult digs, in places where machinery can’t go to do the job.  He is known locally as “Digger” or “The Mole.”  He is also one of the most well-read, literate people I have ever known.  His ability to recite poetry or long quotations from literature is incredible.  Perhaps it’s because his brain isn’t muddled with all the other junk most of us are exposed to every day.  It’s a real pleasure to discuss literature with him, and he has a keen eye for collectible books and good writers.  He is also the kind of person who has helped us haul gravel for our stone patio project, and loaned us tools.

His favorite writers are many, including T. S. Eliot, E. B. White, P. G. Wodehouse and more.  But his favorite author by far is F. Marion Crawford.  Roy has painstakingly assembled an impressive collection of the author’s works and knows everything about the man – but he has nothing signed by him.  He told us of once seeing a signed edition in a shop, and how he much he wished that he had been able to purchase it.

As his cousin normally stops by Old Scrolls in the weeks leading up to Christmas to select a book for Roy, we made a special effort this year to seek out an author-signed copy by F. Marion Crawford.  We were able to locate a lovely signed limited edition which was reasonably priced.  We notified Teresa, his cousin, and she was happy to purchase it.   We carefully packaged it up and shipped it to her a few weeks ago.  Oh, how we would love to see the look on his face when Roy opens that package!  A more perfect present couldn’t be chosen.

A lovely copy, signed by the author, in its original slipcase will be finding a very appreciative home with Roy this year, and bringing him joy for years to come.

Thank you to all of our great customers who have made 2011 a successful year for Old Scrolls Book Shop.   To the many people who have purchased books from us, or sold books to us, or have stopped by to visit or corresponded with us – we offer our sincere appreciation for helping to make our used & rare book business a labor of love.  We will be thinking of all the special books we helped to place under many trees this season…and hope that each one will bring lasting cheer to its new owner.

 

 

 

Having a Blast with Books – Book Scouting with the Goldstones

Perhaps because Ron and I have enjoyed sharing the world of used & rare books as a couple in much the same way as Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone experienced their own adventures in book scouting, these two books are special to me.

Used and Rare, by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1997)

As their book scouting adventures take the authors to antiquarian book stores in big cities and off-the-beaten track locations, then on to library sales, auctions, and rare book rooms, the tales echo many of the experiences we have shared as we travel in search of great books.  But I think anyone interested in book collecting would thoroughly enjoy their stories, and use them to point to new areas of exploration in the wondrous world of book collecting.  In a nutshell, Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone are people after my own heart.

Slightly Chipped, by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone (NY: St. Martin's Press, 1999)

In their delightful books Used & Rare – Travels in the Book World and Slightly Chipped – Footnotes in Booklore, they capture the essence of what it is to be bitten by the book collecting bug.  A rank beginner can follow their learning curve with each turn of the page and pick up lots of information, but the stories can also be thoroughly enjoyed by an experienced collector, for they ring so true.

I read both books when they were first published, and just recently re-read them.  I believe I enjoyed them even more the second time around.  Being acquainted with many of the book shops and characters that populate the book, the second reading brought forth grins, giggles and grimaces of recognition as they wend their way through used book stores in big cities and off-the-beaten track locations, then on to library sales, auctions, and rare book rooms.  The quirky characters, the endless and odd variety of book-store settings, the surprising range of collecting fields—they are presented here in entertaining and informative terms.

Any budding book collector will empathize with their early bafflement on book pricing in the used & rare marketplace, and their progression from being reluctant to spend more than ten dollars on a book to practically pouncing on one priced at the equivalent of a month’s rent or mortgage payment.  They learn quickly about the importance of condition and edition in book collecting, and soon attune themselves to the thrill of being able to recognize and own fine books.  Our hearts are with them as they set aside three or four books in a booth while at the Spring Antiquarian Book Fair in Boston, agonizing over which one(s) to purchase since they are on a limited budget.

Their experience at a library sale (in Pequot, CT) rings true as they line up early with the crowds and are nearly trampled in the opening crush as the book seekers lose all sense of civility in their quest for treasure.  It’s a familiar fright to anyone who has followed the library sale circuit.  Their first forays into the book auction world are depicted in detail. They share the knowledge they glean on various areas of collecting, including some pretty detailed and amusing information on the authors of the Bloomsbury group in the book Slightly Chipped.  They are quite candid about the book dealers they encounter, and about all their experiences, both good and bad.

Only Used and Rare is still in print (visit Nancy Goldstone’s website here, where you will also find information on additional Goldstone books).  But, HEY… if you want to be a collector, search for a first edition of either book here or here…or better yet, start visiting used and rare book shops and have the time of your life!!

 

 

Stanley Lloyd – Equine Illustrator

Illustration by Stanley Lloyd from the book "The Wednesday Pony"

For a good part of my life  I’ve read every horse book I could get my hands on.  I’ve nearly always had horses in my life– we still have one old Arab mare.  Over the years I had many favorite American equine illustrators, and those that topped my list were C. W. Anderson, Paul Brown, and Sam Savitt, among others.  Each had their own style, and had an inimitable method of capturing the character and movement of the horse.

Recently I came across an illustrator I was unfamiliar with named Stanley Lloyd when I purchased a copy of The Wednesday Pony, by Primrose Cumming.  My copy is a first American Edition (M.S. Mill Co., New York, 1939), but the book is British and so is the illustrator.  I find Lloyd’s illustrations quite charming!   Turns out that Stanley Lloyd was was quite a famous illustrator in his time.  He did illustrations for The Detective Magazine in 1923-1924 and Woman’s Magazine in 1935-1936, and illustrated the The Greystone Girls series (Blackie – 1940-50’s), among others.    His most famous horse illustrations were done for children’s author Primrose Cummings’ books, and he was particularly famous for his work in her book, Silver Snaffles (Blackie, 1937).

Here are more Stanley Lloyd  illustrations from my copy of The Wednesday Pony by Primrose Cumming:

 

Look for these Horse Books illustrated by Stanley Lloyd (listed with their original Publisher):

Silver Snaffles, by Primrose Cumming  (Blackie, 1937)

The Wednesday Pony, by Primrose Cumming (Blackie, 1937)

The Chestnut Filly, by Primrose Cumming (Blackie, 1940)

The People of the Valley by  J. Ivester Lloyd (illustrations also by T. Ivester Lloyd – Country Life, 1943)

Horses from the Valley by Brian Fairfax Lucy (Oxford University Press, 1941)
The Horse from India by Brian Fairfax Lucy (Frederick Muller, 1944)

Riding Days in Hook’s Hollow by Marjorie Mary Oliver (Country Life, 1944)

Bonny the Pony by Ruth Clarke (Frederick Warne, 1947)
Johnny Rides Out by J Ivester Lloyd  (Citadel Press, 1948)

Spurs for Suzanna by Betty Cavanna (Lutterworth Press, 1948)

That Ass Neddy, by Ethel Nokes (Ward, Lock & Co., 1948)

The Friends of Van by Brenda Spender (Country Life, 1949)

Jill and Prince the Pony by Joan Dickins (Blackie, 1949)
Horseman’s Island by Marjorie Mary Oliver (Country Life, 1950)

Here at Old Scrolls Book Shop we keep a well stocked equine section, and many are illustrated books for children and young adults.  Visit us to find your favorites!

Literature and book collecting – 100 years ago

Hooray and Happy Day!  This is blog number 100 for Old Scrolls Book Shop, so I thought we would follow the theme of “100″ and see what was happening in the world of literature and book collecting one hundred years ago.

1911 Nobel Prize for Literature:  Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian poet, playwright, and essayist.

Born:  Tennessee Williams, playwright (died 1983)

Died:   Howard Pyle, children’s author (born 1853) and  Joseph Pulitzer (born 1847)

Hot new books in 1911:

 Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)

The Innocence of Father Brown (G. K. Chesterton)

The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)

Zuleika Dobson (Max Beerbohm)

The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)

I looked on our database to see what books we have in stock which were published in 1911.  Here are a few:

Animal Intelligence: Experimental Studies, Macmillan, NY, 1911 by Edward L. Thorndike. (Thorndike’s landmark book on animal behavior and intelligence)

The Long Roll, by Mary Johnston, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1911  (A novel of the Confederacy during the American Civil War)

Panama – The Canal, The Country, and the People, by Albert Edwards, MacMillan, NY, 1911.   (The Panama Canal was under construction from 1904 to 1914, so this subject was of great interest in 1911)

Vanity Fair was released for the first time in a film version (silent), directed by Charles Kent and starring Helen Gardner and William V. Ranous.   It was based on the famous novel by William Makepeace Thackeray.

Here is a book auction catalog from 1911 which offered up an “Extensive Private Collection of Books and Pamphlets Relating to Abraham Lincoln.”  The C. F. Libbie & Company auction took place in Boston on September 27 and 28, 1911 at the New Gallery on Washington Street.  “Please mail your order early.  A Deposit required from Strangers.”

On August 21, 1911, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, one of the most famous paintings in the world, was stolen right off the wall of the Louvre in Paris.

And here is a book based on the famous caper!

The Man Who Stole the Mona Lisa, by Martin Page (Pantheon, NY, 1984)

Available (of course) here at Old Scrolls Book Shop.

I’d love to hear comments from you if you are a regular visitor the blog…or if you are brand new!  Your input will help inspire me for the next 100 entries.  And if there are book related subjects you would like me to explore,  please let me know in the comments section.

Catherine Petruccione, Old Scrolls Book Shop – November 13, 2011

Rivers of America Series

One of my favorite books to stumble upon is a nice first edition of the “Rivers of America” series. Who wouldn’t like to make a collection of all sixty-five books in this fine series?

The Genesee (signed by author Henry Clune) Holt, Rinehart Winston, 1963

It all began in 1937 with Kennebec: Cradle of Americans by Robert P. Tristram Coffin, published by Farrar & Rinehart. The last book, The American: River of El Dorado, by Margaret Sanborn was published in 1974 by Holt, Rinehart and Winston.   In all, four publishers were involved with the continuation of the series over a 37-year period. Excellent writers, illustrators and editors were utilized in producing high quality books which have become very collectible in their original editions, and continue to be reprinted to this day.

The Savannah, by Thomas L. Stokes; Rinehart, 1951

Here are some highlights (courtesy of Wikipedia):

The series includes the first book illustrated by Andrew Wyeth, The Brandywine; Marjory Stoneman Douglas’ The Everglades: River of Grass which successfully focused public attention on the plight of the Everglades; Paul Horgan’s Great River: The Rio Grande in America History, considered the definitive study of the early Southwest; and poet Edgar Lee Masters’ The Sangamon.

The series represents one of the finest long-term efforts by a publisher to blend the talents of both writers and artists to present a tribute to the rivers that played such a vital role in the development of America. A testament to the editors’ outstanding work is the fact that many of these volumes continue to be reprinted and the original editions are now considered highly collectible. On April 9 and 10, 1997, a group of Rivers of America authors and illustrators were brought together by the Library of Congress to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the series. The Library of Congress published an Information Bulletin highlighting the celebration on June 7, 1997. 1

A set of War Editions was published between 1942-1945 and also a series of paperback Armed Services Editions, which are also collectible.

The Connecticut, by Walter Hard; Rinehart, 1947

All books pictured above are first editions.  To view “Rivers of America” titles currently available at Old Scrolls Book Shop, click HERE.

1Wikipedia, Rivers of America Series.

Haunting Books

Don’t look now — but Halloween is lurking just around the corner.   Poltergeists, ghosts, hauntings — oh my!  Carve the pumpkin, load up on candy, and forage for a costume if you will — but if you want to get serious about the supernatural, here are some books for you:

Borderland, by W. T. Stead (University Books, New Hyde Park, NY, 1970)

Borderland – A Casebook of True Supernatural Stories is a classic collection of true cases of apparitions, hauntings, astral projection, clairvoyance, and premonitions — and the first systematic work of its kind.  Originally published in England in two separate volumes, Real Ghost Stories and More Ghost Stories — as Christmas and New Year numbers of Review of Reviews, 1891-92.  It was later published as one volume in 1897 and titled Real Ghost Stories.  It is a compilation of remarkable case histories of supernatural phenomena which was long out of print until this new American edition was published in 1970 by University Books, Inc.  with an introduction by Leslie Shepard.

The author, William Thomas Stead, was one of the most famous journalists of the nineteenth century and was also an illustrious social reformer.   Stead himself demonstrated amazing psychic powers, having accurate premonitions of future events and also experimented with automatic writing.  He was among the many famous passengers who lost their lives on the Titanic when it sank in April of 1912.

Ghosts Vivisected, by A.M.W. Stirling (Citadel, NY, 1958)

Ghosts Vivisected – An Impartial Inquiry into Their Manners, Habits, Mentality, Motives and Physical Construction by A. M. W. Stirling is the result of the authors research into hauntings, rappings, ghostly orgies, prophetic dreams, and other inexplicable phenomena.  In addition, an amazing account is given of the continuous hauntings at Beavor Lodge (England), recorded by Sir William Richmond, and confirmed by many of his family and by eminent visitors, including John Ruskin.

Poltergeists, by Sacheverell Sitwell (University Books, NY, 1959)

Poltergeists – An Introduction and Examination followed by Chosen Instances is a delightful though disturbing book which gathers the best of the abundant written evidence of poltergeist activity and examines it dispassionately.

The most famous and best authenticated cases on record are closely scrutinized.  One of the most interesting of them is the haunting of Epworth Rectory, the home of John Wesley’s family.  Part of the account is in the words of Wesley himself.

For the scoop on the origins of Halloween from history.com – click here.

Celebrate Halloween with a selection from these books or other similar ones  here at Old Scrolls Book Shop!

 

 

 

Why Ray Bradbury called Fahrenheit 451 his “Dime Novel” – and other tidbits gleaned from “A Passion for Books”

Did you know that Ray Bradbury churned out Fahrenheit 451 in nine days in the basement of a library on a pay-as-you-peck typewriter?  He had to deposit a dime in a slot under the table every thirty minutes to keep typing.   Struggling to write in his home garage in the early days of his writing career,  his children were constantly distracting him—they wanted him to come out and play.  One day as he was walking past the UCLA campus library he heard the rat-a-tat-tat of typewriters coming from a basement window.   When he peered in, he discovered there was space in the bowels of the library where one could type undisturbed, as long as you brought enough spare change!   It ended up costing him $9.80 to compose his first novel.   I learned this in his charming foreword to this delightful book:

  

A Passion for Books, Times Books (Random House) 1991

Subtitled A Book Lover’s Treasury of Stories, Essays, Humor, Lore, and Lists on Collecting, Reading, Borrowing, Lending, Caring for and Appreciating Books – it is all of that, and more.   Edited by Harold Rabinowitz and Rob Kaplan, the book is one to keep by your bedside and appreciate chapter by chapter.

Here’s a list from A Passion for Books that may inspire struggling writers:

Ten Best-Selling Books Rejected by Publishers Twenty or More Times

1.  Dubliners by James Joyce

2. M*A*S*H by Richard Hooker

3.  Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison by Charles Shaw

4.  Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

5.  Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach

6.  The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

7.  Lorna Doone by Richard Doddridge Blackmore

8.  Aunti  Mame by Patrick Dennis

9.  The Peter Principle by Laurence Peter

10.  Dune by Frank Herbert

There are many lists in this book which are fascinating, such as “Books that Changed America” and “Ten Memorable Books that Never Existed,” and W. Somerset Maugham’s list of what he considered the ten greatest novels ever written.  But there is so much more.  Included are wonderful essays on book collecting by A. Edward Newton, and A. S. W. Rosenbach; essays by Umberto Eco, Nicholas Basbanes, and John Updike; advice on collecting books, caring for books, finding comfort in books; quotations and essays from book lovers throughout the ages.

And this, my favorite cartoon from the book, which will certainly apply to the house we live in after we are carried out in a box and the realtor comes to show it:

 

“Holy Cow! What kind of crazy people used to live here anyway?”

It’s definitely time to squirrel away books for the winter months, and one of my favorite subjects is books about books, which are just like potato chips…consuming one leads to another, and then another, as they always contain references to excellent books you must then ferret out and read.  A Passion for Books has an excellent selection of titles in this category at the rear of the book.

If you are interested in additional books about books, literature and publishing,  here are some currently available titles at Old Scrolls Book Shop.