Expansion of Interests

Recently, I decided to expand my collection activities to include a wider range of interests; although the focus of my collection will still center around Dryden, Pope and Swift, I will now be adding the following topics to the list of things that I collect:

The works of William Congreve

The works of John Milton

The works of Thomas Shadwell

The works of William Wotton

The works of Sir William Temple

As well as books on the following subjects:

Antique locomotives

Wooden sailing ships

Medieval arms and armor

Heraldry

This list might grow as time goes by, and is by no means complete. I am doing this for two main reasons:

1) I would like to build, for my personal edification, a library of antiquarian books; building a library devoted only to three authors is possible, but not particularly feasible. My "Big Three" collection will hold a place of honor within my future library, but I cannot foresee such a narrow field of specialty becoming a large-enough collection to comprise an entire library.

2) I want to expand the readership of this blog as well, and as it stands, its appeal is limited to those who, like me, have an interest in the three aforementioned authors.


Also, in the coming weeks, I also plan to post a few scholarly notes on the "Big Three," and perhaps a post or two devoted to the expansion of my master's thesis as well.


For now, I will leave you with a piece that I acquired back in January of this year: a 1909 edition of the Harvard Classics, on the works of John Milton:

An interesting find in this volume: a small letter dated July 14, 1933, found between pages 232 and 233:

Envelope

Page One

Page Two

I have never been an ephemera collector per se, but it seems that I have accidentally acquired my first piece of it.

Until the next post, I wish you all the best in your book collecting endeavors!