More Ephemera?

Ok, I was going to wait for the aforementioned volume to arrive in the mail before posting this, but I am afraid that in the interest of keeping this blog active, I cannot afford to wait on the mail any longer. The volume has been in the mail for 10 days, according to the tracking page, and has not, as yet, arrived! Now I know where the term "snail mail" comes from. 


I do, however, admit to having had better service in the past, and to being mystified as to why this particular parcel has spent so long in the mail system. Maybe (hopefully!) it's just a fluke. I eagerly await tomorrow's mail, in hopes that the slow-moving volume shall appear; according to the tracking page, it left the nearby sorting facility on the 14th, and according to one of the sorting facility's personnel (whom I called the other day) it has two days to make it from the sorting facility to my local branch, and my local branch has another two days past that to deliver it. That means that it should have been delivered on the 18th (yesterday.) I shall give them a 1 day margin (tomorrow's mail) before resorting to more direct inquiry methods (i.e., a trip down to the sorting facility.)


At any rate, I was going to include this item in the post containing the mailed volume, but it now seems that it shall appear in a post of its own, so let's get to it, shall we?


I am not sure whether or not this item counts as ephemera, or as part of the book that it came with (in the same manner as a dust jacket... would a dust jacket count as ephemera?) It is a newsletter that came with my 1950 edition of Plutarch's Lives. The book's introduction is by Carl Van Doren, whose brother, Mark, wrote what is still recognized as the definitive scholarly treatment of Dryden's poetry. Here is a picture of the newsletter, unfolded. (It is printed double-sided on a single sheet, folded in the middle, designed to be read as a four page pamphlet.)

Whether or not it counts as true ephemera, I nevertheless enjoy owning it and looking at it. They don't do this sort of thing anymore, at least as far as I know. If there are any book clubs nowadays that do anything similar, I suspect that the newsletter would (more than likely) be delivered via email. If any of my gentle readers can contradict me in this regard, please feel free to drop me an email, I would love to know about it.

Well, that concludes this little post; the next post will (hopefully) happen soon, and you won't want to miss it. Until that time, I bid you adieu, and wish you all the best in your book collecting endeavors.

More Harvard Classics

Here is something I picked up in an antique store yesterday. It's a limited edition Harvard Classics No. 12 from 1909: Plutarch's Lives. It's the Dryden Translation, corrected and revised by Arthur H. Clough. Here are some pictures of it:

I know that I promised you guys the really old piece, and it's on its way, according the USPS tracking info, but it seems that it is taking its sweet time getting here. But when it arrives, rest assured, it will make a delightful post (actually, two posts. I will explain this at a later time.)

I was also going through my collection, and I remembered that I actually own a second piece of ephemera; one of my "new" books (the 1950 Carl Van Doren edition of Dryden's translation of Plutarch) has an interesting little leaflet in it. I will include the leaflet in the upcoming post with the old piece. I think I might try to expand the scope of this blog to include more (occasional) ephemera, as I am starting to get the "bug" for collecting it.

Until next time, I wish you all (my theoretically immense mob consisting of thousands of readers---a guy can dream, can't he?) the best of luck in your book collecting endeavors!

New Banner

Although I haven't posted in several days, I have been thinking about this blog and how to make it better. One of the things that I have done recently (with more than a little help from the missus) was to create a banner for the blog. It took a lot of experimenting and tweaking, but I am really pleased with the end result.

There is more new content on the way, I assure you. I recently purchased another old piece from an online bookseller, and I am waiting for it to arrive in the mail. When it does (perhaps even today? I hope so!) I shall make it the subject of the next post. So stay tuned!

Until then, I wish you the best of luck in your book collecting endeavors!

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!

How To Buy Rare Books

It's been 9 days since my last post, and I apologize for that; I've been extremely busy, juggling a myriad of tasks in the interim. However, this latest post is now ready for publishing, and I suspect that you might enjoy it.


In my quest to become a more rounded collector, I recently purchased a copy of William Rees-Mogg's "How To Buy Rare Books: A Practical Guide To The Antiquarian Book Market." (Second Impression: 1988.)

I am always looking for materials than can expand my knowledge; although I know a good little bit about book collecting, I know far less than the average professional antiquarian bookseller, which places me firmly within the amateur category when it comes to my chosen pastime. As time goes by, I hope to change that.

Although the book is somewhat out-of-date (it's pre-internet, after all) it is still proving to be quite enjoyable. I will post more about the content of this book after I have finished reading it. In the meantime, here is a picture of it:

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

However, the focus of this blog remains upon books which are antiquarian in nature, therefore, I would be remiss if I were to end this post without sharing the following items...

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

These are five more items from my collection, the Dryden volume being a recent (within the last week) acquisition. Here is the cover art for the Dryden:

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

And here is its title page. As you can see, it was published in 1880:

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

The next piece on display is "The Writings of Jonathan Swift," published in 1889:

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

The following volume is a small, compiled version of Swift's works; it is actually two separate volumes, combined into one book, probably for use as a "handy reference" edition:

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

As you can see from the pictures, Volume 1 has no publication date, while Volume 2 has a publication date of 1822. Thus, the first volume is likely to have been published either at the same time, or perhaps one or two years prior. Since I prefer to err on the side of caution, I am assuming a publication date of 1822 for the first volume as well.


The next piece is my Crowell edition of Pope's Poems, which has no publication date, as you can tell from its title page. However, since T.Y. Crowell died in 1909, the publication date must be prior to that year; volumes published by his company after his death bear the name of his son, T.I. Crowell, who succeeded him as president of the company.

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

Last, but certainly not least, is another one of the "jewels" of my collection: a 1787 edition of Pope's poems, with two wonderful inscriptions from 1800 and 1809, respectively:

Photo: © Magdalena Altnau

What I really love about this book is its small size; it looks like it would fit in the average coat pocket, thus making it extremely portable. And of course, you have to love the inscriptions, which indicate that the book was passed down at least twice within the same family; first, to Sarah Gibbes by her mother, then to Adelaide(?) Gibbes Elliott by her grandmother (Sarah.) I have always wondered about the lives of people in inscriptions like this; from the tone of the inscription, this book was a special gift, probably to someone who was either a fan of Pope's poetry, or of English poetry in general. I can picture Adelaide, sitting on her front porch on a pleasantly sunny day, reading from this little book, perhaps while her children play in the yard, or while her husband sits opposite her, with a book of his own, pausing occasionally to comment on some matter. Some collectors do not value inscriptions, but I think that inscriptions make a book not only unique, but alive. When you find an inscription like this, you know that this book was someone's treasured keepsake, and it gives you a sense of connectedness, in that you are carrying on their legacy by ensuring the book's continued preservation.


Well, that's all for now. I shall endeavor to write my next post sooner than 9 days, but alas, I cannot promise it, because of how busy I've been lately.


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

A Tribute To A Favorite Professor

This is a poem that I wrote about one of my favorite professors from my undergrad days; it is written in heroic couplets, the favored writing form of John Dryden. The first line of this poem is an intentional pun on the first line of Dryden's poem, Absalom & Achitophel, for reasons that will become clear in the last line. I hope that you will find it enjoyable.


 In studious times, did my Priest-craft begin,

The good doctor’s classes, I found myself in;

In the hallowed halls of a school called Lamar,

In the city of Beaumont, in the state with one star,

Here was I first aware, of what soon-would-be,

A collector’s passion, for the works of the three;

Dryden, Pope, and Swift, the foundation,

For the doctor’s lectures and the student’s elation;

For in these three, the student did find,

Poets with spirits of a similar kind;

Their fiery wit, their passion, their rage,

Their talent, the standard by which others gauge;

All these things did the student inspire,

And awakened in him, a tremendous desire;

The desire, put simply, to understand more,

To think as the three, and throw open the door;

To discover whereof his true talents lie,

Boldly to challenge, and to capture the sky;

 To take those dreams that he once thought remote,

And thrust them again down reality’s throat;

Thank you, good doctor, for showing to me,

The inspiring works of England’s Big Three;

Their influence I feel, with each passing day,

When my craft lies in darkness, their words light the way;

Their greatness inspires the soul of my art,

And helps me remember to write from the heart.

 This poem here ends, at last, but not least,

With my sincere thanks to Professor Dale Priest.

Pieces From The Early 1900's

It seems that my memory was slightly faulty; I believed myself to have four pieces from the early 1900's, when in fact, I have only two. Two of the four turned out to be from the 1880's. Of the two that were dated in the 1900's, only one was before 1910, the other was dated 1914.

At any rate, here are the two pieces:

THE POETICAL WORKS OF JOHN DRYDEN, CAMBRIDGE EDITION, 1909:

Along with pictures of its frontispiece, showing the slip-cover in either position:

ENGLISH DRAMA OF THE RESTORATION AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (1642-1780), 1914:

Since the second piece covers The Restoration in general, materials on Dryden are but one aspect of the book; in addition, as a sort of bonus, there are materials on Shadwell and Congreve as well. (Shadwell was a rival of Dryden's, and Congreve's writing was heavily influenced by Dryden; in addition, Congreve was a good friend of Dryden's cousin, Jonathan Swift.) Thus, this book is especially useful to me.

Both books are in excellent and usable condition, having obviously been well-cared-for by their previous owners.

It is always interesting to read old textbooks, which is what both of these pieces are. Literary criticism goes through life cycles and is greatly affected by the prevailing schools of thought of the particular era in which it is written, thus it is often helpful, in the quest to gain insight into modern critical modalities, to examine the critical modalities of ages past.

Until the next post, I wish you well.