Shannon Timura, 39, of Strongsville, OH, has been "accused of stealing about $50,000 in antique prints last year from her employer and selling some of them on the Internet." Police say they found some 1,200 prints in Timura's home and have returned them to the owner, Scott Francis. Timura's online name (apparently on the site Etsy) was "wednesdaysluck" - that account lists 197 prints sold, among them fashion plates, octavo Audubons, botanicals, and maps. Timura was also selling the broken bindings of the books the prints are taken from, possibly adding another nasty element to all this: book-breaking.
Looks like Wednesday's luck ran out. She's been indicted on three counts of theft.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Stolen Books Alert
This came across the Ex-Libris list overnight:
"The following two titles were stolen from our stand at the Royal National Hotel on Sunday afternoon, we would be most grateful to hear if they should turn up on the market:
** 1) TAYLOR, Jeremy. 1649; An answer to a letter...original sin, *lacking the first leaf, blank but for signature, given by Sir Edmund Gosse to the Episcopal library of Connor and Down, * 1656, first editions, *calf, gilt, by de Coverly*
2) FLEMING, Ian. Thunderball. Cape, 1961 1st Ed. Fine copy in DW with small patch of foxing to fore-edge. (Identifiable by a mark to a particular page).
**Not sure what Jeremy Taylor would have to say about the theft, let alone being being taken alongside something as decadent as Bond!
Yours,
Tom Lintern-Mole - Antiquates Ltd
www.antiquates.co.uk"
If you have any information about these books, please get in touch with Tom Lintern-Mole; I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
"The following two titles were stolen from our stand at the Royal National Hotel on Sunday afternoon, we would be most grateful to hear if they should turn up on the market:
** 1) TAYLOR, Jeremy. 1649; An answer to a letter...original sin, *lacking the first leaf, blank but for signature, given by Sir Edmund Gosse to the Episcopal library of Connor and Down, * 1656, first editions, *calf, gilt, by de Coverly*
2) FLEMING, Ian. Thunderball. Cape, 1961 1st Ed. Fine copy in DW with small patch of foxing to fore-edge. (Identifiable by a mark to a particular page).
**Not sure what Jeremy Taylor would have to say about the theft, let alone being being taken alongside something as decadent as Bond!
Yours,
Tom Lintern-Mole - Antiquates Ltd
www.antiquates.co.uk"
If you have any information about these books, please get in touch with Tom Lintern-Mole; I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Souter on Reading
On 9 March, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences hosted a panel discussion at George Washington University on "The Public Good: The Humanities in a Civil Society." The video of the entire event is available here, and the whole thing is well worth watching, but I wanted to mention two of Souter's answers to questions from the audience (these begin at around 1:25:00 in the video). In the first, he suggests that those concerned with expanding the reach of humanities in America today might do well to reach out to underprivileged communities and immigrant groups:
"I went to high school with a kid, who had arrived in the United States as a d.p. [displaced person] after World War Two, and in his reminiscence a few years ago, he was telling me about some of the people, in a town in New Hampshire, who most influenced him. And curiously enough, the first example he gave me was the example of the parents of his and later one of my schoolmates, who gave him a couple of very good novels to read, in English. That's a start. There are two intersecting constituencies which can be zeroed in on by people who are concerned about humanities education and humanities influence. And the further virtue that I think there may be in zeroing in on those constituencies is, that where the humanities really makes a difference, at least as I have seen it in my life, is not in the great moment of epiphany, but in the habit of mind that it inculcates. And if you want to form habits of mind, you form them, or at least your best bet to form them, is when the minds are young."
In the second answer I want to pinpoint, Souter responds to a question asking him to define his phrase "habit of mind" more clearly, and to distinguish them from "habits of heart." Souter: "Well I used the phrase 'habits of mind', so I'll step up to the plate on that. Again, it is not a term that I came here with a definition to throw out, but I can't help but begin the answer to your question with a recollection of some remarks I heard years ago from Howard Mumford Jones. And he basically took the view that most Harvard students are illiterate and committed to remaining illiterate. And he was sort of gently berating his audience about the way they spent their time. As I recall he sort of tried to analyze a day down in which there might be, I don't know, eighteen minutes free. And Jones said 'What should you do in the eighteen minutes?' And there was a pause, and he said 'You could READ A BOOK!' One of the habits of mind is as basic and simple as that, to find a book such a familiar thing, that if there is a moment, one can open it.
A second habit of mind, follows from opening enough of those books. It teaches a lesson which was emphasized over and over again by one of America's greatest judges, Learned Hand. It was the lesson which he said if he could have his way, he would have engraved over the door of every schoolhouse, every statehouse, every courthouse in the United States. And they were the words of Oliver Cromwell, which he used in a disputation with some of the Scottish Presbyterians. His words, in Greek, were, 'Consider that ye may be wrong.' One of the habits of mind, which characterizes the liberal arts, is that consideration. ... The habit of mind that opens the book, is sooner or later the mind that will learn Cromwell's lesson. One is a physical habit, and the other is a habit of judgment which is likely to follow from it."
All good lessons, I think, and well put.
"I went to high school with a kid, who had arrived in the United States as a d.p. [displaced person] after World War Two, and in his reminiscence a few years ago, he was telling me about some of the people, in a town in New Hampshire, who most influenced him. And curiously enough, the first example he gave me was the example of the parents of his and later one of my schoolmates, who gave him a couple of very good novels to read, in English. That's a start. There are two intersecting constituencies which can be zeroed in on by people who are concerned about humanities education and humanities influence. And the further virtue that I think there may be in zeroing in on those constituencies is, that where the humanities really makes a difference, at least as I have seen it in my life, is not in the great moment of epiphany, but in the habit of mind that it inculcates. And if you want to form habits of mind, you form them, or at least your best bet to form them, is when the minds are young."
In the second answer I want to pinpoint, Souter responds to a question asking him to define his phrase "habit of mind" more clearly, and to distinguish them from "habits of heart." Souter: "Well I used the phrase 'habits of mind', so I'll step up to the plate on that. Again, it is not a term that I came here with a definition to throw out, but I can't help but begin the answer to your question with a recollection of some remarks I heard years ago from Howard Mumford Jones. And he basically took the view that most Harvard students are illiterate and committed to remaining illiterate. And he was sort of gently berating his audience about the way they spent their time. As I recall he sort of tried to analyze a day down in which there might be, I don't know, eighteen minutes free. And Jones said 'What should you do in the eighteen minutes?' And there was a pause, and he said 'You could READ A BOOK!' One of the habits of mind is as basic and simple as that, to find a book such a familiar thing, that if there is a moment, one can open it.
A second habit of mind, follows from opening enough of those books. It teaches a lesson which was emphasized over and over again by one of America's greatest judges, Learned Hand. It was the lesson which he said if he could have his way, he would have engraved over the door of every schoolhouse, every statehouse, every courthouse in the United States. And they were the words of Oliver Cromwell, which he used in a disputation with some of the Scottish Presbyterians. His words, in Greek, were, 'Consider that ye may be wrong.' One of the habits of mind, which characterizes the liberal arts, is that consideration. ... The habit of mind that opens the book, is sooner or later the mind that will learn Cromwell's lesson. One is a physical habit, and the other is a habit of judgment which is likely to follow from it."
All good lessons, I think, and well put.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Links & Reviews
- New blogs, via Laura and Ian: The Private Library and Bibliopole. Both are excellent. I've added links on the sidebar.
- Registration is now open for the Houghton Library's Johnson at 300 symposium, to be held 27-29 August. I must remember to register, this is not a conference to miss!
- Abby was off to the London Book Fair recently to speak at a panel on books and marketing in an online world.
- From BibliOdyssey, natural history images.
- In the Globe today, news that UMass Dartmouth's Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture has digitized 84,000 pages of the Diário de Notícias (1919-1973), called "the most important Portuguese newspaper ever published in the United States." The archive is freely available here.
- Famed book collector Daniel Volkmann died on 27 April. Obituary.
- Ian's got a very good post on the wide range of ways bibliophiles are connecting these days.
- Chinese and other media outlets have been profiling Du Weisheng, a conservator at the National Library in Beijing.
- Another posthumous Tolkien book was released this week. Christopher Tolkien comments on the work in The Guardian.
- Rick Ring found a neat little law book in the PPL's collections this week. And Rick's got a post unveiling a new print serial publication, Occasional Nuggets. I've subscribed - you should too!
- Two books, one from Shelley's library and one from Byron's, were recently found in a French trash can. They've now been acquired by London dealer Peter Harrington.
- David Weinberger comments on a forthcoming search engine, WolframAlpha. [h/t Tim]
- Rory Litwin notes that some podcasts from the recent MIT Media in Transition conference are now posted.
- In the Boston Globe, Irene Sage covers what certainly seems to be a fascinating new book by a local author (Reif Larson's The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet). I've ordered a copy.
- The silly biblio-news of the week award goes to the "health and safety" officials at the Bodleian Library, who have banned the use of stepladders (making certain books inaccessible to students). [h/t Ian]
Reviews
- In the Washington Post, Louis Bayard reviews Jonathan Bate's new biography of Shakespeare, Soul of the Age
- In April's William & Mary Quarterly, Edward Countryman reviews Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello [PDF].
- Ron Charles reviews The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet for the WaPo.
- In the NYTimes, Iliya Troyanov's The Collector of Worlds (a novel about Sir Richard Francis Burton) is reviewed by Ben Macintyre.
- Registration is now open for the Houghton Library's Johnson at 300 symposium, to be held 27-29 August. I must remember to register, this is not a conference to miss!
- Abby was off to the London Book Fair recently to speak at a panel on books and marketing in an online world.
- From BibliOdyssey, natural history images.
- In the Globe today, news that UMass Dartmouth's Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture has digitized 84,000 pages of the Diário de Notícias (1919-1973), called "the most important Portuguese newspaper ever published in the United States." The archive is freely available here.
- Famed book collector Daniel Volkmann died on 27 April. Obituary.
- Ian's got a very good post on the wide range of ways bibliophiles are connecting these days.
- Chinese and other media outlets have been profiling Du Weisheng, a conservator at the National Library in Beijing.
- Another posthumous Tolkien book was released this week. Christopher Tolkien comments on the work in The Guardian.
- Rick Ring found a neat little law book in the PPL's collections this week. And Rick's got a post unveiling a new print serial publication, Occasional Nuggets. I've subscribed - you should too!
- Two books, one from Shelley's library and one from Byron's, were recently found in a French trash can. They've now been acquired by London dealer Peter Harrington.
- David Weinberger comments on a forthcoming search engine, WolframAlpha. [h/t Tim]
- Rory Litwin notes that some podcasts from the recent MIT Media in Transition conference are now posted.
- In the Boston Globe, Irene Sage covers what certainly seems to be a fascinating new book by a local author (Reif Larson's The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet). I've ordered a copy.
- The silly biblio-news of the week award goes to the "health and safety" officials at the Bodleian Library, who have banned the use of stepladders (making certain books inaccessible to students). [h/t Ian]
Reviews
- In the Washington Post, Louis Bayard reviews Jonathan Bate's new biography of Shakespeare, Soul of the Age
- In April's William & Mary Quarterly, Edward Countryman reviews Annette Gordon-Reed's The Hemingses of Monticello [PDF].
- Ron Charles reviews The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet for the WaPo.
- In the NYTimes, Iliya Troyanov's The Collector of Worlds (a novel about Sir Richard Francis Burton) is reviewed by Ben Macintyre.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Book Review: "Journey to Mauritius"
Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre is best known for his romantic novel Paul et Virginie (1787), but his 1773 epistolary account of the 28 months he spent on Mauritius (which led him to set his later novel there) has been re-translated by Jason Wilson and issued as Journey to Mauritius (Interlink Books, 2003).
Wilson's forty-four page introduction to Saint-Pierre's life and works is somewhat unevenly written, but provides important context. The work itself consists of a series of letters and short essays covering Saint-Pierre's travels to and from Mauritius and his time on the island itself. Topics of particular focus include geography, natural history and observations on geology, agriculture, botany and zoology; remarks on commerce and colonialism, and a stinging indictment of plantation culture and chattel slavery (which might have been even more powerful had the author expressed even an ounce of reticence at using two slaves to carry the two hundred pounds of gear he required for his various jaunts around Mauritius).
The account itself is fascinating, and Bernardin's consciousness of his own educational shortcomings is refreshing: several times he drops discussions after admitting that he knows nothing more about the topic. Wilson has at times added annotations to expand on Saint-Pierre's comments - more of these would have been quite useful in identifying other plant and animal species mentioned in the text.
In this re-translation of the text, Wilson has incorporated additions Saint-Pierre planned to incorporate in a second edition of his narrative, to have been published in the late 1790s (but which never saw print). These additions should, in my view, have been handled differently, by setting them off from the original text somehow. Also, Wilson's various excisions from the text, including much technical detail, don't necessarily improve the narrative (I found a sampling of letters from the original 1775 English translation by John Parish both more readable and complete).
Wilson's forty-four page introduction to Saint-Pierre's life and works is somewhat unevenly written, but provides important context. The work itself consists of a series of letters and short essays covering Saint-Pierre's travels to and from Mauritius and his time on the island itself. Topics of particular focus include geography, natural history and observations on geology, agriculture, botany and zoology; remarks on commerce and colonialism, and a stinging indictment of plantation culture and chattel slavery (which might have been even more powerful had the author expressed even an ounce of reticence at using two slaves to carry the two hundred pounds of gear he required for his various jaunts around Mauritius).
The account itself is fascinating, and Bernardin's consciousness of his own educational shortcomings is refreshing: several times he drops discussions after admitting that he knows nothing more about the topic. Wilson has at times added annotations to expand on Saint-Pierre's comments - more of these would have been quite useful in identifying other plant and animal species mentioned in the text.
In this re-translation of the text, Wilson has incorporated additions Saint-Pierre planned to incorporate in a second edition of his narrative, to have been published in the late 1790s (but which never saw print). These additions should, in my view, have been handled differently, by setting them off from the original text somehow. Also, Wilson's various excisions from the text, including much technical detail, don't necessarily improve the narrative (I found a sampling of letters from the original 1775 English translation by John Parish both more readable and complete).
Recent Print Articles
A few articles I've read in print recently:
- Elspeth Jajdelska, "Pepys in the History of Reading." The Historical Journal 50:3 (September 2007), pp. 549-569. Provides a nice, synthesizing overview of book history research and the debate over historical reading practices. Jajdelska examines Pepys' reading practice through four lenses: intensive v. extensive reading, oral v. silent reading, public v. private reading, and utilitarian v. recreational reading. A fine piece, very nicely written.
- Elspeth Jajdelska, "Pepys in the History of Reading." The Historical Journal 50:3 (September 2007), pp. 549-569. Provides a nice, synthesizing overview of book history research and the debate over historical reading practices. Jajdelska examines Pepys' reading practice through four lenses: intensive v. extensive reading, oral v. silent reading, public v. private reading, and utilitarian v. recreational reading. A fine piece, very nicely written.
- Bryan Waterman, "Elizabeth Whitman’ s Disappearance and Her 'Disappointment.'" William & Mary Quarterly Third Series 66:2 (April 2009), pp. 325-364.
Friday, May 08, 2009
New Word from Dr. J.
Today's word in the Dr. Johnson's Dictionary blog is jobbernowl:
"JOBBERNO’WL. n.s. [most probably from jobbe, Flemish, dull,
and nowl, [p]nowl, Saxon, a head.] Loggerhead; blockhead.
And like the world, men’s jobbernowls
Turn round upon their ears, the poles. Hudibras, p. iii."
I am determined to use this in conversation today.
"JOBBERNO’WL. n.s. [most probably from jobbe, Flemish, dull,
and nowl, [p]nowl, Saxon, a head.] Loggerhead; blockhead.
And like the world, men’s jobbernowls
Turn round upon their ears, the poles. Hudibras, p. iii."
I am determined to use this in conversation today.
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Book Review: "The Glass of Time"
Michael Cox's The Glass of Time (Norton, 2008) is the sequel to The Meaning of Night (2006), which I greatly enjoyed. Twenty years on from the events recounted there, Glass continues the story of the disputed Duport Succession, weaving family lines together with generous helpings of deception, blackmail, and the plucking of heartstrings.
Cox deploys the same framing device as in Meaning of Night, presenting the book as an edited production of J.J. Antrobus, Professor of Post-Authentic Victorian Fiction at the University of Cambridge. He was more sparing with the explanatory footnotes this time around, though (much to my dismay, since I think they're great).
I felt like the characters were more developed in this book, and while there were the usual Victorian-fiction "aha" moments and implausibly neat resolutions, those are to be expected. This book had a definite Wilkie Collins vibe about it, in a good way.
Since the world lost Mr. Cox earlier this year, we readers will, most unfortunately, be deprived of the further adventures of Professor Antrobus in the Duport family's tangled web. But we can be glad of what we have, and enjoy these two fine productions.
Cox deploys the same framing device as in Meaning of Night, presenting the book as an edited production of J.J. Antrobus, Professor of Post-Authentic Victorian Fiction at the University of Cambridge. He was more sparing with the explanatory footnotes this time around, though (much to my dismay, since I think they're great).
I felt like the characters were more developed in this book, and while there were the usual Victorian-fiction "aha" moments and implausibly neat resolutions, those are to be expected. This book had a definite Wilkie Collins vibe about it, in a good way.
Since the world lost Mr. Cox earlier this year, we readers will, most unfortunately, be deprived of the further adventures of Professor Antrobus in the Duport family's tangled web. But we can be glad of what we have, and enjoy these two fine productions.
Ancient Papyrus Text Seized in Israel
The BBC is reporting that Israeli authorities have seized what appears to be a very early papyrus document "from two Palestinian men in a sting operation at a Jerusalem hotel, police said. The two could face several years in jail." Israel claims all archaeological discoveries as state property.
Written in ancient Hebrew similar to the script seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this small document (6 by 6 inches) is described as "a legal instruction, transferring a widow's property to her late husband's brother. ... Unusually, the first line of the document indicates a precise date, the [Israeli Antiquities Authority] said - 'Year 4 [AD] to the destruction of Israel', which could indicate either AD74, when Jerusalem's Second Temple was destroyed, or AD139, the date of a Jewish revolt violently put down by Rome."
The document is currently undergoing lab tests for authentication purposes.
Written in ancient Hebrew similar to the script seen in the Dead Sea Scrolls, this small document (6 by 6 inches) is described as "a legal instruction, transferring a widow's property to her late husband's brother. ... Unusually, the first line of the document indicates a precise date, the [Israeli Antiquities Authority] said - 'Year 4 [AD] to the destruction of Israel', which could indicate either AD74, when Jerusalem's Second Temple was destroyed, or AD139, the date of a Jewish revolt violently put down by Rome."
The document is currently undergoing lab tests for authentication purposes.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Ticknor Society Event: Poe & Publishing
The Ticknor Society* will host a talk by independent Poe scholar Rob Velella (of Poe Calendar fame) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 12 May at the Boston Public Library. Velella's talk will focus on Poe's relationship with the American publishing industry.
Questions, answers, and refreshments will follow the talk. Hope to see you there!
* The Ticknor Society is a great Boston-based bibliophilic organization, which you should certainly join if you're not already a member (hint: if you join soon, you can come to the annual meeting on 2 June and hear a talk by Robert Darnton).
Questions, answers, and refreshments will follow the talk. Hope to see you there!
* The Ticknor Society is a great Boston-based bibliophilic organization, which you should certainly join if you're not already a member (hint: if you join soon, you can come to the annual meeting on 2 June and hear a talk by Robert Darnton).
Monday, May 04, 2009
Library Groups Weigh in on Google Settlement
As expected, the ALA, ACRL and ARL filed an amicus brief in the Google Books Settlement on Monday. The organizations did not come out in opposition, but asked the court to monitor the settlement in the long term and warned that aspects of the deal "could compromise fundamental library values such as equity of access to information, patron privacy, and intellectual freedom" if not closely watched.
You can read the full brief here [PDF].
You can read the full brief here [PDF].
Check out The Beehive!
I'm pleased to announce the launch of the official MHS blog, The Beehive. We went live late Friday afternoon with the first few posts. This'll be a collaborative effort between me and some colleagues, and will feature MHS news, historical notes, discussion posts, announcements and all that good stuff. I'm excited about the project, and always appreciate any suggestions, comments, &c. So stop on by, add the RSS feed to your reader, and enjoy!
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Links & Reviews
- Laura's posted some great pictures of her recent trip to Egypt. Even more here.
- An interesting story in the Picayune Item about the annual display of the only known final copy of the Confederate Constitution, held at the University of Georgia in Athens on 27 April.
- J.L. Bell notes an upcoming conference at the University of Maine, Orono: "Loyalism and the Revolutionary Atlantic World." The conference will be held on 4-7 June; registration deadline is 15 May.
- Rory Litwin attended a recent MIT conference on Media in Transition and posted some thoughts.
- Here's a rundown of some of the projected funding cuts for ARL libraries this year. Not good.
- Seventeenth-Century News, a scholarly review journal, is now online.
- There's a new site "devoted to the history, identification and collecting of the various 3½ × 5 inch volumes published by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (and his son) via Appeal to Reason, Appeal Publishing Company, Haldeman-Julius Company, Haldeman-Julius Publications, and The Little Blue Book Company." Lots of information there!
- A new book suggests that the five "Jack the Ripper" murders may have been committed by several different people, linked together by journalists "into one sensational killing spree to sell newspapers." "In Jack the Ripper: Case Closed Dr [Andrew] Cook draws on the testimony of various medical experts and policemen involved with the case who suspected that 'Jack the Ripper' did not kill all the victims, let alone the six other women murdered in Whitechapel who are sometimes credited to him." In the Times Archive Blog, Rose Wild plots the murders on a Google map, with links to the original Times reports of them.
Reviews
- Paul Collins notes the first review of his forthcoming The Book of William is out, in Kirkus Reviews. Excerpts are up on the book's Amazon page.
- An interesting story in the Picayune Item about the annual display of the only known final copy of the Confederate Constitution, held at the University of Georgia in Athens on 27 April.
- J.L. Bell notes an upcoming conference at the University of Maine, Orono: "Loyalism and the Revolutionary Atlantic World." The conference will be held on 4-7 June; registration deadline is 15 May.
- Rory Litwin attended a recent MIT conference on Media in Transition and posted some thoughts.
- Here's a rundown of some of the projected funding cuts for ARL libraries this year. Not good.
- Seventeenth-Century News, a scholarly review journal, is now online.
- There's a new site "devoted to the history, identification and collecting of the various 3½ × 5 inch volumes published by Emanuel Haldeman-Julius (and his son) via Appeal to Reason, Appeal Publishing Company, Haldeman-Julius Company, Haldeman-Julius Publications, and The Little Blue Book Company." Lots of information there!
- A new book suggests that the five "Jack the Ripper" murders may have been committed by several different people, linked together by journalists "into one sensational killing spree to sell newspapers." "In Jack the Ripper: Case Closed Dr [Andrew] Cook draws on the testimony of various medical experts and policemen involved with the case who suspected that 'Jack the Ripper' did not kill all the victims, let alone the six other women murdered in Whitechapel who are sometimes credited to him." In the Times Archive Blog, Rose Wild plots the murders on a Google map, with links to the original Times reports of them.
Reviews
- Paul Collins notes the first review of his forthcoming The Book of William is out, in Kirkus Reviews. Excerpts are up on the book's Amazon page.
Book Review: "Eiffel's Tower"
Jill Jonnes' new book is Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count (Viking, 2009). It tackles each of those elements in alternating and intersecting narratives, not breaking significant new scholarly ground but telling a fascinating story about the 1889 Paris World's Fair and its characters. One of those characters was Eiffel's Tower, the iconic behemoth now instantly recognizable to us as the very symbol of Paris. Its design, construction, use and fate are the framework of Jonnes' book, but I liked the way she was able to weave in the human characters of the fair (from Annie Oakley to the Shah of Persia to James Gordon Bennett, Jr.), documenting their interactions with the Tower and with each other.
Perhaps the most enlightening sections of the book for me where those in which Jonnes highlighted the great challenges which accompanied the construction of the Tower, from the debate over its design (many thought it hideous) to the technological difficulties involved (including how to create functioning elevators) and to the businesses it would house (numerous restaurants, plus a satellite office of Le Figaro which published a special edition De la Tour during the Fair).
Quite a pleasant read, well enhanced with many photographs (interspersed throughout the book rather than plunked in a center section) and with reasonable source notes, even if these are not indicated in the text as they should be.
Perhaps the most enlightening sections of the book for me where those in which Jonnes highlighted the great challenges which accompanied the construction of the Tower, from the debate over its design (many thought it hideous) to the technological difficulties involved (including how to create functioning elevators) and to the businesses it would house (numerous restaurants, plus a satellite office of Le Figaro which published a special edition De la Tour during the Fair).
Quite a pleasant read, well enhanced with many photographs (interspersed throughout the book rather than plunked in a center section) and with reasonable source notes, even if these are not indicated in the text as they should be.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Book Review: "McSweeney's, Vol. 21"
McSweeney's 21 is a collection of short stories by the likes of Chloe Hooper, Joyce Carol Oates, Roddy Doyle, Miranda July and others. The stories are separated by quite amusing Ted L. Nancy-like "Letters to Ray," actual fan mail received by Ray Charles.
The design of this volume is fairly conventional, although according to the editor's note there are actually eight variant cover designs, and "the front cover includes a little flap that can be opened out across the exposed page-edges, allowing for an unending panorama, a revelatory 360-degree immersion into a packed and pointy world." Prior to each story, an artist (Robert Goodin, Leif Parsons, Nate Beaty, Matt Rota) offers a nine-panel graphic representation of the piece.
As I felt after reading McSweeney's 14, I enjoyed some of these more than others, but all were well written. Most managed to have a slightly creepy aspect to them, from a computer salesman's spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to impersonate a doctor, to Oates' take on Mark Twain's famous Angelfish Club and Roddy Doyle's psychotic nanny. The Ray Letters were a welcome break in between the fictional pieces, I found.
The design of this volume is fairly conventional, although according to the editor's note there are actually eight variant cover designs, and "the front cover includes a little flap that can be opened out across the exposed page-edges, allowing for an unending panorama, a revelatory 360-degree immersion into a packed and pointy world." Prior to each story, an artist (Robert Goodin, Leif Parsons, Nate Beaty, Matt Rota) offers a nine-panel graphic representation of the piece.
As I felt after reading McSweeney's 14, I enjoyed some of these more than others, but all were well written. Most managed to have a slightly creepy aspect to them, from a computer salesman's spectacularly unsuccessful attempt to impersonate a doctor, to Oates' take on Mark Twain's famous Angelfish Club and Roddy Doyle's psychotic nanny. The Ray Letters were a welcome break in between the fictional pieces, I found.
Book Review: "The Sun and the Moon"
I love a good hoax, and Matthew Goodman's The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York (Basic Books, 2008) tells the story of a few of them. Central to Goodman's work is the famous Great Moon Hoax, perpetrated by the editors of the New York Sun in the late summer of 1835, but some of Barnum's best humbugs are detailed here, along with a couple by our good buddy Mr. Poe.
Goodman summarizes the hoaxes, profiles the hoaxers, and limns the receptions of and reactions to the hoaxes as they played out over the short and long terms. The book also examines the always-interesting world of 19th-century urban newspaper journalism, with its nasty editorial rivalries, occasionally questionable editorial and business practices, and fascinating characters.
Recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of journalism, or who enjoys a good old-fashioned prank.
Goodman summarizes the hoaxes, profiles the hoaxers, and limns the receptions of and reactions to the hoaxes as they played out over the short and long terms. The book also examines the always-interesting world of 19th-century urban newspaper journalism, with its nasty editorial rivalries, occasionally questionable editorial and business practices, and fascinating characters.
Recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of journalism, or who enjoys a good old-fashioned prank.
Auction Report: Recent Highlights & Upcoming
- At a Keys auction in London this week, a first edition of Darwin's Origin of Species sold for £35,000, to book dealer Hamish Riley-Smith. A signed 1868 photo of Darwin fetched a whopping £22,000, well over its estimate.
- Bloomsbury London held a huge Literature, Manuscripts and Modern Firsts sale on 23 April (1472 lots).
- On 7 May, Sotheby's London will sell Natural History, Travels, Atlases and Maps (253 lots).
- On 14 May, Bloomsbury London will sell Books and Manuscripts from the library of the late Harry and Virginia Walton (822 lots). A first edition of Catesby and an impressive collection of maps of the Arabian world are among the highlights.
- Bloomsbury London held a huge Literature, Manuscripts and Modern Firsts sale on 23 April (1472 lots).
- On 7 May, Sotheby's London will sell Natural History, Travels, Atlases and Maps (253 lots).
- On 14 May, Bloomsbury London will sell Books and Manuscripts from the library of the late Harry and Virginia Walton (822 lots). A first edition of Catesby and an impressive collection of maps of the Arabian world are among the highlights.
This Week's Acquisitions
Most of these were yesterday's Buy Indie Day purchases:
- H. M. S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian (W. W. Norton, 1990). Booksmith.
- The Paradise of All These Parts: A Natural History of Boston by John Hanson Mitchell (Beacon Press, 2008). Booksmith.
- The Aeneid by Virgil (trans. Robert Fagles) (Viking, 2006). Booksmith.
- The Glass of Time: The Secret Life of Miss Esperanza Gorst by Michael Cox (W. W. Norton, 2008). Border's.
- H. M. S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian (W. W. Norton, 1990). Booksmith.
- The Paradise of All These Parts: A Natural History of Boston by John Hanson Mitchell (Beacon Press, 2008). Booksmith.
- The Aeneid by Virgil (trans. Robert Fagles) (Viking, 2006). Booksmith.
- The Glass of Time: The Secret Life of Miss Esperanza Gorst by Michael Cox (W. W. Norton, 2008). Border's.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Go Buy a Book!
I'm reminded that it's Buy Indie Day. The rules are simple: "buy one book—paperback, hardcover, audiobook, whatever you want!—at an independent bookstore near you."
I think I'll head to Brookline Booksmith after work and play along. If you don't know where your nearest indie shop is, find it here.
I think I'll head to Brookline Booksmith after work and play along. If you don't know where your nearest indie shop is, find it here.
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