Michael Popek's Blog, page 245
April 6, 2012
Friday Giveaway: 11 Antiquarian Books
This week's giveaway features eleven antiquarian books on a variety of subjects; there's a bit of leather, a bit of gilt, lots of illustrations and plenty of dusty pages. Sounds like a recipe for good giveaway.
To enter, leave a comment here on the site. You can also enter on Facebook or Twitter.
I'll take entries from all three and select a winner at random tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM EST.
Good luck!
-Click to enlarge photos-
April 5, 2012
Contents Unknown
Unopened envelope, it looks like there's a card in there. No writing, no stamps, no postmarks.Found in "The Official Alaska Cook Book - A Collector's Edition" by Sue Phelps. Published by Southeast Alaska Empire, 1969.
So, should I open it? Technically, it's not mail.
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April 4, 2012
Cher Papa Revisited
You may remember
an experiment I tried a while back
, pairing a forgotten bookmark with a short piece of fiction. I thought it would be fun to try again. I hope to post a few of these in the coming days. The first piece is by
Jessica Fortunato
. She chose to write about
this find
. I'll re-post the images, story to follow.
Hollie perched upon the worn window seat. It had rained for days, and reading was all there was to do. Reading and missing her Papa. He had sent her to England to live with her Grand-mère three years earlier after her Mother's sudden passing. To lose one parent is painful. To lose two filled Hollie with a feeling of longing that words cold not describe. Words, her Grand-mère had always told her, were the key to life itself. Hollie had not received a letter from her Papa in over a year. She begged, pleaded with her Grand-mère, just allow her to write him once, yet she was always denied. As she stared at the rain, she decided tonight would be the night. She would sneak into the study and find an address.
It seemed to take ages for Grand-mère to turn out her light, and even then, Hollie allowed plenty of time for her to fall asleep. To pass the hours Hollie finished reading the new book she had received as a gift the month before on her 12th birthday. Le Petit Prince was a funny sort of story. For such a Little Prince, he knew much more of the world than Hollie did. The author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry could weave words in such a way that her heart beat faster with each page, and as she finished the story, she found herself weeping in the night while feeling wrapped in love.
Finally, she felt it was safe enough to go to the study. There she retrieved stationary and tried to write. All the feelings she had, all the things she wanted to do, the knowledge she'd learned. Her hand froze over the paper, and once more, she began to weep. With blurred vision, she searched through her Grandmother's papers, until finally she found it. Her Father's name and an address Père Lachaise, Paris France was scrawled on a scrap of paper. She copied the address, it was incomplete but she knew it would get to her Father.
After thinking all night, Hollie had decided exactly what she was to send. She marched with the confidence of a girl much her senior to the post office down the street. There she paid to have the paper wrapped package sent to her Father Albert, at the address she'd found. The young man took her money, and tossed the package into the bin for delivery. Hollie skipped happily home.
The kindly old woman working at the Laposte in France picked up the small package and read the address. This would be undeliverable she thought shaking her head. For Père Lachaise was a Cemetery, everyone knew that. With no return address, the package sat on her desk for weeks, until her curiosity overwhelmed her and she opened the wrappings to reveal a book.
She opened the cover to reveal the inscription, and tears welled up in her eyes.
-Click to enlarge photos-
Hollie perched upon the worn window seat. It had rained for days, and reading was all there was to do. Reading and missing her Papa. He had sent her to England to live with her Grand-mère three years earlier after her Mother's sudden passing. To lose one parent is painful. To lose two filled Hollie with a feeling of longing that words cold not describe. Words, her Grand-mère had always told her, were the key to life itself. Hollie had not received a letter from her Papa in over a year. She begged, pleaded with her Grand-mère, just allow her to write him once, yet she was always denied. As she stared at the rain, she decided tonight would be the night. She would sneak into the study and find an address.It seemed to take ages for Grand-mère to turn out her light, and even then, Hollie allowed plenty of time for her to fall asleep. To pass the hours Hollie finished reading the new book she had received as a gift the month before on her 12th birthday. Le Petit Prince was a funny sort of story. For such a Little Prince, he knew much more of the world than Hollie did. The author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry could weave words in such a way that her heart beat faster with each page, and as she finished the story, she found herself weeping in the night while feeling wrapped in love.
Finally, she felt it was safe enough to go to the study. There she retrieved stationary and tried to write. All the feelings she had, all the things she wanted to do, the knowledge she'd learned. Her hand froze over the paper, and once more, she began to weep. With blurred vision, she searched through her Grandmother's papers, until finally she found it. Her Father's name and an address Père Lachaise, Paris France was scrawled on a scrap of paper. She copied the address, it was incomplete but she knew it would get to her Father.
After thinking all night, Hollie had decided exactly what she was to send. She marched with the confidence of a girl much her senior to the post office down the street. There she paid to have the paper wrapped package sent to her Father Albert, at the address she'd found. The young man took her money, and tossed the package into the bin for delivery. Hollie skipped happily home.
The kindly old woman working at the Laposte in France picked up the small package and read the address. This would be undeliverable she thought shaking her head. For Père Lachaise was a Cemetery, everyone knew that. With no return address, the package sat on her desk for weeks, until her curiosity overwhelmed her and she opened the wrappings to reveal a book.
She opened the cover to reveal the inscription, and tears welled up in her eyes.
-Click to enlarge photos-
April 3, 2012
Souvenir
100 mark note from Germany, dated 1920. "Souvenir" is written on both sides.
Found in "Spaßige Rimels - Plattdeutsche Humoristische Gedichte" by Heinrich Jürs. Published by G. Kramer Verlag, 1894.
-Click to enlarge photos-
April 2, 2012
No Goats, No Glory
Three goat sketches.
Found in the December 1955 issue of "Wee Wisdom."
-Click to enlarge photos-
March 31, 2012
Cyclopedia winner
This week's winner was Marion T. Librarian, who entered right here on Forgotten Bookmarks.I'll try and get in touch, but if you see this please send along an email:fb@forgottenbookmarks.com
March 30, 2012
Friday Giveaway: The American Cyclopedia - contest closed
This week's giveaway includes volumes 1 through 7 of "The New American Cyclopedia" edited by George Ripley and Charles A. Dana. Published by D. Appleton and Co., 1863. Sadly, there are sixteen volumes in the full set, so you'll be getting just the first half. The volumes are bound in three-quarter brown leather with gilt lettering on the spine. They have marbled endpapers are in fairly good condition for their age.
Contest closed, winner announced shortly.
Good luck!
-Click to enlarge photos-
Friday Giveaway: The American Cyclopedia
This week's giveaway includes volumes 1 through 7 of "The New American Cyclopedia" edited by George Ripley and Charles A. Dana. Published by D. Appleton and Co., 1863. Sadly, there are sixteen volumes in the full set, so you'll be getting just the first half. The volumes are bound in three-quarter brown leather with gilt lettering on the spine. They have marbled endpapers are in fairly good condition for their age.
To enter, leave a comment below. You can also enter on Twitter or Facebook.
I'll take entries from all three and select a winner at random tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM EST.
Good luck!
-Click to enlarge photos-
March 29, 2012
Keep On Writing
I found this letter matching envelope tucked in a copy of "If This Be Treason" by Margaret Echard. The letter is from Echard, answering a letter from a fan of her writing:Jan 7 '46
Dear Margaret Johansen,
Thank you for your Christmas greetings and the nice things you said about the books. It is always heart warming to an author to hear from a reader like you. My only other book beside the ones you mention is "Before I Wake." Have you had that one yet? I hope to have a new one out before too long.
I wish I could give you an infallible rule for success in writing. I know but one. If you feel the urge, write and keep on writing. There is no short cut.
Good luck to you and Happy New Year.
Margaret Echard
The book was published by Doubleday, 1944.
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March 28, 2012
Buy This
Collection of photos, no writing or dates except "Dec 1909" on the front of one.
Found in "A Concise History of Ireland" by P.W. Joyce. Published by M.H. Gill and Son, 1900.
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