Some Varied "Newe Arryvals" From Between The Covers Rare Books
"Newe Arryvals" from Between The Covers.
By Michael Stillman
From Between The Covers Rare Books we have received a catalogue of Newe Arryvals. Their proofreader is going to be in deep stuff for that one! There is a mix of types here. There's some literature, some mysteries, some history, a few children's books, some sports books, and an occasional ephemeral item. As usual, Between The Covers provides a photograph of each item, maybe more, along with a description. These are always fun and entertaining catalogues, along with offering some very good books for your collection. Here are a few.
Item 50 is Gerard Manley Hopkins: A Life, by Eleanor Ruggles. Hopkins was a 19th century transitional poet who didn't publish very much as he decided to enter the priesthood. However, it is not Hopkins that makes this book interesting. This copy was a gift to an English teacher, and it is signed by each of the members of her class for Christmas of 1944. One of those students was the future author of Class of '44 and Summer of '42, Herman Raucher. Priced at $275.
Item 11 is another school related book. It is Lindbergh the Flier of Little Falls. Charles Lindbergh was a graduate of Little Falls High School in Minnesota, and the year after his historic transatlantic voyage of 1927, the classes of 1928 and 1929 published this tribute to their illustrious alumnus. This tribute comes in stapled blue wrappers and includes some local and news photographs. $150.
Just forty years after Lindbergh stunned the world by flying across the Atlantic, astronauts were circling the earth from space. But that was a very dangerous business. Item 6 is Gemini: A Personal Account of Man's Venture into Space, by Virgil "Gus" Grissom. Grissom died in 1967 when fire broke out in his capsule while running a simulated mission. $350.
We generally associate Carl Sandburg with Lincoln and poetry. Here is his more practical side: How Commonwealth Edison Stings The People With High Prices. Electricity prices were high when this small handbill or broadside was published (circa 1913-15), though probably not as high as today. It is not signed, but Sandburg included it with another small broadside identified as his, which he sent to a friend working on his bibliography. Sandburg had worked for the Wisconsin Social Democratic Party before returning to Chicago to pursue journalism and poetry, so this attack on Chicago's power company fits in with his views. Between The Covers notes that this is a rare, and possibly unique, Sandburg item. $1,000.
|
Some Varied "Newe Arryvals" From Between The Covers Rare Books
Class of '44 signer Herman Raucher and classmates.
If George W. Bush wrote a book, would he call it Whither Bound? Probably not, but that was the title of Franklin Roosevelt's first book. Just one of many differences between the two presidents. It was actually a lecture he gave at the Milton Academy in 1926, while Roosevelt was recovering from paralysis and contemplating a return to public office. In it Roosevelt deals with the issue of positive advancements in technology versus the loss of traditional ways of life. It is a question every generation faces, and one that only grows in intensity as technology advances at an ever faster pace. We could use Roosevelt's insights on computers and the internet, but he was speaking about electricity and the telephone. Item 49. $175.
Moe Berg was an odd, mysterious, yet quintessentially American character from the first half of the 20th century. Born in New York of parents of very modest means, Berg had a remarkable mind to go along with his mysterious ways. Berg would graduate from Princeton and Columbia Law School, spoke seven languages, and became a sensation with his success on a late 1930s radio quiz show. Berg was also a major league baseball player, playing on several teams during the 1920s and 1930s. His linguistic fluency led to the famous quote about him, that he could speak seven languages "and can't hit in any of them." However, his adequate fielding ability, particularly at catcher, enabled him to have a long career, though through most of it he bounced around from team to team, regularly being cut. He was selected for a couple of major league tours of Japan, more likely because of his language than his hitting prowess, and on one of them, he took movies of Tokyo and its harbor from the top of a tall building. He would screen these movies for the military during the war to assist their planning for bombing raids, and would then work for the government as a spy. He was evidently very helpful, as he would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor, which he refused, but his sister accepted on his behalf after his death. He apparently was less successful as a spy after the war, and ended up spending the last two decades of his life living with relatives and doing little else. Berg died in 1972. Item 94 is Berg's personal copy, with his stamp, of Isaac Taylor's The Origin of the Aryans, published in 1890. It is signed "E. Berg," evidently Moe's sister Ethyl, with whom he lived during the final years of his life. $950.
The website for Between The Cover Rare Books is www.betweenthecovers.com, phone number 856-665-2284.
|