A Book a Day, week 15

BOOK NINETYNINE

"Little Babs" by George Mitchell, 1919.

A short illustrated children's story about a little girl who wanted a friend, but had too much work to do, Babs meets a handful of fairies who cannot meet her request to be her playmate, but help her with her chores which allows her the free time to make a new friend.

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"Are you a Prince or a Sailor or a Soldier or a Clown or a Toyshop-boy, or a Baker's Boy?" asked Little Babs.
"No," said he, "I'm just a Chum."
"That's exactly what I want," said Little Babs, clapping her hands.
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BOOK ONEHUNDRED

"Pope's Poetical Works" edited by Adolphus William Ward, 1876.

Heavy, sturdy, with gorgeous typography and tiny font size, this is what an old book should look and feel like.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDONE

"The Basic Principle in Healing and Demonstration" by Christian D. Larson, 1940.

A 72-page booklet by the New Thought teacher and leader, this is marked up by my great-grandmother who wrote her name inside the front cover and dated it in 1944. No less than ten pages have been ear-marked.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDTWO

"The Man with the Hoe and Other Poems" by Edwin Markham, 1899.

Inside the front cover is an inscription "Affectionately, Kittie - Christmas 1903" and tucked two pages later is a small card reading "Merry Christmas - To Mrs Garver, from Kittie".

Abrose Bierce wrote of Markham, "It is long since I entertained a doubt of Edwin Markham's eventual primacy among contemporary poets."

Vice-President Thomas Marshall said, "We who are standing here will pass into oblivion - we and all our works will vanish; but the name Edwin Markham will echo down the centuries."

"If you were to ask the first man you meet in the street who wrote 'Hamlet,' 'The Idyls of the King,' or 'The Man with the Hoe,' he would be most likely to know who wrote the hoe-poem." - The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

I'm not sure if that last quote could be considered a reflection of the education of Seattle in the first few decades of the 20th Century, but certainly Marshall's words have some weight to them. Quick - without looking it up, which American President was Marshall Vice-President to?

That's what I thought...

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDTHREE

"Seeds of Contemplation" by Thomas Merton, 1949.

Inside the front cover is written: "This book belongs to the Library of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepard" but also has a price of one dollar marked in pencil, so I'm assuming that this was bought, instead of stolen, from the Sisters.

The pages are pristine, but there is one bookmark between pages 164 and 165. It is a business card for a Laguna Beach eye physician and surgeon. On the back of the card is written the title and author of a book: 'The Phenomenon of Man' by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, "a Jesuit priest who trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of both Piltdown Man and Peking Man." (taken from wikipedia)

Thomas Merton was an American Catholic writer who wrote 70 books. He was a Trappist monk, later ordained to the priesthood.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDFOUR

"This Thing Called You" by Ernest Holmes, 1948.

Another book by the Religious Science founder, this one has a sticker inside the front cover of a snow scene and a book. I assume one is meant to write their name on the empty area of the sticker, but that space was intentionally left blank.

Between pages 44 and 45 is a folded up newspaper clipping from October 28th, 1946 showing the proposed Ridge Route Railway Tunnel underneath Tejon Pass, north of Los Angeles.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDFIVE

"Thanatopsis" by William Cullen Bryant, 1874.

"Due to the unusual quality of the verse and Bryant's age when the poem was first published in 1817 by the North American Review, Richard Henry Dana, Sr., then associate editor at the Review, initially doubted its authenticity, saying to another editor, "No one, on this side of the Atlantic, is capable of writing such verses." Although Bryant wrote the bulk of the poem at age 17 (in 1811), he added the introductory and concluding lines 10 years later in 1821." (taken from wikipedia)

Inside the book is a folded up aged letter from someone named Adelaide. She addressed the letter "Hello, dear ones" so that doesn't help much with placing who any of the people involved are, but other names are mentioned. George appears to be her husband, and there are other family members named Charlene, Alvin, Rod and Aunt Margaret.

The letter mostly talks about Adelaide having an emotional breakdown, from having too much to deal with. The details are vague, but family members' health seems to be of great concern, among other worries.

Near the end of the letter is my favorite section:

"Alvin is dear -- and Aunt Margaret (26 years older than her husband) was as good as can be made. But she dressed the youngster in velvet suits and other such crap. Rod was adopted by them at birth -- the family story has it that he is the drunk uncle's natural son which probably is true. I've been asked lately and got right sharp about it -- what the hell difference does THAT make. Odd -- I just wrote you that I don't really like kids. And man, I've been fighting like a fired-up bantam rooster, over this one --- so what about all this nonsense and crap? He is a dear little boy who needs love like no other child I've ever seen. That love will come from somewhere -- might as well start here."

Incredible.

UPDATE 11-30-10: Adelaide was a friend of my grandmother's who lived in Texas. The two would correspond often with typed letters.

A Book a Day, week 14

BOOK NINETYTWO

"Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God" this translation, 1944 - this publishing, 1947.

A sacred Hindu scripture, the roughly 700 verses in Bhagavad-Gita are the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna taking place on the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra war.

My grandfather's name is again inside the book no less than 3 times. Twice written, and once with an address label. I love how he felt the need to claim his books so thoroughly.

Tucked inside the book is a small leaflet for the Vedanta Society of Southern California, dated October 1957. It contains the schedule of events for both the Hollywood Temple and the Santa Barbara Temple for the month. Every Thursday, there was a class on the Bhagavad-Gita. Something tells me my grandfather had been to at least one of these classes.

The minister of the society is listed as Swami Prabhavananda, one of two names inside the book who did the translation. That name has come up before. Book #53 was written by the author, Gerald Heard, three years after he had met Swami Prabhavananda.

My grandfather would have been 45 years old in 1957, so he was certainly looking for answers in his middle age years, not just in his later years.

BOOK NINETYTHREE

"The Imitation of Christ" by Thomas A Kempis c. 1418 - this publishing, after 1898.

Another copy of day 9's book, this one looks to be much older, but has no publishing date either. The publishing company, Grosset & Dunlap, was founded in 1898 and I would place it within 20 years of that date, judging by the typeface and style of the book itself. Of course, I am no expert, so I won't attempt to date it other than after 1898.

"When the American Publishing Company closed its doors for the last time in 1898, Alexander Grosset and George T. Dunlap were outside the doors. Newly unemployed, with the plates of a couple dozen books originally pirated by John Lovell. Standing out on Sixth Avenue with boxes of supposedly worthless printing plates, these two young men stole a page from the notebook of Mr. Lovell and shook hands on a partnership that changed the face of American publishing.

Grosset and Dunlap began as a pirate enterprise. Cheaply bound books, sold cheaply, without the expense of royalties. The next step was the outright purchase of paperbound books and cut and gathered sheets to be rebound in cloth and sold at deeply discounted prices. Grosset & Dunlap made an immediate impact on the market. Durable, hardback copies of popular books were available at a price that put them in competition with paperbacks and dime novels. The thing that John Lovell had attempted, and failed at, the partnership of Alexander Grosset and George Dunlap had made reality. Books as a mass market product, not a limited market for the well to do." (taken from helium.com)

No names or markings of any kind are in the book.

BOOK NINETYFOUR

"Healing Meditations" by Swami Paramananda, 1940.

Another book by the early Vedanta teachers in America, this one has no markings in it at all, but I will assume it was my grandfather's. It is a small book, 48 pages long.

BOOK NINETYFIVE

"The Little Flowers of Saint Francis" this translation and publishing by Leo Sherley-Price, 1959.

Excerpts on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi in 53 chapters, the earliest manuscript of this from an unknown author dates from the late 1300s, roughly 200 years after the Catholic friar's lifetime.

This text was the inspiration for Roberto Rossellini’s film "Francesco, giullare di Dio", co-written by Fellini.

There are no markings in the book, just a blue bookmark from The Bookseller, an appropriately, but unimaginatively, named book store in La Mirada Mall. The bookmark is in the section where Saint Francis decides between devoting himself to teaching or prayer.

BOOK NINETYSIX

"Sueño de una Noche de Agosto" by Gregorio Martínez Sierra, 1926.

By the Spanish writer and theater director, Martinez Sierra's play here is a comedy that my grandmother had marked up considerably. Her name is inside the front cover, a paperclip bookmark is binding pages 99 to 106, and her translation notes are throughout the dialogue.

BOOK NINETYSEVEN

"Individual Completeness" by Elizabeth Carrick Cook.

This 18-page booklet was published by the Religious Science Institute and written by Carrick-Cook, whose name has come up before as the editor of book #48. Regrettably, there is no publishing date inside the book and I am unable to find much information online.

As amusing as it is when my own blog comes up on the top 10 results for "Elizabeth Carrick-Cook", it is somewhat frustrating that there is so little information about her online.

There are no markings inside the book, just the unfamiliar initials written onto the cover.

BOOK NINETYEIGHT

"Dry Those Tears" by Robert A. Russell, 1951.

Another book by Russell, this one was put out by The Shrine of the Healing Presence and actually does have a publishing date in it.

My grandfather's address label is inside the front cover, but there are no markings inside the book at all.

A Book a Day, week 13

BOOK EIGHTYFIVE

"Intra Muros" by Rebecca Ruter Springer, 1898.

"Rebecca Ruter Springer was a 19th century American author who wrote the famous Christian book Intra Muros, better known today as My Dream of Heaven. As the modern name implies, Springer claimed to have a vision of a Christian heaven and she recounts this vision in her book as well as some personal insights. My Dream of Heaven is considered by many to be a deeply inspirational book." (taken from wikipedia)

Inside the front cover is the name Mrs. Randall, dated Oct. 7th, 1915. The name is not familiar, but whomever that was, she signed it 85 years and 3 days ago.

On practically every page, there is a drawing of either flowers or birds amongst the text. I assume Springer found both particularly inspirational.

BOOK EIGHTYSIX

"Teachings for the New Age - Fundamentals of the Wisdom Teaching, Correlated with Semantic Science: Perceptive Insight" by Vitvan, c. 1946.

There is no publishing date within the book, but online resources suggest 1946 and my great-grandmother wrote her name inside the front cover and dated it 3-8-47.

Ralph Moriarity deBit was a student of Akhoy Kumar Mozumdar, a New Thought Movement lecturer and writer. Mozumdar named deBit "Vitvan" who later became a lecturer and writer himself, founding a movement known today as the School of the Natural Order.

My great-grandmother certainly spent some time with this book - most of the pages have handwritten notes on the edges, with countless underlined passages.

BOOK EIGHTYSEVEN

"Christian Healing" by Charles Fillmore, 1909 - this publishing, 1926.

Whereas day 83's book was clearly read by my grandmother, today's book has my great-grandmother's name written inside it and is an edition from 28 years earlier than my grandmother's copy. This is the second time I have found matching books in the collection belonging to both mother and daughter.

There doesn't seem to be any written notes on the pages, but many parts have been underlined, with numbers written nearby, corresponding to each marked section for some unapparent reason. Chapter One counts up to 21 underlined parts, and then Chapter Two begins with 1a, 1b, 1c, etc...

Between pages 128 and 129 is a thin purple ribbon.

BOOK EIGHTYEIGHT

"Encyclopedia of the Great Composers and Their Music - Volume II" by Milton Cross, 1962.

Mike Lesher's name and phone number are inside the front cover. Neither are familiar.

Volume II has the 2nd half of the alphabet, containing Milhaud through Wolf, with the greats Mozart, Puccini, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Schubert, Strauss, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, and Wagner.

There is also a section titled "A Brief History of Music Since Bach" which I am looking forward to catching up on. My classical knowledge has certainly faded since I played violin.

UPDATE 11-18-10: My mother, after reading this post, has a good laugh and tells me that Mike Lesher was actually an old boyfriend of hers.

BOOK EIGHTYNINE

"The Complete Works of Saint John of the Cross - Volume III" translated by P. Silverio de Santa Teresa, 1945.

"Saint John of the Cross was a reformer of the Carmelite Order and is considered, along with Saint Teresa of Ávila, as a founder of the Discalced Carmelites. He is also known for his writings. Both his poetry and his studies on the growth of the soul are considered the summit of mystical Spanish literature and one of the peaks of all Spanish literature." (taken from wikipedia)

His tomb is in Segovia, Spain, easily one of my favorite towns in Spain. As I recall, my girlfriend at the time and I spent far more time in the Museo de la Brujería (Witchcraft Museum) than exploring the tomb.

The book has deteriorated remains of double-sided tape inside both covers, as if someone wanted to seal the very first and last pages to the cover. Over time, the plan has clearly failed, as all stickiness is now gone.

BOOK NINETY

"A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson, 1885 - this publishing, c. 1923-24.

Stevenson was the Scottish writer most well known for 'Treasure Island' and 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'.

This is another Henry Altemus Company publication, who went out of business in 1932. Like book 80, there is no date in the book. Fortunately, there is an inscription to help, and someone who maintains the preservation site for the publishing company was able to date the book around 1923-24 after I emailed today's cover photo.

Inside the front cover, the inscription reads: "Juliette Saylor, from Mary Elizabeth Brown - Christmas 1924. By my count, my grandmother would have been six years old when she received this present from Mary, whose name is unfamiliar to me. Judging from her handwriting expertise, though, I'd wager she was fairly older than my grandmother and not a childhood friend. In pencil, on the next page, is a scribbled "1926" that could very well have been written by an eight year old child.

Speaking of my grandmother's handwriting, I recall my mother telling me how my grandmother was left-handed and was forced to write with her right hand in school, which was considerably less steady. Over the years, her handwriting never seemed to improve with her right hand and, as I hear it, she never went back to her more familiar left hand. Translating her notes now is still quite a chore, whether it be from using her wrong hand or from a stroke she had in her later years.

BOOK NINETYONE

"The Secret Place - A Spiritual Key to the 91st Psalm" by Emmet Fox, 1932.

This is a small booklet, 27 pages long, with a few extra pages in the back listing 46 other works by Fox for sale, most in the $.05 to $.15 range.

During the Great Depression, Fox was the minister of New York's Divine Science Church of the Healing Christ and held large services to upwards of 5,500 people weekly in the New York Hippodrome Theater.

Although I don't believe there is any connection to Nettie Pease Fox, the author of book #1, Emmet Fox knew Thomas Troward, the writer of books #47 and #58.

A Book a Day, week 12

BOOK SEVENTYEIGHT

"The Modern Reader's Bible" published 1912.

My great-grandmother's name is inside the front cover, followed by "Delta Gamma," leading me to assume this was another school book from her college years.

This version contains an Apocrypha section as well, with the three books Tobit, Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus - not commonly found in modern bibles.

The book is heavily marked up throughout, with notes written into the edges of the pages and many passages underlined. The cover is completely detached from the pages.

Probably the thickest book in the lot, it is rather imposing and dwarfs many of its neighbors on the shelf.

BOOK SEVENTYNINE

"The Cloud of Unknowing" this printing, 1948.

This book "is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer and the esoteric techniques and meanings of late medieval monasticism." (taken from wikipedia).

My grandfather's name is inside the front cover just once. The dust jacket is in 2 pieces, holding onto the book by gravity alone, depending on which way I hold the book.

BOOK EIGHTY

"Poems" by William C. Bryant, c. 1907.

This book was published by the Henry Altemus Company, which started in 1842 and closed up shop in 1932. So the book clearly predates 1933, although there is no date in the book at all. Matching similar cover design online with a preservation site for the publishing company, I am estimating 1907 for the date of the book.

Inside the front cover is the name Dorothea Schubler (or perhaps Schuller). The name is not familiar to me.

BOOK EIGHTYONE

"Outwitting Our Nerves - A Primer of Psychotherapy" by Josephine A. Jackson, M.D. and Helen M. Salisbury, 1921 - this publishing, 1944.

Nothing written into any of the pages.

For this shot, I really wanted to see the bulk of my progress, so I pulled out all 80 of the books I had shot so far, and added today's book.

BOOK EIGHTYTWO

"Everybody's Book of Short Poems" edited by Don Lemon, c. 1890.

A collection of poems, with wonderful ads inside the covers for Borwick's Baking Powder, The Crown Perfumery Co.'s Crab-Apple Blossoms perfume, Cadbury's Cocoa, and Nathaniel Berry's Pianos.

The back cover is an ad for Lanoline toiletries, but is terribly faded and difficult to read.

I would love to have large posters of these ads on my wall and might make an attempt to focus on photographing solely the ads at some point to do so.

BOOK EIGHTYTHREE

"Christian Healing" by Charles Fillmore, 1909 - this publishing, 1954.

Another book by the founder of the Unity Church, this one has the name Ina Angus inside the front cover along with what looks to be an address and a phone number, none of which are familiar, but there is one lonely paperclip bookmark binding pages 33-40 together, which is now becoming quite familiar.

BOOK EIGHTYFOUR

"Hamlet" by William Shakespeare, c. 1599-1601, this publishing, 1929.

The front cover is detached and the back cover is missing, but the pages are still holding together.

A Book a Day, week 11

BOOK SEVENTYONE

"Questions & Answers on the Science of Mind" by Ernest Holmes and Alberta Smith, 1935.

My great-grandmother wrote her name inside the front cover, dated 1-27-46. No other markings appear in the book, other than a few earmarked pages.

Another book by Holmes, this one is really just a compilation of answers for hundreds of questions that had been asked through 'The Science of Mind Magazine' over the years.

Some included topics are: dispelling loneliness, preventing regrets, raise of salary, the art of making friends, changing professions, control of unruly child, help for a tired mother, and cancer.

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Yesterday, my mother brought me her grandmother's document of certification on being a member in the Daughters of the American Revolution Society.

It came in two cardboard tubes.

The first tube was mailed to my mother from Bayne between 1983 and 2001 and within it is a smaller tube that was mailed to my great-grandmother Jean from the DAR Society in Washington DC. The stamp on the older tube is dated January 5th, 1923. There is also an 8-cent green Ben Franklin stamp.

The document itself is dated December 1st, 1922 and links her to our ancestor, Aaron Merrill, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

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Also, as of today, my sister and I have 217 names compiled into our family tree. There are still a lot more to enter. I don't think we even have OUR aunts and uncles and cousins in there yet...

BOOK SEVENTYTWO

"How to Get What You Want" by Orison Swett Marden, 1917.

Associated with the New Thought Movement, Marden's mother died when he was three and his father died when he was seven. He later graduated from Boston University in 1871, then got his medical degree from Harvard a decade later, then a law degree following that.

He was also a successful hotel owner.

Inside the front cover, on the dust jacket, is a name I haven't seen in the books so far - Laura Wright. Just yesterday, I came across that name in my genealogy research. Going back five generations then back down one, I found George Garver's brother John had a daughter named Laura Garver, who married a George Wright. I have no other information on either of them yet - not even dates of birth or death.

This book is the first book I've found from the New Movement that didn't belong to my grandmother or great-grandmother. Either Laura didn't have a habit of marking up her books as my direct ancestors did, or perhaps she never even read the book to begin with - or wasn't as involved in the movement as the others. With only one book of hers as of now, it's hard to say.

BOOK SEVENTYTHREE

"The Soul's Sincere Desire" by Glenn Clark, 1925 - this 16th publishing, 1939.

16 editions in 14 years? Popular book! My great-grandmother wrote her name inside the front cover and between pages 64 and 65 is a folded up sheet of paper with the beginning to Psalm 23 written on it. The rest of the sheet is blank.

BOOK SEVENTYFOUR

"Your Mind Can Heal You" by Frederick W. Bailes, 1941.

Yet another New Thought Movement writer, Bailes, like Ernest Holmes, was influenced by the works of Thomas Troward.

Even the style of the jacket cover reminds me of the other 2 Troward books that I've shot already.

BOOK SEVENTYFIVE

""Theosophical Manuals Number Two - Reincarnation" by Annie Besant F.T.S., 1892.

As with the other books in the series from days 11 and 30, both Barbara Garver and Jean's names are written inside the front cover.

In the last few pages of the book, there is a section titled "Information for Enquirers" which explains The Theosophical Society, and how to join.

"The Theosophical Society is an international body which was founded at New York, U.S., on the 17th day of November, 1875, with three well defined objects, viz:
FIRST. - To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.
SECOND. - To promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literatures, religions, philosophies and sciences, and demonstrate the importance of that study.
THIRD. - To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the psychic powers latent in man."

BOOK SEVENTYSIX

"Through The Gate of Good" by James Allen, 1903.

Allen was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry. He is considered the pioneer of self help movement.

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This weekend, I went down to L.A. to visit my sister and we met up with our uncle immediately after the airport. Earlier in the week, he sent me an email mentioning that he had even more books. The thought of there being even more than what I have here overwhelmed me. Do I have only a small fraction of the collection? Or does he have just a few more that didn't stay with the rest for some reason?

Either way, if there any more, I certainly wanted to see them!

After lunch (I tried a beef stroganoff crepe for the first and probably last time), our uncle said that he had a box of books in the car. This ended up being a small assortment of about 20 books that he had picked out from a larger lot in his storage space. I took 7 of the most interesting and delicate ones from the box to carry-on back to Seattle and my sister is nice enough to bring up the rest when she visits for Thanksgiving in a few weeks.

As it turns out, the entire collection of books had been split up when my grandparents died, some going to each of the four children. When my other uncle died a few years back, his portion had returned to my uncle here. So, the collection is now in three parts, as far as I understand it, with some still being in my uncle's storage unit in L.A., and the rest having gone to my other uncle in Oregon. I will have to contact him soon.

At one point on the flight, my curiosity got the better of me and I pulled out one of the books and started flipping through it. I can't express my sheer satisfaction at the in-flight reading of a deteriorating book from the late 1800s about Iowa lawmakers in session between someone reading Cosmopolitan Magazine and someone else reading a John Grisham novel. One of the more distinguished lawmakers, apparently, was a relative and his name comes up in the index considerably more than anyone else.

BOOK SEVENTYSEVEN

"Science and Health - Volume II" by Mary B. Glover Eddy, 1881.

I recognize Eddy's name as the founder of Christian Science, but I believe this is the first book of hers that I've come across.

The book is in incredible condition and I'm wondering if it is a relatively recent reprint from the 1881 original.

Between pages 166 and 167 is a small piece of paper folded in half with Bayne and Bill's social security numbers written on it.