"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.
No comments:
Post a Comment