A Book a Day, week 16

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDSIX

"The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ" transcribed by Levi H. Dowling, 1907 - this publishing 1947.

Claimed by Dowling to be the true story of Jesus, including Jesus' "lost years" from age 12 to 30 that are missing from the Bible, this book is the foundation for The Aquarian Christine Church Universal.

Between pages 122 and 123 is a foil wrapper folded in half, acting as a bookmark. It is a wrapper for a Bunte Mint, made by the Bunte Bros. Candy Company out of Chicago. Bunte was bought in 1954 by the Chase Candy Company, so the wrapper must predate that year, unless Chase decided to keep the name Bunte on their mints after the acquisition.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDSEVEN

"Saint Bernard on the Love of God" translated by Terence L. Connolly, 1937.

Connolly was a reverend and lecturer on English literature at Boston College.

Bernard of Clairvaux was a French abbot who lived from 1090 to 1153.

There is a blue bookmark from the Ames Bookstore in Whittier, California.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDEIGHT

"Atom-Smashing Power of Mind" by Charles Fillmore, 1949 - this tenth printing, unknown.

This 4th book in the collection by the Unity Church founder belonged to my grandmother. Her address label is inside the front cover, and there are two bookmarks. One, a paperclip, and the other is an actual bookmark with a blue tassel. It is a cardboard cutout of a scholarly-looking cartoon worm reading a book with the words "There is nothing more delicious than a good book!"

The worm is also eating the book.

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDNINE

"Colton and Fitch's Introductory School Geography" by George W. Fitch, 1857.

The 2nd oldest of the books so far and "Illustrated by Twenty Maps and Numerous Engravings," this classroom textbook has my great-great-grandfather's name, Henry F. Garver, written on the title page. It is particularly good cursive, and Henry wasn't born for a year after this book was published, so I will assume perhaps his mother, Barbara, wrote his name in for him a few years later.

One page further in, Sarah A. E. Fusselman's name is written. Twice.

Obviously, the Fusselman name is familiar, but I don't have a Sarah in my tree that I can recall right now - I will have to deep a little deeper on that branch to see what I can find - perhaps a cousin on his mother's side that I missed in my research?

Funny thing about a 153 year old geography book...it's not particularly current. There were 31 states, New York was described as a "middle state," Washington was adjacent to Nebraska, Alaska was still Russian, Canada was labeled as "British Possessions," the capital of California was Sacramento City, and the capital of Utah was Fillmore City.

I'm not even going to talk about the European borders.

This book contains more than just geographical information for the young'uns of 1857 America, though. It also has fairly strong opinions on the various cultures across the globe.

It lists the 5 races of mankind (Mongolian, Malay, Caucasian, Negro, and American) with an illustration of each - one of which looks pleasant and attractive and the other four look angry and menacing. I'll let you guess which is which.

In the section about South Africa, I learned about a group of people called the Hottentots, who were "among the most degraded of mankind."

Also, there seems to be a quick section on religion, asking who Mohammed was. The answer being "The teacher of a false religion, who lived about six hundred years after Christ."

Hoping to get a more positive perspective on any culture, I flipped back to Europe and learned that the character of the people of Scotland is "industrious, well educated and moral," the French "are gay, polite, and brave," and the Spanish "are temperate, but proud and indolent." Alas, "the lower classes of the Irish people...are wretchedly poor and ignorant."

UPDATE - HOURS LATER: Henry Fusselman was the youngest of 14 children. This I knew. But I didn't know the names of all of them. It turns out, sibling # 9 was named Sarah. This would have been Henry F. Garver's grandfather's sister. It is also entirely possible that there was a Sarah in the Fusselman line a generation or two later. Still researching there...

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDTEN

"The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage - The Sparkling Stone - The Book of Supreme Truth" by John of Ruysbroeck - this publishing, 1916.

Three works from the 14th century Flemish mystic, this book claims to be the first translation into English.

The book is pristine, except for a penciled-in price of 4.50 inside the front cover, which was crossed out, with another price of 1.00 next to it.

The translation was done by Evelyn Underhill, who "was an English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in particular Christian mysticism." (taken from wikipedia)

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDELEVEN

"Let's Get Well" by Adelle Davis, 1965 - this printing, 1972.

Davis was "a pioneer in the fledgling field of nutrition during the mid-20th century. She advocated whole unprocessed foods, criticized food additives, and claimed that dietary supplements and other nutrients play a dominant role in maintaining health, preventing disease, and restoring health after the onset of disease." (taken from wikipedia)

I don't expect to find a book title in this collection that sums up the hopefulness of searching for answers as blatantly as this one. I keep saying to people that these books were clearly owned by "people looking for answers" and the goal of searching for these answers is no simpler than this one here, although the paths and questions asked have ranged greatly.

There are four bookmarks inside this one. The first is a coupon for 5¢ off any two Good Seasons Salad Dressing Mixes, expiring December 31st, 1973.

The second is a double coupon with my grandmother's name typed into it. I wonder if it was something she mailed away for. 10¢ off Bufferin Analgesic Tablets and 10¢ off Nestea 100% Instant Tea or Nestea With Lemon.

The third is a thin strip of paper with a wedge cut out of the top. On it is printed an image of vases on a shelf. The wedge that was cut out is tucked into another page.

The fourth is an ad for Galore spray perfume by Scandia."It is a scent of florals and spices. It makes a distinctive statement. It is yours..."

This shot was just the lighting test of the day, but I ended up liking it better than the actual planned images that followed. My eye is blocked, the book is too parallel to the frame and mostly OUT of the frame, and you can see my hand on the cable trigger for the shutter. Totally not what I wanted. Still, I like it. =)

BOOK ONEHUNDREDANDTWELVE

"The Eternal Gospel" by Gerald Heard, 1946.

Another work by Heard, this one has no names written in it, but nearly every page has some passage underlined in pencil.