[JHRB News] Newsletter for July 13th, 2004

Tue Jul 13 10:54:06 EDT 2004

SPEAKING OF BOOKS
_____________________________________
The Joslin Hall Rare Books Newsletter
July 13th, 2004

The Book Elves, who have been waxing their lawn chairs and re-lining their 
hammocks since just after Valentine's Day, have now officially declared it 
Summertime, the sign being the appearance of the first real tomatoes and 
corn at the farmer's market.  They got a little over-excited at yesterday's 
market and came staggering back with about twenty-five pounds of 
tomatoes.  Some of these are not your average tomatoes either- they include 
heirloom varieties in yellow and pink and with green-stripes -all sorts of 
weird shapes and colors.  They may look a little odd, but boy are they 
good!  Now all we have to do is come up with a way to use twenty-five 
pounds of them before they go bad.  Fortunately the Book Elves also came 
back with two bushels of fresh basil...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon of the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair.  The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast.
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that-
We'd put even money now with Casey at the bat.

Well, the porch is decked out in red-white-and-blue bunting and an 
engraving of the Boston Beaneaters hangs on the door- yes, baseball's 
All-Star game is tonight, and we are celebrating with a new web page 
devoted to America's greatest sports poem.  "Casey at the Bat" was written 
by 24-year old Ernest Lawrence Thayer in 1888 and it might have been 
completely forgotten had not a man named Archibald Clavering Gunter thought 
enough of it to clip it out of the "San Francisco Examiner" that day and 
stick it in his wallet...

more->
<http://www.joslinhall.com/casey_at_the_bat.htm>

- - - - - - FREE BOOK - - - - - -

There are a lot of things I am not going to get around to doing this 
decade, and (The Food Channel's Alton Brown's explanation that it's really 
easy notwithstanding) it appears that making sausage is one of 
them.  Eating sausage is great -but making them will have to wait for 
another decade.  So, I have a copy of "The Sausage Book" by Richard Gehman 
(1969) available to anyone who wants it.  It's more than just recipes- it 
also contains "ways of making and eating sausage, accompanying dishes, and 
strong waters to be served".  Sounds great, but I have too little shelf 
space and can manage to eat sausage without instructions.  It's a 
hardcover, with a somewhat tattered jacket.  It's also got some notes 
inside from a prior sausage eater but hey, it's free.  If you'd like it 
send us an email specifying "Sausages" in the subject line.  We only have 
one copy, so we will randomly draw the name of one of you on Thursday and 
send it out to the lucky winner!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

GOOD TASTES IN COLLECTING CAN
EVIDENTLY EXCUSE A *LOT*...

"Francis Seymour-Conway, Earl of Yarmouth and later 3rd Marquess of 
Hertford, was not a likeable man.  He was a wayward son, a wretched 
husband, a feckless Irish landlord, a Tory autocrat abusive of reform, and 
an example, according to the self-righteous Grenville, of undisguised 
debauchery.  His redeeming characteristic was the sensibility which he 
exercised in the (art) sale-rooms of London and Paris in the first thirty 
years of the 19th century".
    -John Ingamells,  "The 3rd Marquess
     of Hertford (1777-1842) as a Collector" (1983).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wednesday is Bastille Day, the anniversary of perhaps the most dramatic and 
sudden urban renewal project ever undertaken since the Greeks made Troy 
into a parking lot.  We're hoping to avoid a repeat of last year's little 
Brie Brouhaha (ever seen a bunch of Book Elves covered with brie?) and are 
serving nothing stronger than chilled Chardonnay this year.  But we were 
thinking... -was the threat of having to eat Marie Antoinette's left-over 
pastry every day *really* enough to touch off the French Revolution?  And, 
since we're also still mesmerized by the memory of Hilary Swank decked out 
in full period silks in the movie "The Affair of the Necklace" (2001), it 
seemed appropriate to pour a glass of something cold and revisit the story 
of the necklace that began the French Revolution-

<http://www.joslinhall.com/diamond_necklace_affair.htm>

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

OUR CURRENT PRINTED CATALOG-

"SUMMERTIME: Recent Acquisitions and other interesting books for Summer, 
2004" features 263 books and is now available.  Send us your mailing 
address if you would like a free copy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

UPCOMING CATALOGS

Coming later this summer, the latest edition of "A GRAVE AFFAIR".  This is 
a selection of books and related materials illustrating how Society and 
individuals have dealt with and memorialized Mortality and Death through 
the Ages.  Send us your mailing address if you would like a free copy.

- - - - - - FREE BOOK - - - - -

"The Crime of the Century" by Kingsley Amis.  (Mysterious Press:1989).  A 
serial killer is loose in London in this murder-mystery "in the best 
British tradition".  Hardcover, very nice copy.  If you'd like it send us 
an email specifying "Crime" in the subject line.  We only have one copy, so 
we will randomly draw the name of one of you on Thursday and send it out to 
the lucky winner!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

SUMMERTIME

Here's one thing the Book Elves like to do with tomatoes- stuff them!  You 
need a good, meaty tomato for it to work.  Cut the top off to make a "cap", 
and cut just enough off the base so that the tomato will stay upright.  Use 
a spoon to take the seeds out, just as if it were a pumpkin (you may have 
to use a small knife to cut the interior ribs).  We stuff them with a 
combination of canned tuna and salmon, mixed with a little mayo, lemon 
juice, chopped black olives and topped with fresh dill.  An easy, cool, 
1950s retro snack to eat while you enjoy a good book on a hot Summer 
afternoon!  Serve with a chilled white wine sangria (another easy, lazy 
recipe: mix white wine 50/50 with sparkling apple cider).

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

That's about it for now.  Next week we will be reloading the "Just 
Catalogued" pages with some interesting new books; just watch for our 
"Newsletter" email to get the details before anyone else on the internet!

-Forrest

JOSLIN HALL RARE BOOKS, ABAA
Fine books of the 16th-20th centuries
Post Office Box 516, Concord, Massachusetts 01742 USA
telephone (617) 492-5367
email <office at joslinhall.com>;
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