[JHRB News] Newsletter for May 5th, 2004

Wed May 5 13:19:32 EDT 2004

The Book Elves are all aflutter as "American Idol" wends its' way down
from five contestants to four tonight (the singing was last night -the
results are tonight); several of them spent almost an hour on the phone
last night sending in their votes for their favorites (George, Fantasia &
La Toya).  Watching and voting is all good fun- a surprising number of
book dealers I've talked to are fans of the show, but we had to draw the
line when some of the Book Elves tried to create a 12 foot high sculpture
of George made entirely of daffodils from the garden...

But before they got caught up singing along to "Summertime", they finished
putting together a new "Just Catalogued" page which we have now posted on
the website-

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

This time we have a large selection of art and antique-related books,
including furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, and design, as well a some
other surprising material.  Highlights include-

-The fantastic (in several senses) story of the man who claimede to have
befriended John Wilkes Booth... in the 1870s, five years after Booth's
death!

-An 1860s pamphlet concerning some photographs supposedly taken in the
18th century...

-An 1885 patent application (complete with illustrations) for an
"electrified" chair which bathes its occupant in a glob of
electro-magnetic current, for therapeutic purposes...

-A stunningly illustrated 1878 account of a tornado in Wallingford,
Connecticut.

-A nicely printed edition of Charles Lambs' musings on poverty and tea sets.

-An 1886 trade catalog of hooked rug patterns, with nice color
illustrations.

-A very scarce Christmas "gift printing" by noted Americanist and
art-writer Frederick Fairchild Sherman.

-A wonderful 1883 catalog of designs for Victorian furniture by Edinburgh
designer John Small.

-An 1879 expose of dangers in the home, include arsenic in your wallpaper!

-A beautifully printed portfolio illustrating a stunning 18th century Adam
cabinet, limited to 200 copies.

and a lot more...

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

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OUR CURRENT PRINTED CATALOG-

Don't forget that our new printed catalog- "(Almost) Ready for Spring" is
now available.  If you would like a free copy, please send us your mailing
address.

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COME SEE US AT A "VIRTUAL" BOOK FAIR!

We've signed up to do the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers
57th Birthday Virtual Book Fair on May 19th-22nd.  We'll have more
information in a week or so, but please mark the dates on your calendar. 
The fair is being held on the web in conjunction with ILAB's Virtual
Celebration of the Book, which will feature a charity auction for UNICEF,
a Biblio Quiz, an Education Day, and more.  Details can be seen at-
<http://www.ilab-lila.com/english/news.php?id=16>

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

SHEDDING LIGHT ON AN AMERICAN ARTIST-

William Trost Richards was born in Philadelphia in 1833, and died in
Newport, RI on November 9, 1905.  He studied in America and Florence, Rome
and Paris, and was a member of the Royal Academy, London, the National
Academy, and the American Watercolor Society.  His works are in the
collections of the Cooper-Hewitt, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the
Corcoran Gallery of Art, among others.

But did you know that before he "made it" as an artist, this noted
landscape painter earned his living designing gas light fixtures?

Richards was a designer of ornamental light fixtures for a Philadelphia
firm that produced gas lamps before his paintings became popular and he
was able to move on to "brighter" prospects.

I wonder if he signed any...

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

That's all for today.  Have a look at our Just Catalogued page
<http://www.joslinhall.com/justcat.htm> when you have a moment, and have fun!

-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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