Member: Django6924

This edition, minus the fourth volume: http://www.davidbrassrarebooks.com/wp-content/plugins/wp-shopping-cart/single_bo...

They have that same wrapping as you can see in the first picture.

I just discovered Nash fairly recently, but he is one of my new favorites!

-Aarjb

posted by aaronpepperdine at 10:31 am (EST) on Apr 19, 2013

Oh, thank you for recommending Bill & Coo! That's not what I'm looking for, but it's definitely worth resurrecting and sharing on its own merits.

I periodically invite people to Tattered who seem to collect the odd older stuff. Not enough of us, in my opinion.
Ruth

posted by 2wonderY at 10:46 am (EST) on Apr 4, 2013

Thanks for the rundown on The Grapes of Wrath. I did find one copy on Abe listed as Fine. It is $950, but I can probably buy direct and get a 10% discount. I am in complete agreement with you that to rebind it would be to the detriment of the book. I will query the seller to see what he says. One loaded with praise ended up stating that book plates were on the half title page. If I don't get this one, I'll just wait until one becomes available.

I have a cheap Folio Society copy circa 1999, but I first read it in 1958 while stationed at Itazuki AFB, Japan. There was a nice Japanese theatre that specialized in showing classic American films. I saw a double feature of The Grapes of Wrath and A Place in the Sun (An American Tragedy). Then I checked out and read both books. It's been a long time since 1958 so I know I will enjoy Grapes of Wrath, and I have been meaning to reread my LEC of An American Tragedy.

Thanks for your help in determining to keep the Benton lithos intact. If I get this one, I will have all of the Benton illustrated books.

posted by leccol at 1:19 am (EST) on Feb 4, 2013

Hello django-
I have some questions about one of your favorite books: The Grapes of Wrath. There was a copy listed on ebay, but it was not in too good of shape so I asked the seller about the inside condition thinking I might rebind it. The seller replied that it couldn't be rebound because the end pages would have to be replaced, causing 8 Benton lithographs to be lost. But I have seen rebound copies on ebay prior to this. Also, at the time period this book was published (1940), lithographs were taken directly from the stone and tipped in. My questions are: 1) are there really some lithos on the end pages or are there just a few illustrations on the end pages and 2) if there are 8 illustrations are there some on the reverse of the free end pages. There are no copies of this book rated as Fine currently on the internet. I have lost some illustrtions before when I rebound an LEC, but never what I would call an original litho. Right now, since there are no Fine copies, I would like to rebind a copy. I have all the other books illustrated by Benton, but none have illustrations of any kind on the end pages.

I haven't forgoten that you requested a picture of my rebound Don Quixote, and I think you would like what I have done with The Red Badge of Courage. I have yet to get some photo lights, but when I do, I'll send you some pics.

Don Floyd (Leccol)

posted by leccol at 8:43 pm (EST) on Feb 3, 2013

Hi Robert,

Happy New Year!

What's your opinion of the LEC Moonstone? (I always assume that you have all but the most scarce/expensive LEC's!) I really like Dignimont's illustrations for The Wanderer so am curious how he handled The Moonstone. I'd be interested to compare it to the Arion Press edition I recently reviewed on The Whole Book Experience.

Kind Regards,

J.

posted by jveezer at 11:11 pm (EST) on Jan 25, 2013

I'm shaking a jingle stick and holly in your general direction so that Santa will shower you with many books.

posted by varielle at 4:56 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2012

Hi Robert!

I'm alive and well just busy trying to get my business off the ground so haven't been posting a lot. Hope you are having a lovely holiday season and that we can get together for one of our book discussions soon.

J.

posted by jveezer at 9:48 am (EST) on Dec 2, 2012

Hi Robert,

I would be all over this if I was not in one of the worst financial binds I've experienced! XD You can pass along the list, though; I don't know, but maybe my wife would be interested in perusing for Christmas or something. Thanks for thinking of me!

~ Jerry

posted by WildcatJF at 7:01 pm (EST) on Dec 1, 2012

Hi Robert,
Please make a fair price including shipping to Switzerland.

Best regards,

Sergeberrut@bluewin.ch

posted by Maretzo at 12:01 am (EST) on Nov 14, 2012

Hi Robert, too bad!!!! Let me know if she changes her mind! Thanks! Chris

posted by busywine at 11:10 pm (EST) on Aug 17, 2012

Hi Robert, too bad!!!! Let me know if she changes her mind! Thanks! Chris

posted by busywine at 11:10 pm (EST) on Aug 17, 2012

Hey Robert,

Little confused by the LEC Last Chance posting...are you getting rid of some?

posted by WildcatJF at 10:52 pm (EST) on Aug 17, 2012

I understand.. thank you.

posted by SirFolio16 at 9:54 pm (EST) on Aug 17, 2012

Thank you. You are the LEC sage. :)

posted by varielle at 7:44 pm (EST) on Aug 9, 2012

I've spotted an LEC Religio Medici for $50. Apparently the slipcase is a shambles, but they claim it is otherwise alright. What do you think?

posted by varielle at 11:02 am (EST) on Aug 9, 2012

Re: Le roi et l'oiseau
Yes, I must get hold of it too. I've seen extracts from it on YouTube. Apparently it took so long for it to be completed that the later animation is in a different style to that of the 1952 release, of whose 62 minutes only about 40 found their way into the 1980 version (though I'm sure there will now be a DVD around that has a fully restored version.
I posted a comment yesterday on Pierre Watrin and his switch from books to movies under Wildcat's recent review of Revolt of the Angels.

Jack (featherwate)

posted by featherwate at 10:39 am (EST) on Jul 25, 2012

No one else has expressed interest in it so I can hang onto it for a little while if you would like. Twain's work is sort of touch and go with me and this was just never one of my favorites. As for the Centipede Press, I think you are mistakening me for someone else; I have actually never read Frankenstein; it is on my list.

posted by chase.donaldson at 4:40 pm (EST) on Feb 11, 2012

Robert,

Thanks for the concern. Some of it is financial, but I am by no means hurting too bad. I have some duplicates, and there are space concerns as well (we have another boy coming in May). Some of it is that I am selling/trading to get other books that I want more. Call it a spring cleaning :) I thought that your business was picking up a little bit? I haven't been participating much these days on the forums but I do read them and continue to enjoy them, even the more confrontational ones. I particularly enjoyed your recent anecdote about the Analects. Best wishes to you.

Chase

posted by chase.donaldson at 11:26 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2012

It was listed as very good to fine. No mention of glassine or newsletter, but it does have a slip case. I guess I'll find out when it arrives. Thanks for making me feel better about it.

posted by varielle at 4:23 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2012

I just paid nearly $80 for an LEC Gilgamesh. Since I was the only bidder I think I paid too much. Should I kick myself or no?

posted by varielle at 3:57 pm (EST) on Jan 30, 2012

I am curious about who did the Gawain & the G.K. picture on your profile page, if you don't mind saying -- thanks.

posted by sonofcarc at 9:21 am (EST) on Dec 30, 2011

Nicely done. I became aware of LECs about three years ago and have been able to acquire 16 of them. They are still cost prohibitive for me for the most part but I am most assuredly hooked.

posted by AmanteLibros at 2:32 pm (EST) on Dec 25, 2011

Sir, Am I to understand you have 282 LEC;s in your possession? If so, I am green with envy. How did you manage to acquire so many?

posted by AmanteLibros at 9:33 pm (EST) on Dec 24, 2011

Hi Robert. left you an e-mail on your aol.com site, did it come thru? Paul

posted by olepuppy at 8:37 pm (EST) on Apr 18, 2011

Thanks, Django. I have much more appreciation for my copy of Otranto now.

J

posted by veilofisis at 9:04 pm (EST) on Mar 31, 2011

Thanks for all that info! I don't really mind the ink smudge as it's only on the one page, but I'll definitely give any further LEC from that time period a thorough perusing prior to purchase, as per your suggestion. One last question: are LEC ever produced in letterpress? I seem to recall having heard that somewhere, but have no idea if it's correct, or if it was used for every volume. Any further info would be much appreciated.

Thanks again,
J

posted by veilofisis at 7:24 pm (EST) on Mar 31, 2011

Hi Django, do you have a list of books available for trade?

posted by astropi at 11:41 pm (EST) on Feb 7, 2011

Thank you kindly for your message. He arrived on 1/1/11 which was pretty cool and is just over 5 or so weeks old. He has been delightful, and with my wife staying home, it really has been a blessing as I am ending med school. I will be moving down to San Antonio for my residency, which I am not altogether keen on the location, but the training should be supurb. So needless to say, a lot of stuff will be changing here in the next few months!

posted by chase.donaldson at 12:04 am (EST) on Feb 7, 2011

Robert,

Does your LibraryThing user ID have anything to do with the Django Python Web framework?

posted by kdweber at 12:00 am (EST) on Jan 21, 2011

Yes, I recall Cary Grant having a discussion with the gardener about DDT and how great it was. I've actually had it for some time, but removed it from my collection because I thought I'd lost it on an airplane. I just decided my books needed a good rearranging and there it was.

posted by varielle at 12:36 pm (EST) on Jan 7, 2011

That German guy & the English operetta dudes have arrived safe& sound. You were right. I'm thrilled with the G & S!

posted by varielle at 5:17 pm (EST) on Dec 30, 2010

Django,
I would be interested in a list of books remaining, if you are still offering.
bob@priceminer.net

posted by pm11 at 5:06 pm (EST) on Dec 23, 2010

Yes, I heard you were about to wash away. What happened to sunny California?

posted by varielle at 3:00 pm (EST) on Dec 21, 2010

Do you still have the Poems of Heinrich Heine or the Gilbert & Sullivan?

posted by varielle at 10:15 am (EST) on Dec 20, 2010

Gifts for me. Best beloved, and the rest of my crowd, are techies who don't read unless it's a manual.

posted by varielle at 6:18 pm (EST) on Dec 19, 2010

One book I would be very interested in is the Le Grand Meaulne

posted by leo6 at 6:46 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2010

Hard to say...open for offers. The one books I'm looking for is We the Living (Easton Press). But I collect a variety of FS books.

posted by leo6 at 4:49 pm (EST) on Nov 10, 2010

The Nibelungenlied has arrived safe and sound. Very nice.

posted by varielle at 4:37 pm (EST) on Oct 31, 2010

Hello Django,

I am interested The Jungle by Upton Sinclair that you’ve mentioned some time ago in the George Macy group. Is this book still available for sale?

Regards

Stephan

posted by Stephan68 at 11:13 am (EST) on Oct 30, 2010

Django,

The illustration in your profile ... what is it from?

posted by GiltEdge at 9:20 am (EST) on Oct 7, 2010

Robert. Can you send me the list? chase.donaldson@gmail.com

posted by chase.donaldson at 6:18 pm (EST) on Oct 4, 2010

Robert: Sorry if you are being deluged by these but I couldn't see the response to kdweber's question a couple weeks ago. Did you hit a snag in getting the LEC inventory list out or did I somehow miss the boat?

posted by jveezer at 11:08 am (EST) on Sep 25, 2010

Any progress on selling the legacy LECs for your relative?

posted by kdweber at 12:14 pm (EST) on Sep 9, 2010

Thanks Robert. I am missing probably half of them in my collection of about 100+. Do you have quite a few extra letters, or should I send you a list of the books which are lacking letters?

posted by chase.donaldson at 3:32 pm (EST) on Sep 3, 2010

What duplicate LEC letters do you have? Unfortunately in my early collecting career I thought of the letters as a plus instead of as a near necessity, and unfortunately the "completist" in me now is getting anal about the old ones I have.

posted by chase.donaldson at 10:09 am (EST) on Aug 30, 2010

When the list of LECs is ready, I'd be keen on taking a look at it

posted by chase.donaldson at 12:28 pm (EST) on Aug 28, 2010

Hi,
Just wanted to know what you were thinking about the Penal Colony. I was hoping to get 200 for it.

posted by chase.donaldson at 4:48 pm (EST) on Aug 26, 2010

Hi Django, I just saw a LEC Decline and Fall on ebay. It is not in the best of conditions but I thought that as you mentioned some time ago you were looking for one that I would just mention it.

posted by ironjaw at 8:26 am (EST) on May 15, 2010

when LT updated their picture galleries, it wiped all my icons and I was away from my main PC. The real photo is now restored.

posted by moosiferjones at 5:41 am (EST) on Feb 26, 2010

Thank you for your comment. Yes it would definitely be costly to be a subscriber. I think the best way would be to buy the ones that are of interest directly from them.

Sadly I do not know much about Mrs. Bridge, but seems interesting. I considered also the Melville. I guess your right FS is probably enough. I was reading through the Folio 60 and the prospectus yesterday night and have already found many titles that I wish toy acquire. I found something interesting though in the Folio 60, a Hemingway short stories signed by the author. (can't remember what page) I am not sure whether that means it was signed by Hemingway itself as that could not be as he passed away in 1961. I will have to look it up.

posted by ironjaw at 12:13 pm (EST) on Feb 15, 2010

Hi Django

I hope it is okay that I am contacting you. You have an immense knowledge about books and I always read and respect your post at the FS Devotees page.

I read that you are a Arion Press member. I am thinking about becoming a subscriber and wanted to know how much you budget each year for their titles as I read you have to buy every title every year. I have also considered maybe just buying one off's but their catelogue is tempting esp. Don Quixote.

It is an expensive affair especially with all those LE from FS :)

Any advice would be welcoming

posted by ironjaw at 1:11 pm (EST) on Feb 13, 2010

I sent an email to your aol address without making clear that the pie maker is Pepys...

posted by Pepys at 5:41 am (EST) on Feb 1, 2010

Thanks for encouraging my fledgling collection. Maybe one day it will catch up to yours. The slip case isn't in great shape, but the book is good. One stain on the spine that looks like somebody sloshed a glass of wine across it long ago. Very happy.

posted by varielle at 10:26 am (EST) on Jan 27, 2010

Salammbo showed up in the mail today. Feels like butter. Afraid to touch it.

posted by varielle at 9:12 pm (EST) on Jan 25, 2010

Boswell doesn't have a "fan club" per se, but a few Boswell lovers have been cataloging the Boswell Library on Library Thing for the last fourteen months. We should be complete this month.

best,
Jerry Morris

posted by moibibliomaniac at 7:46 pm (EST) on Nov 17, 2009

Django, many thanks for your detailed reply - that was really helpful! I'll follow your advice - the leather version is definitely way out of my budget at the moment.

posted by BorisG at 9:31 am (EST) on Oct 15, 2009

No problem. I also won't be buying from the sale - at least until my son's college tuition payments are completed.

posted by pm11 at 11:27 am (EST) on Oct 13, 2009

Django:
Check out Oak Knoll Books online. They have a 60% off sale, including a $34 Zadig by Voltaire.

posted by pm11 at 9:24 pm (EST) on Oct 2, 2009

I realize only now that your pic features Sir Gawain and the Green Knight! When you read this book in Middle English, do you need a dictionary or are you sufficiently fluent? I must admit that, without a translation into Modern English, some lines are almost impossible to decipher fo me, while others are quite plain.

posted by Pepys at 4:28 am (EST) on Aug 14, 2009

I have several versions of Song of Songs, including a recorded version in French that the singer Alain Bashung and wife recited at their wedding! I became fascinated with it because in the ancient bible in the Romanesque church at Romainmôtier, those pages have been torn out! I'll take some photos tomorrow - and would be interested in seeing yours!

posted by overthemoon at 4:19 pm (EST) on Aug 3, 2009

Sorry about the rotten weather. The prairies are usually much hotter in July but the whole country seems to be trying to disprove global warming this year. We've had snow in May and once the snow finally went away it seemed like it would never stop raining (we just got dumped on again today). Churchill (our northern port on Hudson's Bay) had it's ice break-up in late June (the latest time for it in a long while). Even British Columbia (our "tropical" province) had an awful spring. And tonight on the local news they said we've had eight consecutive months of below normal temperatures--one more month and we break a record (not that we want to). So bundle up, stay warm, and hopefully this will all go away and you can enjoy some of Regina's real summer weather soon.

posted by haniwitch at 12:20 am (EST) on Jul 15, 2009

I do like Tim Horton's coffee but pretty much any coffee I've tried has given me a headache. Which is maybe a blessing in disguise because if I ever got addicted to something like that there wouldn't be as much money to spend on books.

I'm afraid I haven't been to Regina so I can't give you any recommendations other than to say that it's supposed to be a very nice little city. My only experience with Saskatchewan is a couple of towns along the Manitoba border (which is the province I live in). Hope you enjoy your stay there.

posted by haniwitch at 11:59 pm (EST) on Jun 24, 2009

I'm glad you were intrigued. I thought you might enjoy it.

By the way, I note the 5-star rating for Marquez. I agree wholeheartedly on Marquez and recently finished Love in the Time of Cholera (also wonderful).

posted by pm11 at 1:56 pm (EST) on Jun 8, 2009

Django: here is the rest of the note from my friend (see note below). Don't read this first. Read the one below first and then come up to this one,.

"(continued)

A later (and far superior) bio by Eleanor Ruggles set the record straight. She discounted Lindsay's paranoid account of Souther's "conspiracy" to prevent him from moving back into the family home.

My psychobiographical take is that Latham Souther, Lindsay's neighbor and near contemporary, served as a model of the "good son" that Lindsay's father could have pointed to. Vachel dropped out of medical school, disappointing Dr. Lindsay whereas Latham followed in his father's banking business. I've also (in my own fevered imagination) drawn a dotted line from my arch-conservative great-grandfather to Vachel to Vachel's friend Lewis Sinclair to Sinclair's archetypal character George Babbitt. Every description of Souther I've ever read, both positive and negative, match Babbitt to a T. Maybe Souther coincidentally fit the profile that Lewis outlined but it is uncanny and there are very few degrees of separation."

posted by pm11 at 8:30 pm (EST) on Jun 2, 2009

Django:
I thought you might find this series of posts from Facebook interesting. A friend of mine still lives in Springfield, Illinois and is a member of the Vachel Linsday Association.Great quiz.

The opening comment is a suggested question from me for a Springfield, Illinois quiz Larry was creating.

Robert Miner. Great quiz. Much better than the other one. I've got one to add:
Which well-known 20th Century writer who produced classic translations of such works as The Iliad and the Odyssey graduated from Springfield High School?
a. Robert Fitzgerald
b. Richmond Lattimore
c. Robert Fagles
d. Robert Graves
12:31pm · Comment · Like · See Wall-to-Wall

Larry Stevens at 6:26pm June 2
Well done. Adding Fitz crossed my mind but I couldn't come up with a good question off the top of my head. Same for Barrett Deems, another famouse SHS alum.

A letter from Vachel Lindsay to Susan Wilcox was unearthed a few years ago in which VL inquired after the young Robert Fitzgerald whose student work he had just read in a journal Ms Wilcox had sent him.

Robert Miner at 6:42pm June 2
That's cool. Susan Wilcox had a huge impact and must have been a wonderful teacher.

I'm on a book blog where a cinematographer was making a strong case for Vachel Lindsay's legacy and I thought about your comments on your Facebook page. I have mixed feelings about him as a writer, but take a special rooting interest in him as a hometown favorite.

Larry Stevens at 7:03pm June 2
We (the VL Assn) had his grandson, Nick Lindsay, an indy film maker, come give a lecture in Spfld a few years ago. I asked him if thought the VL bio would make a good film and he said no.

Lindsay did write the very first book of film criticism so his legacy is secure in that regard.

I have to tell you my own revelation which I hope is not too long for this comment field. I knew that VL was a friend of my great-grandmother, Lyna Souther, and that he had given her some book as a present. I ended up finding the book at the Sangamon Valley Collection. It was a utopian tract by a famouse Gothic Revival architect that proposed the creation of Walled Towns (the title) to save humanity from the ravages of modernism. Lindsay inscribed it to my g-grandma and filled it with critical annotations. He was trying to sell his notion of a University of Springfield to her and her elite friends.... Read More

Larry Stevens at 7:15pm June 2
. . . (continued from previous post)

In researching all this, I googled Lindsay+Souther and found a reference to a letter in a library collection addressed to my great-grandfather, Latham Souther. The letter addressed him as the Trust Officer of the estate of VL's father.

My blood ran cold. The trust officer of the Lindsay estate was cast as the main villain of Masters' bio of VL. The name of the person was omitted from all of the bios for legal reasons. Masters all but blamed him for Lindsay's suicide. I quizzed my father about this and he knew nothing about it. I verified from published letters by Lindsay that he hated my great-grandfather, that Souther was always telling him that he had to quit writing poetry and get a real job. Lindsay had built up this animus into a full blown conspiracy wherein he was being banished from Springfield like Dante from Florence. Masters bought Lindsay's story whole and retold the banishment story in the bio. (continued) . . .

Robert Miner at 7:22pm June 2
Larry, this is amazing. What a find. Sorry your great-grandfather is on the villain side of the story. I've got to figure out how to send this to my friend on the book blog site. I think he would find it interesting.

posted by pm11 at 8:27 pm (EST) on Jun 2, 2009

I fell over it in the remaindered bin at Barney Nobles. I didn't know there was a movie. I'll have to add it to my Netflix lineup.

posted by varielle at 5:27 pm (EST) on May 11, 2009

Hello, way back in June you asked me on the Folio thread at which school it was that I heard Mary Renault speak. It was South Wilts Grammar School for Girls, Salisbury, Wiltshire. It's still there, and still quite good, I think. When my older sisters were there, the teachers and the headmistress were of the generation of redoubtable Oxbridge bluestockings (in the mould of MR). Those glory days had all but gone in the 1970s, although a few maiden ladies remained - women of great character and erudition.
I remember the Latin teacher saying at exam time (to widespread incomprehension and titter) that "wise virgins will bring spare pens." Well, at least one of the girls knew why she put it like that!
best wishes, GG

posted by Goldengrove at 2:36 pm (EST) on Mar 26, 2009

HI:

i have recently joined LibraryThing and note that you have an extensive LEC collection. This is my main area of interest. I note that you have the 1951 edition of Anna Karenina. I just bought a copy of this on Ebay, but after I bought it I noticed a set on ABE that mentioned a dust jacket. I tried to contact the bookseller to determine if it really had a dust jacket or if he was describing the glassine covers, but i did not get any response. Do you know if it came with a printed paper dust jacket?

I am also interested in acquiring early (the first 100) monthly letters. Do you know of a source for these? The newsletters, I think, are fascinating ephemera and display Macy's great love of books and are also wonderful exapmles of mid 20th century salesmanship.

posted by atrco at 9:35 am (EST) on Feb 25, 2009

Hi Django - reading over an old posting on a Folio Society thread I noticed that you had pointed me in the direction of Prokudin-Gorskii.

For some reason I never picked this up at the time, but have just looked him up now. And his colour images are fantastic. We had a programme here in the UK last year about colour photography & cinematography of the Edwardian 10s, the 20s and the 30s, including Albert Khan. I thought Khan's photos were magic in the way they recpatured the early 20th century (and beautiful as artistic images too!) but if anything P-G outdoes these.

So thanks for the suggestion, sorry it has taken me so long to follow it up.

posted by zenomax at 4:00 am (EST) on Feb 11, 2009

Django - really I was only joking! You mean the NY Trilogy? well, if you twist my arm...

posted by overthemoon at 4:24 am (EST) on Jan 24, 2009

Thanks for the comments--hope you find something enjoyable in my library. As for my music, I write modern classical music, including electronic music. I like to play with time (suspend it, dilate/contract, more than one timestream going at once, etc); I like cyclical, cumulative structures; I like shifts in perspective; I like motivic play and development. Favorite composers include Gyorgy Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Tristan Murail, Salvatore Sciarrino, Debussy, Beethoven, and Bach (and a whole lot more :). My recent music is trending toward more complexity and some playing around with microtones.

I have some pieces posted at a couple of places--I'll give you a couple of links in a private message.

posted by Medellia at 7:07 pm (EST) on Nov 17, 2008

I've added you to my interesting libraries for the purpose of Folio-gazing (and note-taking!). You have quite the collection.

posted by Medellia at 11:08 pm (EST) on Nov 15, 2008

Indeed I did. 17K is actually not too bad, as I have seen it go for 25K before. The slipcase is not in the greatest of shape though, but in this case, the slipcase does not hold quite the value that the actual book does.

posted by chase.donaldson at 6:44 pm (EST) on Oct 1, 2008

no problem django, it isn't a heavy thing and you are the first so it's all yours!

posted by overthemoon at 2:53 pm (EST) on Sep 19, 2008

Robert,

I noticed today on the FS website that the elusive, Folio Society tote bags are being offered to those who purchase 4(!) books today. Knowing your perpetual angst in never having been offered this exclusive luxury, I thought that I'd bring this to your attention. I hope that you can contain your excitement.

Nancy and I are very thankful that Ike has left us relatively undamaged. Two elm trees in our front yard are about fifteen feet shorter than they were previously, but we received no damage to the house whatsoever. A tornado touched down only 150 from us, toppling two seventy-foot elms into neighboring property, so things could have been different. We still have no electricity and are unlikely to have it restored for several days yet. We are staying with friends who have two children that just left home for college (leaving guestrooms in the process) and who have electricity.

Cheers,

Steve

posted by teebweeb at 2:20 pm (EST) on Sep 18, 2008

Robert,

Just letting you know that the books will be sent off tomorrow. Sorry for my delay, but things have started to get crazy at school.

posted by chase.donaldson at 12:53 am (EST) on Sep 17, 2008

I actually just received your check today! I should be able to get the box in the mail in a day or so. I look forward to seeing pictures of your library!

posted by chase.donaldson at 5:28 pm (EST) on Sep 9, 2008

Robert,

The link for the Brothers K is below. They dropped the price to $65 too, and just so you know, there is a 15% discount on the Powells site if you use VISA08 as a coupon code.
http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=1188633625&searchurl=bi%3D0...

posted by chase.donaldson at 12:20 pm (EST) on Sep 6, 2008

ps - if you have any pictures of your library, i would very much like to see it!

posted by chase.donaldson at 2:46 am (EST) on Sep 4, 2008

I know that you have been looking for the 3 volume Brothers K from LEC. Powells has a set now for 75 that is in pretty good shape. I almost bought it, but it didnt have the slipcase...thoughtd you might like to know

posted by chase.donaldson at 12:55 am (EST) on Sep 3, 2008

I know that you have been looking for the 3 volume Brothers K from LEC. Powells has a set now for 75 that is in pretty good shape. I almost bought it, but it didnt have the slipcase...thoughtd you might like to know

posted by chase.donaldson at 12:55 am (EST) on Sep 3, 2008

Hesketh's book sounds very tempting--methinks I shall add it to my neverending list of amazon "saved" books (I try and empty as much of it as I can come Christmas).

I was perusing your library (just realized your image is from Gawain and the Green Knight--hoping to work that into nightstand rotation very soon!) and saw Memoirs of a Georgian Rake. It looks equally appetizing. I don't think, off the top of my head, I can counter your Smith of Smiths with a recommendation of my own...was going to use Aubrey's Brief Lives but I see you have that one. Man is it funny.

Actually, a really good source for somewhat under-known books is Michael Dirda...he's a reviewer for the Washington Post and has several volumes of reviews out. His latest book, Classics for Pleasure, is sort of an alternative canon. He mentions Petronius, Aubrey, Georgette Heyer, Jacob Burckhardt (his Renaissance essay), Gawain, and quite a few others. Actually, in his penultimate book, "Bound to Please", he wrote a review of a book you might like called "The Lunar Men". It's about a group of men--Darwin's grandfather, Wedgwood, James Watt, and some others--and their interactions, experiments, and lives in general in 18th c. England. Lots of anecdotes and such. The author, Jenny Uglow, also wrote a biography of Hogarth that was wonderful. It too has lots of stories, anecdotes, and scenes from London in the reign of George II (one of those kings no one notices, which is perhaps fortunate, as he died on the toilet). She goes into detail about the play, "The Beggar's Opera", and Sam Johnson makes a few appearances, as do Joshua Reynolds, Garrick, and some other Literary Club alums.

posted by uncultured at 2:42 am (EST) on Jul 5, 2008

Re Smith of Smiths:

Never heard of this, what exactly is it? It's not on Gutenberg (or my other internet resource, www.archive.org, which has online editions of Thraliana, Walpole's letters, and the journals of Charles Greville). I found a few pages of preview on amazon but no description.

Speaking of Greville, he's not too bad a diarist, though the only editions I can find are reprints of a 1908 volume that, though it advertises "Hitherto Unpublished Extracts", is fairly clean and decent, though it does an excellent job of describing country house weekends and some minor scandals such as duels, eccentricities, and things of that nature. But maybe he just didn't put that sort of thing in his diary.

I suspect that between Boswell, Pepys, and Casanova, I've become quite spoiled in terms of what I expect from a diarist, and when combined with the spate of unbowdlerized translations that have come out in the past 10-20 years (the Pevear-Volkohnsky team tackling Russia and Dumas, the new Proust editions, etc.), I've really gotten finicky about reading the "correct" edition of something. War and Peace alone found me in the bookstore with the Briggs and P-V editions open to the same page, comparing and contrasting...Modern biography is the same way, each new version advertising newly found documents, secret letters, private information previous biographers were bribed to keep out, etc etc. It makes me quite neurotic, literarily.

Just to throw one more question out before I finish--Have you checked out Casanova's Memoirs? He's a great memoirist--I'm reading Volumes 1-2 right now, and he's in Turkey contemplating an offer to marry a Muslim aristocrat's daughter. It's surely exaggerated, but great fun. It's the Willard Trask translation; prior to him translations were based on an edition that was not only censored, but altered as well.

posted by uncultured at 1:57 am (EST) on Jul 3, 2008

How interesting re: Thrale's marginalia! Does she write entire anecdotes and such, or is it more restricted to brief phrases, like "How very true indeed!"? I have the '93 FS edition of Boswell's Life of Johnson, which, at least, provides names whenever Boswell says something like "a mutual acquaintance who loved to drink..." or "A man who constantly lusted after women..." (and oftentimes it turns out Boswell is speaking of himself...haha, not very surprising, I guess).

I just found this incredible website, www.archive.org, while doing a search for Walpole's letters--I'm finding all sorts of long lusted-after diaries and books from the 18th century. They have a VERSION of Thraliana--not the two volume edition from 1951 (put out by Oxford I think) but a separate, earlier version from 1913 that always has the phrase "With Hitherto Unpublished Extracts" in the title. Also have the Letters from Princess Lieven to Metternich--Lieven was pretty nasty customer, but she apparently was very smart and spot on re: gossip and England at the time. Just thought you'd be interested!

posted by uncultured at 2:44 am (EST) on Jun 13, 2008

Django, I have been interested in the FS edition of the Arabian Nights since I did not take it as a renewal offering several years ago. As you have both the FS and EP editions which one would you recommend? You mention you prefer the FS translation, but what about the bindings, illustrations, fonts, etc? I would appreciate any comments you have on both editions. Thank you.

P.S. I also posted this on the Arabian Nights thread in the Easton Press group.

posted by LucasTrask at 8:45 pm (EST) on Jun 5, 2008

yes, I did add them all manually because I already had most of the details on the computer in a list before LT existed, so I just needed to copy and paste.
I wonder why you can't transfer the details, isn't it automatic? As for the cover art - well I don't have a scanner and don't really like those flat pics so always try to do something a bit artsy. At the moment I'm struggling with the Age of Illumination, have made several attempts at it but am never satisfied.
You should normally be able to choose them from the "member uploaded covers" thing.

posted by overthemoon at 2:16 pm (EST) on May 29, 2008

thanks Django - I have just returned from a press trip but will have a look as soon as I get my photos uploaded etc.
I was very interested to see that he was the Gill of the Gill Sans, didn't realise that!

posted by overthemoon at 2:12 pm (EST) on May 29, 2008