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1featherwate
My LEC copy of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward belonged to his son, Paul. Paul's ex-libris is on the fep, and on a blank prelim page there is an inscription that reveals it was given to him by his second wife on their first anniversary. (It was her helpfully adding the date that enabled me to confirm he was the 'right' Paul Bellamy.)
Paul (1884-1956) was a distinguished journalist. The NYT gave him a long obituary, praising him as forthright, high-principled and a staunch defender of press freedom. Almost all his career was on Cleveland's famous Plain Dealer - I assume it's famous, as even I've heard of it! He joined as a cub reporter in 1908, became city editor (aged 26) in 1910, managing editor in 1920 and editor in 1928, a position he held until he became editor emeritus in 1954, continuing to visit the office right up to the day before he died. He held national posts in the newspaper industry, was a Democrat and headed one of Roosevelt's wartime committees – although in the 1940 presidential election he had persuaded the Plain Dealer to endorse Republican Wendell Willkie.
Perhaps Mrs Bellamy celebrated their third wedding anniversary by giving Paul One World, Willkie's 1944 LEC ?
It's rare one gets to see a book's previous owner from 70 years back:
Shame he isn't shown reading the book!
Paul (1884-1956) was a distinguished journalist. The NYT gave him a long obituary, praising him as forthright, high-principled and a staunch defender of press freedom. Almost all his career was on Cleveland's famous Plain Dealer - I assume it's famous, as even I've heard of it! He joined as a cub reporter in 1908, became city editor (aged 26) in 1910, managing editor in 1920 and editor in 1928, a position he held until he became editor emeritus in 1954, continuing to visit the office right up to the day before he died. He held national posts in the newspaper industry, was a Democrat and headed one of Roosevelt's wartime committees – although in the 1940 presidential election he had persuaded the Plain Dealer to endorse Republican Wendell Willkie.
Perhaps Mrs Bellamy celebrated their third wedding anniversary by giving Paul One World, Willkie's 1944 LEC ?
It's rare one gets to see a book's previous owner from 70 years back:
Shame he isn't shown reading the book!
2LolaWalser
My LEC copy of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward belonged to his son, Paul.
I am envious of this connection! That rates better than just "mildly" interesting, IMO.
I am envious of this connection! That rates better than just "mildly" interesting, IMO.
3Django6924
Yes, this is the type of provenance that makes you happy previous owners used bookplates!
4featherwate
>2 LolaWalser:, 3
Put it down to British understatement.
I was actually thrilled by the association.
So thrilled I couldn't even spell the word.
But LT doesn't allow you to edit message headings, dammit.
As a sometime proofreader this will be a poke in the eye every time I log on to GMD!
Never mind. I really like the book itself as an object. Full marks to the effervescent Mr and Mrs Armitage. Their characteristically knock-out title spread, his idiosyncratic but not distracting choice of typeface - beautifully black and and perfectly spaced - and her simple, evocative chapter heads all strike the right note.
And you're right about the binding cloth, Robert: this yellow, more pale ochre than than the New Arabian Nights's safety-jacket yellow, is spot-on, especially in combination with the earthy reddish-ochre of the page edges.
I just hope the text lives up to its packaging!
Put it down to British understatement.
I was actually thrilled by the association.
So thrilled I couldn't even spell the word.
But LT doesn't allow you to edit message headings, dammit.
As a sometime proofreader this will be a poke in the eye every time I log on to GMD!
Never mind. I really like the book itself as an object. Full marks to the effervescent Mr and Mrs Armitage. Their characteristically knock-out title spread, his idiosyncratic but not distracting choice of typeface - beautifully black and and perfectly spaced - and her simple, evocative chapter heads all strike the right note.
And you're right about the binding cloth, Robert: this yellow, more pale ochre than than the New Arabian Nights's safety-jacket yellow, is spot-on, especially in combination with the earthy reddish-ochre of the page edges.
I just hope the text lives up to its packaging!
5LolaWalser
#4
I thought it was brilliant. Not a literary masterpiece nor a breath-taking adventure yarn, but a deeply interesting snapshot of 19th century socialism. It pays to look into what were the social conditions in the US when Bellamy was writing, the age of capitalist robber barons and laissez-faire at its most frenzied.
His proposed scheme may be impossible to implement for any number of reasons but I defy anyone to demonstrate it is unjust compared to how we live now.
I thought it was brilliant. Not a literary masterpiece nor a breath-taking adventure yarn, but a deeply interesting snapshot of 19th century socialism. It pays to look into what were the social conditions in the US when Bellamy was writing, the age of capitalist robber barons and laissez-faire at its most frenzied.
His proposed scheme may be impossible to implement for any number of reasons but I defy anyone to demonstrate it is unjust compared to how we live now.
6Django6924
>4 featherwate: "I just hope the text lives up to its packaging!"
If you aren't one whose hackles immediately rise at any criticism of capitalism, and of the notion that the basis of capitalism and most large governments is that, left to their own devices, people will usually act entirely from motives of self-interest, you will probably find it a bracing read. Many of the author's prophecies--credit/debit cards, big-box stores, a sort of Internet telephone, etc.--seem remarkably prescient, though I doubt the author would approve of the uses being put to these innovations.
If you aren't one whose hackles immediately rise at any criticism of capitalism, and of the notion that the basis of capitalism and most large governments is that, left to their own devices, people will usually act entirely from motives of self-interest, you will probably find it a bracing read. Many of the author's prophecies--credit/debit cards, big-box stores, a sort of Internet telephone, etc.--seem remarkably prescient, though I doubt the author would approve of the uses being put to these innovations.
7featherwate
Thanks, both - I am encouraged! It's clear the aftershocks of the book still persist - when I was looking for Paul Bellamy on the net I kept being directed to sites that attack him even now for being a friend of the rabidly socialist Franklin Roosevelt and for not disowning his own "evil parents" whose beliefs led to the rise of both National Socialism and Stalinism.
Or something.
And, no, Robert, I don't mind anyone putting the boot into capitalism - or for that matter into what passes for socialism or liberalism today.
Or something.
And, no, Robert, I don't mind anyone putting the boot into capitalism - or for that matter into what passes for socialism or liberalism today.
8Django6924
As LolaWalser suggested, the more you know about the historical events of The Gilded Age, which is really the subject of Bellamy's utopian tale, the more relevant it seems. The upheavals caused by the Industrial Revolution and unbridled laissez-faire capitalism are being played out again--though this time it's called "globalization." Did that situation pave the way for the cataclysmic events of the 20th century--two world wars, the collapse of aristocracies and the rise of totalitarianism? If so, what kind of future are we preparing now?
Very fascinating and underrated book.
Very fascinating and underrated book.
9andrewsd
>8 Django6924: I've been reading reviews of this title, and it doesn't get much higher than two stars from most people. It sounds like something I would be interested in though.
10featherwate
>9 andrewsd: I doubt you'll find a more enticing copy in which to take the plunge!
11featherwate
My recent acquisition has been a two-volume illustrated bilingual limited edition of the works of Francois Villon published in 1928 by Covici, Friede of New York.
By coincidence, it has the book-plate of one Spencer Dunshee Irwin (1901-1960), who turns out to have been an Associate Editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and therefore a colleague of Paul Bellamy, first owner of my copy of Looking Backward.
A fine, literary lot, these Ohio journalists!
I bought this particular Villon set because the artist is the LEC's first illustrator, Alexander King, whose work I enjoy (although the Villon is not as good as his Gulliver). I also recently bought another of his collaborations with Covici, Friede, also dating from 1928. Venus Castina : famous female impersonators, celestial and human gives him full scope for his outrageous sense of humour !
By coincidence, it has the book-plate of one Spencer Dunshee Irwin (1901-1960), who turns out to have been an Associate Editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and therefore a colleague of Paul Bellamy, first owner of my copy of Looking Backward.
A fine, literary lot, these Ohio journalists!
I bought this particular Villon set because the artist is the LEC's first illustrator, Alexander King, whose work I enjoy (although the Villon is not as good as his Gulliver). I also recently bought another of his collaborations with Covici, Friede, also dating from 1928. Venus Castina : famous female impersonators, celestial and human gives him full scope for his outrageous sense of humour !
12Django6924
King must have been quite a character. No wonder Macy puzzled later whatever motivated him to assign the job of illustrating the first LEC Brothers Karamazov to King. Seeing works such as the above, I'm sure I would have never paired the two!
13featherwate
He was quite a character, Robert! I didn't realise this until I looked for him on the net and was startled to find him described by Time magazine as "an ex-illustrator, ex-cartoonist, ex-adman, ex-editor, ex-playwright, ex-dope addict. For a quarter-century he was an ex-painter, and by his own bizarre account qualifies as an ex-midwife. He is also an ex-husband to three wives ...When doctors told him a few years ago that he might soon be an ex-patient (two strokes, serious kidney disease, peptic ulcer, high blood pressure), he sat down to tell gay stories of the life of all these earlier Kings."
This was in response to the first, lurid volume of his autobiography, Mine Enemy Grows Older, published in 1958. His appearance on The Tonight Show to plug it (he was one of Jack Paar's regulars) was a performance in which he "came up out of the basement and took off like a 900-page bodice ripper.” The book became a million-seller - now a million-and-one-seller since I haven't been able to resist ordering a copy.
This was in response to the first, lurid volume of his autobiography, Mine Enemy Grows Older, published in 1958. His appearance on The Tonight Show to plug it (he was one of Jack Paar's regulars) was a performance in which he "came up out of the basement and took off like a 900-page bodice ripper.” The book became a million-seller - now a million-and-one-seller since I haven't been able to resist ordering a copy.
14Django6924
I remember him on the Paar show as being very sarcastic--funny but with a cruel edge to his humor.
15featherwate
I was surprised to find an LEC Lord Jim for sale on ABE.UK at the outrageous price of... £1.64p ($2.57). True it was described as "Ex-library, with usual stamps and markings, With owner's name and inscription inside cover. In fair condition, suitable as a study copy.", but my immediate assumption was that it was really one of the Heritage Press editions. But the seller definitely described it as being numbered and signed by the illustrator so I thought it was worth taking a chance, even though being a remarkably heavy book for its size the total cost with p&p was a massive £4.94 ($7.74).
It's just arrived:
and I'm relieved to see it doesn't look quite as distressed as vdanchev's unfortunate Madame Bovary. Internally there are library markings on the ffep and the copyright page, and a magnetic strip glued to the inside back cover. Otherwise the interior is fine and Lynd Ward's lithographs impressive:
But the cherry on the cake is the "owner's name and inscription inside cover", which is in fact on the colophon:
So this rather careworn book turns out to be a blind-stamped presentation copy that belonged to Nicholas Montsarrat, the author of the introduction, who gave it away as a Christmas gift six years later to someone who then gave it to the University of Reading (pronounced as in Otis) from whose stock it eventually found its way to a dealer who did not realise that Montsarrat had been an international best-selling British novelist, whose The Cruel Sea was one of the finest novels to come out of World War II. Sic Transit Gloria Nicholai.... but I'm pleased with the association.
(The Cruel Sea was made into a superb film which earned an Oscar nomination for Eric Ambler, who wrote the screenplay. It is also notable as almost the only war film of that period whose cast did not include LEC subscriber Bryan Forbes,)
It's just arrived:
and I'm relieved to see it doesn't look quite as distressed as vdanchev's unfortunate Madame Bovary. Internally there are library markings on the ffep and the copyright page, and a magnetic strip glued to the inside back cover. Otherwise the interior is fine and Lynd Ward's lithographs impressive:
But the cherry on the cake is the "owner's name and inscription inside cover", which is in fact on the colophon:
So this rather careworn book turns out to be a blind-stamped presentation copy that belonged to Nicholas Montsarrat, the author of the introduction, who gave it away as a Christmas gift six years later to someone who then gave it to the University of Reading (pronounced as in Otis) from whose stock it eventually found its way to a dealer who did not realise that Montsarrat had been an international best-selling British novelist, whose The Cruel Sea was one of the finest novels to come out of World War II. Sic Transit Gloria Nicholai.... but I'm pleased with the association.
(The Cruel Sea was made into a superb film which earned an Oscar nomination for Eric Ambler, who wrote the screenplay. It is also notable as almost the only war film of that period whose cast did not include LEC subscriber Bryan Forbes,)
16HuxleyTheCat
>15 featherwate: Congratulations, Jack, what a brilliant find!
17Django6924
Outstanding find! I happen to have a first edition of The Cruel Sea (unsigned, alas) which I acquired over 50 years ago when I first saw the film. So hard to imagine the cavalier way in which many LECs have been treated--even one with the special provenance of this one!
18featherwate
A brief exchange of messages last week* about possible variant bindings for Ten Years and William Shakespeare led me to look more closely at my copy of the book, whereupon I noticed a small, neat inscription on the flyleaf. It reads
To E.W. with J.T.W.'s love
One of the contributors to Ten Years was John T Winterich, bibliophile, book collector, book critic and magazine editor, and friend and colleague of George Macy, for whom he did much editorial work, notably as editor-in-chief of the Szyk-illustrated Arabian Nights LEC, 'a gargantuan task' according to Carol Grossman (The History of The Limited Editions Club, 2017).
After George's death, Helen Macy prevailed upon him to write the Monthly Letters, a job for which he was ideally equipped.
Having found some examples of Winterich's handwriting on the net, I'm satisfied that he wrote the inscription and that it was addressed to either his wife Emily or his sister Edith.
*Questions for the Resident LEC and HP Experts - continued 04/2017, messages 205-208
To E.W. with J.T.W.'s love
One of the contributors to Ten Years was John T Winterich, bibliophile, book collector, book critic and magazine editor, and friend and colleague of George Macy, for whom he did much editorial work, notably as editor-in-chief of the Szyk-illustrated Arabian Nights LEC, 'a gargantuan task' according to Carol Grossman (The History of The Limited Editions Club, 2017).
After George's death, Helen Macy prevailed upon him to write the Monthly Letters, a job for which he was ideally equipped.
Having found some examples of Winterich's handwriting on the net, I'm satisfied that he wrote the inscription and that it was addressed to either his wife Emily or his sister Edith.
*Questions for the Resident LEC and HP Experts - continued 04/2017, messages 205-208
20featherwate
>19 Django6924:
Winterich's wife died in 1977, but his sister lived on into 2011 not long before her 104th birthday! I bought my copy from Better World Books, Indiana, in May 2012. I think this makes it most likely to have been part of his sister's estate, especially as it was in near fine condition.
I was amazed to see it cost me only $7.00 including shipping!
Winterich's wife died in 1977, but his sister lived on into 2011 not long before her 104th birthday! I bought my copy from Better World Books, Indiana, in May 2012. I think this makes it most likely to have been part of his sister's estate, especially as it was in near fine condition.
I was amazed to see it cost me only $7.00 including shipping!
22featherwate
>21 EclecticIndulgence:
Very true, EI! I've been reading some recent site reviews of BWB. On the basis of those there's no way I'd risk buying from them now. It's not only the poor packaging and consequent damage, but also evasive descriptions, and books not arriving, to which the bland response is 'as the estimated time of arrival has passed we assume your parcel has been delivered'. What!!!???
Very true, EI! I've been reading some recent site reviews of BWB. On the basis of those there's no way I'd risk buying from them now. It's not only the poor packaging and consequent damage, but also evasive descriptions, and books not arriving, to which the bland response is 'as the estimated time of arrival has passed we assume your parcel has been delivered'. What!!!???
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