Classic Pooh

Disney has decided to revert to "classic" Pooh. Well, Duuuuh!

Some things are just not meant to be slick and shiny, and Pooh and his friends fall squarely into that category. My family has had a long, long relationship with the gang from the 100 Aker Wood. My mother used Pooh as part of the curriculum in her elementary classroom long before he became a Disney standard. Each of the siblings in the family has a character. One brother is Tigger, one is Piglet, my sister is Kanga, and I'm Eeyore.

Mark Twain Gets a Stamp

It's about time. The 27th stamp in the Literary Series from the United States Postal Service honors the great American author Mark Twain on a "forever" stamp. Why it took 26 issues to get around to him I'll never understand.

Uncle Tom

There are many books in the canon of American Literature that most people are pretty sure that they know, even though they may never have read the book. Between children's versions, movies and other (read Cliff Notes) means; they have been exposed and have a fully formed opinion. A recent article in NYT points out that the common perception of Uncle Tom as a bungling, old stooped servent is not the character that Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote about.

Because of the connections that various member of the Beecher-Stowe clan had in this area of Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana, associations with "Uncle Tom's Cabin, or Life Among the Lowly" are regularly cited for many locations. At least two different communities in two states claim the original of the crossing the river on the ice story, and in that era before dams and locks the Ohio River did freeze some winters. There was even a Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin published by the author because she had so many queries about her story.

Illustrator does visual interview

Shaun Tan received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award from Swedish Crown Princess Victoria during a ceremony in Stockholm on May 31.

In an interview with Speigel he answers questions with drawings. How cool! page through the interview here

Cincinnati well read

According to A Boy and His Books there is an Amazon report out that lists Cincy in the top 20 of well-read cities in America.

Gone with the Wind

Today's NYT has a story about "missing" chapters of Gone With The Wind showing up in the collection of the Pequot Library in Connecticut--quite a ways from Atlanta. It seems that the president of Mitchell's publisher left it to the library along with other materials from his career at Macmillan. Mitchell had wanted the early drafts and all pre-publishing material destroyed because she had a conviction that books should only be judged as the final product, and it is not known how these chapters survived. It may have been oversight, it may have been deliberate, those involved are all beyond asking.

Also from that story, this June is the 75th anniversary of the publication. We'll have to make note of that at Words & Images.

Almost Three Months

I've been delinquent. I have been reading, just not sharing.

Right now I've started on the first of Trollope's Palliser novels, Can You Forgive Her? But there's been much running around going on, so progress is none to steady.

At the shop I've read a couple of Mary Roberts Rinehart's mysteries and novels. I had a stash on a back shelf that I had forgotten.

I visited Iris Book Cafe down in Cincinnati last week and picked up some nice Hardy Boys in dust jackets for shop inventory. It's getting tougher to find the older copies of the juvenile series books of that type. I'm really low in Nancy Drews right now.

The Early Days

Lately I seem to be concentrating on the early 19th century, particularly in the New York area. I started off with a history of the Erie Canal (Wedding of the Waters), which included the political career of DeWitt Clinton. Then I read a recent biography of Aaron Burr ( a contemporary of Clinton's), The Fallen Founder, which tries to debunk much of the "romantic" Burr myth, and suggests that he was a very normal politician of his times who was pigeonholed by his opponents. History is written by the winners, after all.
Now I'm on to a biography of Washington Irving--with a quick detour the past couple of days into reading Salmagundi after I had read up to that point in his career. (Salmagundi was a short lived periodical of political and social commentary produced by Irving, a brother and a friend.)
Just today I ran into mention of a history of the ratification of the Constitution which I then ordered from Powells (one of the best sources I know of for books that might be out of print) along with some other work by the same author.
One reason for my interest is that the early to mid 19th century was the time when the United States was joining the Industrial Revolution and engaging in many Internal Improvements and the resultant politics needed to implement infrastructure projects. Our own Whitewater Canal in Metamora is a product of those efforts.

Peter Pan

How many Peter Pan stories are there, I wonder? Barrie seemed to keep using the basic story in different places. I have seen Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens that has many of the elements that are in Peter Pan and Wendy. I have to admit I enjoy the Dave Barry versions of recent vintage as well.

Mark Twain's Autobiography the Holiday Book this year!

I've been watching the progress of the Mark Twain project over the years, and was excited to know the the Autobiography was being published this year. I ordered my copy from Powell's early this month and got it within a week. From reviews I've read there really isn't much of the much vaunted info that was not to be published until 100 years after Samuel Clemens died, since many researchers and writers have worked through it in the intervening years. However, it should be the authoritative version.

Today the New York Times reports that it has gone back to press numerous times already (the official release date was just last week) and is the holiday sell out book of the year.

American History

I'm reading The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik right now, covering American and European history for the last quarter of the 18th century. Evidently he wrote an Civil War history that has some good reviews as well. I found this one in a remainder stack at a bookstore---something that would never happen online.

At the shop I'm still working on Charles Keene off and on, while the Lantern Guy has another Louis L'amour on the desk.

time does fly

Just checked and I haven't posted here all summer! Facebook has become so easy that making a blog entry just hasn't crossed my mind.
So, what have I read lately?

I finished biographies of Ralph Stanley and Bill Monroe as we worked all summer on the plans for the Metamora Old Time Music Festival on Labor Day Weekend.
I've been reading a biography of Charles Keene of Punch magazine, from time to time in the shop.
Two of the "Cat Who....." mysteries, just because I can get through them quickly in an afternoon or two.
The Economics of Food, a survey of the effects of energy and agriculture policies on food pricing globally.
I'm sure there were others, but they've slipped my mind.

We brought several titles from the Indiana Historical Society into stock this year, including a new title "Indiana One pint at a time" which give info on beer breweries around the state. Also, both of Earl Conn's titles from his newspaper columns, 101 and 101 more... things to do in Indiana.

Victorian Illustrators

I noticed a story today about Lewis Carroll and Sir John Tenniel--there is a letter between them that is going to be offered at auction. Interesting as I am currently reading a Life and Letters of Charles Keene of Punch, a contemporary. From what I have read so far, and from the story about the Carroll/Tenniel note, it appears that the epistolary style of those gentlemen was more breezy than we might have expected.

Times Online

Book Signing May 29th

Glory-June Greiff will be at Words and Images in Metamora, IN from 2 to 4 PM to sign her new book about the Indiana state parks. She will have copies of some of her other work as well. That evening she will portray Gene Stratton-Porter at the Historic Metamora meeting.

Salmuel L Clemens as a book critic

It comes as no surprise to me that Mr. Clemens would have decided opinions on the writings of others. Anyone who has read beyond Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer would be aware that he was a man of far ranging interests and concerns. NYT has an article about the discovery of marginal notes in books from his personal library donated to the Redding Connecticut Library.
"In honor of the centennial of his death on April 21, the library granted The New York Times permission to examine this trove of books and record notes and markings Twain left behind in their margins."
Since the books were in circulation for much of their existence, and the library collection was culled of slower moving items at times (as all library collections are), there are not a large number of the Clemens/Twain volumes left.

Kipling family Jungle Book found

In the process of cataloging the holdings at Wimpole Hall, the home of Kipling's daughter Elsie from 1938 to 1976, a copy of the Jungle Book given to Josephine Kipling was found. BBC news story here

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

I would have thought that I would have read this book long ago, but I'm getting around to it now. Although Jane Jacobs makes it very clear from the start that she is talking about large, great cities; that her ideas won't be the right prescription for small towns and even small cities, from what I've read so far I think there is something to be gained.

Activity is the key to safe, viable areas. There needs to be a variety of uses and a steady stream of occupants for much of the daytime. There needs to be a reason to be there. All of this is applicable to creating any public space in my opinion. A space established with only one purpose and no supporting destinations to feed it is destined to be a underused space, or a mis-used space.

William Faulkner influenced by authentic plantation diary

New York Times has a story today on the Leak family Mississippi Plantation diaries that were read by a friend of the family, William Faulkner. Evidently the diaries have been readily available and used for much research into antebellum life of the south, but the link to Faulkner had not been realized. Story here

John Bower Books at Words and Images

Words and images is now carrying the 6 books of Indiana photography published by John Bower. John and his wife travel the roads of the state, looking for the unique images that define places. Each book has a theme, beginning with his original work documenting the second story of many old buildings--the one that didn't get re-muddled over the years.
John is a member of the Indiana Artisan Project.

Reading a book a day!?!?!

I just cannot imagine setting this type of goal. I manage to get to many books during a year, but I can't even say I finish one a week. Right now I'm working on HG:The History of Mr. Wells. I never realized just how many books he wrote. I've been a fan of his History of the World for years.

NYT article

A Quest to Read a Book a Day for 365 Days