old bookman never die...

An image is worth...Paris, circa 1920.

Silly, giddy feelings of excitement and anticipation...

Is it my birthday...is it christmas...no...but in about two weeks or so I am taking possession of an estate library of a few thousand volumes, many of which are...well...exceptional. It is always nice and fun to take in new books, to hold things you have never seen before and to catalogue them (ok, I admit this may well be a personal weakness, but it *does* bring me strange pleasure). But this is one of those once every very so often collections...a library build by at least one and possibly two generations of serious collectors with a great eye and a passion for signficant literature. I think I have goosebumps. Oh, and *then* we get christmas presents...what a great month.

Happy Printing Day...

It would appear that on or about Nov 18, 1477, the first dated book is issued in England "Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers." This was subsequently printed by Caxton (and, it seems, the two events are often confused). I'm just pleased someone was there to pave the way for Iain Banks.

Reading Revolutions...holding the history of thought...

To offset the brain-draining effect of talking about ID, I want to share an amazing experience and program. If you are in or near Maine, plan to travel up to the Univ. of Maine at Farmington (I know, I know, “Like I need another reason to travel to Farmingont”) to see/experience “Reading Revolutions: Great Minds, Great Thoughts.” On display there are a sampling of materials held by the Remnant Trust, ranging from Euclid’s, “First Siz Elements of Geometry (1705, 1st English Edition) to Hobbes, “Leviathan (1615, 1st Edition) to Mill’s, “On Liberty” (1859, 1st Edition) to Paine’s, “Common Sense” (2nd Printing) to Newton’s, “The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy” (1729, 1st Edition) and on and on (47 volumes in total).

One of the remarkable aspects of the Remnant Trust’s mission is that they *insist* that everything they put on loan be able to be handled…that is, you can hold, examine and read every single one of the items on display. After spending too much time over the last week on the specious debate surrounding ID, sitting for a spell with Newton’s Principia Mathematica in my hands was a soul cleansing experience. I suggest that holding Galileo’s Dialogues (1710, 1st Thus with “letters” and Kepler’s “commentario”) and Wollstonecraft’s, “Vindication of the Rights of Woman” is a remarkably “centering” experience. To have this exceptional collection of seminal works in one spot and available to handle is really a treat and I can not recommend taking advantage of the opportunity highly enough.

ID and FSM

Well, I lied. I am posting one last entry (today) that involves ID…though of a slightly different tone and tenor. I have recently found a religion that meshes well with my world view, mores and general sense of the universe and, interestingly, they are becoming a major force in the ID debate. If you have not had the opportunity to learn and explore the theology, please take some time, with an open mind, to read and contemplate His Noodly Goodness. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster received a reasonable amount of publicity after they sent an open letter to the Kansas School Board (and the boards of other areas that have “endorsed” ID) requesting equal treatment for their beliefs and creation theory (which involves midgets and pirates). I excerpt some of that open letter here:

I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. I think we can all agree that it is important for students to hear multiple viewpoints so they can choose for themselves the theory that makes the most sense to them. I am concerned, however, that students will only hear one theory of Intelligent Design.



Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. It was He who created all that we see and all that we feel. We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him.



It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories. In fact, I will go so far as to say, if you do not agree to do this, we will be forced to proceed with legal action. I’m sure you see where we are coming from. If the Intelligent Design theory is not based on faith, but instead another scientific theory, as is claimed, then you must also allow our theory to be taught, as it is also based on science, not on faith.
…
I think we can all look forward to the time when these three theories are given equal time in our science classrooms across the country, and eventually the world; One third time for Intelligent Design, one third time for Flying Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical conjecture based on overwhelming observable evidence.

It is well worth noting that “The Gosple of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” is being published February 14, 2006. All praise His Noodly Goodness.

This touch of the surreal aside, I think it is worth thinking about (and being frightened by) a recent report by the National Academy of Science in which they find that there is a waning interesting in math and science, that several “developing” countries are producing more PhDs than the US, that many of the PhDs the US is producing are going to foreign nationals who then take those degrees (and brain power) back to their countries of origin and that, basically, we are in a really bad way on the education front (N.B. this is a wildly generalized summary). It is, I think, a sad commentary that instead of striving to rebuild/evolve or science and math programs at the HS level, our focus is on the debate as to whether we should bring mythology back into the classroom. Then again, perhaps we should just ask WWFSMD?

and now for your surreal moment of the day

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, is quoted in discussing whether Houdini "was the greatest psychical medium of modern times" (in The Edge of the Unknown (1930)) as stating:

I do not see how it can ever now be finally and definitely proved, but circumstantial evidence may be very strong, as Thoreau said when he found a trout in the milk jug.

Its my blog and I'll rant if I want to, rant if I want to, rant if I want to...

On last post on the ID front, I ran across two great quotations which basically make the inverse argument so eloquently put by Doug Adams. So I offer both for broader consideration:

Ken Miller, a biologist, on the "improved" Kansas science standards:

"Why one would want to change the description of how science works by deleting the word "natural" from "natural explanations"? The answer is straightforward - even though the minority didn't seem to have the courage to state it plainly. They seek to turn science on its head by telling students that non-natural ( supernatural) explanations are a legitimate part of science. Why does this matter? Imagine an earth science class discussing tsunamis and applying "non-natural" explanations to the tragedy under the new guidelines. Plate tectonics are now just one of the explanations on the blackboard. They are joined by "non-naturalistic" ones like bad global karma, divine punishment for the sins of Indonesia, or evil spirits disturbed by ethnic warfare in Sri Lanka."

E.O. Wiley, another scientist, stated similarly:

"Imagine if I went to my auto mechanic and he said: "Well, it might be the brakes or it might be an evil spirit." Should I give equal weight to the "evil spirit" hypothesis? After all, someone probably believes it, this mechanic for one. Of course not, I would probably just take my car and drive down the street to the next mechanic."

This debate *does* have a strong book connection, as "these people" (which is to say, the Christian Coalition and its brethren) are the same ones who seek to ban books that offend their sensibilities from public libraries and would be, in my not remotely modest opinion, happy to enforce their thought policies on the rest of us if they were given the chance. These are the people who are seeking to ban Harry Potter as promoting witchcraft, My Two Moms as promoting homosexuality and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings for racism and offensive language (see nice banned book sites here and here.

Personally, I think anytime someone suggests “banning/prohibiting” access to a book/artwork, it is typically because the “offended” party(ies) can’t articulate a valid response…so they choose to push for prohibited access. That is, I believe the only valid response to offensive speech is more speech. You do not, for example, respond to the Turner Diaries by banning it…you challenge its veracity and its anger with more speech…spoken and written. As Oscar Wilde said, “There is no such thing as a moral book or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written. That is all.”

As I said earlier, Dover gives me hope…but then again, Kansas voted out most of this anti-science board after the first round of ridiculous amendments…only to put most of them back during the next election cycle. Too many of us, I fear, read things like what is happening in Kansas and are sort of bemused by it…figuring “it” can never happen “here.”

I know the following gets trotted out too often, but it is a bit too apropos to pass up. It is attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller, and offered here is probably the least recognized, but closest to the origial, form:

First they came for the communists,
I did not speak out
because I was not a communist.

When they came for the social democrats,
I did not speak out
because I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists
I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews
I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew;

And when they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

Yates, also good for a quote or two, said, "The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity." I do believe we live in dangerous times, though the dangers I worry about are not those that seem to obsess most others. My concern rests mostly upon the issue (and its related tendrils) that as society/culture/technology/mores are changing so rapidly and, arguably, radically, it creates a great deal of fear in those whose reality constructs are threatened. There is a tendency for people so threatened to circle the proverbial wagons and refuse to accept/hear/integrate the change and/or to rebel against it…at times with force, at times with regressive policy moves.

Sadly, I don’t think there is an easy answer…this has happened before and we will likely get through it…but not without literally or figuratively burning a number of thinkers at the stake, excommunicating them and/or engaging in a crusade or two. The curve of our cultural/technology evolution is not likely to be softened, nor should it be…unfortunately I am not hopeful that the pain/bloodshed is likely to be softened, either.

Hmmm, I really meant to just post the two rather pleasing quotations I ran across…not run off on another rant. I now return you to your previously scheduled life.

Literally Literary Cooking...

I have been invited to do a series of cooking classes with a book theme and I have having *way* too much fun thinking about it. The current plan is:

- The Joyce of Cooking (meal drawn from the pages of Joyce and/or the cookbook of the same name.

- Death for Dinner (mystery theme ala Someone's Killing the Great Chefs of Europe, Thou Shall Not Grill, etc.)

- Call of the Wild (London, et al...I'm thinking venison in a fig sauce with wild mushroom and a starter of rattlesnake or something similar)

- Treasure Island/Robinson Crusoe: Jewels of Caribbean Cuisine

- Passage to India (pretty clear)

- Art of Cooking: Sun Tzu in the Kitchen (principles of Art of War for bringing complex meals to the table with ease)

- Sherlockian Smorgasbord (a buffet from the pages of Holmes)

I am still in the very early stages of planning the classes, but it should be really fun. I will have assistants who will do the shopping and prep (and cleanup) and get products for “menu development” It will be interesting to see how it works from a marketing standpoint…it seems likely that the people who attend this dinner/class series overlap solidly with my target market. More as it evolves.

Book lint…

The bits of flotsam and jetsam (literally and figuratively) that fall from the leaves of well used books. Every book dealer/collector I know has a list of favorite things that they have found in books that have passed through their hands. I thought I would mention a handful of favorites of mine and one or two that have been told to me. I welcome additions if anyone is so inclined.

It has been a good few weeks for book lint, I found a perfect four-leaf clover in the leaves of a late 1800s Twain. I have found a number of nice bookmarks, most are a dime a dozen, but a handful are really wonderful…old book dealers bookmarks, old library bookmarks, bits of wrapping paper laid in at a mark, period postcards and the occasional bill in various denominations. I like the ones that give some hint into the book’s past.

I bought a book a bookfair because I happened find a half dozen nude photographs of someone, circa 1970, laid into it. The book was a hard theology text…I was too amused to let it go. A gift note, from Tom Cruise and on a notecard with his letterhead, was found in another…the book was marginal, the association rather significant. I have found bits of original art, love letters and squashed spiders (one very large one).

The best (read, most painful) story I have ever heard was from a fellow dealer who sold a lovely set of the Works of Samuel Johnson to a well known university library. Several weeks later, he received a note from the curative librarian thanking him for books and expressing his surprise and pleasure at finding the “twelve original letters in Johnson’s hand” that were laid into the volumes. As the dealer noted, each letter was worth at least what the entire set sold for. The moral, of course, is to always collate your books…carefully.

If you have found something cool, shocking or just peculiar, let me know.

A few more book blogs...

As part of my ongoing effort to connect all things books, I offer a few additional blogs. I will be compiling my various posts into a cogent list soon, I promise.

Books Do Furnish A Room (great name, nice site...need more time to dig through it.)

A Playful Antiquarian (solid info, randomly updated, N.B. I'm partial to recovering lawyers (though this blogger has yet to see the error of her ways)

Bookslut (one of the older bookblogs out there, great, I knew there was a reason i didn't choose the name)

We are not in Kansas any more...thank goodness

This is a very minor rant, please skip ahead if such things annoy you.

For the record, I am a tremendous supporter of intellectual debate on virtually any subject. I truly believe that rigorous challenge is the surest way to separate the wheat from the proverbial chaff. That said, spurious debate, while fun, is really just a waste of time. Worse, it is often an attempt to reify an otherwise ethereal concept. Which brings us to Kansas.

The school board there, by a 6 to 4 vote (6 R vs. 2 R-2 D), has voted that the theory of evolution must be challenged in class with the veiled dogma of “intelligent design.” Better, in that slightly masochistic way, they have “redefined” the term “science” so that it is not “limited” to the search for natural explanations of natural phenomena.

Scientific America has taken a reasonably strong position on this, in a post titled: Kansas, Where "Ignorant" is the New "Educated.” The move has also amused such liberal, pro-evolutionary states such as Ireland. Other evals, both internal and external, can be found here, here or here. It is, I think, a great day for shabby politics and bad science…though slightly balanced by the fact that PA managed to oust all 8 school board members who supported a similar proposal in that state…hope springs eternal.

I tend to think that Sam Harris, the author of the End of Faith, has a valid point (or several of them). We seem to have a genuine clash between Faith and Reason emerging…definitely the most significant since the Scopes trial and perhaps since Galileo. Why is it so many of us seem so willing to suspend reason when it comes to religious beliefs. Why is it that we are expected to vigorously challenge our scientific tenets but to vigorously challenge the rational basis of a given “faith” is verboten.

If the President argued that the world was flat and refused to accept any evidence to the contrary, he would be widely and properly ridiculed (more so than already). Yet his “born again” faith and what those beliefs imply can not be addressed as he is “entitled” to his “faith.” Why is that…why are people entitled to believe whatever they wish as long as they wrap it in religious “faith” (as long as it doesn’t involve peyote or human sacrifice, etc.). Why does snake handling, Scientology and Catholicism get a pass while the tenets of virtually all other areas of life and science must survive trial by fire before they are allowed to stand.

The truth is, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with the ID folk if they were not *so* obviously hacks for the religious right…trying yet another means of getting the religious camels nose under the tent of the public schools. Who knows, maybe aliens did seed this planet, it is certainly fun to think about as many speculative fiction writers have leveraged to great effect. But ignoring, for a moment, the foundational issue of teaching creationism in the classroom, does anyone seriously believe that the kind of rigorous debate that is the cornerstone of the scientific method will be embraced by those who are pushing ID? Will my child be encouraged to stand and ask, “Where did Cain get his wife?” or “If the bible is the literal word of God, why did a Papal Council in the 600s give the Holy Ghost a sex change?” I doubt it.

In my opinion, these are the same people who would (and have) burned books that contained theories or ideas that offended them all the way back to Galileo and beyond.

These are the people who Henry Strauss was speaking of when he said, “I have every sympathy with the American who was so horrified by what he had read about the effects of smoking that he gave up reading.”

They are the people Anais Nin feared when she said, “When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow.”

It was to these people that Thomas Jefferson spoke when he wrote, “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.

I suggest that the entire premise of Intelligent Design is most aptly embodied in the following:

Now it is such a bizarrely improbably coincidence that anything so mindbogglingly useful [as the Babel fish] could have evolved by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see it as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God.

The argument goes something like this: "I refuse to prove that I exist," says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But," says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."

"Oh dear," says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

(Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy (book one of the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series), p. 50)

If only it were that simple.

I preemptively apologize to any who are offended by this minor rant. I am more than willing to engage in debate on any or all of my broad, sweeping generalizations and/or miststatements, here or via email if you feel so inclined to do so. Frankly, I just needed to get it off my chest.

Rebinding projects...

I recently picked up two books with the express intent to have them rebound. One is the limited edition of Beowulf illustrated by Rockwell Kent and the other is a first edition of Watson's, Double Helix. Both have Fine text blocks, but the Kent was rebound (nicely) by a university library (though, interestingly and pleasingly, there are no other library marks) and the boards of the Watson shows silverfishing damage. That is, I have no ethical problem having them rebound...

I know a binder who does some of the best work I have ever seen and he has said he would be very interested in doing the Watson. I have yet to ask him about the Kent...or I may try to find someone else for that, as I think it will do something simplier and more understated on Beowulf. Double Helix, however, appears bound to be bound (sorry) in black leather with an inlaid multi-colour leather DNA strand. I am curious to see if I can take a "damaged" tome and turn it into something exceptional.

On a related note, I have a longer term rebinding project as well. I have a very neat two volume set called, "The Victim of Magical Delusion; or The Mystery of the Revolution of P___L: A Magico-Political Tale," (P. Will, 1795). Again, the text blocks are in Near Fine condition, but they are effectively disbound (spine intact, boards split front and rear). It is a great, early gothic horror piece and *needs* to be saved. It is going to be harder to do this as I have a real image of what I want for it and it will take some time to find someone able/willing to execute it. I plan to have them bound in really good vellum with the title and an image (e.g. mist through trees or the like) *backpainted* on the vellum. This is a really cool technique that plays on the near transparent/transulcent quality of good vellum. They should look exceptional when they are done...we shall see.

Books are fun in every aspect.

Updates pending...

Thank you to those of you who have been pestering me about updating. The sad truth is that I have written several posts but have been too busy of late to get them cleaned up and posted. I know, I know...just post them and move on. I am heading that way, but October was just wildly bizarre. We had two relatively major shows (Northampton and Boston) and the Pop!Tech conference in the middle. Between preparing for the two shows *and* my involvement in P!T, I have barely been able to schedule meals...

On the plus side, arguably the best web browser I have had the pleasure of using was debuted at P!T...it is called Flock. The core group behind it are the fine folks who brought us Firefox...only it is better. I am drafting this in its integrated blogging tool. Wow. I will be uploading the "lost" posts from the last few weeks using it this weekend...and a picture or two, as well (testing the interface and all />

Letting go of things you love...

One of the only hardships in this business is having things you love “leave you.” The Boston show resulted in two such partings for me.

I had a really lovely copy of Die Nibelungen, this little German children’s book by Keim and illustrated by Czeschka. It is widely considered to be the finest example of Vienna Secession graphic art, richly illustrated in cobalt blue and gilt (and a touch of red on one plate). Simple and extremely well executed and wildly beautiful. I loved having it. I loved this one image of mounted soldiers across two leaves. I would display it open to that spot and it literally drew people in. It found a new home in Boston and I am happy for the book but I miss it already.

The other was far less significant, but I miss it even more. It was a really lovely copy of The Necromancer: or The Tale of the Black Forest; Founded on Facts; Translated from the German of Lawrence Flammenberg by Peter Teuthold. It was (well, is) a yellowback, which is to say a turn of the century (20th) equivalent to the mass market paper back. They were bound in very cheap yellow boards, had wonderful, vibrant color front and spine artwork and Pears Soap ads on the back boards. There was something about the Necromancer, in brigh purple robes against the yellow boards that was really very striking. It is a fun read and a lovely book and again, I just loved having it and the way it looked on a shelf. I know who bought it and know it will be in exceptional company on his shelves. I wonder if it will miss me as much as I miss it…