tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4394318543699399212024-02-18T22:32:51.267-06:00Writing in BooksInscriptions, marginalia, annotations, and doodling found in booksChuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-69372148324200845412020-07-16T11:40:00.001-05:002020-08-04T08:36:17.839-05:00Chicken Noodle Soup for an Ailing Book<span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The writing in this book came with a crude sketch, but it wasn't just any author/artist who did it and i</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">t turned out to be something quite extraordinary, if not rare. </span><br /><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoU8WKNgWDta_BT4AP7cX3bbgyFLl_kkziDOdMOwhOquHcnsPAr_cvvobdP6qBe-IvlAxEJr7kkk32sy1sVjECRGiuk-hyashyphenhyphenXCLi7QAEsBTyX0Bj5KBNfeJ3Z_uIK4POp_rMywgxPoMi/s821/10965_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="821" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoU8WKNgWDta_BT4AP7cX3bbgyFLl_kkziDOdMOwhOquHcnsPAr_cvvobdP6qBe-IvlAxEJr7kkk32sy1sVjECRGiuk-hyashyphenhyphenXCLi7QAEsBTyX0Bj5KBNfeJ3Z_uIK4POp_rMywgxPoMi/w400-h313/10965_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The book is The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B and Back Again). Not only did Warhol sign the book, he also provided a sketch referencing his iconic 1960s pop art rendering of Campbell’s Soup cans. As an added bonus, he also initialed the page vertically from the lower corner. </span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This combination signature/sketch for this book is not rare, though a bit scarce with only a handful of co</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">pies found online for sale in varying conditions and prices (this copy has upper-corner damage). </span></div><div><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">This copy, despite the damage, separates from the pack a bit because of the flavor of soup Warhol included in his sketch—Chicken Noodle Soup. The few sketches found online with a flavor at all (some cans are only identified as Campbell’s Soup) are labeled Tomato Soup, which, by the way, was Campbell’s first flavor in 1897. </span></div><div><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #1c1e21; display: inline; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Could the book have been presented to Mr. Warhol for a signature in its damaged state and he thought to swap out the usual tomato soup for chicken noodle because of its healing and restorative qualities? If only it could have worked!</span></div>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-54592558380371384032019-06-10T18:15:00.000-05:002019-06-10T18:15:02.669-05:00Janet Judges Michael?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYcj4wcpH7L44YpjWOGf7VlRh3w0-1dP8neMPwOOhdqfLevDQJg-G5B-Fbz30s-wiYdsYCc8DeoezPMngRN1qhLx88jtDJGX_EoW7JFnCL0q6YU1xhRHYsd8BqAZixNAsx7pFz2lSN2l6/s1600/2019-06-06+001+%2528361x640%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="361" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIYcj4wcpH7L44YpjWOGf7VlRh3w0-1dP8neMPwOOhdqfLevDQJg-G5B-Fbz30s-wiYdsYCc8DeoezPMngRN1qhLx88jtDJGX_EoW7JFnCL0q6YU1xhRHYsd8BqAZixNAsx7pFz2lSN2l6/s320/2019-06-06+001+%2528361x640%2529.jpg" width="180" /></a>Maybe.<br />
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The inscription in this book conjures up a story of relationship woes. Michael gifted this "rare book" to Janet and implored her not to judge him by his cover because he was as rare as this book. Further, as he could not snuggle with her, perhaps this rare book could.<br />
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Apparently, Janet did judge Michael and dumped him and the book his pseudo-snuggle rode in on. The book found a comfortable resting spot on a resale shop bookshelf. Not sure where Michael wound up.<br />
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If Janet were an ardent bibliophile and rare book collector, she may have given Michael his walking papers because he didn't know squat about rare books. This anthology of American writing from Westvaco (1982) is certainly not rare and wouldn't have been considered so in 1982. Collectible maybe, as one may collect whatever one chooses. But in no way is this book rare. It does have a handsome cover (slipcase), though. Not that I'm judging.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFquOK-smQjCLr1nZ6zu5_fJNKGkZ3nVbAJ8o7wGQSAV-SiiQzHJT7A6x6q_rmzivwl4bXcbd80_xajnsUAN-YkqYBg5anDLyH4U-dhHAyJUDCfoUaRQTHm0RccAVptVS6jGm0Um7owej/s1600/2019-06-06+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1184" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkFquOK-smQjCLr1nZ6zu5_fJNKGkZ3nVbAJ8o7wGQSAV-SiiQzHJT7A6x6q_rmzivwl4bXcbd80_xajnsUAN-YkqYBg5anDLyH4U-dhHAyJUDCfoUaRQTHm0RccAVptVS6jGm0Um7owej/s640/2019-06-06+003.JPG" width="472" /></a><br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-44787421873227189852018-12-12T09:40:00.000-06:002018-12-12T09:40:07.864-06:00Kipling provenance connected to the death of Abraham Lincoln<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TTLaVzhuKwvqy66GFlhJVpT_8MWZhxSzaghWSLAg6OLSc8wvwOhCTnHJSfAXZYg1LkFmdEFLiL5w5QKwecV0Xwtk7YL1GIXlINBXDeS2qgWlRol3fM2fX-mlTPZ0ZIC72izlMjekFEMM/s1600/2018-10-28+026+%2528319x640%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="319" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8TTLaVzhuKwvqy66GFlhJVpT_8MWZhxSzaghWSLAg6OLSc8wvwOhCTnHJSfAXZYg1LkFmdEFLiL5w5QKwecV0Xwtk7YL1GIXlINBXDeS2qgWlRol3fM2fX-mlTPZ0ZIC72izlMjekFEMM/s320/2018-10-28+026+%2528319x640%2529.jpg" width="159" /></a><br />
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These two volumes are part of a set of Rudyard Kipling's works: <i>The Writings in Prose and Verse of Rudyard Kipling</i>, published by Charles Scribner's Sons in the early 1900s (Puck of Pook's Hill, Volume XXIII, 1906 and Actions and Reactions, Volume XXIV, 1909). Their shared history of ownership, or provenance, leads to some remarkable history that occurred a half-century before as Abraham Lincoln lay dying.<br />
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A previous owner, presumed to be the original owner of these books, was a lawyer from Philadelphia named James A. Tanner. I was glad that he showed ownership in two different ways that served to corroborate what my research was turning up for that name. One, a hand-written gift inscription, the other a business ink stamp.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU2-V3BZUQxuj46efbQhr-mM6Ib9G-FHRk0EUoMB_TxHWwAt1PinwUHbrqnKjgAbUkN3iMEcXrarb_nDaxj_bkmxitDebSCTAWsdMHsU2l9epSQGNSHF4XGEln08suEDAYSlAfcjfgw2-/s1600/2018-10-28+020+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="937" data-original-width="1267" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCU2-V3BZUQxuj46efbQhr-mM6Ib9G-FHRk0EUoMB_TxHWwAt1PinwUHbrqnKjgAbUkN3iMEcXrarb_nDaxj_bkmxitDebSCTAWsdMHsU2l9epSQGNSHF4XGEln08suEDAYSlAfcjfgw2-/s320/2018-10-28+020+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLR0S6-qCt8w2kR6ZhYpZD1u8vZ7BgUTFeHYqUuXMVGduyBnNUEi_76LzhVhMlAOnLCrz_-jztiuMXw_J0ivCl1QGF26k28xsur3H0A4oCQCfZHwWgvAFZUgkxhUTFW1xcy7TWjTQnKrl/s1600/2018-10-28+027+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="473" data-original-width="695" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmLR0S6-qCt8w2kR6ZhYpZD1u8vZ7BgUTFeHYqUuXMVGduyBnNUEi_76LzhVhMlAOnLCrz_-jztiuMXw_J0ivCl1QGF26k28xsur3H0A4oCQCfZHwWgvAFZUgkxhUTFW1xcy7TWjTQnKrl/s320/2018-10-28+027+-+Copy.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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James A. Tanner of Philadelphia is associated with the <a href="http://ppolinks.com/ulheritage/XI_2_1917_2_Reduced.pdf" target="_blank"><b>Tanner Manuscript</b></a> I found at the Heritage Center of The Union League of Philadelphia. His father was James R. Tanner, a government stenographer who recorded witness testimony to Lincoln's assassination. His notes comprise the Tanner Manuscript. His son, James A. Tanner, who owned these Kipling books, preserved the manuscript in bound form.<br />
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His father had served for the Union during the Civil War and lost both his legs. He continued to serve in Washington, D.C. as a stenographer. After Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre, he was taken across the street to the residence of William and Anna Petersen and placed in a back bedroom. James Tanner lived next door and was summoned to the Petersen House to record witness testimony given to Secretary of War, Edwin Stanton and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, David Kellogg Cartter. Tanner was present when Lincoln finally died. A more detailed account of that evening can be be read here:<br />
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http://www.historynet.com/lincolns-last-witness-james-tanner-and-the-assassination-of-lincoln.htm<br />
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After recording testimony that night, Tanner took his shorthand notes back home to write a report for Stanton. He didn't like his first draft and rewrote it and presented it to the Secretary of War. Some time later, that copy was lost, but Tanner still had his first copy. In 1905 his son, James A. Tanner, helped to preserve the document by mounting each page on linen and binding the papers into the book shown in the link above (Tanner Manuscript).<br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-44794228563289767782018-12-10T18:15:00.001-06:002018-12-11T11:12:06.522-06:00Great Gatsby Marginalia by Sylvia Plath<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-can-learn-from-reading-sylvia-plaths-copy-of-the-great-gatsby-107660"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">https://theconversation.com/what-we-can-learn-from-reading-sylvia-plaths-copy-of-the-great-gatsby-107660</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jeanne Britton has written an interesting article (link above) about marginalia in a copy of one of the great novels of the twentieth century and of the great twentieth century poet who left her writing and marks in the margins and elsewhere throughout that book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The novel is <i>The Great Gatsby</i>, by F. Scott Fitzgerald and the poet whose bookplate identifies her as a previous owner/reader of the book is Sylvia Plath. She spared few pages of underlining, margin notes, and other markings and Ms. Britton mines the marginalia to illuminate influence on Plath's future writing and context for a tragic life unfolding and cut short by suicide at age 30.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ms. Britton is Curator, Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at the University of South Carolina. Sylvia Plath's copy of the Great Gatsby is in their collection.</span></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-30035301298458328292015-12-15T14:36:00.000-06:002016-10-10T17:33:09.390-05:00Mystery of the Old Inscription<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqol-na1mPSQ6LTJHPaBaVMKRZqfr3ocLU843ryDgS13UxuGB2OjKDwpFM8-SPzvynhQCFASb1yxcdrShG-4GqaO6F1gV_5vlTY7kgpQ81HIdjK3mtZtP8Hl7dCNtp2kshsY5iq9BZJVo/s1600/e08260_1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqol-na1mPSQ6LTJHPaBaVMKRZqfr3ocLU843ryDgS13UxuGB2OjKDwpFM8-SPzvynhQCFASb1yxcdrShG-4GqaO6F1gV_5vlTY7kgpQ81HIdjK3mtZtP8Hl7dCNtp2kshsY5iq9BZJVo/s1600/e08260_1.JPG" width="256" /></a></div>
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Author Jean Waldschmidt wrote a juvenile mystery, <i>Mystery of the Old Thorndyke</i>, that was published in 1955 by Thomas Nelson & Sons. And she left a mystery in one copy of this book with an inscription that at first glance appears to be some kind of bizarre shorthand or unfamiliar foreign language.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbpazkrKnnOq4ahX1JxP9wXUcaXCmIsZhkQtzz8cPYa-ZaJxq8ZenZKOR3b8oo7IwVrdCUMaez_uJZwcvG4rT3BmFqqUt6p9FrttinNXEvHST9j5Chv3wtGNQYUQwdoUaE4VGPHiz1nM/s1600/e08260_3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbpazkrKnnOq4ahX1JxP9wXUcaXCmIsZhkQtzz8cPYa-ZaJxq8ZenZKOR3b8oo7IwVrdCUMaez_uJZwcvG4rT3BmFqqUt6p9FrttinNXEvHST9j5Chv3wtGNQYUQwdoUaE4VGPHiz1nM/s400/e08260_3.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />
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Closer inspection reveals that a mirror is required to decipher this message, unless you're adept at reading backwards.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8IXb3QznrceMbyw38manSGt9caGFQfCugZ-2UHF3SgIiON8Fac9z-qfAoG4_7vbRIG1Ft1HHwS9qvJCcsWnanIe4XH09XVO4uYt2xfBhX7Y7Nu9rEmxjh_gmuK-YztEiIIcp88Fnk_w/s1600/e08260_5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="301" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8IXb3QznrceMbyw38manSGt9caGFQfCugZ-2UHF3SgIiON8Fac9z-qfAoG4_7vbRIG1Ft1HHwS9qvJCcsWnanIe4XH09XVO4uYt2xfBhX7Y7Nu9rEmxjh_gmuK-YztEiIIcp88Fnk_w/s400/e08260_5.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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"To Foster, without whose help this book would never have been written."<br />
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And then Waldschmidt signed her name in a legible left-to-right "Love to you both, Love Jean," which became illegible in the mirror image above, along with the rest of the left-to-right writing.<br />
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<i><b>Leonardo and lefties</b></i>. I learned from a bit of research that the practice, or art, of this kind of writing can be traced at least as far back as the 1500s to Leonardo da Vinci. Also, there is a name for it--mirror writing. Further, mirror writing may have evolved from left-handed writers (da Vinci was a southpaw), who had an easier time writing across the page right to left without smearing the ink as the writing hand dragged across the page in the process.<br />
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As for the mystery in the story... Someone is trying to stop a couple of teenage boys from helping with the demolition of an old Western pioneer hotel in Nevada. As they investigate who and why, they get caught up in solving an 85-year-old mystery in the old place.<br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-92098821921245133692014-08-08T06:00:00.000-05:002014-08-08T06:00:08.109-05:00Bookplate on the fly<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v4JWkYZHg0YZLRUQLQVctwW1cHD8DdAsje5uDpQBOMgLFl3MK9kEU6T9GjlOvkwcQAwhiBjn-DVksASj6q7hrSklM_JxHJwDTi3F0Ms-V9h99jJVAfcS5oXqGzUJSFRce7UiC00dvgJf/s1600/2014-08-02+001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_v4JWkYZHg0YZLRUQLQVctwW1cHD8DdAsje5uDpQBOMgLFl3MK9kEU6T9GjlOvkwcQAwhiBjn-DVksASj6q7hrSklM_JxHJwDTi3F0Ms-V9h99jJVAfcS5oXqGzUJSFRce7UiC00dvgJf/s1600/2014-08-02+001.JPG" height="200" width="126" /></a>You've been given a new book and you're all out of bookplates. What to do?<br />
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No worry, just write your own ex libris.<br />
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That's what one recipient did below in his copy of Will and Ariel Durant's <i>The Age of Louis XIV</i>.<br />
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He also indicated the gift givers.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZ7VImGiuyPUyCJRzit83GCiAdgGHoEg0LPmG6J_HkrcennllyaKHmMr1WudNBezR2ps5mtDs7e_xkAZt8xA0N4tQe6Hc19zP8tYgQ0yc-znWBCvSHocr6NuFdIlcymipqAPhmCZKJBBM/s1600/2014-08-02+003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZ7VImGiuyPUyCJRzit83GCiAdgGHoEg0LPmG6J_HkrcennllyaKHmMr1WudNBezR2ps5mtDs7e_xkAZt8xA0N4tQe6Hc19zP8tYgQ0yc-znWBCvSHocr6NuFdIlcymipqAPhmCZKJBBM/s1600/2014-08-02+003.JPG" height="381" width="400" /></a></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-66019372022196440962014-08-07T13:25:00.000-05:002014-08-07T13:25:06.896-05:00President Johnson and the problems in the world<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's 1968 and you want a clear understanding of the problems in the world. All you have to do is read <i>No Retreat from Tomorrow: President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1967 Messages to the 90th Congress</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB38u_szFJ_PSOYOLjVycMqYyKBTMPINF47IJO73QDsf8xGPSGUmejlFRfM5d8GNUBWpnJccBK_25Y87XWczQA5EJpdqmJpQJFQKdj-E65PGRfRlXD8s-ZQx1S7bT25Tpj2WFFBKeL_Xd4/s1600/johnson_book.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB38u_szFJ_PSOYOLjVycMqYyKBTMPINF47IJO73QDsf8xGPSGUmejlFRfM5d8GNUBWpnJccBK_25Y87XWczQA5EJpdqmJpQJFQKdj-E65PGRfRlXD8s-ZQx1S7bT25Tpj2WFFBKeL_Xd4/s1600/johnson_book.JPG" height="400" width="282" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrYo9-qTt_-Dnlol5ywx-WkPV7_K-fhu_KUNkOc1jxb6UReWscaLGwX1IjtYVQ14EobOVEGSOqgBOxo0mxPwuiPESk8P79u36twzn9GLx-j57ev9Svbv0iySkzcfXbqN-9RMPpOjybdsm/s1600/johnson_inscription.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrrYo9-qTt_-Dnlol5ywx-WkPV7_K-fhu_KUNkOc1jxb6UReWscaLGwX1IjtYVQ14EobOVEGSOqgBOxo0mxPwuiPESk8P79u36twzn9GLx-j57ev9Svbv0iySkzcfXbqN-9RMPpOjybdsm/s1600/johnson_inscription.JPG" height="200" width="159" /></a>At least, that's what a Jamestown, Tennessee grandfather thought when he read this book and passed it onto his grandchildren with the following inscription inside the front cover:<br />
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<i>Today I received this book from President Johnson and I wanted you to have it.</i></blockquote>
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<i>Read it carefully and I am sure you will have a better understanding of all the problems in the world today. </i></blockquote>
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What isn't clearly understood from these words is whether that "clear understanding" results from Johnson's articulation of the world's pressing issues or from his policies that may be contributing to them.</div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-39955523958670266912014-08-01T09:19:00.000-05:002014-08-08T10:44:44.755-05:00A Gambler's Caveat and Gratitude<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here are a couple of unusual reader inscriptions found within a few pages of each other. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpj3q3viQ4-lAAglP8PdE4jwchncxYND5uQPKW6fb8FP6pCf-VtrZw3OzSQ3RGyNOEVkJ254INc4nKpxfuc5If3OeC3bJm2nxFJJfAg4QA-LzDZfERqaDIrdCBStBDRm3LOhmbTyEEr417/s1600/2014-08-01+033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpj3q3viQ4-lAAglP8PdE4jwchncxYND5uQPKW6fb8FP6pCf-VtrZw3OzSQ3RGyNOEVkJ254INc4nKpxfuc5If3OeC3bJm2nxFJJfAg4QA-LzDZfERqaDIrdCBStBDRm3LOhmbTyEEr417/s1600/2014-08-01+033.JPG" height="320" width="233" /></a></div>
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In a copy of <i>The Greatest Gamblers: An Epic of American Oil Exploration</i>, by Ruth Sheldon Knowles (McGraw-Hill, 1959), the book's owner first felt it necessary write a brief inscription to the borrower, reminding him that the book was expected back.<br />
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<i>To: Dr. Hood (but not for keeps), Jim</i></div>
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I've never seen a book with a "loan note" in it like this. Was there something implicit in the book's title that rendered the loan a gamble? Was there a precedent for this with Dr. Hood? Or was Jim merely eliminating any ambiguity associated with presenting his book to Dr. Hood?<br />
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Regardless, this reader inscription tells us that Jim valued this book and wanted it to stay in his collection.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXS0BJ3whE2qnrRq0DRWvSQ7rlIbo4ssbINGM36ObfEutoxq1fescVzkusFv95CIQ87Uyfh-nacBKEmX2DiaWlGbWnvU9dcoqQiwS0FS5Jq7FNLUbeIHL6oidJvm9WOokwp3zGTTJJQCvt/s1600/2014-08-01+035+-+Copy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXS0BJ3whE2qnrRq0DRWvSQ7rlIbo4ssbINGM36ObfEutoxq1fescVzkusFv95CIQ87Uyfh-nacBKEmX2DiaWlGbWnvU9dcoqQiwS0FS5Jq7FNLUbeIHL6oidJvm9WOokwp3zGTTJJQCvt/s1600/2014-08-01+035+-+Copy.JPG" height="256" width="400" /></a></div>
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The owner of the book, Jim, soon reveals that he is one of the gamblers in the title and contents of the book. About three pages later, the author's dedication reads as follows:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6I2e-xHp6vvVvsvO4IHhEma_xV-p-I3lmxAjcZv_n9FXmRD7T8M3CqRrUS7Jq7nB3yZwofir2xe-7C-gfcnyCnpOApieq16fduEuzOrpZATM6UO6Br_LJeObyGoVafapWPj9ZCEf4gZc/s1600/2014-08-01+036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm6I2e-xHp6vvVvsvO4IHhEma_xV-p-I3lmxAjcZv_n9FXmRD7T8M3CqRrUS7Jq7nB3yZwofir2xe-7C-gfcnyCnpOApieq16fduEuzOrpZATM6UO6Br_LJeObyGoVafapWPj9ZCEf4gZc/s1600/2014-08-01+036.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><i>To all the unsuccessful explorers who</i></div>
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<i>have drilled America's 300,000 dry holes</i></div>
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<i>and whose failures have guided others </i></div>
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<i>to the discovery of an abundance of oil, </i></div>
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<i>I dedicate this book with gratitude </i></div>
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<i>and admiration for their courage, venture-</i></div>
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<i>someness, faith, persistence, and optimism.</i></div>
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Underneath the dedication, it appears that Jim has written his own expression of gratitude for the author's recognition. His reply reads simply, <i>Thank you, JGS.</i><br />
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I've never seen this before, either--a reader's written response to a book's dedication. One could (and probably should) assume that a sarcastic thanks is inferred, given the context of the dedication and further assumption that Jim was one of the wildcatters who drilled a dry hole or two.<br />
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Perhaps this gambler was just hedging his bet when he loaned this book to his friend or colleague, Dr. Hood, with the caveat "not for keeps" to ensure it was returned.<br />
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-52800043991264697882014-07-31T19:29:00.000-05:002015-01-26T17:21:41.228-06:00Jimmy's Grandfather and Lou Gehrig<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxXbJ579-yiPkoE42mdP_o6_SX8KrWvyEu8ouDrhPO2efJnlcX59rRdvpQ0d8oeBGbgLnlEDzNlLCdc56p2eK_2_iaEdc060YtG6DZ3MnjkJNfigavsX7OP8VUspi6zpwtpmejKrDRLag/s1600/gehrig_book_lg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAxXbJ579-yiPkoE42mdP_o6_SX8KrWvyEu8ouDrhPO2efJnlcX59rRdvpQ0d8oeBGbgLnlEDzNlLCdc56p2eK_2_iaEdc060YtG6DZ3MnjkJNfigavsX7OP8VUspi6zpwtpmejKrDRLag/s1600/gehrig_book_lg.JPG" height="320" width="227" /></a></div>
There's a precedent for my acquiring this kind of book--a biography of Lou Gehrig with an inscription inside indicating how much the Yankee slugger was admired by the book's owner. See <a href="http://writinginbooks.blogspot.com/2012/08/book-shrine-to-baseball-hero.html"><b>Book Shrine to a Baseball Hero</b></a>. <br />
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In this case, the book's owner apparently didn't own the book all that long as it was given to his grandson.<br />
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But it's what went with the book that is the real treat in the written message--a baseball bat signed by Lou Gehrig and other Yankees!<br />
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Here's the inscription from a grandfather to his grandson:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaXNVkSLJWbltRhph-uhBLenYXgJ6QvGOh9rexg9FznCKlhkam0IjOu4T7lwEvd9Xx5PDeSURIJJywMxFgxQ7LMgB9ZgYB-UA5ilKnfInLWMtnnTdwuGd0UXWzCTTM43Rf2xjZPk0bN4M/s1600/gehrig_book_inscription_lg.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlaXNVkSLJWbltRhph-uhBLenYXgJ6QvGOh9rexg9FznCKlhkam0IjOu4T7lwEvd9Xx5PDeSURIJJywMxFgxQ7LMgB9ZgYB-UA5ilKnfInLWMtnnTdwuGd0UXWzCTTM43Rf2xjZPk0bN4M/s1600/gehrig_book_inscription_lg.JPG" height="320" width="299" /></a></div>
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Click on the image to enlarge it.</div>
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In these few lines penned in the upper corner inside the front cover, an old man reveals a wonderful bit of history about himself as a kid and his love of baseball, the Yankees, and, in particular, Lou Gehrig. And those larger-than-life heroes of the diamond didn't sign just any bat. They signed a bat that Grandfather Jim made himself when he was a boy.<br />
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This cherished souvenir from the boy's hero would sadly grow all the more important to him, as we know that Gehrig's career and ultimately his life were cut far too short.<br />
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At age 36, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS for short, or "Lou Gehrig's Disease," as it has been more commonly known for decades. A few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, the man nicknamed the Iron Horse for his durability, succumbed to the cruel disease.<br />
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I can only guess when young Jim got his homemade bat signed. As Babe Ruth's name is not mentioned, it's quite possible the bat was signed after Ruth was gone, 1934, and before the early part of the 1938 season when Gehrig could no longer play ball.<br />
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How crushed must Jim have been to see his hero mysteriously fall so fast from his high performance standards. And how devastating it must have been to learn of his disease and slowly realize he would never play again. And then the heartbreaking, inevitable conclusion to his rapid decline--death on June 2, 1941.<br />
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That Jim would buy this book some 60 years after meeting Lou Gehrig and acquiring his signature along with some of his teammates' signatures gives testimony to the fact that he remained a lifelong fan of his childhood idol.<br />
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I can't understand how the book, with that wonderful inscription, wound up in a resale shop, knowing how much Gehrig meant to the grandfather. But there's a number reasons that could have happened. I can only hope the bat didn't suffer the same fate!</div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-12242170905030473862013-11-12T08:45:00.000-06:002013-11-12T09:27:23.176-06:00Writing to Jacqueline Kennedy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In 1961, a few months after her husband was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the new First Lady,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">supposedly received the book below, along with a letter from the author and annotations or marks in the book and on the jacket for emphasis and direction to selected passages.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0h8tHS0PLzesotK3PMAn32NZSSEF_ynNJfadyNpIM_h1xUbz6H7ri6e_4Q80f1YXAxoGrAt1sASEn2v3V1X5tE5pET-7xjkAO2qJPDDGfq25iEkK2L0aNh8VRXTMhBUJdUhdU4IyKEY8g/s1600/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0h8tHS0PLzesotK3PMAn32NZSSEF_ynNJfadyNpIM_h1xUbz6H7ri6e_4Q80f1YXAxoGrAt1sASEn2v3V1X5tE5pET-7xjkAO2qJPDDGfq25iEkK2L0aNh8VRXTMhBUJdUhdU4IyKEY8g/s320/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+008.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCydfZsxhS9NpQlQjcNrVur7-Qd2XSAWxP2NmzxTJvDyxRRAoM209XZ6MK7xDl6Quy2u8c6HU7O17P5sgWHKapdTw0tFqWSUhclBpnHeHML9cJ8HjI6Xc7FNV4CvmJ4gzPmsYUcdL9g1F3/s1600/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCydfZsxhS9NpQlQjcNrVur7-Qd2XSAWxP2NmzxTJvDyxRRAoM209XZ6MK7xDl6Quy2u8c6HU7O17P5sgWHKapdTw0tFqWSUhclBpnHeHML9cJ8HjI6Xc7FNV4CvmJ4gzPmsYUcdL9g1F3/s200/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+001.jpg" width="167" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In May of 1961, British journalist and author, George Bilainkin, sent an inscribed copy of his 1947 book, <i>Second Diary of a Diplomatic Correspondent</i> to the new president's wife in advance of her and the President's trip abroad, which included a stop in London.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He also included a typed, signed letter on his letterhead ("To Her Excellency, Mrs. John Kennedy") and indicated a few pages of interest to the First Lady and perhaps the new President, whom he had known and met with on several occasions in 1945 at the close of World War II.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSVfKcgbhmHTSKPWZGxWQNEqLNljFtlqe4yGRIKKlyw8ICqwcZv_V98-R7eQdyK6iNc65o_qvqCQFrLkruheltz-O9f_M9LQ63mfnXAYufmY0o5M9kfz9bveYwUojxAtHdKcXEDKvAn0o/s1600/Bilainkin+Letter+to+Mrs.+Kennedy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSVfKcgbhmHTSKPWZGxWQNEqLNljFtlqe4yGRIKKlyw8ICqwcZv_V98-R7eQdyK6iNc65o_qvqCQFrLkruheltz-O9f_M9LQ63mfnXAYufmY0o5M9kfz9bveYwUojxAtHdKcXEDKvAn0o/s320/Bilainkin+Letter+to+Mrs.+Kennedy.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So he knew Jack, as he referred to him, but he sent the book to his wife with marked passages about his dealings with her husband. His reason? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>"I send it because the book contains references to the talks your husband and I had in London in 1945. I hope some of the flash-backs may prove of instructive interest."</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bilainkin expressed his hopes to meet with both, or at least the First Lady, and revisit a few sites pertinent to his meetings, as a journalist, with a young Jack Kennedy in 1945. He also knew the President’s father, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., when he was the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Indeed, in his written inscription in the book, he refers to himself as "an all-weather friend of the Kennedy clan."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But then the real reason for the inscribed book and letter appears to surface, as Bilainkin makes known his desire to take Mrs. Kennedy (he doesn't mention Jack) to lunch and, as if that weren't enough, further requests she bring photos of herself, her husband, and his parents! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think one could make the case that Bilainkin was a bit enamored of the First Lady, as was most of the world at that time, and he was using his prior acquaintance with the President to wrangle a lunch date with her. It very well could have been purely for professional reasons, as was a correspondent who wrote about high profile people, and a sit-down with Jackie Kennedy would have been quite a coup for him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Kennedys, on their first trip overseas, while in the White House, went to Paris, Vienna, and London. They were in London June 4-5, 1961 and it seems all but impossible that they had the time or desire to meet with a journalist whom the President had crossed paths with in 1945. Certainly, it was never a consideration. But I wonder if Bilainkin even received a reply to his request?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-v-mBuuoy_IjK6IHxbKjc-NFELMu1qjrHZsv9KkFMy9q3h2dIMtNulwDc-1FIEhFG8zxeoQ1MLvwRMeLocXj1t4VntKbaSVMyJAATwkh7GaYYFl20EPV4hKdYgMYREJfFVb0g5W5t9Yzz/s1600/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-v-mBuuoy_IjK6IHxbKjc-NFELMu1qjrHZsv9KkFMy9q3h2dIMtNulwDc-1FIEhFG8zxeoQ1MLvwRMeLocXj1t4VntKbaSVMyJAATwkh7GaYYFl20EPV4hKdYgMYREJfFVb0g5W5t9Yzz/s320/Bilainkin_Book_Mrs_JFK+009.jpg" width="278" /></a></div>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">For the First Lady of the United States of America, from an old admirer and all-weather friend of the Kennedy clan.</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>George Bilainkin May 1961</i></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is unknown, though, if Jacqueline Kennedy actually received this book, looked through it, and showed the author’s marked passages to the President (pages noted under the inscription above and in the Index). It may have been intercepted by whatever filters were in place at the time for the abundance of gifts the Kennedys likely received at the White House.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But it is intriguing to ponder that this book could have been in the possession of one or both for a time. They left no ownership marks nor annotation behind to confirm that. The book eventually found its way into a Washington, D.C. estate and later into the second-hand market with letter intact.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On its own merit, this book is an interesting history from a diplomatic correspondent’s point-of-view at the end of World War II. His intimate portraits of heads of state he met, such as Tito, de Gaulle, Churchill, and diplomats such as the aforementioned Kennedy, fill the pages of this follow-up to his 1940 published diary.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But it's the inscription and letter to First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, and the speculation that she or President Kennedy kept this on the White House bookshelves for awhile, that makes this particular copy even more interesting.</span></div>
Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-61739530105430158872013-06-18T06:00:00.000-05:002013-06-18T14:52:16.598-05:00Eudora Welty: A stepping stone to greater things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When <i>Selected Stories of Eudora Welty</i> was introduced into Random House's Modern Library series in the 1950s, one man saw in that collection the potential to effect a change in another's life for "greater things." He purchased a copy and inscribed it to a a friend or relative or lover, known only to us</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> as SAR (or is that SAK?),</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and forgotten to history. Either way, the sentiment is the same for an aspiring writer or scholar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<i>With the hope that this will be a stepping stone to greater things.</i>"</span></div>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-47455653857172775822013-06-17T11:40:00.000-05:002013-06-17T11:52:44.044-05:00Thoreau's annotated copy of Walden<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't know how long this link will be available, but the video is worth a look while it's around on the Internet: <a href="http://ow.ly/m6SdX"><b>http://ow.ly/m6SdX</b></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Professor Gould of Middlebury College in Vermont talks about Thoreau's copy of his book, <i>Walden</i>, which she retrieves from the college's archives and shares with viewers in this interview. Her comments on Thoreau's marginalia underscore the scholarship inherent in such an historically important copy of this book.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But there's also a certain thrill-factor, which Professor Gould captures perfectly in her closing words:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"<i>It's just glorious to be able to hold it in your hands because Thoreau held it in his hands, he made the notes, and it's as close to history as you can possibly get.</i>"</span></blockquote>
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Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-25262211724733317792012-08-01T12:30:00.000-05:002012-08-01T12:43:02.749-05:00Book Shrine to a Baseball Hero<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
Readers interacting with their books is one thing--a margin note, perhaps some underlining. Readers turning their books into shrines is another thing entirely. And that is how I would characterize what happened with a copy of <span style="font-style: italic;">Lou Gehrig: The Iron Horse of Baseball</span>, by Richard G. Hubler (Houghton Mifflin, 1941).</div>
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The young man who owned this book in the early 1940s held his baseball hero, Lou Gehrig, in the highest regard. He turned Hubler's book into a scrapbook memorial of newspaper clippings, baseball card cut-outs, and handwritten commentary. Hubler's text takes a backseat as a biographical narrative that complements the visual elements of this kind of folk book art.</div>
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After looking through every page of this book, I would surmise that Lou Gehrig transcended the sport of baseball in hero status for that young man and became a great role model as a human being.</div>
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Gehrig died 15 years before I was even born, but he still became <i>my</i> baseball hero when I was a boy. The first book I checked out and read at the school library was a title in the Childhood of Famous Americans Series: <a href="http://archaeolibris.blogspot.com/2007/06/happy-birthday-lou-gehrig.html"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lou Gehrig: Boy of the Sandlots</span></span></a>, by Guernsey Van Riper (Bobbs-Merrill, 1949).</div>
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Had I been about age 10 when the Hubler book came out after Gehrig's untimely death at age 37, I could see me doing something like what the young man did with this book back in the 1940s. My kindred spirit from another time. Whether destiny or serendipity, or both, I had to buy this book when I found it. I'll let the pictures below tell the story with a bit of annotation.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The cut-outs of Gehrig's head and signature, which decorate many pages of this book, including all chapter heads, were taken from old 1934 Goudey baseball cards (I shudder to think about certain valuable cards being destroyed!). See this 2009 article from </span><b style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com/1934-goudey-baseball-happy-75th-to-an-enigma/">Sports Collectors Daily</a></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> for more information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Here, the book owner mixed real life and Hollywood together with images of Lou Gehrig and actress Teresa Wright, who played his wife Eleanor (Twitchell) in the movie Pride of the Yankees. He was also careful to document his arrangement.</span><br />
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A memorial poem attributed to Tim Cohane is copied on the blank page facing the Foreword's first page, while the Foreword receives its own decoration in the form of a typewritten list titled, Characteristics of Lou Gehrig.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzZAcH9M825FYJmO_iDtYiD15XEAOgs-NMg88BPXiK9HWgSPe7R4ddm1dqA8qVyx_PjtG8ppKuF-Z6S1L4I1s3IKTPu60ZY0DHhO6Ef1CDYH-pXLUuLL-5tlW6GeGcUCpWU0YCgg42cb3/s1600/lg12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTzZAcH9M825FYJmO_iDtYiD15XEAOgs-NMg88BPXiK9HWgSPe7R4ddm1dqA8qVyx_PjtG8ppKuF-Z6S1L4I1s3IKTPu60ZY0DHhO6Ef1CDYH-pXLUuLL-5tlW6GeGcUCpWU0YCgg42cb3/s320/lg12.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
The Foreword ends with a collection of baseball greats important to
Gehrig (Bill Dickey, Joe McCarthy, Miller Huggins) as well as an image
that is supposed to be the first base line at old Yankee Stadium.
However, it looks like the third base line. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtF6UMPR6RvpPp9IiWwq13UOzZqNSEoev8Q1F6w4cTrLrWS16uhy1LODj29RyDotCreFMGe9F2iT9n6e5iuyjhu0iL23aW9Njcf9nWrg-f-HO6hsemeGY_TGkbmvthP288C9AEn5qj-LhT/s1600/lg13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtF6UMPR6RvpPp9IiWwq13UOzZqNSEoev8Q1F6w4cTrLrWS16uhy1LODj29RyDotCreFMGe9F2iT9n6e5iuyjhu0iL23aW9Njcf9nWrg-f-HO6hsemeGY_TGkbmvthP288C9AEn5qj-LhT/s320/lg13.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSdt1HUC26dlljjSFBSZmEa2Egr35v0B4oNYVMzBrTLiNa8xyljCTt938kJrkEyr786Z5u-vEcpToWh4PnfR0zuSb46jiUOo1KxcjygTGQx0GsB57WXiWAl2kWviGsThy2VCQqQgxZ0lX/s1600/lg16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSdt1HUC26dlljjSFBSZmEa2Egr35v0B4oNYVMzBrTLiNa8xyljCTt938kJrkEyr786Z5u-vEcpToWh4PnfR0zuSb46jiUOo1KxcjygTGQx0GsB57WXiWAl2kWviGsThy2VCQqQgxZ0lX/s320/lg16.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
A bit of Gehrig philosophy follows--for life and hitting. Of course, his philosophy for life includes a baseball metaphor.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXP3RC-iWXThEGPXU4Ck0CENJuQDp_d13AI5oS2Wsan_qQOQ_GGKVO2GvxozMpi7UTOtKhPlNjzv-mN4oHcF3UPntquJ-MdbN1aytLnYJWweHNO2vlFyHu83yUdCG4gWE7_weXpOETXYr/s1600/lg17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZXP3RC-iWXThEGPXU4Ck0CENJuQDp_d13AI5oS2Wsan_qQOQ_GGKVO2GvxozMpi7UTOtKhPlNjzv-mN4oHcF3UPntquJ-MdbN1aytLnYJWweHNO2vlFyHu83yUdCG4gWE7_weXpOETXYr/s320/lg17.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
The most famous and memorable speech in baseball, perhaps even all of sports... "I may have been given a bad break but I've got an awful lot to live for. With all this, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."</div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
The final pages of the book are adorned with news clippings of Gehrig's death and memorial tributes. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxDwRp2PtZWJwGzplSwjF0juBEy-ntGXRJDzqtFZytT90S4i0ofkAwKzrvymCaSJRMpuJ2CMqzre-xWz6rIdcvwWiknOn-mS5DBXjb8t3SqVefpMIJCCRYRkCyWUab3bpFe0qq0aa7RaqB/s1600/lg20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxDwRp2PtZWJwGzplSwjF0juBEy-ntGXRJDzqtFZytT90S4i0ofkAwKzrvymCaSJRMpuJ2CMqzre-xWz6rIdcvwWiknOn-mS5DBXjb8t3SqVefpMIJCCRYRkCyWUab3bpFe0qq0aa7RaqB/s320/lg20.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQO73kpdviLxHZdpqtqvdM90ClwIABS0XF2dx1LIDJ3cDYkCLMqHHIe-8J1KZlozviaE6Sva3269rr1WYiX_0T0HStEZIfjH3cdBPzdLBUbowiSVP3ZSISbybTisHdUqH9ew2mV_AhJtBt/s1600/lg21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQO73kpdviLxHZdpqtqvdM90ClwIABS0XF2dx1LIDJ3cDYkCLMqHHIe-8J1KZlozviaE6Sva3269rr1WYiX_0T0HStEZIfjH3cdBPzdLBUbowiSVP3ZSISbybTisHdUqH9ew2mV_AhJtBt/s320/lg21.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">After the last chapter ends, the following page has a portion of the
book's dust jacket (the front flap) affixed to it. Underlined is a
passage that offers more evidence as to Gehrig's role-model status for
the young fan: "...</span><i style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">his clean life and high idealism</i><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">."</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iv1izOrquo_ltxJxkImrV6v4d_s8PvW1XEdGOphBQTvB9AH8pakn2y80SgmtExUXGp4cvBdEoQK-AEJ8pSoqBTpEeV1i67onmnOjfC-HiQIkXMHky2WZdmh5AXnfxsMwMBNiZTrWduHG/s1600/lg23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6iv1izOrquo_ltxJxkImrV6v4d_s8PvW1XEdGOphBQTvB9AH8pakn2y80SgmtExUXGp4cvBdEoQK-AEJ8pSoqBTpEeV1i67onmnOjfC-HiQIkXMHky2WZdmh5AXnfxsMwMBNiZTrWduHG/s320/lg23.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTE1U-X0-OV2nXZzxQ4hC8V3epRaZvbLKGd2yRuNbeTM7vc0HJCau76QGBiLEFmrRsGzwZlREYez5F7At9QFDqaQ5ZeArJ1ZRy3uQIHkyjTo8cgekzjBzB3r3ULNZRy69jXJNx7hODUX-A/s1600/lg24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTE1U-X0-OV2nXZzxQ4hC8V3epRaZvbLKGd2yRuNbeTM7vc0HJCau76QGBiLEFmrRsGzwZlREYez5F7At9QFDqaQ5ZeArJ1ZRy3uQIHkyjTo8cgekzjBzB3r3ULNZRy69jXJNx7hODUX-A/s320/lg24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjOVaV_cUsqopmhnIX61F_UAxWo4nBY1SIRuS8dKVLjwSnnsnqZE4QzY0Qq1rlTfxu0XYq0tFCFTSnUQ0xtinHdLS8YNPJMj4ECGiS74OCqttK7PU5hArBDRnDJ0nql_Tv1Nf6kGny3y7/s1600/lg25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizjOVaV_cUsqopmhnIX61F_UAxWo4nBY1SIRuS8dKVLjwSnnsnqZE4QzY0Qq1rlTfxu0XYq0tFCFTSnUQ0xtinHdLS8YNPJMj4ECGiS74OCqttK7PU5hArBDRnDJ0nql_Tv1Nf6kGny3y7/s320/lg25.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTOsRh8pVayvnsAQ5xRhBxYlARCFAYSbcgu9g-3Y-lp3ZaOs7HZ20pFbx5QkSm-_ZFoVDgNcBmEQeBovaVJkFc5tYXZuTGqCDZoQpoqprx5COZ0ja_RMo3jfZFjwhtN9CiJvgPMp30QKm/s1600/lg26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNTOsRh8pVayvnsAQ5xRhBxYlARCFAYSbcgu9g-3Y-lp3ZaOs7HZ20pFbx5QkSm-_ZFoVDgNcBmEQeBovaVJkFc5tYXZuTGqCDZoQpoqprx5COZ0ja_RMo3jfZFjwhtN9CiJvgPMp30QKm/s320/lg26.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX9_cYd_CvRqVjy4jk6Gj1O-9oNbp3IM7-ojjwOKWSRHhBv1X61u-T49BoKgQDhoZTbZziUGXtgvNg-LpZauNuzYUZrSRG3yxiG4ET18SVTnBzjsl5Gwbb75Wz89tPgXrkgdn_UoM02-r/s1600/lg27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX9_cYd_CvRqVjy4jk6Gj1O-9oNbp3IM7-ojjwOKWSRHhBv1X61u-T49BoKgQDhoZTbZziUGXtgvNg-LpZauNuzYUZrSRG3yxiG4ET18SVTnBzjsl5Gwbb75Wz89tPgXrkgdn_UoM02-r/s320/lg27.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
I'll never know the name of the young man who owned this book (no ownership indication anywhere in the book) or what became of him in his life, but I'm grateful he took the time to create this memorial to Lou Gehrig and I bet he'd be pleased and proud to see that it lives on in another appreciative fan's collection and in a medium (Internet) he could never have envisioned some 70 years ago. I can only hope for the same once my tenure as custodian is done.</div>
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~~~~</div>
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As a bit of a postscript to all this... I got to
enjoy a Yankees game at the old stadium several years ago before it
closed. Appropriately enough, I sat on the first base side watching the "Ghost of Gehrig" at first base. Actually, the spirit of Gehrig was in full display as the Bronx Bombers knocked eight out of the park that night to tie a record. I enjoyed it all in a No. 4 Gehrig shirt.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VwS6AmJPaZxjV6PdB0NJxhZWMDHmHYOylVWbAMXCl0QEEpvtUcYh8UYmieEtv-BExFn5_aUiZORQjP7tpgRBrHZFYxZnuhTARxwn71S72lVnn6QP0oJlimc0-RO1M8W5t2lTZ-9B41aO/s1600/njny_07292007-0801207+290.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VwS6AmJPaZxjV6PdB0NJxhZWMDHmHYOylVWbAMXCl0QEEpvtUcYh8UYmieEtv-BExFn5_aUiZORQjP7tpgRBrHZFYxZnuhTARxwn71S72lVnn6QP0oJlimc0-RO1M8W5t2lTZ-9B41aO/s320/njny_07292007-0801207+290.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>No apologies to my Red Sox relatives, who wouldn't be caught dead in a Yankees shirt! </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I'm still a fan of the Bosox.</i></span></div>
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<br /></div>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-75308321376676995672012-04-08T13:35:00.000-05:002012-04-08T13:35:14.533-05:00Mister Roberts... and Dave--a curious inscription<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_s68LsIhQAILDRnJgLJ8hP70-jvXMCT86Rn25eG3z8aGIuwapCeDyDvK1AYg3BYB4mTrTrv0eFJuOkNmipDDtdM51kNfjlWUwskUDuvljgJpcHKnxjo6o0tymD-vCEDUksuZcuB20hyphenhyphencJ/s1600/book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_s68LsIhQAILDRnJgLJ8hP70-jvXMCT86Rn25eG3z8aGIuwapCeDyDvK1AYg3BYB4mTrTrv0eFJuOkNmipDDtdM51kNfjlWUwskUDuvljgJpcHKnxjo6o0tymD-vCEDUksuZcuB20hyphenhyphencJ/s200/book.jpg" width="101" /></a></div>
Thomas Heggens' <i>Mister Roberts</i> was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1946. The story was set on a US Navy cargo ship toward the end of World War II, based on the author's experiences during the war in the South Pacific.<br />
<br />
The title character, Mister Roberts, was a junior officer who had the respect of his men and disdain for the captain, who had little regard for the crew. Roberts fought the captain for a transfer to the front lines to see some action before the war ended, eventually got his wish, and was killed in action.<br />
<br />
I have a copy of the novel with the following curious gift inscription:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Dave,</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Here in detail are episodes in the lives of the men with whom you served on that Sunday afternoon of 8th April 1951.</i></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9lWqxBHcMI1UMfl5PSRAWITCcQpNjAugsfe6H11glWTGkDZN8UvQnEcVazNanQhb4tHKUxXl5PZj6pwo_ZHMejKHgByYpFudNt9Ylckxq_emf9Qouhxfq7OGSZO0FB1spoUfi5QlfoDN/s1600/inscription.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB9lWqxBHcMI1UMfl5PSRAWITCcQpNjAugsfe6H11glWTGkDZN8UvQnEcVazNanQhb4tHKUxXl5PZj6pwo_ZHMejKHgByYpFudNt9Ylckxq_emf9Qouhxfq7OGSZO0FB1spoUfi5QlfoDN/s320/inscription.jpg" width="234" /></a></div>
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And that has left me wanting for more detail. Who was Dave and what happened on April 8, 1951? Did Dave just serve one day with "these men?" On a ship? And at war? Or was this a reference to particular event during the course of a longer tour of duty by Dave?<br />
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I can find nothing of significance occurring on April 8, 1951 to relate to the characters and setting of <i>Mister Roberts</i>. The US military was fighting a war in Korea and General Douglas MacArthur was about to lose his command. But the specific date of April 8, 1951 is a riddle.<br />
<br />
I'm guessing a good number of veterans could relate to the characters and situations in this book, Dave and the author of the inscription being just two examples of that sentiment. I'm assuming the inscription's author could relate on some level to have assumed that Dave would also. And the inscription became a device for introducing the book and evidently some wartime memories for its recipient.<br />
<br />
The inscription itself is not dated, so there's no way of knowing when this used copy of the book was presented to Dave. If it were 1955 or later, no doubt Dave had heard of <i>Mister Roberts</i> the movie, if not the book. After being adapted as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Roberts_(play)"><b>a play in 1948</b></a> <i>Mister Roberts</i> found new life in yet another medium as a <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Roberts_(1955_film)">1955 film</a></b> starring Henry Fonda, James Cagney, William Powell, and Jack Lemmon. The film was nominated for Best Picture and Lemmon won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.<br />
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<br />Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-56440224186278078222011-12-02T12:05:00.000-06:002011-12-02T12:11:54.791-06:00Prayers in Medieval Marginalia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3Zp4a9ENRKMA_qRWFvsS7NdWe813L3yCNfrZ0zm88HfEidJ0fQpuzRvWBJ1RRMH9mWyvukS99d-4vPK186p-4G6dQFzJ5xCVjumxDpEAS2qRsjO3FjZKq2A-vnZ8H-tA0YIQy6roYoNL/s1600/MarkingHours.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu3Zp4a9ENRKMA_qRWFvsS7NdWe813L3yCNfrZ0zm88HfEidJ0fQpuzRvWBJ1RRMH9mWyvukS99d-4vPK186p-4G6dQFzJ5xCVjumxDpEAS2qRsjO3FjZKq2A-vnZ8H-tA0YIQy6roYoNL/s200/MarkingHours.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>
I don't know that Eamon Duffy prayed he would find margin notes in the medieval books of hours, or prayer books, that he researched for his book, <i>Marking the Hours: English People & Their Prayers 1240-1570</i> (Yale University Press, 2006), but medieval marginalia is what he hoped to find and did.<br />
<br />
In <i><b><a href="http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12957">America: The National Catholic Weekly</a></b></i>, Thomas J. Shelley offers an informative review of Duffy's book. Summarizing the contents, he writes, with a quote from Duffy:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>This book is an attempt, says Duffy with his customary wit, “to trace a history written quite literally in the margins.” </i></span></blockquote>
Shelley expounds further:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px;"><i>These annotations provide a rare insight into the personal religious convictions of those who used the books daily to sustain their spiritual life. The fact that many of these laypeople were women adds an extra dimension of interest and originality to Duffy’s research. The book of hours was popular with such dissimilar characters as the unscrupulous King Richard III, hard-faced London grocers, pious country gentry, devout widows, St. Thomas More and even Thomas Cromwell, the ruthless royal minster who engineered More’s downfall and execution.</i></span></blockquote>
Prayers comprise the majority of the marginalia Duffy encountered in his research. Collectively, they offer valuable insight to the mindsets of people, primarily women, during medieval England. In turn, Duffy' book offers a valuable addition to the emerging field of scholarly research of marginalia.Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-88856581196166188622011-10-12T22:56:00.000-05:002011-10-12T22:56:24.132-05:00Martial arts and marginalia--Bruce Lee's libraryStumbled upon this interesting library on YouTube--Bruce Lee's personal book collection, many of which appear to be annotated (so says daughter, Shannon Lee). I found it interesting that he would use different colors of ink to emphasize different points.<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/iFWeLM5h7Dg" width="560"></iframe>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-1471636294240677242011-09-11T06:41:00.000-05:002011-09-11T06:41:33.512-05:00A dad's 9/11 gift<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YJEGqJWzGIcF6spxXeCK2phpf_N8admbcNJE-t75pGjjaWHRzIM3flboslnIgUCe7YfQDwhxp1ZAHsdzz3dJWrPvCJwkWh6V3jJpQdNJZZtwfavlA7yuImAq1qLFZeqVTdl0ZBlwdwPR/s1600/seabiscuit_91101a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0YJEGqJWzGIcF6spxXeCK2phpf_N8admbcNJE-t75pGjjaWHRzIM3flboslnIgUCe7YfQDwhxp1ZAHsdzz3dJWrPvCJwkWh6V3jJpQdNJZZtwfavlA7yuImAq1qLFZeqVTdl0ZBlwdwPR/s320/seabiscuit_91101a.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
A copy of Seabiscuit (published 2001), by Laura Hillenbrand. A simple gift inscription from a father to his daughter on September 11, 2001: <i> </i><br />
<br />
<i>Dear Bethany, I hope you enjoy this (I did). Love, Dad</i>.<br />
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Next to the inscription, the father created a tiny memorial of sorts to mark the day for his daughter: a small American flag affixed to the page by a 34-cent US postage stamp that depicts the Statue of Liberty. A caption underneath states simply "9-11-01."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F9nlT2t7qaZ5CBc7i_zyoZD6LRALa1ByWloS8d1C9jEgcqzy8lzRq6N6VsMOdIHcYLUCRKa-WPC3s4YLspXs7m4kWUuu4H_EcYRInIN6Bkzs389l6L_Vj5tjRxYhVEP0nj6c8-s-9DEl/s1600/seabiscuit_91101c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-F9nlT2t7qaZ5CBc7i_zyoZD6LRALa1ByWloS8d1C9jEgcqzy8lzRq6N6VsMOdIHcYLUCRKa-WPC3s4YLspXs7m4kWUuu4H_EcYRInIN6Bkzs389l6L_Vj5tjRxYhVEP0nj6c8-s-9DEl/s320/seabiscuit_91101c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Various scenarios come to mind about why this book was presented on 9-11-01 and why it wound up in a resale shop where I found it and thought it worth saving. Scenarios come forth for each, but I'll just let the moment of the gift resonate here--the father's gift to his daughter, a book and a simple, poignant observance of the tragedy that befell a nation ten years ago today.<br />
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<br />
That day will never be forgotten in the lifetimes of those old
enough to have had it indelibly imprinted into their memories. Many memorials and observances, in various forms, were erected that day. Even in a gift book, whose story of inspiration, hope, and renewal may have reflected the needs of the gift's recipient as well as those of the gift giver and an entire nation.<br />
<br />Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-92040493943201366322011-08-12T08:38:00.001-05:002011-08-12T08:38:01.860-05:00Marginalia in poetry<div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">The subject of marginalia is not just for scholarly studies, <b><a href="http://writinginbooks.blogspot.com/2011/08/writing-in-books-video.html">filmmakers</a></b>, or whimsical blog posts (present company included most of the time). Marginalia has found its way into poetry. None other than <b><a href="http://www.billy-collins.com/2005/06/marginalia.html">Billy Collins</a></b>, former Poet Laureate of the United States</span><a href="" title="United States Poet Laureate"></a> from 2001 to 2003<span style="font-size: small;">, included a poem titled, <i>Marginalia,</i> in his poetry collections, <i><b><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/137110.Picnic_Lightning">Picnic Lightning</a></b></i> (Pitt Poetry Series, </span>University of Pittsburgh Press,<span style="font-size: small;">1998) and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/676.Sailing_Alone_Around_the_Room"><b><i>Sailing Alone Around the Room</i></b></a> (Random House, 2001). Here it is:</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><h3 class="entry-header" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Marginalia, by Billy Collins</span></b></h3><h3 class="entry-header" style="font-family: inherit; font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></h3><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span> <div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes the notes are ferocious,<br />
skirmishes against the author<br />
raging along the borders of every page<br />
in tiny black script.<br />
If I could just get my hands on you,<br />
Kierkegaard, or Conor Cruise O'Brien,<br />
they seem to say,<br />
I would bolt the door and beat some logic into your head.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Other comments are more offhand, dismissive -<br />
"Nonsense." "Please!" "HA!!" -<br />
that kind of thing.<br />
I remember once looking up from my reading,<br />
my thumb as a bookmark,<br />
trying to imagine what the person must look like<br />
why wrote "Don't be a ninny"<br />
alongside a paragraph in The Life of Emily Dickinson.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Students are more modest<br />
needing to leave only their splayed footprints<br />
along the shore of the page.<br />
One scrawls "Metaphor" next to a stanza of Eliot's.<br />
Another notes the presence of "Irony"<br />
fifty times outside the paragraphs of A Modest Proposal.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Or they are fans who cheer from the empty bleachers,<br />
Hands cupped around their mouths.<br />
"Absolutely," they shout<br />
to Duns Scotus and James Baldwin.<br />
"Yes." "Bull's-eye." "My man!"<br />
Check marks, asterisks, and exclamation points<br />
rain down along the sidelines.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And if you have managed to graduate from college<br />
without ever having written "Man vs. Nature"<br />
in a margin, perhaps now<br />
is the time to take one step forward.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">We have all seized the white perimeter as our own<br />
and reached for a pen if only to show<br />
we did not just laze in an armchair turning pages;<br />
we pressed a thought into the wayside,<br />
planted an impression along the verge.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Even Irish monks in their cold scriptoria<br />
jotted along the borders of the Gospels<br />
brief asides about the pains of copying,<br />
a bird signing near their window,<br />
or the sunlight that illuminated their page-<br />
anonymous men catching a ride into the future<br />
on a vessel more lasting than themselves.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">And you have not read Joshua Reynolds,<br />
they say, until you have read him<br />
enwreathed with Blake's furious scribbling.</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">Yet the one I think of most often,<br />
the one that dangles from me like a locket,<br />
was written in the copy of Catcher in the Rye<br />
I borrowed from the local library<br />
one slow, hot summer.<br />
I was just beginning high school then,<br />
reading books on a davenport in my parents' living room,<br />
and I cannot tell you<br />
how vastly my loneliness was deepened,<br />
how poignant and amplified the world before me seemed,<br />
when I found on one page</span></div><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><div style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;">A few greasy looking smears<br />
and next to them, written in soft pencil-<br />
by a beautiful girl, I could tell,<br />
whom I would never meet-<br />
"Pardon the egg salad stains, but I'm in love."</span></div><div style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-503363450180386842011-08-10T10:25:00.002-05:002011-08-10T18:15:47.523-05:00Writing in Books - The FilmFrom reeselife (a section of <b><a href="http://reesenews.org/">reesenews</a></b>), a source of news about Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina, here is an interesting film that explores the practice of marginalia or writing in books and its personal and cultural significance:<br />
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<b><a href="http://reesenews.org/2011/08/10/why-we-write-in-books/17627/">http://reesenews.org/2011/08/10/why-we-write-in-books/17627/</a></b><span id="goog_671851004"></span><span id="goog_671851005"></span>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-80700694874195178122011-07-01T08:13:00.000-05:002011-07-01T08:13:00.658-05:00Nixon in the marginsA reader of this copy of the book, <i>Nixon in the White House</i>, by Rowland Evans, Jr. and Robert D. Novak (Random House, 1971), sees Watergate as having been inevitable, but that wasn't Nixon's biggest crime.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0S_i5Az2FoGRZKGcVVG7-Fy8Kx1ZOX3Pxprw_KLhllwRKwTDApd9wK0aUY-0DG1ceBEpcQVPKgEKqdysJ8Ehs4Ix6mHVZE_hT9olyPzosSTf_d9Rsddxepa77hBZocu0JCi4qvK-rKGb/s1600/nixon_front.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE0S_i5Az2FoGRZKGcVVG7-Fy8Kx1ZOX3Pxprw_KLhllwRKwTDApd9wK0aUY-0DG1ceBEpcQVPKgEKqdysJ8Ehs4Ix6mHVZE_hT9olyPzosSTf_d9Rsddxepa77hBZocu0JCi4qvK-rKGb/s200/nixon_front.jpg" width="142" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrO8WJmdMfQqWUNO5SdbECE93JiWKyzfJQ7sT5jecGzl2ZdfUg2i_0GR1DgxtuPoG_C2JtAOVCVrpUEsKnEI4eD1ma2Hj9j_yzt-toyMXRpuzxA5o8D5LKvgwfGwuQg9XItNGrI8ZdHWd/s1600/nixon_back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPrO8WJmdMfQqWUNO5SdbECE93JiWKyzfJQ7sT5jecGzl2ZdfUg2i_0GR1DgxtuPoG_C2JtAOVCVrpUEsKnEI4eD1ma2Hj9j_yzt-toyMXRpuzxA5o8D5LKvgwfGwuQg9XItNGrI8ZdHWd/s200/nixon_back.jpg" width="147" /></a></div><br />
Between these covers, it's pretty obvious that one reader of this book felt very passionate about the subject and interacted rather intimately with the text, letting his emotions and feelings flow in annotated anger across many a page.<br />
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The reader's liberal use of a pencil to annotate this book--rather, what his annotations speak to--tells me the marginalia occurred after the scandal. That and the date of the book. Watergate hadn't hit the headlines yet. <br />
<br />
The reader doesn't take long to crank up the marginalia. A page 7 reference to Donald Rumsfeld gets the pencil scratching across the paper with Rumsfeld's name underlined (reference to a phone call he shouldn't have received from Nixon) and the margin note "Security Risk!" But that's not the first notation you see. A summary of the book and the reader's opinion welcome you on the half-title page:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiN94LlB0DJxaKLqf4FeOrenZIORrS2-cETLgy4ih2cepW2_5OsGC3cfygI1M9ywRn4_QNxEEZTJ7zoB5MGK0BkLkJQKUYv9iKUQ6kOUWcImghi_ah38_IDRi44Hgyh4WUos5EeYI8beh/s1600/notes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipiN94LlB0DJxaKLqf4FeOrenZIORrS2-cETLgy4ih2cepW2_5OsGC3cfygI1M9ywRn4_QNxEEZTJ7zoB5MGK0BkLkJQKUYv9iKUQ6kOUWcImghi_ah38_IDRi44Hgyh4WUos5EeYI8beh/s320/notes.jpg" width="233" /></a></div><i>After reading this book, Watergate seemed inevitable. But Watergate is only the tip of the iceberg visible above the surface.</i><br />
<br />
<i>Treason is defined as giving aid to the enemy of a country. Communist Red China was our enemy in the Korean War. A deadly enemy still in the Vietnam War. Mr. Nixon put them on "The Most Favored Nations" list. </i><br />
<br />
And this annotation is but the tip of the iceberg for the marginalia that occurs throughout this book. Marginalia and underlining.<br />
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Below are a few examples out of many that exist from this impassioned reader.<br />
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Somehow, during this reader's Nixonian annotation rants, Mr. <b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Knott">Walter Knott</a></b> of Knott's Berry Farm fame winds up in the marginalia. An interesting connection for later research, perhaps.<br />
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And if you're wondering how this reader held up over the long haul of reading this book, I assure you he was still going strong the last several of 410 pages. On pages 403 through 405, no less than three passages are once more marked with the word, "Treason," all pertaining to Nixon's relations with Communist China.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Further, the marginalia sometimes has a source other than a knee-jerk reaction from the reader; the annotation at times contains a citation for the source, (i.e., <i>Wall Street Journal, Aug 1 1973</i>). I'd venture a guess that this is an unusual practice in the art, if you will, of annotation and marginalia.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">There you have just a taste of one reader's reaction to a period in US history that created such intense feelings as to cause a reader to relive it as it unfolded in this book, accuse President Nixon of treason, and write marginalia with a vision that only comes with hindsight.</div>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-4271631573761367612011-04-28T16:13:00.000-05:002011-04-28T16:13:00.861-05:00Marginalia in a digital worldI found some interesting discussion on <b><a href="http://www.hyperorg.com/speaker/bio.html">David Weinberger's</a></b> blog <b><a href="http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger/2010/07/05/the-golden-age-of-marginalia/">Joho</a></b> about the loss of handwritten marginalia in digital books. But not the loss of marginalia itself. Weinberger foresees highlighting and annotations flourishing in a digital format, perhaps even the dawning of a <i>Golden Age of Marginalia</i>.<br />
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The example used is the literary marginalia of famous authors, such as Twain or Kerouac--marginalia the average reader is unlikely to ever see. But it serves to illustrate a point about loss and gain.<br />
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Weinberger concedes it would indeed be a loss not to hold the book Kerouac held, read, and interacted with by transcribing his thoughts upon the text and margins of the page that inspired those thoughts. He uses the word "thrill" to describe the experience of handling a book containing such marginalia.<br />
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Ian Frazier used the word "sublime" in his <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2010/06/28/100628ta_talk_frazier"><b>New Yorker article</b></a> on the same subject, albeit in a setting more conducive to using that word. It was Frazier's article that led to Weinberger's blog post. The distinction between "thrill" and "sublime" might parallel the distinction between attitudes toward traditional formats for literary matter. "Sublime" would certainly seem to connote an incomparably greater connection or attachment to the annotated codex than would "thrill."<br />
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Weinberger sees a trade-off looming, one that should actually be more beneficial to readers in the digital book arena. The potential to create digital marginalia, especially in a social reading environment, will negate (and then some) the loss of of an author's handwritten notes in the margins of the printed page. Specifically, Weinberger asserts: <br />
<blockquote><i>We will gain the ability to learn from the digital traces left by all of today’s Kerouacs, Kerouac scholars, and Kerouac readers.</i></blockquote>To that, I would add: As long as those digital traces can be read or accessed via whatever medium is currently in vogue. Will historically significant digital marginalia from the year 2016 survive more than 200 years as has the marginalia in <a href="http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/ppo/programming/adams/johnadams.cfm"><b>John Adams' books</b></a>, which are currently being shown around the country in a traveling exhibit? I pondered the ephemeral nature of all things digital in <a href="http://bibliophemera.blogspot.com/2010/05/digital-ephemera.html"><b>this <i>Bibliophemera</i> blog post</b></a> last year.<br />
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An interesting thread of comments follow Weinberger's thought-provoking post (Joho link above).Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-30791017414725671012011-03-08T09:29:00.003-06:002011-03-08T09:34:52.248-06:00Back to the Future with Morris the Cat<blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJF6fwiDymVxk5nCo697iakaZCHWd8yEMZBnGZbDWsaTmdElMiKNi-ZhNYHt9J8nudZKIgoMVWs8sKrya5hX9Btbsg4vAm9SWIyaK0lvmGiuJUHUcxdKep2FbPtHTM93V-WFpGKIRRHRT/s1600/book.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJF6fwiDymVxk5nCo697iakaZCHWd8yEMZBnGZbDWsaTmdElMiKNi-ZhNYHt9J8nudZKIgoMVWs8sKrya5hX9Btbsg4vAm9SWIyaK0lvmGiuJUHUcxdKep2FbPtHTM93V-WFpGKIRRHRT/s200/book.jpg" width="200" /></a>Here's a curious gift inscription written on the half-title page of <i>Morris: An Intimate Biography</i>, by Mary Daniels:<br />
<blockquote><i>To Mom--1965<br />
From--Michael</i></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfg5rMtfvG9jvxTqUOQPOPDfu7zDA6fhInYS0Mg72qCrideWWty32pJWjF4Bj3YsSpsTRWY8WJqb3V5CTI0bF_6v80NDWBzsG2e9QsDY5bd2LiJ7yTwXNoPvgJxPRoQa55pGSgI5dVC5W/s1600/halftitle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmfg5rMtfvG9jvxTqUOQPOPDfu7zDA6fhInYS0Mg72qCrideWWty32pJWjF4Bj3YsSpsTRWY8WJqb3V5CTI0bF_6v80NDWBzsG2e9QsDY5bd2LiJ7yTwXNoPvgJxPRoQa55pGSgI5dVC5W/s400/halftitle.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><i></i></blockquote>This 1965 inscription is curious because the book was published by William Morrow & Company in 1974. Something to do with nine lives and time travel?Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-51639871186685257942011-02-21T21:17:00.002-06:002011-02-21T21:17:00.804-06:00A Flying Tiger's inscription mystery<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK09FlVxSBjlfO0ZrZAlDkxene0trePiPDOJKCb_Rq2PId4rp6MhU2EztvlnXlJQ7QMOztz8cAe-_W90LTp0zwOclLJsR9TlpabwiLFeXiY2voaSJkk5jKlZGYRx7LlDaujKD-zJVXJvo/s1600-h/book.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK09FlVxSBjlfO0ZrZAlDkxene0trePiPDOJKCb_Rq2PId4rp6MhU2EztvlnXlJQ7QMOztz8cAe-_W90LTp0zwOclLJsR9TlpabwiLFeXiY2voaSJkk5jKlZGYRx7LlDaujKD-zJVXJvo/s320/book.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361401697287291074" /></a>Here is a 1991 reprint of the 1949 Flying Tiger history, <span style="font-style:italic;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Way of a Fighter: The Memoirs of Claire Lee Chennault</span></span>, by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claire_Lee_Chennault">Claire Lee Chennault</a>, Major General, U.S. Army (Ret.); James Thorvardson & Sons, Tucson.<br /><br />Chennault was commander of the 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Chinese Air Force in 1941-42, otherwise known as <a href="http://www.flyingtigersavg.com/">The Flying Tigers</a>. Hired by the Chinese government to defend China against the Japanese, their training actually began before America's entry into the war, and just days after the the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the Flying Tigers were flying combat missions.<br /><br />I found this book at a library sale and was thrilled at what I discovered inside. The blank page preceding the title page (verso of the frontispiece) has a wonderful inscription from famed World War II ace fighter pilot for the Flying Tigers, <a href="http://www.acepilots.com/cbi/hill.html">"Tex" Hill</a>, who flew for Chennault:<blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">To my dear friend and fellow Fighter Pilot, a man I admire most. Thank you for the sacrifice you made for our country. All the best. "Tex" Hill</span></blockquote><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgByvewpc3ER7seYfdexLlNUXe0oTsl8kR6QvAmHKl2pd8X1K2pVnZPbeJE0S4TLH7MbhAkdK2u-49uJDzNuMculf00Jl4Po-tb67-LNaQj6Y5FUGqPsTszMLekqee9TOfTrVb9QPFO2jA/s1600-h/booksig.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 287px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgByvewpc3ER7seYfdexLlNUXe0oTsl8kR6QvAmHKl2pd8X1K2pVnZPbeJE0S4TLH7MbhAkdK2u-49uJDzNuMculf00Jl4Po-tb67-LNaQj6Y5FUGqPsTszMLekqee9TOfTrVb9QPFO2jA/s400/booksig.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361401883477409362" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocsoOq9HP3zbZ9s1nFojuttu44BUN4BAgVoQIvylQCa853Zqn5r_gZgQJWKGfv37cJI4OUOeCqg-0QQGQaYj-JYQKi1Z9z0hh1JnuHFyNMgaVwAVwwpwaW4coB8tLxTGk2uWe6AFZ7uM/s1600-h/sig.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 239px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocsoOq9HP3zbZ9s1nFojuttu44BUN4BAgVoQIvylQCa853Zqn5r_gZgQJWKGfv37cJI4OUOeCqg-0QQGQaYj-JYQKi1Z9z0hh1JnuHFyNMgaVwAVwwpwaW4coB8tLxTGk2uWe6AFZ7uM/s400/sig.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361404453361577490" /></a><br />My first thought, after getting over the excitement of finding this inscription, was whose book was this? As Chennault died in 1958, he's quickly ruled out, but would have been the top contender otherwise. So who, or which fellow fighter pilot, did "Tex" Hill admire most? Perhaps some biographies of Hill would shed some light on the provenance of the Chennault book.<br /><br />A few years ago on <a href="http://archaeolibris.blogspot.com/2009/01/flying-tiger-in-kitchen.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">Archaeolibris</span></span></a>, I blogged about another Flying Tigers fighter pilot named Joe Rosbert, who died in 2007 in the Houston area, where I found his signed autobiography and later Chennault's book. So I entertained the idea that the Chennault book signed by Hill could have belonged to Rosbert, but I can't find anything to connect the two in such a way that would lead to Tex Hill's inscription. <br /><br />However, Tex Hill's fighter pilot experience was not limited to the Flying Tigers, so the fighter pilot in his inscription is not necessarily a Flying Tiger and maybe not even a fighter pilot he served with.<br /><br />At any rate, I now have a companion book to for the Rosbert book and what looks like the beginnings of a Flying Tigers collection.Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-52297535892054278442011-02-13T12:40:00.006-06:002011-02-13T17:36:29.680-06:00Unfinished inscription to a linksman<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMb8-YgLjJfPo8pwYeNYHjMecF6gl9ICLdYAqOlmWQL3fy4xNN47h3lgsh90ofDygtNErM2HqijahZlhc7RKToCsx2fNiQmyFJiN8tbVE5Wot7o7qAAaTUD_6ThsgtZCPDHxh2-oUEcb4/s1600/front1.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 114px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaMb8-YgLjJfPo8pwYeNYHjMecF6gl9ICLdYAqOlmWQL3fy4xNN47h3lgsh90ofDygtNErM2HqijahZlhc7RKToCsx2fNiQmyFJiN8tbVE5Wot7o7qAAaTUD_6ThsgtZCPDHxh2-oUEcb4/s200/front1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573320837874908226" /></a>I don't remember ever having seen an inscription in a book that stopped mid-sentence. <br /><br />In Gene Sarazen's <span style="font-style:italic;">Better Golf After Fifty</span> (Harper & Row, 1967), I wondered if a better memory after fifty were needed, when I came across this incomplete inscription:<blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Dear Lindy, I've wanted to repay your many wonderful favors you </span></blockquote>That's it. <span style="font-style:italic;">Favors you</span>... What? We're left hanging like a putt on the lip of the cup.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2ncFA2-mK6j_was3Tah0cYBw-_3XPRyBwfAFrpSyBPALpWL6TONIfwiSFvaYwI-JLSjnieA2QALT1-tw62YF5QhfFyFMjrFnuB32S7wTk-OIO6NsEKJ7y7LbL4DsZQ__B8KEAzf71SIO/s1600/fep.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2ncFA2-mK6j_was3Tah0cYBw-_3XPRyBwfAFrpSyBPALpWL6TONIfwiSFvaYwI-JLSjnieA2QALT1-tw62YF5QhfFyFMjrFnuB32S7wTk-OIO6NsEKJ7y7LbL4DsZQ__B8KEAzf71SIO/s400/fep.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572956990026185858" /></a><br />It's easy to assume that Lindy didn't get the book and he didn't get repaid with this book for all his favors, whatever they were. Afterall, why give a book to someone with an incomplete gift inscription? <br /><br />So what happened? Several possible scenarios come to mind. <br /><UL><LI>The writer had a senior moment or ADD and set the book down somewhere, never to return to it.</LI><br /><LI>The writer liked the book and kept it for himself after it occurred to him mid-sentence that he really wanted it. No need to complete the inscription at that point.</LI> <br /><LI>The writer had second thoughts about whether a cheap book was really the appropriate way to express gratitude for the <span style="font-style:italic;">many wonderful favors.</span></LI><br /><LI>The writer developed a serious case of writer's block and never recovered. Too embarrassed at this point, he put the book away somewhere and years later after a house cleaning or estate sale, the book wound up in a resale shop where some blogger picked it up and wondered about the inscription started forty-something years ago.</LI><br /><LI>The writer dropped dead after the word "you."</LI></UL><br />Whatever the reason, it is unusual, perhaps even unique in the annals of documented book inscriptions. Make that <span style="font-style:italic;">annal</span>, singular. At present, I know of only one creative soul out there who is actually doing this: <a href="http://bookinscriptions.com/"><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Book Inscriptions Project</span></a>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-439431854369939921.post-67681289226734889242011-02-04T09:24:00.000-06:002011-02-04T09:24:00.969-06:00Poor Leah: A postcard for the psych chapterWhat we have here is an example of written interaction with a book, not from the reader's notation, but from her mother's writing via a postcard strategically placed, one could argue, in the book. And there does appear to be a meaningful relationship between this particular book and the written message on the postcard.<br /><br />A whimsically imaginative tale ensues...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsPh6otL7NB1ElPD6dQKlm49X7oGhqRNzs1WMzEtCB6ZLjjkqZqwMOmSd7Mv2x-ko058uUC82eyPw7M-nIR08H5ULbXuFVDxqAezAl9kuE3FtUe8qMGVe-vfaURob54jt_0vmzfXc6dC1/s1600/pc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 242px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdsPh6otL7NB1ElPD6dQKlm49X7oGhqRNzs1WMzEtCB6ZLjjkqZqwMOmSd7Mv2x-ko058uUC82eyPw7M-nIR08H5ULbXuFVDxqAezAl9kuE3FtUe8qMGVe-vfaURob54jt_0vmzfXc6dC1/s400/pc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566471318453175922" /></a><br />A mother forgot her daughter Leah's birthday and belatedly sent her this postcard with a flimsy excuse and a lame greeting that included her activities with other family members (perhaps adding insult to injury). Poor Leah. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HKMNBUZMoXoxHl-aHD0qmx7g0YdDIo_u4ju2QqJduzvJIgIBECRkfOlsDsZjG1BDLU53JFUWBhkbNGlWNFeLAzO8UymQ7aso7q2EBdrZt1qLoImanMRfcLEP3TjrG3WeQhGSBtu6_khC/s1600/book.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 146px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0HKMNBUZMoXoxHl-aHD0qmx7g0YdDIo_u4ju2QqJduzvJIgIBECRkfOlsDsZjG1BDLU53JFUWBhkbNGlWNFeLAzO8UymQ7aso7q2EBdrZt1qLoImanMRfcLEP3TjrG3WeQhGSBtu6_khC/s200/book.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566470991077875906" /></a>At least four years later, Leah was reading the book <span style="font-style:italic;">Doctors and Specialists</span>, by Morris Fishbein, M.D. (Bobbs-Merrill, 1930). She got to the chapter, <span style="font-style:italic;">The Neurologist and Psychiatrist </span>, and thought of her mother's postcard. Remember, the postcard was written in 1926 and the book it was found in was published in 1930. Did Leah have the postcard handy to use as a bookmark? If so, had she obsessed over it so much as to keep it within reach all that time? Or was there something even worse at play here? Did Leah's mother write the belated birthday acknowledgment (it was hardly a greeting) in 1926 and not give it to her until 1930 (it was not mailed), at the time Leah was reading Dr. Fishbein's book? If so, poor Leah all the more! <br /><br />Whatever the reason, in a fine Freudian twist, a mother's late birthday remembrance marks her daughter's book some four years later at a chapter that addresses the mental health specialists.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOJjgK-owIyH8jsauxWHHvAy461M57tpfGcZ3Tgb__XaXD8goGGZA0CYPZe8sNcYytXNnzlWH13-kGoqI98cEs2MKNt4rsdsjHKx_2Y0vwU67HbMbFm3VGbicabNGlRDFcBxHkbi9vUoC/s1600/bookpc.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 282px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjOJjgK-owIyH8jsauxWHHvAy461M57tpfGcZ3Tgb__XaXD8goGGZA0CYPZe8sNcYytXNnzlWH13-kGoqI98cEs2MKNt4rsdsjHKx_2Y0vwU67HbMbFm3VGbicabNGlRDFcBxHkbi9vUoC/s400/bookpc.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566470371934184274" /></a><br />This is how I found it (I swear!) no telling how many years or decades later. Perhaps a depressed young woman used her mother's written admission of procrastination to mark her place in a book. Or maybe she marked this particular chapter to return to for some kind of therapy necessitated by her mother's neglect.<blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Dear Leah, Thought I could get time to write you a letter for your birthday but I did not get time but this will let you know I thought of you and you will know we are both well & had a dinner at six o'clock for Ed & Family, Robert & Family on my Golden Wedding day they gave me a camio pin it is very pretty Love to all Mother. Will write a letter soon</span></blockquote>Mother seems to be absorbed with herself... her party, her gift... Poor neglected Leah. And that postscript about writing a letter soon was placed at the top of the postcard upside down. Unconscious motivation (anyone?) for that choice of placement? Dr. Freud might have enjoyed this one.<br /><br />I wonder (with my Freud cap on) if Leah bookmarked that chapter specifically for insight of some kind or perhaps some bookish psychotherapy? If so, she might have been disappointed, as the chapter, indeed the entire book, pokes fun at the medical and mental health specialties. To wit:<blockquote><span style="font-style:italic;">Oh for the day when there were but two types of mentality, the wise man and the nut! To-day there are as many forms of mental disturbances as there are types of streptococci. They have taken the human mind and split it into layers with the conscious at the top, then the subconscious and finally the unconscious... It was a beautiful symbolism that the high priest should have been named Freud, a name which requires only the exchange of a single letter to make it sound exceedingly doubtful.</span></blockquote>Maybe Leah did find some relief in this chapter. Afterall, laughter, it is said, is the best medicine.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWf8-IetSEwQMZ5Gapv6P_JgXWXuuHrAUprqeBiNyjbvifm1nTW58dqBUOfwMWtJrQZd_gABYHWFKt3nbsbhZkWuKWWPUmU5JzPLsJpUgD_FkQ8aw-3Wcvih1pw0pclzIaNVKG9GHTOr9d/s1600/bookpc2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 290px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWf8-IetSEwQMZ5Gapv6P_JgXWXuuHrAUprqeBiNyjbvifm1nTW58dqBUOfwMWtJrQZd_gABYHWFKt3nbsbhZkWuKWWPUmU5JzPLsJpUgD_FkQ8aw-3Wcvih1pw0pclzIaNVKG9GHTOr9d/s400/bookpc2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5566470044264613650" /></a>Chuck Whitinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17535408831418392506noreply@blogger.com0