Chicken Noodle Soup for an Ailing Book

The writing in this book came with a crude sketch, but it wasn't just any author/artist who did it and it turned out to be something quite extraordinary, if not rare. 

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. 

This combination signature/sketch for this book is not rare, though a bit scarce with only a handful of copies found online for sale in varying conditions and prices (this copy has upper-corner damage). 

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. 

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!

Janet Judges Michael?

Maybe.

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.

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.

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.

Kipling provenance connected to the death of Abraham Lincoln

These two volumes are part of a set of Rudyard Kipling's works: The Writings in Prose and Verse of Rudyard Kipling, 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.

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.

    

James A. Tanner of Philadelphia is associated with the Tanner Manuscript 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.

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:

http://www.historynet.com/lincolns-last-witness-james-tanner-and-the-assassination-of-lincoln.htm

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).


.....

Great Gatsby Marginalia by Sylvia Plath

https://theconversation.com/what-we-can-learn-from-reading-sylvia-plaths-copy-of-the-great-gatsby-107660

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. 

The novel is The Great Gatsby, 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.

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.

Mystery of the Old Inscription

Author Jean Waldschmidt wrote a juvenile mystery, Mystery of the Old Thorndyke, 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.



Closer inspection reveals that a mirror is required to decipher this message, unless you're adept at reading backwards.

"To Foster, without whose help this book would never have been written."

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.

Leonardo and lefties. 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.

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.

Bookplate on the fly

You've been given a new book and you're all out of bookplates. What to do?

No worry, just write your own ex libris.

That's what one recipient did below in his copy of Will and Ariel Durant's The Age of Louis XIV.

He also indicated the gift givers.

President Johnson and the problems in the world

It's 1968 and you want a clear understanding of the problems in the world. All you have to do is read No Retreat from Tomorrow: President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1967 Messages to the 90th Congress.

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:

Today I received this book from President Johnson and I wanted you to have it.

Read it carefully and I am sure you will have a better understanding of all the problems in the world today.  

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.

A Gambler's Caveat and Gratitude

Here are a couple of unusual reader inscriptions found within a few pages of each other. 

In a copy of The Greatest Gamblers: An Epic of American Oil Exploration, 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.

To: Dr. Hood (but not for keeps), Jim

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?

Regardless, this reader inscription  tells us that Jim valued this book and wanted it to stay in his collection.

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:

To all the unsuccessful explorers who

have drilled America's 300,000 dry holes

and whose failures have guided others 

to the discovery of an abundance of oil, 

I dedicate this book with gratitude 

and admiration for their courage, venture-

someness, faith, persistence, and optimism.

Underneath the dedication, it appears that Jim has written his own expression of gratitude for the author's recognition. His reply reads simply, Thank you, JGS.

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.

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.

Jimmy's Grandfather and Lou Gehrig

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 Book Shrine to a Baseball Hero.

In this case, the book's owner apparently didn't own the book all that long as it was given to his grandson.

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!

Here's the inscription from a grandfather to his grandson:

Click on the image to enlarge it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Writing to Jacqueline Kennedy

In 1961, a few months after her husband was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States, Jacqueline Kennedy, the new First Lady, 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.

In May of 1961, British journalist and author, George Bilainkin, sent an inscribed copy of his 1947 book, Second Diary of a Diplomatic Correspondent to the new president's wife in advance of her and the President's trip abroad, which included a stop in London.

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.

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? 

"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."

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."

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! 

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. 

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?

For the First Lady of the United States of America, from an old admirer and all-weather friend of the Kennedy clan.

George Bilainkin  May 1961

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.

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.

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.

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.