Author: Benjamin L. Clark

I think I get it. I know, I’m probably the last blogger of the biblioblogosphere to talk about e-readers, but I think I just got it.

Obviously, I love books as things. The physical artifact. Paper, ink, boards, cloth, leather, all of it. I have not really understood the fascination with e-books. Until now. They seem pretty unsatisfactory, by and large, but are improving. I’ll also admit I have an ereader app or few on my iphone. I use Stanza for books from Project Gutenberg (30K+ titles for free!) and MegaReader for access to books from Archive.org (Over a million, all free!).

I’ve used it to read in line at the Post Office, etc., and occasionally for reading in bed when I’ve not planned well and my TBR pile has shrunk too low to suit whatever reading mood I’m in. I do not use it for my primary reading source, nor do I ever expect it to.

Enter a fantastic book I read this past week: A Book For a Sixpence by David Kaser. Kaser examines the history of subscription libraries in the US. This was part of the Beta Phi Mu chapbook series, which is a must-have for students of the history of the book. This is not exhaustive, nor does he make any claims of it being so. There were many places in Kaser’s study that prompted me to ask questions that no one has yet found answers to (I think). There is also a very good bibliography, index and a couple appendices listing known American circulating libraries before 1900. After a very cursory search through my limited records, I only found a few not listed in this 30 year old work, but I imagine records for such would be elusive at best, but searchability will improve as more institutional collections migrate online.

Reading this book made the light come on. E-readers are the new circulating libraries! Sure, you get to keep the “book” longer, but you don’t own it. Your subscription fee is the price of the hardware reader, then you pay for access to the text, not for the book itself.

You never own the text on an e-reader. Except when they’re free, then no one seems to really care. But you still don’t own it.

In this context, e-readers make more sense. When I try to equate buying an “e-book” (an ugly chimera of a word!) with buying a book — it doesn’t come together in my mind. It doesn’t add up. I “buy” an “e-book” and I have no or very limited lending rights, right of first sale is out the window, etc. However, when I consider using an e-reader as a 21st Century subscription library that merely grants access to works, it suddenly makes a lot more sense.

I know most of you have not struggled with this, nor have you sought any kind of justification for buying an e-reader or using one. I think however, I’ve finally found mine.

kindle, ipad, i-pad, nook, sony, comparison, history, amazon, subscription library, private library, rental library, membership library,

Burligton Iowa, I’m sold! Book dated 1883. I’d certainly go see if it were true or merely bold talk.

From
Love’s Book Store
Full of Books
and
Elegant Goods
Hedges Block
Burlington, Iowa

One of my very favorite areas of the bibliofilic world is book trade labels. I have a modest collection I’m pretty proud of. There are a few websites devoted to these gems of the book world, and now there is another, http://www.booksellerlabels.com/ Gabe Konrad of Bay Leaf Used & Rare Books has put together a wonderful site with lots of great information all gathered into a convenient, useful site.

He sorts through some of the questions of what is a book trade label, provides a very useful list of references, even providing links to how he had some labels made for his own shop.

The image to the right is a few of my own labels I’ve printed as a postcard. I’m thinking of doing a series.

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I hope you already subscribe to the fantastic blog Bookman’s Log. Greg Gibson has interesting posts, but today’s is just wonderful. A rare glimpse into what and why bibliophiles love books so much. I’m also pleased to see he’s tackling writing the story of John Ledyard… now if we could find an inventory of the books he owned… He was a fascinating guy, tattoos and all.

I’m still looking for guidance on book hunting in Minneapolis! Let me know!

Happy Birthday to Emily Dickinson, who was born this day in 1830.

The one thing we were able to accomplish (really) during my time with the Bibliophiles of Oklahoma, was a donation of a Washington Irving volume to Emily Dickinson personal library project: Replenish the Shelves at the Emily Dickinson Museum.

Washington Irving has an interesting connection to Oklahoma having visited here when it was practically a mission to the moon to accomplish. It made an easy choice. I wonder if there was a Montana connection to Emily Dickinson’s library? I may need to get her a birthday present.

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Penguin Books has another great exhibition for me to share. The main idea is to:
“… print, etch, sculpt, photograph, whatever their medium, whatever their style… create a book cover for a novel of their choice, a book that has inspired them, a book that has had a profound impact on them or a book that they remember fondly as a child … all that we asked was that they create their original artwork to the traditional format and size of a Penguin book 198mm (h) x 129mm (w)”

You, dear reader, can view 100 entries here. Many, many, many of these would be very happy to live on my shelf. Just sayin’.

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About the Author: Benjamin L. Clark writes and works as a museum curator.

The Guild of Book Workers 100th Anniversary Exhibition is hitting the road! Check the schedule here.

But, maybe you’re like me and the closest it’s coming is 800+ miles, so I won’t be able to check it out in person. HOWEVER, do not fret, do not frown! You can see the exhibit online with huge detailed photos of each submission. My favorite: Melinda Padgett’s Willa Cather, Death Comes for the Archbishop. I like traditional binding forms that are able to draw creatively on the themes/ elements/ whatever from the story within. This is fantastic and I would weep with joy to be able to put such a beautiful book on my shelf.

Don’t forget to take a few minutes for the historic review of the Guild’s previous submissions.

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It is time for new plates on the vehicle in my new state, and there are actually a few choices for the discerning bibliophile. The standard plate is nice and simple, which I like for a standard plate. However, for a bibliophile who can’t practically drive a bookmobile (*at this time*), it’s nice to personalize the wheels a little to tell strangers how much I love books.

The first is of a grandma in a chair reading to two kids. This plate supports something to do with old fogeys. I mean that in the nicest possible way, perhaps even nicer. I do like this a lot. Is it the only license plate to feature someone reading? The next is a little ho-hum from the Montana libraries. Open book with the state as a cover. Not bad, but a little boring. The last supports the Montana Newspaper Association, and features a printing press! A little hard to see, but I think it’s a Washington hand press, which if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know I love newspaper history and printing presses too. That leaves us with quite the quandary… What do you think? Which would you choose?

I’ve admitted before that I love ephemera too, and I believe every book collection can be enhanced by including ephemera. There are some great ephemera focused sites already “out there”, but there is one I’ve rather selfishly kept to myself, mostly out of envy of the site owner. Unlike my blog, his site is clean and organized and has amazing, fresh content several times a week. The blog owner, Saul, even has a mission statement (the organized, purposeful so-and-so):

“This site is devoted to the identification, preservation, publicizing, and study of ephemeral publications that provide more-nuanced pictures of American culture and life. Because intended to aid scholars as well as collectors, this site focuses on artifacts preserving obscure information and imagery. (It excludes already-familiar ephemera such as posters, labels, comic books, and most cards). The main feature of this site is a gallery of images chosen for their aesthetic and/or documentary value. “
So, if you’re not already following Ephemera Studies, go check it out! And come right back!

It’s not often I actually address real life reading on this blog… I’m not sure why. Unlike some book collectors, I really do read! I even read the books I collect. Actually, that’s how I often decide what book to find in the nicest 1st I can afford is by reading a pip. Especially in the category of Bibliomysteries.

What is a bibliomystery? I generally agree with the definition used by the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at Simmons College, in Boston— the one active institutional collection of which I’m aware. They say:

“Bibliomysteries are mysteries in which books, manuscripts, libraries of any kind, archives, publishing houses, or bookstores occupy a central role, or mysteries in which librarians, archivists, booksellers, etc. are protagonists or antagonists (and preferably the location or occupation is important to the plot or theme). Our collection does not include academic mysteries or mysteries which happen to be about journalists, authors, or literary figures unless libraries, books, manuscripts, archives, and so on, are important to the plot.”

I’ve started a bibliomystery group over on LibraryThing, and the discussion has been interesting. Some folks do include things like Jane Austen mysteries, which has Austen as the sleuth, but otherwise no other biblio-element. I don’t count those.

So, a new (to me) book has me trolling the fixed-price-venue sites: The Bay Psalm Book Murder. Harris has only written this one bibliomystery, but he won an Edgar for it in 1983. The Edgar is the top prize for mysteries of any genre, so I felt this was a pretty safe bet. Some books in this genre are stinkers, or entirely too “cozy” for me.

Bay Psalm was enjoyable, though not aging terribly well. It read like a novel written in the mid ’70s, not the mid-’80s. The treatment of minority characters is a bit dated, but not implausible. Cops are not given the usual mystery novel treatment, which was refreshing. They are actually portrayed as overworked but competent professionals! The bibliofactors of the story/ plot were good, and one of the most enjoyable elements of the story, which unfortunately isn’t always true in bibliomysteries. There was one technical issue with how Harriss described foxing (which was perhaps accurate for the time…), but the book does explore printing, typography, binding, paper, and of course, some of the earliest American printing in a way that doesn’t bog the reader. These elements are also not blended in as filler.

If you enjoyed John Dunning’s Bookman mysteries (like I generally did), this is a natural fit for you. Harris is a decent writer, the style is good but very California (which I don’t love). The setting doesn’t feel false; Harris knows these places. The protagonists in Dunning’s books and Bay Psalm Book Murder are both named Cliff, even.

If you want to find other Bibliomysteries, check out the Bibliomystery group on LibraryThing, or check out the bibliomystery collection I set up for my library on LibraryThing!

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