Author: Benjamin L. Clark

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On this day April 14th, 1828 Noah Webster published the first edition of his dictionary. Webster at the age of 70, Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language in two quarto volumes (with pages 19 cm (7 in.) wide[1] and roughly 25cm (10in.) tall) containing 70,000 entries. According to Wikipedia he did. I honestly don’t know a lot about Webster’s dictionary. I have enjoyed accounts of Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, and Simon Winchester’s The Meaning of Everything, the story of the OED. I’ve included another image from the American Book Trade Index, this time an ad for Webster’s dictionary from an 1873 New Hampshire Farmer’s Almanac. The dictionary was offered for $12!

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Why do all used book stores have cats? Don’t tell me any reasons that explain how wonderful cats are. No. Cats are… well, they’re a lot of things, but one thing for certain: they are not for me. People don’t own cats, cats retain you for their staff.

I think at least half of all used book stores have cats. Stores without feline tenants are over compensated for as it is rare to find a catty bookstore without several creatures within. So, my conservative estimate is that there are at least 3 bookselling cats for every used and antiquarian book shop in North America. If you think you can escape cats in books about bookshops, well the ratio in fiction is at least 12:1! Now, this is all based on years of extensive research and a dislike of cats.

Before the bibliocommunity starts heating up the tar and plucking chickens, I offer these: 19th century trade cards featuring cats. These cats aren’t too bad. They’re mostly cute, they don’t shed, don’t make a racket or *ahem* mark territory.

Since nearly all of my readers (well, both of you) are “cat people” I post the following for your viewing pleasure. Of course, these are only a few contributions to the American Book Trade Index, which churns on. We are currently closing in on the 1800 image mark! Hooray!

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Brilliant. Another example of a bookplate carrying use and care instructions (and guilt trips). I love this. From JB, charter member of the Bibliophiles of Oklahoma. I forgot to ask is Cecil followed these rules…

When You Use A Book
* Are you careful with it?
* Do you try to keep it clean?
* Do you refrain from writing or marking in it?
* Do you resist the temptation to roll up the corners of the pages and tear out little nips?
* If so, good.
*If not, try to think of books as human begins with feelings just like yours. And resolve today to treat books as friends.

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Meeting 2: We’re growing! We had 6 in attendance! For those who missed the last after-action report, that is double what we had last time. At this rate, every human in Oklahoma will belong in about a year and a half! That is certainly exciting. If dues were only $1, we’d have a budget of over $3M! Three million dollars would buy a lot of book fun. Well, not for 3 million people though.

As long as I’m dishing out some reality, I’m also not being wholly honest. The 6 attendees includes my wife who just got off work and needed a bite. But it’s not like she’s a book *hater*, so she counts too.

The original 3 were joined by two more members. M collects modern firsts. From our chat I would classify him as a late-stage protocollector. Our other new member, JB, is a life long collector who collects books related to his record collection and antique audio equipment. He is perhaps an early-stage protocollector.

One thing I have learned trying to start a collector’s society is that many people are reluctant to refer to themselves as collectors. Why is that? It seems some believe book collectors have to spend thousands of dollars on every leather-bound purchase. Some collectors do, but for most of us, that just isn’t the case. I’ve started referring to people who accumulate books along with a general idea or nucleus as protocollectors. Can you tell I once pursued archaeology as a career? Perhaps I need to work up a scale, or evolutionary chart of progression… hmmmm. Stay tuned.

The meeting was fun and even a little productive. We hashed out some ideas to promote BoOK and also set dates for future meetings. So, if you’d care to join us, check out the website for details. The next two meetings will be 4/24 and 5/22, 7-9 pm. Those times are -ish.

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Someone save me. I don’t need this, but it’s almost too cool to let pass. Paper dolls? Sheesh…

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This little number is getting a bit of traffic on my flickr posts. I found this little fly-away in a book from 1899 at an FOL sale recently. I think it had been tucked in the back since it was new. A friend of mine saw it and has decided to reproduce it for his wife who seems to get a kick out of that cracking sound…

If you’re experiencing some deja vu, don’t be frightened. Book Patrol also posted on this exact thing not a couple weeks ago. This little paper sure wants some publicity!

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First, thank you to everyone who sent well-wishes and positive vibes for the inaugural meeting of the Bibliophiles of Oklahoma. We had a wonderful first meeting. We could have used some better luck though. By Thursday morning, we had 7 or 8 coming “for sure” and 3 or 4 “I’ll try or maybe”. So, potentially up to 12. I expected six and thought that was realistic. We actually only had… three. Including me. At the end of last week, an official flu epidemic was in its last throes in Oklahoma. That knocked out 2. After that, our luck ran downhill.

If three of anything is a collection, then three bibliophiles can make a society. You, dear reader, know my interests. I won’t bore you with more on that. The two other first members of BoOK are fascinating gents. Dr. RB collects books on archaeology related to his specialty. A born collector and one of the good guys. Dr. KH insists he is not a collector (RB argued “If you have a room just for books in your house, you’re a collector”) but has written 22 books with the latest due soon from Oxford Univ. Press. It is a literary biography of Thomas Jefferson. I wonder if I can score a review copy (hint, hint)? He has also published bibliographies of the libraries of two major American figures. We passed a wonderful evening with loads of bookly talk. No, bookly is not a word, but I’m not too uppity to use it. At one point I relished hearing “Now, did the 1787 Paris edition have the map…?” Amongst us, we had the answer. Well, the bibliographer did. Beautiful. I supplied the evening’s show-and-tell, but I may hold it in reserve and re-run it when we have more people. It is an object that has stumped me and the rest of the Bibliophiles of Oklahoma. Both of them.

So, come see this thing, and meet some delightful people, and me. Our next meeting will be 7 pm, Thursday March 27th. I appreciate it if you let me know if you can come, so we can plan ahead (chairs, tables, etc.), but it’s OK to just show up!

Photo found on flickr: Uploaded on July 9, 2006 by zen.

There are many beautiful bookplates. Ive seen scores of eloquent ex libris. You can enjoy many such ownership labels over at the Bookplate Junkie blog every Sunday. This label isn’t much to look at, but I love it. I don’t know ER Wyatt, but I think we have some things in common. I found this label in an obscure railroad title at that FOL sale a couple weeks ago. It was taped to the bottom of the front flap of the dust jacket. I almost didn’t notice it. I grinned, tucked it under my elbow to prowl some more.

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From the blog Rye Centennial, Courtesy of Janel: One of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while. I wondered where Milton from Office Space did after the fire. I’m sure he converted to stainless staples in the red Swingline stapler…