Received a small stack of old books, including a couple readers from the 1960s. One had this wonderful discard label inside the front cover. I got kick out of it and thought you would too.
Selling books in Baltimore
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Undated cover, now in digital captivity at the American Book Trade Index.
Isaac P. Cook
Bookseller and Stationer
76 Baltimore St.
All inside a calligraphic swirly. Addressed to WW Harding, Publisher, Philadelphia.
A Baltimore City Directory places Cook at this address (actually W. Baltimore St.) in 1845.
Maryland Historical Society has further info:
COOK FAMILY PAPERS, MS. 2328
Land transactions of Isaac P. Cook (1808-84), Baltimore bookseller and stationer, and his wife, Laura (d. 1876), and daughter, Isabel (fl. 1877-87); correspondence, 1877-80, about property assessment; deeds for Baltimore City and County land, 1808-87.
47 items, 1808-87
Cover posted to ebay here. Sold for under $3. Very little. At that price, I should have grabbed it, but I thought it would go higher. I can always console myself it is out of my collecting area… but I don’t feel any better about it…
WW Harding was bankrupt by 1878, according to this article from the NY Times.
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1881 Detroit, Wilmer Brookes, printing bookstore
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This wonderful photo hollers to us from about 1881. Brought to my attention by a constant contributor to the American Book Trade Index, Mr. WS. Thanks!! This is one of several from 19th Century Detroit.
If you visit the image on the ABTI you can see it at a larger than life level to see it ain’t books out on the table on the walk there. What follows is the info posted on the Detroit Public Library’s website, where this info was found.
Antonio Dondero’s wicker furniture factory
Three-story brick building, with “A. Dondero” on pediment. Men and boys stand by wicker furniture and baskets on sidewalk. Signs on building read: Detroit Willow Ware Manuf’ry, A. Dondero; photograph gallery; Willmen & Brookes, book & job printers. Brick buildings on both sides. Embossed on photograph front: “B.F.R.B. (?).” Handwritten on mat back: “North side Monroe Ave. bet. Farrer & Randolph, about 1881.”
1 photographic print mounted on mat board ; image 8.25 x 6 in.
Reproduction of photograph from the Burton Historical Collection
Courtesy: Detroit Public Library
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UCO Book Sale Report
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Last night I attended the 8th annual Friends of the Library (FOL) sale benefiting the University of Central Oklahoma Library. I’ve visited the UCO campus a couple times before, but never the library. So I started in the visitor lot (mistake) and wondered around. There are no maps posted, so I relied on the kindness of students hanging around to point the library out. The Max Chambers library is in the Northwestern quarter of campus.
It was Friends day, so I joined at the door. Membership levels start at $5, which is quite a bargain! Books were shelved along general topical lines. You know; environmental law in gardening, etc. I arrived at the end of the evening, long after the afternoon rush, so it was a little rummaged, but I still found some great books. There was a good mix of newer and older, hardback and paperback, ex-library and donated. Found some great additions to my Modern Library collection. Prices are very reasonable, and of course, go to a good cause.
Also, I found a flyaway for the record books. Flyaways are the random stuff found in books. Usually postcards, receipts, etc. Well, this was nothing like that. The book was published in 1889, in cloth with a shaken spine and hinges starting. There seemed to be a good-sized pebble or something in the spine. I tried to peek down the back strip– something was down there alright, but I couldn’t see what. I delicately prodded it with my Parker Jotter, popping the invader loose. It clunked out on the shelf — a chocolate chip. Whole and unsullied. Weird.
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1873, Webster’s Dictionary ad
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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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Book Shop Cats
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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!
Resist Temptation and Little Nips
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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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Bibliophiles of Oklahoma Report
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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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1896 Newspaper Print Shop paper dolls
Someone save me. I don’t need this, but it’s almost too cool to let pass. Paper dolls? Sheesh…
How to Open a Book
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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!