Bibliophile

Bibliophile For the love of kindness, gentility and old books.

01/11/2023
https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/10/31/louisa-may-alcott-pen-names-new-pseudonym
01/11/2023

https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/10/31/louisa-may-alcott-pen-names-new-pseudonym

A Boston University graduate student believes he has a batch of 14 previously unattributed works written by the author of “Little Women” - under a pseudonym. Louisa May Alcott was known to publish under various names throughout her writing career, but this discovery marks the first time any new ...

25/10/2023

In the airport last weekend:
I was sitting and reading a book (an advance copy of a novel entitled Sandwich by Catherine Newman) and I kept laughing out loud.
The woman sitting next to me said, “It must be a great book if it can make you laugh like that.”
I said, “It’s wonderful. It has made me cry, too. It’s a stellar book.” (It really is. It will be published in June of next year).
The woman said, “Aren’t books wonderful?”
I said, “I’d be lost without them.”
And then the woman said this: “I’m 87 years old. My big sister taught me to read when I was five. She gave me the keys to the kingdom. Every time I pick up a book, I think of her and send her a little prayer of gratitude.”

I keep thinking of this: how wonderful to think of the person who taught you to read, to thank them every time you pick up a book.
Thank you, Betty DiCamillo, for giving me the keys to the kingdom.
And thank you, to all of you, who are giving out keys to the kingdom on a daily basis.

The Wind in the Willows…https://www.facebook.com/100064592653393/posts/787635013399580/
19/10/2023

The Wind in the Willows…
https://www.facebook.com/100064592653393/posts/787635013399580/

"It’s not the sort of night for bed, anyhow.“
~ Kenneth Grahame.

📸 Night-Time Reading: Moley in the Library, inspired by Kenneth Grahame’s ‘The Wind In The Willows’, by artist Chris Dunn.

Buy a Cup of Tea for TQE@ ko-fi.com/tqe

https://www.facebook.com/100063681485594/posts/792087476257295/
12/10/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100063681485594/posts/792087476257295/

'There, bathed in the almost level rays of the autumn sunlight, lay the landscape she had known and loved from childhood; as quiet, as full of low humming life as it had been at this hour for many generations. The autumn flowers blazed out in the garden below, the lazy cows were in the meadow beyond, chewing their cud in the green aftermath; the evening fires had just been made up in the cottages beyond, in preparation for the husband's home-coming, and were sending up soft curls of blue smoke into the still air; the children, let loose from school, were shouting merrily in the distance' North And South, 1855

https://www.facebook.com/100049464227150/posts/907209520937847/
10/10/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100049464227150/posts/907209520937847/

In May 1904, Kenneth and Elsie Grahame were late to a dinner party because, according to a maid, Kenneth was “up in the night-nursery telling Master Mouse some ditty or another about a Toad.” Master Mouse was the family name for the Grahames’ only child, Alastair, and the story that his father concocted that night was destined to become a children’s classic. Interestingly, the book began, not as a storybook - but as a series of letters to his son Alistair.

Grahame's riverbank tales relate the adventures of several animal friends and neighbours in the Edwardian English countryside—primarily Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger. Although the animals converse, philosophize, and behave like humans, each creature also retains its distinctive animal habits.

The Wind in the Willows was published on 8th October 1908, just months after Grahame left the Bank of England and 30 year career, blaming ill-health and mental pressures for the decision. Not successful at first, it was saved from obscurity by the then famous playwright, A. A. Milne (Winne the Pooh author) who loved the book and adapted it for stage in Toad of Toad Hall.

The book made Grahame's fortune, enabling him to retire from his hated , though respectable and well paid bank job, and move to the country. In his resignation letter, written on 15 June 1908, he said the "constant strain" of the post meant he was "very anxious" and feared "further deterioration of brain and nerve".

A recent theory suggests the true seeds of the popular book may have been planted during Grahame's early years living near the Crinan Canal in Argyll, Scotland, where he stayed before his family moved south.

It is thought Grahame never forgot his idyllic childhood spent on its banks, towpath and on boats, and he returned to the area at least once with his wife and son.

Rob Maslen, a senior lecturer in fantasy literature at Glasgow University, said: "It seems like a very plausible theory, and it would fit with various aspects of the book with the canal, the narrow boat which Mr Toad has his experiences on and the wild wood, which would probably fit that part of Scotland better than the area around Thames in southern England.

Grahame also wrote fiction and fantasy including the Reluctant Dragon, later made into a Disney movie. He died in 1932 aged 73.

For over 100 years, more than 50 different illustrators have adorned the pages of this children's classic with their own visions of the story. The 'original' version of The Wind in the Willows was illustrated by E.H. Sheperd. 10 years ago, an original copy of the book's first edition sold for £32,400.

Source: WSJ/Express

https://www.facebook.com/100063669783294/posts/817681167030869/
09/10/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100063669783294/posts/817681167030869/

Thoreau’s Cove at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, around 1900-1910 and 2020. This pond was made famous by Henry David Thoreau, who wrote his book “Walden” after spending two years living in a cabin here from 1845-1847. His cabin was located about 200 feet from this cove, in the woods in the distance of the scene, and he would frequently come down to this part of the shoreline to bathe and to observe the pond.

When the first photo was taken at the turn of the 20th century, the land around the pond was still privately owned. It was ultimately donated to the state in 1922, and it became the Walden Pond State Reservation. As a result, the landscape here has not changed much since the first photo was taken.

https://lostnewengland.com/2021/12/thoreaus-cove-walden-pond-concord-mass-2/

https://www.facebook.com/100064507367766/posts/708284891331750/
08/10/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100064507367766/posts/708284891331750/

Armchair Books In view of Edinburgh Castle and above the Grassmarket is one of over 50 bookshops in Edinburgh which are key venues for a vibrant culture of readings, literary cabarets and workshops.

Edinburgh is the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature and is birthplace and home to world-famous writers, poets and playwrights including Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Walter Scott (Waverley), and JK Rowling (Harry Potter). It also has its own Poet Laureate, the Edinburgh Makar.

In 1725 the world’s first circulating library opened in Edinburgh and today free public libraries can be found all over the city. Furthermore, the National Library of Scotland, the leading centre for the study of the Scots, the Scottish Poetry Library and the Scottish Storytelling Centre can all be found in Edinburgh.

Source: Castles of Scotland on Instagram

https://www.facebook.com/100064705659456/posts/701811175319065/
19/09/2023

https://www.facebook.com/100064705659456/posts/701811175319065/

The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to the Hynes Convention Center in Downtown Boston, October 27-29, 2023.

Celebrating its 45th year, this three-day event features fine and rare printed material from around the globe, including illuminated manuscripts, modern first editions, children’s books, ephemera, photographs, maps and autographs, as well as antiquarian books on a vast array of topics.

Info: https://www.abaa.org/blog/post/2023-boston-book-fair

I have never ordered from this company, but my research finds that they also have an Etsy shop. Book inspired print ban...
15/09/2023

I have never ordered from this company, but my research finds that they also have an Etsy shop. Book inspired print bandanas, they really are quite lovely.

Breathable, natural cotton is paired with book-inspired illustrations to create a bandana unlike any other. The perfect gift for book lovers, fashion icons, craftspeople, pets and more.

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