Shucking Oysters

Shucking Oysters on Chesapeake Bay

African-American Oyster Shuckers

(Courtesy Florida Archive, 1909)

                My grandfather owned an oyster business in Virginia, up on Chesapeake Bay about 1900.

            He had a whole crew of African-American men and women shucking oysters, and when my Dad was little he remembered how they would sing the old Negro spirituals as they worked.  Man, could they shuck those oysters!  I imagine quite a few of those people had been slaves just 35 years before that.

           

            Marty asked me to get her a couple of 8 oz. containers of fresh shucked oysters today, but everywhere I went, they were out.  So I decided to buy some oysters in the shell.  How hard could it be to shuck oysters?

            I brought the oysters home, and Marty brought out an oyster shucking knife and told me about being sure to cut the muscle, and to save the nacre.  I came from the Gulf Coast, and should have been an old hand at opening oysters, but I guess I missed that experience until now.

            So I did what any pioneer would do—I looked up “shucking oysters” on Google, and soon was watching a video of a guy shucking oysters expertly. 

            It’s simple.  You just hold the oyster flat side up, hinge end toward you, and place the knife in where you see a tiny crack.  You slide the knife in about a half inch and pry the shell open, then cut the muscle on the top shell, so the oyster is just lying in the bottom shell, waiting to be slurped.

            I was doing this over the sink.  The expert had advised that I might find that a screwdriver opens the oysters easily, and results in less chance of knifing yourself if your hand slips.  And you should wear an oven mitt, also to prevent hurting yourself.

            The first oyster I was trying to shuck was not very cooperative.  I couldn’t find any place to stick the knife, and then the shell squirted out of my gloved hand and went down the drain. That's where the garbage grinder is. Of course, my hand is too big to get down there to retrieve it, and I started trying to find a long set of tongs. 

            In the past I have used the vacuum cleaner—I stick the suction down the drain and pick up whatever I've dropped down there.  It’s usually a silver spoon or other such valuable item. 

            That didn’t work because the shell was too heavy. 

            Finally, using tongs, I retrieved it. 

            By now, I had shucked ZERO oysters, and I was already worn out. 

            I was thinking about those old African-Americans, singing and shucking, probably 100 oysters while I was messing with the vacuum cleaner!  I thought about those huge piles of shells.

            Soon I managed to open an oyster. 

            Not bad.

            Then another.

            But the one I had retrieved from the drain was one tough customer.  I still couldn’t find any place to stick the knife.  I just stuck the knife in the general vicinity and hammered the shell on the wooden cutting board near the sink, and finally the shell started to come apart—in pieces. 

            This was not going to be a well-shucked oyster.  And the nacre? Forget it.

Oyster shells. Shiny material is nacre.

            I don’t think I will become a master oyster shucker. 

The Personal Navigator offers these books and papers:

The Way, The Truth and the Life; a Hand Book of Christian Theosophy, Healing, and Psychic Culture, A New Education, Based upon the ideal and method of the Christ by Dewey, J.H., M.D.1888         Buffalo, NY: J.H. Dewey, M.D. 408 pp.    13.5 x 19 cm. Author, "actively engaged in the practice of medicine", brings forth his study of the remarkable developments connected with specific religious experiences, particularly the study of the life of Christ. "Is Christ to be Superseded?" "Christ the Perfect Way"; "True Basis of the Higher Education", "Method and Specific Processes", "Spirituality the Only Basis"; Appendices I, II, III and IV; index.           Dark brown cloth on board with gilt title on cover and spine, minor wear to heel and toe of spine, cover lightly mottled. Inscription on ffep: "To Louise Grant From Mrs. C.B. Sawyer, Chicago, May 30th, 1889."  Very good.(8313)            $26.00. Religious/Faith Healing                          

Early Starrs in Kent & New England  (With Starr Family Association booklet, 1937)        by Ballou, Hosea Starr  1944 Boston, MA: Starr Family Association. 141 pp. + 8 pp.    15.5 x 23.2 cm. Compilation of a series of articles on the forbears of the Starr family in the U.S. and England, together with an 8-page Starr Family Association booklet published in 1937. Includes articles on English Ancestry, Early Life in County Kent, English Baptismal Records, Dr. Comfort Starr Arrives in New England, The Monhegan Island Episode, Rev. Comfort Starr Graduates from Harvard, more.Includes frontispiece photo of author.  Red cloth on board with gilt lettering, moderate wear, text block tight and clean, inserted papers very good, book very good. (8310) $50.00.  Biography                        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

  

Enigmas of Life by W.R. Greg Greg, William Rathbone 1873     Boston, MA: James R. Osgood and Company. Greg (1809-1881) offers in this book some suggested thoughts, based upon his outlook after having reached the age of 60. In his Preface he sets forth the framework for his thought: "..it becomes possible at once to believe in and worship God, without doing violence to our moral sense, or denying or distorting the sorrowful facts that surround our daily life." Greg takes on Malthus' discouraging theory of geometric progression of populations against arithmetic growth of sustenance, in "Malthus Notwithstanding". He takes on Darwin in "Non-Survival of the Fittest".  322 pp. 12.6 x 19.4 cm. Maroon cloth on board with Gilt titles, minor wear and blotches on cover. Inscription on front endpapers: "Louise Grant, 1873". Very good. (8297) $27.00. Educational/Philosophical

Looking Backward 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy 1889 Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Author Bellamy in this wildly popular (in 1887) looks a century into the future in his fictional account by a man, born in 1857, who goes to sleep and awakens 113 years later at the end of the 20th Century.  He describes radically new social and industrial institutions, in a very upbeat and optimistic look backward, yet into the future. There is a strong look of socialism in this "new world", one which Marxists quickly admired.  Includes a Postscript by the author responding to a review of his book in the Boston Transcript of March 30, 1888.            475 pp. 12.4 x 19 cm.    Dark green cloth on board with black lettering. Moderate wear. Bookplate and inscription on front free endpaper: "F.E. Porter".Very good.         (8298) $96.00. Fiction/Philosophy

Lucile by Owen Meredith, pen name for Edward Robert, first Earl of Lytton (1831-1891). Family Edition, illustrated by H.N. Cady 1888        New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes and Brother.  Lucile by Owen Meredith, pen name for Edward Robert, first Earl of Lytton (1831-1891). Author dedicates this edition to his father, the noted novelist Lord Bulwer-Lytton. Romantic narrative poem about Lucile, beloved by two bitter rivals, English Lord Alfred Hargrave and French Duke of Luvois.  352 pp. 17 x 25 cm. Decorated brown cloth on board, moderate wear, including edge wear. Front and rear inside hinges cracked. Inscription on ffep: "Abbie E. Dewey, July 14, '88." Good.        (8300) $48.00. Poetry

Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, The, Vol. I, March 31 to Dec. 31, 1832 by Knight, Charles 1832 London, England: Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Lord Brougham was the instigator of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in London in 1826, and it published its first weekly eight-page issue in March, 1832.  The intent was to spread knowledge amongst the poor, and this little paper was distributed all over the UK, selling 200,000 copies at its peak.  Publication ceased in 1844, after demand had faded and publishing expenses grew too great. Articles in this first volume did not patronize the uneducated--Charing Cross, now greatly improved, illus. with woodcut.  Pompeii, with woodcut, recently discovered, article takes readers on a walk through the city. British animals: The Dormouse, and the Mole, with illus. "On the Choice of a Labouring Man's Dwelling"; History of Somerset House, with illus.  Sugar, its agriculture and production. Statistical Notes on the population of England and Wales. Instruction of the Deaf and the Dumb. "London Bridge"--old bridge is almost pulled down and the Thames now sweeps through the five broad arches of the new bridge.Review of "Memoirs of the Life and Writings of Benjamin Franklin". The British Museum--article describes obelisks, with illustration. "The Natural Bridge of Virginia" with illustration from the largest state in the American Union. "Mahogany" (Swielenia mohagoni) notes that until recently only the rich could afford a mahogany table, but now (1832) anyone can. All about cutting and transporting from Honduras. Many more abstruse topics for the poor. 389 pp. + index 18 x 28.5 cm. (11½” tall). Marbled boards with calf spine, front cover detached, text block has damp stain on first 85 pages, yet good.  Overall, poor.    (8269) $92.00. Educational    

                                                                                                                                                    

Sermons by the Late Rev. George Shepard, Professor in Theological Seminary, Bangor, Me. With a Memorial by Prof. D.S. Talcott, first edition           1869     Boston, MA: Nichols and Noyes. 368 p.  13 x 19..5 cm.   This book today is widely circulated in Print on Demand and electronic versions, but this original 1869 edition is the one that captured the attention of so many. Rev. Shepard (1801-1868) preached the Gospel, and was unsparing in his criticism of slavery.  At his death he was praised by the noted abolitionist, William Lloyd Garrison. Memorial by Prof. Talcott relates life and brilliant theological path of Rev. Shepard, from birth in 1801 in Plainfield, CT on to preaching in Hallowell, Maine and Professorship at Bangor Theological Seminary. "The Diversions from Preaching" criticizes popish influences in the contemporary Protestant churches. "The Eclipsed Luminary" preaches from Matthew. When the Christian ceases to shine, and darkness comes in its place, it is very great darkness. "Salvation in  no Other" from Acts iv. 12. "The Shipwreck of Paul" from Acts xxvii. 22, 31. Better to put trust in God, rather than bolts and planks. "Elijah the Tishbite" from I Kings xvii. 1. "Not Fit for the Kingdom" from Luke ix.62, preaches a stern message for the converted. "The End at Hand" from I Peter iv.7. and more.           Decorated brown cloth with gilt design and lettering on spine. Engraving of Rev. Shepard at frontispiece. "Nellie Grant" stamped on ffep and "Isaac Hills" written in pencil. Clean and tight copy. Very good. (2929) $48.00. Religion                                                                                     

Sovereigns and Courts of Europe, The by "Politikos" with Portraits, Authorized Edition 1893     New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company. 439 pp. w adv. 12.8 x 19.6 cm. This book today is widely circulated in Print on Demand and electronic versions, but this 1893 authorized edition  captured the attention of many for its gossipy "insider-story” style. Sultan of Turkey-- mysterious 1876 death of ex-Sultan, five days after he was deposed on plea of insanity. Alexander III of Russia's story begins with death by horseplay in 1865, assassination of his father, Alexander II in 1881 and Alexander III's accession to the throne, celebration for half a million common folk at one huge dinner... William II, Emperor of Germany, whose birth in 1859 was heralded all over Berlin by a 101-gun salute. Death of Victor Emanuel I, first king of unified Italy brought great sadness, and King Umberto I is now king.  He is the only man generally respected in Italy, author writes. Book ends with long section on Queen Victoria of England, whose portrait serves as frontispiece.            Decorated maroon cloth on board with gilt and red printing. Slight edge wear and worn spot on back cover. Inscription on ffep: "Happy New Year dear Nellie (Grant), 1893 Angelina P. Loveland." Very clean and tight. Very good. (2939) $36.00.  Biography      

                                                                                   

Song of the Sower, The by William Cullen Bryant, illustrated with Forty-two Engravings on Wood           1871 New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company. 48 pp.     17 x 23.5 cm. This book today is widely circulated in Print on Demand and electronic versions, but this 1871 edition is truly an elegant work of art.  Add to that the owner carefully slipped poetry from newspapers in the 1880s and put them in the pages, but didn't stain the pages.  Beautiful engravings by Winslow Homer capture the misery and drama of the civil war, and the lot of the Mill Girl.  Also engravings by Griswold, Fenn, Hennesy, Bushing, Hows,and Nehlig.  Elaborately decorated brown cloth on board with gilt edged pages. Inscription on ffep: "’ Merry Christmas’ To my dear  ‘Loudel’ from Angie, Dec. 25th 1871." Slight wear at heel and toe of spine, else very fine.  (2940) $50.00.  Poetry                                                                         

Contact me at scoulbourn1@verizon.net

Christmases in our Past

 

 

“We have a Chinese General in our Christmas Tree!”

  

Red Square at Christmastime

            We ought to be pretty good at celebrating Christmas.  Our first Christmas in Moscow, during the days of the Soviet Union, I was the naval attaché for the United States. It was 1981. President Reagan was in office.

            The representative of the People’s Liberation Army in Moscow was a plump, cheerful fellow, wearing a Mao suit with a pen in the left breast pocket.  The pen showed that he was a Major General; the PLA didn’t mess with stars and insigne, but they all knew he was a general, and that was what mattered.

            The General came to return the call that I had made upon him, and he brought his faithful assistant, who translated between Chinese and English and Russian.  The General spoke only Chinese.

 Builder from New Hampshire, on right, in Moscow, 1981

(Also shown are Sam, Mark and John Coulbourn)

                Builder from New Hampshire.  Our cousins from New Hampshire, Nancy and Ron Pomerleau, and their two daughters were visiting us for Christmas.          

            I introduced Cousin Ron to foreign officials as my friend, a “Builder from New Hampshire”.  In fact, Ron had built many houses, even whole developments, in New Hampshire.  He looked quite prosperous in a fine, dark suit.  This day I invited Ron to join me as the Chinese General paid his call.

            We had a very pleasant visit. At that time relations were strained between the Chinese and the Russians, which meant the Russians seemed to be suspicious of any meeting between the Chinese and the Americans.  Of course, the Russians were suspicious of most everything.

            Knowing that it was Christmastime for us, the General had brought a gift of a whole box of very elaborate feather decorations suitable for a Christmas tree.  He didn’t just give me the gift, though.  He wanted to hang them on our tree himself. He’d perhaps never even seen a Christmas tree! 

            The next thing we knew, he was deep into our tree, busily hanging these brilliant feathered birds and decorations.

.

            We estimate that the Soviet intelligence people assigned to listen to everything that went on in our living room were really straining to find out the “real story” of what the Chinese General was up to and who was this “Builder from New Hampshire”?

Caviar and pickled herring with the Builder from New Hampshire. In between the steady stream of Christmastime parties I remember one quiet night at our apartment.  Actually it wasn’t quiet, because our two sons and daughter had a gang of kids in the front of the apartment, sitting around exchanging thoughts. There was Ned, son John’s traveling buddy, and Anne and Sue, cousins from New Hampshire.  The boys had met other foreigners when they went to play a pickup game of basketball over at Moscow University. There was a Swedish girl, a dedicated Communist, committed to spreading the gospel, even here in the American Embassy.  There was a pretty Finnish girl, daughter of the Finnish Military Attaché-- she was son Mark’s girlfriend.  Also two Italian boys, a Yugoslav, an Australian girl, daughter of Australia’s Ambassador, and an Albanian and a Turk—both boys. 

            In the kitchen, cousin Ron and I sat at the kitchen table and drank vodka and feasted on caviar left over from the various parties we had hosted, and opened a bucket of pickled herring that we had bought in Helsinki. We also had a bowl of pickled garlic, and some Russian black bread.  It was a typical Russian evening, with just two of us Americans enjoying it!  Our wives were visiting in another part of our large apartment.

            Finally, after absorbing enough vodka, we retired for the night.  The ladies came to bed a bit later. When Marty entered our bedroom she said there was a “blue pall of garlic” in the air as she entered.

Swedish Julaften

Christmas Eve with the Swedes.  Our friends Nils and Elizabeth Hellström, (he was the Swedish Naval Attaché), invited our whole extended family of ten to a typical Swedish Christmas Eve.  The Hellströms lived in one of the few wooden frame houses in Moscow, and what a special house it was.  It was built by Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, for his residence while he worked with the Russians in Moscow, and then it became a part of the Swedish Embassy.  Nobel first came to Russia from his native Sweden in 1842, when he was nine years old. His father had a plant constructing land mines for the Russian government.

            The Swedish Christmas eve celebration, Julaften, goes back to Swedish peasant tradition.  As guests, we went first to the kitchen, and were introduced to a richly laid Smorgåsbord— pickled herring, meatballs, ham, and much more, and lots of akvavit to drink.  Akvavit has an effect like sticking an electric drill in your ear.

            The tradition called for guests to move from room to room, tasting different foods in each room, and more akvavit, and finally a table of rich desserts and coffee.

            We enjoyed that feast, and then left our six young people to join the Hellström kids for a wild swing around Moscow at midnight.  We went home to bed, and with the akvavit, that was enough.

            A Drive To Zagorsk in the Snow.  The Communists had been trying to make religion go away for decades, but in Russia, many centuries of the Russian Orthodox faith was so deeply burned in the Russian soul that it just would not go away.      When we were there, there were beautiful Russian churches, even though the parishioners were mostly old women.  For an upwardly-mobile Soviet male, it was not “cool” to show up in regularly in church. 

Cathedral of the Assumption, Zagorsk (75 km north of Moscow).

            At Christmastime we drove 75 kilometers north of Moscow to visit the holy city of Zagorsk.  It was very snowy, and the temperature was 0°F. outside and not much warmer inside as we stood in the Cathedral of the Assumption. A whole column of Russian Orthodox monks filed in.  The church was full of the faithful, and the priests, in rich robes, were chanting in that deep, throaty richness; everyone was crossing themselves, over and over. The smell of incense filled the cathedral. 

            What  a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Christ!

           

 It was a good Christmas.

           

[Parts of the foregoing Blog were originally published June 20, 2011.  It has been modified for re-posting for Christmas, 2012.]

Here are a few books and papers from The Personal Navigator:

Dainty Dames of Society: Four small leather volumes

(Left to right: 8306,8307,8308, 8309)

Dainty Dames of Society: A Portrait Gallery of Charming Women; Fanny and Adelaide Kemble, Countess of Cork, Anne Benson Procter  by W. Willmott Dixon (Thormanby)  ca. 1903 London, England: Adam & Charles Black. 156 pp. 9.5 x 14.9 cm. One of a set of four small volumes about Charming women. This volume includes tale of the Kemble family, in particular Fanny and Adelaide, also Mary Monckton, Countess of Cork, and Anne Benson Procter. Includes engravings of Frances Kemble and The Countess of Cork and Orrery. Portraits and illustrations from rare and famous pictures by masters of British and French Schools.        Green leather on board with elaborate gilt printing on spine, circular emblem on front. Heel and toe of spine worn, inside front hinge partly cracked, good. (8306) $40.00. Biography

                                   

Dainty Dames of Society: A Portrait Gallery of Charming Women; Clarinda and Other Edinburgh Belles, Burns and Scott, Hon. Mrs. Graham, Jane, Duchess of Gordon and Countess of Suffolk by W. Willmott Dixon (Thormanby) ca. 1903 London, England: Adam & Charles Black. 155 pp.  9.5 x 14.9 cm.   One of a set of four small volumes about Charming women. This volume includes story of the loves of poets, including Robert Burns' attraction for Alison Rutherford, also Bess Burnet, Maggie Burns, and Clarinda. Clarinda was Agnes Maclehose, of whom Robert Louis Stevenson claimed she was the best woman Burns every encountered. Also Jane Maxwell, Duchess of Gordon-- tale of chasing an old sow through the streets of Edinburgh in 1759. Also Henrietta Howard Countess of Suffolk. Engravings of Duchess of Gordon and Mrs. Graham, as well as other illustrations. Portraits and illustrations from rare and famous pictures by masters of British and French Schools. Green leather on board with elaborate gilt printing on spine, circular emblem on front. Heel and toe of spine worn, Front cover blemished, inside front hinge  cracked, fair. (8307) $40.00. Biography

                       

Dainty Dames of Society: A Portrait Gallery of Charming Women; The Hornecks, "Little Comedy" and the "Jessamy Bride"; Margaret Power, Countess of Blessington; Catherine Hyde, Duchess of Queensberry; Mary Isabella, Duchess of Rutland  by W. Willmott Dixon (Thormanby)        ca. 1903 London, England: Adam & Charles Black. 152 pp. 9.5 x 14.9 cm. One of a set of four small volumes about Charming women. This volume includes Story of Catherine and Mary Horneck, who charmed Edmund Burke, Joshua Reynolds and Oliver Goldsmith. Gossipy narrative about "The Jessamy Bride" and "Little Comedy", Oliver Goldsmith and the rest. Margaret Power, daughter of a disreputable, dissipated Irish squireen. Also Catherine Hyde, Duchess of Queensbury--skittish, eccentric, witty, warm-hearted, and beautiful. Lady Mary Isabella Somerset married Charles, Duke of Rutland, Viceroy of Ireland. Portraits and illustrations from rare and famous pictures by masters of British and French Schools. Green leather on board with elaborate gilt printing on spine, circular emblem on front. Very tight, neat and clean copy. Very good. (8308) $46.00. Biography   

                                   

Dainty Dames of Society: A Portrait Gallery of Charming Women; Two Duchesses of Devonshire, "Sacharissa", Lady Holland by W. Willmott Dixon (Thormanby)         ca. 1903 London, England: Adam & Charles Black. 156 pp. 9.5 x 14.9 cm. One of a set of four small volumes about Charming women. This volume provides a Foreword in which author declares that the Dainy Dames he describes are all endowed with Charm.  They may not be beautiful, or famous, or witty, or good, but they all possess Charm. Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire captured the attention of Gainsborough, who preserved her features on canvas, and an engraving of that famous portrait is included here. Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire. "Sacharissa", the sweetest of the sweet, was Dorothy Sidney, born in 1617. Finally, Elizabeth Vassal Fox, Lady Holland.  Portraits and illustrations from rare and famous pictures by masters of British and French Schools.        Green leather on board with elaborate gilt printing on spine, circular emblem on front. Spine damaged, left side of cover split, fron cover barely attached. Poor. (8309) $40.00. Biography             

Humourist's Own Book, The; A cabinet of original and selected anecdotes, bons mots, sports of fancy, etc. 1835 Philadelphia, PA Desilver, Thomas & Co. Small book loaded with humorous stories: Whitfield, Union of Literary Compositions; Pun by the Ettrick Shepherd; Daft Willie Law; Scarcity of Asses; Timber to Timber; Peter Pindar, many more. 284 pp. 8 x 13 cm.  (6434) $40.00. Humor 

My Wife's Fool of A Husband, illustrations by True Williams by Berkeley, August 1890 Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company Author has a marvelous wit-- his story of his life is funny a century later. 471 pp. 15 x 23 cm. Cloth on board, cover soiled, lightly frayed, inside front hinge partly torn. Fair condition. (1819) $30.00. Humor/Biography. 

One of drawings from Hull's set shows melee against the "Chinee", above

Plain Language from Truthful James (The Heathen Chinee) by Francis Bret Harte (1839-1902);Table Mountain, 1870

Collection of nine drawings by Joseph Hull, published by the Western News Company, Chicago, 1870.  This collection dramatizes the racial prejudice against Chinese brought to America to work on the railroad in the 19th century.  Note the eighth drawing in the series, showing an all-out melee against the “Chinee”. Nine prints, matted. 20 x 25 cm. Set of nine prints, matted in blue cardboard matting. Title card is not present. Lightly soiled. Print No. 6 has 1 x 1 cm tear in lower left hand corner. Good.(7093) $85.00. Humor/Poetry..

Ponkapog Papers, First Edition by Aldrich, Thomas Bailey 1903 Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. Former editor of Atlantic Monthly published this delightful, if scattered, collection of thoughts, comments and witticisms, written on former Indian reservation near Boston. 195 pp. 11 x 19 cm. Cloth on board, excellent. Ex-lib: Oak Grove School Library. (1242) $28.00. Humor/Literature. 

Rejected Addresses: or the New Theatrum Poetarum,  Tenth Edition 1813 London, England: John Miller, 25, Bow-Street.  Collection of bizarre "addresses" on the occasion of the reopening ofDrury Lane Theatre, completely rebuilt after a fire. Funny, disrespectful, shameless humor.  It is interesting to see how much of this is still funny, nearly two centuries later!  In "'Hampshire Farmer's Address"  there's reference to cheap soup: "soup for the poor at a penny a quart, ...mixture of horse's legs, brick dust and old shoes." 'England is a large earthen-ware pipkin.  John Bull is the beef thrown into it. Taxes are the hot water he boils in. Rotten boroughs are the fuel that blazes under this same pipkin..." 127 + 5 pp. adv. 10 x 16.2 cm. Quarter leather, marbled boards, worn. On front pastedown is bookplate (oriental motif)  of Russell Gray pasted over fine signature of Henry Wilkinson, and on front free endpaper is name, "Russell Gray 1883--" [Russell Gray was Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, noted for his ruling granting citizenship to the children born in the U.S. to Chinese immigrants working on the railroads.]  Good. (5246) $30.00. Humor

American Mercury, The,  A Monthly Review Edited by H.L. Mencken & George Jean Nathan, January 1924; Vol. I No. 1, First Issue Mencken, H.L., Editor 1924 New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. With Mencken as editor one might expect brilliance, and this inaugural  issue has it. The Editorial announces the intent of the new magazine to devote itself pleasantly to exposing the nonsensicality of hallucinations of utopianism and the lot.  The lead article "The Lincoln Legend" by Isaac R. Pennypacker, gives a new and more robust look at the life of President Abraham Lincoln.  His forefathers were iron-masters, capable leaders in their communities, giving a lie to the myth of the simple rail splitter.  As a war leader, Pennypacker compares him with Jefferson Davis, and Lincoln comes up far superior. "The Drool Method in History" by Harry E. Barnes is a humorous attack on purveyors of "pure history" --- the superiority of the Aryans, the discovery of America was by well-meaning religious people; the sole cause of our ancestors' embarking upon wintry seas to come to the New World was religious freedom; Loyalists in the Revolution were a gang of degenerate drunkards and perverts, etc.  "The Tragic Hiram" by John W. Owens is contemporary political commentary, about Borah, La Follette, Hoover and Harding-- but skewering Johnson.  144 pp. 17 x 25 cm. Magazine, writing on advertisement, first page of magazine: "Ruth Schliveh's shower Jan. 19, 1924"… and "Bill Paxton Brown U. 1924."  Very good. (7663) $76.00. Literature/History

Biographical and Critical Miscellanies, New Edition by Prescott, William H. 1859 Boston, MA Phillips, Sampson & Co., No. 12 Winter Street Collection of literary essays, the last, about Spanish Literature, is new to this edition. Also: Charles Brockden Brown, Bancroft, Sir Walter Scott, Irving's Conquest of Granada, Moliere, Italian Poetry, Da Ponte. 729 pp. 15 x 24 cm. Quarter calf with marbled boards, Very good, bright, clean copy. Minor wear to leather spine, corners. mep. Contains portrait of author with tissue guard. (1871) $50.00. Literature/Educational/Criticism. 

Golden Thoughts on Mother, Home and Heaven 1878 New-York, NY: E.B. Treat, 805 Broadway.  Introduction by Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler calls this  a collection of "golden gleanings". Excellent example of widely sold sentimental volume, collection of many well-known authors in poetry on prose in three sections: Mother, Home and Heaven. After title page is page "Presented to:” in elaborate illumination, for some lucky mother. (Not filled in). Includes the maudlin poems of death of small children that was so much a part of this era.   Writings by Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin, Joanna Baillie, Saxe Holm, E.L. Cassanovia, Fanny Crosby, Mrs. L.H. Sigourney, Phillips Brooks, Daniel Webster, Noah Porter, D.D., Joseph Addison, many more. 414 pp. 16 x 23 cm. Decorated brick red cloth on board with elaborate gilt and black design, very slight signs of wear on cover; frontispiece engraving and title page foxed. No dj. Book is clean and tight, very good. (5379) $29.00. Literature/Poetry/Religious

Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys, First Edition. by Alcott, Louisa M. 1871 Boston, MA: Roberts Brothers Louisa May Alcott's classic about playful, mischievous, energetic boys. With 4 pp. of publisher's advertisements inserted between the front end papers. 376 pp. 11 x 17 cm. Cloth on board with gilt lettering on spine and cover; cover faded and water stained, Heel and toe of spine frayed, bottom of front cover frayed, corner bumped. Binding tight. Text block very good. Overall good. (1363) $60.00. Literature/Fiction. 

 Frontispiece and Title Page, Scelta di Favole

Scelta Di Favole; Raccolte da' più celebri Autori Francesi, e Rese in Italiano Da Maria Raffaela Caracciolo de' Duchi di Rodi Per uso de' suoi Fratelli, coll' Aggiunta 1816 Napoli, Italia: A. Garruccio Stampatore. 110 pp. 14 x 21.5cm. Collection of Stories chosen from the work of the most celebrated Author, Signor de la Motte Fenelon (1671-1715). François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon was a French Roman Catholic Archbishop, theologian, poet and writer.  Booklet by Raffaele Caracciolo de Duchi di Rodi is dedicated to his parents, and is for the edification of his younger brothers.  Stories are: La Prefazione; La Vigna ed il Vignjuolo; Il Cane colpevole; Il Zoppo, il Gobbo,il Cieco; Il Pazzo, Socrate, ed un suo Scolare; La Pecora, ed il Cane; I Pastori; La Pernice ed i suoi Figli; La Morte; Giove e Minosse; Il Cardellino; L'Orso giovine ed il di lui padre; I topi giovini, ed il lor padre; and One-hundred six  Massime scelte (Selected Maxims), rendered in both French and Italian. Includes frontispiece engraving, "La Tranquillità" showing young woman seated beneath a tree with three lambs nearby. Truly a delightful little booklet.  Fair condition, paper bound, very rough cut. Engraved illustration as frontispiece. At top left of frontispiece page is small pasted stamp with library information. (0184)  $185.00. Literature/Morality

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Thinking about Murmansk

A Trip to the Soviet Arctic

            Today, the sun didn’t even appear in Murmansk.  As a matter of fact, it won’t come up until January 12, 2013, and then it’ll set 55 minutes later. 

            I was thinking about Murmansk today, remembering the time Marty and I visited that Russian seaport, right near the top of the world, far beyond the Arctic circle.

            I had wanted to go to Murmansk  since I was a 14-year old, working on my Aunt’s Mink Ranch in Virginia.  During World War II, my aunt’s son-in-law, Francis Grigsby ”Gig” Farinholt, had been a sailor aboard the cargo ships making the run past German U-Boats up to the North Sea and around into the Arctic to Murmansk   The United States shipped many millions of dollars worth of military equipment, as well as food and supplies to the Russians along this treacherous path.  It was vital for  their very survival. 
            About 1400 merchant ships delivered supplies under the Lend-Lease program in 78 convoys, escorted by ships of the Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and the U.S. Navy. Eighty-five merchant vessels and 16 Royal Navy warships (two cruisers, six destroyers, eight other escort ships) were lost. The Nazi  Kriegsmarine lost a number of vessels including one battleship, three destroyers and at least 30 U-boats, as well as a large number of aircraft.

            At the start of World War II the Germans, allied with the Finns, had used Finnish bases to bomb Murmansk.

Murmansk Harbor

            Gig told me about the warm welcome the Soviets gave the convoy crews each time they landed in Murmansk.   They held big dinners, with plenty of black bread and sausage and, of course, gallons of vodka.

            Marty and I flew up there in June, 1983, just a couple of months before we were due to depart the USSR, and we went on the longest day of the year, which, in the Arctic, is pretty long.  There was no night time. The exact opposite of today, when there’s no “daytime”.

Murmansk: “Alyosha” Memorial to Soviet Soldiers in Arctic War 1941

            An Intourist guide met us shortly after we had checked in to our hotel, and took us on a tour of the city. Murmansk was a city built right about the time of the October Revolution, so it has none of the beautiful buildings and churches the Czars built across Russia.  With a population of about 300,000, it is the largest city above the Arctic Circle.  We had often seen that in northern latitudes there was a severe alcoholism problem.  Not just in the USSR, but in Scandinavian countries.  Marty asked the guide about this.  This young lady, whose father happened to be the mayor, told us that, no, they had no such problem in Murmansk.  As she was saying this, we happened to be stopped at a traffic light, and next to the car was a lamppost, with a really drunk Russian hanging on to it.  As if on cue, the poor guy then lost his grip and slid down the lamppost, collapsing on the pavement. “Nyet, no problem with alcohol here!!”

            A little while later, we encountered a whole busload of Finns.  They had flown from Helsinki to Murmansk, to see the sights, and had just come from visiting the fishing fleet.  We met them at a “Beryozka” which was one of thousands of state stores across the USSR that sold goods for foreign currency only. Plain Russians were not allowed in these stores, which did not accept rubles.

            Here the specialty was little birchbark canoes and other craft items, and of course vodka.  That was what the Finns were looking for. From the looks of them, they had found vodka before, because they were already pretty drunk, but this gave them a chance to stock up on some more.

            Kitsch-y little birchbark canoes, those popular nested wooden dolls, …. and vodka.

Shopping at the market

            We had lived in the USSR nearly two years, and had never had a nice meal of fresh fish.  Fish you could buy in the Moscow Rynok (Market) was always frozen, usually in large chunks of ice and fish together, so the fishmongers just hacked off a couple of kilos of salty ice and fish and sold you that.  Customer service was not a big thing in the USSR.

            Since we were here in the largest fishing port in the whole Soviet Union, we thought surely here there would be some nice fresh fish. We went looking for a restaurant that served fresh fish. 

            We didn’t find such a restaurant, so we entered a nice-looking establishment that our Intourist guide had recommended, and were shown to our table and given large, heavy menus.  Many Soviet restaurants used these large menus with many pages, and then it became a ritual for the customer and the waitress to find out what, in all those pages, was actually available.  As you ordered a dish, the waitress would solemnly answer “Nyetu”, which means “that’s not available!”

            We finally placed our order, and started with a  little plate of caviar, with toast points, chopped onions, and glasses of vodka.  This is a popular, and delicious appetizer in Russia.  After that, we had Kotlyeti, or cutlets of veal.  

            Across the dance floor in this restaurant was a wedding party.  A group of very plain, solid-looking Russians was gathered around a long table, celebrating a wedding.  We went over and congratulated the bride and groom. We told them that where we came from, it was good luck for the bride to put a penny in her shoe.  I didn’t have a penny, so I gave her a U.S. dime, and the whole party was delighted. Russians really get excited about anything which might give them “good luck”. 

            We chatted briefly with some of the older members of the party, who recalled the days when the Americans brought all those shiploads of cargo to help the Russians survive the terrible war with Hitler’s Germany.  Soviet propaganda was quick to dismiss the American Lend-lease contribution of World War II, but every Russian who lived through those days remembers and always expressed gratitude to us for all Americans. 

            It was always so much fun, and so interesting, for us to talk with regular Russians when we met them, in various places across that huge country.  When they weren’t trying to impress you with Glorious Socialism, or other Soviet propaganda, and when they didn’t think we were trying to give them a sales pitch for Glorious Capitalism, etc. we had some wonderful conversations. 

            We can get along with regular Russians. 

           

            Now, the Soviet Union has been gone for 20 years, and many Russians have come to the United States to live, and it turns out that they are indeed fine people!

[NOTE:  This blog originally appeared October 23, 2011.  It has been modified for publication now.]

The Personal Navigator offers these books, papers and other periodicals:

Looking Backward 2000-1887 by Edward Bellamy 1889 Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Author Bellamy in this wildly popular (in 1887) looks a century into the future in his fictional account by a man, born in 1857, who goes to sleep and awakens 113 years later at the end of the 20th Century.  He describes radically new social and industrial institutions, in a very upbeat and optimistic look backward, yet into the future. There is a strong look of socialism in this "new world", one which Marxists quickly admired.  Includes a Postscript by the author responding to a review of his book in the Boston Transcript of March 30, 1888.            475 pp. 12.4 x 19 cm.    Dark green cloth on board with black lettering. Moderate wear. Bookplate and inscription on front free endpaper: "F.E. Porter".Very good.         (8298) $96.00. Fiction/Philosophy

Lucile by Owen Meredith, pen name for Edward Robert, first Earl of Lytton (1831-1891). Family Edition, illustrated by H.N. Cady 1888        New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes and Brother.  Lucile by Owen Meredith, pen name for Edward Robert, first Earl of Lytton (1831-1891). Author dedicates this edition to his father, the noted novelist Lord Bulwer-Lytton. Romantic narrative poem about Lucile, beloved by two bitter rivals, English Lord Alfred Hargrave and French Duke of Luvois.  352 pp. 17 x 25 cm. Decorated brown cloth on board, moderate wear, including edge wear. Front and rear inside hinges cracked. Inscription on ffep: "Abbie E. Dewey, July 14, '88." Good.        (8300) $48.00. Poetry

My Old Kentucky Home, Written and Composed by Stephen Collins Foster, Illustrated by Mary Hallock Foote and Charles Copeland 1888 Boston, MA: Ticknor and Company. This attractive little volume was first published in 1853, before the end of slavery.  Foster is said to have written this song, which later became the state song of Kentucky, to capitalize on the popularity of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.  Excellent engravings portray the sad life of African-Americans. Includes music for song. Abolitionist Frederick Douglass thought this song "stimulated sympathies for the slave."              32 pp.   16 x 20.7 cm.           Elegantly decorated white paper on board with thick, gilt-edged pages. Inscription on ffep: "Henry G. Colony from Aunt Mame, Christmas 1887". Inner binding cracked, half-title page loose. Poor. (8294) $24.00. Poetry/Slavery

Myths of Greece and Rome, Narrated with special reference to Literature and Art by Hélène Adeline Guerber, Lecturer on Mythology. 1893     New York, NY: American Book Company. Guerber explains that Hebrew antiquity had its beginnings passed down in scripture from God, but the Greeks and Romans had to invent theirs.  She promises to tell myths as accurately as possible, while avoiding the more repulsive features of heathen mythology. Includes map showing location of myths. Author has inserted poetical writings, quotations and illustrations from all ages to show inspiration of ancient myths upon literature and art. Includes Juno, Apollo, Diana, Venus, Mercury, Vulcan, Neptune, Pluto, Bacchus, Æolus, Œdipus. the Trojan War, Ulysses, Æneas; more; Genealogical Table, Glossary and Index.      428 pp. 13 x 19 cm. Dark green buckram on board with gilt title on spine, moderate wear. On ffep is inscription: "Louise G. Colony, Jan. 11, 1899, Friends School." Very good. (8295) $22.00. Educational/Mythology

Treasure Island  by Stevenson, Robert Louis    1892 Boston, MA: Roberts Brothers. Very nice, clean copy of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic, copyright 1883. This American edition dedicated to S.L.O. by the author.        292 pp. + adv.   12.5 x 18.8 cm.       Decorated red cloth on board, s;ight wear to heel and toe of spine. Owner stamp "Philip C. Johnson, Wilton, N.H." in front and back pastedowns and ffep. Very good. (8299) $195.00.  Fiction/Children's

America Illustrated Williams, J. David, editor   1883     Boston, MA: DeWolfe, Fiske & Company. 121 pp. 23.7 x 29.5 cm. Editor Williams sought to acquaint readers with the "superb creations of nature that distinguish America above all others."  Excellent engravings of Bear River near Bethel, ME (frontis.); Yellowstone Valley; Hudson River at West Point; Natural Bridge, VA; Trenton High Falls, NY; Squam Lake, NH; Lake George, NY; Mammoth Cave, KY; Minot's Ledge Light-house, MA; Niagara Falls; Great Horseshoe Curve on the Pennsylvania Railroad; Down the Mississippi River; Yosemite Valley; Region of the Juniata, PA; more. Decorated brown cloth on board with gilt and black design, cover faded and mottled. Gilt-edged pages, binding cracked at p. 7, overall good. (8270) $40.00. Travel

Henley Royal Regatta, The; Harvard at Henley 1914-1964, Edited by Middendorf, John William Jr.ca. 1970 Baltimore, MD: Barton-Cotton, Inc.            65 pp. 19.5 x 26.5 cm.   This limited edition of 1000 copies (this copy is No. 296) was edited by one of the members of Harvard's 1914 eight-man crew, who won the Henley Royal Regatta that year, and then returned 50 years later, and again manned a crew shell, meeting HM Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. The crew: Bow: Leverett Saltonstall age 21; 2 James Talcott, 20; 3 Henry Hixon. Meyer, 20; 4 Henry Stump Middendorf, 19; 5 John William Middendorf, Jr., 19 (they were twins); 6 David Percy Morgan, 19; 7 Louis Curtis, 22; Stroke Charles Carroll Lund, 19; and Cox, Henry L.F. Kreger, 21. Saltonstall had been Governor of Massachusetts, and served as U.S. Senator from Massachusetts, and the others all had brilliant careers in finance, real estate, and medicine.  Scarlet buckram on board with gilt medallion of Henley cup on cover, mylar cover, Inscription on ffep, in ink: "L. Hoyt Watson, From Bill Middendorf September 1971, Kindness of Jack Redwood"; also stamp, "L. Hoyt Watson, 105 Allens Point, Marion, MA 02738". Excellent condition. (8291) $50.00. Biography                            

                              

 U.S. Rivers and Harbors: Letter from the President of the United States Transmitting to the House of Representatives a statement from the Secretary of War concerning appropriations for improvement of rivers and harbors, dated Jan. 12, 1877 Washington, DC: United States House of Representatives. Letter from President U.S. Grant of Jan. 12, 1877 transmits letter from Secretary of War J.D. Cameron of Jan. 11, 1877 with the whole package of indorsements and statements for the Chief of Engineers for the improvement of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Arkansas Rivers; the Ohio River; the Columbia River; the harbor at Racine, WI; Kennebunk River; the Channel between Staten Island and New Jersey; the improvement of Sabine Pass, Blue Buck Bar and Sabine Bay; the Harbor at Fall River, MA; for gauging the waters of the Lower Mississippi and its tributaries; work on the Galveston, TX ship channel; and much more.  56 pp. 15 x 23 cm. Paper booklet, some pages loose, fair. (7004) $17.00. Scientific/Engineering   

 

Wild Flowers: Plates 212 and 213

Wild Flowers; Three hundred and sixty-four full-color illustrations with complete descriptive text; popular edition in one volume, Second printing, September 1935 by Homer D. House. 1935 New York, NY: The MacMillan Co This edition is based on a work of similar title originally issued by the State ofNew York. This work is reproduced by permission of the Board of Regents of the State of New York. Marvelous introductory description, 24 pp. Descriptions and color plates include Families: Cat-tail, Water Plantain, Arum, Spiderwort, Bunchflower, Lily, Orchid, Buckwheat, Poppy, Fumewort, Mustard, Pitcher Plant, Virginia Stonecrop, Saxifrage, Rose, Apple, Pea, Geranium, Wood Sorrel, Jewelweed, Milkwort, Mallow, Violet, Loosestrife, Wintergreen, Heath, many more.. 362 pp. 23.5 x 29.7 cm. Light green buckram cloth on board, spine lightly sunfaded; gilt lettering. Half-title page shows diagonal crease, no dj, very good. (7987) $58.00. Scientific/Nature

Hints on Etiquette and The Usages of Society with a Glance at Bad Habits by Agogos (Charles William Day), Illustrated by Brian Robb      Agogos (Charles William Day)  1946    London, England: Turnstile Press Limited. First published in 1836, this little book was first published by Turnstile Press in 1946; this reprint was in 1952. This book is not written for those who do but for those who do not know what is proper.  Examples of "Hints": Whilst walking with a friend, should you meet an acquaintance, never introduce them. Never make acquaintances in coffee houses. It is considered vulgar to take fish or soup twice. If either a lady or a gentleman be invited to take wine at table, they must never refuse; it is very gauche so to do. Do not practise the filthy custom of gargling your mouth at table. As snuff-taking is merely an idle, dirty habit, practised by stupid people in the unavailing endeavour to clear their stolid intellect... it may be left to each individual taste as to whether it be continued or not. 68 pp. 10 x 14.7 cm. Decorated cover with same design on dust jacket. Very good. (8171) $14.00. Educational

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