Harriet's Corner
The Bi-Monthly Newsletter of What to Read
Issue #4: In which she explores the world of rare books...
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Dear Booklovers,
Well, here we are....cold weather, finally some snow and the holidays fast approaching....a perfect time to be reading and thinking about special gifts for special people. In addition to a few of my favorite gift books I want to focus this newsletter on some of the unique and extraordinary books and book collections that you will find only at Iconoclast Bookstore......this world of rare books is something new to me as I have spent my bookselling career in new books. With Gary and Darren as teachers, I have learned what to appreciate in these rare books...and what to look for in evaluating them. It’s fascinating...and I want to share some of the real gems with you.
However, before I tell you about these rare books, I just have to report on Philip Roth’s book,
“The Plot Against America”. There has been so much press about this book...positive and negative...I just couldn’t wait to read it....and I am so glad that I did....In the past, my relationship with his books has been love/hate....this one I loved!
The year is 1940 and the charismatic and heroic Charles Lindbergh runs for President against FDR on an isolationist platform....and wins! His first official act as President is to meet Hitler in Iceland and sign a neutrality pact. Things only get worse from there. We see this world through the eyes of 7 year old Philip Roth who lives in Newark with his family. His father thinks there is no reason to be alarmed, his cousin leaves for the Canadian army so he can fight the Nazis, his brother is sent by the Office of American Absorption to live on a farm in Kentucky where he can learn to be a “true American” and his mother saves pennies for a quick getaway to Canada. Part way through the book Roth does get carried away and takes us on a fantasy ride....but he comes back with his terrifying message that we must take care because democracy is so very fragile. This is a very thought provoking book from which one can draw parallels to the world today.
So after I finished this book and was totally intrigued and creeped out by the fictional Charles Lindbergh, Gary showed me an extremely rare copy of Charles Lindbergh’s autobiography “We”. It is numbered 292 of 1000 copies. This book is a signed author’s edition, published in 1927. It is further inscribed ‘to Dr. Parke Smith from Charles Lindbergh, October, 1935’. This second inscription occurred just one hour after Lindbergh heard the decision in the kidnapping and murder trial of his young son. There is a fascinating letter in the book from Joseph Hartson to Dr. Parke Smith explaining that he was the person who had to tell Lindbergh of the court decision since Lindbergh was flying and out of contact until he landed. He points out the shakiness of the Lindbergh signature owing to his emotional state at that time. The book is also signed by the early aviation greats and the pioneers of the aviation industry including Eddie Rickenbacker. The book is in a custom slip case. Holding this book is holding a bit of history in one’s hands. A real gem and a treasure to own.
Gary, the owner of Iconoclast (this is for the benefit of my newsletter friends who do not live here in the Wood River Valley or have not had the opportunity to visit the store) has recently acquired a fabulous 20 volume set of Shakespeare, “The Work of William Shakespeare,
Complete in 20 Volumes”. The books are gorgeous....3/4 leather binding over marble boards, the top edge is gilt as is the decoration on the spines.
Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York....
Shakespeare even sounds better while holding one of these rare volumes in my hand!
This next recommendation is not old....but certainly well loved...... a beautiful five volume boxed set of Patrick O’Brian’s Complete Aubrey-Maturin Novels. For those who have loved these novels and have dog-eared the pages.....this is THE perfect gift.
Are you ready now for a really awesome book?.....but awesome in the way the word was originally intended...to inspire awe? That would be “The Helen Fragments”. “The Helen Fragments” is a collaboration between two contemporary artists who came together over an ancient text that has fascinated readers for millennia. The poet, Richard Seibert selected those portions of the “Iliad” where Helen appears and translated them from Greek into lyric English. The artist, Winifred McNeill created a drawing for each of the fifty fragments. The book was designed and printed at Peter Koch Printers. Editions KOCH is one of the most illustrious Fine Art Presses at work today. The text is superb, the illustrations are at times funny, the paper is truly the most extraordinary I have ever seen or felt. This is an edition of 150 numbered copies....un chef-d’oeuvre...a work of art. ($450)
Before I bid you all adieu, I want to lighten up a bit...well, lighten up a whole lot to tell you about “The Know-It-All: One Man’s Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World” by A.J. Jacobs. Sometimes I wonder how people come up with their ideas....Mr. Jacobs embarked on a delightfully eccentric endeavor when he decided that he had most definitely dumbed down since the completion of his Ivy League education. So he decided to read the Encyclopedia Britannica from A to Z.....if nothing else, he thought that it would increase his quirkiness factor at cocktail parties. This book is a hilarious account of his readings ....and his life while pursuing this goal. For example, we learn that “Berserkers” were savage Norse soldiers of the Middle Ages who went into battle completely naked! He also gives us a humorous account of his strained relationships with his new wife, his parents and friends during his single minded pursuit......This book really...and literally has something for everyone. Of course the conclusion is what I can assume most of us know on page one....that factual knowledge is no substitute for wisdom.....but it is a joyride to come to this conclusion.
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