The jacket design is by Ray Boultinghouse.

Wernher von Braun and Frederick I. Ordway III, two of the world’s leading experts on rocketry and astronautics, collaborated on this comprehensive history of man’s conquest of space. The book was published in 1966, two years before Apollo 8, which was the first manned spacecraft to leave Earth orbit. The book is lavishly illustrated and begins with ancient Babylonian and Greek concepts of the universe, covers the development of rockets by Chinese, Arabic, and medieval European experimenters, and explains the twentieth century plans for manned missions to the Moon, Mars, and Venus.

The book describes the work of such great rocket pioneers as America’s Goddard, Germany’s Oberth, Russia’s Tsiolkovsky, Great Britain’s Isaac Lubbock, and France’s Esnault-Pelterie. It also details the experiments of Von Braun and Walter R. Dornberger in Germany before World War II, and gives a full account of their development team on the V-2 rocket at the Peeneműnde Center. The dramatic story of the German scientists’ surrender to American forces in 1945, as well as their eventual accomplishments at the Army’s Redstone Arsenal and subsequently NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is also told at first hand.

Wernher von Braun became the director of the Marshall Space Flight Center on July 1, 1960 and held that post until January 27, 1970. Under his supervision the center worked on the Saturn space launch vehicles. The Saturn family of American rocket boosters was developed by mostly German rocket scientists to launch heavy payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. Originally proposed as a military satellite launcher, they were adopted as the launch vehicles for the Apollo moon program.

Frederick I. Ordway III was in charge of space systems information at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center from 1960 to 1963, and before that performed a similar function for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville.

Jasper Maskelyne, a successful magician on the London stage, was recruited by the British Government in World War II to use his magical talents to deceive and confuse the Germans. He and his hand-picked Magic Gang used the technique of stage magic to confound Rommel and his Afrika Korps with the most incredible array of illusions and special effects ever produced on the battlefield. They hid the Suez Canal. They moved the Alexandria Harbor. They created dummy tanks, disguised real tanks as trucks and created an entire army out of shadow. They launched a phantom fleet of submarines and a 700-foot battleship. Maskelyne also devised kits for POW’s with tools for escape and sabotage hidden in their boots and polishing brushes. He created a mini-submarine that sank a cargo ship bringing heavy water to Nazi A-bomb laboratories and perfected a fire repellant paste that saved the lives of hundreds of aviators. Maskelyne was so successful in deceiving the Germans that Hitler ordered the Gestapo to assassinate him. Needless to say, they failed. Maskelyne died in Kenya in 1973.

Here is one of Maskelyne's inflatable Sherman tanks:

media.moddb.com/cache/images/groups/1/3/2074/thumb_620x20...

Written by William Shakespeare, published in 1623. View all four folios at digital.lib.MiamiOH.edu/folios.

Here, Artist H. K. Browne shows the always optimistic but impoverished Mr. Micawber with his long-suffering but totally devoted and loving wife Emma.

“David Copperfield” is one of Dickens’ most popular and critically acclaimed novels. The story follows David’s life from childhood to maturity and many of its elements follow events in Dickens’ own life, especially in the early chapters describing David’s provincial upbringing. The story is filled with vivid characters such as Uriah Heep, Mr. Micawber, the Pegottys, and eccentric Aunt Betsey and it ranks as the finest of Dickens’ works. “Of all my books,” Dickens wrote in the preface to the 1867 edition, “I like this the best… like many fond parents, I have in my heart of hearts a favourite child. And his name is David Copperfield.”

Publisher Bradbury & Evans first released the story in monthly parts from May, 1849 through November, 1850, and in book form in 1850. The text was embellished with full-page, black & white engravings by H. K. Browne (“Phiz”). Subscribers who wished a hardcover edition for their libraries would either purchase a copy from the publisher when available or have the serial parts bound into book form, often in leather.

"In Darkest Africa (1890) is Henry M. Stanley’s own account of his last adventure on the African continent. At the turn of that century, the interior of the African continent was largely unknown to the American and European public. With the accounts of great explorers like Stanley, readers became thrilled by stories of African expeditions and longed to follow in the footsteps of these explorers. In 1888, Stanley led an expedition to come to the aid of Mehmed Emin Pasha. The two volumes that compose 'In Darkest Africa; or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria' are his account of what happened." [www.biblio.com/in-darkest-africa-by-stanley-henry-m/work/...]

Written by William Shakespeare, published in 1623. View all four folios at digital.lib.MiamiOH.edu/folios.

In addition to 44 published novels, Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near-poverty, eleven popular films based on his works have been produced, including Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, The Adjustment Bureau and Impostor. In 2005, Time magazine named Ubik one of the hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer to be included in The Library of America series.

From "The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie" by Richard Wagner. New York: Doubleday Page & Co., 1910. First American Edition

Advanced editing skills needed ...

Explore, Interestingness #299.

“The Gift” was an annual literary anthology published in a gift book format for the years 1836, 1837, 1839, 1840, and 1842-1845. Each book was published by Carey & Hart of Philadelphia in the fall of the year prior to the date given in the title, so that The Gift for 1836 was actually issued in October of 1835. Five of the gift books include new tales by Edgar Allan Poe – “Manuscript Found in a Bottle” (1836), “William Wilson” (1840), “Eleonora” (1842), “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1843), and “The Purloined Letter” (1845).

"The Pit and the Pendulum" is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured.

Welcome to the next episode of "Stuff I Bought in Vancouver". Tonight, I bring you something that is, as always exotic, but more importantly, something that again, I probably wouldn't have run into while in Toronto. The subject of tonights review is the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure, First Edition.

So, Sailor Moon. The Figuarts releases I've picked up two of them up to this point - Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Venus, so clearly they exist here in Toronto. I had gotten lucky so far with regards to pricing thus far, finding the right person at the right time who was willing to make a deal just to get rid of it. It was a similar situation for this particular figure, which I ended up paying $60 CAD for, making it the most expensive figure I purchased during my time out West. For those paying attention, that's pretty much MSRP - why did I do that??? Well, the answer lies in the second part of the title - First Edition. First Edition releases of Sailor Moon came with two additional face plates that were not available later on, and to be honest they're ones that should have been standard, but I digress. The point is, if one were to take into account the First Edition perks, and the fact the figure had never been opened, $60 CAD ends up being a pretty good buy.

Sailor Moon is, of course, the titular character from the Sailor Moon series. The superhero guise of Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the US dub), Sailor Moon starts off, like all many other anime heroes, kind of clumsy, childlike, but eventually matures into a competent leader of her fellow Sailor Senshi in their battle against the forces of evil and enemies of the Moon Kingdom, from whence she originated from. In superhero form, Usagi maintains her trademark twin pigtails, gets a few more pieces of jewelery, and is generally decked out in the now legendary ensemble of high school girl outfit combined with some bows and a kickass pair of boots. Being Sailor Moon, however, her outfit has a few extra bells and whistles not present on the other Sailor Senshi, like the moon on her choker, a jewel encrusted pendant on her chest ribbon, moons on her boots, and jewels in the buns of her hair.

Sailor Moon comes with the most accessories I've seen in a Sailor Moon Figuarts thus far (I admittedly haven't seen that many). There's the figure, of course, with five additional faces (winking and crying faces being the exclusives... FINALLY, a winking face), Moon Crescent Wand, Moon Crescent Wand with the Imperium Silver Crystal installed, seven additional hands with one dedicated for holding her wand, two for her trademark pose, and additional hand/effect piece for her Moon Tiara Action, a mini Luna, and a stand. To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Luna and Artemis are effectively repaints of one another, though I found that Luna stood very easily, whereas Artemis was required some futzing to get him to pose for photos. Points of articulation on Luna are her head and tail, both on ball joints.

The figure of course, looks very faithful to the the animation model. General silhouette is there, and compared to Sailor Venus, slightly more accurate body proportions, mostly with the legs, which seem to have a shorter lower leg as compared to the statuesque Sailor Venus. Otherwise, you have the same general slender high school girl physique. Sailor Moon, to me, has a more accurate facial structure as well.. in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they adapted Sailor Moons base face plates for use on Venus. Both are, IMO, a bit too narrow and could stand to be a bit wider at the temples. Sailor Moon fares much better at actually being able to use the included stand properly, as she does not have a giant mound of hair getting in the way of the dynamic arm of the stand. Speaking of hair, good recreation of the hair on the character, with the added "bonus" of being made from translucent plastic that is painted yellow so she has the shimmering effect on her head. The down side is tolerances, as evidences by the fact her right pigtail keeps popping out of the socket. Otherwise, you get some good sculpting in terms of detailing of the outfit and hair, both of which has been pretty consistent in terms of quality across the three characters that I have.

As mentioned above, this First Edition release comes with two additional face plates that are very much essential to Sailor Moon as a character. I can sort of get the crying face as an exclusive, as its usage is relatively limited (unless you're willing to be a bit creative, like me) but for magical girl figures to not come with winking faces ought to be made a crime punishable by public ridicule. The other faces are your typical smiling, neutral, attacking, and one face with no tiara painted on it with the intent of use with the Moon Tiara Action hand effect.

Articulation.. boy, is it nice coming back to something that is not maddening to make use. Points of articulation, again, are consistent with the other Sailor Senshi - ankles, single jointed knees, hips with pull down action to improve range of motion, waist, upper torso swivel, shoulders with some chest collapse, single jointed eblows, wirsts, and head. As stated above, there is one point of articulation on each of the pigtails to allow for some dynamic posing of the pigtails, though it mainly allows for side to side displays of hair rather than dashing forward displays. I found that perhaps due to a more pliable rubber (or maybe I just tried harder), Sailor Moon, while unable to kick high, was able to at least maintain a proper seated position. Hands come off the wrist pegs easily.. perhaps a bit TOO easily. I've read that subsequent releases of the figure (most notable being the anime coloured edition), the wrist pegs have been changed such that they have balls on the end of them to improve the grip.

Paintwork is again that lovely combination of good and meh that is present on Venus and Chibi moon. One again, the outfit itself is painted with pearl based paints on the whites, which makes for a lovely shimmering effect, if a bit thick in terms of application. Coloured sections of the outfit, along with various metal pieces are painted with metallic paints. These metallic paint apps can get a bit messy, especially on detailed areas like the small lines on her hair bun jewels, her pendant on the chest, the tiaras on her foreheads, and her earrings. The hair appears be partially solid plastic with some translucent plastics (bangs, pigtails), all of which is painted, which does make for an effective glowing effect at the cost of some less than stellar tolerances. Paint work on the hair itself is surprisingly smooth, with no splotches of colour that not only would look bad, but would also interfere with the translucent quality of the hair. Fleshy bits appear to be the base plastic colours, which are slightly different from Sailor Venus (more tan). In terms of paint masking, some weakness was observed at most transition points, with the most notable being between her outfit and her blue skirt.

Decals are applied well, with no bubbles observed, and no misalignment issues to report. In general, fit and tolerances are pretty good, with the only real issue I can mention is the one with that one pigtail that likes to fall out. Otherwise, there aren't any issues with tolerances or poorly mating parts to report. Some improvements on the parts finish side would have been nice, as mould lines and various seams were more prevalent on Sailor Moon than Venus or Chibi Moon. It's not like the latter two were perfect, and neither is Sailor Moon the worst figure ever made, it's just that by comparison to the other two, Sailor Moon does exhibit significantly weaker traits from this perspective, so I know a better product is technically possible. Build quality is the typical Figuarts level of excellence, with tight joints and a generally solid toy that can withstand some typical handling by a collector.

This is undeniably a great Sailor Moon figure, though one that is for... reasons, worse off from a parts finish perspective than her peers that I own. The base figure doesn't really offer anything that the other Sailor Senshi don't have (other than perhaps a slightly more appropriate face), but that's no surprise (or an issue) when they're all based off a pretty decent platform, though keep in mind I was able to get her seated when I couldn't get Sailor Venus or Chibi Moon to do so. While the base accessory set is pretty good (considering all the main Senshi cost the same), the First Edition faces truly make this figure shine. So while the figure is clearly a recommend for fans of the series, I'm going to do something I normally don't do, and recommend that you hunt down a First Edition version. While you may not benefit from the improved wrist pegs, the crying and winking expressions are a HUGE part of the character, and are worth going the extra mile for. If you're gonna hunt this figure down, I'd strongly recommend finding a First Edition and hassling the seller until a price that is agreeable to you can be reached.

The book contains a multitude of theories and experiments including the corpuscular theory of light , the experimental proof that all colors are contained in white light, a full explanation of the rainbow, and the first organized color circle with seven primary colors (illustrated with a figure of a color wheel used in some form in virtually all later art theory.) The book also includes 19 folding plates and an appendix with Newton’s first published mathematical works, in which he states that he invented the calculus in 1665-66; these are written in Latin and were dropped from later editions.

“The Ship that Sailed to Mars” began as a story for the author’s son. So, it seems only fitting that Timlin would mine images from his own childhood. He was born in 1892 in a coal-mining town called Ashington, which sits along the North Sea in Northumberland, England’s northernmost county. He grew up at the water’s edge, so ships would have figured prominently in his imagination.

“The Ship that Sailed to Mars” is the story of an Old Man who has long dreamed of sailing to Mars “by way of the Moon and the more friendly planets.” So, he sets about designing and building a ship with the help of several crones, the Elf King’s best metal-worker, and fairies. The ship is not a fantastical rocket ship but an old-fashioned sailing ship made of lightweight wood “from the grove of a friendly gnome.” The crew sets sail at sunset and, along the way, they encounter all manner of creatures, primordial monsters, sinister storms, Eden’s own serpent with jewels for eyes, benevolent air sprites, and a planet populated entirely by pirates. At last, they spy “the tiny Orb that was the Wonder World of Mars.” Upon landing, the Old Man and his companions meet with a warm welcome. They are wined and dined and taken on a tour through the Fairy City. Soon, though, the Old Man from Earth, who becomes the champion of a fair Princess, must complete an impossible task.

[Source: www.baumanrarebooks.com/blog/the-ship-that-sailed-to-mars/]

The book contains 48 pages of text in Timlin's calligraphy and another 48 pages containing his colored illustrations. Only 2000 copies were printed, including 250 copies for distribution in America under the Frederick A. Stokes imprint.

Welcome to the next episode of "Stuff I Bought in Vancouver". Tonight, I bring you something that is, as always exotic, but more importantly, something that again, I probably wouldn't have run into while in Toronto. The subject of tonights review is the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure, First Edition.

So, Sailor Moon. The Figuarts releases I've picked up two of them up to this point - Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Venus, so clearly they exist here in Toronto. I had gotten lucky so far with regards to pricing thus far, finding the right person at the right time who was willing to make a deal just to get rid of it. It was a similar situation for this particular figure, which I ended up paying $60 CAD for, making it the most expensive figure I purchased during my time out West. For those paying attention, that's pretty much MSRP - why did I do that??? Well, the answer lies in the second part of the title - First Edition. First Edition releases of Sailor Moon came with two additional face plates that were not available later on, and to be honest they're ones that should have been standard, but I digress. The point is, if one were to take into account the First Edition perks, and the fact the figure had never been opened, $60 CAD ends up being a pretty good buy.

Sailor Moon is, of course, the titular character from the Sailor Moon series. The superhero guise of Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the US dub), Sailor Moon starts off, like all many other anime heroes, kind of clumsy, childlike, but eventually matures into a competent leader of her fellow Sailor Senshi in their battle against the forces of evil and enemies of the Moon Kingdom, from whence she originated from. In superhero form, Usagi maintains her trademark twin pigtails, gets a few more pieces of jewelery, and is generally decked out in the now legendary ensemble of high school girl outfit combined with some bows and a kickass pair of boots. Being Sailor Moon, however, her outfit has a few extra bells and whistles not present on the other Sailor Senshi, like the moon on her choker, a jewel encrusted pendant on her chest ribbon, moons on her boots, and jewels in the buns of her hair.

Sailor Moon comes with the most accessories I've seen in a Sailor Moon Figuarts thus far (I admittedly haven't seen that many). There's the figure, of course, with five additional faces (winking and crying faces being the exclusives... FINALLY, a winking face), Moon Crescent Wand, Moon Crescent Wand with the Imperium Silver Crystal installed, seven additional hands with one dedicated for holding her wand, two for her trademark pose, and additional hand/effect piece for her Moon Tiara Action, a mini Luna, and a stand. To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Luna and Artemis are effectively repaints of one another, though I found that Luna stood very easily, whereas Artemis was required some futzing to get him to pose for photos. Points of articulation on Luna are her head and tail, both on ball joints.

The figure of course, looks very faithful to the the animation model. General silhouette is there, and compared to Sailor Venus, slightly more accurate body proportions, mostly with the legs, which seem to have a shorter lower leg as compared to the statuesque Sailor Venus. Otherwise, you have the same general slender high school girl physique. Sailor Moon, to me, has a more accurate facial structure as well.. in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they adapted Sailor Moons base face plates for use on Venus. Both are, IMO, a bit too narrow and could stand to be a bit wider at the temples. Sailor Moon fares much better at actually being able to use the included stand properly, as she does not have a giant mound of hair getting in the way of the dynamic arm of the stand. Speaking of hair, good recreation of the hair on the character, with the added "bonus" of being made from translucent plastic that is painted yellow so she has the shimmering effect on her head. The down side is tolerances, as evidences by the fact her right pigtail keeps popping out of the socket. Otherwise, you get some good sculpting in terms of detailing of the outfit and hair, both of which has been pretty consistent in terms of quality across the three characters that I have.

As mentioned above, this First Edition release comes with two additional face plates that are very much essential to Sailor Moon as a character. I can sort of get the crying face as an exclusive, as its usage is relatively limited (unless you're willing to be a bit creative, like me) but for magical girl figures to not come with winking faces ought to be made a crime punishable by public ridicule. The other faces are your typical smiling, neutral, attacking, and one face with no tiara painted on it with the intent of use with the Moon Tiara Action hand effect.

Articulation.. boy, is it nice coming back to something that is not maddening to make use. Points of articulation, again, are consistent with the other Sailor Senshi - ankles, single jointed knees, hips with pull down action to improve range of motion, waist, upper torso swivel, shoulders with some chest collapse, single jointed eblows, wirsts, and head. As stated above, there is one point of articulation on each of the pigtails to allow for some dynamic posing of the pigtails, though it mainly allows for side to side displays of hair rather than dashing forward displays. I found that perhaps due to a more pliable rubber (or maybe I just tried harder), Sailor Moon, while unable to kick high, was able to at least maintain a proper seated position. Hands come off the wrist pegs easily.. perhaps a bit TOO easily. I've read that subsequent releases of the figure (most notable being the anime coloured edition), the wrist pegs have been changed such that they have balls on the end of them to improve the grip.

Paintwork is again that lovely combination of good and meh that is present on Venus and Chibi moon. One again, the outfit itself is painted with pearl based paints on the whites, which makes for a lovely shimmering effect, if a bit thick in terms of application. Coloured sections of the outfit, along with various metal pieces are painted with metallic paints. These metallic paint apps can get a bit messy, especially on detailed areas like the small lines on her hair bun jewels, her pendant on the chest, the tiaras on her foreheads, and her earrings. The hair appears be partially solid plastic with some translucent plastics (bangs, pigtails), all of which is painted, which does make for an effective glowing effect at the cost of some less than stellar tolerances. Paint work on the hair itself is surprisingly smooth, with no splotches of colour that not only would look bad, but would also interfere with the translucent quality of the hair. Fleshy bits appear to be the base plastic colours, which are slightly different from Sailor Venus (more tan). In terms of paint masking, some weakness was observed at most transition points, with the most notable being between her outfit and her blue skirt.

Decals are applied well, with no bubbles observed, and no misalignment issues to report. In general, fit and tolerances are pretty good, with the only real issue I can mention is the one with that one pigtail that likes to fall out. Otherwise, there aren't any issues with tolerances or poorly mating parts to report. Some improvements on the parts finish side would have been nice, as mould lines and various seams were more prevalent on Sailor Moon than Venus or Chibi Moon. It's not like the latter two were perfect, and neither is Sailor Moon the worst figure ever made, it's just that by comparison to the other two, Sailor Moon does exhibit significantly weaker traits from this perspective, so I know a better product is technically possible. Build quality is the typical Figuarts level of excellence, with tight joints and a generally solid toy that can withstand some typical handling by a collector.

This is undeniably a great Sailor Moon figure, though one that is for... reasons, worse off from a parts finish perspective than her peers that I own. The base figure doesn't really offer anything that the other Sailor Senshi don't have (other than perhaps a slightly more appropriate face), but that's no surprise (or an issue) when they're all based off a pretty decent platform, though keep in mind I was able to get her seated when I couldn't get Sailor Venus or Chibi Moon to do so. While the base accessory set is pretty good (considering all the main Senshi cost the same), the First Edition faces truly make this figure shine. So while the figure is clearly a recommend for fans of the series, I'm going to do something I normally don't do, and recommend that you hunt down a First Edition version. While you may not benefit from the improved wrist pegs, the crying and winking expressions are a HUGE part of the character, and are worth going the extra mile for. If you're gonna hunt this figure down, I'd strongly recommend finding a First Edition and hassling the seller until a price that is agreeable to you can be reached.

Celebrating the opening of the new graving dock in Glasgow in 1858.

Woodcut from The Illustrated News of the World – First Edition 1858.

‘The Illustrated News of the World and National Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages’ was a new publication with the strong visual emphasis of numerous large woodcuts to illustrate local and world events, and also featuring a number of fine steel engravings of eminent persons. A competitor to the existing illustrated magazines:- The Illustrated London News and Punch Magazine .

Published by Illustrated News of the World, The Strand, London. Annual bound collection, red cloth boards 338 pages 42cm x 29cm.

Welcome to the next episode of "Stuff I Bought in Vancouver". Tonight, I bring you something that is, as always exotic, but more importantly, something that again, I probably wouldn't have run into while in Toronto. The subject of tonights review is the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure, First Edition.

So, Sailor Moon. The Figuarts releases I've picked up two of them up to this point - Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Venus, so clearly they exist here in Toronto. I had gotten lucky so far with regards to pricing thus far, finding the right person at the right time who was willing to make a deal just to get rid of it. It was a similar situation for this particular figure, which I ended up paying $60 CAD for, making it the most expensive figure I purchased during my time out West. For those paying attention, that's pretty much MSRP - why did I do that??? Well, the answer lies in the second part of the title - First Edition. First Edition releases of Sailor Moon came with two additional face plates that were not available later on, and to be honest they're ones that should have been standard, but I digress. The point is, if one were to take into account the First Edition perks, and the fact the figure had never been opened, $60 CAD ends up being a pretty good buy.

Sailor Moon is, of course, the titular character from the Sailor Moon series. The superhero guise of Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the US dub), Sailor Moon starts off, like all many other anime heroes, kind of clumsy, childlike, but eventually matures into a competent leader of her fellow Sailor Senshi in their battle against the forces of evil and enemies of the Moon Kingdom, from whence she originated from. In superhero form, Usagi maintains her trademark twin pigtails, gets a few more pieces of jewelery, and is generally decked out in the now legendary ensemble of high school girl outfit combined with some bows and a kickass pair of boots. Being Sailor Moon, however, her outfit has a few extra bells and whistles not present on the other Sailor Senshi, like the moon on her choker, a jewel encrusted pendant on her chest ribbon, moons on her boots, and jewels in the buns of her hair.

Sailor Moon comes with the most accessories I've seen in a Sailor Moon Figuarts thus far (I admittedly haven't seen that many). There's the figure, of course, with five additional faces (winking and crying faces being the exclusives... FINALLY, a winking face), Moon Crescent Wand, Moon Crescent Wand with the Imperium Silver Crystal installed, seven additional hands with one dedicated for holding her wand, two for her trademark pose, and additional hand/effect piece for her Moon Tiara Action, a mini Luna, and a stand. To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Luna and Artemis are effectively repaints of one another, though I found that Luna stood very easily, whereas Artemis was required some futzing to get him to pose for photos. Points of articulation on Luna are her head and tail, both on ball joints.

The figure of course, looks very faithful to the the animation model. General silhouette is there, and compared to Sailor Venus, slightly more accurate body proportions, mostly with the legs, which seem to have a shorter lower leg as compared to the statuesque Sailor Venus. Otherwise, you have the same general slender high school girl physique. Sailor Moon, to me, has a more accurate facial structure as well.. in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they adapted Sailor Moons base face plates for use on Venus. Both are, IMO, a bit too narrow and could stand to be a bit wider at the temples. Sailor Moon fares much better at actually being able to use the included stand properly, as she does not have a giant mound of hair getting in the way of the dynamic arm of the stand. Speaking of hair, good recreation of the hair on the character, with the added "bonus" of being made from translucent plastic that is painted yellow so she has the shimmering effect on her head. The down side is tolerances, as evidences by the fact her right pigtail keeps popping out of the socket. Otherwise, you get some good sculpting in terms of detailing of the outfit and hair, both of which has been pretty consistent in terms of quality across the three characters that I have.

As mentioned above, this First Edition release comes with two additional face plates that are very much essential to Sailor Moon as a character. I can sort of get the crying face as an exclusive, as its usage is relatively limited (unless you're willing to be a bit creative, like me) but for magical girl figures to not come with winking faces ought to be made a crime punishable by public ridicule. The other faces are your typical smiling, neutral, attacking, and one face with no tiara painted on it with the intent of use with the Moon Tiara Action hand effect.

Articulation.. boy, is it nice coming back to something that is not maddening to make use. Points of articulation, again, are consistent with the other Sailor Senshi - ankles, single jointed knees, hips with pull down action to improve range of motion, waist, upper torso swivel, shoulders with some chest collapse, single jointed eblows, wirsts, and head. As stated above, there is one point of articulation on each of the pigtails to allow for some dynamic posing of the pigtails, though it mainly allows for side to side displays of hair rather than dashing forward displays. I found that perhaps due to a more pliable rubber (or maybe I just tried harder), Sailor Moon, while unable to kick high, was able to at least maintain a proper seated position. Hands come off the wrist pegs easily.. perhaps a bit TOO easily. I've read that subsequent releases of the figure (most notable being the anime coloured edition), the wrist pegs have been changed such that they have balls on the end of them to improve the grip.

Paintwork is again that lovely combination of good and meh that is present on Venus and Chibi moon. One again, the outfit itself is painted with pearl based paints on the whites, which makes for a lovely shimmering effect, if a bit thick in terms of application. Coloured sections of the outfit, along with various metal pieces are painted with metallic paints. These metallic paint apps can get a bit messy, especially on detailed areas like the small lines on her hair bun jewels, her pendant on the chest, the tiaras on her foreheads, and her earrings. The hair appears be partially solid plastic with some translucent plastics (bangs, pigtails), all of which is painted, which does make for an effective glowing effect at the cost of some less than stellar tolerances. Paint work on the hair itself is surprisingly smooth, with no splotches of colour that not only would look bad, but would also interfere with the translucent quality of the hair. Fleshy bits appear to be the base plastic colours, which are slightly different from Sailor Venus (more tan). In terms of paint masking, some weakness was observed at most transition points, with the most notable being between her outfit and her blue skirt.

Decals are applied well, with no bubbles observed, and no misalignment issues to report. In general, fit and tolerances are pretty good, with the only real issue I can mention is the one with that one pigtail that likes to fall out. Otherwise, there aren't any issues with tolerances or poorly mating parts to report. Some improvements on the parts finish side would have been nice, as mould lines and various seams were more prevalent on Sailor Moon than Venus or Chibi Moon. It's not like the latter two were perfect, and neither is Sailor Moon the worst figure ever made, it's just that by comparison to the other two, Sailor Moon does exhibit significantly weaker traits from this perspective, so I know a better product is technically possible. Build quality is the typical Figuarts level of excellence, with tight joints and a generally solid toy that can withstand some typical handling by a collector.

This is undeniably a great Sailor Moon figure, though one that is for... reasons, worse off from a parts finish perspective than her peers that I own. The base figure doesn't really offer anything that the other Sailor Senshi don't have (other than perhaps a slightly more appropriate face), but that's no surprise (or an issue) when they're all based off a pretty decent platform, though keep in mind I was able to get her seated when I couldn't get Sailor Venus or Chibi Moon to do so. While the base accessory set is pretty good (considering all the main Senshi cost the same), the First Edition faces truly make this figure shine. So while the figure is clearly a recommend for fans of the series, I'm going to do something I normally don't do, and recommend that you hunt down a First Edition version. While you may not benefit from the improved wrist pegs, the crying and winking expressions are a HUGE part of the character, and are worth going the extra mile for. If you're gonna hunt this figure down, I'd strongly recommend finding a First Edition and hassling the seller until a price that is agreeable to you can be reached.

Welcome to the next episode of "Stuff I Bought in Vancouver". Tonight, I bring you something that is, as always exotic, but more importantly, something that again, I probably wouldn't have run into while in Toronto. The subject of tonights review is the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure, First Edition.

So, Sailor Moon. The Figuarts releases I've picked up two of them up to this point - Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Venus, so clearly they exist here in Toronto. I had gotten lucky so far with regards to pricing thus far, finding the right person at the right time who was willing to make a deal just to get rid of it. It was a similar situation for this particular figure, which I ended up paying $60 CAD for, making it the most expensive figure I purchased during my time out West. For those paying attention, that's pretty much MSRP - why did I do that??? Well, the answer lies in the second part of the title - First Edition. First Edition releases of Sailor Moon came with two additional face plates that were not available later on, and to be honest they're ones that should have been standard, but I digress. The point is, if one were to take into account the First Edition perks, and the fact the figure had never been opened, $60 CAD ends up being a pretty good buy.

Sailor Moon is, of course, the titular character from the Sailor Moon series. The superhero guise of Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the US dub), Sailor Moon starts off, like all many other anime heroes, kind of clumsy, childlike, but eventually matures into a competent leader of her fellow Sailor Senshi in their battle against the forces of evil and enemies of the Moon Kingdom, from whence she originated from. In superhero form, Usagi maintains her trademark twin pigtails, gets a few more pieces of jewelery, and is generally decked out in the now legendary ensemble of high school girl outfit combined with some bows and a kickass pair of boots. Being Sailor Moon, however, her outfit has a few extra bells and whistles not present on the other Sailor Senshi, like the moon on her choker, a jewel encrusted pendant on her chest ribbon, moons on her boots, and jewels in the buns of her hair.

Sailor Moon comes with the most accessories I've seen in a Sailor Moon Figuarts thus far (I admittedly haven't seen that many). There's the figure, of course, with five additional faces (winking and crying faces being the exclusives... FINALLY, a winking face), Moon Crescent Wand, Moon Crescent Wand with the Imperium Silver Crystal installed, seven additional hands with one dedicated for holding her wand, two for her trademark pose, and additional hand/effect piece for her Moon Tiara Action, a mini Luna, and a stand. To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Luna and Artemis are effectively repaints of one another, though I found that Luna stood very easily, whereas Artemis was required some futzing to get him to pose for photos. Points of articulation on Luna are her head and tail, both on ball joints.

The figure of course, looks very faithful to the the animation model. General silhouette is there, and compared to Sailor Venus, slightly more accurate body proportions, mostly with the legs, which seem to have a shorter lower leg as compared to the statuesque Sailor Venus. Otherwise, you have the same general slender high school girl physique. Sailor Moon, to me, has a more accurate facial structure as well.. in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they adapted Sailor Moons base face plates for use on Venus. Both are, IMO, a bit too narrow and could stand to be a bit wider at the temples. Sailor Moon fares much better at actually being able to use the included stand properly, as she does not have a giant mound of hair getting in the way of the dynamic arm of the stand. Speaking of hair, good recreation of the hair on the character, with the added "bonus" of being made from translucent plastic that is painted yellow so she has the shimmering effect on her head. The down side is tolerances, as evidences by the fact her right pigtail keeps popping out of the socket. Otherwise, you get some good sculpting in terms of detailing of the outfit and hair, both of which has been pretty consistent in terms of quality across the three characters that I have.

As mentioned above, this First Edition release comes with two additional face plates that are very much essential to Sailor Moon as a character. I can sort of get the crying face as an exclusive, as its usage is relatively limited (unless you're willing to be a bit creative, like me) but for magical girl figures to not come with winking faces ought to be made a crime punishable by public ridicule. The other faces are your typical smiling, neutral, attacking, and one face with no tiara painted on it with the intent of use with the Moon Tiara Action hand effect.

Articulation.. boy, is it nice coming back to something that is not maddening to make use. Points of articulation, again, are consistent with the other Sailor Senshi - ankles, single jointed knees, hips with pull down action to improve range of motion, waist, upper torso swivel, shoulders with some chest collapse, single jointed eblows, wirsts, and head. As stated above, there is one point of articulation on each of the pigtails to allow for some dynamic posing of the pigtails, though it mainly allows for side to side displays of hair rather than dashing forward displays. I found that perhaps due to a more pliable rubber (or maybe I just tried harder), Sailor Moon, while unable to kick high, was able to at least maintain a proper seated position. Hands come off the wrist pegs easily.. perhaps a bit TOO easily. I've read that subsequent releases of the figure (most notable being the anime coloured edition), the wrist pegs have been changed such that they have balls on the end of them to improve the grip.

Paintwork is again that lovely combination of good and meh that is present on Venus and Chibi moon. One again, the outfit itself is painted with pearl based paints on the whites, which makes for a lovely shimmering effect, if a bit thick in terms of application. Coloured sections of the outfit, along with various metal pieces are painted with metallic paints. These metallic paint apps can get a bit messy, especially on detailed areas like the small lines on her hair bun jewels, her pendant on the chest, the tiaras on her foreheads, and her earrings. The hair appears be partially solid plastic with some translucent plastics (bangs, pigtails), all of which is painted, which does make for an effective glowing effect at the cost of some less than stellar tolerances. Paint work on the hair itself is surprisingly smooth, with no splotches of colour that not only would look bad, but would also interfere with the translucent quality of the hair. Fleshy bits appear to be the base plastic colours, which are slightly different from Sailor Venus (more tan). In terms of paint masking, some weakness was observed at most transition points, with the most notable being between her outfit and her blue skirt.

Decals are applied well, with no bubbles observed, and no misalignment issues to report. In general, fit and tolerances are pretty good, with the only real issue I can mention is the one with that one pigtail that likes to fall out. Otherwise, there aren't any issues with tolerances or poorly mating parts to report. Some improvements on the parts finish side would have been nice, as mould lines and various seams were more prevalent on Sailor Moon than Venus or Chibi Moon. It's not like the latter two were perfect, and neither is Sailor Moon the worst figure ever made, it's just that by comparison to the other two, Sailor Moon does exhibit significantly weaker traits from this perspective, so I know a better product is technically possible. Build quality is the typical Figuarts level of excellence, with tight joints and a generally solid toy that can withstand some typical handling by a collector.

This is undeniably a great Sailor Moon figure, though one that is for... reasons, worse off from a parts finish perspective than her peers that I own. The base figure doesn't really offer anything that the other Sailor Senshi don't have (other than perhaps a slightly more appropriate face), but that's no surprise (or an issue) when they're all based off a pretty decent platform, though keep in mind I was able to get her seated when I couldn't get Sailor Venus or Chibi Moon to do so. While the base accessory set is pretty good (considering all the main Senshi cost the same), the First Edition faces truly make this figure shine. So while the figure is clearly a recommend for fans of the series, I'm going to do something I normally don't do, and recommend that you hunt down a First Edition version. While you may not benefit from the improved wrist pegs, the crying and winking expressions are a HUGE part of the character, and are worth going the extra mile for. If you're gonna hunt this figure down, I'd strongly recommend finding a First Edition and hassling the seller until a price that is agreeable to you can be reached.

Arthur Conan Doyle. London: G. Newnes, 1892.

Conan Doyle’s long association with The Strand Magazine began with the short stories from this collection. Publisher George Newnes made good use of the stories, publishing them first in his magazine, then as collections in both fine and cheap editions. This beautiful first English edition features 104 illustrations by iconic Holmes illustrator Sidney Paget.

Order this print or a high-resolution file from the Library.

Copyright: Public Domain

Digital Rights: Copyright Toronto Public Library

Source Credit: Toronto Public Library, Special Collections

Arthur Conan Doyle Collection

Drink: Coffee

Food: Chocolate & cherry slice

Book: Murder First Class by Leonard Gribble (1946; my copy is the 1946 first Australian edition by The Shakespeare Head, with dust jacket art by Raymond Johns)

Electric Drive

98° Motor Show Brussels

Autosalon Brussel

Salon de l'Auto Bruxelles

Brussels - Belgium

January 2020

John D. MacDonald - A Man of Affairs

Dell Books B112, 1957

Cover photo of John D. MacDonald uncredited

"A sharp, swift, sometime shocking novel..."

Alex: "yarbles, bolshy great yarblockos to thee and thine"

Cover design by Barry Trengove.

Christies auctions

L. Sprague de Camp provides a history of the heroic fantasy genre from prehistoric myths and legends, biographical sketches of its leading practitioners, and literary criticism of the classic writings.

If a single individual may be said to have invented modern heroic fantasy, it was William Morris, the nineteenth-century English artist, decorator, poet, writer, publisher, industrialist, and reformer. In his last years, Morris composed several novels in imitation of the medieval romance. These are tales of romantic adventure, laid in imaginary pre-industrial realms in which magic prevails and supernatural beings participate actively in human affairs.

De Camp explores the subsequent development of this genre as Lord Dunsany adapted the sword & sorcery formula to the short story, while Eric Rucker Eddison fitted it to the mold of the Icelandic saga. Heroic fantasy attained its maturity with Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," T. H. White's "Once and Future King," and Robert E. Howard's stirring tales of Conan the Cimmerian. Other twentieth-century authors discussed include Henry Kuttner, Fritz Leiber, H. P. Lovecraft, C. L. Moore, Fletcher Pratt, and Clark Ashton Smith.

William Andrew Pogány (1882-1955) was born in Hungary, studied art in Budapest, and worked in Paris briefly before moving to London in 1905 where he worked as a book illustrator for ten years. He moved to New York in 1915 and had success as a book illustrator and designer of stage sets and hotel interiors. “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is one of Pogany’s best-known books. It is a bold artistic experiment in unifying text and images. Every page is elaborately decorated in Pogany’s distinctive style, which attempts to create a printed version of a medieval illuminated manuscript. He was responsible for the beautiful calligraphic text, green and mauve page decorations and borders, and the many black and white drawings and tipped-in plates in full color.

This book is a no frills, straightforward statement of the author’s “medical theories” on sexuality. John Harvey Kellogg, M.D. (1852-1943) was an American medical doctor in Battle Creek, Michigan, who is best known today for the invention of corn flakes with his brother, Will Keith Kellogg. But back in 1879, 2 years after he completed his medical degree at the age of 25, he was more famous for running the Battle Creek Sanitarium where he developed a strict regimen for health, based on his strict limitations and rules for controlling one’s sexual appetite and lifestyle. He believed a strong emphasis on vegetarianism would control and limit a person’s sexual drive. In addition he was very focused on a daily regimen of cleansing the bowels with yogurt enemas. The basis of clean living, according to the good doctor, was colonic irrigation, electrical stimulation and sexual abstinence. T. C. Boyle’s 1993 book, “The Road to Wellville,” and the 1994 comedy film adaptation of the book with Anthony Hopkins and Matthew Broderick were based on the story of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQviGrzIKQY

Kellogg’s “Plain Facts About Sexual Life” is exclusively devoted to his beliefs about the harms of too much sexual indulgence and, in this area, he had an abundance of specific issues to write about. He describes in great detail the almost limitless harms, diseases, melancholia, physical deteriorations, mental aberrations, addictions, social calamities, losses of specific senses, spinal irritations, womb cancers, insanity and an almost endless list of other ailments arising from sexual indulgences, most especially activity after the age of 45 and worst of all – the very harmful “solitary vice” of self abuse. He was an especially zealous campaigner against masturbation, promoting extreme measures to prevent it, even mutilation on both sexes. For instance, on page 303 of his book, he writes:

“A remedy which is almost always successful in small boys is circumcision… The operation should be performed by a surgeon without administering an anesthetic, as the brief pain attending the operation will have a salutary effect upon the mind, especially if it be connected with the idea of punishment, as it may well be in some cases. The soreness which continues for several weeks interrupts the practice, and if it had not previously become too firmly fixed, it may be forgotten and not resumed.”

He also thought that diet played a huge role in masturbation and that a bland diet would decrease excitability and prevent masturbation. That’s the reason why, according to an entry in Wikipedia, he invented corn flakes breakfast cereal. He hoped that feeding children this plain cereal every morning would help to combat the urges of "self-abuse.” So, remember Dr. Kellogg the next time you pour yourself a bowl of corn flakes. The man was nutty as a fruitcake!

n° 7 of 30

Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Engine : Nissan

3.498 cc

V6

315 hp @ 6.800 rpm

Vmax : + 220 km/h

0-100 km : 3,8 sec

Museo dell'Automobile

Corso Unità d'Italia 40

Torino - Turin

Italia - Italy

January 2019

Welcome to the next episode of "Stuff I Bought in Vancouver". Tonight, I bring you something that is, as always exotic, but more importantly, something that again, I probably wouldn't have run into while in Toronto. The subject of tonights review is the S.H. Figuarts Sailor Moon figure, First Edition.

So, Sailor Moon. The Figuarts releases I've picked up two of them up to this point - Sailor Chibi Moon and Sailor Venus, so clearly they exist here in Toronto. I had gotten lucky so far with regards to pricing thus far, finding the right person at the right time who was willing to make a deal just to get rid of it. It was a similar situation for this particular figure, which I ended up paying $60 CAD for, making it the most expensive figure I purchased during my time out West. For those paying attention, that's pretty much MSRP - why did I do that??? Well, the answer lies in the second part of the title - First Edition. First Edition releases of Sailor Moon came with two additional face plates that were not available later on, and to be honest they're ones that should have been standard, but I digress. The point is, if one were to take into account the First Edition perks, and the fact the figure had never been opened, $60 CAD ends up being a pretty good buy.

Sailor Moon is, of course, the titular character from the Sailor Moon series. The superhero guise of Usagi Tsukino (Serena in the US dub), Sailor Moon starts off, like all many other anime heroes, kind of clumsy, childlike, but eventually matures into a competent leader of her fellow Sailor Senshi in their battle against the forces of evil and enemies of the Moon Kingdom, from whence she originated from. In superhero form, Usagi maintains her trademark twin pigtails, gets a few more pieces of jewelery, and is generally decked out in the now legendary ensemble of high school girl outfit combined with some bows and a kickass pair of boots. Being Sailor Moon, however, her outfit has a few extra bells and whistles not present on the other Sailor Senshi, like the moon on her choker, a jewel encrusted pendant on her chest ribbon, moons on her boots, and jewels in the buns of her hair.

Sailor Moon comes with the most accessories I've seen in a Sailor Moon Figuarts thus far (I admittedly haven't seen that many). There's the figure, of course, with five additional faces (winking and crying faces being the exclusives... FINALLY, a winking face), Moon Crescent Wand, Moon Crescent Wand with the Imperium Silver Crystal installed, seven additional hands with one dedicated for holding her wand, two for her trademark pose, and additional hand/effect piece for her Moon Tiara Action, a mini Luna, and a stand. To the surprise of nobody, it appears that Luna and Artemis are effectively repaints of one another, though I found that Luna stood very easily, whereas Artemis was required some futzing to get him to pose for photos. Points of articulation on Luna are her head and tail, both on ball joints.

The figure of course, looks very faithful to the the animation model. General silhouette is there, and compared to Sailor Venus, slightly more accurate body proportions, mostly with the legs, which seem to have a shorter lower leg as compared to the statuesque Sailor Venus. Otherwise, you have the same general slender high school girl physique. Sailor Moon, to me, has a more accurate facial structure as well.. in fact, if I didn't know better, I'd say they adapted Sailor Moons base face plates for use on Venus. Both are, IMO, a bit too narrow and could stand to be a bit wider at the temples. Sailor Moon fares much better at actually being able to use the included stand properly, as she does not have a giant mound of hair getting in the way of the dynamic arm of the stand. Speaking of hair, good recreation of the hair on the character, with the added "bonus" of being made from translucent plastic that is painted yellow so she has the shimmering effect on her head. The down side is tolerances, as evidences by the fact her right pigtail keeps popping out of the socket. Otherwise, you get some good sculpting in terms of detailing of the outfit and hair, both of which has been pretty consistent in terms of quality across the three characters that I have.

As mentioned above, this First Edition release comes with two additional face plates that are very much essential to Sailor Moon as a character. I can sort of get the crying face as an exclusive, as its usage is relatively limited (unless you're willing to be a bit creative, like me) but for magical girl figures to not come with winking faces ought to be made a crime punishable by public ridicule. The other faces are your typical smiling, neutral, attacking, and one face with no tiara painted on it with the intent of use with the Moon Tiara Action hand effect.

Articulation.. boy, is it nice coming back to something that is not maddening to make use. Points of articulation, again, are consistent with the other Sailor Senshi - ankles, single jointed knees, hips with pull down action to improve range of motion, waist, upper torso swivel, shoulders with some chest collapse, single jointed eblows, wirsts, and head. As stated above, there is one point of articulation on each of the pigtails to allow for some dynamic posing of the pigtails, though it mainly allows for side to side displays of hair rather than dashing forward displays. I found that perhaps due to a more pliable rubber (or maybe I just tried harder), Sailor Moon, while unable to kick high, was able to at least maintain a proper seated position. Hands come off the wrist pegs easily.. perhaps a bit TOO easily. I've read that subsequent releases of the figure (most notable being the anime coloured edition), the wrist pegs have been changed such that they have balls on the end of them to improve the grip.

Paintwork is again that lovely combination of good and meh that is present on Venus and Chibi moon. One again, the outfit itself is painted with pearl based paints on the whites, which makes for a lovely shimmering effect, if a bit thick in terms of application. Coloured sections of the outfit, along with various metal pieces are painted with metallic paints. These metallic paint apps can get a bit messy, especially on detailed areas like the small lines on her hair bun jewels, her pendant on the chest, the tiaras on her foreheads, and her earrings. The hair appears be partially solid plastic with some translucent plastics (bangs, pigtails), all of which is painted, which does make for an effective glowing effect at the cost of some less than stellar tolerances. Paint work on the hair itself is surprisingly smooth, with no splotches of colour that not only would look bad, but would also interfere with the translucent quality of the hair. Fleshy bits appear to be the base plastic colours, which are slightly different from Sailor Venus (more tan). In terms of paint masking, some weakness was observed at most transition points, with the most notable being between her outfit and her blue skirt.

Decals are applied well, with no bubbles observed, and no misalignment issues to report. In general, fit and tolerances are pretty good, with the only real issue I can mention is the one with that one pigtail that likes to fall out. Otherwise, there aren't any issues with tolerances or poorly mating parts to report. Some improvements on the parts finish side would have been nice, as mould lines and various seams were more prevalent on Sailor Moon than Venus or Chibi Moon. It's not like the latter two were perfect, and neither is Sailor Moon the worst figure ever made, it's just that by comparison to the other two, Sailor Moon does exhibit significantly weaker traits from this perspective, so I know a better product is technically possible. Build quality is the typical Figuarts level of excellence, with tight joints and a generally solid toy that can withstand some typical handling by a collector.

This is undeniably a great Sailor Moon figure, though one that is for... reasons, worse off from a parts finish perspective than her peers that I own. The base figure doesn't really offer anything that the other Sailor Senshi don't have (other than perhaps a slightly more appropriate face), but that's no surprise (or an issue) when they're all based off a pretty decent platform, though keep in mind I was able to get her seated when I couldn't get Sailor Venus or Chibi Moon to do so. While the base accessory set is pretty good (considering all the main Senshi cost the same), the First Edition faces truly make this figure shine. So while the figure is clearly a recommend for fans of the series, I'm going to do something I normally don't do, and recommend that you hunt down a First Edition version. While you may not benefit from the improved wrist pegs, the crying and winking expressions are a HUGE part of the character, and are worth going the extra mile for. If you're gonna hunt this figure down, I'd strongly recommend finding a First Edition and hassling the seller until a price that is agreeable to you can be reached.

The Mercury Seven were the group of seven Mercury astronauts selected by NASA on April 9, 1959. They are also referred to as the Original Seven or Astronaut Group 1. They piloted the manned spaceflights of the Mercury program from May 1961 to May 1963. These seven original American astronauts were Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Deke Slayton. Alan Shepard was the second person and the first American to travel into space. Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first person to travel into space.

The story of the macho, seat-of-the-pants approach to the space program of the Mercury astronauts and the equally fearless approach of test pilot Chuck Yeager was the basis of a book by Tom Wolfe (1979) and a movie by Philip Kaufman (1983). Both are titled “The Right Stuff.” Here is a link to the movie trailer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak1n6qQS3_A

From "Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving. London: William Heinemann, 1905. First Rackham Trade Edition.

This book was one of the first color editions and the last Brer Rabbit collection published during the lifetime of the author, Georgia native Joel Chandler Harris (1845-1908). Raised in poverty, Harris was an apprentice to a Southern newspaper as a teenager and he made friends with plantation slaves who passed along their stories. Harris hoped that the charming illustrations and his use of dialect in retelling these old black legends would “suggest a certain picturesque sensitiveness – a curious exaltation of mind and temperament (of the black man).”

The characters of Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit are best known from the classic 1946 Disney movie, “Song of the South.” Here is a memorable scene in that movie:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bWyhj7siEY

The first American edition of “The Phantom of the Opera” is illustrated with a color frontispiece and four double-page color illustrations by Andre Castaigne (1861-1929). The book’s author, Gaston Leroux (1868-1927), was a French journalist and writer of detective fiction. Though this is his most famous novel, he also authored a popular series of “locked room” mysteries including The Mystery of the Yellow Room and The Perfume of the Lady in Black. But The Phantom of the Opera is, by far, his most influential novel and the basis of many film adaptations, beginning with Lon Chaney Sr. in 1925, as well as the basis of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, one of the most successful of all time.

Doughty’s short-lived magazine “The Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports” is an important imprint in the history of American printing. It contained the first colored sporting prints made in America. Issued in monthly parts and published from the end of 1830 until the spring of 1834, “The Cabinet” featured articles on hunting, detailed descriptions of newly discovered flora and fauna, and some of the finest examples of early American hand-colored lithography. It was originally the work of the Doughty brothers, Thomas and John, with virtually all of the plates being the work of Thomas, who also founded the Hudson River School. But, by the spring of 1832, the partnership had broken up and Thomas had moved to Boston. An abbreviated third volume (not included here) lacked Thomas’ touch.

From "The Rhinegold & The Valkyrie" by Richard Wagner. New York: Doubleday Page & Co., 1910. First American Edition

Einstein writes four lines of verse in German on the front endpaper:

"This life is bizarre and unsound

It looks clearer written down

The urgencies that in the dark are touched

Don't frighten others very much."

The book contains nine “what if” stories. They roam freewheeling across the galaxy from Earth to Prxl, and across time from the early campaigns of Napolean to a day in the future when organized crime meets its Waterloo. What if you were shipwrecked alone on a strange planet? Or, what if you saw the stars changing places? Or, what if the last woman on Earth said she wouldn’t marry you if you were the last man on Earth – which you happened to be? In such funny yarns as PI IN THE SKY and NOTHING SIRIUS, Brown shows how humorous science fiction can be, and in COME AND GO MAD, how terrifying.

From "Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods" by Richard Wagner. New York: Doubleday Page & Co., 1911. First American Edition

Today, illustrator Mahlon Blaine (1894-1969) is pretty much unknown, but in the roaring 20s and the early 30s his work was published in everything ranging from children’s books and mainstream magazines to erotic portfolios. Though phenomenally popular back then, his output declined sharply over time and, by 1969, he died penniless and mostly forgotten.

Blaine was a master of erotic and grotesque illustrations, reminiscent of Aubrey Beardsley. He did paintings but he is best known for pen and ink drawings. “Nova Venus” features 38 of his decadent and erotic (by 1930’s standards) pen and ink drawings with a Creation theme. They are tipped to peach color mounts and assembled loosely in a green cloth portfolio, along with two pages of text, a title page and a limitation page. My copy is the first edition published in 1938, limited to 300 copies and signed by the artist.

Doc Savage is the golden crusader who fought crime in 181 adventures between 1933 and 1949 in pulp magazines. These famous stories by Lester Dent gave readers only glimpses of Doc Savage's amazing career. Philip Jose Farmer collected all the facts that shed light on Doc Savage and wrote this tongue-in-cheek biography of one of the great fictional heroes of the 20th century.

Included in the biography are Doc Savage's family background -- he is related to Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade, James Bond, and Travis McGee -- his most devilish opponents including The Mystic Mullah and even where his offices were located -- the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.

Farmer lists a number of Doc's "inventions" that are in general use today, including radar, shark repellent, and supersonic dog whistles. He notes that Doc's anesthetic gas grenade, years before most people knew of the existence of such a weapon, helped capture King Kong.

The final section of the book has a chronological log of Doc's life, correlated in complete detail from all the stories. Together with other data and deductions, it presents an authoritative account of this remarkable character.

Richard Corben made much of his reputation in the underground comics but, with their demise, he went on to become one of the most respected comic artists in the USA and in Europe. His Funny Book is a collection of graphic novels for adults. Most are illustrated in black & white. Two are in color. The stories are “The Beast of Wolfton,” “Lame Lem’s Love” (in color), “Horrible Harvey’s House!,” “Flys,” “Kittens for Christian,” “Melton’s Big Game,” “The Secret of Zokma,” “Twilight of the Dogs,” “For the Love of a Daemon,” “When Dreams Collide,” and “Den” (partly in color).

From "Siegfried & The Twilight of the Gods" by Richard Wagner. New York: Doubleday Page & Co., 1911. First American Edition

The image is from the 14th Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1892-93, by J. W. Powell, Director, Part 2. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1896. The description which follows summarizes the detailed information accompanying the image in the report.

By December 1890, the Ghost Dance had generally been discontinued on the reservations except at Sitting Bull’s camp on Grand River and Big Foot’s camp on Cheyenne River. The presence of troops had stopped the dances near the agencies. Everything seemed to be quieting down and it was now deemed a favorable time to forestall future disturbance by removing the ringleaders.

On December 12, the military order came for the arrest of Sitting Bull and arrangements were made between Colonel Drum and Agent McLaughlin to attempt the arrest. At daybreak on Monday morning, December 15, 1890, the Indian police and 43 volunteers under command of Lieutenant Bull Head surrounded Sitting Bull’s house. They found him asleep on the floor. He was aroused and told that he was a prisoner and must go to the agency. While dressing, Sitting Bull began abusing the police for disturbing him. Many of his followers, perhaps 150, congregated about the house outside. On being brought out, Sitting Bull became greatly excited and refused to go, and called on his followers to rescue him. A desperate fight ensued, shots were fired and Sitting Bull along with several police was killed.

With sales of about 200 million copies, “A Tale of Two Cities” is the biggest selling novel in history. It began as weekly installments from April 30, 1859 to November 26, 1859 in Dickens’ literary periodical titled “All the Year Round.” It depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the French revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same period.

Chapman & Hall published the novel in 8 monthly parts (July – December 1859) and in book form that same year and commissioned Hablot K. Browne [Phiz] to create full page illustrations for the story. It was the last of Dickens’ books to be illustrated by Hablot K. Browne.

Written by William Shakespeare, published in 1623. View all four folios at digital.lib.MiamiOH.edu/folios.

The Illustrated News of the World – First Edition 1858.

‘The Illustrated News of the World and National Portrait Gallery of Eminent Personages’ was a new publication with the strong visual emphasis of numerous large woodcuts to illustrate local and world events, and also featuring a number of fine steel engravings of eminent persons. The publishers stated their hopes that the publication would match or supplement the existing illustrated magazines:- The Illustrated London News and Punch Magazine .

Published by Illustrated News of the World, The Strand, London. Annual bound collection, red cloth boards 338 pages 42cm x 29cm.