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Hide your gold and your women! Here comes Frisco Dougherty.
Through the tropical heat of the Java Sea, from island to island, from woman to woman, Frisco Dougherty followed the diamond trail. Cockney Jaske knew part of the answer, voluptuous Locheng knew more, a Chinese merchant knew it all. Hard-bitten Frisco had to hit it rich or end a derelict in Java’s ports.
End papers from a wonderful children's book containing simplified Aesop's Fables illustrated by Jerry Pinkney.
Aesop's Fables (Classic Illustrated Editions)
Illustrated by Jeremy Pinkney
Published by Chronicle Books, First edition 2000
The little opossum on this cover is just too cute.
"Just the Thing for Geraldine"
written by Ellen Conford and illustrated by John Larrecq;
Published by Little Brown & Co; First Edition (1974)
"There passed a weary
time. Each throat
was parched, and
glazed each eye.
A weary time! a weary
time!
Now glazed each weary
eye,
When looking westward,
I beheld
A something in the sky."
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.
Quoting from the book (page 206):
Judy . . . calls, as she scrapes the butter on the loaf with every precaution against waste, and cuts it into slices, “you Charley, where are you?” Timidly obedient to the summons, a little girl in a rough apron and a large bonnet, with her hands covered with soap and water, and a scrubbing brush in one of them, appears, and curtseys.
“What work are you about now?” says Judy, making an ancient snap at her, like a very sharp old beldame.
“I’m a cleaning the upstairs back room, miss,” replies Charley.
“Mind you do it thoroughly, and don’t loiter. Shirking won’t do for me. Make haste! Go along!” cries Judy, with a stamp upon the ground. “You girls are more trouble than you’re worth, by half.”
“An Indian History of the American West”
The photo on the dust jacket is of a Navaho warrior of the 1860’s by John Gaw Meem. Jacket design by Winston Potter.
From the blurb on the dust jacket flaps:
Traditional texts glory in our nation’s western expansion, the great conquest of the virgin frontier. But how did the original Americans – the Dakota, Nez Perce, Utes, Poncas, Cheyenne, Navaho, Apache, and others – feel about the coming of the white man, the expropriation of their land, the destruction of their way of life? What happened to Geronimo, Chief Joseph, Cochise, Red Cloud, Little Wolf, and Sitting Bull as their people were killed or driven onto reservations during decades of broken promises, oppression, and war?
“Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” is a documented account of the systematic plunder of the American Indians during the second half of the nineteenth century, battle by battle, massacre by massacre, broken treaty by broken treaty. Here for the first time is their side of the story. We can see their faces, hear their voices as they tried desperately to live in peace and harmony with the white man.
With forty-nine photographs of the great chiefs, their wives and warriors; with the words of the Indians themselves, culled from testimonies and transcripts and previously unpublished writings; with a straight-forward, eloquent, and epic style “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” presents a unique and disturbing history of the American West from the Indian point of view.
Dee Brown has written fifteen books on Western American history. Now, a librarian at the University of Illinois, he has spent years researching and writing this important work.
From the back panel of the dust jacket:
“The whites told only one side. Told it to please themselves. Told much that is not true. Only his own best deeds, only the worst deeds of the Indians, has the white man told.” -- Yellow Wolf of the Nez Perce.
“We never did the white man any harm; we don’t intend to . . . We are willing to be friends with the white man. The buffalo are diminishing fast. The antelope, that were plenty a few years ago, they are now thin . . . When they shall all die we shall be hungry; we shall want something to eat, and we will be compelled to come into the fort. Your young men must not fire at us; whenever they see us they fire, and we fire on them.” -- Tonkahaska (Tall Bull) to General Winfield Scott Hancock
“The earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was . . . The country was made without lines of demarcation, and it is no man’s business to divide it . . . I see the whites all over the country gaining wealth, and see their desire to give us lands which are worthless . . . The earth and myself are of one mind. The measure of the land and the measure of our bodies are the same. Say to us if you can say it, that you were sent by the Creative Power to talk to us. Perhaps you think the Creator sent you here to dispose of us as you see fit. If I thought you were sent by the Creator I might be induced to think you had a right to dispose of me. Do not misunderstand me, but understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land. I never said the land was mine to do with it as I chose. The one who has the right to dispose of it is the one who has created it. I claim a right to live on my land, and accord you the privilege to live on yours.” -- Heinmot Tooyalaket (Chief Joseph) of the Nez Perce.
A lovely ornate cover to a 1950s Betty Crocker cook book.
“Betty Crocker Picture Cook Book.”
Published by McGraw Hill, 1950, First Edition.
In the Spotlight : Volkswagen Milestones
29/01/2021 - 28/03/2021
Autoworld
Brussels - Belgium
February 2021
Joe Haldeman is uniquely qualified to edit a collection of science-fiction alternatives to war. His novel "The Forever War" (1974), a novel of future warfare, was based on his experience as a foot soldier in Vietnam. It won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best science fiction novel. He asked ten science fiction writers to consider the problem of war, and whether there might be a solution to it, and this is what he got:
POUL ANDERSON - Warfare by formalized political assassination.
ISAAC ASIMOV - Peace and freedom through cybernetic regimentation.
BEN BOVA - Surrogate warfare via machine-induced illusion.
GEORGE ALEC EFFINGER - Soldier as actor; actor as soldier.
HARLAN ELLISON - A god-beast to teach a terrible lesson.
JOE HALDEMAN - Privately-sponsored nuclear blackmail.
HARRY HARRISON - Destroy poverty, not people.
DAMON KNIGHT - A visitor from Aquarius gently wrecks the world.
WILLIAM NABORS - Peace as the ultimate venereal disease.
MACK REYNOLDS - Captain Joe Mauser slugs it out for dear old VTT, Inc.
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
"Since George Washington signed the first patent in 1790, close to four million inventions have been patented in the United States. (Note: the number of U.S. patents as of April 7, 2015 was nine million.) Among the three hundred plus devices described in this book -- and often illustrated from original patent papers -- are:
* An automatic baby-burper that frees the parent of a chore and the baby of gas.
* A parakeet diaper.
* An automatic housepainter that moves along the sides of a building, and a driverless lawn mower that shuts itself off and garages itself.
* An alarm clock that squirts the sleeper in the face.
* A rifle with a curved barrel for firing around corners.
* A gold or platinum trap for catching tapeworms.
* A golf ball that sends out a smoke signal when it lands to help its owner locate it.
* An anti-bicycle-thief device that sends a long, sharp needle into the rear end of anyone making off with the bicycle.
"Some of these 300-odd inventions never got beyond the paper stage. Some became famous, and made their inventors wealthy. But renowned or obscure, simple or complex, straightforward or bizarre, all are fascinating.
"Stacy V. Jones writes The New York Times "Patents of the Week" column. During World War II he was a special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. He also worked on public information at the Department of Commerce in the Eisenhower administration.
"A member of the National Press Club since 1941, Mr. Jones has written a monthly page of inventions for "Science Digest" for more than ten years. He has worked as a newspaper reporter in Seattle, Detroit, Washington, D.C. and New York, and as a correspondent for Liberty magazine."
The sequel to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” (1865), “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There” (1872) was published seven years later and is set some six months later than the earlier book. This time Alice enters a fantastic world by stepping through a mirror. “Through the Looking Glass” is not quite as popular as “Wonderland” but it does include celebrated verses such as “Jabberwocky” and “The Walrus and the Carpenter,” and episodes involving “Tweedledum and Tweedledee” and “Humpty Dumpty.” The book features fifty in-text illustrations by John Tenniel.
This uber-rare Daewoo/Media (!) release of "Parasite" (1982) features classic cover art and a movie-review style tout on the back. From the critic Jeong Young-Il, the film gets (roughly) this positive commentary - "Engaging and imaginative horror...A film for women who enjoy horror...The story follows a science experiment gone bad, producing bloodsucking parasites...horror, action, thrills, suspense, and the "happy ending" climax we're looking for (?). However, it doesn't feature in the 3-D process used during its theatrical run. A well-liked cult outing, the film marked Demi Moore's silver-screen debut. The 1997 reissue plays up on the Demi Moore star element, but it too is a rare tape now.
From the book "Peter and Wendy" by J. M. Barrie. London: Hodder & Stoughton, (1911). First edition. This is the first book that tells the story of Peter Pan, Wendy and their exploits in Neverland along with the now familiar cast of characters that includes Captain Hook, Tinker Bell, the Lost Boys and Tiger Lily.
This is plate 8 in Gaspey’s “Book of the World,” which contains 35 full-page, hand-colored engravings. Colored engravings of that period were virtually always colored by hand with water colors.
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.
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.
"Das arme Jesulein. Gemalt und geschrieben von Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo
Verlag - Josef Müller, München"
Mother's childhood Christmas storybook.
Written and illustrated by Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Bohatta
First edition, 1931
--------------------------------------
1931. A szegény Kisjézus.
Írta és illusztrálta: Ida Bohatta Morpurgo de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Bohatta
Mamám gyerekkori karácsonyi mesekönyve
Kiadó: Josef Müllerr Verlag, München. Első kiadás
One of forty-nine photographs in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1970).
Chief Joseph (1840-1904) led his band of Nez Perce when they were forcibly removed by the United States federal government from their ancestral lands in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon onto a significantly reduced reservation in the Idaho Territory. Violent encounters with white settlers in the spring of 1877 culminated in those Nez Perce who resisted removal, including Joseph’s band and an allied band of the Palouse tribe, to flee the United States in an attempt to reach political asylum alongside the Lakota people, who had sought refuge in Canada under the leadership of Sitting Bull.
At least 700 men, women, and children led by Joseph and other Nez Perce chiefs were pursued by the U.S. Army in a 1,170-mile (1,900 km) fighting retreat known as the Nez Perce War. The skill with which the Nez Perce fought and the manner in which they conducted themselves in the face of incredible adversity earned them widespread admiration from their military opponents and the American public, and coverage of the war in U.S. newspapers led to popular recognition of Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce. [Source: Wikipedia]
Quoting Dee Brown (pp. 318-320):
“. . . white settlers were encroaching upon the valley, with their eyes on the Nez Perce land. Gold was found in nearby mountains. The goldseekers stole the Indians’ horses, and stockmen stole their cattle, branding them so the Indians could not claim them back. White politicians journeyed to Washington, telling lies about the Nez Perces. They charged the Indians with being a threat to the peace and with stealing the settlers’ livestock. This was the reverse of the truth, but as Joseph said, ‘We had no friend who would plead our cause before the law council.’
“Two years after the Great Father (President Ulysses Grant) promised Wallowa Valley to Joseph’s people forever, he issued a new proclamation, reopening the valley to white settlement. The Nez Perces were given “a reasonable time” to move to the Lapwai reservation. Joseph had no intention of giving up the valley of his fathers, but in 1877 the government sent the One-Armed-Soldier-Chief, General Howard, to clear all Nez Perces out of the Wallowa area.”
I had a conversation yesterday at work with one of my clients (patients) College English Professor… We started talking about our fav books. Her fav book is “Catcher in the Rye”… The moment her words came out, I started hyperventilating & was out of air. It was from excitement, but still… But then I cooled down, became more mellow, and forgot that I had a very long, overwhelming day. We live for things we love, even if they put us first into happy anxiety mode. It might be uncomfortable or look abnormal to the outside world, but it’s such a happy moment to realize that even though you are not a teenager or young adult anymore, but there are still things in life that leave you breathless. ♥️
This is plate 18 in Gaspey’s “Book of the World,” which contains 35 full-page, hand-colored engravings. Colored engravings of that period were virtually always colored by hand with water colors.
The Life of Henri Christophe, King of Haiti, who at the height of his power built the magnificent palace of Sans Souci, a structure rivaling the pyramids in incredibility. His coronation as King Henri I was in March 1811. Under his policies of corvée, or forced labor, the Kingdom earned revenues from agricultural production, primarily the commodity sugar, but the people resented the system. Unpopular, ill and fearing a coup, he committed suicide on October 8, 1820.
Although Leni Riefenstahl's documentary film about the 1936 Berlin Olympics, called “Olympia,” has become an acknowledged classic, her book of photographs, “Schönheit im Olympischen Kampf” (Beauty in the Olympic Games), is less known but no less spectacular. Sometimes Riefenstahl relied on poses modeled on the antique Greek ideal… But far more original were her depictions of superbly athletic bodies soaring gracefully through the air and knifing effortlessly through the water. Riefenstahl applied certain devices characteristic of the new German photography – strong diagonals, tight croppings, and bird's-eye and worm's-eye views. No longer was the camera an earthbound witness; it took to the air and the water with the athletes. (Source: William A. Ewing, “The Body”).
Riefenstahl’s film “Olympia” documenting the 1936 Summer Olympics may be viewed on youtube:
Olympia Part 1: Festival of Nations
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLnGqMoNXRI
Olympia Part 2: Festival of Beauty
“The Chimes” is Dickens’ second Christmas book, the first being “A Christmas Carol.” It continues his social commentaries on the poor. Structured similarly to “A Christmas Carol,” the main character, Trotty, witnesses an alternative future through a series of visions and ultimately is given a second chance to put things right. “The Chimes” was a bestseller in its day, but has since been eclipsed by “A Christmas Carol.” “The Chimes” is illustrated with thirteen engravings by artists John Leech, John Tenniel, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise and Clarkson Stanfield.
In all, Dickens wrote five Christmas books: “A Christmas Carol” (1843), “The Chimes” (though dated 1845 it was released in December 1844), “The Cricket on the Hearth” (1845), “The Battle of Life” (1846), and “The Haunted Man” (1848).
“I was out to teach this girl the folly of hiring strangers to commit larceny for her, but, like most of my screwy ideas, this one exploded in my face.
“When we got to the place there was a man lying dead on the rug and the cops knocking on the front door.
“So we ran, Nina and I. Through the city streets, through mud flats and state parks and wilderness and days and nights we ran.
“Then, in the middle of our private nightmare, I fell in love with this gray-eyed blonde girl who might well be a murderess.
“Worse, she fell in love with me, without knowing how heavy was my burden of guilt.” [From the description on the back cover]
“The Chimes” is Dickens’ second Christmas book, the first being “A Christmas Carol.” It continues his social commentaries on the poor. Structured similarly to “A Christmas Carol,” the main character, Trotty, witnesses an alternative future through a series of visions and ultimately is given a second chance to put things right. “The Chimes” was a bestseller in its day, but has since been eclipsed by “A Christmas Carol.” “The Chimes” is illustrated with thirteen engravings by artists John Leech, John Tenniel, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise and Clarkson Stanfield.
In all, Dickens wrote five Christmas books: “A Christmas Carol” (1843), “The Chimes” (though dated 1845 it was released in December 1844), “The Cricket on the Hearth” (1845), “The Battle of Life” (1846), and “The Haunted Man” (1848).
One of forty-nine photographs in “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, (1970).
Naiche (c. 1857-1919) was the final hereditary chief of the Chiricahua band of Apache Indians. He was the youngest son of Cochise and, upon the death of his father in 1874, Naiche’s brother Taza became the chief. However, Taza died a few years later in 1876, and the office went to Naiche.
Initially peaceful and co-operative with the whites, from 1881 onwards he was associated with Geronimo in a number of breakouts from the reservation. Naiche traveled to Mexico with Geronimo’s band to avoid forced relocation to the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. They surrendered in 1883 but escaped the reservation in 1885, back into Mexico. Officially the leader of the last band of renegade (i.e., free) Apaches in the Southwest, Naiche and Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson Miles in 1886. [Source: Wikipedia]
Quoting Dee Brown (pp. 411-412):
“In the end it was the Big Nose Captain (Lieutenant Charles Gatewood) and two Apache scouts, Martine and Kayitah, who found Geronimo and Naiche hiding out in a canyon of the Sierra Madres. Geronimo laid his rifle down and shook hands with the Big Nose Captain, inquiring calmly about his health. He then asked about matters back in the United States. How were the Chiricahuas fairing? Gatewood told him that the Chiricahuas who surrendered had already been shipped to Florida. If Geronimo would surrender to General Miles, he also would probably be sent to Florida to join them. . .
“And so Geronimo surrendered for the last time . . . Geronimo and his surviving warriors were shipped to Fort Marion, Florida. He found most of his friends dying there in that warm and humid land so unlike the high, dry country of their birth. More than a hundred died of a disease diagnosed as consumption. The government took all their children away from them and sent them to the Indian school at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and more than fifty of their children died there.
“Not only were the ‘hostiles’ moved to Florida, but so were many of the ‘friendlies,’ including the scouts . . . Martine and Kayitah who led Lieutenant Gatewood to Geronimo’s hiding place, did not receive the ten ponies promised them for their mission; instead they were shipped to imprisonment in Florida. . . The Chiricahuas were marked for extinction; they had fought too hard to keep their freedom.”
The story unfolds against the backdrop of the political conflict between Russia and Great Britain in Central Asia in the period 1893-98. The novel is notable for its detailed portrait of the people, culture, and varied religions of India, and features Kim, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier and a poor Irish mother who have both died in poverty. Living a vagabond existence in India, Kim earns his living by begging and running small errands on the streets of Lahore. He embarks on a series of great adventures after becoming a disciple of an aged Tibetan Lama and later recruited by the government to carry a message to the head of British intelligence. Thus begin the espionage and spiritual threads of the story, which are destined to collide.
Kim is one of Kipling’s most popular books and, in 1998, the Modern Library ranked it No. 78 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. The book was turned into a great film in 1950 starring Errol Flynn.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR5qoOSkfAQ
Kipling's blind stamped design of a Viking ship on the front cover, which is present on many of his books from Doubleday, may have been the inspiration for the Viking Press and its own Viking ship logo established in 1925.
An adorable 1960s haiku book (published in Tokyo) that sings the praises of insects and plants of all kinds. It's illustrated with lovely drawings by late California artist Earl Thollander.
Sometimes I wish I had eight arms too....
Illustration from a vintage children's book: "The Adventures of Captain William Walrus" 1972 - Illustrations by Giannini.
Cover to a wonderfully illustrated 1960s book about tall ships.
Great Days of Sail.
by Jean Riverain
Published by Follett; First Edition (1965)
Detail from Brian Wildsmith's version of Stevenson's "A Child's Garden of Verses," illustrated in 1966.
"Das arme Jesulein. Gemalt und geschrieben von Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo
Verlag - Josef Müller, München"
Mother's childhood Christmas storybook.
Written and illustrated by Ida Bohatta-Morpurgo de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Bohatta
First edition, 1931
--------------------------------------
1931. A szegény Kisjézus.
Írta és illusztrálta: Ida Bohatta Morpurgo de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ida_Bohatta
Mamám gyerekkori karácsonyi mesekönyve
Kiadó: Josef Müllerr Verlag, München. Első kiadás
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
In the late summer of 1831, in a remote section of southeastern Virginia, there took place the only effective, sustained revolt in the annals of American Negro slavery . . .
The revolt was led by a remarkable Negro preacher named Nat Turner, an educated slave who felt himself divinely ordained to annihilate all the white people in the region.
"The Confessions of Nat Turner" is narrated by Nat himself as he lingers in jail through the cold autumnal days before his execution. The compelling story ranges over the whole of Nat's life, reaching its inevitable and shattering climax that bloody day in August.
"The Confessions of Nat Turner" is not only a masterpiece of storytelling; it also reveals in unforgettable human terms the agonizing essence of Negro slavery. Through the mind of a slave, William Styron has re-created a catastrophic event, and dramatized the intermingled miseries, frustrations -- and hopes -- which caused this extraordinary black man to rise up out of the early mists of our history and strike down those who had held his people in bondage.
A native of the Tidewater region of Virginia, William Styron grew up not far from Southampton County, where Nat Turner's revolt took place. The story of Nat Turner was the subject of the first novel that the author wanted to write, and he has maintained a special interest in American Negro slavery ever since. He has written three other novels, "Lie Down in Darkness," "The Long March," and "Set This House on Fire."
Foundation and Empire was the second book in Asimov’s Foundation trilogy. Decades later, Asimov wrote two further sequel novels and two prequels. Later writers have added authorized tales to the series. The Foundation Series is often regarded as one of Isaac Asimov's best works, along with his Robot series.
The premise of the series is that the mathematician Hari Seldon spent his life developing a branch of mathematics known as psychohistory, a concept of mathematical sociology. Using the laws of mass action, it can predict the future, but only on a large scale. Seldon foresees the imminent fall of the Galactic Empire, which encompasses the entire Milky Way, and a dark age lasting 30 thousand years before a second great empire arises. Seldon also foresees an alternative where the interregnum will last only one thousand years. To ensure the more favorable outcome, Seldon creates a foundation of talented artisans and engineers at the extreme end of the galaxy, to preserve and expand on humanity's collective knowledge, and thus become the foundation for a new galactic empire. [Source: Wikipedia]
Either Robert Silverberg or Marion Zimmer Bradley is assumed to be the author of this novel. In 1959, publisher William Hamling launched Nightstand Books, an imprint for paperback original sex novels by authors working under house names. From 1961 on, Hamling's primary editor was Earl Kemp. Pseudonymous writers for Kemp/Hamling included Lawrence Block, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Harlan Ellison, Evan Hunter, Robert Silverberg and Donald E. Westlake. Hamling was one of the earliest publishers of gay-themed books.
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.
From the blurb on the dust jacket:
Belief in spirits, both good and evil, is as old as the human race. "Spiritism," the modern development of the age-old desire to establish contact with the dead, is a nineteenth-century product and might well be labelled "Made in America." It is with Spiritism and its exponents in this country and England that Mr. Mulholland's book is concerned. Frankly and fairly the author describes the amazing lives and spiritistic experiences of such famous mediums as the Fox Sisters, founders of Spiritism, the Davenport Brothers -- Slade, Eusapia Palladino, Home, "Margery" and many others. Where there was evidence of trickery in their seances he tells what it was and how it was revealed.
Mr. Mulholland's chapter on mind-reading will be of special interest to those who have followed the recent sensational experiments in extra-sensory perception. Mr. Mulholland and skilled assistants also experimented in this field -- with amazing results. Other fascinating chapters deal with the "mechanics" of Spiritism -- an astounding chronicle of the clever devices that crooked mediums may purchase to deceive their audiences, a description of the experiences that mediums have had with the law and the various investigating committees of scientific bodies, and some unusual "personal experiences" of well-known men and women that tend to leave the whole matter unsolved. "Beware Familiar Spirits" has something on every page for every reader who has ever experimented with table tipping, ouija boards, mind reading -- or has ever thought he saw or heard ghostly manifestations.
John Mulholland for many years has been a close student of Spiritism. Internationally famous as a magician, and author of several books on that subject, his career has brought him in touch with many noted believers in spirits and practitioners of Spiritism as well as with such doughty disbelievers as the late Harry Houdini. His book is the product of long study and careful investigation. It does not pretend to say the last word on a matter which will never be decided, but it does tell in informative, detailed and immensely entertaining fashion the story of some of our best American spirits and how they were "raised."
From the back:
It was obvious she had nothing on beneath the old cotton dress and that she didn't care a damn.
Lee was just looking at her. She could see what he wanted. I could feel the collar of my shirt choking me.
"She ought to be against the law," Lee said slowly and shakily.
"She is," I said. "And her father would kill you."
"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/...]
End papers of "The Sheep of Lal Bagh," a 1960s children's book. The star of the story is Ramesh, the sheep who mows in circles and stars to the delight of citizens everywhere. But when the mayor decides Ramesh doesn't mow fast enough, his funky, foliage designs are replaced by a push mower...
The Sheep of Lal Bagh by David Mark. Illustrated by Lionel Kalish.
Published by Parents' Magazine Press; First edition (1967)