Donna Quixote

A heavy book in more ways than one! This was the first of a few finds at one of our new inscription haunts. Wish we could have spent a little more time perusing the contents.
Continue Reading

Ever hear of the Stratemeyer Syndicate? We hadn’t either…so off to Wikipedia we traipsed. It’s hard not to associate the word “syndicate” with gamblers or organized crime. It’s nice to know that this particular syndicate refers not to nefarious or harmful activity but, rather, to “the first book packager to have its books aimed at children, rather than adults.” And, come to find out, without them, we wouldn’t have Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, The Bobbsey Twins or The Motor Girls, the latter of which were given as a series of four from “Mother and Daddy” to their daughter, “Miss Rowena Callendar.” This is the first inscribed collection we’ve seen. While, on the one hand, it’s kind of sad to see these books discarded, it was a really fun find.
Continue Reading

This book, its inscription and the article we found inside were a treat to discover, thus warranting a deeper look into Rupert Brooke. According to his Wikipedia listing, “Rupert Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915) was an English poet known for his idealistic war sonnets written during the First World War, especially “The Soldier.” He also was known for his boyish good looks, which were said to have prompted the Irish poet W. B. Yeats to describe him as “the handsomest young man in England.” All of which goes to explain why the newspaper article we found folded up in the book discussed his planned memorial statue, and was quite lengthy and full of praise. We love the hand-written notes that are written on the article as well. One of them says, “May I have this back – sometime?” and the other simple states “The Observer – London about 1934.”
Continue Reading

A birthday inscription from an Uncle Win on April 19th, 1876! We think this is our oldest inscription so far.
Continue Reading