Illustrated - Art, Photography, Architecture, Rare Books
The Illustrative Processes: Etching
Etching falls under the intaglio and engraving category of printmaking, where the printing press applies great force to push ink into lines. Though an etching is an engraving, not all… Read more
Literature, Moderns
J R by William Gaddis
The path to favorite books is hardly ever the same. Whether assigned to you in school, recommended by a friend, a familial right of passage, or just bought in the… Read More
Literature
John Milton’s Paradise Lost
Fallen angels, angry deities and the weakness of man, all are explored in Paradise Lost, the epic poem by John Milton, who was nearly sixty when he wrote the now… Read More
American Revolution, History
American Ephemera: Pamphlets
My countrymen… will come reluctantly into the idea of independency, but time and persecution brings many wonderful things to pass; and by private letters which I have lately received from… Read More
Travel
The Story Behind Richard F. Burton’s Pilgrimage to Medina and Mecca
In the spring of 1853, noted linguist and explorer Richard Francis Burton started his most famous and important journey. Burton undertook the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, a trip… Read More
Literature, Moderns, Rare Books 101
Collecting First Novels
I’ve always thought first novels would make for a cool book collection. Something about these books always seemed inspiring and maddening to me at the same time. Read More
Illustrated - Art, Photography, Architecture, Travel
Indian Tribes of North America by Thomas McKenney and James Hall
Thomas McKenney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs under presidents Madison, Monroe, Adams, and Jackson, sought to create an archive that would preserve the American Indian heritage and traditions of the time…. Read More
American Revolution, History
American Ephemera: History as it Happened
What do we mean by the revolution? The war? That was no part of the revolution; it was only an effect and consequence of it. The revolution was in the… Read More
Illustrated - Art, Photography, Architecture
Follies and Disasters: the four books of francisco goya
Francisco José de Goya produced four major series of etchings in his lifetime. The first, Los Caprichos (Caprices), the artist finished and published as a rather ambitious book of 80 captioned… Read More
Literature, Moderns
The Greatest Year in American Literature
Was 1929 the greatest year in American literature? I think so. 1850-1855 had a run that’s still unmatched: The Scarlet Letter (1850), Moby-Dick (1851), Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852), Walden (1854), and… Read More
Travel
Zebulon Pike: Account of Expeditions
In 1806, as Lewis and Clark were wending their way homeward, the Governor of the Louisiana Territory, James Wilkinson, summoned his protégé Zebulon Pike to his office. Captain Pike had proven… Read More