So here I am in
ancient,
magnificent Hereford Cathedral, home of the Mappa Mundi among other things, and damned if I’m not most taken by the modern 
art on display. Immense feeling – disbelief, believe it or not – communicated brilliantly through the positioning of mere cold hard material.
"The best" book published by Ticknor and Fields: Life of William Hickling Prescott, by George Ticknor (1864)
Michael Winship is a bibliographer and historian of the book – with special expertise in pre-1940 American publishing and book trade history. He edited and completed the final three volumes of Bibliography of American Literature, for which he received the bibliography prize of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers, and served as an editor of and contributor to the recently completed 5-volume A History of the Book in America. We talk here, on a windy day (hence the background static) in Haaavud Yaaaad about collecting books published by Ticknor and Fields, later Houghton Mifflin.
This interview is part of our Book Publisher Series which focuses on the histories of important British, American and Canadian publishing houses, and how best to go about collecting their works.
Copyright © 2010 by Nigel Beale. www.nigelbeale.com
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Carl Spadoni is the Director of the William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections, McMaster University Library. In 1999, he was awarded the Marie Tremaine Medal by the Bibliographical Society of Canada for outstanding service to Canadian bibliography and for distinguished publication. He is the author of seven books including the Bibliography of McClelland and Stewart Ltd. Imprints, 1909-1985 (with Judy Donnelly) . We met during the summer in Hamilton to talk about the history of M&S and which books and series from this venerable Canadian publishing house might be worth collecting.
This interview is part of our Book Publisher Series which focuses on the histories of important British, American and Canadian publishing houses, and how best to go about collecting their works.
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As incomprehensible as it may seem to the hard core collector, there are in fact some people who actually read the books they buy.
Content is assuredly why most people buy books, but for those who love them as objects, there are many other reasons. A friend of mine, for example, loves nudes… read the rest at biblio.com
Over here in North America you can drive for days without seeing a bookstore
let alone mind blowingly quaint
ones
like these.
Every time you turn a corner in Hay-on-Wye, the booktown on the Welsh/English border another one pops
into sight,
Christ, even the ground here
is photogenic. And check out this green grocer: 
The October crisis started 40 years ago today. From this clip it’s evident that Trudeau introduced the War Measures Act before Laporte was killed. Even after that happened there were those (bleeding hearts?)who were outraged at what they considered to be a flagrant abuse of power, one that violated the rights of hundreds of people. A sledgehammer to kill a fly? Perhaps, but Trudeau showed considerable resolve, and such decisiveness undoubtedly won him many supporters.
And, btw, when was the last time you saw Stephen Harper give such respectable face-time to a reporter?
Painting by Heinrich Matvejevich Maniser, 1904.
More musings on the first 25 pages of Anna Karenina:
Tolstoy gives us the good and bad in Stepan. First we learn that he has no opinions of his own – only those that are fashionable. He’s not interested in science, art or politics – sees the aim of civilization as one of making everything an entertainment ; and he doesn’t much like married life because it forces him to lie and pretend – which is against his nature. He’s unable to resist the sweet fragrances. In a chilling sentence (pg.8 ) we find that he loves his son less than he does his daughter, and that the son knows it.
On the flip side, he has "large, sprawling, handsome and clear handwriting," and enjoys the respect and affection of all who deal with him, because of his "kind, cheerful temper and unquestionable honesty." He indulges people because of an awareness of his own shortcomings, and treats everyone in a perfectly equal, identical way. His laughter is confident and good natured, the opposite of his friend Levin’s
Dolly, Stepan’s wife, keeps pretending she is going to leave, even though this is "impossible", largely because she can’t get out of the habit of loving him, or considering him her husband. I imagine this is how many wives feel after they learn of their husbands’ infidelities. Just as men’s identities tend terribly to be wrapped up in their work, so, at least in 18th century Russia, women defined themselves through their husbands and families. Her immediate reaction – because of an unfaithful "moment" – is to see Stepan as a stranger who never loved her, and now only pities her. "You never loved me"
Page 23 sees, in elegant Tolstoyean fashion, the introduction of a profound puzzle: how to unite scientific conclusions about "the animal origin of man, about relexes, biology and sociology" with metaphysical considerations of the meaning of life and death. How to justify the notion that the external world stems from sense impressions when the concept of ‘being’ itself is not received through the senses. How to deal with the logic that says: if the senses are destroyed, if the body dies, there can be no further existence? Levin poses these questions to the professor in the room (one who, according to L, looks more like a barge hauler!) – only to hear that we ‘have no data.’
From about page 27 onward we get some beautiful descriptive passages telling of Levin’s passionate, romantic love for Kitty, her ‘meek, calm truthful eyes’, her smile, her ‘mystery’:
"He knew she was there by the joy and fear that overwhelmed his heart."
"He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she was the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking."
Love is an external force that has taken hold of him. Kitty unfortunately, loves him only ‘as a ‘brother.’ As much, I’d say, of a let down as when a women tells you that she’s interested only in being your friend – just as devastating.
Blushing - I first came across this emphasis in Dostoevsky, where he referred a young man "blushing to the roots of his hair." I found it amusing back then. Here I find it a bit over done. I assume the aim is to convey how very sensitive we, and these, humans are?
Killer quote: Stepan to Levin:
"You have a wholesome character and you want all of life to be made up of wholesome phenomena, but that doesn’t happen. So you despise the activity of public service because you want things always to correspond to their aim, and that doesn’t happen. You also want the activity of the individual man always to have an aim, that love and family life always be one. And that doesn’t happen. All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty in life are made up of light and shade. "
Great descriptive: "She was a dry yellow woman, sickly and nervous, with black shining eyes." Extending a ‘tiny yellow hand.’
By simply dabbing a colour on her, using one word, Tolstoy imparts so much more than detailed description can
Photograph of ‘St Martin’s House’, 70 Bond Street, Toronto, home of Macmillan of Canada
Ruth Panofsky is Professor of English at Ryerson University in Toronto where she specializes in Canadian Literature and Culture, focusing on Canadian authorship and publishing history. She is the author of The Force of Vocation: The Literary Career of Adele Wiseman and is currently preparing a SSHRC-funded history of the Macmillan Company of Canada, 1905-1986. We met this past summer in Toronto to talk about MacMillan, its history and some of the more important books and authors it has published.
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Richard Virr is the Head and Curator of Manuscripts at the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the McGill University Library. We met recently in Montreal to talk about book collecting, characteristic traits of the book collector, and different kinds of collections, including the Stone and Kimball collection that was purchased by McGill in 1972. It holds most of the books published by Stone & Kimball (1893-1897) of Cambridge, Chicago and New York, a publisher important primarily because of its focus on book quality and design. Please listen here:
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Writer/broadcaster/bibliophile
Owner/publisher Literarytourist.com
Host of The Biblio File Radio Show
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