Between the Bookends

*Warning: this blog contains French. Unilinguals beware!

My childhood died slightly today. I was browsing the blogosphere, and one link led to another, when I came upon Herve Renard’s (not the Zambian football team’s manager) blog RvRenard, Le Blog. Herve’s blog postfrom April 21, 2009 features a column of re-titled Martine books.

Now, my entire education up to post-sec has been in French Immersion. As such, I learned to read primarily in French, with books like Dinomir le géant (about a tall purple, bicycle-riding dinosaur), Napoleon le chaton (about a little black and white kitten who would get in all sorts of trouble), and Martine, a Belgian series cataloguing the adventures of the title character.

Monsieur Renard’s blog shows original Martine covers, but with (ahem) updated titles…

For example, the original 1964 publication of Martine fait ses courses (Martine runs her errands)

Martine fait ses courses

Now, the image as seen on M. Renard’s blog; Martine n’a pas de culottes (Martine doesn’t wear underwear)

Martine n'a pas de culotte

My poor childhood just suffered another injury; a Google search reveals that this phenomena is not limited to M. Renard’s blog. Apparently this abomination has become widespread! Oh well, all good things must come to an end, or to PhotoShop.

Til next time, dear readers.

Laurie

P.S. - Attn Ad students - Check out the Nov. 13 post on M. Renard’s blog. Pretty cool new ads!!

I just chased my “Wild Cherry” Dimetapp with Honey Nut Cheerios. Not only do I feel like I’m 7 again, but I definitely should’ve gone with a spoonful of sugar. (Please feel free to sing along. I did, in my head!)

//L

So I’m laying on my couch watching Charmed. I’m coughing up a lung every three minutes, my nose is running faster than I can catch it, and my voice is alternating between Mickey Mouse and James Earl Jones, when I have a voice.  I sat in a walk-in clinic’s waiting room this morning for an hour (I was there when it opened at 9, but the Dr. didn’t actually walk through the doors ’til about 9:30. Ugh.) only to find out I have a cold.

Just a cold.

I feel like I’m dying and all I have is a cold. Doc said my chest is clear, but that doesn’t explain why it feels like I’m breathing through a blanket with a dwarf sitting on my chest. Apparently I have to rest otherwise it will turn into what I thought I already had - bronchitis. Eh bien, c’est la vie.

Moving on to more blog-worthy topics (and less whining and moping), my dear friend inksplAt bookworm and I were discussing our forthcoming 21st birthdays this weekend. As a sidenote, I turn 21 in exactly a month (please see Miss inksplAt’s blog post from yesterday for her thoughts on the matter. I like what she has to say, especially re: the “good head start on the gift buying.” *wink wink nudge nudge*) We had also discussed putting our heads together to create our birthday/Christmas gift lists, which made me think of what books I would love to get my hands on…

I’ll think about it while I put a mustard plaster on my chest.

Til next time, dear (healthy) readers…

Laurie

So I had lunch at Aqua Books the other day, and I couldn’t very well leave without browsing the beautiful collection of antique books the store has.

A book calls to me even more when there is a signature or inscription inside it, and the newest edition to my collection (get it? Edition? Addition? Books?… Yeah, okay not so funny. Punny, maybe.) is no different. The book belonged to a Maria Ratzlaff, and was published in 1907.

That much I know. The rest (like the title, author, subject matter, etc.), I’m a little clueless about. You see, it’s printed in German, and in a very Gothic typeface too, which make the individual characters very very difficult to read.

I used an online translation tool on some of the phrases I managed to identify. The title had the word ‘Lieder’ (meaning song) in it, which lead me to believe it was a songbook of some sort, which was corroborated by the first few pages. But, turning a little further into the book, it looks almost like a bible or prayerbook or something. Another keyword, ‘geistlichen’, translates to ’spiritual’, and ‘Gott’ is mentioned frequently.

'Gesangbuch'

Title Page

Page View

Published in 1907

This is the first non-English purchase I’ve made, and as much as I wish I could actually read it and appreciate it, I kind of enjoyed the research involved in finding out the most basic of information about the book.

Maybe I’ll buy another non-English book soon!

Til next time,

Laurie

Addendum: The title on the spine looked like it read ‘Gefangbuch’. ‘Buch’ I was good with, but ‘Gefang’ didn’t come up with anything. But - Google suggested ‘Gesang’ - meaning ’singing’, or ’song’, ‘hymn’, ‘chant’, ‘canto’, ‘note’, ‘chanting’… Something along those lines. So my original guess of songbook was pretty close. The only thing giving me problems is the book’s format. The song verses are printed like bible verses would be; in numbered paragraphs as opposed to stanzas

So, I realized I’ve yet to really give a good sense of my collection or a background into this little hobby (obsession?) of mine.

It all started when I was about 8 or 9… My parents used to load my sister and I into the car on Saturday mornings and just drive through small town Manitoba, where my first stop was always the local bookstore. I had my first hit in some small town in southwest Manitoba, where I found a tattered, worn, dog-eared, ancient copy of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Stories; Christmas Carol, Cricket on the Hearth and all. The cover is falling off, you can barely read the writing on the spine, and pages are coming off the binding in chunks.

Worn, worn spine

Christmas Stories - Charles Dickens

Broken Spine

Christmas Stories

Despite its hang-dog appearance, this ancient copy of Dickens (there’s no publication or printing date inside, unfortunately) started my addiction. The smell of the book, the feel of the textured title on the cover, the scribbles on the inside that hint of lives past… I love it all.

It’s those past lives in particular that hold my attention fast. I always wonder whose book it was, what it meant to them, where it sat in their home; was the book a favourite or was it relegated to the dark and dusty corner of the den bookcase ? Better yet, who was the owner? What was their life like? How did the come upon the book? Did they find it, borrow it, buy it, or was it a gift?

I try my best to collect books and works by well known authors; names in my own personal literary canon. Shakespeare, Conan Doyle, Wordsworth, Milton, Hugo, Defoe, Conrad, Dante, Tolstoy, Dickens… I cherish each and every one.

That’s just a tiny snapshot of my entire collection (yes I have two copies of David Copperfield!), but it gives you an idea of what my shelves look like. Happiness is colourful hardcovers.

Til next time,

Laurie

I just got my hands on a first-edition (read FIRST EDITION) Ernest Hemingway!!!!!!!!!!! It’s the first edition (I just love saying that… First… Edition. *giggles* Love it.) of For Whom the Bell Tolls, from 1940!

Ernest Hemingway!!

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Front Page

That 'A' at the bottom means FIRST EDITION!!!!!!

Plot summary from Wikipedia:

“This novel is told primarily through the thoughts and experiences of Robert Jordan, a character inspired by Hemingway’s own experiences in the Spanish Civil War. Robert Jordan is an American who travels to Spain to oppose the fascist forces of Francisco Franco.

A superior has ordered him to travel behind enemy lines and destroy a bridge, using the aid of a group of guerrillas who have been living in the mountains nearby. Robert Jordan encounters one of those in their camp, María, a young Spanish native whose life has been shattered by the outbreak of the war. His strong sense of duty clashes with both Republican partisan leader Pablo’s fear and unwillingness to commit to a covert operation which would have repercussions and his own joie de vivre that is kindled by his newfound love for María.

The novel graphically describes the brutality of civil war.”

This is the first time I’ve ever owned a first edition!!! YEAH!!!! I got it from the man that feeds my addiction; John Thompson, also known as the Bookman. He used to set up at the University of Winnipeg, which is where I spent the first two years of my postsecondary education. He helped me empty my wallet quite a few times. I happened to check his website one day (see link above) and I saw he had this Hemingway for sale. I emailed him, and met him at the UofW a couple weeks later to pick it up. He was laughing my excitement, but really, as a budding collector I had yet to lay my hands on a first edition. Did I mention it was a first edition? It’s a first edition. Yay!

As an aside, Metallica has a song by the same title!

Til next time (First Edition!!!),

Laurie

Ohhh Sarah Palin. Since this is a blog about books, I feel that I can address this. (As an aside, what’s with the weird ’something wonderful is just off in the distance’  look??)

Alaska’s Public Offices Commission listed a $1.25 million “book retainer” on Palin’s final financial disclosure, filed in July when she left office. The money, however, was received while she was still Alaska’s governor.

Palin’s book is already topping Amazon’s bestseller list, but it’s not slated for publication until November 17.

As much of a newsmaker as she is, is anyone planning to actually buy her book or just wait til there’s a tonne of copies in the library?

Makes me wonder…

Two posts in a day, wow.

Shortly after writing the previous post, I came across a BBC Magazine article about bookcases. I’ve yet to find the right bookcase to serve my purposes, so maybe I should get myself a Billy… Like the lady in the black and white shirt in the video, I also have a great deal of books piled up around my room as I have indeed run out of bookshelves. What to do, what to do…

//L

Firstly, oops. I guess I’m not so good at the “update your blog at least once a week” thing. My apologies. I’m a leeeetle bit behind, so I will make up for it this week, I promise.With that, onward and upward, good readers.

The first nugget I want to share with you is one of my prize finds. I stumbled across this treasure in Burton Lysecki Books this past spring, and even though the $20 was quite a bit for me at the time (end of the school year and whatnot, I had to pick it up. I felt compelled for two reasons…

One: Rime is definitely a part of my literary canon, and as such, warranted purchase while I gleefully held it in my greasy little paws, especially because it’s really in beautiful condition. See?

Cover

To Edith In memory of the days when we recited this poem together. Feb. 14th 1906

Title Page

Note the lack of publication/print date. Therefore, I can only go by the inscription to guess the book’s age (1906 or earlier). Darn, should’ve brought it to the Antiques Roadshow at Portage Place this past Saturday.

Two: I knew this would be one book my boyfriend (henceforth known as JG) would appreciate. Being Iron Maiden fans the both of us, I knew he would like to see the work that inspired Maiden’s song. For those who are unaware, see it below! (Sidenote: seeing this performed live was one of the greatest moments of my life, hands down.)

The book is a cherished piece in my collection for another reason. When I’m book-hunting, I first look for known authors and then I look at the book’s condition. The big selling point for me though is what’s inside the book. I love seeing people’s inscriptions, or things the book’s original owner pressed and forgot about.

Rime fit that category! Not only was there that lovely inscription (which is interesting in its own right, because it’s quite the sombre poem to be given as a Valentine’s Day gift…), but I also found a poem, written by a different hand than the inscription, inserted into the book’s pages.

Poem - "Pepys"

“Pepys

There are people, I’m told - some say there are heaps-
Who speak of the talkative Samuel as “Peeps”;
And some, so precise and pedantic their step is
Who call the delightful old diarist, “Peppis”
But those I think right, and I follow their steps
Ever mention the garrulous gossip as “Peps”
–..   –..   –..   –..   –..   –
Yet Wheatley declares that the truth still escapes
For Peps was not “Peppis”, not “Peeps” - he was “Papés”.“

Love that! I assume it was “Edith” who wrote this, but the poem is neither dated nor signed, so it’s only a guess.

Anywho, I have a collection of over 50 books, each one with its own stories to tell, so until next time, keep turning the pages.

Yours,

Laurie

Alright, so I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to the Web 2.0 area, but I’m game to give it my best!

This blog will be dedicated to my collection of antique (read pre-1950) hardcover books. One of my friends lovingly described this as a “snore fest” (you know who you are haha!), and for some it may indeed be! I, however, wholeheartedly believe in not judging a book by its cover, and I plan to use this blog to explore (and record) my collection. I’ve got some cool books, IMHO! (See? I can use lingo!)

Anyway, I’ll look at one or two books per post, drool a little about the eBay finds I can’t afford, post links to cool stuff on other blogs, and go off on a tangent or two, I’m sure, but I promise to make it all as riveting as possible. There’s a lot of cool stuff online, so let’s make the most of it, shall we? Lovely!

Read slowly, read quickly, read between the lines (okay, maybe not that one), but keep turning the pages!

Yours,

Laurie