Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus (1897)
In 1897, Dr. Philip O’Hanlon, a coroner’s assistant on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was asked a question by his then eight-year-old daughter, Virginia, which many a parent has been asked before:...
View ArticleA Christmas Sermon by Robert Louis Stevenson (1900)
A Christmas Sermon, by Robert Louis Stevenson; 1900; C. Scribner’s Sons, New York. A Christmas Sermon by Robert Louis Stevenson written while he convalesced from a lung ailment at Lake Sarnac in the...
View ArticleThe First New Year (1885)
The First New Year, by George Warwick; 1885; C. T. Bainbridge’s sons, New York. A short little poem meditating on the inevitable end of all things and the power of new beginnings. Little is known about...
View ArticleThe Nine Lives of a Cat (1860)
The Nine Lives of a Cat – a Tale of Wonder, by Charles Bennett; 1860; Griffith and Farran, London. Beautifully illustrated (though perhaps not so well rhymed!) tale of the cat with nine lives. From the...
View ArticleThe Six Voyages of John Baptista Tavernier (1678)
The six voyages of John Baptista Tavernier, Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, translated by John Phillips; R.L. and M.P., London. To give it its full title – The six voyages of John Baptista Tavernier, a noble...
View ArticlePictorial Atlas to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (1892)
Pictorial Atlas to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Thirty-six plates, containing 225 illustrations from works of ancient art, with descriptive text, and an epitome of the contents of each book, for the use...
View ArticleA Dictionary of Victorian Slang (1909)
Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox English, slang and phrase, by J. Redding Ware; 1909; Routledge, London. Passing English of the Victorian era, a dictionary of heterodox...
View ArticleCroatian Tales of Long Ago (1922)
Croatian Tales of Long Ago, by Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, translated by F. S. Copeland; 1922; Frederick A. Stokes Co., New York. A seminal collection of short stories by the acclaimed children’s author...
View ArticleEmblems Ancient and Modern (1699)
Devises et Emblemes Anciennes & Modernes, Tirees de Plus Celebres Auteurs; 1699; Kroniger & Göbel, Augspurg. Beautiful 17th century book showing various emblems with mottos described in German,...
View ArticleEndless Amusement (1820)
Endless Amusement, a collection of nearly 400 entertaining experiments in various branches of science, including acoustics, arithmetic, chemistry, electricity, hydraulics, hydrostatics, magnetism,...
View ArticleOn the Writing of the Insane (1870)
On the Writing of the Insane, with illustrations, by G. Mackenzie Bacon, M.D.; 1870; John Churchill and Sons, London. A book of observations on the peculiarities of writing styles as shown by asylum...
View ArticleVaught’s Practical Character Reader (1902)
Vaught’s Practical Character Reader, by L. A. Vaught; 1902; L. A. Vaught, Chicago. A book on phrenology by L. A. Vaught published in 1902, jam-packed with strange theory and a whole host of strange...
View ArticleA Pack of Cavalier Playing Cards (1886)
Explanatory notes of a pack of Cavalier playing cards, temp. Charles II. forming a complete political satire of the commonwealth, by Edmund Goldsmid; 1886; E. & G. Goldsmid, Edinburgh. A facsimile...
View ArticleThe Sonnets of Michelangelo (1904 edition)
The Sonnets of Michaelangelo Buanarotti, now for the first time translated into rhymed English, 2d ed., by John Addington Symonds; 1904; Smith, Elder, & Co., C. Scribner’s Sons in London, New York....
View ArticleScientific Amusements (1890)
Scientific Amusements, translated from the French of Gaston Tissandier. By Henry Frith ; fully illustrated; 1890; Ward, Lock & co., in London, New York. Harry Houdini’s copy of Scientific...
View ArticleSnowflakes: A chapter from the book of nature (1863)
Snowflakes: a chapter from the book of nature; 1863; American tract society, Boston. A collection of poems, extracts, anecdotes and reflections on the theme of snow and the snowflake (most often in a...
View ArticlePrison diary of Michael Dougherty (1908)
Prison diary of Michael Dougherty, late Co. B, 13th., Pa., cavalry. While confined in Pemberton, Barrett’s, Libby, Andersonville and other southern prisons. Sole survivor of 127 of his regiment...
View ArticleDiary Days from Christmas Past
With December 25th fast approaching we have put together a little collection of entries for Christmas Day from an eclectic mix of different diaries spanning five centuries, from 1599 to 1918. Amid...
View ArticleSir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse (1733)
Sir Isaac Newton’s Daniel and the Apocalypse with an introductory study of the nature and the cause of unbelief, of miracles and prophecy, by Sir William Whitla; 1922; Murray, London. Best known for...
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