Tarquin Tar's Bookcase
Blog URL http://tarquintarsbookcase.blogspot.com/
Located Leverett, Massachusetts USA
Tags books, antiquarian books, rare books, old books, antique books, book collection, bibliography, history of the book, Amherst
Each week I pull a random book from one of my old, rare, or just plain interesting book collections and post some photos and facts about it. My hope is anyone who has more information than I do about these books will post as well.
Latest Blog Posts
- A Family of Pioneering Educators and their Copy of the First American Edition of "Hudibras" on Nov 15, 2009 in New York Charles II William Hogarth Y.M.C.A. Simeon Doggett Carolyn Doggett Iowa Hudibras Rensselaer Laurence Doggett Zachary Grey Samuel Butler Springfield College
This week’s book offered me the intriguing opportunity to try to track down the physical movement of a copy as it traveled between owners. The book is titled Hudibras, in Three Parts: Written in the Time of the Late Wars...with Annotations and a Co...
- Charles Lamb on the Greatest Hits of the Renaissance Stage on Nov 8, 2009 in Underhill Willis Hazard Henry Ashmead William Shakespeare Charles Lamb Philadelphia anthology Renaissance
My brain this week is stuck in preparatory mode for my doctoral qualifying exams on Friday (yes, that’s right...Friday the 13th) and so this week’s book is related to my exam on the history of the book.In my exam reading, one particular issue tha...
- Historic Salem For the Day After Hysteric Salem on Nov 1, 2009 in Hastings House Samuel Chamberlain Old Salem Book Shop Samuel McIntyre Stanley Baker Halloween Walter Frese Peabody Essex Museum Golden Hind Press Salem Elaine Rushmore
When October arrives in Salem -- and Halloween night in particular -- it is sometimes hard to wander the streets of this old city and remember that, beneath the once-a-month facade of crass capitalism and tasteless tourism, there lies an historically...
- Blog Break on Oct 28, 2009 in Halloween George Noory Salem
Tarquin Tar was on a blog break last weekend. Apologies for the gap in service. We'll be back up with a new post this Sunday, broadcasting from our Salem office, where we'll be enjoying the annual haunted festivities/chaos.In the meantime, here's rad...
- More on the provenance of the limited edition Wordsworth on Oct 21, 2009 in Dewey Decimal System accession number Oliver Wendell Holmes Harvard Law Library Philips Academy Cutter number cataloging librarianship library script
Here's an email I've received from a knowledgeable information sciences professional whom I trust on all matters of librarianship. She clears up some of my puzzlement over the catalog number found in the limited edition Wordsworth Sonnets featured in...
- Sleuthing Out a Notable Early Owner for a Wordsworth Limited Edition on Oct 18, 2009 in Fabriano bookplate Riverside Press Oliver Wendell Holmes Houghton Mifflin William Wordsworth Ticknor and Fields sonnets Pickering Wharf Bruce Rogers Arthur Quiller-Couch ex-library
A weekend trip back home to Salem regularly includes a visit to the Antiques Gallery at Pickering Wharf. One of the dealers there has a large selection of collectible and antiquarian books, most are decently priced and occasionally there’s some int...
- Beautiful. But Worthless. on Oct 11, 2009 in Garamond Century Company book collecting Beowulf Sandglass John Fass William Ellery Leonard Lynd Ward Craig Stark University of Wisconsin Heritage Press
A professor of mine who specializes in the history of the book once mentioned an important tip for book collecting: if a book is sold by its publisher as a “collectible”, it usually isn’t. Sure, these volumes may be beautifully executed, gorgeo...




