Be It Ever So Humble

Found this lovely piece of silk embroidery in today's bookperdiem, "The Hearthstone; or, Life at Home. A Household Manual Containing Hints & Help for Home Making; Home Furnishing, Decorations, Amusements, Health Directions, The Sick Room; The Nursery, the Library, the Laundry, etc., Together with A Complete Cookery Book" by Laura C. Holloway. Published by Bradley, Garretson and Co., 1883.

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He Who Controls The Spice

Recipe for pasta with artichokes, capers and tomatoes.

2 T. onions chopped
2 T. minced garlic
2 T. olive oil
28 oz. can plain tomatoes
6 oz. chopped marinated artichoke hearts
3 T. capers drained
3 T. fresh parsley minced
3/4 C. chicken broth
1/3 C. sour cream
1 C. half and half
1 t. each basil and oregano
1/2 t. ground coriander
Cook onion and garlic in olive oil til softened.
Add tomatoes and juice, simmer 5 mins.
Add artichokes and capers, simmer 5 mins.
Add herbs and broth, bring to boil. Boil 5 mins.
Add sour cream and half and half, simmer 10-15 mins until slightly thickened.
Serve over capellini (very thin spaghetti) or other pasta. Parmesan to taste.

Found in "Dune Messiah" by Frank Herbert. Published by G.P. Putnam, 1969.

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A Year With The Fairies

As requested, here is a small sampling of some of the illustrations of the book that was featured in today's post:

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Semper Fidelis

Smith family crest.

Found in "A Year With The Fairies" by Anna M. Scott. Published by P.F. Volland, 1914.

By the way, this book is filled with fantastic color illustrations by M.T. Ross.

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Screwy Decimal

I've been lucky to have a few guest posts over the years, but I'm especially excited to have Rita Meade here today. Rita runs the hilarious and uplifting blog "Screwy Decimal," which gives readers a fun look behind the librarian's desk. I follow both her blog and her twitter account, and you should as well.

Here's what she brings us:

Public librarians have many responsibilities. Maintaining the book collection is just
one of them. Along with an analysis of its circulation statistics, each book must be
carefully checked to see if it is in good enough condition to remain on the shelves. The
fun upshot of this is that sometimes we librarians find interesting things that have been
used as bookmarks - like lottery tickets and used gum. My coworker, who knows
that I enjoy posting library anecdotes and oddities on my blog, recently found this
handmade bookmark in a children’s novel and thoughtfully gave it to me to share with
the world:

You can tell that Michelle put a lot of thought into this. The dolphin stickers
add an adorably random aquatic touch, and her misspellings are delightfully endearing
(homophones are tough!) You can tell she loves to read and cares very deeply about
keeping her place in library books. I am sorry that Michelle no longer has this bookmark
to use, but it is my hope that she made another one to take its place. It is also my hope
that she will keep reading long after her love for dolphin stickers subsides.

-Rita Meade, Children’s Librarian

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If This Rock Is Rocking

This photo looks like it used to be the front of a postcard; the size is right and judging from the light water stains and peeling layer, the back portion has fallen to the wayside. Photo features the Rocking Stone and Rocking Stone Restaurant located in the New York Zoological Park. There is a copyright date of 1905.

Found in "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Published by Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1878.

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A Kind Gesture

Illustrations of gestures or body language, look they they came out of a book.

Found in "The Last Slaver" by Dr. George S. King. Published by G.P. Putnam, 1933.

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Nice Girls

I've been off buying books most of the day, but I wanted to give you guys something to gawk at. Bought this one this afternoon, love the title:

"No Nice Girl Swears" by Alice-Leone Moats. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, 1933.



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The Call Of Duty

I think today's find is a great one; I'll let the pictures do the talking:

 The caption on the last photo reads:

Flotilla-1101
With Division Officers
July 27-42
U.S.C.G.A.

No other writing on any of the photographs.

Found in "The 1943 Harvard Album" published by Harvard University.

In case you're interested, the class of 1943 included Norman Mailer:

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Dip A Do

 

 Postcard, dated July 3rd, 1984:

Hi. Having fun here. Wish you were here. Pam said "Hi Dip a do." I'll be coming home Friday. See ya then.

Love,
Cathy
"tuts"

Found in "Unsung Heroes of the Major Leagues" by Art Berke. Published by Random House, 1976.
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