Page 23 - Antiques and Collectibles September 2019 Historic Hudson Valley
P. 23
MORE WORDS! WORDS! WORDS!
H ere are more interesting book-related words from The Facts on File Because the books were mass-produced and usually with cheaper paper and
Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson; bindings, they cost less than the regular editions issued by publishers. Book clubs
proved so popular that within 20 years 25 competing book clubs distributed over
Checkmark Books, 1997. Although the basic definitions come from the
book, I have paraphrased, slightly altered or added my own commentary to them. 75 million books. In fact, they were so popular that their books are worth little or
nothing to collectors nowadays because there are so many around. It’s usually easy
Browsing: I often have people come into my shop and when I ask them if they to spot them because they are often smaller and lighter than the regular editions
are looking for something special, they say no, that they are just browsing. The and often say either “Book Club Edition” on the inner front flap of the dust jacket
word browsing comes from the French word broust which was first used in 1542 or have a small blind-stamped mark on the lower rear corner of the back cover.
for the young buds or shoots that cattle, deer sheep and lambs feed on. Ironically Also, there is no price on the inner front flap of the dust jacket because they were
enough, another lamb, English poet, Charles Lamb, is credited with using the not sold in retail stores but distributed by mail to members. Often when you
word in its modern sense for someone who is casually looking at books. That was joined, you got your choice of some free books. Some were rather nice including
in 1823. Do ewe believe that! the Durant history of philosophy set or even the two-volume microprint edition of
the Oxford English Dictionary in a slipcase and with a magnifying glass in the little
Book Burner: The term didn’t arrive until the 1933 book burnings ordered by drawer because the microprint was almost too tiny to be read with the naked eye.
Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels when a torchlight parade ending in
the burning of 20,000 books at the University of Berlin deemed unworthy of Book Worm: There is not a single species of bookworm. Bookworms are
German culture as the Nazis saw it. actually any insect or their larva that eat books. Silverfish are some of the most often
But not many people know that Germany did not have the first book burn- seen. They generally like books stored in cardboard boxes in damp or unventilated
ings. We had them, too. In the early 1900s when local merchants in small towns cellars with concrete floors. People who spend too
feared competition from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward encouraged much time with books are also called bookworms.
their customers to bring in mail-order
catalogs to be burned in the public square Gutenberg: Johannes Gutenberg (Ger., 1398-
every Saturday night. Prizes were given to 1468) is generally credited with introducing or
whoever brought in the most catalogs. Some inventing moveable cast metal type and printing the
movie theaters even offered free admission to first books in the Western world. Or at least it is
any child who brought in a catalog. thought that he is the likeliest candidate to have
Brick and mortar shops now fear Amazon, done so despite the fact that there is no absolute
but there are no catalogs to burn! proof of that. Next to nothing is known about him
and no likeness survives. His father’s name was
Pen Names: In the old days, authors for probably Gensfleisch, so presumably, he used his
various reasons did not want to use their real mother’s maiden name, Gutenberg. He borrowed
names when writing books. These were called money in December 1452 to establish a printing
pen names or pseudonyms which could be any- press in Mainz, Germany, but nothing has ever
thing from a fake name or something like “By been found with his name on it as the printer
the old Sportsman.” The most popular pen name including the famous Gutenberg Bible. Gutenberg couldn’t repay the loan and
for people who published anonymously was— lost his press in 1455. Less than 200 copies of the 42 line per page first edition
wait for it—“Anonymous.” The second most popular pen name was “by a Lady.” Gutenberg Bible were printed making it one of the first mass-produced items in
This often happened when in the 1700s and 1800s it was thought that it was not our culture. Previous to this, books all had to be written out by hand. Only 49
proper for women, particularly women of quality, to write books. For instance, the copies have survived, but only 21 are complete.
popular 19th century author “George Sand” was not a dude. “George Sand” was Setting up all the individual pieces of handset type was an effort as there was
the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. one piece of type for each letter, but once done, you could easily run off as many
For some reason, authors of hunting and fishing books in days gone past often copies as you wanted. Also, you wouldn’t print all the book at once, you could do
used pen names. My friend Ken Callahan has published several compilations of parts of it at a time and assemble them later. Gutenberg Bibles are worth millions
pen names of sporting authors from years past. There’s a lot more than you think if you could ever find one for sale. A near neighbor of mine, the late Arthur
and sometimes it takes a lot of detective work to discover who they really were. I Houghton, had a complete one and a partial copy. I never met Mr. Houghton,
tried to talk Kenny into publishing his pen name books under a pen name of his but some years ago, his widow told me that his insurance company freaked out
own, but he wasn’t interested. when they found that Houghton had the Gutenberg Bible in his house. Now I’m
not saying that it was sitting out on his coffee table because that might be an
Jefferson Bible: The Jefferson Bible is a collection of Jesus’ teachings in the New exaggeration, but it was definitely in his house. When his insurance company
Testament that Jefferson thought were genuine and that had not been added later. insisted that it be put in a vault or somewhere safe, he said if he couldn’t keep in
in his house, he didn’t want it. So he sold it at auction in the 1970s and it brought
Boswellize: James Boswell, who wrote the famous biography of Dr. Samuel over seven million dollars.
Johnson in 1791 did such a good job of it that when someone writes a detailed Some of the surviving fragments of the famous Gutenberg Bible are only a few
biography as good as the one that “Bozzy” did that person has been Boswellized. pages long. Even single pages can sell for over forty thousand dollars.
When you think that a Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $3.12 million,
$7 million or so for a Gutenberg Bible (if you could even find one for sale) doesn’t
Book in Breeches: It was said that English historian Thomas Babington
Macaulay was thought to be a walking library or a “book in breeches” because of seem like a lot of money.
all his book learning. This had its downside as Macaulay was rather loquacious
and had opinions on everything. And at length. Florence Nightingale said that
his conversation was a procession of one as apparently no one else could get
a word in edgewise. James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975,
when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get a
Book Club: The Book of the Month Club was started in April 1926 by Harry “real” job; having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about
Scherman and Robert Haas. A panel of judges, mostly noted literary folks, chose 30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just about all subjects are represented.
He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD. 21673, 410-476-3838;
the titles that would be sent out once a month to their thousands of members. e-mail: unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; website: unicornbookshop.com.
September 2019 21
H ere are more interesting book-related words from The Facts on File Because the books were mass-produced and usually with cheaper paper and
Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson; bindings, they cost less than the regular editions issued by publishers. Book clubs
proved so popular that within 20 years 25 competing book clubs distributed over
Checkmark Books, 1997. Although the basic definitions come from the
book, I have paraphrased, slightly altered or added my own commentary to them. 75 million books. In fact, they were so popular that their books are worth little or
nothing to collectors nowadays because there are so many around. It’s usually easy
Browsing: I often have people come into my shop and when I ask them if they to spot them because they are often smaller and lighter than the regular editions
are looking for something special, they say no, that they are just browsing. The and often say either “Book Club Edition” on the inner front flap of the dust jacket
word browsing comes from the French word broust which was first used in 1542 or have a small blind-stamped mark on the lower rear corner of the back cover.
for the young buds or shoots that cattle, deer sheep and lambs feed on. Ironically Also, there is no price on the inner front flap of the dust jacket because they were
enough, another lamb, English poet, Charles Lamb, is credited with using the not sold in retail stores but distributed by mail to members. Often when you
word in its modern sense for someone who is casually looking at books. That was joined, you got your choice of some free books. Some were rather nice including
in 1823. Do ewe believe that! the Durant history of philosophy set or even the two-volume microprint edition of
the Oxford English Dictionary in a slipcase and with a magnifying glass in the little
Book Burner: The term didn’t arrive until the 1933 book burnings ordered by drawer because the microprint was almost too tiny to be read with the naked eye.
Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels when a torchlight parade ending in
the burning of 20,000 books at the University of Berlin deemed unworthy of Book Worm: There is not a single species of bookworm. Bookworms are
German culture as the Nazis saw it. actually any insect or their larva that eat books. Silverfish are some of the most often
But not many people know that Germany did not have the first book burn- seen. They generally like books stored in cardboard boxes in damp or unventilated
ings. We had them, too. In the early 1900s when local merchants in small towns cellars with concrete floors. People who spend too
feared competition from Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward encouraged much time with books are also called bookworms.
their customers to bring in mail-order
catalogs to be burned in the public square Gutenberg: Johannes Gutenberg (Ger., 1398-
every Saturday night. Prizes were given to 1468) is generally credited with introducing or
whoever brought in the most catalogs. Some inventing moveable cast metal type and printing the
movie theaters even offered free admission to first books in the Western world. Or at least it is
any child who brought in a catalog. thought that he is the likeliest candidate to have
Brick and mortar shops now fear Amazon, done so despite the fact that there is no absolute
but there are no catalogs to burn! proof of that. Next to nothing is known about him
and no likeness survives. His father’s name was
Pen Names: In the old days, authors for probably Gensfleisch, so presumably, he used his
various reasons did not want to use their real mother’s maiden name, Gutenberg. He borrowed
names when writing books. These were called money in December 1452 to establish a printing
pen names or pseudonyms which could be any- press in Mainz, Germany, but nothing has ever
thing from a fake name or something like “By been found with his name on it as the printer
the old Sportsman.” The most popular pen name including the famous Gutenberg Bible. Gutenberg couldn’t repay the loan and
for people who published anonymously was— lost his press in 1455. Less than 200 copies of the 42 line per page first edition
wait for it—“Anonymous.” The second most popular pen name was “by a Lady.” Gutenberg Bible were printed making it one of the first mass-produced items in
This often happened when in the 1700s and 1800s it was thought that it was not our culture. Previous to this, books all had to be written out by hand. Only 49
proper for women, particularly women of quality, to write books. For instance, the copies have survived, but only 21 are complete.
popular 19th century author “George Sand” was not a dude. “George Sand” was Setting up all the individual pieces of handset type was an effort as there was
the pen name of Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin. one piece of type for each letter, but once done, you could easily run off as many
For some reason, authors of hunting and fishing books in days gone past often copies as you wanted. Also, you wouldn’t print all the book at once, you could do
used pen names. My friend Ken Callahan has published several compilations of parts of it at a time and assemble them later. Gutenberg Bibles are worth millions
pen names of sporting authors from years past. There’s a lot more than you think if you could ever find one for sale. A near neighbor of mine, the late Arthur
and sometimes it takes a lot of detective work to discover who they really were. I Houghton, had a complete one and a partial copy. I never met Mr. Houghton,
tried to talk Kenny into publishing his pen name books under a pen name of his but some years ago, his widow told me that his insurance company freaked out
own, but he wasn’t interested. when they found that Houghton had the Gutenberg Bible in his house. Now I’m
not saying that it was sitting out on his coffee table because that might be an
Jefferson Bible: The Jefferson Bible is a collection of Jesus’ teachings in the New exaggeration, but it was definitely in his house. When his insurance company
Testament that Jefferson thought were genuine and that had not been added later. insisted that it be put in a vault or somewhere safe, he said if he couldn’t keep in
in his house, he didn’t want it. So he sold it at auction in the 1970s and it brought
Boswellize: James Boswell, who wrote the famous biography of Dr. Samuel over seven million dollars.
Johnson in 1791 did such a good job of it that when someone writes a detailed Some of the surviving fragments of the famous Gutenberg Bible are only a few
biography as good as the one that “Bozzy” did that person has been Boswellized. pages long. Even single pages can sell for over forty thousand dollars.
When you think that a Honus Wagner baseball card sold for $3.12 million,
$7 million or so for a Gutenberg Bible (if you could even find one for sale) doesn’t
Book in Breeches: It was said that English historian Thomas Babington
Macaulay was thought to be a walking library or a “book in breeches” because of seem like a lot of money.
all his book learning. This had its downside as Macaulay was rather loquacious
and had opinions on everything. And at length. Florence Nightingale said that
his conversation was a procession of one as apparently no one else could get
a word in edgewise. James Dawson has owned and operated the Unicorn Bookshop in Trappe, MD since 1975,
when he decided that it would be more fun to buy and sell old books and maps than to get a
Book Club: The Book of the Month Club was started in April 1926 by Harry “real” job; having a shop just might be another excuse to buy more books. He has about
Scherman and Robert Haas. A panel of judges, mostly noted literary folks, chose 30,000 second hand and rare books on the shelves, and just about all subjects are represented.
He can be contacted at P.O. Box 154; Trappe, MD. 21673, 410-476-3838;
the titles that would be sent out once a month to their thousands of members. e-mail: unicornbookshopMD@gmail.com; website: unicornbookshop.com.
September 2019 21
