Thursday is ... Wednesday??

(This was suppose to "hit" the blog post/email on May 22nd.  It didn't make it up.  But, I think it still needs posted.  so here goes).  

Perhaps you noticed that a couple of Thursday’s have come and gone without me sending you an email.  

Or, perhaps not.

Or, if you are like most of us, you have just now looked up from your usual day-to-day, seen this Herd Wear blurb and are thinking “Oh, this must be Thursday and it has been a more productive “week” than usual (since it would have been 21 days long).

Anyway, my reasoning for missing a couple weeks was, in part, that I was unsure which would be more “annoying” – continuing to get weekly email blasts or thinking I was your reminder that it was now Thursday … and then not getting one.

I'd welcome your opinion (rather than some unnecessary survey that also interrupts your work flow.)  Really – if weekly is too much just tell me rather than drop out; it can be adjusted.  If weekly is good, read on, please

All that said, “Hi Again” and thanks for taking time to look us over.

It has been a productive couple weeks here: 

• two trips to Amarillo to get the cataract replacement light adjustable lense “adjustments”,
• getting the old “jeep” (well, jeep looking golf cart) back up and running), 
• tearing up the first lawn (perennial rye grass) and getting the second lawn (Bermuda grass) seeded,  
• building out the surround/wind screen for the outdoor kitchen .. roasting another bison strip loin and grilling some wild goose breast filets that were marinaded in pink grapefruit juice and brown sugar.  Vicky is working on a pot of her mother’s recipe meatballs.    Eating good in this neighborhood. 

Ronson Page has put up a couple more very interesting books out of the “Old England” collection we bought.  And so with that, Hereeeee’s Ronson!

Here we go.....

  

Howdy folks!

Ronson here, reporting in after being near-comatose for a week, post-fire mitigation exhaustion in Colorado... nothing that many hours of sleep can't fix!

I've pulled two more really fascinating & scarce books from the rare book hoard for y'all to have a gander at, this week...  and if you are a fan of either the subject of spiritualism or the tv series THE TERROR, you'll want to give these a look.

  

First,     "Was Abraham Lincoln A Spiritualist? or Curious Revelations From The Life Of A Trance Medium" by Mrs. Nettie Colburn Maynard.

 

FINE CONDITION.  Illustrated, pages crisp, no foxing.  Title page includes a sticker from its original Chicago bookseller.     1917.  First edition.

 

The 19th thru the early 20th century was a time of particular interest in "spiritualism", a quasi-religious movement that believed is was possible to contact & communicate with the spirits of the dead... think mediums and seances and other hallmarks of Gothic ghost stories.  The author of this book both details her own history with spiritualism, as well as makes the fascinating case that Lincoln himself was a spiritualist.  

(It is already historically known that his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, had attempted via mediums to contact the ghost of their son William, who had died of typhoid fever.)

$300.

 

The second book;    "Arctic Explorations:  The Second Grinnell Expedition In Search of Sir John Franklin, 1853, '54, '55,  Vol. II" by Elisha Kent Kane.

 

GOOD CONDITION.  Heavily illustrated ("upwards of 300 illustrations") with both plates and text illustrations.  Top and bottom of spine both chipped and worn, but spine and pages are intact.  Pages are crisp, light foxing throughout.  A map is present but was torn & misfolded at some point.    1856.  First edition.

 

The desire to find and confirm the existence of the Northwest Passage was at the heart of much of the 19th century exploration, especially by that of the Royal Navy.  One of the most famous disasters was Sir John Franklin's lost Arctic expedition, on the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, which had become frozen in the ice, and plagued by rotten food supplies.  And worse.  

(A fictionalized account came to life in the tv series THE TERROR and the Dan Simmons novel of the same name.)

Many attempts were made to find Sir John Franklin's expedition, by both the British and the Americans.  This is the harrowing but fascinating account of one American's attempts, from 1853 - 1855.  

And like Sir John Franklin... this ship also became frozen in the Arctic ice, leaving its crew to survive... on foot.                            $250.

 

 

 So all that said ... and appreciated, it's back to working on the rest of this Website.  No matter how hard we try, since there is basically one of me, one of Isaac and some part of son Ron .... and Bob, there seem to be slip ups and screw ups.  Something showing for sale that isn't here any more.  Some wrong picture... Something.  Thank you all for sticking with us; bearing with us and making what we do worthwhile.  We will keep at it as long as you are out there reading, looking ... and every so often, jumping in.