Friday, April 15, 2011

(Just One...) of My Favorite Things...



An Old Book.
1841 (Pennsylvania): "Sigourney's Poems"

I have been wanting to write
this particular post

for awhile. And I am so
hope-hope-hoping that our good
'ol world
never 'converts' to all electronic books.
If they do, (may God forbid this one thing...)
I will (would) be so hurt, annoyed, disappointed
and well-- betrayed, frankly.
This book, "Sigourney's Poems" was written in
1841 (I paid $3.00 for it at an old book-type
rummage shop in central Florida years ago
and gave it as a gift, to my hubby.)
Its contents are Victorian English-type
poems,
many about death or the dying
(with titles like: "The First Morning of
Spring, 'Not Dead, but Sleepeth,' and
The Dying Mother's Prayer," for instance.

I have to be careful when I open it (I like it that way.)
The etchings (and there are many...)
are glorious
both in detail and in subject matter,
such as the one above, simply entitled
"Hope." I love it so much
that I
photographed and placed

it on my blog permanently,
as "If Hope Were a Person..."
[I was thrilled (today) to find that when
I enlarged this etching, the author's name,
W.G. Armstrong became (barely)
legible to me. I seriously dig etchings
...just think hard of the work--they took!]

I am having a lasting and an
on-going
love affair
with this book!
!
Now--its out there! If you hold it in your
hand,
you can see what I mean.
It measures (just) 6 inches high
and 41/4 inches wide...and it fits perfectly
into the human hand. The cover is
a bumpy, nubby patterned texture
with a medallion centered on its cover.
It feels awesome in the hand to hold
because of its nifty texture and its
near perfect weight. The color is a
deep, strong navy gray-ish blue.
It is well worn. The binding (and all exterior
scroll work and the printed title)
is gilded in glorious, rich gold.
I mean the edge of each and every page shines.
When you hold it in your hand...its magic!
My imagination runs wild...just holding this book.
I guess that that is (just) the point here-
the one that I'm driving at.
[Will your book or my book be held---
years to come...

with love and tender care?
And will it-would it-could it-

evoke someone's imagination

to wonder (about me, us...our times?)]
I doubt if one could say that
about
a
cold,
a hard,
(larger) non-colored,
non-textured,
and a non-gilded
e-book.
Just let them try.

7 comments:

  1. Like you, lg, I have a love affair with books (that affair would not extend to e-readers). The whole experience of a book is what I love - the size, the weight, the scent, the pages...I could go on :) The antique books with the artwork? Is there anything more beautiful? And I always think of who held the book before me, who drank in the words...

    I loved this post.

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  2. Wow. Thank you so very much, Talon. That means allot to me.
    lg :-) Thank you for our 'book' love affair...its on-going!

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  3. I'm an avid reader too. I love books!! Lately I'm either in my art studio area, or reading a book, or on the computer. lol. But libraries have always been one of my very favorite places to be....that and book sales!

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  4. NoviceArtist...yes~~book sales! Love 'em. :-)

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  5. I am also a lover of old books and I adore this post of yours. The pictures are wonderful, and I am wondering if the etching is in the public domain, being that it is so old and all. I love the cross-anchor on Hope's chest.

    I also hope that books are never completely e-radicated, for all the reasons you and the others have mentioned here. I love to make bookmarks, so I would be extra sad if there were no books to mark.

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  6. E.B.~ Thank you for your post. It is so interesting that you make bookmarks and would (for obvious reasons) feel a void if there were no (paper) books to mark. I have seen some beautiful bookmarks, as well. I enjoyed reading what you wrote! I love the anchor on her chest (also.) I am thinking that the book probably is public domain (at this point) but (legally) I would have to do more careful checking...
    :)
    lg

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  7. I love books, too - and not that electronic kind. The ones with pages that you can turn and lay upon your chest when you just want to close your eyes and think about the words for a moment.

    That was a perfect gift - that book. Thank you for the images and I'm glad you got the gift of that etched signature, lg.

    ReplyDelete

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Lois Nancy

This artwork is my mother's. It touches my heart.    (So gentle.)   A thoughtful depiction of something sweet, tiny, and cute.   'Wa...