Catalog 262 – March, 2023 – dumpster-diving history’s scrapheap!

 

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well, file last updated February 2 – it’s march – binge-city here mostly inspired by need for fresh stock for Ephemera 43, March 18-19, hyatt regency, old Greenwich, CT – we’ll be in our usual space back of the bus – not much news besides forced marches at laptop – woodpiles continue to dwindle – down with cold last week – decent snowfall few days ago – few days cross-country in montague plains – it’s 40 today – less rain than threatened – maybe more snow tomorrow – herein more pamphlets, broadsides, few books – tackled few accumulated piles – atom bomb, atomic power, more from Connecticut lot, national parks – mixed with more usual fare – sent with  hopes you’ll be sufficiently amused to acquire –

at your service –

peter

cover: item 37

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Catalog 261, February 2023: fresh stumbles through the scrapheap!

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well, file last updated November 2022 – it’s whole new year – garden under thin crusty snowcover – basic new England weather platter – maybe more rain than snow, but few modest snowfalls – enough for 2 installments of cross-country skiing – mostly montague plains – short commute – some serious temperature swings – coldest few to date on deck for the weekend – survived fall fairs and papermania in January – thanksgiving at sister’s in westwood – traditional Christmas tree cutting, decorating, gifting here with edie – Christmas day at brother’s in Amesbury – zach and lauren spent Christmas with her family then flew to Israel for five days, five more in morocco – woodstove-centric life here – probably burned through two of four cords – lapswimming at Hampshire athletic club snowless days – we’ll be selling at ephemera 43, march 18 & 19, hyatt regency, old Greenwich, ct – this year’s conference focus is travel – herein we’ve focused on accumulations of various aspects of travel – automotive, hotels, destinations, world fairs, menus, viewbooks – as well as much recently acquired ephemera relating to Connecticut – leavened with more usual fare – off to eagle for hard copies and PDF distribution – sent with best wishes for year ahead and hopes you’ll be sufficiently amused to acquire – cover item: 155 – at your service – peter

Catalog 260 – fallen leaves from scrapheap of history

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well, file last updated September – it’s early November – garden reduced to some hardy greens, mustard, turnip, broccoli raab, cilantro – first frost few weeks ago –  mostly mild, wet fall – pulled final tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, corn – cleanup time – heating season underway – woodstove-centric life – laptop cataloging, dining table, reading chair all nearby – Halloween in montague seven-ring circus, haunted houses, storyteller, kiddie train, blazing cauldron, several sorts live music, barbecue, jack-o-lanterns, tons of trick-or-treaters in latest character crazes – passed out peck of candy – few fall fairs been here an’ gone – pretty productive purchasing – Boston on deck and Northampton in December  – herein bit unusual masi mix – montague library deaccessioned civil and Spanish-american war regimentals – significant collection of early cookery – chef’s collection of menus and paul bocuse new year greetings – many dye swatch folders – leavened with more usual fare –- sent with best wishes for coming holidays and new year ahead, thanks for all your past commerce and hopes you’ll be sufficiently amused to acquire – at your service –

peter

cover: item 136

Catalog 258. Summer stock.

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well, file last updated just over  month ago – been a bit of a binge on my end – inspired by upcoming ephemera show where we will have a booth – plus usual critical mess of material awaiting cataloger attention – much has been put on hold – housekeeping most evidently – and it will be a tight squeeze – but here it is –  things happen quickly these days – Ukraine has displaced the virus above the fold – rare opportunity for western unity – virus number headed south hopefully for good – basic new England weather platter – bit of snow few weeks ago – got in few days of cross-country – today near sixty degrees – tomorrow rain – firewood down by over half but plenty on deck – last of apples in latest pan of apple crunch – some onions and potatoes still in storage – even a pumpkin – bit of pesto in freezer, maybe a jar of pickles – been swimming at Hampshire athletic club, jogging over taylor hill, even few bike rides for exercise and fresh air – zach and fiancée lauren planning july 1 wedding in lansing, ny – edie finally closed on sale of owl pen books – new owners young couple from southern California with no experience as booksellers – boot camp time – edie plans to sell online from home – fair season for yours truly – 3 in a row – Ephemera 42, march 19-20, hyatt regency, old Greenwich – paper town, april 16, Boxboro regency hotel, boxborough, ma – Allentown paper show, april 30-may1, Allentown fairgrounds, Allentown, pa  – masi mix 257 in hand – predominantly pamphlets, broadsides – bit strong on architecture, books about books, cooking, travel, textiles, some more dye books, bit of politics – odds’n’sods – hopefully just the thing for you

at your service –

peter

Catalog 257 – Forced March into March Madness

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well, file file last updated just over  month ago – been a bit of a binge on my end – inspired by upcoming ephemera show where we will have a booth – plus usual critical mess of material awaiting cataloger attention – much has been put on hold – housekeeping most evidently – and it will be a tight squeeze – but here it is –  things happen quickly these days – Ukraine has displaced the virus above the fold – rare opportunity for western unity – virus number headed south hopefully for good – basic new England weather platter – bit of snow few weeks ago – got in few days of cross-country – today near sixty degrees – tomorrow rain – firewood down by over half but plenty on deck – last of apples in latest pan of apple crunch – some onions and potatoes still in storage – even a pumpkin – bit of pesto in freezer, maybe a jar of pickles – been swimming at Hampshire athletic club, jogging over taylor hill, even few bike rides for exercise and fresh air – zach and fiancée lauren planning july 1 wedding in lansing, ny – edie finally closed on sale of owl pen books – new owners young couple from southern California with no experience as booksellers – boot camp time – edie plans to sell online from home – fair season for yours truly – 3 in a row – Ephemera 42, march 19-20, hyatt regency, old Greenwich – paper town, april 16, Boxboro regency hotel, boxborough, ma – Allentown paper show, april 30-may1, Allentown fairgrounds, Allentown, pa  – masi mix 257 in hand – predominantly pamphlets, broadsides – bit strong on architecture, books about books, cooking, travel, textiles, some more dye books, bit of politics – odds’n’sods – hopefully just the thing for you

at your service –

peter

cover: item 168

Catalog 256: Newish Year, Same Old Resolutions

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well, file file last updated over 4 months ago – goodbye 2021, hello 2022 – thanks for buying there in former and best wishes for latter – greek letter variations promise a round of covid anniversaries – latest master of quick contagion – more positive tests – son and fiancée got breakout cases at corning restaurant celebrating his birthday – both mild – doctor quarantined – yours truly out and about – post office, Hampshire athletic club, stop and shop – three ‘live’ bookfairs, Allentown where more unvaccinated, fewer masked; masks required Boxboro; proof of vaccination required Northampton in December – November family wedding, ceremony outdoors, reception indoors – thanksgiving and Christmas at small family gatherings in Middleboro – usual early Christmas here with edie, cut, decorated tree, exchanged mostly edibles – zach and lauren here on stopover between visit to her parents and Vermont skiing – new years eve at edie’s – well, summer ran – garden hibernates – onions, potatoes, apples, 1 pumpkin persist – freezer pesto, pickled cucumbers, raspberry jam – got 4 cords stacked, half now gone way of woodstove –  mixed bag of weather, highs, lows, more rain than snow, cross-country skied maybe 3 days on barely adequate cover – conditions may improve overnight –  world continues to shop online – 20k plus listings on abe, alibris, amazon, biblio keep yours truly at packing table – taking time from catalog production – finally managed sufficient low spots from scrapheap of history to assemble motley masi mix 256 – here ‘tis – planning to show at ephemera 42, march 17-20, Greenwich, ct – resolve to produce pile of pamphlets and sordid printed paper prior – meanwhile, let’s get to work –

at your service – peter

cover: item 228

Prince Prospero’s Pretty Playtitudes.

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well, file file last updated 3 months ago – covid numbers climbing again – postal workers unmasked, customers mostly masking – nearby towns mandate masks indoors – vaxx obstinacy constantly confounds, consternates  – ventured to two live fairs – concord in june when virus seemed concluding – papermania in august when rebounding – some somewhat hostile outing of unvaxxed colleagues at latter – is this who we are? – are we better than this? – strange summer in so many ways – northeast version of whacky weather future brought lots of water – bit much for leaky cellar, veg garden at foot of hill – blights, molds, mosquitoes had marvelous season – ditto rabbits able to squeeze through wire grid fence – salvaged salad greens, escarole, chard, kale, collards, summer squashes, cucumbers, basil, tomatoes, eggplants, onions, peppers, but were constant not-pretty battle – dug decent crop Yukon gold, Kennebec potatoes – replanted beans, some late corn – dozen pumpkins – winter squash vines croaked before producing – managed most summer faves – tomato sandwich, gazpacho, tomato-basil pasta sauce, salsa – canned few quarts, pickled some cukes, froze some pesto – picked raspberries in backyard, blueberries at kenburn, mackintoshes at Clarkdale – usual summer encampments from port Richmond colleague, few brief encounters with zach + lauren, bi-weekly jaunts to edie’s in Greenwich where owl pen still on market, turned sixty-something here, barbecue for two with edie – sunlight shrinking, temps cooling, summer fleeting – got 3 cords firewood stacked, stacking fourth – gotta clean chimney, get furnace serviced – hoping to exhibit at Allentown paper show October 2-3, Boxboro October 24, Northampton December 3-4 – and in his spare time – few rides on new trek fx1, load of laundry, trash + recycling out, catalog 255 – more motley masi mix – with all faults, and best regards – at your service – cover: item 155 –

peter

Catalog 254 – Just Acting Normal

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well, file file last updated 4 months ago – got a pair of pfizers – you? – mass has relaxed, but federal post office continues mask mandate – stop & shop strongly suggests – virus numbers way down – vaxx obstinacy likely to preclude national herd immunity – online orders finally chilling – finally stole ‘nuff time to flesh 254 –pandemic projects stumble onward – still sorting American textile history museum backlog – others await – keeping part-time zen cataloger Krista employed – shelving great old unsold by inventory number – new shelving nearly full – seasons proceed apace – usual new England whackiness enhanced by global thing – nineties Monday, hardly half Tuesday – drought Wednesday, monsoon Thursday – windy, too – wardrobe changes, extra blanket as needed – interventional radiologist son now cohabitating in corning with pandemic romance partner – bookseller buddy edie’s owl pen in Greenwich, ny for sale – hundred conserved acres, 200 year old farmhouse, bookstore in former chicken barn – consider – special reciprocal shout-out to customer and friend wendy woloson whose ‘crap – history of cheap stuff in america’ abetted by yours truly – ventured to concord, nh first june weekend for ‘live’ bookfair – saw some longtime unseen faces, bought, sold – others await – garden nearly planted – spinach, lettuce, turnip greens, volunteer cilantro already eaten, pea plants attacked by skinny bunnies or crows but producing – other crops gaining green – so here’s 254 – motley masi mix – always few months behind, always scrambling to send to printer – new bike awaits test ride – will trade old stuff for smartphone lessons – with all faults, and my best regards –

at your service –

peter

cover: item 18 by Rudolf Modley

Catalog 253 – The Year After

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well, file disappeared with desktop hard drive sometime last fall – but last catalog was last september – so many changes in such a short time – virus did not disappear, but vaccine approved – first shot tomorrow – over half million deaths, but numbers decrease – world continues to shop online – besides occasional catalog, we have 20,000 listings on abebooks, alibris, amazon & biblio – number abetted in recent years by part-time cataloger listing used, academic titles – more time at packing table than cataloging – we elected 46, but ‘ism’ not taking it well, if at all – took it to court, took it to streets – furor of flags fanned by soon-to-be-former & monetized mad media – shortly after Georgia made Senate blue, capitol stormed by well documented angry assemblage – death, injury, destruction – second impeachment, second acquittal – history will judge, perhaps not soon enough – inauguration offered friendlier faces, some bright moments – meanwhile, back at hacienda, garden provided late corn crop, kale, collards, chard, broccoli rabe, salad greens, tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, butternut, hubbard squash – squashes gone, still potatoes, onions stored, canned, frozen veggies filling stewpot – finished stacking 4 cords firewood, 2 been burned – somewhere in there 2009 subaru outback developed chronic head gasket issue – driving 2015 outback – thought pandemic might provide time for project – built 4 new bookcases, started retro organizing old stock – work in progress – visited doctor son in corning in fall for biking, few hikes with new partner lauren – they visited valley – we hiked mt toby – small gathering holidays with Middleboro sector masis – cut, decorated christmas tree here with edie – brought in new year with her in Greenwich, ny – usual new England winter mix – few good stretches of good cross-country ski conditions – montague plains, Wendell state forest – rain overnight – swimming laps at Hampshire athletic club in between – book & paper fairs may return if enough get vaccinated – fall shows in planning – meanwhile finally managed to gather & describe enough recent acquisitions for catalog 253 – basic masi mix – many familiar categories, few odds’n’sods – eagle printing sold smaller presses – must work out few kinks with new printer –

we send with thanks for your past purchases, best regards for year ahead, with hopes you’ll be tempted but what’s within – at your service – peter

cover: item 51

Catalog 252, September, 2020, jamais vu all over again . . . . .

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‘If the world ended today, I would adjust . . . ‘ (John Gorka, ‘I’m from New Jersey’)

well, file last updated 4/23 – it’s late august – where to begin? Global? National? pandemic? Politics? Business? Post office? Garden report? – so many things thought temporary now seeming endless – we adjust – masking & distance new norm – local population eagerly observant – Massachusetts mostly curve flattened but wary of new wave – much anxiety over approaching school year – phase iii implemented, dialed back a bit – stores open – online sales above usual – much time at packing table – joined first 3 marvin getman first Tuesday virtual book & paper fairs & achieved notable sell-through rate with some fetching historic scraps – fall fairs seem to be falling – Boxboro, Brooklyn, boston, allentown all cancelled – spring heating season dragged through raw & cold april – summer’s almost gone, now – I’ve stacked 2 cords of firewood, third on deck, fourth down the road – garden kicked in & now delivering more produce than 1 man can consume – june was dry, july bit rainy, drought’s back bigly – pea pods only achieved 3’ or so, not usual up-the-pole, over and back down again – all gone into salads & stir frys – first bed salad greens eaten, second ready – carrots done well – some kohlrabi for a change – stir fried, raw – romano beans bed yielded nuff to steam, toss with pesto, freeze, ’bout done – filling freezer with chard, kale, collards, turnip greens, escarole sautéed with garlic – many pesto portions frozen – cucumbers came on strong but clobbered by powdery mildew, nuff for salads, maybe some pickles – eggplants clobbered by fleabeetles, but staging comeback – picking few sweet peppers, anchos come late – squashes got in late, seem to be weathering powdery mildew, picked some yellows, zucchini just starting, butternut & hubbard vines huge & spreading, some actual fruit developing – major tomato crop underway – foliage blighting badly, ripening fruit attracting hungry critters, birds, preventive picking in order – enjoying gazpacho, fresh tomato-basil pasta sauce, salads, got stew pot going for canning, tomato sandwich, fresh salsa soon – pulled, cured bed of onions, potato plants thrived, died, await digging – corn plants tall, ears seem unhappy with drought, soon we hope – picked blueberries twice at kenburn orchard – after idle month, Guthrie medical back, busy as ever, zach appears to thrive with demand, headed west for few vacations, hiked Bryce,
zion, grand canyon, then cascades with cousin – edie’s owl pen postponed usual may 1 opening, now welcoming browsers – your sixty-something blue-state
bookseller bluer from years of extreme financial & power greed, propaganda parading as news, bigotry, illiberal religious zealotry, brazen actions to create single party country – hello pandemic, summer of militarized police & politicized military employed to subdue American citizens protesting – next few months promise sleepless nights, some virtual nailbiting – we vote – subscribe to NYT, NYker, WaPo, boston globe to keep informed – optimism in short supply– but I should explain about 252 – put aside pamphlets to focus on books – few significant lots – many swatch books from defunct merican textile history museum – banking, economics, stock market books, many from karl bopp, president, Philadelphia federal reserve bank, 1958-70 & computer, electricity, radio, television books from RCA laboratories, both from recent hagley deaccession – all laced & larded with selections shelved sometime in last decade or so, offered now for first time – many repaired by grey seal in south Deerfield – best adjourn –
sent to you with my best wishes for your safety, sanity, acquisitiveness – at your service –
peter
cover: item 27