Down through the years, my blog readers have submitted over 200 comments to my blogs. And I will share some of their comments with you today. Some of the readers who left comments were children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren of people that I wrote about in my blogs. I should note, however, that the percentage of readers who left comments was just a mere fraction of the actual readership of the blogs.
I was displaced, all right! My wife and I were in Hawaii watching some of our grandchildren, while their father, a weatherman in the U. S. Air Force, was deployed to Iraq. My life, at the time, was basically on hold. Because of heart problems, I had to quit my job the previous year as a mail carrier for the U. S. Post Office. And I was still anxiously waiting for my disability retirement to be approved. My life as a bibliophile was on hold as well. I actually thought that this bibliomaniac was retiring! In December 2006, I resigned as President of the Florida Bibliophile Society. I said farewell to the members to the members of the society. And I said farewell to bibliomania.
But this bibliomaniac could not retire! No siree! Books were in my blood! I began buying books again while I was still in Hawaii.. And write about them I did! It is now fourteen years later, and I am collecting books and still writing about them.
My first post to My Sentimental Library blog on Oct 5, 2009, An Unexpected Find in Umatilla, Florida, garnered three comments within the first week it was published.
5 comments:
- Unknown said...
Being a lover of Johnsoniana myself, I enjoyed every word of your literary sleuthing. It is so clear when a book comes into the right hands -- this this instance, yours!
David A.- Jessica said...
This is a lovely story. My father, Roland Sawyer, was a Johnsonian and I can imagine how trilled her would have been at making such a discovery. I apprecialted your detective work as well.
JessicaThat book was just waiting for you to find it! I love finding books with additional pieces of information (handwritten notes, inscriptions, newspaper clippings, cards etc)it makes the enjoyment of finding and collecting even better.
Ruth- David Bingham said...
I found your blog through a google search for Austin Dobson's poem on Henry Fielding. Once I'd got what I wanted (the last four lines of the poem) I found myself browsing some of your other posts at random. I particularly enjoyed this one.
Jerry Morris said...
Thanks for your comments David. And a belated thanks to Jessica, Ruth, and another David. I'm glad you all enjoyed reading this post. I enjoyed writing it. and I enjoy reading the comments of my blog readers!
1 comment:
- Alex said...
Hello. Thank you for posting about books with ex Libris Derek Mason plates. In 2017 I bought a copy of Duncan Grinnell-Miln’s ‘An Escapers Log’ signed by then author, with Derek Mason’s book plate. I purchased the book from Lighthouse books, FL. It is still with me in the UK, alongside it’s sister publication, ‘The Wind in the Wires’.
I was interested to read about Derek Mason, I had no idea who he was.
3 comments:
Dell Smith said...
Jerry, so glad my father's Strunk edition helped you fill in your sentimental library.
- Jerry Morris said...
My name is Jerry Morris, not the same gentleman who has this site. As a teacher for 34 years, I was guided by the advice of my heroes of the written word, William Strunk JR and E B White. I wrote a book entitled Seven Sentence Building Activities to Develop Advanced Writers based on the exhortations of my heroes. Poking around the internet on a rainy day here near Boston, I am heartened to find another Jerry Morris who has the same affection as I for my heroes. Jerry, my oldest copy is held together with tape and an elastic. I carry it in my bag as I go around the country training teachers on writing. Flying home, I often pop open a Heineken and read the words of my heroes. I feel the cool beer going down my throat and the words warming my heart, my soul, and my mind. Jerry Morris, Marshfield, MA
Jerry Morris said...
Hello Jerry Morris! I enjoyed talking with you on the phone yesterday. I was surprised to learn that we share the same given name, Gerard. I was even more surprised when I asked you what your middle name was. You replied, "Thomas." I pause here, and say, "my middle name is Thomas too." I was afraid to ask you when your birthday was!
Julius Hopp was my grandfather, though he died about two decades before I was born. My mother was Harriet Hopp, my aunt was Beatrice. I have a brother and a cousin, and there are other descendants. Julius married Esther Markowitz, who was at least 20 years his junior. It was not a good marriage from the start. You can contact me. I cannot believe you got this on eBay. What sent you on this search?
Rivkah Lapidus daughter of Harriet Hopp
2 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Thank you, Jerry. And thank you for always being Jerry to dad's Tom. I'm so glad you both "found" each other. Mainly because there's no one like the two of you! My book is beloved...and now so is this piece of writing. Such good memories to have. I'm so thankful you shared them :) -Mary
- Drewbiedoo said...
Nice to know someone adored our father as much as we did. I know all the story’s and moments you mentioned very well as I heard them first hand as my Dad was always eager to share his days events with the morris’s . My Dad mentioned many times that it was so hard to make and find close friends in Florida since he moved their. He seem to always pine for buffalo and his friends there and mentioned many times he would move back if the opportunity presented itself. However those thoughts and ideas disappeared once he met you. He had finally found a true friend away from home. It was a nice to know our father finally had a buddy! Thank you jerry and Linda for always being such a big part of our parents lives.
Grandpa thanks. This is a very rough time and I really appreciate it that you made this in memory of him
Thank you once again
This is a lovely story about the old neighborhood. I think my father got his hair cut here.
Readers of My Sentiment Library blog left comments on 67 of the 129 blog posts that I published. My Jan 30, 2011 post, Arthur Schlesinger's Bookplate: The Whole Picture, drew the most comments.
8 comments:
Jerry Morris said...
NOTE: Because of spammers, all comments are supposed to be sent to my dashboard for my review before I post them. However, comments from people signed in on WordPress are not being forwarded. Please contact me via email if your comments don't appear in two days.
John Lancaster said...
It would be interesting to know more about the artist, Paul Laune, and what connection he had with Schlesinger. A quick search in a couple of places indicates he was born in 1899, illustrated a number of books, many with western American themes, some of the Hardy Boys series, and was art editor of the New York Sun. Grew up in Woodward, Oklahoma, where he painted murals for the rotunda of the local museum (Plains Indians & Pioneer Museum: http://www.pipm1.org/index.php?module=exhibits§ion=3&catid=3&id=4) and there’s still an annual art competition named for him. A story by him is on p. 14 of http://digital.library.okstate.edu/oktoday/1960s/1964/oktdv14n4.pdf Clearly right in line with the endpaper illustrations for the Schlesinger series.
- Beth said...
I also would like to know more about Paul Laune's connection to Arthur Schlesinger. Paul was my husband's godfather; I took some painting lessons from him until his untimely death in the mid 1970's. He was quite a prolific illustrator of children's books but his first love was for horses and Western art.
Jerry Morris said...
The only connection between Arthur Schlesinger and Paul Laune might be that Schlesinger was the author of the book and Laune was the artist who created the "borders" or illustrated endpapers. Laune illustrated a number of books for The Macmillan Company and for other publishers as well.
Schlesinger used half of the illustrated endpaper as his bookplate, and kept Laune's name
on the bookplate.James Keeline said...
I see that this is over a year old. It was mentioned in a LibraryThing.com forum about endpapers. I see that Paul Laune illustrated these (though the style reminds me of the work of Robert Lawson). Laune illustrated juvenile series books, including some volumes of the Hardy Boys and Trixie Belden series. I have some info on him should you desire more than this.
James KeelineJerry Morris said...
James.
Please post any info on Paul Laune. JL, Beth, and I want to know more about him.
Thanks,
Jerry Morris- travelpainter said...
I am trying to track down who has rights to Paul Laune illustrations. We want to use an image of his that I found in a book by song collector Dorothy Scarborough printed in 1937. The image would go in a section on song collectors in a new book my husband is writing.Columbia University, which published the book, renewed the rights in 1968 but not the rights to the illustrations. Any one have any ideas?
- Unknown said...
His wife, Irene Laune, lives in Phoenix, AZ. She is in her 90s. She probably retains publishing rights to his illustrations.
5 comments:
- D. Adams said...
Great article on Winterich!! I knew very little about the man and your well researched article was enlightening.
- Unknown said...
I envy your books about books collection. I have the Primer of Book Collecting and the Bibliophile in the Nursery in my collection. Not sure what to do about the conservation issue. I suppose the acid free protectors would be best and maybe then store that binder and the original case together with a note detailing the relationship between the case and the sheets?
- Carl Mario Nudi said...
Excellent article, Jerry. I learn so much about books every time I read one of your posts. Thanks for all the good work.
trav said...
What a great post. Thank you for sharing and all of the photos. The Russian edition is a fun find!
- David Nolan said...
My curiosity led me to look up John T. Winterich, whose name I had come across at various times over the years. First, Wikipedia. Then the New York Times obituary. Then your wonderful piece, which was exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much! I hope your experiences and collection have continued over the years, and am grateful to you for sharing your enthusiasm.
Sincerely,
David Nolan
St. Augustine, Florida
To go along with this, you might like to seek out a copy of Will Low's illustrated edition of Keats' Lamia (1885), with its dedication to Stevenson, prompting in return Stevenson's poem "To Will H. Low": "Youth now flees on feathered foot...."
This poem later appeared on the famous medallion of Stevenson by St Gaudens, a sculptor friend of Low's who asked to be introduced to Stevenson.
And so one thing leads to another ....
Robert-Louis Abrahamson
subject: the boke of troy
Dear Jerry,
I suspect that the G.W.S. who assailed Quaritch in the New York Tribune was the Tribune’s London correspondent George William Smalley. You also illustrate the entry from Quaritch’s Catalogue 342 (i.e. part IV of the General Catalogue). I attach a scan of my own copy of this catalogue, formerly owned by the Earl of Crawford, and appreciatively characterized. There are a few notes and one or two ticks (of interest?) but nothing for The Boke of Troy. (Peter Howard) Serendipity Books and myself jointly bought the remaining stock and reference library of Bill Wreden some 20 years ago, and this was one item I kept for myself — too good to sell!
Yours sincerely,
Ian Jackson, Berkeley
1 comment:
Jerry,
A great post. It is also a wake up moment. I have read various blogs for years but rarely comment. I now consider that a mistake. The amount of important biographical information coming from bloggers is more substantial then many would think. A comment is a form of 'thanks' to the blogger for taking the time and energy to post (and often sources of relevant information). While many bloggers post for their own pleasure in sharing information and thoughts, a nice thank you in the for of a comment, I have belatedly come to realize. is important.
And the end of your post with the photograph and comment by Ian Jackson was perfect. Ian the bookseller was also very much the collector and book lover (and book knowledge) at heart.
Thank you Jerry! Keep'em coming!
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