It’s the first week of December here in the South–and I imagine other regions as well–so you know what that means. College Football Playoffs! So we’ll start the Open Thread a bit early.
Let’s browse through this old book, to which I plan to attend when I am not otherwise occupied.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims. François Duc de La Rochefoucauld, Prince de Marsillac. J.W. Willis Bund and J. Hain Friswell, trans. Samson Low, Marston, Dearle & Rivington (limited), London. 1888.
Mine is a book in good shape, but still fragile, so excuse the phone pics. After the quite lengthy Preface and Introduction, we read 500+ Sentences and Moral Maxims, many of which are sourced to literature, and then on to the Reflections. There is an Index.
Along the we find this newspaper clipping.
It is not a crime to fail, but it is a crime against one’s better nature to brood upon failures.
If I had nothing to do I would use Newspapers dot com to track this down. Bu as I have mentioned, it’s College Football Playoff Weekend.
And you? What are you reading?
[Don’t forget to share & repost.}
We had a heavy snowfall this weekend which took down some lines on our street, so we were without power all of Saturday. I huddled under a pile of down and fleece blankets and started a delightful victorian travel book “The Lightning Conductor: The Strange Adventures of a Motor Car by C. N. Williamson (Editor), A. M. Williamson, 1903. It is the story of a very modern American girl on a grand road trip through Europe. It’s a screwball comedy + travelogue and it is so much fun!
Those are rather pleasant days if you can keep warm, have nothing important to do and enough food and drinks.
The heroine in your book probably would have found this little book handy on her travels. A Woman’s Guide to Paris. 1910. Some of the more interesting suggestions include: Under the chapter titled “Amusements” is a trip to the Women’s Suffrage Society Tea Room. Right up our alley is the Bibliotheque Nationale on the rue de Richelieu (a name we’re familiar with if from nowhere else than The Three Musketeers). The book suggest a single woman alone not attend any of the ‘celebrated Paris balls’ as she will likely “… attract more attention than she want.”
1905 The Great Events by Famous Historians. Volume III. AD 13 – 409. This is the only volume I have. I believe it was a 22 volume set. This one deals a great deal with religion. The crucifixion, the fall of Rome, spread of Christianity and Jewish revolt etc. The few illustrations are very nice. It seems to be a cheap version as the paper quality is poor and unevenly cut and many pages uncut. What is the prevailing theory on to cut or not to cut these pages? As I don’t think this book has great value, it probably dosen’t really matter. However, that tissue type paper (anyone know what that sheet is called?) they use to put in front of the illustrations are pretty with sepia colored images and the Title and Artist of the illustration. Not something I’ve seen before.
Radio Engineering Handbook. 5th Edition 🙂
I am lost in WP land. stay tuned.
I have made you an author. Should you ever want to post / cross post feel free. Wednesday if Off Topic Wednesday, a fine day to post about old engineering gadgets. One of our members is a retired draftsman and she has all sorts of old tools and such she loves to share.