Our Latest Catalog-

And now, for those of you who actually come here for book-talk, we take a moment from the usual depravity for the latest installment in the continuing adventures of the Book Elves, and to try to sell some books from our new catalog. Everyone else, please excuse the interruption...

Spring has finally come to Foggygates and the Book Elves are in full fettle, cleaning up winter debris, getting the flower beds in order and expanding the vegetable garden beds on the side lawn. Never ones to take a long route when a shorter, more dramatic one is available, the Book Elves decided to employ what they termed “advanced quarrying techniques” to break up the new beds. . .

What I find most troubling about the ensuing “incident” (as the State Police report terms it) isn’t simply that they attracted the attentions of the fine folks at Homeland Security when they advertised for 2 cases of dynamite on Craigslist, it’s that they were actually able to purchase them, rig them, and send half of our lawn sailing into the Connecticut River before anyone could stop them.

But before they created a really dandy crater in the yard which we can use as a root cellar, and sent a new island floating lazily south on the Connecticut River, in the direction of Hartford, the Book Elves finished our new Spring Catalog, which features almost 300 books and catalogs on furniture, folk art, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwares, fine arts & prints, many from the reference library of a noted Connecticut antiques dealer.

The catalog is posted on our website.

We also have free printed copies.
If you would like a free printed copy,
please send us your mailing address.

BOO !

The Book Elves love Halloween, and always spend a great deal of time preparing a huge Halloween party. Everyone is still talking about last year’s “5000 Pumpkin Bonfire Roast”, but under the terms of the restraining order taken out by the Fire Dept. they won’t be repeating that again anytime soon. This year they decided to stage a haunted house with a twist- real ghosts. They had this “Yuri Geller Ghost Summoner” kit they bought on late-night QVC, and I’ll be darned if the silly thing didn’t actually work!

The upside was that the ghosts were a great hit at the party and scared the bejeezus out of all the kids, so the Book Elves have lots of candy left over to eat themselves. The downside was that ghosts turned out to be, well, let’s just say “unpredictable”. Call me crazy, but I wasn’t aware that ghosts did things like fill your car with lime jello. We’re also still looking for the bathtub, which was last seen galloping down the street, singing “Feelings”...

But before they found themselves stripped naked, painted orange and stranded on the porch roof, the Book Elves finished our latest catalog-

“A GRAVE AFFAIR- Old & Interesting Books on gravestones, cemeteries, epitaphs, mourning customs, funerals & funeral customs” is now ready, and posted on the web.

Highlights include-

-an 18th century manuscript collection of epitaphs.

-a nice copy of one of the greatest English epitaph books, the 1631 “Ancient Funerall Monuments”, written by John Weever, “connoisseur of graveyards, tobacco-enthusiast, sycophant, satirist, dwarf, [and] penner of dirty ditties”

-a pair of interesting 1930s “Modern” style German gravestone trade catalogs.

-an 1851 manual to good taste in cemeteries by a man who hated cherubs.

-an 1820 American manuscript funeral sermon for the minister’s wife.

-a fantastic French Victorian design book of memorial and other hairwork.

-The ceremonies at the 1883 dedication of the Robert E. Lee mausoleum at Washington and Lee University.

And much more!



Printed copies are also available.
Please let us know if you would like one.

Our New Books on Glass Catalog-

Glass and the Book Elves have always been uneasy companions, whether we are talking about flying croquet balls going through plate glass windows or the fact that if you are going to buy a rare and expensive Lalique clock on Ebay you had better make sure the trademark is spelled with a "q" and not a "k"...

But before their latest "let's see how high we can stack the Baccarat stemware" contest crashed down to its inevitable, messy conclusion, they finished our "Books on Glass & Glassmaking" catalog. This catalog features 151 books and other items about antique glass, glassmakers, glass technology, and the history of glass. Highlights include-

-A 1919 history of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers.

-An 1835 guide to Crown Glass cutting and glazing, written by the "Glass Cutter, Glazier and Stained Glass-Maker to the King of Scotland".

-A bound compendium of 19th century glass patents.

-An 1898 and a 1940 history of the Worshipful Company of Glass-Sellers.

-An uncommon catalog of a leading Arts & Crafts designers' work, including stained glass windows.

-The extremely scarce true first, private, edition of the first book on American glassmaking.

-A nice 1880 glass lamp catalog.

-Two early 19th century editions of Neri's "Art of Glass", including a rare edition published by Sir Thomas Phillipps' Middle Hill Press in 1826 in an edition of 100 copies.

-A ca.1810 broadside of terms for London Plate Glass Manufacturers.

-and many standard glass reference books.

The catalog is available in printed format, or you can see it here.

Grave Matters-

The old saying is that you're not supposed to whistle in a graveyard, but the Book Elves were never ones for old sayings, even though whenever they whistle the Colonel Bogey March in unison every dog in the neighborhood starts howling.

They haven't been whistling in graveyards though, ever since last Halloween when they had a little too much hard cider and were using a shortcut through the town's 17th century burial ground, where old Len Anderson and his boy scout troop were waiting for them, hiding behind the gravestones with sheets and plastic pumpkins with those glowing red eyes...

But after they recovered from doing the 500-yard dash home in 17.6 seconds flat (and got even with Len at Christmas by putting live squirrels in his Christmas tree) they finished a new edition of our 'GRAVE MATTERS' newsletter, featuring recent acquisitions since our last GRAVE AFFAIR catalog. This issue includes books and other materials on mourning, graveyards, epitaphs and related subjects. We have printed copies available, or you can browse a fully-illustrated version on our website.