Monday, October 25, 2010

Old Books

I love old papers, letters and books, and
we have been fortunate to inherit some from relatives,
including some WWII letters addressed to my husband's aunt.


This week I've been doing some spring fall cleaning  . . . baseboards, doors, chandeliers, the china hutch, etc. {I know, not very exciting}, and last night involved removing everything from our entryway bookshelf. We have two shelves full of old books, most inherited from my husband's family.
Of course, this is not a fast cleaning project for me, since I love looking through old books, looking for dates, inscriptions or papers inside and bringing some out to my hubby . . . "Have you seen this? Look it's addressed to your dad and his brother from their mother" . . .  . . . "Is this Charles Lindbergh's autograph?"
Today I'm looking through some of the books I set aside and thought I would share them with you.

 Two padded books of poetry "Lilac from Whittier" with my husband's grandmother, 
Clara's, signature inside dated January 24, 1925 and "Carnations from Poe"; 
both with beautiful lithographs and poetry.
The rose book is a paperback titled "Richardson's American Beauty Book" 
with a price of 10 cents, published in 1910. It's not a book about beauty;
"its pages contain everything that a woman should know about embroidery."
Full of pictures and patterns from 1910! Inside the pages was tucked a 
Richardson's embroidery silk color card with over 200 thread samples.

 Some vintage announcements and postcards found inside 
"Lilac from Whittier", which I must assume belonged to Clara. 
One is a birth announcement of a baby girl born August 26, 1916.

 A scrapbook filled with old post cards.




Some hymnal books and an old school song book from 1919,
the small red hard bound book is Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs dated 1869, 
a poetry book by Florence McIntyre "A Book of Verse" dated 1909, and
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Hiawatha.

Three Gideon New Testaments given to the U.S. Armed Forces
with a forward from Franklin D. Roosevelt, January 25, 1941.


Hope you enjoyed some of our collection. The books that were kept through the years and handed down to us  . . .  a few children's books, poetry, Bibles, hymnals and song books; school song books with hymns and poetry books with poems about God; and Bibles endorsed by the President; so different from today.

Do you have a collection of old books? 

Thanks for visiting. Your comments are an encouragement and a blessing.

18 comments:

  1. I absolutely love your collection ~ and how sentimental that it has been passed down through the family. The postcards are all so unique ~ I starting collecting them a few years back. Love all the vintaqe images. Have a great week ~ xox

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  2. That is awesome! How neat to have these items to pass down to your kids some day. Would love to see them in person, they are so interesting:)

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  3. Great collection, made even more special by the fact it is from family....quite the treasure!
    Tina xo

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  4. Hi Julie,

    So glad you stopped by to say hello. Your collection is lovely. Like you, it would take me WAY longer than it should to go through them...I'd have to stop and peruse each and every one. So charming...

    Smiles,
    Judy

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  5. Oh, such wonderful memories and treasures!

    xoxo laurie

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  6. Yes, I DO collect old books, and I LOVE yours! I would have been just like you and gotten completely lost in the adventure of looking at them.

    My mother has some old books full of the cards, too. I would love to know more about the history of them.

    I'm glad that those books feel into your keeping.

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  7. Oh my goodness these are all so wonderful! You are very lucky to have inherited such sweet memories especially those wonderful postcards as they are quite collectible and some of them hard to find. I love that they are in a scrapbook.
    And like you, I really like going through and "spring/Fall cleaning" because it gives us the chance to enjoy a bygone era!
    Thank you for sharing!
    Terry

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  8. Oh my...you have some wonderful treasures there! I love the album of old postcards...wonderful!!

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  9. Hi, Julie. Glad you stopped by today. Oh, how I need to be doing Fall cleaning... My Dad is a Gideon, and the old Gideon Testaments are a real treasure! All of your books are really delightful.

    (Yes, my lasts 3 dining rooms have been red, although in this house it's a really deep red. Most people don't realize how neutral red is, do they?)

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  10. I collect books, too~ I particularly love the floral books, they are really gorgeous! The postcards are so fun, too~ I haven't seen a bear Christmas card before!

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  11. Julie these are beautiful! I do have a handful of old books and postcards. I really enjoyed your scrapbook of old postcards. Lovely! Nice to meet you.

    Vicki at Rusty Rooster Vintage

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  12. Oh wow! I adore old books and letters and postcards. A delighful Simple Pleasures post. Thanks for linking up.

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  13. I also like old books. I love the engraving and graphics.


    http://jeanneselep.blogspot.com/2010/05/picturesque-world.html

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  14. I adore old books and new books ...actually book with a great cover. I seem to choose books for the covers and pictures inside but they are great inspiration for decorating. I did a tablescape post this week centered on books. Thanks for sharing.

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  15. Old books and old postards are two of my favorite things to collect. I enjoyed your lovely blog post.

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  16. I love vintage books and ephemera. I find the style of writing and the graphics so beautiful. How fortunate you are to have such a lovely collection.

    Thanks for linking to my party. I look forward to having you join me each week.

    By the way, I just joined you as a follower and will be showcasing you tonight. ;)

    Liz @ the Brambleberry Cottage
    http://thebrambleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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  17. I have a " carnations of poe" That I recieved from my great grandmother. I was so curious about it.. If you have time please email me I have so many questions.
    Jamie

    coolsn123@aol.com

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