Last week it was so hot in Houston one of my very conservative friends allowed “Al Gore might be right.” That is hot! So our thoughts turn to going to cooler places, like New Mexico. Here are a few photos from past trips.

We are looking forward to our trip in a few more weeks. Lots of shows coming up in August that we plan to attend and hope for some good book and art finds.

When you go, don’t by-pass Albuquerque in your haste to get to Santa Fe and Taos. Old Town is worth a visit and there are still some good book dealers as well.

We also got our opera tickets for The Marriage of Figaro. The opera house is in such a great setting it is worth a visit even if you are not into the opera. And we novice opera buff love the English translations in the seat backs.

When you visit New York City one place worth a visit is the Grolier Club.

The object of the Grolier Club (to quote from its Constitution) is “to foster the study, collecting, and appreciation of books and works on paper, their art, history, production, and commerce. It shall pursue this mission through the maintenance of a library devoted to all aspects of the book and graphic arts and especially bibliography; through the occasional publication of books designed to illustrate, promote and encourage the book and graphic arts; through exhibitions and educational programs for its members and the general public; and through the maintenance of a Club building for the safekeeping of its property, and otherwise suitable for the purposes of the Club.”

Its book exhibitions make it a great stop.

Here are some pictures from our visit in 2010.

Currently it features Gardening Books and Count Guglielmo Libri, who if like me you don’t know , was a mathematician, Book Collector, Antiquarian Bookseller, Bibliographer and a forger and book thief! Sounds like it is worth seeing.

This plain little booklet is a rare item regarding North Dakota cattle raising. One of the Merrill Aristocrats. Rated by some as the hardest of the Aristocrats to find. If you see one grab it!

Here is my description of it:

Warren, C. H. Mouse River Cattle Raising. Chicago: Poole Bros. Printing for the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway Co. N.d. (Circa 1886). Yellow wraps. Map of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway on the rear wrapper. 12 pp.
Herd 1683: “Scarce.” A Merrill Aristocrat. World Cat lists eight copies. “Deals with the pioneer history and conditions of the cattle industry in the Red River and Mouse River regions of North Dakota from 1870.” — Adams. Cover title: “Mouse River North Dakota.” Adams dates it to 1885, but the text refers to a report on the public lands in 1886. “An excessively rare item. … one of the hardest of all Merrill Aristocrats to locate.” — Swinford. Provides detailed advice to the prospective emigrant on “Mouse River Cattle Raising” and “How to get a Free Farm in North Dakota,” as well as statistical information on population, resources, climate, railroads, the melting away of public lands, etc. The Mouse River region is in the north-central part of North Dakota, and this pamphlet was likely partly financed by the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway, which had just completed a rail line into that area. A frank but enthusiastic discussion, culled from a variety of western newspapers, of the economic prospects and suitability for cattle raising, of the Mouse River region and North Dakota in general. The author writes: “Cattle-raising has passed the experimental stage in the Mouse river country and, for that matter, all through North Dakota. It would seem almost incredible to stockmen in the ‘corn belt’ to be told that cattle and horses are grown and fattened on the Mouse river on hay alone, but such is the fact.” “An extremely rare North Dakota promotional pamphlet, and rarity of the cattle industry in North Dakota, this is only the second copy we have handled in twenty-five years.” — Reese.

The artist W. H. D. Koerner illustrated many book and magazine articles.

Here is one of his illustrations for Zane Grey’s book Sunset Pass.

And here is the original painting.

Houston is a good place to work and to enjoy our great selection of places to eat out. But, this time of year it is so hot as to make even the natives want to get out of town.

So hopefully we will get some cooler weather when we are in Brimfield and Cape Cod.

Posted in Uncategorized