April on the high seas

Hello again from Paul and Callie, your friends at American Trade Bindings and Beyond!  The beginning of spring, and this first day of this new month of April, seemed like a good time to re-introduce the blog after a long hiatus.  During these uncertain and tumultuous times, when so many of us are working from home, it might be soothing to simply enjoy some bindings.  With this in mind, we offer here a selection of designs on nautical themes for your pleasure.

Let’s begin with a delightfully surreal design of a ship inexplicably anchored in a treetop, by George Washington Hood.

It’s hard to fathom what this book might be about, but a brief review in American Motherhood (Dec. 1909) helps a little:

“Hidden treasures and lost children are always fascinating subjects for childhood.  In “The Helter-Skelters” we have both, as well as a dear, lovable little lame girl, an old sailor man, a sea captain and a merry crowd of girls and boys known as “The Scowling Scots,” who are really the “Helter-Skelters”—most lovable and lively.”  

Deep indeed! So, a children’s story ... but what about that ship in a tree?

To provide some context for the following binding designs, I’d like to relate a brief tale passed down through my family for generations.  So, with your indulgence...

Willem Finn loved to sail.  A man of independent means and stout spirit, he was the proud owner of a square rigged three-master that he christened the Petrel.

His greatest pleasure was the sea, and his secret wish was to sail around the world and spend the rest of his days on the water.  But to do this he needed a crew.

Now, Captain Finn was no pirate, but it can't be denied that he shanghaied his crew by promising each a tour of his ship and perhaps a short cruise.  The "short cruise" never ended, however, and perhaps from some defect in character in the crewmen, or perhaps due to some strange power the Captain exercised (or maybe it was the laudanum-infused hardtack he fed them), the crew rarely escaped the ship, either at the outset or when Finn was re-provisioning.

But the Captain now faced a dilemma; his most recent recruit, Benton, was proving immune to the charms of the sea and sailing with him.  Though they often sailed accompanied by dolphins and saw wondrous sea life, it made little difference to Benton.  Where the rest of the crew could be listless, Benton was despondent.

When not moodily attending to his work, he often complained of his situation and loudly wished he was anywhere but on the Petrel.  After several weeks the Captain told Benton to stop his caterwauling, as there might soon be a change in his situation.

 They sailed for many days, through rough seas and smooth, until -- at last -- land appeared on the horizon!  Much of the day was spent approaching the coast, and the Petrel dropped anchor in early evening with the cliffs of the unknown land a short distance off to the west.  


 In the morning they sailed on, rounding a rocky promontory before sighting the low coastline that curved on before them.  They took care in entering the large, open bay as the water grew more shallow, finally anchoring several hundred yards offshore.

Captain Finn took Benton to the rail facing the shore and spoke his piece.  “I know you’ve not been happy, you scurvy dog,” he said affectionately.  “And while I’d hate to lose you, I’ll offer you a choice which everyone has received but few have taken.  You are most welcome to stay on board and we’ll continue our adventure and one day circle the globe.  Or, if you wish, you may leave us now and be taken to shore on the last of our flatboats.” 

“I’ll leave,” Benton replied immediately.


“Consider very carefully—though that gently curving coast may seem peaceful, the waves are rough and there are cliffs inland which must be climbed. It's a long trek before you’ll encounter any inhabited land, though you’ll find sufficient food and water on the journey.  Why take that route when the others remain with me on the Petrel?”



“No, Captain, I’m leaving.  I can’t speak for any of the others, but in my opinion 

your barque

is worse than

your bight.”

Alas, not even the captain's beloved shaggy dog, Jester of Monmouth, could convince Benton to stay.


We hope you've enjoyed this riveting tale on this, the first day of April.  We’ll return before long with a post on a puzzle we encountered recently.  There will be bindings, of course, but the subject falls more in the “and beyond” of our blog...

Until then, we hope everyone is doing well -- and please take care of yourselves!

Guest bindings (in order of appearance) …..

Daulton, George.  The Helter skelters.  New York: Frederick Stokes, 1909.  Signed GWH, George Washington Hood.
Hains, T. Jenkins.  The cruise of the Petrel.  New York: A. Wessels Co., 1906.  Signed FP, Florence Pearl England Nosworthy.
Davenport, Charlotte C. Shepherd.  A round-the-word jingle.  Boston: Thomas Todd Company, Printers, 1918.  Unsigned, unidentified.
Frothingham, Jessie Peabody.  Sea-wolves of seven shores.  New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1904.  Signed DD, Decorative Designers.
Page, Thomas Nelson.  Elsket.  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1891.  Unsigned, by Margaret Armstrong.
Stockton, Frank R.  John Gayther’s garden and the stories told therein.  New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1902.  Signed EWC, Evelyn W. Clark.
Parrish, Randall.  The last voyage of the Donna Isabel.  Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1908.  Signed GM,  Guernsey Moore.
Masefield, John.  Salt-water poems and ballads.  New York: Macmillan, 1916.  Signed GH, possibly George Washington Hood.
Humphrey, L. H.  The poetic old-world.  New York: Henry Holt, 1909.  Signed BS, Bertha Stuart.
Smith, Francis Hopkinson.  The tides of Barnegat.  New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1906.  Signed BS, Frank Berkeley Smith.
Crosby, Irving B.  Boston through the ages.  Boston: Marshall Jones Company, 1928.  Signed TBH, Theodore Brown Hapgood.
Walworth, Ellen H.  An old world as seen through young eyes, or, Travels around the world.  New York: D. & J. Sadlier & Company, 1877.  Unsigned, unidentified.
Eggleston, George Cary.  The last of the flatboats.  Boston: Lothrop, Lee and Shepard, 1900.  Signed M within circle (unidentified)
Baring-Gould, S.  Winefred.  Boston: L.C. Page & Co., 1900.  Signed with Amy M. Sacker’s monogram.
Wheelright, John T.  A bad penny.  Boston: L.C. Page & Company, 1901.  Signed AB, Alfred Brennan.
Richards, Laura E.  Love and rocks.  Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1898.  Unsigned, by Amy M. Sacker.
Phelps, Elizabeth Stuart.  Loveliness. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin, 1899. Picture by Sarah S. Stilwell, lettering possibly by or after Sarah Whitman.

A Christmas Wish: Mammoth Cheese on the Hearthstone

Once again Christmas has crept up on us.  We’re through the solstice turn and are in the final stretch of 2017.  

However, I’m devastated to say that I’ve never heard that Santa delivers binding images, even to the best behaved, which prompted this bitter image. 

Cover by Margaret Armstrong

To celebrate the holiday season appropriately, AmericanTrade Bindings and Beyond is pleased to offer two gifts for your enjoyment.  I must note that these images are not re-gifted; in fact, two are so new that they have not even made it onto our website.

The first is a stocking stuffer, fit to mingle with the knick-knacks, unshelled nuts, candies, fruits and, of course, the chocolate covered marshmallow Santas.  You’ll need a jumbo stocking for this one, however, as it is 610 pages and comes in a whopping 10 ½ x 8 x 1 ½ inch case.

Truman, Ben. C.  History of the World's Fair, being a complete and authentic description of the Columbian Exposition from its inception. With special articles by Geo. R. Davis, Thos. W. Palmer, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Moses P. Handy, D.H. Burnham, John Thorpe, Thomas B. Bryan, and numerous other people prominently connected with the Exposition. Profusely illustrated with engravings made from photographs and drawings of exhibits in the various departments.  Johnsons, N.Y.: Star Publishing Co., 1893.

And to make it even more enticing-- it does not have a marshmallow center; instead it contains a cheese filling!   To pique your interest, here’s a peek under the wrapper:

Our second book comes in two varieties.  Since I couldn’t choose-- here are both.

Holloway, Laura C.  The hearthstone; or, Life at home. A household manual. Containing hints and helps for home making; home furnishing; decorations; amusements; health directions; the sick-room; the nursery; the library; the laundry; etc. Together with a complete cookery book.  Beloit, Wis.: The Inter-State Publishing House, 1883.

There’s a reason for this pairing but I’m not going to reveal it until after the 25^th.  Since we’re on holiday for the rest of the month, however, you’ll have to wait until 2018.  But the revelation will certainly make the delay worthwhile as the new year promises a strange journey to premature smacking, bibles, offensive teeth, dummies, mysterious places of publication, theosophy, wandering agents, mysterious publishers, surprising uses for beef tea, and, of course, mammoth cheese.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Happy Holidays from the Decorative Designers

It’s only a few days until Christmas and, as always at this time of year, our thoughts are turning to seasonal and wintry topics: decorating the house, seeing family, vacation, finding the perfect gift for that strange uncle, being stranded on a train by a blizzard …

To celebrate the season, our last post of 2016 is a fine wintry design from our friends the Decorative Designers. 

Will Carleton. Drifted in. New York: Every Where Publishing Company, 1908. 

The cover is a model of using space effectively, color, and suggestion. The effects are achieved using only two colors (light blue and black) and gilt on a grayish-blue cloth. The central image of the snow-bound train is enclosed in a rigid frame, with the front of the engine only one eighth of an inch from the left frame. 

New “Finds” (A guest post by Mark Schumacher)

In the last few weeks, we have come across several new illustrators and artists, most of them women, who also contributed to the world of binding design. Most of the books involved are volumes aimed at children—readers, introductions to geography, and tomes of fairy tales or familiar legends, like Robin Hood. Although these designs may not always have the elegance of other covers [see http://libcdm1.uncg.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/tb1/id/2042/rec/1], they do show us artists heretofore unknown as book designers.


Charlotte Harding (1873-1951), a student of Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia, worked as an illustrator for several popular magazines in the early 20th century, and was a member of The Plastic Club, an organization for female artists, also in Philadelphia. She also worked with Alice Barber Stephens (1853-1932). Her cover for Eva March Tappan’s Robin Hood, his book (1903) reflects the style of her illustrations for the volume. The illustrations won a Silver Medal at the International Exposition in Saint Louis in 1904! A 1982 exhibit of her works included eight books and scores of magazine illustrations.

Babyhood...it's not for the faint of heart

Sometimes, book covers can just be creepy.  A case in point is this book, “Babyhood: Rhymes and Stories, Pictures and Silhouettes for Our Little Ones,” which recently came across my desk.  In my opinion, it has a cover that just has to be shared.

The artist(s) who prepared the cover is currently unknown to us.  Some of you out there might know who the artist was (and if you do, please send the name our way). Published by Estes & Lauriat in 1878 and edited by Laura E. Richards, this book looks very sweet at first glance: a baby in a basket, what's not to love?

Then you turn the book over and look at the back cover.  There you find some nice childhood vignettes: a Jack and Jill scene, some kids running while holding hands, and even a little girl chasing a butterfly. But then your eyes are drawn unwillingly to the central figure, a somewhat creepy baby tearing through the paper cover and popping out of the book at you in a very "here's Johnny" kind of way. And you know that this baby recognizes you—and knows all about you!  Not only that, but you have a strategically placed fly to the left of the creepy baby ...

Here's a close up for your viewing pleasure:

My first thought is why? What made the publisher (and the artist who designed the cover) think that the fly was a good idea? Was there any conversation about putting a fly into the image? Flipping through the book, there doesn't appear to be a story or poem about flies although there are plenty about meadows and being outside. And was the baby popping out of the book okay when the book was first published?  I have to remind myself that The Shining wasn't around back then to cast its shadow over this innocent(?) baby picture, so the intended audience might well have thought it was cute and perhaps even endearing.  But what about the fly?

The illustrations in this volume, while mostly sweet and cute, also include a duck eating a frog, and a cat carrying away a mouse in a dress which I find mildly disturbing, though realistic (except for the mouse wearing a dress, of course). 

I wouldn't want to end this post after only showing the oddities of the book, so here is an image of the lovely pink endpapers to send your cuteness meter over the top and make partial amends for the strange baby. Who doesn't love babies and dogs?

But … what about that fly?