Dear Friends,

       We are not returning to Oz, nor are we sharing our fears of things that go bump in the night. Instead, we'd like to share some of the wonderful books that are presently in stock in this, and hopefully a weekly blog, over the next 6 weeks.  We will create a window display of the books described each week and it will stay up for a couple of weeks before the books go back to their customary lairs. The books are available, as I write, but are often one of a kind so inquire quickly if a book catches your fancy. So on with the safari.

     Cynthia and I were both naturalists during our times as teachers and we both love books that can magically take kids on adventures in the natural world. Lions, written by W.W. Robinson with drawings by Irene B. Robinson, First Edition, 1936,  $20, takes us on a trip through time exploring the relationship of humans and lions. The gorgeous and vibrant illustrations compliment the rather explicit text that would be appropriate for an 8 year old and up. I'm also intrigued by the adult book Lions, Wild and Friendly, by Eric F.V. Wells, 1934, First American $15, which follows the author's fascination with lions starting as a hunter, moving on to a photographer, and ending up as a raiser of baby lions. The lovely photogravure photographs accompany an interesting, albeit dated, view of lions typified, perhaps, by one chapter entitled "Lions and their reaction to aircraft."  We also, in our room filled with nothing but books about nature, have a panoply of other books, $2 - $10, on safari, books by Joy Adamson who gave us a more contemporary view in exploring the life of Elsa the lion and Pippa the cheetah.  Oh my, how did Winston Churchill, The Last Lion, slip into this category.  

      Much to my surprise, I didn't find a book on tigers. If you want to search yourself and, if you find one, you can have a 20% discount on it. But I did find an intriguing novel, The Leopard in the Bush, a scarce First Edition, 1927, $75, written by Cynthia Stockley, an English woman who moved and adopted the life of Rhodesia and the veldt, and the Boers. This novel, seen by some as very early feminist literature, explores the life of a white woman settler who has an unusual affinity for the animals of the wilds. Another distinctive thing about the book is the beautifully designed and decorated cover. There was an art form in the early twentieth century, of which this is a later example, of brightly and ornately decorated front covers, some so distinctive that their creators included an iconographic signature as part of the design. We have more of these titles, mostly in the $10 range in the shop. We also want to call your attention to the large section of books on the supposedly domesticated cousin of tigers, cats. Dark River, of the Warriors series, Power of Three, $8 First Edition, is one of several titles we have in this exciting chapter book series for kids on the adventures of a band of feral cats.

      I hope you'll bear with me as I take a few liberties with the genus ursus.We do have a nice selection of adult and kid books on Pandas, Polar Bears, and Grizzly bears all under $10.  We also have a variety of books on a most popular subspecies, the Teddy Bear, ranging from how to make them to how to collect them, $5-$8.  I would be remiss not to mention our huge Presidential section, which lives in the attic, a fitting place for at least some of the presidents, but also the home of books on one of the more interesting, Theodore Roosevelt, who has the dubious and confusing distinction of being linked to the name, Teddy Bear, because of a cartoon created showing him hugging a lovable bear, when the reality seems to be that he has just killed the bear, while hunting in the south. History is strange, isn't it?  Speaking of history, let me make a bigger leap away from ursus and talk about the Great Bear of Eastern Europe, Russia. We have an interesting section on Russia in our history room, including many titles ranging from $2 up to $30 for a signed first edition of Peter the Great by the renowned historian Robert K. Massie. Even more interesting is the two volume Nolan's History of the Russian War, undated but likely 1857 with over 1600 pages of text, 4 of the 6 folding maps still present and in nice shape, $150.  This appears to be a slanted account of what we now call the Crimean War but which the English author called the Russian war in which nearly all of Europe and the Middle East fought over territory, particularly the Ottoman Empire. This nice antiquarian piece has cloth boards and leather and gild labels.  Finally, a nod to the art section where we have several "barely" appropriate books of photography and art which fittingly close this exploration of Lions, and Tigers, and Bears, Oh My !

      Hope to see you, fully clothed, soon,

Greg and Cynthia