I'm just back from the last book sale of the summer. I never know what I'm going to stumble across at these sales. Today I was searching for material that showed life in the nineteen hundreds for a project I'm working on. The Internet is fine in some ways for dates and things but books can give you a broader picture of the time.
Out on the front porch of the building there were scads of old books that he was giving away for free. They'd been around too long and those that weren't taken were going to be recycled. Amongst these books I found a copy of "Mildred Pierce" (I have some of Cain's work but not this one), one of the few novels I picked up today.
For my research I found "Life in Modern Times" that gives a history of this country up to 1940, "Roughneck: The Way of Life in the Oil Fields", "Creative Knowledge" published in 1927 gives details of different trades from sailor to miner. I also found a book called "The Twenties" by Edmund Wilson which is an autobiographical history of the 1920's. "An American Traveler's Guide to Black History" was a great find and the history is broken down by states and towns. But the greatest finds were "The Best Short Stories of 1919" and "The Saturday Evening Post Treasury" which is filled with articles and short stories over the years since 1728. There was also a biography of Dorothea Dix called "Stranger and Traveler" which covers much of the period I'm working in.
I also found an entire box of "Best of" Science Fiction anthologies but I only chose one. "The Fantasy Hall of Fame" which covers many years and writers I've heard of but haven't read yet. Can't wait to dive into this one.
All in all a very pleasant and rewarding day.
3 comments:
Wow, our book sales never have such vintage stuff.
A book came out recently on the year 1927. I will try to remember the title. Our house was built in 1927 so I am drawn to that year although the house is drawn to falling apart.
Here it is. http://www.amazon.com/One-Summer-America-Bill-Bryson/dp/0767919408/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381151783&sr=8-1&keywords=1927
Bryson can be very good.
That's the beauty of this book sale. The books are all donated and seem mostly to come from old homes, probably where the houses are being sold or the owners have passed away. The old books are primarily hardbacks but there are a few vintage paperbacks mixed in.
Thanks for the link!
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