Honoring some OG Bibliophiles – the Royal Library of Alexandria

Leave a reply

The written word has the power to transport us to different worlds, to inspire us, to challenge us, and to comfort us. It is no wonder that libraries and bookstores have been an integral part of our culture for centuries. But where did it all begin? While trying to pinpoint the first bookstore in the world is impossible to do with any degree of certainty, we certainly know some of the oldest bibliophile hubs!

One of the first known libraries in the world was established (unsurprisingly) in ancient Egypt, in the city of Alexandria. The city was founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC and quickly became (what some consider) the center of learning and scholarship in the world. The rulers of Alexandria recognized the importance of the written word and knowledge, and they established the Royal Library of Alexandria to house the world’s greatest collection of books. The library was a magnificent structure, with lecture halls, gardens, and reading rooms. It was said to contain almost a half a million scrolls (though reports throughout history go anywhere between 40,000 to 400,000 scrolls lining its walls), most of which were kept in stacks that reached all the way to the ceiling. Scholars from all over the world came to study at the library, and it became a symbol of the city’s intellectual and cultural achievements. As what is considered today to have been the largest library in the ancient world, it must have been a sight to behold!

Interestingly, the library was not just a place for scholars. It was apparently open to the public, and anyone who wanted to read or even borrow books (scrolls) could do so. This was a revolutionary idea at the time, as “books” were traditionally only available to the wealthy and powerful. According to some, the library’s founders believed that knowledge ought to be accessible to everyone, and they made sure that the written word was available to all who sought it. Granted, at the time this was mainly scholars, but many believe that all who were interested in knowledge were able to consult and utilize the library.

Some also argue that library had a type of ‘bookstore’ located on its grounds. It is possible that this area of the library sold scrolls that had been copied out by scribes, who would sit in the library and replicate entire works by hand. These copies were often very expensive, and only the wealthiest individuals could afford to buy them. But the “bookstore” could potentially have sold cheaper versions or duplicates, made from papyrus instead of expensive parchment. These cheaper versions would have made reading more accessible to the general public, helping to spread knowledge and literacy throughout Alexandria. Sadly, the Library of Alexandria was destroyed in a fire in 48 BC, and much of its collection was lost.

However, the legacy of the library and bookstores lived on. The idea that knowledge should be accessible to all has became a cornerstone of Western culture, and libraries and bookstores continue to be places where people can come together to learn, share ideas, and explore the world of literature. We should know… we run one!

Fun Fact: Another one of the earliest known bookstores in the world was the Library of Ashurbanipal in ancient Assyria, which was established in the 7th century BCE and contained tens of thousands of clay tablets!

*I mean – WOW! And to think… all full of books! A bibliophile’s dream.*

In honor of Niccolo Machiavelli’s Birthday – an In Depth look at his Controversial Work “The Prince”

Leave a reply

In 1532, Niccolo Machiavelli’s book, “The Prince,” was published in Italy. While today it is considered one of the most famous and influential political treatises of all time, at the time of its publication it was looked down on as a work of evil and immorality. At that time, Italy was a country deeply divided, and its political scene was characterized by chaos, corruption, and constant wars between rival city-states. Machiavelli, a diplomat and political philosopher, had a front-row seat to all of it, and he wrote “The Prince” as a guide for rulers on how to gain (and maintain) political power in a volatile environment. Little did he know how influential his work would become!

The book is divided into 26 chapters, each of which focuses on a specific aspect of leadership. They run the gamut… some examples are qualities of a good ruler, how to gain power, how to handle friends and enemies, and the importance of military strength. Machiavelli’s advice to rulers is often ruthless and sometimes amoral, as he emphasizes the importance of using any means necessary to achieve one’s goals. One of the most controversial aspects of “The Prince” is Machiavelli’s advocacy of deception and cruelty. He argues that a ruler must be willing to lie, cheat… even kill in order to maintain power. He famously wrote that “it is better to be feared than loved,” and he advises rulers to use fear as a tool to control their subjects. He also argues that a ruler should not be bound by traditional notions of morality, and defended his beliefs by arguing that these qualities were necessary for survival in a world where political power was constantly being contested.

One of the key themes of “The Prince” is the importance of appearing to be good… rather than actually being good. Machiavelli believed that rulers should focus on maintaining a positive public image, even if it meant sacrificing their own principles. He argues that people are easily deceived by appearances, and that a ruler who appears to be virtuous and just will be more successful in the long run than one who actually is virtuous and just. He also argues for the use of force and violence in politics. Machiavelli believed that a ruler should always be willing to use force to achieve their goals, and that a reputation for cruelty and violence could actually be an asset in certain situations. As stated, he argued that it was better to be feared than loved, because fear is a more reliable motivator than love. Machiavelli believed that the world of politics was a ruthless game, and that only the strongest and most cunning players would succeed. These rather stark ideas were shocking to many of Machiavelli’s contemporaries, most of whom had been deeply influenced by Christian morality and classical ideals of virtue and honor. The book was severely criticized as a work of evil and immorality, and it was even banned by the Catholic Church! (Then again… what work hasn’t been, at some point or another?)

What people often don’t know is that Machiavelli never saw “The Prince” published in his lifetime. He wrote “The Prince” in 1513, during Italy’s political turmoil and while acting as a diplomat and advisor to the Florentine government. However, when he finally presented his manuscript to the Medici family (the rulers of Florence at the time), they were far from impressed. The Medici had recently come to power and were keen to present themselves as benevolent rulers guided by Christian morality. Machiavelli’s book, which advocated the use of deception and cruelty in politics, was seen as a direct challenge to this image.

As a result, the Medici refused to publish “The Prince” and even had Machiavelli arrested and tortured on invented charges of conspiracy. Machiavelli was eventually released, but he was banished from Florence and forced to retire to his estate outside the city. It was during this period of exile that Machiavelli wrote others of his most famous works, including “Discourses on Livy” and “The Art of War.” Unfortunately, Machiavelli died in 1527, without ever seeing “The Prince” published.

Despite its controversial nature, “The Prince” was widely read and had a significant impact on political thought. It was particularly influential in the development of modern political science, as it introduced the idea of studying politics as a science rather than a moral philosophy. Machiavelli’s emphasis on the practical aspects of politics, such as the use of force and the manipulation of public opinion, has been a major influence on modern political theory and practice. In addition to its impact on political science, “The Prince” also had a significant impact on literature and popular culture. The book has been referenced in countless works of fiction, and Machiavelli’s own name has become synonymous with qualities like cunning and deceit. The term “Machiavellian” is often used to describe politicians or other individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals, regardless of the moral implications. What a reputation!

The SS Sultana: A Heartbreaking yet Forgotten Tale of Disastrous Proportions

Leave a reply

An engraving of the Sultana explosion, published in *Harpers Weekly*, May 20, 1865.

On April 27th 1865, the American steamboat the SS Sultana met a tragic end on the Mississippi River. The magnitude of this disaster (like all others of its kind) is incomprehensible, and yet… many remain unaware of its existence. The sinking of the SS Sultana is considered the greatest maritime disaster in United States history.

April 1865 marked a turning point in American history – the Civil War had finally come to an end, and people, desperate for solace and healing, began to rebuild their lives. The SS Sultana, a wooden side-wheel steamboat, was built in 1863 and was originally designed to transport both passengers and cargo up and down the Mississippi River. But with the end of the war came the responsibility of transporting thousands of Union soldiers back to their homes in the northern states. This seemingly innocuous task would end in a disaster that would claim more lives than the sinking of the infamous Titanic in 1912.

On April 24, 1865, the SS Sultana was docked at Vicksburg, Mississippi, where it began taking on an unbelievable amount of Union soldiers, many of whom were recently released prisoners of war from Confederate camps in Andersonville and Cahaba. As the soldiers boarded the steamboat, their excitement and anticipation filled the air. These weary men were finally going home to their families and friends, and the SS Sultana was their ticket back to freedom.

*One day before the tragedy, the Sultana stopped at Helena, Arkansas, where photographer Thomas W. Bankes took a picture of the grossly overcrowded vessel.*

The SS Sultana was 260 feet long and 42 feet wide, and was designed to carry a maximum of 376 passengers. However, the pressing need to transport the soldiers along with gross negligence on the part of the captain (Captain J. Cass Mason – an experienced steamboat pilot), owners and ticket-masters led to a severe overcrowding of the vessel. Approximately 2,300 passengers boarded the steamboat, including soldiers, civilians and crew members. The boat’s capacity was pushed to its limits, with soldiers stacked on every available surface, even sleeping packed in like sardines on the decks.

Despite the overcrowding, the true catalyst for the impending disaster lay in the steamboat’s boiler system. Prior to the Sultana’s arrival in Vicksburg, a leak had been discovered in one of the boilers. Instead of properly repairing or replacing the damaged boiler, a temporary patch was applied – a decision driven by greed and expediency, as the captain and the ship’s owners did not want to lose out on the lucrative government contract for transporting the soldiers. This choice would ultimately lead to the deadliest maritime disaster the United States has ever seen.

Tragedy struck after three full days on the river, on the night of April 27th, when the steamboat was about 7 miles from Memphis, Tennessee. At around 2 in the morning the hastily patched boiler exploded, instantly killing the captain and at least 500 people, followed in quick succession by the explosion of the two other boilers and even more destruction. In a mere instant, the once-bustling vessel was transformed into a scene of utter chaos and devastation. The explosion ripped through the heart of the Sultana, killing hundreds of passengers instantly, hurling others into the cold, dark waters of the Mississippi River, and setting the wooden steamboat on fire.

Many of the injured survivors found themselves caught in the river’s swift currents, clinging to debris or trees and fighting for their lives. Even more of them succumbed to drowning or hypothermia. Rescue boats (mainly other steamers) from Memphis rushed to the scene (though the earliest to arrive wasn’t for a half hour after the explosions) – but the chaos, darkness, fire and smoke made their efforts difficult and mostly unsuccessful. As dawn broke, the grim reality of the disaster became clear. The SS Sultana, once a beacon of hope for these soldiers, was now a smoldering mass sinking into the Mississippi River.

By the time the Sultana had burned to the waterline and finally sank, an estimated 1,200 to 1,800 lives were lost. This made the SS Sultana disaster the deadliest maritime disaster in American history. The Sultana tragedy shook the nation, as thousands of families mourned the loss of loved ones who were supposed to be finally returning home from a gruesome war where they fought for their country.

Despite the sheer magnitude of this disaster, and though several men involved with the boat were court-martialed, no one person was ever held formally accountable. The death of the Captain and crew made it extraordinarily difficult to place blame, and with the United States still reeling from the aftermath of the Civil War, the SS Sultana did not necessarily receive the place in US history that it ought to. So today, 158 years to the day of this tragic accident, we bring attention to it and to the lives so needlessly lost.

This Civil War item was published in 1865, the same year of the SS Sultana disaster. Meant to be carried in the pockets of Civil War soldiers, this little “convenient pocket manual for soldiers in the army and navy” includes a Soldier’s Calendar, a Pay Table and details, objects, principles and plans of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, as well as religious hymns and psalms, meant for civil war soldiers. See it here.

“The tigers have found me and I do not care.” A Blog on the King of the Underground… Charles Bukowski

Leave a reply

“Cheer up. Maybe you’ll be famous after you’re dead.“

29 years ago, the “King of the Underground” Charles Bukowski, passed away from leukemia in his (adopted) home city of Los Angeles, California. Bukowski is well known for his poetry and short stories, but even more known for his intense subject matters and persona. Publishing almost exclusively in small presses and literary magazines (hence the King of the Underground), and focusing on the plight of the every-man, the dirty, sometimes terrifying, sad and isolating aspects of humanity – he really was an impressive spokesperson for the average man. That being said, Bukowski is often considered more famous now than he was during his life (for as popular as he was in his lifetime, he was definitely underestimated in the American literary/academic arena).

“What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.“

Bukowski was born Heinrich Karl Bukowski in Andernach, Germany, on August 16th, 1920. His early life in Germany was difficult, as WWI war reparations had stagnated the German economy forcing his father to attempt to find employment elsewhere. In April of 1923 the small family traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, where they lived until moving to Los Angeles in 1930. Bukowski’s childhood was ripe with problems. According to the author, his father struggled with alcoholism and frequently emotionally and physically abused his family – his behavior teaching Charles at a young age about “undeserved pain” and part of his sons work for the rest of his life. Charles’ family’s foreign ways, the clothes his parents made him wear, and a terrible case of acne further isolated the young man, and the bullied Charles became a quiet, somewhat repressed teen. All that changed, however, when a friend of his introduced a 13 year old Charles to alcohol – a substance he would depend on for life.

“I want so much that is not here and do not know where to go.“

After high school, Bukowski began a two year stint at Los Angeles City College, thriving in his humanities courses on journalism, art and literature. However, at the onset of WWII in 1944 he quit and moved to New York City, hoping to try his hand at being a writer. During this time he was actually arrested by the FBI for 16 days for potential draft evasion, as was frequently happening to those of German heritage. After failing a physical, however, he was determined unfit for military service and was released. At the age of 24 he began writing and started to be published in a couple of small magazines and presses, but the acceptances of his work were few and far between. Deciding it a failed experiment, Bukowski quit writing for almost a decade – a time in his life he referred to as “a ten-year drunk”. He moved back to Los Angeles, worked at a pickle factory, drifted around the United States working odd jobs when it suited him, moved back to LA and worked for the United States Postal Service, and then quit that for a short time as well.

“But then if you lied to a man about his talent just because he was sitting across from you, that was the most unforgivable lie of them all, because that was telling him to go on, to continue which was the worst way for a man without real talent to waste his life, finally. But many people did just that, friends and relatives mostly.“

In 1955, a brush with death made Bukowski revisit his original dreams of writing. After a hospital stay for a bleeding ulcer, Charles started writing poetry once more. In the late 1950s, after his “ten-year drunk” period had finished, Bukowski began to be published in a couple poetry and literary magazines, such as Gallows and Nomad – finally giving the credit he was looking for to Bukowski’s early work. As a matter of fact, not only was Bukowski published in both of the only two issues of Gallows to ever exist, but two of his other poems were featured works in the inaugural issue of Nomad in 1959. The same magazine would also go on to publish his essays, including one of his best known essays, Manifesto: A Call for Our Own Critics. By 1960, the small Hearse Press was beginning to publish Bukowski’s work – they put out his collection Flower, Fist and Bestial Wail, and then continued publishing his poetry through the decades, all the way up until the early 80s.

“He asked, What makes a man a writer? Well, I said, it’s simple. You either get it down on paper, or jump off a bridge.“

By the 1970s, Bukowski had accepted an offer from John Martin, publisher of the Black Sparrow Press, to leave his post office job behind (yes, Bukowski had gone back to the job several times) and write full time. Bukowski accepted the offer, writing in a letter “I have one of two choices – stay in the post office and go crazy… or stay out here and play at writer and starve. I have decided to starve.” A mere month after his retirement from the postal service, he completed his very first novel, entitled (drumroll, please) Post Office. For the remainder of his years, Bukowski would publish many of his works with Black Sparrow Press – making it a successful press in the long run! That being said, he always favored small presses and underground magazines, and published with many over the course of his lifetime.

“And if you have the ability to love, love yourself first.“

Throughout his life, Charles Bukowski wrote over forty books of prose and poetry. His work continued to come out after his death, and he was heavily posthumously published (with new material) for over a decade after he passed away. He was a controversial writer, using a hard, clear voice and often centering his subjects on violence, drinking, sexuality, gambling, death, desolation and abandonment. His work spoke to those who ever felt dehumanized by society or by others, to those who felt desperation, but weren’t always able to act on their most basic desires. Today, Bukowski continues to inspire.

“Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.“

***

“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside – remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.“

Five Lesser-Known Facts About Jack London

Leave a reply

***

jack

Happy Birthday to Jack London! On this day 147 years ago, the author of Call of the Wild was born in the slums of San Francisco. Let’s look at five interesting facts about this author, in honor of his special day.

1. London had extremely interesting parents. We all know that the most interesting people come from the most fantastical backgrounds (yes, we made this statistic up to feel better about our own crazy families), and London is no exception! His mother, Flora Wellman, was a spiritualist who claimed to have the ability to channel indigenous Sauk chief Black Hawk. His father is believed to be astrologer William Chaney, whom she lived with after moving with him from Seattle to the bustling Pacific city of San Francisco. In 1876, while living with Cheney, she gave birth to her son, John Griffith Chaney, who would later on go by the name of Jack London.

2. You thought the interesting-parent background ended there, didn’t you? Not a chance! Not only did Flora give birth to Jack against William Chaney’s wishes (he wished her to have an abortion), but out of stress and anger Flora shot herself while pregnant. She obviously did not die, but she was wounded enough that Jack was given to Virginia Prentiss (a friend, as well as a formerly enslaved African American woman) as a baby, and she would be his formative motherly influence throughout his life. When he was studying at the University of California, Berkeley as a young adult, he found the name of his father from old newspaper articles reporting his mother’s suicide attempt, and contacted Chaney who was, by then, living in Chicago. Chaney’s return letter left London (who had taken his stepfather’s name after his mother’s marriage) heartbroken, as the astrologer took no responsibility and asserted that Flora had too many sexual partners at the time for him to be the father. London’s distress at this letter led him to quit school at the University… and then to move north to the Yukon for the Alaskan Klondike gold rush. One might argue that despite the personal stress, Chaney’s awful behavior did London a great favor in the long run!

london_jack_WD

3. Despite being extremely influential on his writing, working the Klondike gold rush was very detrimental to London’s health and well-being. After moving up to Alaska, the harsh conditions for the gold rush miners caused London to develop scurvy, a typical illness of miners who were experiencing malnutrition. London lost several of his front teeth, developed marks and scars on his face that he would carry with him for life, and endured pain in his joints… not an easy illness. Though he recovered, his constitution would always be a bit weaker than it had been before, and he would go on to develop an alcohol dependency that began around this time. His experiences in the harsh Alaskan wilderness, however, were quite obviously extraordinarily influential on the aspiring young author, and would serve as inspiration in his upcoming works.

4. Hoping to escape hard physical labor for the rest of his life, London decided that he could try to “sell his brains” by writing and being published. Upon his return to California from the Klondike in 1898, London put monumental effort into becoming an author. He began writing 1,000 words a day (no small feat for someone who hadn’t written since high school). He was first published with his story “To the Man On Trail” and was thereafter a frequent published author in journals and magazines. By 1900, London made $2,500 a year. In 1903 Jack London had his story The Call of the Wild published in The Saturday Evening Post. He sold it for $750. The story was an almost immediate success.

5. Local provenance. Did you know that Jack London lived just ten minutes from us, here in Alameda, California? At one point he rented a home (or a villa, as it was once called) on Lake Merritt… a beautiful area of Oakland just through the tunnel out of Alameda. It is while he lived here that he met poet George Sterling and later moved to a home in Piedmont simply to be closer to his best friend. Nevertheless, we are always happy to feel “at home” with authors we admire!

George Sterling, Mary Austin, Jack London and Jimmie Hooper on a beach in Carmel, California.

Happy, happy birthday to an author that has inspired so very many… Happy Birthday, Jack London!

New Year, New You… New Book! Learn to Practice the Art of Tsundoku

Leave a reply

Old,Books,Isolated,On,White

Raise your hand if you’ve ever picked up a new title at a bookstore, excited to read it, then gotten home and taken one look at your bookshelf, and felt the cold familiar feeling of dread when you’ve realized that you still have 47 other unread titles that came skipping home with you similarly, only to be left abandoned on a shelf, to taunt you?

Oh good, it’s not just me.

This familiar feeling isn’t new to the rest of the world either, apparently. As a matter of fact, the Japanese have a word for being surrounded by piles of unread books. It’s called tsundoku, and plenty of people consider it an art form. Instead of making a resolution this year to finally tackle our unread shelves, here at Tavistock Books we are learning instead to embrace our mini libraries, to acknowledge and admire our uncracked spines, adoringly.

Tsundoku is a word dating back to the Meiji era in Japanese culture (from roughly 1868 to 1912, to be exact), and comes from a combination of two words… tsunde-oku, meaning “allowing things to pile up” and dokusho, meaning “to read books”. In essence… allowing piles of books to be read to sit around, untouched. Feels good, doesn’t it? To know you aren’t alone? To know that your tendency to overindulge in bibliomania is a worldwide phenomenon, one that has even had a word created to describe it. It was first seen in publication in 1879, as an ironic dig at scholars and academics who owned books they never read. That being said, in Japan (and elsewhere), the word does not carry with it a negative connotation – it isn’t an insult or something to be ashamed of. As a matter of fact, it has become more of an art form, for some. To surround yourself with books… with new worlds, with other ways of thinking, with doors to be opened… can only serve as a reminder that the world is so very big. It can show us that no matter where we are in our lives we still have much to learn, and so many ways to enrich our lives through the world of books.

So this year? Make a resolution not to feel bogged down by your ever expanding library. Head to your favorite bookstore, pick up an interesting new find, and add it to the pile with a flourish and a smile… knowing you’re simply practicing the art of tsundoku. 🙂

Find out more about tsundoku in this article on Big Think.

“What the Dickens?!?” The Origins of a Commonly Used Phrase Exposed!

Leave a reply

Anyone reading this blog has surely heard the phrase “What the Dickens?” before. Usually used as an exclamation, a comment to proclaim confusion and shock or exaggerate, this phrase is colloquially used throughout the English speaking world.

Now what would you say if I told you that this phrase has nothing whatsoever to do with our main man, Charles Dickens? What if I told you it was infinitely older than him, and his last name just coincided with the phrase already in existence? I think the universal response might be “What the Dickens?”!

In literature, the phrase is first seen in (believe it or not) Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, a work commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I. Published in 1602 (though most likely written before 1597), this Shakespearean play focuses on the vain and comedic knight Sir John Falstaff, and his troubles in love. In Act III, scene ii, the sentence “I cannot tell what the dickens his name is” seems to be the first written use of the phrase, though wordsmiths believe it predates even Shakespeare. Interestingly enough, in Elizabethan times the word “dickens” was a euphemism for the word “devil.” As one knows, cursing has not always been an acceptable act in polite society. And centuries ago, referencing the devil directly was not respectful or used in everyday conversations. Therefore, saying “What the Devil” would have been quite frowned upon.

So… society came up with an alternative! It is possible that it began by shortening the word “devilkins” – a religious word predating Elizabethan times that referred to a small devil, or an imp. Nowadays the phrase is used in several ways, though almost always to exclaim and exaggerate. “Run like the dickens” or “working like the dickens” are heard often enough, though my own personal use of the phrase is typically “it hurts like the dickens!” Yet I had no idea that in writing it down, the word dickens need not be capitalized! Since it isn’t referring to Charles. What the dickens!?

How do you bibliophiles prefer to use this phrase? Let us know!

“And Death Shall Have No Dominion” – a Look at Welsh Poet Dylan Thomas

Leave a reply

Dylan Thomas is one of Wales’ best known writers. As a poet he expressed himself and his talent at a young age, and though he died much too young, he was amazingly able to create a large amount of work in a relatively short time. On this day 69 years ago, Thomas passed away in New York City. In honor of his life and work we wished to do a short blog detailing this amazing writer and the influence he had on so many.

thomas3

Dylan Marlais Thomas was born on October 27th, 1914, in Swansea, Wales. His mother was a seamstress, his father – an English literature teacher at the local school. It was through his father that Thomas first found a love for the rhythm of poetry – as his dad would recite Shakespeare, Yeats, and Poe to the young Dylan at length. His father also took charge of educating Dylan in the Welsh language, which he understood and spoke, despite writing exclusively in the English language and not Welsh. At a young age (young enough to put the rest of us to shame, truly), Dylan discovered a talent for poetry. At the age of 11 his first poem was published in his grammar school newspaper, and by the time he left school he carried out duties as editor of said paper.

When he was 16, Thomas left school and became a reporter for the South Wales Daily Post, where he worked for roughly a year and a half. During that time and the following few years where he worked as a freelance journalist, Thomas wrote somewhere around 200 poems, his most prolific period of writing coincided with these young years and a depth of feeling at such a formative age. It was during these years that some of his most well-known works were published – including the poems “And death shall have no dominion”, “Before I Knocked” and “The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower”. In 1934 his poem “Light breaks where no sun shines” was published in London’s The Listener – catching the attention of several important London literary celebrities, including T.S. Eliot. Eliot and Stephen Spender and Geoffrey Grigson were instrumental in helping Thomas publish his first book of poetry in 1934, called (rather simply) 18 Poems. The book was an immediate success, meeting with critical success, winning awards and thrusting Thomas into the London literary scene with a vengeance.

For a long while, it was as if Thomas could do no wrong. A year after his first volume of poetry was published he contributed his famous poem “The Hand that Signed the Paper” to an issue of New Verse. Another year later (1936) his second volume of poetry was published (similarly titled to his first – Twenty-five Poems) and also met with critical success. In 1938 Thomas won the Oscar Blumenthal Prize for Poetry. Many of his poems published in these volumes and in poetry journals were written before Thomas ever moved to London, back in Wales in his prolific period. Personally, I believe that this back-log of work to choose from (while all of it remaining relevant and popular) allowed Thomas to develop the heavy drinking habits he struggled with all his life.

thomas1

Much of his following years look quite like this – critical success, volumes and single poems published. His only less successful years happened to coincide with WWII, and many critics have attributed this to the general population’s distraction with more important matters. Thomas was always interested in the theatrical and even recorded for the BBC, and wrote scripts and screenplays. His work, while the early poems perhaps have a touch more idealism than some of the later, remained popular. He was heralded as a lingering-on member of the Romantics, in a time where other popular works clamped hard on realism and political realms. The Poetry Foundation lists some of Thomas’s work’s key themes, that include “the unity of time, the similarity between creative and destructive forces in the universe, and the correspondence of all living things.” Of one of Thomas’ most famous works “And death shall have no dominion”, critic Clark Emery noted how it was “published in a time when notes of affirmation—philosophical, political, or otherwise—did not resound among intelligent liberal humanists, [and thus] it answered an emotional need. … It affirmed without sentimentalizing; it expressed a faith without theologizing.” (Poetry Foundation). This is true of much of Thomas’ work. It touched an emotional place in his readers, and continues to do so today.

Thomas seemed to become a highly individual figure of the time. He was seen as somewhat wild – with his Welsh accent and beautiful story-telling capabilities. His drinking, the sexual imagery in his work, his ability to captivate. He had something that other poets of the time, especially in London, did not – he did not care about beautiful society or being part of a group of famous literary figures. He and his wife Caitlin moved between London and Wales for many, many years, realizing that London held more work, while Wales held love and safety for them and their children. Thomas was invited abroad to the continent, and then also to tour in the United States four times. It was on this last tour in New York at the age of 39 that he collapsed after a night of heavy drinking, and was unfortunately sent home to be buried in Wales by his family. But the love of his work endures even to this day, his poems no less beautiful, and no less relevant today, than they were seventy years ago.

do not go gentle 2

Happy Spooktober!

Leave a reply

In honor of Spooktober (a spooky October, of course), today our blog calls on our love of the movie Hocus Pocus, as we focus on a magical text, a witches handbook – called Grimoires.

Screen Shot 2022-10-13 at 7.35.20 PM

By definition, a grimoire is a “a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, deities, and demons” (Davies). I first came across the idea of antiquarian grimoires via, you’ll be surprised to learn…. Tiktok. The latest and “greatest” of social media platforms is full of information. Some interesting, some shocking, and some downright useless, true. But suddenly on my “for your page” there appeared an antiquarian bookseller (Reid Moon, Moons Rare Books) discussing an early grimoire in his inventory, and I was hooked.

It is not unusual to find witchy empty journals for a witches Book of Shadows’ at Barnes and Noble these days, which differs from Grimoires in the fact that grimoires (a French word derived from the French term for “grammar”) quite literally translate to the grammar of magic. Bookseller William Kiesel explained that “Typically, grimoires are often manuals of practice that give recipes, operations, rituals and perhaps even spells.” Grimoires are then… manuals, where practitioners of alternative methods of healing, spirituality, medicine and more would put their practices within for easy reference later on (literally “grimoires” throughout history run the gamut – from ancient Egyptian magical inscriptions on cuneiform tablets and amulets to the medieval period texts by Popes and doctors, even, to modern day). These days, antiquarian grimoires hold a special sort of fascination in the book collecting community, as they allow for a more individualized look at spirituality, unlike and sometimes even opposing conventional, organized religion.

One of the pentacles found in the Key of Solomon.

While grimoires were mainly popular between the 1500s and 1900s, there is evidence of their existence (as a physical copy of a written text) as far back as one of the most famous of all grimoires, the Key of Solomon (or Testament of Solomon, two separate works but sometimes confused with each other) written in Greek in the 1st millennium CE. When rumors of its existence first began to circulate, it was claimed that this text included incantations for summoning demons and described them being used to cure cases of possession. The actual Testament of Solomon, while not written by Solomon himself (this can get confusing in the realm of grimoires), is one of the oldest surviving magical texts, dating back to one of the first five centuries A.D. It carries descriptions of a ring that could bind demons from doing harm, and was written as a source of information and warning to its readers.

As Christianity gained favor throughout the world, many magical texts or books centered on demonology and other potentially pagan beliefs were banned, burned and their authors silenced. A few of the more notable works that remain are often ones dealing in “natural magic” rather than “demonic magic”, as during the medieval period the former was allowed – it could be construed as a way to praise and celebrate all that God placed upon the earth for others to enjoy. Demonic texts, on the other hand, were wildly unacceptable. Another Key of Solomon appeared around this time (Solomon a popular figure for authoring these texts, evidently), and then a German abbot and occultist (I know, the irony) named Trithemius supposedly had a book of magic based on the New Testament character Simon Magus – a contemporary of Jesus Christ who was vilified and demonized by the church as a devil worshipper, despite performing similar “miracles” that were attributed to the former.

Screen Shot 2022-10-13 at 7.38.40 PM Several grimoires make their way onto the scene in the 1500s, with a steady stream of them from thereon after. Some of these include Les Secrets merveilleux de la magic naturelle du petit Albert (1272), the Grand Grimoire (1521), Le Dragon Rouge (published in 1822 but supposedly dating back to 1522), and the Grimoire of Armadel (written in the 1600s, not published until 1980). As time passes and the ability to write becomes more commonplace, availability of paper and writing utensils increase, more and more grimoires emerge. Notable antiquarian collections of grimoires can be found at the Cornell University Library, the Ritman Library in the Netherlands, and the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in the UK.

The extensive history of the grimoire and like texts prove that one thing is for sure and certain – magic, and the human interest in magic/the ability to witness things not easily attributed to science have inspired us for thousands of years. And here in witch-season we don’t expect it to let up any time soon! Happy Spooktober!

The Whale – and How it Shapes Lives All Over America

Leave a reply

A few years ago we published a blog detailing Herman Melville’s life. This week we thought we’d revisit his most famous work in a bit more detail, and come up with five in-depth reasons about Moby Dick, why it is one of the most widespread works taught in American schools today, and why it matters. “Book! You lie there; the fact is, you books must know your places. You’ll do to give us the bare words and facts, but we come in to supply the thoughts.” And on we go!

melville 1

1. Several scholars argue that the opening sentence of Moby Dick “Call me Ishmael” is the best known line in classic American literature. It starts off a long tale of adventure and revenge, focusing on a crazed whaling boat captain and his enduring grievance against the giant white sperm whale that took off his leg. While this book is, as stated, one of the most well-known works in America today, it was considered a flop at the time of its publication. Melville wrote it at the tender age of 32 in 1851, and over the next fifty years of his life it sold only 3,215 copies, making him a whopping $1,260 over those decades. It was only after the centennial of his birth in 1919 that a slow resurgence of interest in Melville’s work began, and by the 1960’s Moby Dick was being regularly taught in schools.

“I try all things, I achieve what I can.” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick

2. Melville masterfully created characters that could inspire, despite their outward, stereotypical appearances. The moral compass of humanity in Moby Dick is the cannibal Queequeg. He is courageous, stoic and self-sacrificing, a good friend to the novel’s narrator, and his virtuous nature is a stark contrast to the vengeful and fanatical Captain Ahab aboard the Pequod (the whaling ship). In this way, Melville dictates to his audience that appearances are not always what they seem. After all, “Better to sleep with a sober cannibal than a drunk Christian.”

3. Another reason why the story is so revered is Melville’s ability to use these characters to make social commentary on society at large. As Jamie Gass wrote, “A full decade before the Civil War’s carnage, only a highly unconventional writer of profound depth could craft a poetic novel using an enlightened cannibal to devour America’s racial, nativist, and religious stereotypes.” By placing Queequeg as the savior in the story, Melville highlights to students today how being fearful of someone different than us isn’t necessarily justified. Just because people are different doesn’t mean they are inherently bad – and we should not stereotype each other without giving ourselves a chance to see the human beneath the surface, as Ishmael does Queequeg. Some have even likened the Pequod to Melville’s America, with its treatment of minorities on the ship. In this way, Melville used his characters to comment on America’s shameful treatment of African Americans and other minorities, and continues to this day to remind us to look beyond the surface. As Melville writes, “See how elastic our prejudices grow when once love comes to bend them.”

4. The life lessons throughout the story rival those in famous religious works. Not only are their cautionary lessons on the limits of vengeance inside, but there are studies of the issues of man vs. nature (is it our job to conquer nature, or simply be its stewards? I’ll give you one guess), sexual orientation, the dangers of following a charismatic madman, and how our unacknowledged biases shape our actions – for better and for worse. One website claims that you couldn’t open to a single page of Moby Dick without finding a lesson being taught…. even when it is lessons on the world of whaling (at times disgusting and horrifying – but nevertheless educational).

moby dick 1

5. Moby Dick is an adventure story, yes. But layered within the adventure “we learn about malevolence, ambition, ego, bravery, friendship. We meditate on the existence of truth. We gather up an understanding that ‘truth’ is rarely captured in a snapshot, that it’s a mosaic of perspectives that don’t always add up neatly.” (Suzy Akin). It can be seen at one time as a religious text, an ancient epic, a Shakespearean drama. It can be interpreted a multitude of different ways. But one thing is for sure – it does teach lessons that could come in handy as students ready themselves for the future, and the “rough seas” that may lie ahead.

“All my means are sane, my motive and my object mad.” – Herman Melville, Moby Dick