u/tehsecretgoldfish

A Christmas Eve Family Story by Charles Dalton.* *50 copies privately printed at the Riverside Press, Cambridge Massachusetts in 1904. Designed by Bruce Rogers during his time at Riverside. Checking comps on Via Libri, it appears all the copies out there (okay, there are only two) have a Dalton bookplate. this one has a D and “Dalton House” inked in on the map at the back.

This popped up on ebay a few weeks ago as a buy it now for an under market price. I set a watch on it and went about my business. as can sometimes happen the seller will offer a modest discount. the seller offered 40% off asking. how could I not buy?

It’s a near fine copy. the batik over boards doesn’t appear age toned, the green cloth back strip has only the faintest bumps, and the spine label is mildly scuffed but complete. the extra spine label is tipped in at back.

This may be the most scarce BR/Riverside title in terms of edition size. 50 is 27 fewer than my current holy grail, Horace Walpole, Printer by Percival Merritt which seems wrought from Unobtanium.

just picked, back yard garden-grown heirloom “Pineapple” tomato (reminds of a Yellow Brandywine I’ve grown in the past). Almost 2lbs. which apparently is common. very few seeds which is nice. just picked two others slightly smaller. it’s that time of the summer.

if you’d like to ferment pickles, follow this recipe. I followed this for four summers (last year my cuke seedlings failed; this year I’m just growing tomatoes).

the important factors:

invest in a good crock and stones. mason jars and ported caps are silly (imo). stones are crucial to keep everything below the top of the brine, and both ceramic stones and crock are easy to clean after you bottle the finished pickles up and put them in the fridge. refrigeration stops the fermentation. I ordered a 5-gallon Ohio Stoneware crock and stones at my local Ace Hardware. F Amazon.

use the recommended 5% brine. that’s 190g pickling salt : 1-gallon fresh clean water. the math is easy to scale.

find a source for grape leaves. you can use oak leaves in a pinch. there are other high-tannin plants, but we have wild (edible) grapes growing on the back fence. wash them before you layer them in with a shit ton of cracked garlic cloves (dozen+) and fresh dill. the tannins in the grape leaves keep the pickles crisp.

if kahm yeast starts to scum on top, skim it right away. it’s harmless but it can impart an off flavor. with summer temps what they are and assuming your house is hot like ours, pickles are ready in about a week, and you can generally outpace yeast bloom in a hot kitchen.

AMA.

bicentennial year 1976 SG Custom I bought used in 1984. crazy to think it’s 50 years old, and more so, that I’ve owned it for 42 years.

Spotted at The Brattle Book Shop last weekend, I looped back today, negotiated the price (the front joint is split), and brought it home. Published in 1897, it becomes the earliest title in my moderately extensive collection of Bruce Rogers’ designs while employed at Houghton Mifflin’s Riverside Press (Grolier 21; Warde 7).

It’s a rare book, though no limitation is stated.

It seems an appropriate addition on this Memorial Day weekend.

Robert Gould Shaw was a Brahmin Bostonian who volunteered to the Union Army and lead the 54th Regiment, the first all-black regiment. The movie “Glory” tells the story.

The bronze monument to Shaw and his troops was sculpted by Augustas Saint Gaudens, and stands opposite the State House in Boston.