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Holiday-ay Celebray-ate

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Just a few days left before Christmas and Hanukkah. If you still need some gifts, or if you just have some time to relax and browse, come by the shop in Windsor Terrace or the Brooklyn Flea at Hanson Place. We have lots of one-of-a-kind items and special gifts. We can find you a map of just about anywhere, or a print of practically anything.

The shop will be OPEN this Wednesday, December 21st from 2-5, Thursday, December 22nd from 12-6 and Friday December 23rd from 12-6. We will be CLOSED December 24th through January 4th, REOPENING Thursday, January 5th with regular hours.

You can also visit us at the Winter Brooklyn Flea for Extended Holiday Hours Wednesday-Friday, December 21st- December 23rd from 12-8, and Saturday December 24th from 10-3.

After that…Enjoy some time off. Many thanks for all of your business in 2016! Can't wait to find more great stuff for you in the new year.

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Perfect for Giving

 
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While it is not my style to publish gift guides, or push my wares too aggressively, I have a great gift item in the shop that I've been selling for years. A few regular customers have caught on and keep coming back year after year for one. What is this fabulous, gift-able item? It's the annual Travelers Insurance Calendar decorated with Currier & Ives prints. This is what the Hartford-cased company has to say about their product:
 
The Travelers signature calendar for 2017, bearing Currier & Ives reprints from our print collection, was first introduced in 1936. Now 81 years later this handsome calendar has become a part of American culture, with its illustrations decorating homes and business establishments across the country. It remains a perennial favorite of Travelers agents, brokers, and their clients, and is considered a unique and valued marketing tool.
 
But I am not selling NEW calendars, I am selling vintage ones that will match the coming year. This year I am offering 1967 calendars (and a handful of 1961) that match the days of 2017. Last year, sadly, I was unable to find a match due to it being a tricky leap year.
 
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Several years ago I was at an estate sale at a very grand Pleasantville Victorian home. In the basement were boxes and boxes of unused Traveler's calendars from the 1940s through the 1970s. I was told that the family had owned an insurance brokerage in nearby Ossining, NY. They must have given the calendars out to their customers and saved the rest. Needless to say, I bought them all, and will, hopefully, have them for years to come.
 
Currier & Ives is a fascinating subject in and of itself. They ran the first print shop with mass-market commercial appeal. By the 1850s they were producing affordable lithographs with quaint genre subjects and composed Americana scenes. They were based in New York City and produced many images of the city- especially of the Great Fire and idyllic Central Park.
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If you are interested in reading more about Currier & Ives, click here for a short but informative article.
 
If you would like to purchase a 1967 Travelers calendar, come in the shop or visit my Etsy shop.
 
Current Affairs

Earth Science

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Some scientists say that we're in a new geological age, called the Anthropocene, where humans have an unprecedented impact on the Earth. There is a nary a place on the planet that has not been altered by our species. Our impact is, basically, everywhere. This was the subject of a recent TED talk that was on in the background while I was leafing through some new prints. You can get the gist of the TED talk here if you are interested in this subject.

Next day, I was listening to WNYC (again..yes, I listen to it all day long while I'm working) and a guest was speaking about taking geological samples in the Chicxulub crater of the meteor that, most likely, ended the long age of the dinosaurs. I have, in stock, some really beautiful and large German chromolithographs of the Dinosaur Age.

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After the dinosaur extinction we had fossils of them and then the science of Paleontology.

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We also have Geology and Earth Science. I've got some great 1960s classroom charts.

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If you are in the market for some more refined geology, I have some beautiful prints of rocks, minerals and gems. Printed in Germany in the 1880s, these are some of the best examples of stone chromolithography that I have seen. The colors and details are absolutely amazing. These will be sold matted and ready to frame.

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I also unearthed (no pun intended) some lovely old prints from the 1850s on the paleontology of New York State. These are serene, earthy and organic. They would look terrific in a modern setting, even though they are "as old as the hills". It's kind of neat to think about what the ground beneath our feet is composed of.

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Last, but not least, in this same vein, I recently picked up some great maps of the United States with meteorological, agricultural and geological subject matter. They were published in the 1920s by the US Department of Agriculture. They are quite large and colorful.

 

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Old School Atlases

As the World Turns….

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It's that time of the year again- back to school. Yesterday, as I sat in a high school parent orientation, I had plenty of time to contemplate time flowing by. So many Septembers have gone by since my kids started elementary school. Anyway, enough reminiscing. I wanted to share one of my favorite collections: antique school atlases and geography primers. I might be one of the only people on the planet collecting these.

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In general, I'm able to pick up very, very old examples of school atlases or geography primers (I have one dating back to 1819) for quite reasonable prices at auction. Many are made by highly esteemed map makers- such as Augustus Mitchell– whose larger atlases can fetch very high prices. I recently acquired a 1st edition of McNally's System of Geography from the 1840s. This company went on to become Rand McNally and to produce millions of school maps and atlases.

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It occurs to me that the value of these books is relatively low, because they have limited value as "breakers." Larger atlases are often more valuable because of the sum of their parts- with each map being sold individually. Larger atlases also tend to "break" as they are too heavy for their bindings to remain tight over time, while little school atlases often remain intact.

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I find the school atlases charming- especially when the students who used them left notes, or personalized them.

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School atlases often have fascinating and complex scientific subject matter as well as out-dated and ridiculous notions of race. Sometimes the diagrams and engravings are as interesting as the maps.

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The intermediate atlases often incorporate more complex topics such as meteorology, natural history and botany. Some of the maps can be quite colorful and unusual.

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Come in to the shop to have a closer look at these fascinating books. We have many available for sale and for browsing. Enjoy the last bit of summer and good wishes to all the returning scholars.

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A Walk in the Woods

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As summer churns on and the heat cranks up, a cool walk in the woods beckons. It can be difficult, but not impossible, to find a shady grove in the city. Luckily, we have a few in my neighboring Prospect Park. Better yet if you can get yourself far out of a city and fully into nature.

An interesting, and no longer popular pastime, is collecting and preserving wild botanical specimens. It's funny…these days everyone is running around collecting Pokemon rather than meadow rue.

On my recent road trip to the Midwest I found a fantastic collection of antique herbariums as well as a homemade press for specimens.These will be available in the shop. Contact us for availability and pricing.

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A few years back I came across an antique painted metal box with a shoulder strap. I bought and sold it without really knowing what it was. In my recent research into botanical specimens, I discovered that it is called a vasculum. Victorian examples can be quite beautiful- lithographed on tin or tole-painted.

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Pressed botanical specimens are lovely to decorate with. They fit nicely into a modern rustic style. Below are a few pretty tableau culled from design*sponge and other online sources.

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