The Mouseman of Kilburn

An Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Life of the Day in August featured 'The Mouseman of Kilburn', Robert Thompson (1876-1955) whose signature was (and is) a carved mouse: see here. Images here and here.

Image source: Robert Thompsons.

The Leavenworth Case

Seeking only a reading copy of Anna Katharine Green's The Leavenworth Case (1878), a trip to the university library produced this gem: a late nineteenth century paperback. The library dates it to 1884, a Ward Lock & Co. of London 'one shilling' paperback with period advertising on the back and inside pages ("Goodall's Egg Powder. The Only Substitute For Eggs Yet Discovered") and even some uncut pages at the back (the publisher's other offerings...). And it's a good read too.

After Reading a Book on Abnormal Psychology

by Ernest G. Moll (1900-1997)

Now all desires -- even unknown ones -- I had
Stand stript before me with their names writ under.
And will this make me really sane, I wonder,
Or only more intelligently mad?

Source: Howarth, R.G.; Slessor, K.; Thompson, J. (eds.) The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Verse (1961), p.65

Country cookbooks

Something to look forward to at this year's Royal Adelaide Show -- the launch of a collection of recipes from the country shows of South Australia. There's a preview in The Advertiser (3/9/08).

Image source: Wakefield Press