Bookplate of the Day-

Sporty-

Art Nouveau Chromolithograph of Sports from the Dekorativ Vorbilder. 

Stuttgart; Julius Hoffmann: 1904-05. 

- from the new Bookin'!

A Dramatic Christmas in WWI France-

A Pair of World War One French Hand-Painted Christmas Cards. 

France, 1915.

A rather dramatic pair of hand- painted Christmas, 1915 cards, each showing a war scene and mounted with a photographs of what appears to be a French hospital unit. One card, titled "Noel 1915 - Le Eparges" shows a desolate, snow- covered street, surmounted by pine cones. The second card, titled "Noel 1915 - Malines", shows a burning cathedral, surmounted by ivy leaves. Les Eparges was the site of a fierce battle in April, 1915. Malines is a Dutch-speaking city in Flanders which was the scene of fighting in August, 1914, and numerous accounts of German atrocities against civilians were circulated. 

2 cards. 5.75"x8", minor soil. [39882] $250 

1910 Halley's Comet Chocolate Cards in the new issue of Bookin'!

Set of 6 Halley's Comet Chocolate Cards. 
Stollwerck: 1910. 

A set of six cards promoting Stollwerck chocolate, featuring humorous views of Halley's Comet. Each card has a humorous, if doggerel, German verse on the back relating to the scene on the front of the card: a happy comet riding a bike, a happy comet making wine, a shy comet hiding behind a cloud as an astronomer peers at her throug his telescope, an angry comet chasing a man and woman, a happy comet raining a star shower on a group of umbrellaed onlookers, and a happy comet on a bike being chased down the road by a German soldier, complete with pickelhaube helmet. Quite wonderful. Stollwerck, a leading German chocolate manufacturer, was founded in 1839 and was the second largest producer of chocolate on the United States by 1900. 

Six cards. 2"x3.5". Minor soil, one card creased. [39881] $100 

Bookin'! for the Hollydaze-

Neither snow, nor sleet, nor dark of night, will keep the Book Elves from finishing another Bookin’ - the Christmas party the pretty girl elves over at The Ale Shack threw almost did though... but a promise to pay for all the damages, and replacing the missing sleigh from the Town common, got everybody back to the Cataloging Cave without having to deal with nasty words like “bail bondsman”.

So with the merry words to “Good King Sauerkraut” ringing in our ears, we wrap this catalog up with a big bow and send it on to you. It’s been fun to put together, which is why we do it every two weeks. 

Well, that, and working on it keeps the Book Elves off the streets.

You can see the Bookin'! #7 right here.

A New Bookin'! is Ready!

With Thanksgiving and the Book Elves’ Great American Turkey Fracas in the rearview mirror, we can start worrying about what they will do for Christmas. 
A repeat of last year’s Burning Tree Festival seems unlikely, as does any sort of revival of the “Department Store Santa Roundup & Rodeo” of ’09. And, as far as I know, we managed to intercept all the Cat Wrapping videos they ordered on Amazon. There’s no snow in the forecast, so we also don’t have to keep an eye out for any of their notorious “Frieda Does Frosty” pornographic snow scenes on the front lawn. Vigilance remains necessary, though- just this morning UPS delivered 250 squirrel-sized Santa costumes.  And a catapult.

I feel just like Captain Kirk when he said-

“Very funny, Scotty. 
Now beam down my clothes”.

Have fun with our new catalog!

-Forrest

You can see the catalog here.