Recession? What recession? Edgar Allan Poe’s first book, "Tamerlane and Other Poems," has been sold at auction for a record price of $662,500:
"This is known as the black tulip of U.S. literature," said Francis Wahlgren, head of books and manuscripts at Christie’s in New York, which expects to get from $500,000 to $700,000 for the book on Friday. To the best of Wahlgren’s recollection, the record is $250,000 for a copy of "Tamerlane" sold at auction nearly two decades ago.
No more than 40 or 50 copies of "Tamerlane" were printed, and only 12 remain. Poe’s name doesn’t even grace the cover of the 40-page book, which is credited to "a Bostonian."
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Once upon a time, little girls are made of sugar and spice and all things nice and little boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy-dog tails … but no more!
Enter the feminist book for children:
Bring on Jacinta Bunnell’s colouring book Girls Are Not Chicks, published in the UK this week. The New York-based author first had the idea for feminist books for children when reading bedtime stories as a nanny. "I found myself editing the words so as not to pass on a sexist message," she says. "In most children’s books the girls have pretty frocks and bows in their hair, so I would turn it around – call the boys by girls’ names and vice versa."
In the US "anti-princess reading lists" have appeared, pioneered by the websites Mommytracked.com and Bitchmagazine.org. There are now books for three- to eight-year-olds with a specifically feminist agenda: Call me Madame President, Girls Think of Everything, Girls Will Be Boys Will Be Girls.
Viv Groskop of The Guardian has the run down of books that’ll turn your little princesses into Betty Friedans in no time flat: Link
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An Israeli woman paid $32,000 for the entire Business Class of an El Al flight to allow her dog (and an accompanying vet) to fly with her. She told reporters any price was worth it to keep her pet free from the stress of cargo travel:
“All that mattered to me was to have my baby with me during the flight so that I can take care of him.”
El Al told the Haaretz newspaper in Israel it had never had such a request before. “But after the lady explained her special relationship with her dog and expressed her willingness to pay extra in order to fly with him, we agreed.”
Link – via boingboing
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The largest book in the world is a photo collection entitled Bhutan: A Visual Odyssey Across the Kingdom. It measures five feet wide by seven feet long, weighs 133 pounds, and is 122 pages long. It was written by MIT scientist Michael Hawley to raise money for education in that very poor nation. Amazon is currently selling it for $30,000.
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What would Wikipedia look like if it were printed out as a traditional encyclopedia? Rob Matthews decided to make it his art project: behold, the 5,000 pages of Wikipedia (featured articles only, mind you) in book form: Link
- via Cliff Pickover’s Reality Carnival
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"Thursday Jan. 1, 2009 18:20 Rousing from torpor to go to shops then come back and cook good things. Fried things, in all likelihood."
James Bridle decided to collect all his Twitter messages from the past two years and print them up in a hardcover book. He will make one for you, "if you ask nicely and pay me a lot of money."
Why do such a thing? Bridle explains, "When Twitter is inevitably replaced by something else, I don’t wan to lose those incidentals, the casual asides, the remarks and responses. That’s all really. This seems like a nice way to do it, and I’ll probably do it again in a couple of years."
Link – via izreloaded
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A selection of book titles and covers so boring they’re interesting.
I bet Alex has some of those in his library.
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Fourth grader Alec Greven wrote a pamphlet called “How to Talk to Girls” which became a best seller at his school book fair in Castle Rock, Colorado. The 46-page book has now been picked up by publisher Harper Collins. Some tidbits:
“It is easy to spot pretty girls because they have big earrings, fancy dresses and all the jewelry,” he writes in Chapter Three.
“Pretty girls are like cars that need a lot of oil.”
He advises, “The best choice for most boys is a regular girl. Remember, some pretty girls are coldhearted when it comes to boys. Don’t let them get to you.”
He believes the best way to approach a girl is to keep it to a simple “hi.”
“If I say hi and you say hi back, we’re probably off to a good start,” he said.
As for his own love life, he said he is not dating anyone at the moment. “I’m a little too young,” he confessed.
Link to story. Link to Amazon order page. -via Unique Daily
(image credit: Liz Sullivan)
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