The bookcharmer is experiencing a moment of elation and chagrin, teeth-grinding joy. To expand my knowledge about travelers and travel writers, I have been going through Patricia Netzley's Encyclopedia of Women's Travel and Exploration (Oryx 2001). I am try to place, in my own mind, whether Clara Laughlin, owner of The Clara Laughlin Travel Agency and the author of the So You're Going guides of the the 20's and 30's can be classified as a writer of guidebooks or a travel writer. In fact, it will take more reading of her 12 guides to figure out what percentage is about her as a traveler vs. what she recommend others see on their own travels. But that aside, I am also, in my usual overly ambitious and naive way, trying to learn more about the history of "modern" travel, travel for leisure or education and social purposes, rather than, say, travel as pilgrimage for religious or penitential or missionary purposes.
So, that led to picking up Netzley's book, which, at less than 300 pages, is still titled an encyclopedia. Cited as further reading for the entry on Europe, Continental, is this nugget of pure bibliographic gold:
Withey, Lynne. Grand tours and Cooks' Tours: A History of Leisure Travel, 1750-1915. New York: W. Morrow, 1997.
I confess, this title raised my eyebrows and brought forth from my less that sotto vocce a mild swear. Why haven't I found this title before?
An immediate trip to the catalog reveals that Witheys' book, a volume of 401 pages, gets exactly this for a subject heading, just this one:
Voyages and travels--history
That's it.
It is shelved in the G96 section, which upon browsing, seems more about geography than travel.
I'm trying to put those minor cavils aside, since Withey's book is immensely promising for getting me up to speed on that great provider of tours, the Thomas Cook company.
Chagrin. Why did it take me so long to find this book? Grateful as I am for the reference that appeared in Netzley's book, I am still grouchy that my frequent trolling of library catalogs had not previously turned up this source.
Perhaps a coffee, no, make that a double latte, will cheer me up. I know that the list of sources in Withey's book will also make for some teeth grinding joy.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Free Topic: Roberts, Helen M., 1896-
Greetings, readers and hopefully researchers in need of a topic. I shall write of how I came upon this author presently, but first the discovery:
Helen M. Roberts, born 1896. Author of at least 30 and possibly as many as 40 unique titles, many of them with the subject heading:
Indians of North America -- California -- Fiction.
She evidently wrote a series, Mission Tales. The bibliographic evidence reads:
[Mission tales : stories of the historic California missions / Helen M. Roberts ; illustrations by Muriel Lawrence
Imprint Stanford, Cal.] : Stanford Univ. Press, [1947-48]
Edition Preliminary ed. distributed for special educational use
Stanford UP? In the late 40's? Distributed for special educational use?
The bookcharmer offers this author up to researchers in search of a topic, because a. she is supposed to be focusing on CEL anyway, not topic shopping herself, b. because she found this author and this potentially shocking/hair raising series of titles (how were California Indians portrayed in this series for children???) while preparing a list of subject headings for a class she is co-teaching Monday and should be finishing that instead of even writing this blog post.
A few hints, if you want this topic:
Link+ does not provide evidence of a monograph, so check worldcat. Then check, oh, let's say the Proquest dissertations database, a good biography index like Biography and Geneaology Master Index, then its off to Book Review Digest.
Helen M. Roberts, born 1896. Author of at least 30 and possibly as many as 40 unique titles, many of them with the subject heading:
Indians of North America -- California -- Fiction.
She evidently wrote a series, Mission Tales. The bibliographic evidence reads:
[Mission tales : stories of the historic California missions / Helen M. Roberts ; illustrations by Muriel Lawrence
Imprint Stanford, Cal.] : Stanford Univ. Press, [1947-48]
Edition Preliminary ed. distributed for special educational use
Stanford UP? In the late 40's? Distributed for special educational use?
The bookcharmer offers this author up to researchers in search of a topic, because a. she is supposed to be focusing on CEL anyway, not topic shopping herself, b. because she found this author and this potentially shocking/hair raising series of titles (how were California Indians portrayed in this series for children???) while preparing a list of subject headings for a class she is co-teaching Monday and should be finishing that instead of even writing this blog post.
A few hints, if you want this topic:
Link+ does not provide evidence of a monograph, so check worldcat. Then check, oh, let's say the Proquest dissertations database, a good biography index like Biography and Geneaology Master Index, then its off to Book Review Digest.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Musings on Microform, Or, I have proof that that Internet is an incomplete archive.
The Bookcharmer has, for some weeks, been away from the stacks and confined to the reels. Reels of microform, specifically the papers of photographer Frances Benjamin Johnston, a contemporary and acquaintance of my research interest, Clara Elizabeth Laughlin. It has been a particular delight to find on the microfilm (notice use of words "delight" and "microfilm" in same sentence) letters from a youthful and exuberent CEL to FBJ regarding trips to New York. My heartfelt thanks to the Library of Congress librarian who put together the finding aid to these papers, as Johnston's papers required 37 reels of microfilm to archive.
I have 3 reels of the 37 on loan and I must return them soon. Using microform is rather like putting on a pair of glasses that are no longer the correct prescription when you have misplaced your current glasses or are out of contact lenses--everything is still there, but only visible through a glare-y fog that quickly gives you a headache. But the headache is worth it, particularly if the items you are viewing are not digitized and only available a continent away.
(An aside on digitizing--must individual researchers bear the cost of digitizing archives? I will not point online fingers at specific institutions just now, but really, 50 dollars an hour for scanning and uploading???)
I share with you a delicious sentence, unrelated to CEL, written by a Mr. Henry in defense of Frances Benjamin Johnston, who had an unhappy conversation with and was unfairly treated by a Howard Marston. In a letter dated January 16, 1906, Mr. Henry wrote, "My friend, Miss Johnston, whom I unwittingly introduced into your fold, thinking I was doing you both a friendly service, has sent me copies of the rather astounding correspondence between you. I enclose you a copy of my letter to her. I shall be pleased to meet you in any backyard you may designate, and determine who is the gentleman."
Would that we all had such a champion as Mr. Henry!
I have 3 reels of the 37 on loan and I must return them soon. Using microform is rather like putting on a pair of glasses that are no longer the correct prescription when you have misplaced your current glasses or are out of contact lenses--everything is still there, but only visible through a glare-y fog that quickly gives you a headache. But the headache is worth it, particularly if the items you are viewing are not digitized and only available a continent away.
(An aside on digitizing--must individual researchers bear the cost of digitizing archives? I will not point online fingers at specific institutions just now, but really, 50 dollars an hour for scanning and uploading???)
I share with you a delicious sentence, unrelated to CEL, written by a Mr. Henry in defense of Frances Benjamin Johnston, who had an unhappy conversation with and was unfairly treated by a Howard Marston. In a letter dated January 16, 1906, Mr. Henry wrote, "My friend, Miss Johnston, whom I unwittingly introduced into your fold, thinking I was doing you both a friendly service, has sent me copies of the rather astounding correspondence between you. I enclose you a copy of my letter to her. I shall be pleased to meet you in any backyard you may designate, and determine who is the gentleman."
Would that we all had such a champion as Mr. Henry!
Monday, June 29, 2009
In My Mitts: Magic Search: Getting the Best Results from Your Catalog and Beyond
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The title delivers: Magic Search! I praise Kornegary, Buchanan, and Morgan for their analysis and interpretation of Library of Congress subject heading subdivisions!
Just to get a bit meta on you, dear reader, the LC and subdivision for this title:
Subject heading subdivisions -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
What does this book do? It explains how to find the _type_ of source you are looking for by identifying the subdivisions that will retrieve the category of source you desire. The authors kindly identify the best subdivisions and illuminate the scope of the subheadings. Great examples of their explanations include the discussion of relevant subject headings for places and people.
Click over to my Art Librarian blog, where I rhapsodize about their explanation of subdivisions for locating images!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Summer Reading
Has it really been since April that the Bookcharmer last posted? There is a good reason, of course: summer reading! The Bookcharmer's office and personal abode are a veritable tower of books, carefully stacked piles of books being read, books to read, and books that have been read.
The Bookcharmer is most anxious to get her scholarly mitts on a new title:
Kornegay, Rebecca S.
Magic search : getting the best results from your catalog and beyond / Rebecca S. Kornegay, Heidi E. Buchanan, and Hildegard B. Morgan.
Chicago : American Library Association, 2009.
I have just checked the Catalog, and voila! It is waiting for me on the hold shelf...
The Bookcharmer is most anxious to get her scholarly mitts on a new title:
Kornegay, Rebecca S.
Magic search : getting the best results from your catalog and beyond / Rebecca S. Kornegay, Heidi E. Buchanan, and Hildegard B. Morgan.
Chicago : American Library Association, 2009.
I have just checked the Catalog, and voila! It is waiting for me on the hold shelf...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
The role of truth in literature for children
A brief search in the ERIC database today generated a citation of considerable interest:
Representations of the Moon in Children's Literature: An Analysis of Written and Visual Text.
Author(s): Trundle, Kathy Cabe; Troland, Thomas H.; Pritchard, T. Gail
Source: Journal of Elementary Science Education, v20 n1 p17-28 Win 2008. 12 pp.
Of course, the bookcharmer's whimsy is tickled by this title, but the whiff of opportunity for comparison is also noticeable. If teaching children incorrect information about the moon is problematic, what about misrepresentations about American history in literature marketed to children?
So let's briefly consider the arguments of Trundle et al:
On page 17, the whimsy is ameliorated but explanation of the significance of the topic at hand, "Does it really matter if students or adults understand the phases of the moon? Perhaps not for the purposes of everyday life; yet the familiar cycle of lunar phases,so beautiful and so evocative to the human race, is a phenomenon of nature that begs understanding. Unfortunately, misrepresentations of the moon in children’s literature do little to foster this goal."
On page 24, the issue of churlishness is addressed, "Perhaps it seems churlish to complain about drawings of lunar phases in children’s books; these books are literature, not science. It would also seem churlish to complain about Van Gogh’s exaggerated stars in Starry Night or about scenes in Star Trek that could not actually take place. Yet, education strives, among other things, to convey an accurate understanding of the natural world. The results presented in this article clearly establish that illustrations in children’s books reinforce inaccurate conceptions of lunar phases."
Trundle's argument gets at the heart of what I would like to examine in the role of books like Caddie Woodlawn which have been used to teach American history--what level of truth is presented to readers, and what consequence does it have?
Thank you, Trundle et al.
Representations of the Moon in Children's Literature: An Analysis of Written and Visual Text.
Author(s): Trundle, Kathy Cabe; Troland, Thomas H.; Pritchard, T. Gail
Source: Journal of Elementary Science Education, v20 n1 p17-28 Win 2008. 12 pp.
Of course, the bookcharmer's whimsy is tickled by this title, but the whiff of opportunity for comparison is also noticeable. If teaching children incorrect information about the moon is problematic, what about misrepresentations about American history in literature marketed to children?
So let's briefly consider the arguments of Trundle et al:
On page 17, the whimsy is ameliorated but explanation of the significance of the topic at hand, "Does it really matter if students or adults understand the phases of the moon? Perhaps not for the purposes of everyday life; yet the familiar cycle of lunar phases,so beautiful and so evocative to the human race, is a phenomenon of nature that begs understanding. Unfortunately, misrepresentations of the moon in children’s literature do little to foster this goal."
On page 24, the issue of churlishness is addressed, "Perhaps it seems churlish to complain about drawings of lunar phases in children’s books; these books are literature, not science. It would also seem churlish to complain about Van Gogh’s exaggerated stars in Starry Night or about scenes in Star Trek that could not actually take place. Yet, education strives, among other things, to convey an accurate understanding of the natural world. The results presented in this article clearly establish that illustrations in children’s books reinforce inaccurate conceptions of lunar phases."
Trundle's argument gets at the heart of what I would like to examine in the role of books like Caddie Woodlawn which have been used to teach American history--what level of truth is presented to readers, and what consequence does it have?
Thank you, Trundle et al.
Friday, March 20, 2009
Beautiful Joe An Autobiography By Marshall Saunders, Judson Press
Beautiful Joe An Autobiography By Marshall Saunders, Judson Press: "I could not go away from Miss Laura even to die. When my last hour comes I want to see her gentle face bending over me and then I shall not mind how much I suffer" page 341.
I just discovered this book, Beautiful Joe, through a link on goodreads.com. I quickly skimmed a digital copy on Google books, but I long to sit down with a proper copy, one with soft, aged paper, and sink into this sweetly moral story about the goodness of dogs. Of course, the title caught my eye right away as my own dear canine companion was also named Joe. The bits I read online make me believe that Margaret Marshall Saunders also knew the beautiful relationship that can happen between people and dogs.
Margaret Marshall Saunders? Yes, even though the frontispiece illustration says only Marshall Saunders. Fortunately, there is an official "beautiful Joe" website to fill us in:
"Because women authors were not popular at the time she disguised her sex, using her middle name Marshall. Margaret also relocated the story to a small town in Maine and changed the family's name to Morris to win a literary contest sponsored by the American Humane Education Society. The book was first published in 1893 and quickly became the first Canadian book to sell more than a million copies. By 1900, over 800,000 copies sold in the U.S., 40,000 in Canada and 100,000 in the United Kingdom. And by the 1930's world wide sales were over 7 million copies.
Beautiful Joe was chosen as one of the 10 best children's books in Canada, and for more than a century Margaret Marshal has been one of Canada's best known writers of children's stories."
From: http://www.beautifuljoe.org/saunders.cfm
A tribute to my own beautiful Joe is on my flickr website if you would like to see it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccafeind/sets/72157611862802728/
I just discovered this book, Beautiful Joe, through a link on goodreads.com. I quickly skimmed a digital copy on Google books, but I long to sit down with a proper copy, one with soft, aged paper, and sink into this sweetly moral story about the goodness of dogs. Of course, the title caught my eye right away as my own dear canine companion was also named Joe. The bits I read online make me believe that Margaret Marshall Saunders also knew the beautiful relationship that can happen between people and dogs.
Margaret Marshall Saunders? Yes, even though the frontispiece illustration says only Marshall Saunders. Fortunately, there is an official "beautiful Joe" website to fill us in:
"Because women authors were not popular at the time she disguised her sex, using her middle name Marshall. Margaret also relocated the story to a small town in Maine and changed the family's name to Morris to win a literary contest sponsored by the American Humane Education Society. The book was first published in 1893 and quickly became the first Canadian book to sell more than a million copies. By 1900, over 800,000 copies sold in the U.S., 40,000 in Canada and 100,000 in the United Kingdom. And by the 1930's world wide sales were over 7 million copies.
Beautiful Joe was chosen as one of the 10 best children's books in Canada, and for more than a century Margaret Marshal has been one of Canada's best known writers of children's stories."
From: http://www.beautifuljoe.org/saunders.cfm
A tribute to my own beautiful Joe is on my flickr website if you would like to see it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rebeccafeind/sets/72157611862802728/
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