If you're new to the world of book collecting, you may have encountered multiple uses of the word "facsimile." It's an important term for collectors to understand in various contexts, as a "facsimile" anything--book, dust jacket, signature, etc.--can substantially impact the true value of a rare book.
Prolific author Lyman Frank Baum wrote a total of 55 novels, in addition to four books that were lost before publication. Baum is best known for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which was an immediate success and inspired the iconic movie The Wizard of Oz. The film has eclipsed the books in popular culture, overshadowing even the life of its creator. But Baum was a truly fascinating character!
"When you read a good story, you keep reading. When I write a good story, I just keep writing."
Haruki Murakami rose to become one of Japan's most accomplished and beloved authors, yet he eschews the limelight. Thanks to Murakami's varied, engaging style, his books have sold millions of copies and been translated into at least fifty languages.
This year marks the official centenary of Mother's Day: on May 9, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation establishing Mother's Day as a national holiday and making its official celebration on the second Sunday in May. But the holiday had been celebrated in various forms for many years. Thus the holiday's origin is a bit complicated. Numerous people--mostly women--could claim credit for Mother's Day.
The word "meteor" didn't specifically refer to a fireball or shooting star until 1590, when it appears in that context in Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. The term was originally popularized by Aristotle, who wrote a treatise on meteoro-logica, that is "discussion of high things." Aristotle wrote a treatise about the interplay between the four elements (earth, wind, water, and fire). He postulated that weather occurred because the sun's action caused vapors to rise up from the earth and sea. Aristotle addressed a wide variety of phenomena, from earthquakes to water evaporation.
Nineteenth-century painter Richard Cosway (1742-1821) was a renowned painter of miniature portraits. His career began early, when he was only 20 years old. Cosway would eventually paint members of the British royal family, along with many members of nobility. Cosway is the namesake of the eponymous book bindings, even though he had nothing to do with their creation.
If you collect modern first editions, you have probably encountered Book Club editions pretty frequently. Collectors frequently ask whether Book Club editions are first editions, and whether these volumes have any additional value. Book Club editions are generally differentiated from trade editions, and some people collect specific trade editions.
Janet Evanovich was born on April 22, 1943 in New Jersey. However, she would describe herself as more of a native of LaLa Land who has spent the majority of her life looking for an outlet for her imagination. Her childhood included singing opera on the streets or pretending to be a horse. As a young adult Evanovich expressed her imagination in the form of an Art Degree from Douglass College. But none of these things left Evanovich feeling complete.
So Evanovich began her writing career in her mid-thirties. She wrote story after story and spent the better part of ten years being rejected by every publishing house she sent her stories to. Her rather pornographic "romance" novels finally found a home at LoveLine, rescuing her from the world of temp work and panty hose. After five years of writing romance novels and putting every sexual exploit she could imagine to paper, she was tired of the genre. Evanovich spent the next two years researching the life of law enforcement and criminals to transition to the world of the mystery author. Today she lives and works in Naples, Florida with more then twenty best sellers to her name and is successful enough that she is able to succesfully employ her husband, son, and daughter full time.
Legendary author Gabriel García Márquez passed away today in Mexico City, where he'd been recovering from infections since April 8. The Nobel Prize-winning author was considered the father of magical realism, and he never shied away from confronting the injustices of Latin American politics. García Márquez will be remembered for his unique ability to blur the lines between fiction and reality; as both a journalist and a writer of novels, he frequently reminded us that the two forms are more similar than we'd want to think.
The origins of golf can be traced all the way back to 100 BCE. The ancient Romans played a game known as paganica, where participants hit a stuffed leather ball with a bent stick. Another game similar to golf, chuíw án, was played during the Song dynasty in China, fro around 960 to 1279. The game evolved considerably over time, and the precise origins of today's game are unknown. Both the French and the Dutch have claimed credit, citing similar games as evidence: jeue de mail and kolven respectively. But both these games lack an essential element of modern golf: the hole.
