For many of us in Portland, a tradition at Christmas time is to visit the Victoria Mansion, which is lovingly and lavishly decorated. One of my favorite rooms is the library, of course, full of beautifully bound books behind glass cases. This library was a hidden collection until recently, when two Victoria Mansion staff members, Sue Flaherty and Michelle Josephson, did a thorough investigation of the books behind the glass cases, and in the process learned even more about the families that lived in the Mansion: the Morses and Libbys.
There are 1061 books in the library, including histories, fiction, adventure stories, religious books, and a hymnal dating back to 1795, which is the oldest book in the collection. The fiction includes books by Kate Douglas Wiggin (see November’s blog), who was friends with Mrs. Libby (Louisa). Books by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow were also popular, so the local Maine authors are well represented. Some of the books include inscriptions, which give even more clues to relationships between the donor of the book and the lucky recipient. Occasionally items were found in some of the books, such as a pressed flower or bookmark.
Private libraries are a wonderful source of history, to learn more about the people who collected their books. Several years ago I had the honor of cataloguing the books in the Wadsworth Longfellow House, including the books in the bedroom of Anne Longfellow Pierce, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s sister, as well as the books in sitting room.
So, next time you are in a historic house museum, take a closer look at those books in the book cases or on shelves, as they may also have a story to tell about the inhabitants.
Special thanks to Sue Flaherty and Michelle Josephson for providing information for this blog.
Years ago, when I was the Special Collections Librarian at Westbrook College (later University of New England), and in charge of the Maine Women Writers Collection, I met Glenys Tarlow, collector of books by Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923). She offered to give a talk about Wiggin, which I followed up on. Through that talk I met Carla Turner, who owned Kate Douglas Wiggin’s summer home, Quillcote, in Hollis, Maine. Carla was kind enough to invite me out to see her beautiful home, and she also took me to the Salmon Falls Library, which was established in 1911 by Kate Douglas Wiggin as the Salmon Falls Village Library and Tearoom (every small town needs one!). It was truly an honor to meet these generous women, connected to Kate Douglas Wiggin – one of the wonderful side benefits of my job.
Many people are familiar with Kate Douglas Wiggin’s most famous book, “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” but many don’t know of all Wiggin’s other talents and interests, including as an educator (a leader in the free kindergarten movement) and composer. As a native Californian I was intrigued to learn of Wiggin’s connections to California. Teenage Kate’s family moved to Santa Barbara, where I also lived as a teenager in the nearby town of Carpinteria. In her early 20s she headed the Silver Street Kindergarten in San Francisco—the first free kindergarten on the West Coast of the United States (I was born in nearby Berkeley and lived in San Francisco after college).
What is also interesting about Wiggin is how she was connected to Maine, despite being born in Philadelphia. When Kate’s father died, her mother moved the family to Portland, and then Hollis, Maine. Kate later attended Gorham Female Seminary. She spent time off and on at Quillcote throughout the years, getting involved in the local community, and even setting one of her books in Buxton. When she died at the age of 66, her ashes were scattered on the Saco River.
As you can see, I feel a bit of a kinship for this famous author who was bi-coastal, with roots in the two places I’ve lived the longest – California (26 years) and Maine (27 years).
Postcrossing is an online project for people to exchange postcards with other project members globally. There are currently just over 800,000 members, more than 200 countries represented, and almost 74 million postcards received.
In the 7 years that Nancy Noble has been a member, she’s sent and received only 35 postcards, which is very few compared to many postcrossers. But in this limited correspondence, she’s received postcards from Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Ukraine, and the United States (including Seattle, Finger Lakes, and Chicago). And she’s sent postcards to Germany, Russia, and the United States, but also Slovenia and Sweden.
Direct swaps are an option, and Nancy swapped postcards with Martin in the Czech Republic at his request. She also recently became a pen pal with Inga in Germany also at her request—she just sent a long letter about her life north of Hamburg.
But mostly these random postcards from all over the world bring a smile to Nancy’s face when they land in her mailbox here on Long Island.
Interspersed with the postcards in the exhibit case are coins and bills from the various countries Karen has visited over the past twenty years. She’s spent a lot of time in both Asia and South America. Countries represented include Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Nepal, China, and Thailand, as well as Bolivia, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, and Uruguay.
Karen always travels as cheaply as possible, booking flights for “shoulder season” when they are less expensive, staying in hostels, and often traveling by bus. She’s met amazing people and learned so much along the way.
Long Island Community Library small meeting room exhibit case
Where would we be without volunteers? At the Long Island Community Library we would be nowhere. This volunteer run library exists due to the many hours of volunteers giving their time, which allow the library to be open every day of the week in the summer, and most days the rest of the year. Volunteers not only keep the library open, but they curate gallery shows, provide tech support, bake goods for events, write blogs, run programs, organize a continuous book sale, and generally make sure that the library is a safe and fun place for families, seniors, and all of the community.
In August we celebrated these volunteers with a lovely event in the library, full of delicious food, beautiful flowers, great conversation, and a time to thank departing board members and library staff. We are so grateful to our volunteers! If you are interested in volunteering, please let us know.
I didn’t do my homework very well. I did see on our atlas “Annie Road” but there was no sign for it. We did find the Maple Grove Cemetery, where she is buried, but I naively thought that it would be a small cemetery and we would just stumble upon (or over) her headstone, which has etched on it: “Last of the saddle tramps.” Alas, this is a very large cemetery! There is an index online but I wasn’t quite clear on how to use it to find Annie, who is buried in the Libby family plot. So, another quest for another day. Meanwhile, I did get to see Annie’s old stomping grounds.
I liked this book so much that I have bought several more copies to give as gifts to some of my horse loving kin. I was never a horse woman, but I do love a good tale. This book shines with good hearted people who helped Annie and her animals along the way, and I loved how her story unfolded. And how wonderful that she is from Maine! The Long Island Community Library has a copy of this book, which is dedicated to the memory of another Annie, Annie Donovan, who also loved this book.
Update! My more clever friend Melissa had better success in finding Annie’s headstone, and was kind enough to provide better details, so next time I should have an easier time finding the headstone.
One of my definitions of a classic book is one that can be reread over time, and each time it brings new emotions and connections. Alix Kates Shulman’s “Drinking the rain: a memoir” is one of those classics, especially to those of us who live on Long Island, which Alix writes about in this memoir. Recently our island book group chose this book for our July reading, and to our delight, Alix agreed to join us via Zoom. We had a delightful discussion about how things have changed and remained the same on the island in the past 30 years since the book was published, including technology, solitude, foraging, island exploration, fear, climate, and nature. It’s also fun to guess who Alix encounters on the island, as the names were changed (to protect the innocent??)
How fortunate we are to have Alix, a celebrated and well known author, as one of our local authors, as well as a friend. While she no longer owns her beloved home on the Nubble, it will forever be frozen in time, thanks to this classic island book.
This book was for sale in a Rockland book shop last November – another evidence of a classic!
In the Sussex countryside of England are the homes of two famous sisters: Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf. They were the originators of The Bloomsbury Group, a circle of English artists, writers and intellectuals in the first half of the 20th century. The name came about as the group started in the Bloomsbury (London neighborhood) home of Virginia and Vanessa. Several years later both sisters moved to East Sussex, which is where I visited both their homes last October.
I was charmed by both houses, which are four miles apart (although much further to drive between). The sisters used to visit each other’s homes on foot. Artists Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant lived in Charleston, a farmhouse in a rural setting where one can smell the country air. Writers Virginia and Leonard Woolf lived in the village setting of Rodmell, in “Monk’s House.”
Charleston is a visual treat, with artwork covering every surface, from doors to tables to rugs, and all in between – even the side of the bathtub surround. Not to mention the actual framed artwork, plates, sculpture, and pottery. The walled garden is magical, with whimsical sculptures around each corner.
Monk’s House was a visceral experience, from the moment I stepped in – with the shades of green and artistic touches I felt like I was back in my grandmother’s house (Grandma Noble was also an artist, and lived in the same era). Stepping out of the house is a beautiful garden with views of Sussex Downs.
While I can’t claim to have immersed myself in the Bloomsbury canon, I was delighted to spend the day in the homes of these two luminary sisters.
Many years ago, fresh out of graduate school for library science, I landed my first professional job as a grant cataloger of 19th century American children’s literature at the esteemed American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Although I found the books that I catalogued to be fairly depressing (which echoed my life at the time) with their pious and moralistic themes, it didn’t dampen my enthusiasm for classic children’s literature and illustration, which I have always loved. One of my happiest memories as a child was reading “The Adventures of Uncle Lubin” (first published in 1902) with my grandmother, as well as reading books on my own such as A Little Princess (by Frances Hodgson Burnett), Hans Brinker, or, The Silver Skates (by Mary Mapes Dodge), and all the Wizard of Oz books (by L. Frank Baum). My imagination was also stirred through the illustrations of books, such as those by Beatrix Potter, Arthur Rackham, and Kate Greenaway. In fact, when in graduate school I was assigned to create an exhibit (on paper) on any subject of my choice, I chose to create an exhibit based on the clothing in Kate Greenaway’s books (with my premise that the clothing of the time was influenced by Kate Greenaway).
So, imagine my delight when I finally perused the marvelous books in the Portland Room’s Children’s Special Collection. (I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that it took me over 25 years to finally sit down and look at these amazing books). On my lunch hour one day this winter I wandered over to the Portland Room, where Special Collections Librarian Abraham Schechter allowed me to immerse myself into the magical books behind the glass sliding doors. I spent a very happy hour oohing and aahing over the book bindings and illustrations throughout many of these books, including endpapers.
My first question, though, was “Where did these books come from?” Abraham said that they were in the previous home of the Portland Public Library in the Baxter Building. Investigating the bookplates and inscriptions explained some of the provenance beyond that.
The most well-known children’s book authors, from both sides of the Atlantic, can be found in this collection, including Louisa May Alcott (Little Women), J. M. Barrie (Peter Pan), L. Frank Baum (Wizard of Oz), Frances Hodgson Burnett (Secret Garden), Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland), Kenneth Grahame (Wind in the Willows), Rudyard Kipling (Jungle Book), and Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped). Lesser known to today’s modern audiences, but very popular in their time, are G. A. Henty (known for adventure fiction and historical fiction), Harriett Lothrop (Five Little Peppers series), and Oliver Optic (pseudonym for William Taylor Adams). Closer to home are Maine authors Jacob Abbott (best known for the Rollo books), Sophie May (pseudonym for Rebecca Sophia Clarke, and best known for the Little Prudy series), Kate Douglas Wiggin (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), and Josephine Perry, the wife of Admiral Robert Peary, who wrote “Snow baby” with her daughter Marie Ahnighito Peary.
And, oh, the illustrations! I found books illustrated by Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, W. Heath Robinson, Randolph Caldecott, Arthur Rackham, Beatrix Potter, and Kate Greenaway. Even William Blake, the English poet and painter, is represented.
There are also wonderful fairy tales, such as those by Andrew Lang, Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grimm, and Charles Perrault. There are books in several languages, including French, German, Spanish, and Italian.
Alas, I could only begin to skim the surface in surveying these 600+ books. I hope I can return soon, to really delight in these beautiful books in a more leisurely way. (Here are more of my photographs of this marvelous collection)
Our newest exhibit showcases favorite eggs of islanders, including Nancy Berges, Ann Caliandro, Judy Churchard, Annie Donovan, Bette Jane Fitzgerald, Nancy Jordan, Nancy Noble, Katharine Stewart, and Patty Temple. We are also delighted to showcase the Pysanky eggs made during the recent workshop.
The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with many cultures celebrating spring. Pagans saw eggs as a symbol of regeneration in springtime. Early Christians borrowed this idea and applied it to the rebirth of Christ. The egg itself became a symbol of the Resurrection.
On my bucket list is a visit Beatrix Potter‘s home in the Lake District in England. I have long been a fan of her books and artwork, as well as of her life story, as an author, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. Although I have not yet made it to Hill Top, her home in Near Sawrey, and other places that are associated with her, I did have the pleasure of visiting an exhibition about her artwork and love of nature at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. This exhibition, Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature, was one of the reasons for visiting England last October. In the midst of a wonderful week visiting my friends, Jane and Michael in West Sussex, we took the train to London, and found our way to the Victoria and Albert Museum via an underground tunnel. Entering the exhibition was entering Beatrix’s world. We saw familiar friends such as Benjamin Bunny, Jemima Puddleduck, Peter Rabbit, and even the waistcoats that Beatrix used for inspiration in her book, The Tailor of Gloucester. At the end of the exhibit one could sit and enjoy scenes from the Lake District, to make you almost feel like you were there. So, until I can visit the actual setting, this was a wonderful way to get a small taste of Beatrix Potter’s landscape, via her artwork.
Entrance to exhibitBenjamin BunnyBeatrix Potter artwork – a black bunny and Mrs. Tiggle-WinkleJemima Puddleduck and Peter RabbitWaistcoats which inspired the Tailor of Gloucester’s waistcoatThese cute little mice appeared throughout the exhibitA young fan
A small library on an island on the coast of Maine
