Our Rare Book Cafe: aviation and old maps

We got a laugh as we showed an 1830s map of Florida showing Mosquito County.

We had a grand time on Rare Book Cafe, the new Internet program devoted to antiquarian books. We were on Wednesday afternoon with our friends Steven Eisenstein and Thorne  Donnelley, who serve as co-hosts for the program, which is sponsored by the Florida Antiquarian Book Fair.

Steven is the owner of A-Book-A-Brac Shop in Miami Beach and Thorne owns Liberty Books in West Palm Beach. Both are exhibitors each year at the Florida Antiqurian Book Fair, and both generously volunteer their time to make Rare Book Cafe happen twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We appreciate that.

The program, which you can watch if you follow this link, give us an opportunity to show some of the amazing items in a huge collection of aviation books we acquired awhile back. There are some truly outstanding pieces in the collection that will be of tremendous interest to fans of anything having to do with flying. Among the items we showed was a 1909 airplane catalog offering all the parts you would have needed to put together your very own flying machine. You could order the fabric, guy wires, and everything else needed for your Wright Brothers plane or several other makes.

There also was an instruction pamphlet for aerial combat during World War I. Pilots were instructed to tie themselves into their cockpits to afford them more confidence in looping aerial maneuvers, especially if the trick didn't result in vanquishing the enemy. At the top of each page, presumably to keep the objective squarely in front of each trainee, are the words TAKE DOWN THE HUN.

We mentioned some other items in the aviation collection but there are far too many to cover in one sitting. Maybe we'll have to revisit the subject later.

Another item we were pleased to share was a vintage Florida map that just came in. It's an extraordinary piece from the 1830s with which we should spend some more time. Everybody got a kick out of the designation of Mosquito County, which took up a big chunk of what is now Orange, Seminole, Osceola and some other counties in the Central Florida area. The area of the Keys, Miami, the Everglades, and point north were all part of Monroe County back then. Steven noted that there was no Miami Beach (where he lives) in those days.

Steven and Thorne shared stories, anecdotes, and items of interest as did Edie Eisenstein, Steven's wife, who has a large collection of miniature books.

Thank you to everyone for sharing your time, talent, and stories, and thank you for inviting us to participate. We'll see you again on Rare Book Cafe.