Rare Book Moment 4: Victorian women

One of the fascinating aspects of book collecting is the opportunity to look down through history to a specific time and place and learn much about the inhabitants of the era. In this case, we're taking a look, through several beautiful little volumes, at American women during the Victorian Era. The books shown in this short episode of Rare Book Moment are snapshots that give us a glimpse into what life might have been like for educated women of some means. Please watch the video, and if you have questions, please leave them below.

Rare Book Moment 3: Fine Bindngs

It's probably not surprising that we enjoy revisiting the early videos of our Rare Book Moment series. After all, they're all about old books, right?

So this is the third in our series that we started nine years ago. 

Of course, this video was made in our old store in St. Petersburg. Last time we checked, that old blue bungalow was still there. Across the street these days a new apartment complex has risen from the ground. And Lighthouse Books, ABAA? We're happy in our new home in Dade City, which is about an hour drive north from St. Petersburg. 

We've had people wonder if we had moved to Miami. (We're guessing they were linking Dade County and Dade City.) No, we're in a sweet little town with a lot of history. In fact, Dade City is named for Brevet Major Francis L. Dade, the cavalry officer who led two companies of U.S. Army soldiers in a battle during the Second Seminole War. It became known as the Dade Massacre. A total of 108 soldiers were killed as a result of that battle in December 1835, including Major Dade. 

But this post isn't about the Seminole Wars. We may visit that in another post. Meantime, we're discussing beautiful workmanship on fine bindings. We hope you enjoy this journey back to the early years of Rare Book Moment and we hope you'll look for more episodes soon. 

Please leave comments below or send us an email at lighthousebooksabaa@gmail.com and let us know you're enjoying the series or any questions you'd like answered. Click the image above and you'll see the video. Or follow this link.

 

We're going back in time to revisit our early entries in our Rare Book Moment series

Here's a second installment of our visit to the early episodes of Rare Book Moment, a series we started nine years ago to share knowledge about book collecting. This particular episode has been particularly popular. It explores some of the criteria used to determine an antiquarian book's worth. We thought it would be instructive for first-time collectors who are trying to figure out what book they've come across might be worth. As always, we invite you to let us know if you like the series. You may comment below or send us an email at lighthousebookabaa@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you.

We're revisiting our old video series Rare Book Moment. Tell us if you enjoy it.

Nine years ago, we began a video series called Rare Book Moment. It was meant to provide some insight into the world of antiquarian book collecting. Over the years, we've been told that viewers found the series useful and informative. We're grateful for the loyal following.

Now we're opening up our archives and revisiting the series, one week at a time. Please let us know if you find these useful and if you have any questions.

We're talking old books here, so not much has changed. The books, like the rest of us, have gotten a little older but the principles of collecting have remained much the same. For that reason, we think this series can still be useful to book collectors.

Keen-eyed observers will realize this series is a a place that doesn't look at all like our location in Dade City, Florida, just up the road north from Tampa. That's because when we began this series we were located in a little blue bungalow (1920s vintage) located in the Methodist Town neighborhood of St. Petersburg. It was on First Avenue North, and it was our home for about four decades.

Now we're located on Fifth Street in Dade City, a charming little town about an hour drive from where we were in St. Petersburg. We love it here, and we encourage our St. Petrsburg friends to take a little roadtrip and visit us in Dade City, which, if you're familiar with Florida history, you'll know is named for Major Francis Dade, a U.S. Army officer who unknowingly led his troops into a massacre during the Second Seminole War.

You can see some of the new store in videos we have started posting on Facebook and YouTube. In the meantime, get ready to go back with us to the first insallments of Rare Book Moment.