Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Victorian funeral and cemetery monuments The victorian way to honor the dead. A picture story of victorian monuments

The Victorians had unique ways to honor the dead. The monuments they made were always big, sentimental and garish. Here is a batch of monuments from Cedar Grove Cemetery in Paterson NJ.























The Victorians had unique ways to honor the dead. The monuments they made were always big, sentimental and garish. Here is a batch of monuments from Cedar Grove Cemetery in Paterson NJ.

Friday, June 06, 2008

After nearly 25 years I finally got the books I wanted..a rare find for me, a bit of New England homespun





I have been looking for these books for ages. To make it more plain, I have looked for a quarter of a century. Now I will read them after a long wait.

What is so special about these books? Several things.... First off they were written by John Quincy Adams and published in 1810. There was not a massive amount of these books made. John Quincy was a professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard University starting in 1805. These books are some of his lectures before the Junior and seniors classes.

In 1812 John Adams renewed his friendship with his arch rival Thomas Jefferson. He opened up their friendship with a bit of "homespun" as Adams put it. It was a set of these books. Jefferson read them with great relish.

I have known of these books since the 1970's . Today, after so long I have finally found my copies of "homespun"...For me it is wonderful to have books in my library that John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, James Monroe, Josiah Quincy, and many of the great minds of the 18th and 19th century once had.

I find it was worth the wait. I will join Jefferson and many others and read them with great relish. What is truly great never disappoints, no matter how long the wait.