book-aesthete

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"May blessings be upon the head of Cadmus, the Phoenicians, or whoever it was that invented books." -Thomas Carlyle

Welcome to my virtual book collection. Since collecting actual books is somewhat cost-prohibitive, I've begun to amass all of the books I would love to have if I had the means. Some are new, lots are old, all are unique or beautiful or unusual or in some other way have captured my fancy. Enjoy browsing!

Special Collections: Fine Bindings ~ Fairies and Fairy Tales ~ Terror and Madness ~ Poetry ~ Food, Drink and Apothecary ~ Science Fiction ~ Illuminations, Lettering and Hand-Coloring ~ Magic ~ Supernatural and Occult ~ Alchemy ~ Science and Technical ~ Maritime ~ Costumes ~ Humor ~ Children's books ~ Legend of King Arthur ~ Americana ~ 18th Century ~ 19th Century

Authors and illustrators: Edgar Allan Poe ~ Jules Verne ~ Edmund Dulac ~ Kay Nielsen ~ Arthur Rackham ~ Edward Gorey ~ Charles Dickens ~ H.P. Lovecraft ~ William Hope Hodgson ~ Mark Twain ~ Lewis Carroll ~ Salvador Dali ~ George Cruikshank ~ Emily Dickinson ~ Geoffrey Chaucer ~ H.G. Wells

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Rat Catching - Smith (Robert) The Universal Dictionary for Taking Alive and Destroying Rats, and all other kinds of Four-Footed and Winged Vermin,
1768.

First edition, 6 engraved plates,

B-A note: I selected this book, not just because of the novelty of a Dictonary of Catching Rats, but because the auction it was listed in had 14 auction lots totalling no less than 25 rat- and other vermin-catching books ranging in publication date from 1668 to 2001. It seemed an odd thing to collect. But I suppose there are many strange collections in the world.

Edit: Make that an ironic 15. While not actually about rat-catching, this was listed in the same auction. Hee.