Edmund Brumfitt
@ebrumfitt
Dealer in rare books, mainly before 1820, mainly European. Plus other distractions.
About a third of the way through putting books into storage ahead of a move, and feeling increasingly pro e-reader.
In the same boat, and it's an odd place to be. Wonder if yours also ended up at operas (as found today while going through old papers).
Celebrating the French Revolution (and others) with stand partners at Firsts London.
Monks doing their bit to convert Protestant prisoners of war in the early stages of the War of the Spanish Succession, all with the support of Philip V, whose accession to the Duchy of Milan gave rise to this collection of 29 sonnets.
It's catalogue time! My new list has lots on language-learning in the long 18th century, plus natural history printed as a children's Christmas gift, poems for new nuns, potatoes, advice on letter-writing and farming, Louis XVI and Napoleon, and more. It's at lists.ebrb.co.uk/list6
California fair list, fresh from the printers and about to head off to San Francisco.
Picked up a couple of these last week - New Year greetings from the bellringers of, in this case, the church of St Mary Magdalen, in 1805. But where? Any thoughts gratefully received.
Reading through the instructions for a new boiler timer, I came across this dire warning.
A puzzle. This was printed in 1740, for the 'ceremony battesimali' of the 'Secondigenito' of Francesco III, Duke of Modena. He had had four children (of whom the first two died in infancy, by 1727. So it seems unlikely that any would be being baptised in 1740. Can anyone shed any light on this?
Getting ready for this weekend's Chelsea Book Fair. A list of some of what I am taking is at lists.ebrb.co.uk/chelsea2025
Bluesky is full of coincidences. The author of this guide to rural domestic economy, now on my desk, was entirely unknown to me until this week. And now a new edition has just appeared of a 1788 novel of hers.
My next little list of recent acquisitions has bits and pieces of Italian theatre in it, including this: Metastasio's Siroe was very popular as an opera libretto, serving as the basis for operas by at least 35 known composers, including Handel and Vivaldi.
Feels like a week to think about constitutions. One of these was put into effect. The other was not put to a vote, and its proposer was arrested.
Step aside Mozart: this is Austria's greatest contribution to humanity.
British Airways to the rescue with this phrase: any missed deadline will now be explained by requiring additional time to do it as quickly as possible.
A lovely fresh copy in pink wrappers with original printed labels of Demoustier's Lettres à Émilie, sur la mythologie, tthrough which generations of French children learned the Greek myths, here printed by Renouard in 1803 Judging from the condition, I doubt this has gone anywhere near a child.
New arrival for any lovers of Mots d'Heures: Mousses, Rames. A 1784 method of learning English through a phonetic presentation of an English translation of Fénelon's Les Aventures de Télémaque. Bound to work.
Going through bits of paper and reminded how impressed I was that in Nancy they let people into the museum for free during the heat wave.
Finding all sorts of delights in a box I am going through. Duckling! Liebfraumilch! Potatoes in TWO forms!