This Book Could KILL YOU!!!

OK, so that might have been a bit dramatic, but, there is some truth to that statement.

We've all heard it. Someone complaining that video games can kill because they make our children violent. Or how movies like Natural Born Killers inspire a murderous desire in viewers. But what about books?  Has a book ever inspired anyone to kill? Or even worse, much like the ominous VHS in the movie, The Ring, can a book actually kill a person? Well, the answer is, yes.  But it's complicated, let me explain...

Arsenic makes a lovely shade of green.

A fashionably green room is simply to die for!

The beginning of the 19th century brought with it a new mindset about "home". For the first time a persons home was considered to be a sanctuary, a place to hide away from the world and relax. And for the first time, people started to fill their homes with objects and things to create an atmosphere of wealth and fortune in the home. The Victorians were so enamored with the idea of the home being a show piece for their status in the world, they were known to decorate their homes as lavishly as possible. They were very mindful of what was considered to be in fashion and made certain that their homes were filled with the latest styles. During this time green was the highest of fashion and the truest most vibrant greens were those made by mixing arsenic and copper. This combination appeared in everything from wallpaper, fabrics, toys and more. Books were also used to display these wallpaper sample, and what looks nicer than a book cover wrapped in pretty green wallpaper!?

Not many of these poisonous books still exist but there are a few. The book most notorious for being poisonous is this one. The book, wrapped in ornate wallpaper may not look like much, but a closer look reveals that this book is wrapped in wallpaper removed from Napoleon Buonaparte's bedroom. The very bedroom he died in while in the custody of British soldiers. That wallpaper is likely the cause of Bounaparte's death. There are many theories surrounding his death but this one book might just be the best evidence yet. Only time will tell if this discovery will lead to some real answers.

So when you are buying rare books, always be cautious of books from the Victorian area. Especially books bound in wallpaper. It might be the last book you ever buy!

The Hauntingly Beautiful Partnership of Poe and Dulac

We have all heard tales of the short, strange life of one of America's first professional writers, Edgar Allen Poe. He was born in Boston to actors who separated when he was only a year old. Poe's father was never to be seen again and his mother died the following year. Poe was taken in by the Allan family and raised to adulthood. His gambling and lifestyle alienated him from his adoptive family. He married his 13 year old cousin in 1835 who would die young in 1847 and Poe would follow her two years later at the age of 40.

A less famed but no less noteworthy character is the French born and British naturalized Edmund Dulac. His personal life is far less entertaining than Poe's but his career as an illustrator was impressive. Dulac rose to fame illustrating 9 volumes by the Bronte sisters for J.M. Dent publishers. The next three years found him doing illustration work for several different magazines. He would then begin work illustrating gift editions of classic works for Hodder & Stoughton with The Arabian Nights in 1907. He would illustrate several similar editions for Hodder & Stoughton over the next decade but would end this association at the outbreak of the Great War. After World War 1 Dulac began illustrating children's books and stamps; work which he would continue until his death in 1953.

We at Oddfellow's Fine Books and Collectables have had the privilege of carrying a breadth

of work by both of these great men. Our most recent Dulac find is also a Poe find! The Poetical Works of Edgar Allan Poe Illustrated by Edmund Dulac and published by the Hoddard & Stoughton publishing house in 1912 is stunningly beautiful. The covers are in a royal blue cloth with an elaborate and macabre embossed pattern highlighted in black and set off by a gold gilt title. Inside, we are treated to decorative end papers with a subtle "The Bells" theme. likely reminiscent of the first Poe/Dulac book published by Hoddard, The Bells and Other Poems. The poetry is printed on thick, textural paper that begs to be touched as much as read. There are dozens of beautiful designs and illustrations printed within the text as well as 28 full color, full page lithographic prints. 

These, like many of Dulac's works are haunting in their beauty and bring to life the words of Poe. $250. Please see this and thousands of other titles we have to offer by visiting our website at: www.oddfellowbooks.com.