I don't know how I went to school 90 miles from Chicago and yet never knew anything about the 1893 Columbian Exposition. I first learned about it a few years ago watching the PBS specials Make No Little Plans and Chicago: City of the Century.
But then something mysterious happened. I was sorting through our attic storage area and discovered this:
Our home has been in my husband's family for more than 60 years. And family lore is that one of his great-great-great aunts was an adventurous, independent soul, quite ahead of her time, really. It's entirely likely that she attended the World's Fair and bought this book as a souvenir. This is the "official photography" of the Fair (attendees had to buy a very expensive permit to take "Kodaks" of their own). Hundreds of images.
And now it is mine to treasure... and to rescue. The years have not been kind.
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| Pretty - but disconnected. |
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| Ouch. |
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| Uh-oh. |
Yikes. It needs a book doctor.
I'm hoping Carlson & Turner Antiquarian Books may be able to help me.
Why now? Erik Larson's Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America has gripped my mind. WOW. I am reading way too late into the night. Not only is the World's Fair very interesting to me, but there's a terrifying serial killer, systematically luring and killing naive young women. He's a smooth operator.... the most frightening kind of killer.
But more on that later. First Shepp's needs TLC. Stat.
This is awesome! What an amazing find.
ReplyDeleteMy friend Bethany hand-binds books and journals. She might be able to offer some guidance if you want to take on any of the fixing yourself.
I will take you up on that! I think this is a bigger project than I can handle myself, but Bethany might be able to give me some advice on the kind of price-point I should expect. OR... if she's local, maybe I can make an appointment with her "clinic" instead! Is she taking new patients? LOL
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