Welcome to the Update, and May the Schwartz have been with you!
Here’s some things you might have missed that have been happening while we were paying attention to other things:
– A random nut attacked the Cuban embassy in Washington the other day. After trying (but failing) to light a graffitied Cuban flag on fire even with the help of gasoline, he (more…)
“I’m just trying to understand. Not why these books are special, but why any of that matters at all to us. Isn’t it all about the money?”
“With some collectibles, it’s the story of the book rather than the one written inside it that gives it its value. Look, here,” as he brought down a battered volume from the shelf over his desk. She moved closer, interested despite herself. “Lady Chatterley’s Lover, pirated knockoff, 1939. A three thousand copy run. It’s a cheap reprint, and even if it hadn’t been soaked in what looks like salt water it wouldn’t have (more…)
Welcome to another edition of the Update! You’d think with the world locked down, nothing would be happening — but you’d be so very wrong.
– The world’s locked down, so nothing is happening. Except (more…)
“No, it’s true; I shouldn’t buy it. But I’m lousy at business, which is why I’m a bookseller. If I wanted to get rich, I’d sell drugs or something.”
She laughed, startled; he went on. “I’m in it because of the stories — the ones about the books as much as inside the covers. This Thackeray set, for instance: One day, twenty years from now, a collector will wander in and see it. I’ll tell him the story of Tauchnitz the publisher, and he’ll be fascinated — the whole tale of the great linen factories of Bohemia, this curious series of English books printed in Germany, the international (more…)
A lot’s been happening while half of us are stuck at home and the other half working overtime. Here’s a brief list:
– President Donald Trump, fed up with having his remarks either misinterpreted or properly understood (depending on who you ask), has decided to stop speaking (more…)
Multi-part series. Fascinating read.
Would you smear a pile of fresh cow shit on your kid to ease swelling? Or how about letting someone drill a hole in your skull to remove evil spirits? Would you ground up mummies and snort the powder like lines of blow?
Let’s take a disturbing stroll down history lane to explore some of humanity’s many bizarre medical beliefs and practices. And then after you feel great for not living in the WTF-Era of nonscientific medicine, let’s take a look at the popular market of snake-oil medicine and medical quackery still alive and well.
Part 1: Weird Medical beliefs in history
Part 2: Psuedoscientific medical practices today
Part 3: Today’s Medical Pseudoscientific Talking heads
(Note links to public-friendly media are provided, but academic sources are cited for more detailed information).
Before the germ…
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“…It’s lovely, beautifully if plainly bound, has some historical interest, and is worth about eighty bucks. Which means I pay forty.”
She blinked. “But my uncle told me it was a great treasure — that he was…” She was shocked; clearly she’d expected a lot more.
“He was wrong, I’m afraid,” the bookseller said as kindly as he could manage. He had himself fallen in love with the little set, even though he knew it would never sell. “The trouble with genuinely rare books is… well, they’re rare. You’ll probably never see more than a couple in your entire life; I’m in the business, and I’ll only (more…)
“…and a three-volume edition of Pendennis, by Thackeray; second printing. Rebound recently — and very well — but printed first in Liepzig, of all places, back in 1849.” The young man turned from his computer screen to confront his visitor, who was by now visibly bored. He sighed, but slogged on.
“Like most of these, it’s old, but not particularly valuable. The true first edition (more…)
Jim Acosta just Tweeted something: “WH just played what appeared to be a campaign video defending Trump. In the briefing room. Just like a rally”
There’s truth in what Mr. Acosta says; there usually is. The man’s quite reliable. It’s also worth noting, however, that — as is his usual wont — Mr. Acosta is also missing a truth that I should think would be entirely obvious. (more…)
We’re all waiting.
Some of us are waiting idly at home, distracting ourselves from the gradually collapsing system outside our doors. Some are teleworking, putting in the same productivity-free hours we normally would but in pajama bottoms. Some are going out like normal, vaguely afraid they’ll catch a fatal illness but telling themselves whatever they have to in order to get through their day. (more…)
The Not Fake News 
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