Lines from the Library

I have been talking to a lot of classes over the last few weeks, so I thought I would highlight some of my favorite teaching examples in this space.

This one is at the very top of my list. Dig it:

Here's a transcription of the label:

Sams' Circulating Library, Hoddesdon, Herts.
Books Lent to Read, by the Year, Half-Year, Quarter, or Single Volume.
Magazines, And other Periodical Publications, on the Shortest Notice.
Every Article in the Stationery, Bookselling, and Perfumery, at the London Prices.
Genuine Medicines.
Books Neatly Bound.

If you are interested in learning about the circulation of books in the nineteenth century, the history of commercial circulating libraries is the place to start. Here's an article that makes for a nice introduction: "The Economy of Novel Reading: Jane Austen and the Circulating Library" by Lee Erickson. For a longer treatment of the company I often describe as the Blockbuster Video of the nineteenth century, check out this book: Mudie's Circulating Library and the Victorian Novel by Guinevere L. Griest (Bloomington: Indiana Univ. Press, 1970).

But without reading anything further about the circulating library, this label gives you a sense of the context in which this object circulated. Sam has all of your light reading needs covered AND you can pick up your perfume and "Genuine Medicines"! One-stop shopping, 1820s style.

The text inside? It's another one of those unknown gems:

Isn't it Odd? by Marmaduke Merrywhistle (London, 1822)