BLACK HISTORY

While searching the Bullis data base for books on the Civil War, we found a book that contains a wealth of information for those of you who are interested in Black history.  And the bonus is that you can access the book on line and then stop by the Bullis Room for a closer look at the copy we have here on the shelves.

History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880 was authored by George Washington Williams, son of a former slave. It was published in 1883 by G. P. Putnam's Sons and gives an account of  "negroes as slaves, as soldiers, and as citizens; together with a preliminary consideration of the unity of the human family, an historical sketch of Africa, and an account of the Negro governments of Sierra Leone and Liberia."

This is a comprehensive report on a 250-year span of our history. We highly recommend you adding it to you reading list.

BOOKS ABOUT HOUSES

The Bullis Room contains several books about houses and house construction.  A recent visitor called our attention to one of these: Architecture of Country Houses, including Designs for Cottages, Farm Houses and Villas, by A. J Downing (copyright 1850, published by D. Appleton & Co., NY and Philadelphia).

What a neat book! (We're forever grateful to this visitor.) It delivers what the title says: plans for various types of houses that could be ordered in a kit, ready to assemble. The drawings are extraordinary;  the descriptions and instructions, an interesting read.

This is another book in the collection that can be accessed online. (Try books.google.com) Viewing the book this way gives fast, convenient, at-your-leisure access--which we all like in this fast-moving world of ours.

Viewing the book in the Bullis Room gives a period ambience, non-glare reading, and volunteers ready to help in any way. Please stop by sometime.

ONLINE READING

This is another busy week for Bullis volunteers. We're setting goals and objectives for the year, and we're thinking about how we can more effectively reach out to the community and beyond.  Therefore, we are switching our focus for a while from the Bullis extended families of a century or more ago to families currently in our local- and world-wide community, searching for ways to encourage more utilization of the Bullis books.

Word on the streets is that 50% of the US population will use a smartphone by this time next year. That, combined with increased reading online via other wireless reading devices and desktop computers, suggests that we need to reach out more to that segment of our population.

Therefore...we are listing a few of the books in this collection that are available online for reading, with the idea that if someone experiences a book through that medium, they may want to see the real thing.

Here's this week's list. We'll list more next week. And please remember if you want to see the actual book, stop by the Bullis Room.

The Cruise of the Snark, Jack London

Allan Quartermain, Sir H. Rider Haggard,

The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling, 1908

Madam Bovary, Flaubert Gustave

Women of the War: Heroism and self sacrifice, Frank Moore, 1866