HONORING MISS NETTIE BULLIS

Jeannette Aurelia Bullis

March 23, 1893 - October 1, 1979

This week we are again honoring Miss Nettie Bullis on her birthday. Miss Bullis was a very caring, private person. Through her generosity money that she left has provided periodicals, large-print books, audiobooks, and matching funds for construction of the library; scholarships for in-college students of the Pal-Mac School District; and financial help for those becoming physicians.

We invite you to visit the Bullis Room this coming week as we recognize her contributions to our community.

IRISH STRUGGLE, IRISH ELOQUENCE, AND THE IRISH BAR

With St. Patrick's Day in mind, this week we browsed the shelves for books with green covers. We found lots of them; too many, in fact, to include in a weekly posting. So then we browsed for books with Irish in the title and found three that we recommend for your reading as you celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

If you're into Ireland's struggle for home rule, The Honorable T.P. O'Connor's Gladstone-Parnell, and the Great Irish Struggle (Chicago, G. L. Howe, c 1886) will give you a complete and thrilling history of Ireland's 19th century political/governmental issues and of the two influential men in that struggle: Charles Stewart Parnell and William Ewart Gladstone.

Or, perhaps you would prefer to read facts and anecdotes about Irish trials. Then Richard Lalor Sheil's two volume set, Sketches of the Irish Bar (New York: W. J. Widdleton, 1861), may be your Irish cup of tea.

But if it's Irish oration that you're after, we suggest you read Irish Eloquence: The Speeches of the Celebrated Irish Orators Philips, Curran, and Grattan: to which is added the powerful appeal of Robert Emmett, at the close of this trial for high treason (Boston: Patrick Donahoe, 1857). The book ends with the latter appeal which was delivered at the Session House, Dublin. (Sadly, in spite of Robert Emmett's eloquence, he was found guilty by the Crown and the execution sentence carried out the following day, September 20, 1803.)

If we haven't convinced you to try one of these works, then we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room next week and let us show you all of the collection's green-covered books. And plan to stay a while and enjoy one of them.

SUSAN B. ANTHONY

This week Women's History Month arrived and reminded us to look thorough our data base for books on local women of great achievement. Ida Husted Harper's work, The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony: including public addresses, her own letters, and many from her contemporaries during fifty years (Indianapois: Bowen-Merrill, 1899, c.1898) immediately came to our attention.

Harper's dedication states: "To woman, for whose freedom Susan B. Anthony has given fifty years of noble endeavor this book is dedicated." In her introduction, she also states that "...in preparing these volumes over 20,000 letters have been read and, whenever possible, some of them used to tell the story, especially those written by Miss Anthony...." (Vol. 1, p. viii) This is a work of art by a woman, about a woman, and at times in the latter's own words.

There are over a thousand pages and 24 plates in these two volumes. Harper added a third volume to this set, but the Bullis Room has only the first two. All three volumes are available for loan to patrons in the PLS system. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to study the life of this great woman.

Harper's dedication states: "To woman, for whose freedom Susan B. Anthony has given fifty years of noble endeavor this book is dedicated." One hundred years later, we are grateful to Susan B. Anthony for her noble endeavors and to Ida Husted Harper for leaving us this comprehensive record of Miss Anthony's accomplishments.

FREDERICK DOUGLAS

As February comes to a close, we again focus on Black History books in the collection. Last year we recommended for your reading an 1858 publication compiled from authentic materials by W. O. Blake and titled The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Ancient and Modern....

(Please refer to our posting of February 19, 2009.)

This year we suggest Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself (Park Publishing, Hartford, CN, 1882). This book covers "his early life as a slave, his escape from bondage, and his complete history to the present time, including his connection with the anti-slavery movement." A general note states: "Enlarged from the author's My Bondage and My Freedom, New York, 1855."

We have frequently seen and heard Mr. Douglass's name in the press recently. Now we have an opportunity to get better acquainted with him through his own words in this 1882 edition that is on the shelves here in the Bullis Room.

MARK TWAIN

On this date in 1885, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was published for the first time in this country. One hundred and fifteen years later people of all ages are still enjoying Huck's tale along with the many other works by this prolific writer.

A few of Twain's books in the Bullis Collection are pictured here. You can find the complete list of these vintage books by going to http://www.pls-net.org/, first clicking on OWWL catalog and then on Advanced Search (found under and to the left of the regular search box). Next fill in the following boxes:

Author: Mark Twain

Library: Macedon Public Library

Location: Bullis Collection

Then we suggest you make a list of your favorites and bring it to the Bullis Room so we can show you the awesome illustrations in these century-old books.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

From Nettie Bullis's vintage postcard collection

WHAT HAVE YOU "RED" LATELY?

You may think you're "seeing red" when you look at the display case outside the Bullis Room. Well, you are--books with red covers from this collection. Here are the titles:

Life of Mary Jemison, by James Seaver, 1910

New York Commonwealth, by Ellis H. Roberts, New York: 1904

A Man's Value to Society, by Newell Dwight Hills, 1904

Bridgewater Treatises, by William Whewell, DD, 1852

Pictures Every Child Should Know, by Delores Bacon, 1913

The Spectator, by Henry Morely, London: 1902

Anecdotes from Ancient History, author unknown, New York: 1847

Memoir of Fleeming Jenkin--Record of a Family of Engineers,

by Robert Louis Stevenson, New York: 1925

Biography of American Military Heroes, Vol. I,

by Thomas Wilson, New York: 1821

If you haven't read these red-covered books, perhaps you'd like to add two or three to your list.