ABNER DOUBLEDAY

QUESTION: What do the Battle of Gettysburg and the American sport of baseball have in common?

ANSWER: Abner Doubleday (1819 - 1863)

Yes, the man who is best known as "the man who 'invented' baseball" is the same General Abner Doubleday who served admirably on behalf of the Union in this country's Civil War.

Early this month, the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863) was commemorated with a reenactment on its 150th anniversary. For those of you who experienced that event and want to learn more about that battle and the war in general, we recommend that you take a look at this book in the collection:

Chancellorsville and Gettysburg

by Abner Doubleday, published by C. Scribner's Sons, New York, 1882

General Doubleday commanded the entire First Corps after the death of General Reynolds early in the morning of that initial day of the battle. He used his first-hand knowledge in writing this book, which includes astute insights into Generals Meade and Howard and analyses of both battles.

So ... as we think of the Battle of Gettysburg or the sport of baseball, let's quietly pay homage to a versatile man who could both defend and entertain his country.

COOOOL!

We are at the beginning of another week of very warm, muggy weather here in this area. And as we do our gardening, ride our bikes, or hike the canal path, some of us wish for a cooler environment in which to carry on these summertime activities. However, we know that we have no control over the outdoor weather and that we simply have to endure.

However, if the hot weather gets too unbearable, we can seek more moderate climes indoors--and that includes the Bullis Room. One of the needs of preserving older books is climate control, and this room has a special system that maintains the heat and humidity at optimum levels year round.  The books in this collection "live" in a cool climate that is ideal to maintain their good condition.

When the snow is flying outside, some of us humans find the Bullis Room temperature a bit chilly. This time of year, however, the room feels so cooool ... and we love it. So we invite you to stop by the room to sit a while with us, and while you're there we'll show you some of the books that make this collection so cool.

If you're wondering what kinds of books we're talking about, just browse back through our posts from the last year or so to get an idea of some of the good reading that awaits you in this cool room.

INDEPENDENCE

Since Independence Day is fast approaching, our  curiosity kicked in this week when someone mentioned that this collection contains a lot of books on that subject. So we searched the data base and came up with 21 hits. We'll list a few of them here to give you an idea of the variety of information on that subject that can be found here in the Bullis Room.

(By the way, don't you just love some of these long titles on these books from the 1800s? In some cases, the titles serve as a synopsis of the content - which is handy for researchers and casual readers, alike.)

Anyway, here are some of the books on the subject of independence that we thought you might be interested in:

Camp-fires of the Revolution:  or The War of Independence,

by Henry C. Watson, published in Philadelphia in 1850 by Lindsay and Blackiston

The Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution; or, Illustrations, by pen and pencil, of the history, biography, scenery, relics, and traditions of the war for Independence,

by Benson John Lossing, published in New York by Harper & Brothers, 1860

Karl Marx and the Close of His System: A Criticism,

by Eugene von Bohm-Bawerk, published in New York by Macmillan, 1898

A Centennial Edition of the History of the United States:

from the discovery of America, to the end of the first one hundred years of American independence;

with a full account of the approaching centennial celebration.

by Benson John Lossing, published in Hartford by T. Belknap, 1876

The Rise of the Dutch Repuiblic: A History,

by John Lothrop Motley, published in New York by Harper & Brothers, 1868-69

The Centennial History of the United States: From the discovery of the

American continent to the close of the first century of American Independence,

by James Dabney McCabe, published in Philadelphia by National Publishing Company, c 1874

Well, that's all folks. Hope you see something here that grabs your interest so that we can see you in the Bullis Room in the near future. In the meantime, Happy 4th of July.

JUNETEEN

Yesterday was Juneteen - a date set aside to commemorate the day in 1865 when Union troops commanded by Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, Texas, with news that the Civil War was over, and that all remaining slaves in Texas were free.

Last year our Juneteen post focused on an MPL presentation on slave quilts, sponsored by the Friends of the library. This year, in memory of this occasion, we looked for some Bullis books on the subject of slavery.  We found several, and chose this one to highlight this week:

A Journey in the Seaboard Slave States : with remarks on their economy, 

by Frederick Law Olmsted, published by Dix & Edwards, New York, in 1856

Frederick Law Olmsted was a journalist and landscape designer of city parks, and his most famous achievement was Central Park in New York. He was also a passionate abolitionist who took many journeys throughout the south in 1853 and 1854. 

This book has lots of fascinating and witty descriptions of the author's encounters and experiences on those journeys through the southern society, which was on the verge of overwhelming change at that time.  If you are unable to celebrate Juneteen with fireworks and feasting, consider spending some time with this interesting book.

GARDENER'S AND FARMER'S REASON WHY...

Now here's a book that offers interesting and useful information to those of us who are into growing, whether we are farming a multi-acre plot or tending a potted geranium on our front stoop. Yes, we realize it was published well over a hundred years ago and much of the information, naturally, is  in need of updating. And yet, when we carefully leafed through the book this week, it caused us to occasionally mutter one of those "hmmm...so that's why..." remarks.

We're talking about the Bullis book Gardener's and Farmer's Reason Why... written by Robert Kemp Philip and published in London in 1860.  (This author wrote a series of these "reason why" books that covered the general science, natural history, the Bible, history, and housewife's areas. They are all in the question/answer form, with a helpful alphabetical list of all questions in the Table of Contents.

Mr. Philip used the knowledge of well-recognized experts of his day to write this book, among them: Sir Humphry Davy,  Professor of Chemistry Baron Liebig, and "Mr. Lawes of Rothamstead Park, whose papers have been published in the Royal Agricultural Society's Journal."

Some of the questions addressed are:

Air, why is it necessary for the germination of seed?

Caterpillars and moths, method of destroying

Gravelly soils, how they may be improved

Horses, why does their excrement develop so strong a heat?

Light, its effect upon vegetation

Mushrooms, why do they grow by moonlight?

Nitrogen, what is it?

Ploughing, rule for.

Sap, what causes the flow of it

Yoking horses, best method of

Winds, varying, why beneficial to vegetation?

In his preface, Mr. Philip states that the farmers' and gardeners' mission is to "enrich and beautify the earth." That's a big order for those of us with soil under our nails...one that requires us to be as knowledgeable as possible about the growing process. This book is one of many in the Bullis collection that offers this knowledge. You are invited to spend some time with it on your next visit to the Bullis Room.

BICYCLES

The Friends of Macedon Public Library has scheduled another interesting program this summer:

BICYCLES: THEIR HISTORY, PROPER MAINTENANCE

AND BASIC ROADSIDE REPAIRS

Zoltan Vigh of The Wheelwright in Canandaigua will give background information on bicycling and demonstrate bicycle maintenance and repairs in this program at the library on Monday, July 8, 6 PM in the Community Room at the library.

You are invited and we look forward to seeing you at this presentation, which is paid for through the Friends' endowment. And while you're in the library, we invite you to stop by the Bullis Room. One book on the shelves that is of interest to bicyclists is:

The Wheels of Change; A Bicycling Idyll

Written by H. G. Wells and published in 1905 by The Macmillan Company in London, the book is a commentary on the political scene surrounding World War I. At that time bicycles were beginning to become very popular and were actually a part of the social changes in England because people could move quickly and rigid class structure was beginning to crumble.

Between now and July 8 we plan to spend some time with this book so that we can tell you more about it when we see you at Mr. Vigh's presentation. In the meantime, remember that we're always glad to help you find other books in the collection. Just give the library a call and let us know a convenient time for you.

WAYNE COUNTY COMMUNITY ENDOWMENT

The Wayne County Endowment Advisory Committee (together with the Rochester Area Community Foundation) announced last week the awarding of $29,400 in grants to eight nonprofit organizations serving the Wayne County community. Organizations receiving grants are: Bishop Sheen Ecumenical Services, Finger Lakes Visiting Nurse Service, Historic Palmyra, Home Meals Service, Lyons Community Center, Montezuma Audubon Center, NAMI Rochester, and Rochester Chapter of Young Audiences, Inc.

This permanent endowment fund was started in 1984 with charitable gifts from the estate of Nettie Bullis, who believed strongly in  her community, education, and projects that improved the quality of life.

This community is grateful to Nettie Bullis for these most-recent gifts. As we pointed out in a post a few months ago, her New England frugality and business acumen allowed her to accumulate the capital she used to create an endowment that will benefit this area for generations to come.

Again, we thank you Nettie Bullis.