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Dan Farnbach offers a selection of
hand-picked books online and from
his stall at Eastern Market.
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Fresh and Seasonal
Dan Farnbach takes a fresh approach to bookselling. From his stall at Eastern Market — and online — he offers seasonal selections of fine literature, picked for their staying power and the sheer pleasure of reading them. “I try to find books that have been overlooked by bigger retail outlets,” he explains. His 2009 holiday offerings include three titles: a short pastoral novel by Wendell Berry called “Andy Catlett – Early Travels”; “Oars, Sails and Steam” by Edwin Tunis (whom Farnbach calls “a precursor to [David] Macaulay”); and “Elizabeth David’s Christmas,” a collection of recipes and essays by the renowned food writer. Substitutions (such as Edwin Tunis’s “Wheels”) and other titles are also available. His prices are competitive, and he’ll even wrap and deliver.
Farnbach’s choices reflect not only an appreciation of good writing, but also a love of books and authors. The Elizabeth David book, for example, is a beautiful edition published by David Godine, and the Wendell Berry novel (also a handsome volume) contains a signed bookplate. Farnbach worked in libraries and cut his teeth at Politics & Prose before deciding to embark on his new venture. “I wanted my own business,” he explains, “and thought I’d try to combine collection-building and retail.”
Whether you’re stuck for a special gift or simply want to expand your own library, Farnbach provides a civilized oasis – and a welcome alternative to those stacks of bestsellers at the big-box stores. Check him out in the parking lot at Eastern Market some nice Sunday afternoon, visit his website at www.danfarnbach.com, or call 202-237-1547.
Armchair Travels
“Old maps lead us to strange and unexpected places,” writes Toby Lester in the preface to his new book, “The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America its Name.” His sweeping saga revolves around the 1507 Waldseemuller map, the first to depict the Western Hemisphere as we know it today. For centuries it was considered lost to history until a Jesuit priest discovered a copy of it in 1901. The map was purchased by the Library of Congress in 2003 and is now on permanent display there.
Lester’s route begins even prior to the Waldeseemuller’s creation, showing how the European view of the known world evolved through the centuries. He follows the trail of the map’s geographic precursors and wends his way through the brilliant thinkers who had the good sense to stand on the shoulders of those who came before. Sometimes serendipity played a role.
The Council of Constance, for example, was convened in 1411 to address the church’s “intolerable situation” of having three popes. For more than three years, officials haggled while their loyal retainers were left to twiddle their thumbs. “Enforced idleness had unexpected benefits,” writes Lester, as these learned men soon began to share ideas and manuscripts. “The council rapidly evolved into a sort of unofficial international book fair,” resulting in the dissemination of copies of maps and geography texts all over Europe.
In “The Fourth Party of the World,” Lester reaches back into history to make intriguing connections – among trade, exploration, politics, religion and philosophy – that tell a story every bit as fascinating as the exotic tales of early travelers who ventured to the ends of the earth.
A Window on History
“Remember the Ladies” – and the gentlemen – on your gift list with “Abigail Adams,” an absorbing new biography by University of Richmond history professor Woody Holton. Adams is famous for her copious correspondence, including her famous exhortation to “Remember the Ladies.” But Holton goes beyond the known facts, imbuing this “most illustrious woman of the founding era” with a vivid energy that more than justifies her husband’s description of her as “saucy.”
Adams’s letters chronicle a pivotal time in American history – she climbed a tree to witness the Battle of Bunker Hill from her home in Braintree – and provide insights into the home front as well. During John’s long absences, she not only raised their four surviving children and ran the family farm, but also made shrewd investments and (despite John’s squeamishness) established a business trading in smuggled goods. “Small articles have the best profit,” she informed one of her suppliers, “Gauze, ribbons, feathers and flowers to make the Ladies Gay, have the best advance [markup].”
Amazingly, Adams still found time to keep abreast of the intellectual currents of her day. “Like the most extraordinary men of her generation,” Holton writes, “Abigail somehow managed to entertain visionary thoughts even as more practical concerns threatened to overwhelm her.” She lobbied passionately for women’s property rights and education – sometimes nudging the constraints of 18th-century propriety – and, in a sentiment well ahead of her time, even longed “for a closet with a window which I could more peculiarly call my own.” In “Abigail Adams,” Holton promises – and delivers – a remarkable world “full of surprises.”
More Great Holiday Books
Express your Capitol Hill pride this holiday season by giving books by local authors. Maggie Hall’s “The Mish-Mash Dictionary of Marmite: An Anecdotal A-Z of ‘Tar in a Jar’” will appeal to the Anglophiles on your list – or anyone with a sense of curiosity (and humor).
Transport your favorite gardeners to a tropical paradise with Lucinda Fleeson’s “Waking Up in Eden,” or send those interested in culture and history off to “My Father’s Paradise,” Ariel Sabar’s exploration of a lost world of Iraqi Jews (now in paperback).
“Herblock: The Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist” by Haynes Johnson and Harry Katz will delight the history buffs. It’s packed with dozens of incisive and resonant cartoons and includes a CD with 18,000 more.
Animal lovers will love you for introducing them to the wonderful dogs (including local cover dog Fred) in “To the Rescue: Found Dogs with a Mission” by Elise Lufkin and Diana Walker. Proceeds from sale of the book benefit animal welfare organizations.
Children will be crazy for the adventures of Capitol Hill kid Adam Melon, aka “Melonhead,” by former Hill kid Katy Kelly. And young adults can get a good dose of history along with a real-life adventure in “Chasing Lincoln’s Killer,” by James L. Swanson.
Finally, “The Black Tower,” Louis Bayar’s rip-roaring historical mystery featuring real-life French detective Vidocq, is now available in a stocking-stuffer sized paperback. |
