I have looked for this copy and can not find one with this cover or label. Can you tell me what I have here?
Looks like it might be a library rebinding. This is what the cover should look like - https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=32325414314 Abebooks lists several other copies - https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se...lup=on&sortby=20&tn=Oregon&xdesc=off&xpod=off
Here's a article that may be of interest ... https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/travel-guidebook-oregon-past-present-180977454/
Also ... https://www.oakknoll.com/advSearchResults.php?authorField=Manly+Banister&action=search https://www.google.com/search?q="Ma...2LjK4B4YGwgcFMC4yLjfIByg&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
I thought the same thing but the cover was bound in the same year printed 1940. Does anyone know if the paper label is a clue? When did they use paper labels?
According to a personal communication by someone familiar with professional bindery practices, there is a common tradition among professional binders of noting not the date of their work, but the original date of the book they have rebound. This may explain the 1940 notation on Manly Banister's bindery label. Paper labels, of one sort or another, have been used for centuries. I don't believe it is a useful indicator of anything in this case, except that the bindery was limited to producing a simple label written on a typewriter. Manly Banister (the binder) appears to have been an interesting character. "Manly Banister (1914–1986) was a prolific and imaginative American writer primarily active during the vibrant pulp magazine era, from the late 1930s through the 1950s and into the early 1960s. Banister was a skilled contributor to the thrilling, fast-paced worlds of science fiction, fantasy, and like many pulp authors, he often wrote under various pseudonyms to maximize his output and appear in competing magazines. He was a frequent presence in magazines such as Amazing Stories, Planet Stories, Other Worlds Science Stories, Fantastic Adventures, and Imagination. His work is characteristic of the period: action-oriented narratives, often set on distant planets or in dystopian futures, featuring brave heroes, strange alien races, and mind-bending scientific concepts (or at least, concepts that were mind-bending for the time!). He had a knack for creating vivid settings and weaving tales of adventure and cosmic peril." https://books.google.com/books/abou...?id=hcVkEQAAQBAJ&source=kp_author_description He probably made his living writing for the pulps, and seems to have had time to explore a variety of hobbies, including printmaking, framing, and bookbinding. He wrote several books on bookbinding - The Craft of Bookbinding (1975), Bookbinding as a Handcraft (1975), Pictorial Manual of Bookbinding (1958), and Lectures on Bookbinding for Hobbyists (1949). His first publication on bookbinding may be an article he wrote for Profitable Hobbies Magazine in March, 1949. I cannot find a copy of the article online, but Jeff Peachy (a contemporary book conservator) provides some entertaining quotes in a short blog post - https://jeffpeachey.com/2013/12/03/profitable-hobbies-a-short-course-in-bookbinding/ In Bookbinding as a Handcraft Banister notes that Dover paperbacks are good candidates for practicing rebinding in hardcover. So he was a dedicated amateur rather than a professional bindery, and was interested in rebinding books for fun and practice. As far as dating the rebinding of your book, it would be helpful to find out when Banister adopted/created the name Iron Goose Press, but I have not been able to find that information. All but one of his hobbyist books were published by recognized publishers. The few records for his 1949 Lectures on Bookbinding for Hobbyists do not list a publisher. I suppose there is a chance it was self published using the name Iron Goose Press, but I have not found any evidence for that. I have found a record of only one publication produced under that name - a biography Banister wrote about his father - The Old Man : The Biography of a Pacific Northwest Logger : Charles Edwin Banister born Oct. 5, 1876 : died Jan. 8 1970. This was published in 1979. WorldCat, an online database of books held in libraries around the world, lists only one copy of the biography, held at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library. There is only one additional copy listed for sale online. https://search.worldcat.org/title/54970833?oclcNum=54970833 https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Se...rgn=ww&rollup=on&sortby=20&xdesc=off&xpod=off So, your book was rebound by a serious hobbyist. Although Manly Banister was clearly interested in bookbinding by 1949, the earliest and only date I have found for the existence of Iron Goose Press is 1979. We may never know why he chose this copy of a WPA Guide to rebind, or what he intended by his notation of 1940 on his binding label.
That was a fascinating read!! Thank you!! Super awesome reply, I love that backstory/history. Thank you very very much Thank you to everyone that replied, I love that I found you guys again
