Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1888-03-22
A Glimpse at a Literary workshop.

ing al tle workshops nlied with tools and
machinery for guiding and assisting the
operations of thought. These workshop.
and their contents are none the less practical
or tangible than are the tools of the forge
| The relation however, which exists between
the Instruments and the hands of thought in
which they are to be used, is more difficult ID
comprehend hence is endowed with the
charm of reality imperfectly understood
/ The Journal man had the pleasure OF
| visiting in his workshop, DIR. w. p. Laphan
whose writings are 80 well known TO the read
ers of history, editorials, biography, etc. The
| Doctors workshop is simply furnished and
bears the marks of having been fitted III
from time to time accordingly as the
demands of the author varied or increased
He calls it his working library, term which
it is impossible to apply to many of the
private collections Of books. In one large
bookcase We find almost exclusively towr
histories and genealoges. Here
is every history of Maine
town, which was ever written. Plain
unpretentious looking volumes, many of them
| labors Of mediocre writer who desired to dc
I something literary before he passed off the
stage, while other. are labor- OF love. the
works of men whose calling had placed then
/ perchance in narrow environments but whose
/ interest in humanity had not been restricted
/ thereby. Some Of these cheap looking vol
/ umes are very scarce and bring a cores pond
! ing price. Only forty Maine towns out OF
/ five hundred have been described by the
( town historian. The book case also contain,
many of the histories of towns in Massa-
| chu-etts New Hampshire and Vermont
/ Several Of these little volumes would bring
twenty-five dollars each. Aliens history OF
Norridgewock and Pierce's history of Gorhan
are among those that are very scarce.
| These could not az yet be termed rare old
books" yet they came from small editions
which were soon exhausted and now the his
torian or biographer frequently finds need
for just such works. Hence the working
library of such an author is likely to contain
both rare old books and needful books which
become scarce and are increasing in value on
the authors hands. In another case
close by We find list of old
Maine Registers, larger than that in
the possession Of any other person Here
are files of old almanacs, in all, twenty kinds
that were published prior to 1900. The case
contains the numbers of the old Ames Al
manac between the dates I $50 and l7GO list
of Poor Richards the Thomas Almanac from
1896 to lsss and the Maine Farmers from
1919 to l7SS, nearly complete. \ purchase
of a bundle of old Christian Almanacs at the
time thought to be worth little, proved to be
a windfall as they contained nearly com
plctcd diary, which the former owner had
kept years ago. \ prominent feature of the
library is a large number of genealogical
works comprising the names of many of the
first families in this and other States.
Among the titles We noticed the names of
Cushman, Hall, Thaycr, Upton, Holt, Fowl
er, Thurston, Clapp, Nintord, etc.
Among the works of reference is COM
plete set of the Maine Agricultural Reports
from 1880 to 1887.
cases, drawers have been fitted to CON
tain old papers and relics. Among these
although the owner has made no pretenSe of
collecting antiquities only as he has found
Al.
wrought upon by hands that are now part and
parcel of mother earth, will find many sources
of pleasure. Here are old navigation charts
dating back to the era when the original May
flower was model of ship architecture
Beside this in the same box is a leaf from a
New England sermon delivered two hundred
and fifty wears ago. How many snores this
one leaf ELECTED no one knows. In another
drawer we find an old deed given by Barthol-
omew de Gregoirc, the grantee of half of
Mt. Desert Along side is Il grant from Sir
Ferdnando Georges.
\ newspaper man would need no historical
proof aside from the laborcd but clear style
in which these deeds are written, to convince
him that the newspapers of that period didn't
yet ont two editions daily The oldest writ
ing that any of these papers show bears the date
of 1888. The bills of Iading of which there
are several of ancient date, one being made
out to jonathan Belcher ,Bostcn,Jan. II, 1921.
seem rather peculiar to the Maine resident
as he reads, shipped by the grace of God
one hogshead of rum pelving still further
we find by the assistance of the obliglug
author. whose sanctum we have invaded, an
original pay roll of the soldiers of the Rev
olution. dated Dee. %. l776, at Peakskill,
then written Pixkill, \. Y. The paper has
the signatures of the soldiers as they wrote
them on receiving their pay. Among the
receptacles for papers is round two quart
box, once the property of Lemnel Perham,
who kept an inn in Upton. Mass. back in
1855. This box was then used in accordance
with the custom of that time for collecting
the hotel bills. being passed around the table
at meal time. one small cabinet is devoted
to mementoes of the civil war. which Dr.
Lspham brought With him from the service.
Among these is a confederate $1,000 bond
with all the coupons attached. which was
found by MIR. Lapham in Richmond just after
its capture. We came away reluctantly,
having seen but little of what has been
gathered in the cosy workshop of our host
material which has been CLEANED with view
to satisfying practical want, hut which many
an antiquarian would look upon as goid
mine in Ophr
Served Him Right.
Would YOU like an item for your paper:
III, ,,,,.,l,ar ,.aS ono of our oldest citizens