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The chemical control of conception
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Millroy the Magician
Rare Books
Jilly Farina is fourteen, but so small that she wears younger kids' clothes. Her father is drunk on the day of the Barnstable County Fair, so she goes by herself, and by that night her life has been transformed. When she walks into a tent to see Millroy the Magician, his eyes lighten from brown to green and fasten upon her. He performs miracles in front of Jilly's spellbound eyes and tells her he wants to eat her. He spirits her into his trailer, and for the first time in her forlorn young life, Jilly feels safe. He tells her that he has command over nine bodily functions, that he will train her to be his assistant, and that he will give her a sequined costume. But this is only the beginning. Millroy is a man like no other, a magician not simply of mere conjuring, but of true, baffling magic. He is a healer, too, a vegetarian and health fanatic with a mission to change the eating habits of his beloved United States. In search of the perfect platform, he finds it in television as an evangelical preacher, touting hygiene and the simple pure foods mentioned in the Bible. From fairground magician to cult leader, Millroy is unstoppable. In his portrait of a man who is part genius, part eccentric, and part miracle worker, and of his complete and uneasy relationship with young Jilly, Paul Theroux has created a remarkable parable of America today. A work of breathtaking imagination and resonance, Millroy the Magician displays the author at the height of his fictional powers, and in Jilly and Millroy he has created two truly unforgettable characters.
646365
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Millroy the magician
Rare Books
Jilly Farina is fourteen, but so small that she wears younger kids' clothes. Her father is drunk on the day of the Barnstable County Fair, so she goes by herself, and by that night her life has been transformed. When she walks into a tent to see Millroy the Magician, his eyes lighten from brown to green and fasten upon her. He performs miracles in front of Jilly's spellbound eyes and tells her he wants to eat her. He spirits her into his trailer, and for the first time in her forlorn young life, Jilly feels safe. He tells her that he has command over nine bodily functions, that he will train her to be his assistant, and that he will give her a sequined costume, but this is only the beginning. Millroy is a man like no other, a magician not simply of mere conjuring, but of true, baffling magic. He is a healer, too, a vegetarian and health fanatic with a mission to change the eating habits of his beloved United States. In search of the perfect platform, he finds it in television as an evangelical preacher, touting hygiene and the simple pure foods mentioned in the Bible. From fairground magician to cult leader, Millroy is unstoppable. In his portrait of a man who is part genius, part eccentric, and part miracle worker, and of his complete and uneasy relationship with young Jilly, Paul Theroux has created a remarkable parable of America today. A work of breathtaking imagination and resonance, Millroy the Magician displays the author at the height of his fictional powers, and in Jilly and Millroy he has created two truly unforgettable characters.
647093
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John Charles Frémont letter to "Mr. Wright,"
Manuscripts
In this letter to the otherwise unidentified "Mr. Wright" of Washington, Frémont writes thata French company called "the Belgian Miners" has arrived in San Francisco, and are under lease to him. He shall put them to work immediately "on a good vein" and writes that "their report to France will be of great importance." During his time in the South, Frémont reports that he "obtained a great deal of information relative to mines." He has found another rich vein, but is not sure of the ore it contains - he has sent a piece to England for identification - and has acquired a large amount of land that may be of considerable value. Frémont states that they have no commissioner, but hopes the President will "send out others without delay." He hopes Mr. Wright will act on his behalf in this and other matters.
mssHM 21240
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John Muir letter to Katharine Putnam Hooker
Manuscripts
In this letter to his friend Katherine Hooker, John Muir responds to the news that she is sick in bed with some surprise as she seems so strong to him. He suggests rest and then "plain pure white love-work" with Marian (Dr, Marian Osgood Hooker) tending to their fellow creatures. Muir is glad that Marian is not with him as yellow fever and malaria are rampant. Muir briefly describes life on the river with him staring and sketching. Muir described a week of beauty and fellowship at Manaos on the Rio Negro tributary. He ends the letter with a surprise find of a copy of Katherine's book, Wayfarers in Italy in a lonely house in the Amazon Basin. He fears telling the story in full as Marian might think he's in a fever dream.
mssHM 31154
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On the Ukara, or the Ukerewe Lake of Equatorial Africa
Rare Books
"In this paper the author repeated his conviction that the so-called Victoria Nyanza is not a lake, but a lake region. He had found new matter in support of this opinion in the able paper upon Routes in East Africa, published by the Rev. Thomas Wakefield, of Mombasa, in the last volume of the 'Journal' of the Society. As these routes were wholly taken from native authority, the President, Sir Henry Rawlinson, had remarked that the "Pundit system" might be found as useful in Africa as it has proved to be in high Asia. Mr. Wakefield's notes had been ably and judiciously commented upon by Mr. Keith Johnston, and Captain Burton's object was to add emphasis to that geographer's remarks, and to the supplement them with the experiences of a practical traveller"--from abstract.
635844
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Chauncey Edgar Stearns letters to friends and family
Manuscripts
This is a series of letters written by Chauncey Edgar Stearns, describing his experiences during his journey from Illinois to California. The letters are written to friends and family at his home in Vermont, but many are written to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Isaiah Stearns. The first letter, HM 21283, is dated 1855, October 19, and Chauncey Stearns writes that he has traveled by boat up the St. Lawrence River to Lake Ontario. He became seasick during the voyage, particularly upon reaching the lake. He has gotten work as a clerk at a local store in Lockport, Illinois, but does not know how long he will stay. Of the town, he writes: "although it is a good country it is to sickly I say sickly it is not so with folks that live hear." He urges his brother Henry to stay at home. In HM 21285, dated 1855, December 6, he writes of homesickness: "If I had thirty Dollars and was back to Vermont I would never say any thing more about the West." He begs his parents "do not tell anyone that I want to come home for they would laugh at me when I get home." Stearns was in Iowa in early 1856, and stayed with various friends and relatives in Wisconsin during the spring and summer of 1856, where he worked at farms to save money to finance his travels to California. He writes that he prefers Wisconsin to Illinois (HM 21294, 1856, June 1), and says "I could make up my mind to go home but I shall not at present for the reason I can do better out here than in old Vermont & for that reason I shall stay." By 1858, Stearns has earned enough to buy his own land (HM 21295, dated 1858, November), and by early 1859, he is on his way to Pike's Peak in Colorado (HM 21296, dated 1859, March) before finally heading for California. Stearns seems almost resigned of going to what he calls "the new El Dorado", for as he writes, "there is Gold there without a doubt but not of a sufficient quantity to pay a man for going." By late 1859, he is in Sacramento (HM 21298, written 1859, September 30), and writes that wages are fine, when work can be found. He is very impressed with the bounty of California and its "fertile vallies." However, as he writes in April, 1860, "the society I am mingling with does not harmonize with my feelings" as "gambling and rowdyisms are the principal productions of the mining towns in California & thus it is why so many young men are ruined for life from character as well as health." Of the money made from mining, Stearns remarks, "it is very easy to spend it as fast as it is dug out," but he has not succumbed to the temptations offered in Sacramento. By late 1861 (HM 21303) Stearns declares that California will be his home for the rest of his life, and relocates to San Francisco, where he enlists for three years as a soldier because he believes "it would be better for my health" (HM 21302, dated 1864, August 23). He has had a change of heart, as he writes "should I be fortunate enough to out live the term of my enlistment I shall come home never to leave the Atlantic States again while I live." Regarding his enlistment, he tells his mother not to worry, as "Soldiers here have no fighting to do." In 1866 (HM 21306, written April 17), Stearns writes to his brother "exsposure & hard work has made an old man of me in some respects." The final letter is dated 1867, October 7, and Stearns writes from San Francisco that "I think my health will never be very good again California has been a very hard country with me at times." He laments, one last time, the separation from his family.
mssHM 21282-21308