Rare Books

Secret of the old post-box

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Description: It's the mid-1950s and Pat Harrison is excited that her family has moved from a cramped apartment in New York City to a country house in Haven. She's never climbed a tree or ridden a bike on a street without traffic or made friends with any boys (having attended an all-girls school). But all of these things are in her future...as well as solving an old mystery tied to the Revolutionary War.
Type: Rare Books(Opens in new tab)
Publication date: [1960]
Call number: 660739
Creator: Sterling, Dorothy (1913-2008)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Purchased from Kim Stanley Robinson, August 2025. From the library of Kim Stanley Robinson.
Dimensions: 22 cm
Associated people: Paull, Grace,

The Basle express

Rare Books

"British Intelligence agent Tommy Hambledon had the mistaken notion when he arrived at Innsbruck that he had left behind all connections with Herr Bastien, who had been shot in the railway compartment they shared on the Anglo-Swiss Express. But when he was commanded by a belligerent Austrian taxi driver to disrobe, and then forced at gunpoint to hike barefoot over the Alps, Hambledon ruefully decided that his vacation was over. With the help of a horse-faced English tourist - and over the opposition of some escaped lunatics, an enormously stout gentleman with a feather in his hat, a village idiot, and a Communist named Medeski - Tommy Hambledon unravels this gripping and intrigue-ridden international mystery"--Jacket.

644075

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Sarah Canary

Rare Books

It's the winter of 1873 in the Washington Territory, and a mysterious, hugely ugly woman dressed all in black has suddenly appeared in a forest clearing. Chin Ah Kin is commissioned to return her to the white world.

660927

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Charles Bolivar Sterling papers

Manuscripts

Sundry autobiographical and daily notes that Sterling jotted (on the back of muster rolls and returns), in August and September 1847, whiling away time onboard of the Preble. Three manuscripts (HM 66241, HM 66244, and HM 66245) describe the minutia of the life onboard of the Preble (including an account of a duel). The remaining two are devoted to the recollections of the author's childhood, chiefly the time he spent at his uncle's plantation in Sterlington, his school years at Lafayette Seminary in Louisville, Ky., and his travels through Louisiana, Mississippi, and Kentucky. One of the autobiographical manuscripts (HM 66243) is a collection of anecdotes and reminiscences, including a story of two Irishmen whom his uncle had hired to dig a ditch; a short story titled "The First Night of Marriage, or the Happy Return: A Domestic Narrative," and "Early recollections" about his life in Louisiana, (including accounts of the plantations slaves), and the school. The second miscellany (HM 66242) contains Sterling's attempts at humorous prose, presumably autobiographical: short stories "A Ghostly Night," "That Boy Jo and the Art of Catfiring [sic]: Sportsmanlike Habit," two Irish anecdotes "Keeping the Pledge" and "It's all the Priest's Fault," and a letter to "Dear Samuel" dated "Sept. 14, 1847" and subtitled "Melancholy recollections."

mssSterlingb

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A country of old men : a Dave Brandstetter novel

Rare Books

"The wear and tear of a life spent pursuing the truth into harm's way is catching up with Dave. In fact, it has already caught him. The aged death claims investigator is old enough for his body to hurt even without all the compiled injuries he's sustained throughout his career. Yet when presented with a puzzle-like mystery, Dave can't help but be drawn in. Walking on the beach, a friend finds a bedraggled child who claims he has witnessed a murder. The victim is a drug-addicted pop star, and the obvious suspect is the dead man's ex-girlfriend--a drug addict whom the child saw standing over the body, gun in hand. In the final installment of Joseph Hansen's groundbreaking series, Dave looks for justice once more, hoping that he will also find a lasting measure of peace. Over the course of twelve novels spanning three decades of American culture--from the 1960s to the late 1980s--Joseph Hansen gave readers one of the truly great heroes of detective fiction"--Back cover.

642335

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A double affair

Rare Books

"Mrs. Thirkell takes us back to Barsetshire in time to assist (in the French sense) at the marriage of Mr. Choyce, the Vicar, and Miss Merriman, for so long the devoted friend and help to the Leslie and the Graham families. Meanwhile a kind arrangement of fate seems to be clearing the way for George Halliday, who until now has been rather mother-ridden, to win exactly the right kind of wife. This is not the only sign of matrimonial fever in the county. In the Close two charming granddaughters of the Dean give every indication that they will soon thin the ranks of Barsetshire bachelors, while the arrival of an interesting and aristocratic newcomer within the Cathedral precincts in the Rev. Lord William Harcourt affords scope for much agreeable speculation. It is true that Edith Graham, that rather exasperating young woman, has a salutary shock when her much-tried father speaks out and her cousin, Lord Mellings, tells her exactly what they all think of her. But Mrs. Thirkell can hardly ever bear to be consistently unkind to her Barsetshire friends. This is a book which evidently she particularly enjoyed writing; so the trying Edith is let off lightly and by the end seems to be on the verge of settling down at last. These proceedings are, of course, accompanied by the usual chorus of villagers an clergy"--From dust jacket.

657415

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Anna Dorothy Mason Bronson papers

Manuscripts

The letters in the collection cover the period of Anna (Mason) Bronson's schooling at the Thetford Academy in Vermont and her employment in the cotton mills of Manchester. The letters from Thetford provide an interesting perspective on a situation that was probably not all that common in the 1840s - a young woman attending a college preparatory school and boarding away from home. The majority of the letters were written by Anna to her parents during her six years in the mills. They are full of information on hours, wages, and working and living conditions. Because personal accounts of workers are not that common, the letters should also be helpful in resolving questions about the adjustment of young farm women to the factory regimen and the impact of industrial work upon family life. Also discussed are family affairs, including news of a brother in the California mines; evangelical religious belief; and events in and around Manchester, including fires, lyceum lectures, fairs, exhibits, etc.

mssHM 50177-50216

Secret of the old post-box

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The Basle express

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Charles Bolivar Sterling papers

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Anna Dorothy Mason Bronson papers