Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - January - 2006 Issue
The West and More Americana from Arthur H. Clark
Henry Clay Barnabee was a famous, now forgotten, actor.
Here are some more recent, but also extinct Californians. It is Journeys to the Homes of Famous Californians, written by Herbert Warren and published by the San Francisco Examiner. It includes descriptions of the homes of the rich and famous, and a map to help you locate and gawk at them. But, we suspect most of these celebrities are extinct, as it was published in 1927. $17.50.
Some great celebrities end up virtually totally forgotten. Henry Clay Barnabee came along just a little too soon. He was an actor and producer of the second half of the 19th century and early 20th. He was known as the "Dean of Light (or "Comic") Opera." He encouraged the writing of such plays in America, and appeared in light operas written by American composers, including John Philip Sousa. Barnabee and his troop were centered in Boston, but they traveled all across the country, playing in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and many smaller locales from Butte to Kansas City. Unfortunately, his career came to a close just as movies were beginning to appear. His performances went unrecorded. There is not much left to retell his career, except his biography, Reminiscences of Henry Clay Barnabee: Being an Attempt to Account for His Life, with Some Excuses for His Professional Career. He was, to the end, a comedian. His personal papers are stored in his hometown Portsmouth (New Hampshire) Public Library, apparently receiving few visitors. Item 96 is a copy of his biography, signed by Barnabee, and is available for just $19.50.
Item 168 is a history of an important expedition across Canada in 1872. It was undertaken by Sandford Fleming, a surveyor and engineer of railroads. Fleming crossed the country from Halifax to the Pacific mapping a route for the Canadian Pacific Railroad. However, Fleming created something even more significant than any railroad. The problem of scheduling trains led him to the idea which gave him the moniker "Father of Standard Time." In 1872, time was computed locally based on the sun being straight up at high noon. The result is that time from one community to another might be 6 or 12 or 24 minutes apart. Under such a system, creating rational railroad time schedules was practically impossible. Fleming came up with the idea of 24 worldwide time zones, each separated by exactly one hour. A new hour would start everywhere at precisely the same time, and by locating a community within its time zone, you could instantly tell what time it was anywhere in the world. Amazingly, Fleming met much resistance from traditionalists, some of whom objected to 12:00 not occurring at precisely high noon. Practicality carried the day, and Fleming's time zones were accepted internationally in 1885. Rev. George Grant's 1879 book is titled Ocean to Ocean: Sandford Fleming's Expedition through Canada in 1872. $42.50.
The Arthur H. Clark Company may be found online at www.ahclark.com or reached by phone at 800-842-9286.
