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Articles - November - 2025 Issue

Are you reading the long form?

- by Bruce E. McKinney

Are you reading the long form?

 

We are in the middle of an undeclared war.

 

We know that print was financially unhealthy. The Internet has been killing off newspapers. Books are resisting the onslaught. We grew up in a world that accepted reporters, writers and editors were choosing what we could see. If you wanted a broader perspective, you subscribed for a second newspaper or watched several television channels. The Internet has turned every person with a phone into a reporter, turning media into interpreters. Now the channels get their news from the Internet.

 

In place of trusted media and their experienced reporters, influencers attract immense audiences inevitably relying on intense emotion. Moderation loses you audience. Those who most effectively stoke emotion attract the largest audiences they can monetize. The line between responsible and effective becomes unclear. Negative emotions, resentments, prejudice win audiences. We all lose because of this.

 

The Internet has become our enemy. Please limit your access to it.

 

Reading has become a forgotten skill. Choose a few books from your shelves. When you read, preferably in the long form (books), the crap and nonsense lose its urgency.

 

The Internet is damaging us.  Read.

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Posted On: 2025-11-01 02:55
User Name: colophon2

A recent discovery revealed that the internet and electronic devices require a different set of reading skills, and consequently, we may be loosing the ability to read the printed page. Those who read the written or printed page may notice a diminished speed, as well as, comprehension, ie. cognitive abilities. What we lose by each successive gain might, also, be an historical reflection of what is yet to come.

Posted On: 2025-11-01 16:49
User Name: kenm

I agree but can't help noticing some irony in the fact that I am reading it on the internet.

Posted On: 2025-11-01 17:09
User Name: kenm

While I agree, like most things it is complicated. I have an interest in wordless novels and have a non-profit bibliographic site devoted to them. It is non-profit in most part due to the reality very few people have any interest in the genre.
Over a decade ago a noted academic brought out a book on the same topic that was remaindered. The reality is that no printed book can be better than my website - I can instantly update it, modify it if in error, and add so many more images than a printed book could cost justify.
By providing the information for free I realize I am undermining the concept of writers being entitled to be reimbursed for their work - a concept I fully endorse. Life is complicated.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Books & Autographs
    Wednesday 25 March
    Koller, Mar. 25: KAFKA, FRANZ, SCHRIFTSTELLER. Eigenh. Brief mit Unterschrift. Prag, 20. Oktober [19]15. CHF 30,000-40,000.
    Koller, Mar. 25: EINSTEIN, ALBERT. Zwei eigenhändige Briefe an Ernst Gabor Straus, unterschrieben "A.E" bzw. "A. Einstein". [Princeton], [19]45. und [1950]. CHF 30,000-40,000.
    Koller, Mar. 25: HORTENSE DE BEAUHARNAIS, MUTTER VON NAPOLEON III. Album aus ihrem Besitz mit 69 Aquarellen und Pinselzeichnungen in Sepia oder Grau… CHF 14,000-18,000.
    Koller, Mar. 25: ZOOLOGIE - ORNITHOLOGIE - Seligmann, Johann Michael. Verzameling van uitlandsche en zeldzaame Vogelen. Teile 1-8 (von 9) in 2 Bänden. Mit 421 prächtig altkolorierten Kupfertafeln. CHF 14,000-20,000
    Koller, Mar. 25: BOTANIK - Berlèse, Lorenzo und Johann Jakob Jung. Iconographie du genre camellia... 3 Bände. Mit 300 Farbstichtafeln "a la poupée.” Paris, [1839-]1841-1843. CHF 12,000-18,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Andrews (H.C.) Coloured Engravings of Heaths, 4 vol. in 2, first edition, [1710,--94]-1802-1809-[1830]. £10,000 - £15,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- Cramer (Pierre) and Caspar Stoll. De Uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen…,, 5 vol., Amsterdam & Utrecht, 1779-91. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Voyages.- Darwin (Charles) and others. Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle, 3 vol. in 4, including Appendix to vol.2, first edition, 1839. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Butterflies.- de Graaf (Willem Diederik Vincent). [Inlandsche Kapellen in beeld], 170 fine original watercolours, [Enkhuizen], [1800-40]. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Dresser (Henry Eeles). A History of the Birds of Europe, 9 vol., including supplement, first edition, by the author, 1871-96. £6,000 - £8,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Zoology.- Felines.- Elliot (Daniel Giraud). A Monograph of the Felidæ or Family of the Cats, first edition, for the Subscribers, by the Author, [1878]-1883. £25,000 - £30,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Frisch (Johann Leonard). Vorstellung der Vögel Deutschlandes, 2 vol., first edition, Berlin, Friedr. Wilhelm Birnsteil, [1736]-1763. £40,000 - £60,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Birds.- Gould (John). The Birds of Great Britain, 5 vol., first edition, by the author, 1862-1873. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Natural History: The remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk, 1899-2026
    25 March 2026
    Forum, Mar. 25: Pomology.- France.- Poiteau (A.) Pomologie Française. Recueil des Plus Beaux Fruits cultivés en France, 4 vol., Paris, 1846. £30,000 - £40,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- [Robin (Jean)]. Histoire des Plantes, nouvellement trouvées en l'Isle Virgine…,, 1620; with Geoffrey Linocier L'Histoire des plantes, second edition, 1619-20. £3,000 - £4,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Japan.- Siebold (P.F. von). Nippon. Archiv zur Beschreibung von Japan, 7 parts in 6 vol., first edition, Leyden, [1832]-1852. £35,000 - £45,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Asia.- Valentijn (Francois). Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indiën..., 5 vol. in 8, first edition, Dordrecht [&] Amsterdam, 1724-26. £8,000 - £12,000.
    Forum, Mar. 25: Botany.- Australia.- Redouté (P.J.).- Ventenat (Étienne Pierre). Jardin de la Malmaison, 2 vol.,, Paris, 1803-04[-05]. £30,000 - £40,000.

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