Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - September - 2007 Issue
A Summer Miscellany from Bauman Rare Books
Winston Churchill rallies his people during the War's darkest days.
Here is an autobiography by a man whose logic was even more twisted than Gracie Allen's, except that he was paid for serious work, not to be a comedian. Item 52 is Casey at the Bat. The Story of My Life in Baseball, by Harry Paxton. This is a biography of Casey Stengel, baseball player and manager, most noted for his years managing in New York. He spoke "Stengelese," kind of a forerunner to the logic now more widely attributed to one of his players, Yogi Berra, although his "logic" was often more obtuse and difficult to follow. If the public couldn't always follow Stengel's speech, his players could. In twelve years, from 1949-1960, his Yankees won an incredible ten pennants and five World Series. However, the Yankees retired him after the 1960 Series when his team lost in seven games to Pittsburgh. They thought he was too old. Still, in 1962, the expansion New York Mets hired him to manage their truly pathetic team, and for four more years, Stengel entertained the fans with his observations, though his wretched teams finished tenth and last each year. It was not Stengel's fault. This book was published in 1962, his first year with the Mets, and includes an inscription from the master, "Study at school and then get a bonus and join the NY Mets." $850.
For those who collect in the field of Communism and the split that developed in Russia after the death of Lenin, there is The Revolution Betrayed, by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky, once the second most powerful man behind Lenin, lost a power struggle to Stalin after Lenin's death, eventually being exiled. From his last exile, in Mexico, he wrote this stinging critique of Stalin's rule, published and signed by Trotsky in 1937. Stalin responded to the critique in typical Stalin fashion, dispatching agents to neatly implant an ax in Trotsky's skull. Item 759. $4,200.
For all of you surfers, here is the first novel about your sport, Kelea: The Surf-Rider. This was not written by the Beach Boys or their contemporaries, but goes all the way back to 1900. The author is Alex Twombly. Item 739. $950.
Bauman Rare Books may be reached online at www.BaumanRareBooks.com or at 215-546-6473.
