Eliza butterworth ot8/9/2023 ![]() At his dining room table with me at one end and Theron at the other, we got down to the nitty-gritty. Actually he wanted to give them to his children, but nobody expressed any interest, so he offered them to me. He recounted how he used to take Bill the Lizard to school with him and tease the girls. He told me the story about how his mother would buy these when she visited England and would send him a few from the set each time she traveled there. When I got to his apartment, Theron brought out a little box filled with 28 articulated figures from Alice, including Humpty Dumpty, Bill the Lizard, Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Jabberwock, the Cheshire Cat, and others. I distinctly remember Theron calling me once and asking if I’d be interested in this or that book, and then he mentioned some wooden figures from Alice in Wonderland which sounded intriguing. However, before getting to that, I just have to digress a little by telling a few little stories within the story. Others were given away for library book sales, and a few items I purchased outright, but the Mosher material–well now, that was another matter. He had a number of books not worth my while to purchase, but I made arrangements for another Lancaster area book dealer, Jane Shull of the Book Bin Bookstore Unltd, to purchase the majority. No matter, we developed a delightful and respectful friendship. When I got to know Theron, many of the family’s best books had long been sold before he moved into the closer quarters of the nursing home complex. His mother always made him and his sibling wash their hands before touching any of the books in her library, or before she read them a story. I spent many hours together with him discussing his family background and upbringing, especially as it related to books. ![]() Theron’s upbringing in an upper middle class home and his cosmopolitan experience were evident in his mannerisms, diction, and memories. The tall, stooped over yet still dignified gentleman who answered the door beckoned me to enter and offered me a seat along with some refreshments, and thus began a delightful relationship with this tender, retired U.S. Butterworth’s doorstep at the Alpine Nursing Complex in the Hummelstown – Hershey area. Timothy Mosher collected some of the Mosher books, and apparently even bought a couple from Theron, but for the most part wasn’t interested in collecting them to any great degree, so Theron wanted to contact me to see if I had any interest in the books still in his possession. The radiologist told Theron that he was distantly related, but also mentioned that there is a fellow over in Millersville, PA who currently has an exhibition of the Mosher books at Temple University. Lamb, following the publisher’s death in 1923. Theron’s mother, Elizabeth Pearce Rockwell Butterworth, had bought many Mosher books from the publisher over the years, and had directly corresponded with the publisher and later with his assistant, Flora M. Mosher was any relation to the publisher Thomas Bird Mosher. Butterworth (or Theron which he finally demanded that I call him) was inquisitive as to whether or not Dr. ![]() Timothy Mosher, a radiologist who had examined him at the Hershey Medical Center. I had first received a typed letter on July 7 in which he indicated that he had gotten my name from a Dr. Butterworth was a totally delightful man in whom all the “old school” loves and rules of books were inculcated by an indulgent mother. It is a delightful story about how we met and conducted business over the years. Butterworth” after she heard a snippet from the story and responded with some glee over its details. ![]() At the most recent Sha-Dor Antiquarian Book Fair in Baltimore over the Labor Day 2003 holiday, I promised Jack & Linda Lapides that I would do an article on “Mosher and Dr. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |