Massachusetts Books

This book raises some interesting questions about the roles of religion (specifically Puritanism), mourning and grief in early American literature, specifically Rowlandson's Captivity Narrative. I recommend this book to anyone who does serious research into early American literature, history, and cultural context. This is *not* an easy or light read.

Bolton, Ethel Stanwood and Coe, Eva Johnston; Dover Publications, New York, reproduction of 1973 Dover edition, an unabridged republication of the work originally published by The Massachusetts Society of the Colonial Dames of America in 1921. Trade Paperback. 416 pages.

A superb collection of American Samplers from the 17th century colonial period to 1830. Beautifully illustrated with 128 examples. There is also a special section on sampler verse, material on verse dates, schools, and styles which might be helpful in establishing correct dates and other information.

In her book The Anatomy of Knowledge, Grene quotes both Francis Crick and W. Heitler. Heitler is a proponent of a philosophy called "substance ontology" and concludes that a human is machine-like and much more. Crick, on the other hand, is an expounder of "mechanism" which states that a human is nothing but a machine. These two philosophies are in conflict with each other.

Mechanists, like Reductionists, claim that here is only one substance and stuff in the universe. Whether the one substance be energy, as Einstein deduced, or spirit, as Plotinus taught, there still remains only one material out of which everything else is made. Mechanists, unlike Reductionists, carry this "monistic" concept one step further. They hold that living creatures, just like cars and trucks, are mechanical devices. For instance, the human heart to them is "a spring", the human mind is a machine that we use "to calculate", and thoughts are simply "electrical impulses in the brain." Grene writes, "All explanation is hypothetical-deductive, and the only meaningful hypotheses are such as reduce all phenomenon to material or, in modern language, to physical-chemical terms" (p. 9).

Besides admitting to a one-level ontology and a "one stuff in the universe" view, mechanists assume that everything in nature can be studied with simply one branch of science, namely, physics.

Jeannine Atkins names Anne Hutchinson only once - in the first line of the book. After that, she is "Mother," as viewed through the eyes of Anne's youngest daughter Susannah. True to her designation, Anne is shown as a protector and comforter, sheltering Susannah from rough seas on the journey from England and shielding the other settlers from the rough voices and punitive notions of the community's leaders. Anne is Mother in its most beneficent sense, not only to her own eleven children and midwife to the children of others, but to the entire community, rallying and guiding spirits by offering her own voice, a voice unafraid, one of warmth, strength, and wisdom.

Jeannine Atkins' portrait - subtle and rich - matches the quiet strength of her subject. Her sentences are a marvel, gracefully combining emotion and information. The illustrations are quite something, as well - the entire work skillful and inviting on all counts.

This book, edited by Philip Van Doren Stern, is a dream come true for diehard Thoreauvians (like myself). If you think you know everything about Thoreau's Walden, think again. This book is full of fascinating footnotes that shed light on particular turns of phrase and allusions that one thought one had grasped. The footnotes are particularly illuminating in re turns of phrases that have gone out of style. To learn, for instance, that train wrecks and such were commonly referred to as "melancholy accidents" in the papers of the time, lends an otherwise missing mordant wit to Thoreau's criticism of the railroad when he says that "it will be perceived that a few are riding while the rest are run over-and it will be called, and will be, 'A Melancholy Accident'."-Absolutely delightful! Why is this book out of print with so many purported lovers of Thoreau out there?!?

In the United States there is no question that we live in a culture of consumption. We change cars long before they are work out, and our thrift shops are filled with clothes showing almost no wear. And we are overweight.

The complaints about American consumer habits have grown just about as fast. This book examines that critism from the end of the depression until 1979. The book has five broad themes:

. the persistence of highly charged, moralistic attitudes to consumer culture
. how certain writers embraceed psychology as an explanation for and a solution to social problems
. the factors that determined the power of books to set the terms of public discussion
. the role of intellectuals in shaping social movements, public conversations and policy considerations
. the hegemony of the of the cold war consentsus was replaced by new events and ideas challenged its legitimacy.

The book ends in 1979 with the energy crisis and the thought that the 'good life' was over. After that came the longest period of growth in our history, various recessions, booms and bust on Wall Street, the dot.coms, SUVs and a lot more critism.

Difficult to find book written by Child in its original format, a bit difficult to read due to its type set, but none the less it is as it was. I give credit to Mrs. Child for standing her ground and speaking her mind on a subject that brought about a whole new way of thinking, a hundred years before it was politically correct to do so. After writting this book Child's career would never be the same.

This book shows some really great scenes of the past and present in Arlington. The pictures are all newly published and come from a large number of sources. Much of Arlington is represented. Mr. Duffy has done another excellent job.

This is a wonderfully illistrated book that gives a sampling of what Massachusetts is well known for. And gives a flavor of the many nauticle scenes that are classic to our state.

For visitors from out of state or the country, I highly recommend this as a gift.

Tarule, himself a furniture-maker in Vermont making reproductions of 17th-century furniture, tells Thomas Dennis's story almost as if Dennis were a character in a novel. Dennis was one of the first furniture-makers in America to gain notoriety. Coming to America and settling in the Massachusetts village of Ipswich in the mid 1600s, Dennis used many of the techniques and styles found in British furniture-making of this period. Yet having to select appropriate trees from American forests, usually in consideration of village laws relating to certain kinds of trees, work with other American craftsmen, make furniture to order from nearby residents, and give it suitable embellishments for attractiveness, Dennis is seen as an originator of American woodworking and furniture-making. But in this work, Tarule is not interested in a study of furniture-making, or a history of it. The author's concern is the work and expertise Dennis put into making one oak chest. From the author's following this in detail, one learns a great deal about 17th-century furniture-making and also the regional Colonial society. For Dennis is viewed in the narrative as both a extraordinary and respected craftsman and a member of the community which supported and shaped his trade. Tarule does not simply say what kind of wood the particular chest was made of, but takes the reader right with Dennis as he goes to the nearby woods looking for a tree with suitable oak tree, keeping in mind the village's laws. "As soon as Thomas Dennis entered the Ipswich woods, he was in the New World. The forest was primordial...The sort of trees Dennis looked for are apparent in his furniture. The wood is close grained...." And so on with a discussion of different types of oak trees whose characteristics Ipswich artists knew from "forest type, slope degree and direction, dampness of the ground, soil conditions, and even genetic variation on local trees." Tarule even engages in a comparison of British forests and American forests of the period, and changes in American forests over time. Tarule weaves a fascinating narrative under the general heading of Americana of interest to diverse readers such as antique dealers, woodworkers, and American Colonial historians.