X Marks the Spot

     The phrase "X marks the spot" sounds like something you would hear in an action-packed treasure hunting movie, but alas, here at Bayswater Books, our most recent "Find of the Week on the Used Book Floor" truly gives real-life meaning to the cliche.  What do we mean? Read on, friends, read on.

     The keeper of our find, our book, was a 1998 copy of "Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion" and it provides an inside look at anything and everything there is to know about Law & Order, the classic American police-procedural and legal drama TV series that ran from 1990-2010.  You know the show, right?  Come on, admit it, you might have even seen a few re-runs recently on TNT during a sleepless night or two.  Well, "Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion" tells you all about the cast, plots, sets, camaraderie, censorship, and so much more that took place behind the scenes.  If you have seen one or more of the 456 episodes, (20 years worth) this book will give you a peek into the sides of Law & Order that we never saw, but wish we had.  

     Inside the book is where the "x marks the spot” part fun comes in.  Nestled among the pages of "Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion" was a 1961 map - yes, a map- of Longs Peak in Colorado, or the Northern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains.  As we opened the 57 year-old map, we saw a small red X on the part of the map that is labeled Mount Lady Washington.  This is “x marks the spot” in real life!  No, New Hampshire readers, this mountain is not a relative of the Mt. Washington that looms above New England, but it does sit 13,281 feet high and takes approximately 8-10 hours to scale.  While it can be climbed year round, Mount Lady Washington requires a great deal of boulder scrambling and can cause altitude sickness, hypothermia and dehydration.  In short, it is not a day climb for the family.

     But, let’s get back to the exciting mark on the map.  What could the red X mean?  Could there be treasure buried there?  Maybe it is (or was) the spot of a clandestine meeting for a group of questionable criminals, or perhaps it was simply a mountain that the map owner had yet to climb.  We are not fond of the last idea, as it lacks imagination and drama, so we are throwing in our lot with the buried treasure or clandestine meeting conclusions.  Of course, our imaginations could be running away with us, but that is unlikely to happen (wink, wink).

     “Law & Order: The Unofficial Companion” can be yours for the price of $4.99 and the map is yours, as well (in case you want to try your hand at treasure hunting in Colorado).  You can catch up with our previous finds of the week from the used book floor at bayswaterbooks.com and on facebook.  Better yet, stop by our store in Center Harbor and check out the used book floor for yourself!

The Letter

     Once in a great while, we are lucky enough to find a letter that someone has left behind in a used book. This week was one of those fortunate occasions and we are even more excited because the author of the letter and her husband were national figures during the 1960s. What are the chances?


     Hidden away in the pages of a signed 1962 copy of Louis Untermeyer's compilation of selected poems entitled, "Long Feud," was a letter written 56 years ago by Untermeyer's wife at the time, Bryna Untermeyer, to the owner of a small country book store in Lacona, New York. A former fiction editor for Seventeen magazine, (which, believe it or not, has been in existence since 1944) Bryna thanks the owner of the small bookstore for sending her a book of essays and states that because she is fortunate enough to be able to borrow from the Library of Congress, she will be seeking out more books by the same author. Upon researching, we found that, for the most part, individuals are not allowed to borrow from the Library of Congress, so Bryna must have gained special access through her position or that of her husband, Louis. Once you read more about him, you may understand why.


 

   Louis Untermeyer, the author of the book, was even more well-known during his time than Bryna. Born in 1885, Louis left his father's jewelry business behind in 1902 to pursue his passion of becoming a writer. His leap of faith and perseverance paid off, as he eventually taught at several universities and was named poetry consultant to the Library of Congress from 1991-1993. That position later became known as the poet laureate of the United States. Louis' anthologies were widely used in colleges across the United States and are even said to have helped to establish the reputation of famed poet, Robert Frost.


     Louis chose to thank the owner of the bookshop in New York by sending him an autographed copy of his book, "Long Feud" - the very same book that we found here with his wife's letter hidden away in it. If you are following us, all of this means that we found a signed copy of a 1962 poetry collection from the then-poet laureate of the United States, complete with a letter from his wife! How great is that? You never know where a letter might lead you...


     The autographed copy of “Long Feud” (with the letter included) is available for $20.00 here at Bayswater. You can catch up with our previous finds of the week from the used book floor at bayswaterbooks.com and on facebook. Better yet, stop by our store in Center Harbor and check out the used book floor for yourself!