Sunday afternoon reads

Since I'm up to my eyeballs in Chapter Four (new title: "Such Shamefull Matches:" The Religious Impplications of Interracial Intimacy) and cannot write anything substantial today, here are some fun links to keep you busy:
* The New York Times proclaims that the Pen is Mightier than...other Pens.
* Verlyn Klinkenborg on the new exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History. I'm told that no corporate sponsors could be found to bankroll the exhibit, and that the museum could certainly use donations to cover part of the cost.
* Novelist William T. Vollman on the implications of the Lewis and Clarke expedition.
* And from Crooked Timber, advice on finishing your dissertation (like I need more of that). I would add to this advice: write longhand with a fountain pen. Your dissertation will seem infinitely more elegant if you do.

And, this week's acquisitions:
1. Amy R.W. Meyers & Margaret Beck Pritchard, eds, Empire's Nature: Mark Catesby's New World Vision (UNC 1998). Acquired at Harvard Book Store's fabulous remainder table.
2. Max Savelle, rev. Robert Middlekauff, A History of Colonial America (Holt, Rinehart,& Winston, 1964). Acquired at Henry Adams Club Book Sale for two bucks. Great example of an old-fashioned textbook (all words, no pictures).
3. George C. Rable, Civil Wars: Women and the Crisis of Southern Nationalism (Illinois, 1989). Acquired for one buck at the aforementioned sale.
4. John B. Boles, The South Through Time: a History of an American Region (Prentice Hall, 2004). Also acquired for just one dollar.
5. James Reynolds, A World of Horses (1947) FREE. I have lots of horse books but I didn't have this one. I rather enjoyed reading it last night!