About a month ago a friend of ours was showing off a book he had found. It was AutoLine o' Type by Elsbery W. Reynolds. It was published in 1924- had probably 250 poems each which ended with a reference to Studebaker cars. As best I can determine Mr. Reynolds was a Studebaker dealer or distributor in Pomona, California. He wrote these poems as advertising. Anyhow, my friend was supposed to look for a copy for my wife since he goes to a lot of book fairs. My wife and a friend had gone over to the Antique and Craft Show which also going on at York during our Meet. My wife's friend found two of these books there and beat the vendor down from $25 to $20 each. My wife proudly took her copy to my friend who, it turned out, had already been to the Antique Show and had bought a copy for $25, but for another woman who had also expressed interest it. So, my wife was able to punish old super-frugal by beating his deal. When we got home I did an eBay search and turned up one copy for auction. It was a mint condition, first edition, signed by the author. I got it for $9.50 (plus $2.50 shipping). I can't wait to rub that in. However, with four of these books showing up (to me) in a short period of time, I'm wondering if this is a common book. Has anyone every heard of it before (or seen one)? Paul Johnson BTW- The poems are very clever, some poignant, some funny.
- posted
19 years ago