Friends and Colleagues,

The time of gift giving is nigh.  And wrapping and tagging.  In our household Ellen wraps the presents and I make the tags.  Wrapping is that harder task.  Tag writing can be a bit perfunctory.  I have written hundreds of them.

 Having said that, the gift inscription in Yolla Niclas’ The Island Shepherd stopped me in my track.  Mind you, I never heard of Ms. Niclas before I bought this book.  And I have no idea who she was presenting the book too.  The inscription is quite vertical, and so is the handwriting:

                                To my

                                cherished

                                friend

                               affectionately

                                deep down

                                from the heart

                                Yolla

                                Nov 28.66

                                New York

The book was presented affectionately … deep down … from the heart.

May the gifts you give this season be given like this.

Cheers,

NIck                          

Yolla Niclas. [SIGNED] [MAINE] THE ISLAND SHEPHERD [WITH PHOTOGRPAH]. Price: $125.00   John Steinbeck | Peggy Worthington [Illustrator]. [LITERATURE] TORTILLA FLAT. WITH SEVENTEEN PAINTINGS. Price: $175.00

Tom Sherman. [SIGNED] [WORLD WAR II] SEEK, STRIKE, DESTROY: THE HISTORY OF THE 636th TANK DESTROYER BATTALION. Price: $600.00	Susan P. Lee | [William Nelson Pendleton]. [CIVIL WAR] MEMOIRS OF WILLIAM NELSON PENDLETON, D. D. RECTOR OF LATIMER PARISH, LEXINGTON, VIRGINIA, BRIGADIER-GENERAL C. S. A,; CHIEF OF ARTILLLERY, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. Price: $395.00
Walter Shewring | Simon Brett (Engravings] | Christopher Skelton [Designer & Printer]. [SPECIAL PRESS] TRANSLATIONS AND POEMS. Price: $500.00	Shelby Foote. [SIGNED] [CIVIL WAR] THE NOVELIST’S VIEW OF HISTORY. Price: $400.00
Edward Hawkins Poindexter. [VIRGINIA BUSINESS ARCHIVE] POINDEXTER’S STORE RECORDS. Price: $950.00	William Preston Johnston. [CIVIL WAR] THE LIFE OF ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, EMBRACING HIS SERVICES IN THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES, THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS, AND THE CONFEDERATE STATES. Price: $300.00
[ATLAS] RAND, McNALLY & CO.’S INDEXED ATLAS OF THE WORLD [2 VOLUMES] CONTAINING LARGE SCALE MAPS OF EVERY COUNTRY AND CIVIL DIVISION UPON THE FACE TO THE GLOBE, TOGETHER WITH HISTORICAL, STATISTICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE MATTER RELATIVE TO EACH. Price: $2,000.00	Capt. C[harles] C[ornwallis] Chesney. [CIVIL WAR] A MILITARY VIEW OF RECENT CAMPAIGNS IN VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. Price: $300.00
Mary Anna Jackson. [CIVIL WAR] MEMOIRS OF “STONEWALL” JACKSON. Price: $250.00	Harry Gilmor. [CIVIL WAR] FOUR YEARS IN THE SADDLE. Price: $95.00
Julia Chase’ Laura Lee | Michael Mahon [Editor] | [Gary W. Gallagher]. [CIVIL WAR] WINCHESTER DIARIES. THE CIVIL WAR DIARIES OF JULIA CHASE AND LAURA LEE. Price: $50.00	A. Fortia de Piles. VOYAGE DE DEUX FRANCAIS EN ALLEMAGNE, DANEMARCK; SUEDE, RUSSIE ET POLOGNE, FAT EN 1790-1792, (5 Volume Set); I, II, III, IV, V. Price: $850.00
Gary W. Gallagher. [SIGNED] [CIVIL WAR] “’THE PROGRESS OF OUR ARMS’: WHITHER CIVIL WAR MILITARY HISTORY?” 44th ANNUAL FORTENBAUGH MEMORIAL LECTURE. GETTYSBURG COLLEGE. Price: $175.00	Charles M. Wiltse. [AMERICANA] JOHN C. CALHOUN. NATIONALIST, 1782-1828; NULLIFIER, 1829-1839; SECTIONALIST, 1840-1850 [3 VOLUMES]. Price: $300.00
Thomas Keneally | Gary W. Gallagher. [CIVIL WAR] AMERICAN SCOUNDREL: THE LIFE OF THE NOTORIOUS CIVIL WAR GENERAL DAN SICKLES. Price: $40.00	Thomas Mann. [LITERATURE] THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN. [FIRST ONE-VOlUME EDITION]. Price: $100.00
Various. [BOUND JOURNALS] SOUTHERN HISTORICAL SOCIETY PAPERS. VOLUMES I-XXII BOUND IN 20. Price: $950.00	Andrew Bolton. [FASHION] [RELIGION] HEAVENLY BODIES: FASHION AND THE CATHOLIC IMAGINATION [2 VOLUMES; SLIPCASE]. Price: $175.00
Hinton, Simpkin, & Marshall. [MAPS] MAP OF THE STATES OF VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND. Price: $300.00	J. Bew, Publisher. [MAPS] [REVOLUTION] A NEW AND ACCURATE MAP OF VA. Price: $500.00
[GAMES] THE HAND-BOOK OF WHIST; CONTAINING THE LAWS AS LAID DOWN BY THE LATEST AUTHORITIES, AND CONCISE RULES FOR PLAYING AT EVERY STAGE OF THE GAME. Price: $150.00	Charles Carroll | Elihu S. Riley. [SIGNED PRESENTATION] [AMERICANA] CORRESPONDENCE OF “FIRST CITIZEN” -- CHARLES CARROLL OF CARROLLTON, AND “ANTILLON”--DANIEL DULANEY, JR., 1773, WITH A HISTORY OF GOVERNOR EDEN’S ADMINISTRATION IN MARYLAND. Price: $350.00