Along the way of researching, I often run into old books due to the era I choose to emulate in my builds. Making a turn of the century mail wagon led me on such a journey. There are other books I’ll mention, but this one is a true gem. It’s called Plans and Dimensions of U.S. Mail Wagon of 1880 by A.S. Dodd. In 1951, Jack D. Rittenhouse published a reprint of the article from a magazine called The Hub and limited it to 295 copies. Given the rarity, it’s not surprising to find that there are only seven libraries that have a copy, six of which are universities.
I tried to obtain a copy through interlibrary loan, but the request was denied due to the item’s status as non-circulating. The closest locale was over 700 miles away, so a road trip wasn’t really in the cards. I wrote to the Wyoming State Library to see if their copy was circulating since it didn’t indicate that it was not. A staff member replied that they would send it out of state but it would have to be kept on the premises of my local library. That was perfectly acceptable to me, so off my request went.
It showed up a short time later, and the library staff indicated I could see it on my usual Bookmobile stop since the Bookmobile was considered library property. But, I wanted to be able to take my time and perhaps make some copies if it turned out to be a good resource, so I waited until the upcoming weekend to head to the library. My boyfriend and I went to the library and saw an amazing bit of history. While not particularly useful for my project, the booklet was simply wonderful.
The booklet was set into a card folder to protect it, but it was still worn from handling and age. I don’t know if libraries still stamp due dates with the modern barcode technology, so it might have been checked out since 2003, or maybe not.
The copy was held together with tape in some places, so we gingerly made copies and took photos.
When we got home after dinner, I did another quick google search and a copy popped up on amazon. The listing indicated it was in like new condition and included a 1981 stamp of the very mail wagon featured in the booklet. It was pricey, but when it arrived, it was more than worth it.
There’s a little separation of the outer page along the fold, but other than that it is perfect. The stamp sleeve has been signed by the publisher.
Such a great addition to the original reprint.
So, now we know there are eight still floating around for sure – seven at libraries and mine. :)
