By Anne Gilbert Items related to ships and sailor craftsmanship have never lost their appeal to collectors. This is especially true when items have been made by men at sea from whales teeth and bone into what is known as scrimshaw. The same holds true with ships parts and decorative objects made by 18th and 19th century American craftsmen. Among the rarest […]

By Anne Gilbert To a generation used to sterile cubby hole office spaces for them and their computers, the Wooton desks may seem an oddity. Strangely enough they are finding their way into many home offices. There is room for that lap top and spaces for all kinds of office supplies. They were a popular and useful antique collectible in the late […]

By Henry J. Pratt More than 180 years ago in Cincinnati, Ohio, the publishing firm of Truman and Winthrop B. Smith signed a textbook contract with William Holmes Mc-Guffey, a dour disciplinarian and relatively unknown homespun philosophy professor. The contract obligated McGuffey to prepare six school books—a primer, a speller and four readers. When the now-famous contract was approved in […]