To thine own self be true

Kenney, Trudeau, Trump.

The Deadly President suggesting people could inject themselves with bleach or isopryl alcohol.
Right up there with his strong endorsement of deadly anti-malarial drugs.

blaming humans for abuse of animals and Nature for the virus.

Best time to walk: before 9 a.m.: nobody out; winds low.

This morning, a teen walking toward us, saw us, and crossed over about 30 yards ahead. I waved and said “Thank you. Have a nice day.” She smiled.

(Edison’s phonograph for playing recorded music is one of the 41 most useful, indispensable, beneficial technologies)

Medicine
-birth control
-autopsies
-cancer radiation
-artificial insulin
-penicillin and antibiotics
-vaccines
-aspirin
-Prozac
-artificial heart and other organs
-syringes
-band-aids and bandages

Communications and Transportation
-printing press
-telegraph and telephone
-typewriter
-photocopiers
-photography
-motion pictures
-bridges
-sanitation technology
-World Wide Web
-traffic signals
-roads and highways
-seat belts
-elevators

Industry
-steam engine
-jet engine
-hammer and nail
-assembly line

Science and Electronics
-modern numbers
-computer
-transistor
-microwave
-radio
-television
-phonograph
-calculator

Everyday Items
-drinking fountain
-toilet paper
-disposable diaper
-batteries
-light bulb

(Adapted from the interesting National Geographic 101 Inventions That Shaped the World)

130 million people will be on the brink of starvation by the end of 2020.
–U.N.

and sucked The Big One while answering a question on the safety of Georgia’s upcoming reopening Friday of tattoo, hair care, nail care, and massage therapy places. Many are wondering how one gets a haircut, nail care, a tattoo, or a massage from several feet away without any body contact.

She abandoned her long publicly-recommended guidance on social distancing rather than risk the wrath of T. She was more concerned about her skin and job than what might negatively happen to anyone in Georgia. A shameful, smiling, gutless, irresponsible hypocrite in T’s back pocket.

(mostly Canadian eds. with occasional UK and American editions noted)

L-W Author Surnames

(an early Laurence, MB-born author; 1961, MacMillan)

( a nice wrap-around dj reflecting book’s content by McGill professor-humorist Leacock; 1937, Hale, Cushman & Flint, US; dj by P. Setchell)

(a rare dj with play on title; 1928, Dodd, Mead, US)

(another rare Leacock dj; 1932, Dodd, Mead, US)

(very rare romantic dj of this Governor-General Award winner; 1946, Cresset, UK;

(scarce 1948, Collins dj; MOntreal author)

(very rare dramatic 1942 Harrap, UK; produced according to War Economy Standard, WWII)

(Saskatchewan author; 1956 McClelland & Stewart; somewhat risque dj by Cuthill)

(nice wrap-around dj; 1962, McClelland & Stewart; dj by William Lytle)

(another ‘glimpse into’ dj, this time into a SK prairie town; 1947, Macmillan; dj by William Easton)

(valuable 1955 Andre Deutsch dj, UK–original not facsimile wrapper)

(a more obviously modern cover; 1968, Clarke, Irwin; NB poet)

(example of an early quaint romantic dj; 1929, Grosset & Dunlap; rare dj in the 1st Stock Market crash year; MB author)

(incredibly rare dj for 1st book by Victoria poet P.K. Page, written under a pseudonym; 1944, Macmillan)

(very rare dj; 1926, MacMillan, UK; NF poet)

(cool 1955, Andre Deutsch, UK dj by R.F. Micklewright)

(1972 ed., McClelland & Stewart; dj by the famous US juvenile book illustrators Alice and Martin Provensen)

(1959, Andre Deutsch, UK; dj by Bernard Blatch; Montreal author)

(an intact ultra-rare dj; 1941, Reynal & Hitchcock, US; a very small print run for this SK-based book)

(an attractive dj on Roy’s second novel set in a remote rural MB setting; 1951, Harcourt, Brace, US)

(main characters identified upfront; 1947, Reynal & Hitchcock Governor-General Award winner for a St. Boniface, MB author; dj by Robert Hallock)

(interesting use of color; 1955, McClelland & Stewart; dj by P.G.)

(another romantic rural dj; 1926, Doran; Winnipeg author)

(1960, MacMillan reprint; Vancouver author)

(early travel-poster style; 1954, MacMillan)

Around 2005, I began to pursue an interest in visual design via olde Canadian Literature. My first book bought for its jacket was a rare U.K. edition of Hugh MacLennan’s Barometer Rising. I’d always like covers (via LP records, Classics Illustrated comics when I was younger) and, of course, I have a long-term adult interest in the visual arts more broadly including painting, sculpture, and architecture.

Below and in the next entry, I have selected some notable examples of dust jacket design and art that has stood out for me in my experience with CanLit to share with you. Both batches are organized by authors’ last names, publishing dates, designer names, and any other interesting info. Enjoy!

(mostly Canadian eds. with occasional UK and American editions noted.)

A-K Alphabetical Author Surnames

(one of the nicest wrap-around djs; 1969, McClelland & Stewart; done by Atwood’s artist-friend Charles Pachter)

(an American ed. dj; 1959 Knopf; dj by Herbert Beyer; Dawson City-born author)

(Maritime author; 1946, Ryerson; dj by De Garthe)

(Birney’s Governor-General winning book with his most famous poem; 1942, Ryerson, 2nd. ed. with illustration of ‘The Finger’ by Thoreau MacDonald, son of Group of 7 painter J.E.H. MacDonald)

(appropriate humorous illustration for a war satire; 1949, Ryerson; dj by John McNally)

(psychological Governor-General’s Award-winning Quebec novel; 1960, Jonathan Cape–UK ed.)

(Nova Scotia author; 1963, McClelland & Stewart; intriguing dj by Frank Newfeld)

(‘history’ of U of T; 1948, MacMillan; dj by Eric Aldwinckle)

(It’s always interesting to see alternate djs; the Governor-General Award winner by Toronto’s Callaghan about an unconventional white girl who hangs out with black Montreal jazz musicians; left: 1951, Macmillan;–1st printing–dj by Leo Manso; right: a 1961 reprinting, Macmillan; dj by Aleksander Werner.)

(1937, Random House, US; dj.–Lieberman)

(1939, Scribner’s, US; dj by Margaret Freeman)

(Art Deco style dj; 1934, Scribner’s)

(somewhat erotic dj, 1978, McClelland & Stewart; symbolic representation of the coniunctio spirituum, or the spiritual union of the male and female principle, from the alchemical text Rosararium Philosophorum (1550), reprinted in Artis Auriferae (1593), Bibliotheca chemica curiosa (1702) and most recently, Psychology and Alchemy by C.G. Jung (1953)

(1963, Secker & Warburg, UK; dj by Barry Trengove)

(2006, Harper Collins; dj by Montreal’s Leonard Cohen and Michael Petit)

(early Winnipeg author; 1931, McClelland & Stewart)

(satirical mystery; 1955, Scribner’s, US; dj by Helen Borten)

(1951, Clarke, Irwin; dj by Grant MacDonald)

(an oft-used motif: the window looking into the locale–here, Montreal, the author’s home town; Governor-General Award winner; 1944, Lippincott, US; dj by Hallock)

(rare dj; Graham won the GG twice; 1938, Scribner’s, US)

(1939, Ryerson; MB prairie author)

(very rare 1933, Dent dj)

(1929, Macmillan; dj by Drake Brookshaw)

(fictional biography of Keats; rare dj, 1934, Ryerson; dj by Abbey; promising ON author who died accidentally by drowning)

“What to make of a diminished thing.”
–“The Oven Bird” (1916)

Yes, indeed, what are people and individuals to do and make of the very limited, limiting world we all live in now.

Again, as usual, authors of the past provide the relevant insights and timeless wisdom about the significant changing events of people’s lives in the broad sweep of history.