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The Works of Ben Jonson, Which were formerly Printed in Two Volumes, are now Reprinted in One. To which is added A Comedy, Called the New Inn. With Additions never before Published. Neque, me ut miretur turba laboro: Contentus paucis lectoribus

The Works of Ben Jonson, Which were formerly Printed in Two Volumes, are now Reprinted in One. To which is added A Comedy, Called the New Inn. With Additions never before Published. Neque, me ut miretur turba laboro: Contentus paucis lectoribus by Jonson, Benjamin (ca. 1572-1637)

2 to 8 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $3.00
Details
$9,500.00
( US$)
Seller: Liber Antiquus
Title
The Works of Ben Jonson, Which were formerly Printed in Two Volumes, are now Reprinted in One. To which is added A Comedy, Called the New Inn. With Additions never before Published. Neque, me ut miretur turba laboro: Contentus paucis lectoribus
Author
Jonson, Benjamin (ca. 1572-1637)
Seller
Liber Antiquus (United States)
Condition
Fine
Description
London: Thomas Hodgkin for H. Herringman, E. Brewster, T. Basset, R. Chiswell, M. Wotton, and G. Conyers, 1692. FIRST COMPLETE COLLECTED EDITION. With the engraved frontispiece portrait of Jonson as Poet Laureate, by William Elder after Robert Vaughn, bound opposite the title. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in contemporary speckled calf, very nicely re-backed, boards lightly pitted, board edges and corners bumped (with some small losses to the leather), boards ruled with a double gold filet. The spine is richly tooled in gold, with two citron labels. The contents are in fine condition with scattered light spotting and some rust marks due to impurities in the paper and minor defects as follows: Two repaired tears to blank upper margin of portrait leaf (not touching the image), leaf F4 with marginal defect, O4 with small hole in blank margin, Cc2 with a natural paper flaw affecting a few words, bifolium Zz2-3 browned as usual, Bb4-Cc2 lightly toned, leaf Nnn2 more heavily spotted, small rust hole in leaf Sss3 affecting one letter, tiny hole in Oooo3, small burn-hole in leaf Qqqq3. "This is the first edition in one volume and the last of the folio editions. The 'New Inne' is included in this collection for the first time... Dr. Greg calls attention to the fact that sheet Ccc of this edition is invariably discolored. Besides that leaf, in all copies examined, sheet Zz2-3 is likewise foxed."-Pforzheimer This volume contains all of Jonson's masques, epigrams, plays, verse letters and panegyrics; sonnets, the English Grammar, Timber, or Discoveries; and the translation of Horace's de Arte Poetica. "Jonson's life was tough and turbulent. After his father's early death, Ben was adopted in infancy by a bricklayer and educated by the great classical scholar and antiquarian William Camden, before necessity drove him to enter the army. In Flanders, where the Dutch with English help were warring against the Spaniards, he fought single-handed with one of the enemy before the massed armies, and killed his man. Returning to England about 1595, he began to work as an actor and playwright but was drawn from one storm center to another. He killed a fellow actor in a duel, and escaped the gallows only by pleading 'benefit of the clergy' (i.e., by proving he could read and write, which entitled him to plead before a more lenient court). He was jailed for insulting the Scottish nation at a time when King James was newly arrived from Scotland. He took furious part in an intricate set of literary wars with his fellow playwrights. Having converted to Catholicism, he was the object of deep suspicion after the Gunpowder Plot of Guy Fawkes (1605), when the phobia against his religion reached its height. Yet he rode out all these troubles, growing mellower as he grew older, and in his latter years became the unofficial literary dictator of London, the king's pensioned poet, a favorite around the court, and the good friend of men like Shakespeare, Donne, Francis Beaumont, John Selden, Francis Bacon, dukes, diplomats, and distinguished folk generally. In addition, he engaged the affection of younger men (poets like Robert Herrick, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling, speculative thinkers like Lord Falkland and Sir Kenelm Digby), who delighted to christen themselves 'sons of Ben.' Sons of Ben provided the nucleus of the entire 'Cavalier school' of English poets" (Norton Anthology of English Literature). "One of the most celebrated English poets and dramatists, was born at Westminster in 1574. [...] In 1598 he produced 'Every Man in His Humour', a drama, which at once brought him into notice. One of the characters of this play is said to have been performed by Shakespeare. It was followed by numerous productions, which added to the fame he had already acquired. [...] [Around 1607] he was created poet-laureate by James I. [...] Jonson's convivial habits (perhaps his greatest weakness) caused him to suffer from poverty in his declining years. He was accustomed to meet Shakespeare and other distinguished persons at the drinking houses of London. [...] As a poet he exhibits uncommon classical learning, great intellectual power and acuteness of perception. He unquestionably deserves much praise for refining English poetry and the morals of the English stage. 'I think him,' says Dryden, 'the most learned and judicious writer which any theatre ever had...If I would compare him with Shakespeare, I must acknowledge him the most correct poet, but Shakespeare the greater wit. Shakespeare was the Homer or the father of dramatic poets. Jonson was the Vergil, the pattern of elaborate writing. I admire him, but I love Shakespeare.'" (Thomas' Pronouncer) "Jonson's literary position among his fellow-dramatists is quite unique. In passion, in buoyant humor, in spontaneous felicity of touch, he was inferior to most of them; but he had constructive imagination in an extraordinary degree, a force of intellect and memory which supplied it at every point with profuse material, and a personality which stamped with distinction every line he wrote. He lacked charm, and he failed altogether in drawing fresh and native forms of character; but no one equaled him in presenting the class-types of a highly organized or decadent society, with all their elaborate vesture of custom, manner, and phrase. While most of his fellow-dramatists, moreover, worked on the basis of existing stories, Jonson's plots, though full of traces of his curious reading, are as wholes essentially his own. As a masque-writer he gave lasting worth by sheer poetic force to an unreal and artificial genre. As a literary critic he had no rival."(DNB).
Obei kiyu niman-sanzenri [23,000 Miles Through American and Europe]

Obei kiyu niman-sanzenri [23,000 Miles Through American and Europe] by [Japanese Americana]. Togawa, Shukotsu

2 to 4 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $10.00
Details
$2,500.00
( US$)
Seller: McBride Rare Books
Title
Obei kiyu niman-sanzenri [23,000 Miles Through American and Europe]
Author
[Japanese Americana]. Togawa, Shukotsu
Seller
McBride Rare Books (United States)
Condition
About very good.
Description
Tokyo: Hattori Shoten, 1908. About very good.. [2],3,6,448,50,[1]pp., plus twenty-two plates. Original publisher's cloth, decoratively stamped in gilt on front cover and spine. Some abrading to boards and spine, modest edge wear, one small chip to spine. Occasional minor foxing, hinges a bit tender, small chip to front pastedown. A Meiji-era writer travels across the United States and sails for Europe, then makes the same trip in reverse on a different route. Togawa reports on the state of the West in 1906. His "observations are clear and witty, and the reader is encouraged to seek out his work for its sheer entertainment value" - Susanna Fessler in Musashino in Tuscany: Japanese Overseas Travel Literature, 1860-1912, p.182. The work is illustrated throughout with reproductions of gorgeous illustrations by Japanese artists, including Okada Saburosuke, featuring American and European scenes. Some are tipped in; others are printed on inserted plates, including several color lithographs, and a double-page color illustration. One of the plates is a map of the world with Togawa's route traced in red, providing a striking snapshot of his monumental travel route. The book was republished in Japan in 1989 with a new introduction. The original is positively rare, with OCLC recording only the modern reprint.
Ten tanzaku (tall narrow cards for printing poetry), each consisting of two panels of thick paper joined at head, the upper card with an erotic color-printed woodcut, the lower with printed kyoka poetry

Ten tanzaku (tall narrow cards for printing poetry), each consisting of two panels of thick paper joined at head, the upper card with an erotic color-printed woodcut, the lower with printed kyoka poetry by EROTIC TANZAKU CARDS

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $20.00
Details
$2,500.00
( US$)
Seller: Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc.
Title
Ten tanzaku (tall narrow cards for printing poetry), each consisting of two panels of thick paper joined at head, the upper card with an erotic color-printed woodcut, the lower with printed kyoka poetry
Author
EROTIC TANZAKU CARDS
Seller
Jonathan A. Hill, Bookseller, Inc. (United States)
Description
Ten cards (181 x 50 mm.), all preserved in the orig. folded color-printed wrapper, entitled on upper panel Furyu e tanzaku [Elegantly Illustrated Tanzaku Cards]. [Japan: Meiji Era]. Ten erotic cards, issued together, each in the tanzaku ban format, and accompanied by their original color-printed wrapper. Tanzaku cards were popular in the Meiji era (1868-1912); see Rosina Buckland’s “Erotic Art of the Meiji Era (1868-1912)” in Timothy Clark et al., eds., Shunga. Sex and Pleasure in Japanese Art (British Museum: 2013), pp. 454-55. The upper panel of each is very finely color-printed with saturated inks, embossing, and rich use of metallic pigments, revealing the Japanese printer’s art at its best. They all depict men and women engaged in a series of sexual acts. The woodblock-printed lower panels feature the conversations of the couples while engaged in their sexual acts and kyoka poems, which are rich in sexual innuendos and racy double-meanings. The original wrapper that contains the ten cards has also been very finely color-printed, again with saturated colors and embossing. In fine condition.
Über Quantenmechanik [On Quantum Mechanics]

Über Quantenmechanik [On Quantum Mechanics] by BORN, MAX

5 to 10 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $5.00
Details
$2,200.00
( US$)
Seller: The Manhattan Rare Book Company
Title
Über Quantenmechanik [On Quantum Mechanics]
Author
BORN, MAX
Seller
The Manhattan Rare Book Company (United States)
Condition
Very Good
Description
Berlin: Julius Springer, 1924. First edition. Very Good/Very Good. FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL WRAPPERS OF BORN'S NEW MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF QUANTUM PHYSICS, INCLUDING THE FIRST USE OF THE TERM "QUANTUM MECHANICS." "An important paper by Born published in August 1924 took its starting point in the 'considerable progress' made with the BKS theory and Kramers' use of it to explain the dispersion of light. Born's paper, entitled 'Über Quantenmechanik,' merits attention not only because it introduced 'quantum mechanics' as the name for the quantum theory of the future, but also because it was a serious attempt to formulate the general structure of this still unborn theory" (Helge Kragh: Niels Bohr and the Quantum Atom). "In June 1924, Born completed his paper 'On quantum mechanics.' In this article Born tried to establish a method by which the classical perturbation theory of multiple periodic non-degenerate systems could be applied to quantum phenomena which involve external periodic disturbances or internal couplings. So far, Born argued, theories of poly-electronic systems, such as the helium atom, which treated the electronic interactions along classical lines, had to fail since electrons affect each other with frequencies of the order of those of light, but the interaction between matter and light is evidently a 'non-mechanical' quantum process; one cannot expect, therefore, that the interactions between electrons can be treated along classical lines either. Born now suggested a solution of the problem by generalizing Kramers' treatment of the interaction between radiation and electrons into a 'quantum mechanics' of interactions. In carrying out this program, Born showed that the transition from classical mechanics to what he called 'quantum mechanics' can be obtained in accordance with Bohr's correspondence principle if a certain differential is replaced by a corresponding difference …" (Jammer, Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, pp. 191-2). Critically, "the central idea of 'Quantenmechanik'" is the crucial quantization condition required by Born: "All elementary changes occurring in nature must be discontinuous, because the action variables may change by integer multiples of Planck's constant only; the discrete behavior of action variables will affect all other variables as well" (Herbert Capellmann, The Development of Elementary Quantum Theory). IN: Zeitschrift für Physik, Band 26, No. 6, pp. 379-395. Berlin: Julius Springer, 1924. Octavo, original printed wrappers; custom box. The complete issue offered. A touch of browning at wrapper edges, faint offsetting from newspaper clipping on first text page of issue (not affecting Born paper). A very good a copy, rare in original wrappers.
No image available

Kashtanka. Rasskaz (Kashtanka. A Story) by Chekhov, Anton

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $6.00
Details
$1,200.00
( US$)
Seller: ZH BOOKS
Title
Kashtanka. Rasskaz (Kashtanka. A Story)
Author
Chekhov, Anton
Seller
ZH BOOKS (United States)
Condition
Very good
Description
S.-Peterburg (St. Petersburg): Izdanie A. S. Suvorina, 1897. Fifth edition. Very good. Fifth edition; 7 x 4; pp. [4], 1-65, [3]; 3/4 red cloth and marbled boards; spine slightly faded with a bit of rubbing to tips; small gift inscription to upper margin of title page; faint remnants of a label (?) along hinge of half-title page; illustrated with in-line drawings; very good condition. An early, 19th-century edition of Chekhov's beloved tale of the adventures of a little dog, it was originally published in 1887 in the "Novoe vremia" newspaper under the title "In Learned Society" and in book form under its current name in 1892. Well received and quick to gain popularity, the story went through six separate editions just between 1893 and 1899.
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS. A Story of the Grand Banks

CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS. A Story of the Grand Banks by Kipling, Rudyard

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $16.50
Details
$650.00
( US$)
Seller: Sumner & Stillman
Title
CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS. A Story of the Grand Banks
Author
Kipling, Rudyard
Seller
Sumner & Stillman (United States)
Description
1897. With Illustrations by I.W. Taber. London: Macmillan and Co., 1897. 2 pp undated ads. Original blue cloth pictorially decorated in gilt, all page edges gilt. First English Edition, published about a month after the American. This is Kipling's great novel about the cod fishing fleet of Gloucester Massachusetts, written while the newlywed Kiplings lived in Vermont. Kipling freely acknowledged that the book owed much to Dr. James Conland of Brattleboro, who brought the Kiplings' elder daughter into the world -- for Conland had been a member of the Massachusetts fishing fleet, and it was he who took Kipling to explore the wharves and quays of Boston and Gloucester. (The American edition, in fact, is dedicated to Conland; this English edition bears no dedication.) This is the only book of Kipling's which is set entirely in America. All the characters are American. Not only that, but the heart of the book -- its moral in a single sentence -- is one of Kipling's main beliefs of this period expressed in terms essentially American, or perhaps more particularly New England. He put it later in verse: "...If you don't work you will die!" It is a saga of hard physical work in conflict with natural forces. It is a book which could hardly have been written by anyone who did not admire Huckleberry Finn; it is a book whose claim to survival rests mainly on detail, and it is all American detail [Mason]. CAPTAINS COURAGEOUS was the fourth and last volume to be bound in Macmillan's attractive gift binding style used for the JUNGLE BOOKs in 1894-1895 and for SOLDIER TALES in 1896. In 1937, forty years after publication, this tale was made into a film starring Freddie Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy (who won an Oscar), Lionel Barrymore and Mickey Rooney. This is an unusually bright copy, fine except for the slightest of rubbing at the spine tips and small bumps at the fore-tips. The original black-coated endpapers are not cracked. Richards A103; Stewart 163.
Il Paese de' Selvaggi Outauacesi, e Kilistinesi Intorno al Lago Superiore

Il Paese de' Selvaggi Outauacesi, e Kilistinesi Intorno al Lago Superiore by ZATTA, Antonio

6 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $7.00
Details
$450.00
( US$)
Seller: Argosy Book Store
Title
Il Paese de' Selvaggi Outauacesi, e Kilistinesi Intorno al Lago Superiore
Author
ZATTA, Antonio
Seller
Argosy Book Store (United States)
Description
Venice: Antonio Zatta, 1778. Map. Engraving with original hand coloring. Measures 16 3/4" x 13 1/4". Some worm holes to center fold and toning but otherwise in good condition. This unusual map depicting Lake Superior and southern Florida appeared in the two-volume Italian edition of Raynal's "Storia dell' America Settentrionale", published in 1778. The map primarily features Lake Superior, and refers to the native inhabitants of the region, including the Kilistinesi (known as Cree), in both the title and throughout the map. Surrounding mountain ranges are depicted pictorially. Rivers and islands are labeled. A loose line transects the map just north of the lake, signifying the boundary line set by the Utrecht Treaty. An inset in the left portion of the map shows the Southern tip of Florida, and the islands of the Bahamas to the east. The map forms a large set of Americas map or functions on its own as a fascinating study of 18th century Great Lakes mapping.
The Wallaces of Alabama; My Family. With a Special Introduction by Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama

The Wallaces of Alabama; My Family. With a Special Introduction by Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama by Wallace, George Jr.

2 to 8 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $5.00
Details
$250.00
( US$)
Seller: The First Edition Rare Books, LLC
Title
The Wallaces of Alabama; My Family. With a Special Introduction by Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama
Author
Wallace, George Jr.
Seller
The First Edition Rare Books, LLC (United States)
Condition
Near fine
Description
Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1975. First Printing. Cloth. Near fine/near fine. Signed limited edition of The Wallaces of Alabama, signed by Governor George C. Wallace and George Wallace, Jr.. Octavo, 256pp. Original yellow cloth. Stated "first printing" on copyright page. In publisher's yellow dust jacket, light wear at edges, a near fine example. Publisher's slipcase with title printed on cover. Signed limited edition of 500 copies, signed by Governor George C. Wallace and his son, George Wallace, Jr. This is number 147 of 500 limited edition copies. George C. Wallace was a controversial Governor from Alabama, who ran for the presidency as a Democrat in 1964 and as a 3rd party candidate in 1968.
PENN`ORTH O' INSEC' POWDER

PENN`ORTH O' INSEC' POWDER by (MEDICAL Donald McGill,

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $55.00
Details
$100.00
( EU VAT US$0)
Seller: L'Estampe Originale
Title
PENN`ORTH O' INSEC' POWDER
Author
(MEDICAL Donald McGill,
Seller
L'Estampe Originale (United States)
Condition
Good
Description
1920. Postcard by Donald McGill, Inter-Art Co. London "Comique" series. Posted 1920.
The Mechanic's Friend; A Collection of Receipts and Practical Suggestions relating to Aquaria, Bronzing, Cements, Drawing, Dyes, Electricity, Gilding, Glass Working, Glues, Horology, Lacquers, Locomotives, Magnetism, Metal-Working, Modellling, Photography, Pyrotehny, Railways, Solders, Steam-engine, Telegraphy, Taxidermy, Varnishes, Waterproofing, and Miscellaneous Tools, Instruments, Machines, and Processes Connected with the Chemical and Mechanical Arts

The Mechanic's Friend; A Collection of Receipts and Practical Suggestions relating to Aquaria, Bronzing, Cements, Drawing, Dyes, Electricity, Gilding, Glass Working, Glues, Horology, Lacquers, Locomotives, Magnetism, Metal-Working, Modellling, Photography, Pyrotehny, Railways, Solders, Steam-engine, Telegraphy, Taxidermy, Varnishes, Waterproofing, and Miscellaneous Tools, Instruments, Machines, and Processes Connected with the Chemical and Mechanical Arts by Axon, William E. A. (editor)

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $8.00
Details
$80.00
( EU VAT US$0)
Seller: The Kelmscott Bookshop
Title
The Mechanic's Friend; A Collection of Receipts and Practical Suggestions relating to Aquaria, Bronzing, Cements, Drawing, Dyes, Electricity, Gilding, Glass Working, Glues, Horology, Lacquers, Locomotives, Magnetism, Metal-Working, Modellling, Photography, Pyrotehny, Railways, Solders, Steam-engine, Telegraphy, Taxidermy, Varnishes, Waterproofing, and Miscellaneous Tools, Instruments, Machines, and Processes Connected with the Chemical and Mechanical Arts
Author
Axon, William E. A. (editor)
Seller
The Kelmscott Bookshop (United States)
Condition
Very Good
Description
New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1875. Hardcover. Very Good. Hardcover. Includes numerous diagrams and woodcuts. Very good in purple cloth boards with gilt title to front board and spine. The spine and edges of the boards have faded to light brown. Minor wear to spine ends and edges of boards. There are a few small dark spots to spine and bottom edge of text block. There are a few spots of foxing to the interior and two facing pages are lightly browned due to a laid-in slip of paper. Filled with practical information for mechanics. 339 pages plus 47 pages of ads. SCI/072810.
표준한국어발음사전 / Korean pronouncing dictionary

표준한국어발음사전 / Korean pronouncing dictionary by Yi Chu-haeng, Yi Kyu-hang and Kim Sang-jun

3 to 6 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $12.00
Details
$51.75
( EU VAT US$0)
Seller: Rulon-Miller Books
Title
표준한국어발음사전 / Korean pronouncing dictionary
Author
Yi Chu-haeng, Yi Kyu-hang and Kim Sang-jun
Seller
Rulon-Miller Books (United States)
Description
[Seoul: Ji-Gu Publishing Co, 1998. First edition, 12mo, pp. [2], 816; text in double column, hangul, followed by hanja, and IPA pronunciation; limp red cloth gilt; fine, with book band and fine slip case.
No image available

THE ORPHAN ANGEL by Wylie, Elinor

7 to 10 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $6.50
Details
$25.00
( EU VAT US$0)
Seller: Hoffman Books
Title
THE ORPHAN ANGEL
Author
Wylie, Elinor
Seller
Hoffman Books (United States)
Condition
Very Good
Description
New York, NY.: Alfred A. Knopf. Very Good. 1926. First Edition. Hardcover. First Edition. This book is hard-bound in green covers with silver stamping on the upper cover and spine. The covers show light scuffing and soiling, sunning to the spine, and light wear to the edges, corners, and spine-ends. There is a bit of wear to the text-block, but with the binding solid. The contents are bright and clean. There is a previous owner bookpalte on the front paste-down. .
[HORSE BREEDING] Sale Letter to Jasper M. Clark

[HORSE BREEDING] Sale Letter to Jasper M. Clark by SPRINGER & WILLARD

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $4.00
Details
$25.00
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Seller: lizzyoung bookseller
Title
[HORSE BREEDING] Sale Letter to Jasper M. Clark
Author
SPRINGER & WILLARD
Seller
lizzyoung bookseller (United States)
Condition
Cream illustrated letterhead and envelope. Very good
Description
Oskaloosa, IA: SPRINGER & WILLARD , 1891. Loose_leaf. Cream illustrated letterhead and envelope. Very good. 1 page. 28 x 21 cm. Typed, signed, letter on illustrated letterhead, dated Feb. 3 17, 1891 from Springer & Willard to Jasper M. Clark, South Dakota, stating the prices for Draft Horses/German Coachers - Signed by Springer & Willard. Includes envelope, stamp missing.
No image available

The Star in the Well, A Christmas Story. by Bailey, Temple.

7 to 14 days for delivery
Standard Shipping: $6.00
Details
$10.00
( EU VAT US$0)
Seller: Lighthouse Books, ABAA
Title
The Star in the Well, A Christmas Story.
Author
Bailey, Temple.
Seller
Lighthouse Books, ABAA (United States)
Description
New York: The P. F. Volland Company, 1928. Octavo, paperbound (stiff, illus. rose wrappers), uncut, tissue-protected frontis., 46 pp. Illustrated. Very Good, with sunned spine and edgewear that includes light chipping. From book: Mary-Alice, eating her very soft-boiled egg and her square of buttered toast, was serenely unaware of the stormy forces gathering about the breakfast table until she heard her mother say, with a sob in her voice, “But I hate to think, Michael, that she won’t have what we had.” “What did we have?” “Oh, all the beautiful beliefs about Christmas Day. And now, we’ve lost them, you and I -- we’ve lost the shepherds and the angels singing, and the Babe in the Manger, and we’ve lost the Star.” Mary-Alice reached for another square of toast, but was stopped by her mother’s question, “How many have you had, Mary-Alice?” “Two.” “Drink your milk before you have another.” Mary-Alice, having drained her glass, demanded: “How did the star get losted?” “There, you see?” said her mother tensely. “See what?” Michael had risen, and stood looking down at his wife... “What can we tell her? Am I to repeat to her what you have just said to me -- that Christmas Day is a pagan hold-over, that the Wise Men and all the rest are just -- poetic fantasies?” “We must face the truth.” “But what is the truth, Michael?”...