Treasure Hunt: Ode to Edgar Allan Poe

I love old books --- the older, more dog-eared, and tattered, the better.  While this preference for the worn and battered probably won't increase the value of my collection, it almost guarantees that the books that find their way onto my shelves were well-read and well-loved.

This weekend, my husband and I came across this lovely volume of poems by Edgar Allan Poe at The Curio Emporium in South Pasadena.  Published in 1891, this edition includes "The Raven," "Annabel Lee," and "To Helen."  The beautiful embossed leather cover was tattered along the spine, and each page was edged with the nicotine-colored patina of old paper.  The leather had so worn away on the spine that the stitching which binds the pages together was visible, stained and brittle with age.

Published by T.Y. Crowell & Co., 1891

Despite the signs of wear, there is no denying the beauty of the actual book.... the name Edgar Allan Poe emblazoned in gold leaf across the front in gorgeous antique lettering; the embossed acanthus leaf design on the leather, gold leaf edges and wax paper liners on the engraved illustration.

 Newspaper clippings tucked into the pages.

As an added attraction, a previous owner had snipped newspaper articles about Poe's romance with a certain Mrs. Whitman from a Boston newspaper in 1916.  These various clippings were all carefully tucked within the pages of the book and are as delicate and ephemeral as butterfly wings after almost a century.  Various Inscriptions and book plates detail a history of a treasured book being passed from one book lover to the next, and I'm so proud to be a stop along the way on its journey.

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Before and After: Vintage Copper

In order to artfully display a few small scale carved pieces for the upcoming Steampunk Wedding, I thought glass bell jars or cloches would be the perfect solution.  They are pretty easy to find at thrift stores and, if worse comes to worse, you can always turn a glass bowl upside-down.  Here are a few of the glass objects I scored for a few dollars at St. Vincent de Paul in downtown LA.

A wooden cheese plate with glass cover, upturned bowl of floor-standing candle holder, and an old liqueur bottle (there was even a little bit of liqueur left in the bottle!).

After applying some weld lines and rivets to the wooden cheese plate, I painted on some iron paint and applied a rusting solution.  While I waited for the rust to develop, I applied a copper band to the rim and the handle of the glass cover, and dripped on some patina solution.  After a few hours of (very impatient) waiting time, this is what I ended up with!

Rust plated covered dish.

Next up, the glass bowl which originally sat in an iron stand, now discarded.  I upturned the bowl and turned it into a dome.  Using puffy paint (yes, the kind that comes in squeeze bottles) I dotted the lip of the dome with large dots (faux rivets) and applied copper to the whole lip.  A little patina solution and I have a display dome suitable for Capt. Nemo's parlor.

Steampunk Bits and Bobs

To be perfectly honest, up until a few months ago, steampunk as an aesthetic was completely off my radar.  But in recent months, with an important project in the works, I've immersed myself in a world filled with the perfection of gears and cogs, the smell of old books, the patina of aged copper, the buzz of Edison bulbs, and the exuberance of outlandish gadgetry.

I'm lucky to have been chosen to create a series of portable art-pieces to adorn tables at an upcoming steampunky sci-fi wedding.  To call them centerpieces would be inaccurate... rather they are mini homages to the happy couple's love of books, science fiction, and technology, with a Jules Verne twist.

First things first, you have to collect the materials, which is no easy task when miniature copper steam engines and Victorian objet d'artes are on the list.  Instead, I've collected bits and bobs, odds and ends, and as many old things that Aidan (my son) and I can take apart.

Here are a few of the things I've got in my growing stash parts, ready to be altered, painted, riveted, and transformed into steampunk heaven.  And, yes, those are preserved alligator claws.

An old specimen caddy.

Some kinda clip-on magnifier... clip on to what?

Alligator claws.

Glass elements.

Pre-tarnished candelabra.

An ancient and futuristic iron.

From the plumbing department.

Looks rather robotic to me.

Some kinda clamp.

I call them alien seed pods.

Brass clock gears.