Onoto the Pen


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Churchill Style


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A look at the towering twentieth-century leader and his lifestyle that goes beyond the political and into the personal. Countless books have examined the public accomplishments of the man who led Britain in a desperate fight against the Nazis with a ferocity and focus that earned him the nickname “the British Bulldog.” Churchill Style takes a different kind of look at this historic icon—delving into the way he lived and the things he loved, from books to automobiles, as well as how he dressed, dined, and drank in his daily life. With numerous photographs, this unique volume explores Churchill’s interests, hobbies, and vices—from his maddening oversight of the renovation of his country house, Chartwell, and the unusual styles of clothing he preferred, to the seemingly endless flow of cognac and champagne he demanded and his ability to enjoy any cigar, from the cheapest stogies to the most pristine Cubans. Churchill always knew how to live well, truly combining substance with style, and now you can get to know the man behind the legend—from the top of his Homburg hat to the bottom of his velvet slippers. “All readers will appreciate Singer’s highly intelligent observations about how Churchill’s style contributed to, and was ultimately an integral part of his brilliant career.” —Gentleman’s Gazette




Onoto Watanna


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In 1901, Winnifred Eaton arrived in New York City with literary ambitions, journalism experience, and the manuscript for A Japanese Nightingale, the novel that would make her famous. Her writing and gift for reinvention would set her apart from other women authors of her time and make her a fascinating early figure in Asian American literature. Diana Birchall, Eaton's granddaughter, tells the Horatio Alger story of the woman who became Onoto Watanna. Born to a British father and a Chinese mother, Winnifred capitalized on her exotic appearance--and protected herself from Americans' scorn of the Chinese--by "becoming" Japanese. Her popular Japanese-themed romance novels thrust her into the glittering world of New York's literati. From there she leapt to Hollywood to become a scriptwriting protégée of Carl Laemmle at Universal Studios. Yet her boldness and talent masked a sometimes-desperate personal life that included a troubled first marriage and the sudden end of her Hollywood career. A compelling saga of the shifting boundary between life and art, Onoto Watanna reveals the conflicting stories, personal tempests, and remarkable accomplishments of a woman whose career was sensational in every sense.




Fountain Pens for the Million


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The history of one of the iconic English fountain pen manufacturers, founded in 1905, bankrupt in 1975 and re-established in 1994




The Heart of Hyacinth


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The Heart of Hyacinth, originally published in 1903, tells the coming-of-age story of Hyacinth Lorrimer, a child of white parents who was raised from infancy in Japan by a Japanese foster mother and assumed to be Eurasian. A crisis occurs when, 18 years after her birth, her American father returns to Japan to reclaim her just as Hyacinth has become engaged to a Japanese aristocrat, and she forcefully asserts her Japanese ties only to find that her prospective father-in-law will not tolerate a white wife for his son. Onoto Watanna creates in her protagonist a young white woman who not only claims a Japanese identity but shifts between her Japaneseness and her whiteness as expediency dictates. In this novel Watanna is on the cutting edge of what we now call race theory, using that theory—of racial constructions and fluidity—in the service of an avant-garde feminism.




Pen Repair


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The World's Work


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On the Ossie


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Millions of words flowed from the serpentine hills of western Tasmania. The Waratah and Adamsfield districts produced `point metal¿ osmiridium, used to tip the gold nibs of fountain pens. For a time in the early 1900s Tasmania had a world monopoly on point metal `ossie¿¿an alloy much more valuable than gold. Sent to New York and London to drive Waterman, Swan, Sheaffer, Parker, Onoto and Conway Stewart pens, Tasmanian osmiridium became a signatory to startling world events. It also bolstered family budgets at home. To be `on the ossie¿ was to have the chance to escape poverty and drudgery. Like gold strikes across the globe, Tasmania¿s rare earth quickened diggers¿ pulses¿and, astonishingly, inspired a challenge to Hollywood dominance of Australian cinemas.




The American Stationer


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Fountain Pens of the World


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A sequel to Fountain Pens Vintage and Modern, this work provides information on pens. It includes 150 colour photographs of 2,000 vintage and modern pens. It includes chapters on the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, The Netherlands and Japan, and provides information on the histories and models of the major and minor manufacturers.