BOOK NOTES.

Rider, Sidney S.:

Published by Providence, RI: April 14, 1883 - December 16, 1916.

A nearly complete run, spanning some thirty-three years, of the literary-historical biweekly magazine Book Notes, edited and published by noted bookseller, collector, and historian Sidney S. Rider of Providence, Rhode Island. Issued on alternate Saturdays and occasionally more frequently, Book Notes ran from April 1883 to December 1916. With a stated dedication to "literary gossip, criticisms of books and local historical matters connected with Rhode Island," Book Notes consisted mostly of notices and reviews of books, interspersed with essays and reflections on Rhode Island history, rare books, local politics, and other topics. At the age of twelve, shortly after relocating to Providence with his family, Sidney S. Rider (1833-1917) began work at Charles Brunett's bookshop, before eventually going into business on his own. As the Brown Alumni Monthly reported on the occasion of Rider's eightieth birthday, during its years of operation, Rider's "bookstore near Market square was the literary centre of the town and the almost daily resort of its scholars, thoughtful readers and intellectual leaders." In addition to his bookselling business, Rider was also an author and publisher. He wrote a number of books on Rhode Island history and published not only Book Notes but two other periodicals, the Bibliomaniac and Literary News, as well as Rhode Island Historical Tracts (in two series) and more than eighty works by other authors. His collection of books and manuscripts was the largest of its kind by the turn of the 20th century and exists today as the Sidney S. Rider Collection on Rhode Island History at Brown University. In addition to offering literary and historical content, Book Notes enabled Rider to promote his bookselling business and publishing ventures. Throughout are ads for Rider's bookstore, including inventory lists dedicated to such subjects as "Rhode Island History," "Lincolniana," "Books Relating to the Rebellion," "Celebrated Trials," and "Dorriana." There is notice, too, of Rider's projected three-volume history of the Dorr War, to be published by subscription, though the project never did come to fruition. Over the years, the magazine came increasingly to serve as an outlet for Rider's own pet issues and grievances. Among Rider's many social and political hobbyhorses documented in the pages of Book Notes are his opposition to the protective tariff; his hatred for big business, including such corporations as Standard Oil, the Union Railroad Company, and the Providence Gas Company, which come in for special censure from Rider; his interest in public health, vaccination, and the mind cure movement; and his contempt for modern fiction and the popularity of novels. Rider's nativist sentiments also become increasingly apparent toward the end of the magazine's run, as he begins to offer regular commentary on the influx of Roman Catholics and foreign-born immigrants to the United States. The present collection consists of 859 (of 872) unbound, and in some cases disbound, issues, complete except for thirteen issues. Lacking are numbers 1, 2, and 3 of volume 16 (1899-1900); numbers 1, 2, 3, 9, and 25 of volume 19 (1902-03); and numbers 4, 7, 20, 24, and 25, as well as the general titlepage and index of volume 20 (1903-04). Included are three extra numbers, one for volume 17 (1900-01), one for volume 18 (1901-02), and one for volume 19 (1902-03). A nearly complete run of this remarkable publication, which sheds light on Rhode Island history and the turn-of-the-century American book trade. Brown Alumni Monthly, Vol. 14, no. 5 (December 1913), p.136. Donald C. Dickinson, Dictionary of American Antiquarian Bookdealers (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1998), pp.177-78. Original self-wrappers. Some chipping to edges, occasional tears with one instance of old tape repair, some splits to folds, and several loose leaves. Punch holes and other evidence of previous binding. Ex-library stamps to the general titlepage of some volumes. Lig. Seller Inventory # 66751

Bibliographic Details

Title: BOOK NOTES.
Publisher: Providence, RI: April 14, 1883 - December 16, 1916.