Peter L. Masi - books

Click here to read Catalog 267.
well, file last updated early february – it’s april – no major news besides new catalog – garden fare gone – irish side honored with soda bread and corned beef and cabbage – hello spring – off to chilly start – crocus and daffodils putting good face on it – put away the cross-country skis and got snow tires off – enough firewood for few more weeks – next show will be Allentown april 27-8 – so here’s 267 – latest mixed bag – tackled lots of trade catalogs from Michael denker from Potomac – siftings and scrapings from other recent buys – sent with fingers crossed you’ll be amused, perhaps inspired to order – cover: item 62 (enlarged) –
at your service –
peter

Click here to read Catalog 266.

well, file last updated October, 2023 – whole new year and season – garden mostly memory – picked peppers, greens, butternut squash, tomatillo, dug potatoes – feasting on pesto, greens, beans from freezer, onions, garlic, potatoes, squash from cold storage – ground frosted, froze – house repair and painting project put on ice til spring – 4 cords of firewood reduced by over half – much of life spent in proximity to woodstove – Halloween usual melee – spent November weekend with son zach, wife lauren and new granddaughter talia – thanksgiving with Middleboro siblings – early December headed to Washington d.c. to work on appraisal and book call in Potomac, md – acquired collections of trade catalogs and type specimens – in long queue to be cataloged – decorated tree with edie and swapped usual comestible gifts – few days before Christmas hiked sugarloaf mountain with zach and family en route to lauren’s family home – Middleboro for Christmas with sister and family then boxing day in Winchester with brother and family – usual new year’s eve with edie in Greenwich – hello 2024 – we’ve had few snows – been cross-country skiing handful of times – rain, too, and warm days – sunny and cold currently with mostly bare ground – papermania been and gone – 266 finally ready to launch – mixed bag of recent acquisitions – sent with hopes you’ll be amused, perhaps appetized – cover: item 16 –
at your service – peter

Click here to read Catalog 265.

well, file last updated August 1 – mid-October – uber busy times here – garden nearly done – no frost as yet – still picking some peppers, celery, tomatillo, collards – dug small crop potatoes – tomato plants lookin’ dead – ‘nuff corn to call it a season – small crop of butternut squashes – got on roof to clean chimney – mostly stacked 4 cords of firewood and redid stove gaskets somewhat successfully and been burning nights – when not pushing to publish catalog in hand, been putting in time getting hacienda ready to paint – been bit too long – also got carpenter on some long overdue repairs – rotted or malfunctioning kitchen casement windows replaced with sliders – son Zach and wife Lauren now proud parents of Talia Romana Masi – call me Gramps – all going well there – 2 fairs in 2 weeks – fall Allentown then Boxboro – next show January – hopefully time to produce few more catalogs – new acquisitions abound – still working through pamphlets from Reese Co warehouse – buying at shows perhaps too productive- so here’s catalog 265– off to Eagle for hard copies and PDF distribution – sent with  hopes you’ll be amused, perhaps appetized  – at your service –   peter

cover: item 283

Click here to read Catalog 264. well, file last updated May 23 – it’s august 1 – back to mostly pamphlets, some books, broadsides – plenty of new stock from recent shows, ephemera from Maine estate, and a visit to the Reese Co warehouse being emptied – spring and summer have offered new norm of whacky weathers – mostly we’ve had too much rain – garden is a disaster and cellar not much better – few sweltering days, currently lovely cooler stretch – should not have paid attention to pea package which promised 4-5’ vines – they hit 8’, flopped over into major mess – potatoes not looking happy with water – good bed of salad greens – root crops mostly leaf, little root – picking collards – broccoli all stalks and greens, few heads – tomato blight took year off but it’s back – some expired – planted many outside fence thinking deer would not eat – they showed me – eggplant persevere after flea beetle damage – few pepper plants failed to thrive – rest limp along – been picking romano beans, yellow squash, zucchini – cucumber vines starting to wilt – garlic looking solid – turned my back and onions got overgrown with weeds – corn happy so far – first pack basil seeds didn’t germinate – just planted seedlings from round 2 – saw infectious diseases specialist who ruled out lyme, so back to long COVID – symptoms seem worse, enhanced with bout of insomnia – have a carpenter undoing some years of home neglect by yours truly – nice to get work done – shame to redo work done not that long ago – your friendly bookseller a septuagenarian by time you read – early brunch with siblings, spouses and longtime dear friend edie brown last Sunday – baby shower for Zach and Lauren in few weeks – then summer papermania in Hartford – so here’s catalog 264– off to Eagle for hard copies and PDF distribution – sent with hopes you’ll be sufficiently seduced – at your service – peter

Click here to read Catalog 263.
well, file last updated March 2 – it’s may 23 – last two having binged on ephemera, bookshelves went full to bursting – Samuel Chamberlain collection bought over a year ago – variety pack from Capen family house in Monson – agriculture, architecture, camping, education – longtime customer’s parents house in Pawtucket – mom taught fashion and marketing at Community College of Rhode Island, dad ran Outlet Store in Providence – more deaccessioned cookery – curious clutch of British military unit histories – larded with miscellany of books sourced variously, not cataloged for wanting repair or research, some can’t recall why – meanwhile the world turns – burned last of firewood not so many days ago – after achieving ninety degrees for a few days – cross-country skis put away – garden tools fetched – plot rototilled, manure hauled, composts turned – much time and money to add 2’ chicken wire along base of wire grid fence to hopefully avoid last summer’s bunny feasting – peas up, potatoes planted, onions, beds of salad greens, turnips, beets, carrots seeded – collard and broccoli seedlings transplanted – Memorial Day on deck – traditional time to plant tomatoes, peppers, other sensitive stuff – thought low-grade symptoms over winter maybe long COVID, seems instead coincidental Lyme infection, so medicating – third time ‘round – highly not recommended – mild winter and ticks abound – zach and lauren visited in April – shared welcome news they expect baby in October – could be a whole new life phase – have yet to hear bad word of grandparenting – cleared spring fair hurdles – will set up at Paper Town in Boxboro early June and Papermania in Hartford in August – hopefully tackle recent ephemera and book acquisitions in between – off to Eagle for hard copies and PDF distribution – sent with hopes you’ll be sufficiently seduced – at your service – peter
cover: item 255

Click here to read catalog.

well, file last updated February 2 – it’s march – binge-city here mostly inspired by need for fresh stock for Ephemera 43, March 18-19, hyatt regency, old Greenwich, CT – we’ll be in our usual space back of the bus – not much news besides forced marches at laptop – woodpiles continue to dwindle – down with cold last week – decent snowfall few days ago – few days cross-country in montague plains – it’s 40 today – less rain than threatened – maybe more snow tomorrow – herein more pamphlets, broadsides, few books – tackled few accumulated piles – atom bomb, atomic power, more from Connecticut lot, national parks – mixed with more usual fare – sent with  hopes you’ll be sufficiently amused to acquire –

at your service –

peter

Click here for Catalog 261

well, file last updated November 2022 – it’s whole new year – garden under thin crusty snowcover – basic new England weather platter – maybe more rain than snow, but few modest snowfalls – enough for 2 installments of cross-country skiing – mostly montague plains – short commute – some serious temperature swings – coldest few to date on deck for the weekend – survived fall fairs and papermania in January – thanksgiving at sister’s in westwood – traditional Christmas tree cutting, decorating, gifting here with edie – Christmas day at brother’s in Amesbury – zach and lauren spent Christmas with her family then flew to Israel for five days, five more in morocco – woodstove-centric life here – probably burned through two of four cords – lapswimming at Hampshire athletic club snowless days – we’ll be selling at ephemera 43, march 18 & 19, hyatt regency, old Greenwich, ct – this year’s conference focus is travel – herein we’ve focused on accumulations of various aspects of travel – automotive, hotels, destinations, world fairs, menus, viewbooks – as well as much recently acquired ephemera relating to Connecticut – leavened with more usual fare – off to eagle for hard copies and PDF distribution – sent with best wishes for year ahead and hopes you’ll be sufficiently amused to acquire – cover item: 155 – at your service – peter