Hope Farm Press Publisher of New York Regional History, Folklore. Nature, Military History and Genealogy Books

Encyclopedia of New York State Ephemera & Americana

by
Harold Nestler

An Introduction

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• For over forty years a great quantity of items of New York State History have come my way: Books, Pamphlets, Maps, Broadsides, Ephemera, and Manuscripts. In 1952 I started out in the antiquarian book business on a part time basis, and it eventually became a full time profession. At first I sold the books by issuing short lists, with brief entries, run off on a spirit duplicator. In 1976 I began sending out regular catalogs, each one forty pages long, with an illustrated cover, some chit-chat on occasion, and numerous annotated entries. The annotated entries were added to better describe the cataloged item and its contents, and to provide data not easily found elsewhere. To date over 40 catalogs have been issued, with over 20,000 entries.

  The catalogs, presented in this form, provide in one place a great wealth of New YOrk State historical publications and manuscripts, which has taken many years to compile. Included are: genealogies, histories, biographies, trade catalogs of New York State companies, Revolutionary War accounts, Indian history, maps, prints, advertising broadsides, town directories, travel guides, and manuscripts on life and events.

  You will notice a number of typographical errors thru-out this work. I have been typing for over 50 years, but as yet I and the correction tape have not become synchronized. At this late date there might not be any hope left. I do understand that some people read my catalogs just to chuckle at the typos.

  Harold Nestler

HOW I CAME TO MAKE THIS DISK

• I have to admit that I was very flattered when THE Harold Nestler, author of "The Bibliography of New York State Communities", now in its third edition, asked me to publish this work. He came to see me in May of 1994. It was his first time in my new shop. And he asked me!

  You have to understand that he is the leading expert on NYS books. I am just the person who was fortunate enough to purchase the oldest publishing company specializing in New York books, and I'd had some modest success with electronic (e-book) publishing. I've been on his mailing list for some years, even bought some great books from him, and I've often asked his advice when we ran into each other at book shows. But, to have him even think of me when he considered this project was an honor.

  I have to laugh at all this now. I'm still honored to be chosen, but I've since found out that I was the last chance to get this published, not the first choice! Everyone else turned him down! It seems that no-one else was foolish enough to tackle this. One prominent publisher even told me this project wasn't feasible. Another said that after finding an average of 40 mistakes per page he felt it would be too time consuming. Well, they were both right -- almost!

  This collection, called an invaluable database by a major genealogical publishing company, was compiled with no small amount of determination and a great deal of love. I am indebted to Mr. Nestler for allowing Hope Farm Press to publish his definitive reference on New York Statiana. I apologize for the errors -- the missing prices, misspellings, dropped words -- they are inevidable, but annoying. I tried to pay attention to the details, but the obstacles -- poor character recognition, time constraints and a seemingly infinite number of typos -- were almost insurmountable. I can assure you that what appears here is at least equal to, if not better than, the originals.

  As yet another publisher told me, "You didn't take out those typos, did you? They were the most fun of the whole catalog."

  I think the "most fun" is knowing that my efforts bring you, in a searchable database, the largest single list of ephemera and Americana of New York created by the state's leading authority, Harold Nestler. It has been a pleasure.

  Richard Frisbie Saugerties NY November 3rd, 1995

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Copyright © 1995 by Richard Frisbie -- All rights reserved.