Mouse House Expansion

Susan and I have decided to rent additional space at Terrace Oaks Antique Mall in Charleston. We will offer for the first time in this mall a nice selection of decorative mirrors, as well as matted and shrink-wrapped antiquarian prints, linens, and other assorted goodies that we find at estate auctions. The room will be upstairs near our existing bathroom space and will greatly expand our wall hanging capacity. The move-in will occur on October 3 after I return from England. The downstairs sales area at The Mouse House will be painted in September when Susan is in Vienna and before I leave to visit Mathias and LJ. We are going to feature more of Susan's original art work, but we will still maintain a large selection of mirrors. We hope to have more framed antiquarian images, including the Hill botanicals and Culpepper herbals. A better use of space will occur at The Mouse House, as well as offering more of our merchandise in the Charleston area. We are very excited about our move and encourage everyone to visit Terrace Oaks Mall when your travels take you to Charleston.

Another Biking Adventure

Entrance to Mount Vernon, home of George Washington (click on image to enlarge)

Last Thursday Susan and I traveled to Washington, DC and attended another book and print auction at Quinn's Auction Gallery. We purchased some interesting items, including 4 shelves of Swedish books by Strindberg which she is going to use in her grave-rubbing quilt show next February. I'm not sure what she is going to do, but I know it will be incredibly cleaver. On Friday, Susan had her Artist's Way art day while I ventured with my bike on the Mt. Vernon Bike trail. She dropped me off at Dunn Loring and I rode all the way (finally) to Mount Vernon and back to Old Town Alexandria where she picked me up, had lunch, and visited The Torpedo Factory. Later I collapsed from a splitting sinus headache in our hotel room but made a complete recovery and drove back to SC on Saturday. The bike ride was approximately 30 miles in 90+ degree temperatures, and the weather was glorious. I have included some pictures of my journey. I still want to ride the complete W @OD trail from Purcellville, Va to DC., and Susan still refuses to ride with me!!



View of the boat launch at Mount Vernon taken from the bike trail (click to enlarge). You can catch various Potomac River cruises from Alexandria to Mount Vernon and visit the estate. I am about 1.5 miles from the terminus of the trail. The last .75 miles is all uphill and very challenging, especially when you have already rode 20+ miles!!


Another view of the Potomac River with Mount Vernon on the right side (click to enlarge)


This is a charming! self-portrait of yours truly taken at the end of the Mt. Vernon Trail. Notice the red face! I did use a lot of 50+ sunscreen as ordered by my doctor.

Hill Botanicals, Ca 1759-1775

At a book and print auction many months ago, I acquired a wonderful selection of late 18Th century botanicals including 20 from John Hill's The Vegetable System. This monumental work was published in 26 folio volumes containing about 1600 copperplate engravings and was published between 1759-1775. The plate size for these botanicals are approximately 9.13 by 14.75 inches printed on beautiful laid paper approximately 11 by 18 inches. All plated are early hand-colored with very little foxing. Similar prints from other print dealers range in price from $300-400 each. My botanicals will be offered already framed and ready to hang using acid-free mats and backing at a similar price. Finished framed images and prices will be posted when they are done. Several images of the Hill botanical prints are shown below. Please click on images to enlarge. If anyone has any interest in purchasing these botanicals, please e-mail or call me.