Friday, August 12, 2011

The history of the future

I'm incapable of resisting very old books in thrift shops - partly because anything that washes up there after surviving for a hundred years or so probably has something going for it, and partly because i'm the sort of bookish geek delighted by historiography - even if it isn't a good reference, it's fascinating to see how people thought about and wrote about various subjects a century ago.

So the other day, for the weighty investment of $2.00, i brought this home for the spouse, who's equally keen on old books, and fond of things mechanical and scientific (which comprised the subject matter of this particular volume for children):

And inside, i found this illustration, which - all by itself - more than repays my investment (you'll want to click on the image, so you can actually read the caption...):

2 comments:

vintage eye said...

That is fantastic! Brings to mind those flying cars we were promised in the 60s! What a find!

Fripperie said...

Personally, i feel ripped off that not a single one of my schools provided dirigibles to its history classes...