Albany, New York: State University of New York. Trade Paperback. 2001. First paperback printing / full number line. As New. Not from a library. No remainder mark. Not clipped. xvii + 243 pages. Through a distinctive blend of description and analysis Kean Gibson examines the Guyanese religion known as "Comfa." Reflecting the socio-cultural history of Guyana, Comfa shows influences of European and Asian cultures and religions in an essentially African framework. Gibson compares the variation exemplified in Comfa with the Guyanese Creole language and challenges the continuum theory of Creole linguistics, which predicts that the Creole language will evolve to become English. Gibson also explores the implications of both forms of social behavior for the notion of identity in a multicultural community.
Neo-Eborici: Sumptibus Duttonis. Hardcover. 1959. Very Good+. 1960. A Latin version of A. A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh. Sixth Printing, January 1961. Blue cloth over boards with title and decoration stamped in bright gold. Pictorial yellow and red jacket. Decorative endpapers. Very Good+ book in a Good jacket. Spine straight and tight. Prior owner's name and date (5/29/1961) to front free endpaper, otherwise interior is pristine. Three-inch tape-repaired tear to front cover. Spine is sun-faded. Price clipped. Not from a library. 121 pages. The adventures of Christopher Robin, the Bear of Very Little Brain, and their friends from the Hundred Acre Wood: Pooh Bear uses a balloon to get honey, Piglet meets a Heffalump, and Eeyore has a birthday; all in Latin.
Vientiane, Lao PDR: Lao Youth Press. Hardcover. No date. Very Good. Interior pristine. Spine is straight, tight, and uncreased. Light foxing to covers. 141 pages.
Vientiane, Lao PDR. Paperback. 1999. Very Good. Interior unmarked. Spine straight, tight, and uncreased. Light wear to cover. 508 pages.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1990. Trade paperback. First printing / full number line. Fine. Interior pristine. Spine straight, tight, and uncreased. Cover clean and bright. Like foxing to edges. Not from a library. No remainder mark. 229 pages. In February 1971, in the Laotian village of Nam Chia, a farmer named Shong Lue Yang was assassinated by government soldiers. Shong Lue claimed to have been descended of God and given the mission of delivering the first true Hmong alphabet. Many believed him to be the Hmong people's long-awaited messiah, and his thousands of followers knew him as "Mother of Writing." An anthropological linguist who has worked among the Hmong, William A. Smalley joins Shong Lue's chief disciple, Chia Koua Vang, and one of his associates, to tell the fascinating story of how the previously unschooled farmer developed his remarkable writing system through four stages of increasing sophistication. The uniqueness of Shong Lue's achievement is highlighted by a comparison of Shong Lue's writing system to other known Hmong systems and to the history of writing as a whole. In addition to a nontechnical linguistic analysis of the script and a survey of its current use, Mother of Writing provides an intriguing cultural account of Shong Lue's life. The book traces the twenty-year-long struggle to disseminate the script after Shong Lue's death, first by handwriting, then by primitive moveable type, an abortive attempt to design a wooden typewriter, and finally by modern wordprocessing.
Njala, Sierra Leone: Njala University College. 1995. Staple-Bound Pamphlet. Second edition. Inscription from author. Securely bound with two staples. Text unmarked. Slight discoloration to covers. Not from a library. 47 pages.
Georgetown, Guyana: Demerara Publishers Limited. Paperback. 1991. Very Good. Interior pristine. Spine creased and leaning. Reading wear to covers.
New York: Macmillan. Hardcover. Fair. First volume: May 1949 reprint of April 1941 edition. Second volume: September 1942 First Edition. Discarded school textbooks with heavy wear. Interiors appear unmarked other than school marking on endpapers. First book: Spine cracked; first folio loose. Second book: One page repaired with tape. 997 pages total.
Boston and Chicago: Allyn and Bacon. Hardcover. 1913. First Edition. Fair. Sewn binding. School textbook with heavy wear. Notes and jokes written in pencil throughout. xiii+319 pages.
Very Good. Spine is square and tight, but creased, interior is pristine, cover shows shelfwear. Aṭippaṭait Tamil̲ akarati, Ankilam-Tamil̲ / Tamil̲-Ankilam. Handy pocket dictionary with both Tamil script and Roman transliteration. 32mo. 176 + 99 pages.
New York: Crown Publishers. 1986 Updated Edition. Mass Market Paperback. Good. Spine is square and tight. Interior is unmarked. 198 pages.
New York: Hippocrene Books. 1993. Paperback. Revised Hippocrene Edition. Good. Spine is square and tight. Other than first page, interior is unmarked. 198 pages. 30,000 total dictionary entries. Phonetic guide to pronunciation in both languages. Bilingual instructions in how to use the dictionary. Bilingual list of abbreviations.
Freetown, Sierra Leone: Peace Corps Sierra Leone. No date; circa 1988. Staple-bound paperback. Rare! Very Good. Pages are pristine and tightly bound by four staples. No cover as issued. 109 pages.
Rare! Freetown, Sierra Leone: Peace Corps Sierra Leone. No date; circa 1987. Staple-bound paperback. First Edition. Fine. Covers and interior pages are pristine and tightly bound by two staples. 109 pages.
