not your everyday dumpster-diving find
Jun. 3rd, 2017 11:50 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
The reason I feel anxious when I dump off my papers in the paper recycling dumpster is because people like me will see interesting items and pull them out--as I did, yesterday. I was attracted by the fancy handwriting. The book in which it had been inscribed was falling apart, but I grabbed the first few pages to situate the dedication.

It might have been hard to decipher the name of the person who was making the inscription if it didn't happen to be ... the author of the novel!

Although he was writing under one of his many pseudonyms:

I thought the name "Erle Stanley Gardner" sounded somehow familiar--and a Google search told me that yes, indeed: he was the creator of Perry Mason and many other mysteries. Regarding his writing, the Thrilling Detective website says, "Although critics sneered and many felt that Erle Stanley Gardner was not a very good writer ... Gardner was one of the best selling writers of all times, and certainly one of the best-selling mystery authors ever."
Erle Stanley Gardner

source
Armed with this knowledge, and with some effort (and invaluable aid from Wakanomori), I take the dedication to read,
So who was Captain Frances--female spelling--G. Lee?
Well! She turns out to be Frances Glessner Lee, whom Wikipedia tells us is the "mother of forensic science"!
She had to wait until she was 52 to embark on the career for which she became famous, but at that point she inherited a fabulous fortune that enabled her to pursue her studies and endow departments of legal medicine, police science, and a library.
Further, Wikipedia tells us that "for her work, Lee was made an honorary captain in the New Hampshire State Police in 1943, making her to first woman to join International Association of Chief of Police."
a picture of her

source
And, Erle Stanley Gardner dedicated several novels to her.
... and somehow one that he'd sent to her himself, with an inscription, ends its life in a recycling dumpster in my town. I wonder who owned the book?
Interestingly, in the foreword to the book, Gardner shows that as far back as 1958, people were thinking about the problem of retributive justice:

I'd share more, but alas, I only grabbed a few pages, and they don't include the next page in the foreword.
In any case: not your everyday find!

It might have been hard to decipher the name of the person who was making the inscription if it didn't happen to be ... the author of the novel!

Although he was writing under one of his many pseudonyms:

I thought the name "Erle Stanley Gardner" sounded somehow familiar--and a Google search told me that yes, indeed: he was the creator of Perry Mason and many other mysteries. Regarding his writing, the Thrilling Detective website says, "Although critics sneered and many felt that Erle Stanley Gardner was not a very good writer ... Gardner was one of the best selling writers of all times, and certainly one of the best-selling mystery authors ever."
Erle Stanley Gardner

source
Armed with this knowledge, and with some effort (and invaluable aid from Wakanomori), I take the dedication to read,
To my friend and
instructor
Capt. Frances G. Lee -- Trooper Gardner reporting.
With all my love
Erle
Stanley Gardner
June 1958
So who was Captain Frances--female spelling--G. Lee?
Well! She turns out to be Frances Glessner Lee, whom Wikipedia tells us is the "mother of forensic science"!
She had to wait until she was 52 to embark on the career for which she became famous, but at that point she inherited a fabulous fortune that enabled her to pursue her studies and endow departments of legal medicine, police science, and a library.
Further, Wikipedia tells us that "for her work, Lee was made an honorary captain in the New Hampshire State Police in 1943, making her to first woman to join International Association of Chief of Police."
a picture of her

source
And, Erle Stanley Gardner dedicated several novels to her.
... and somehow one that he'd sent to her himself, with an inscription, ends its life in a recycling dumpster in my town. I wonder who owned the book?
Interestingly, in the foreword to the book, Gardner shows that as far back as 1958, people were thinking about the problem of retributive justice:

I'd share more, but alas, I only grabbed a few pages, and they don't include the next page in the foreword.
In any case: not your everyday find!
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Date: 2017-06-03 06:54 pm (UTC)It's a shame this one you found was falling apart. I'm always sad to see books like that.
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Date: 2017-06-03 11:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-03 11:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-03 11:52 pm (UTC)I learned so much investigating this...
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Date: 2017-06-04 12:11 am (UTC)Really enjoyed reading this entry.
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Date: 2017-06-04 12:55 am (UTC)PS: I'm really glad you liked the entry :-)
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Date: 2017-06-04 12:56 am (UTC)I love the handwriting and the identities and everything about it.
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Date: 2017-06-04 12:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 02:39 am (UTC)That's one of his Bertha Cool and Donald Lam novels! That's incredibly neat. Who throws out a dedication to the mother of forensic science? Someone who isn't as sharp-eyed as you, obviously.
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Date: 2017-06-04 03:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-06-04 03:39 am (UTC)I'm so glad you found it.
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Date: 2017-06-05 04:23 am (UTC)I ran across those Wednesday Addams dollhouses years ago, and had forgotten. Thank you for reminding me.
Nine
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Date: 2017-06-05 08:57 am (UTC)Nice catch!
I have read a lot of A. A. Fairs, though not recently, and not The Count of Nine. They feature Berths Cool as the tough detective agency owner the leg man works for.
Now I'll find out someone else told you that. :D
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