The Project
Hi,
My name is Adam. I’m a 25 year old software professional from Oxford, MS.
Many years ago, on a family vacation to Maine, my family and I stumbled across an antique book with a very intriguing cover. The book was just tossed to the side and we knew it had to be rescued. Little did we realize what an interesting read it would turn out to be.
Fast forward over 10 years, the book has continued to be passed around among family and friends who have each taken time to read through its varied contents. As it has finally made it back into my hands, I’ve decided to take the time and blog 1-2 articles from its pages each day. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact us.
All the best,
Adam Grace
The Book
Youman’s Dictionary of Every-Day Wants was written by Alexander E. Youman, M.D. It is billed as containing twenty thousand receipts in nearly every department of human effort.
The book was published by John B. Alden in 1889. It was copyrighted in 1884 by J. S. Ogilvie & Company.
While finding much history of this book can prove challenging, it has been mentioned on occasion. For example, an advertisement selling copies of the book was found published in the back of the 1907 World Almanac and Book of Facts where it was being sold for a mere $1-$2 depending on the cover material desired. It was also offered for sale in the The 1905 Publishers’ Trade List Annual, Volume 3.
Dr. Youman, although relatively hard to track via modern mediums such as the internet, was a fairly well-know author and farmer. He had several pieces of literature published over the years, though many were just excerpts from Youman’s Dictionary of Every-Day Wants.
The Site
This site is supposed to, as closely as possible, replicate the experience of reading a book that is over 125 years old, while offering the amenities typical to a blog that make reading much easier.
Each section of the book has been given a category on the site; articles for each section will be entered into their appropriate category.
Each article will include the page number on which it was found in my copy of the original book. If you click on this page number, you will be provided a high resolution scan of the particular page in the book.
In addition to navigating via the sections, you will have the capability of searching the blog to find relevant articles.
You’ll also find that some words within articles have been underlined. Hovering over or clicking on these words will direct you to a glossary that I’ve curated. Please note, this glossary was not part of the original book. I’ve done my best guess at providing accurate content for the glossary.
Please note, by posting these articles, I am not certifying their safety or effectiveness. This site is strictly for entertainment purposes only. Please read the full disclaimer here.