Last week we revealed the identity of fictional literary heroine Mrs. Partington, who was the comic alter ego of Portsmouth-born writer B.P. Shillaber (1814-1892). This week we can see the full range of Shillaber’s adult life in these undated photographs, and it isn’t a pretty sight. (Continued below)

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Sunday, November 22
Portsmouth, NH

I serve as a late night spy for the Portsmouth Athenaeum. I’m on the Special Collections committee, although I don’t believe I’ve ever attended a meeting. I do my work from home. Well after midnight, when I have finished my writing for the evening, I often reward myself by scanning items related to local history on eBay. Over the years, I’ve become so familiar with the standard items that I can zip thru the list of roughly 300 Portsmouth, NH artifacts like one of those airport x-ray machines. If I see something out of the ordinary, I check it out. Last week a unique item popped up and I was pleased to learn today that the Athenaeum was able to add it to their collection. And here it is. (Click to continue article)

SEACOAST BOOKS 

Few NH residents may know that the original settlers of Strawbery Banke set up a plantation in Portsmouth for the expressed purpose of searching for precious metals and growing grapes for wine. That experiemtn didn’t fly, but today New England (NH too) is gaining a reputation for its grape affairs, as these two books prove. (Continued below)

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November 21, 10am-2pm
Dover, NH

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December 4 – 6
Salem, MA

To be clear, I am a full-on Kindle fan. In fact, I get all huffy when I read reviews by 20-somethings who knock the $259 pricetage or oldsters who crab that they could never read a book without paper pages. Kindle is a total miracle, works like a dream, and is worth every penny, not only because it travels and reads beautifully, but because it taps into the world’s most effective, organized, affordable and expansive bookstore. So when Amazon announced a free Kindle-like application for PC, I rushed to download it. (Click to continue)

If it’s thick, taste’s like Snows, looks like an art project or contains anytthing but fresh clams, potatoes, onions, water and milk – it ain’t ours. A New England native reveals the puritanical truth about making clam chowder the way God intended, and throws in a little family history to boot. (Click for history and rec,ipte below)

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December 9
Rochester, NH

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November 17
South Berwick, ME

For those who effuse over ephemera, Portsmouth offers a treasure chest of collectibles. This group includes only a sampling of the tourist-oriented booklets and brochures used to promote the "Old Town by the Sea" in the 20^th century. (Continued below with photo)

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Weekends November 13-29
Portsmouth, NH

Meet the legendary Rock Throwing Devil of New Castle, NH. In 1682 demonic sounds and inexplicable events plagued superstitious residents of the island community. Hundreds of stones rained down on tavern-owner George Walton. (Continued with picture below)

Talk about obscure! Submitted for your approval, 10 history poems by the Massachusetts snowbird who also penned the history of New Caslte, NH. Due largely to his association with Ralph Waldo Emerson, Harvard-educated John Albee moved from the ministry to writing history, poetry and nonfiction in the romantic style of the times.(click for 10 poems)