Today’s post brought to you by the letter V and the number 4

Now that I have a new church job and no longer design the Sunday meeting bulletins, I’ve decided to expand the scope of the ivory bits category. I still plan to occasionally post art + quotation entries as before, but will also write about favorite finds of all types — food, books, and other small pleasures.

Valancourt Books. This independent press (named for the hero in Ann Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho) is a treasure trove of rare and previously out-of-print Gothic goodies, and their web site is well worth a look. I found out about Valancourt when they started publishing the “Northanger Novels”, a list of Gothic titles found in Northanger Abbey. Valancourt’s editions include interesting and useful editor’s notes. Earlier this year I reviewed their editions of Castle of Wolfenbach and The Veiled Picture for AustenBlog.

Vanilla rooibos. Caffeine-free and high in antioxidants, this red herbal tea tastes good and is good for you. I add a tiny splash of milk to make the vanilla flavor really pop. I have it on very good authority that lemon-vanilla rooibos makes an outstanding iced herbal tea and look forward to trying it.

Victoria magazine is coming back! I was a fan of this magazine since college, and I was sorry to see it end. The resubscription invitation assures that the new magazine (debut issue: November/December 2007) will be just as it used to be. Let’s hope they’re right.

Vintage-style jewelry and art by tartx. Necklaces crafted from antique dominoes and optical lens pendants, earrings, bracelets, pocket mirrors, and more. All kinds of literary and design themed collages from which to choose. (Wouldn’t Catherine Morland just love the Gothic Curiosities bracelet?)

Many of you already blog about your favorites, and feel free to share some in the comments!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 9:33am and is filed under housekeeping, ivory bits, surf. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.