Here is a fun little nugget we just acquired by Connecticut author/bookseller Edwin Valentine Mitchell (1890-1960), published in 1930.  “This year,” says the dust-jacket blurb, “may be said to mark the centennial of the beard in the United States.  One hundred years ago Joseph Palmer, a friend of Emerson and Bronson Alcott, was flung into jail in Worcester, Massachusetts, as a result of his refusal to shave.  To commemorate this event the author has written a history of beards from the earliest times down to the present day, with descriptions of the world’s most famous beards, real, false, and coloured.  Many strange and obscure volumes have been delved into for material, and some strange and amusing anecdotes have been retrieved.”