Strolling home today from the cafe where I sometimes work so as to get out of the apartment for a while, I popped into a local used bookshop. Browsing through the new arrivals, I spotted a hardbacked copy of Effort, Opportunity and Wealth by the late economist Julian Simon. Flipping it open idly, I was surprised to find it inscribed:

For Bea and Irving,
In hopes of more [ILLEGIBLE] together,
Julian
January 10, 1988

I had chanced upon a copy signed by Julian Simon! But what of “Bea and Irving”? I immediately thought of Irving Kristol. But wasn’t he married to the historian Gertrude Himmelfarb? I asked the clerk to Google Kristol’s name along with “Bea” and quickly saw that Himmelfarb is known as “Bea” to her friends. So this was indeed a book Simon had given them some 15 years ago. I don’t know how it came recently to this little bookshop, but it’s kind of a cool find—15 bucks in mint condition.