Esopus is contemporary culture, as curated by Tod Lippy. His twice yearly magazine is a sometime baffling, sometimes wondrous collection of what’s caught his eye (and ear, since each issue contains a CD of original music) in the preceding six months. Issue 13, from Fall 2009 contained photos of the button collection of Yale’s fastidious rare books librarian, just deceasd in 2009.

Her passion for organization clearly extended beyond her nine-to-five, as evidenced by the meticulous labelling and sorting of the buttons. The delighter in Tod’s 10-page presentation of the collection was a real button, stapled to the first page.