The Long-Term Significance of Printed Ephemera

Since it is unlikely that every RBM reader is a committed ephemerist, I shall begin with a few generalities that, I daresay, will be all too familiar to many. The word “ephemera” is Greek in derivation and stems from the words EPI = through and HEMERA = the day, which is why those with a more thorough classical education than I have had pronounce the word ephemera with a long middle “e.” On this particular matter I am firmly with most Americans in saying ephemera (with a short “e”). The word is by no means new, and has long been ...