“To prevent fraud, the written signature of the proprietor, S.A. Osburn, will be written upon the wrapper[of the bottle], without which none is genuine. Sold, wholesale and retail, by N. Osburn, corner of Main and St. Paul Streets, Rochester, N.Y., general agent for the United States” (p. [4]) — this copy without that signature.

Printed testimonials on p. 4 are dated 1847 and 1855, and a charming wood engraving on p. 1 shows a woman administering medicine to a sick woman in her bed.

Searches of WorldCat locate only four U.S. libraries reporting ownership (PPL, NRU-Med, MWA, NRMW).

•  Folded, as issued. A clean, attractive piece of medical-commercial ephemera.  (38410)

The work is printed on “rice paper” (i.e., Asian paper probably from the mulberry tree) as was common in Manila during the period to ca. 1820. The typography is definitely provincial and plain, using only one decorative woodcut initial and no ornamentation on the title-page. The type is roman in a variety of sizes with a practice of using all capitals for emphasis.

The press on which this work was printed had been that of the Jesuits until Archbishop Sancho de Santa Justa carried out the king's order and expelled them; he then appropriated the press for his private use, as here. What had been only the fourth press to operate in the Islands, now with a new name, became the fifth.

Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and COPAC locate only five copies worldwide (three in the U.S., one in the U.K., one in Spain).

•  Medina, Manila, 317; Retana, Aparato bibliográfico, 379.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards (green and mauve stone pattern); red leather label on front cover. A few minor paper repairs to edges of a few leaves; a very few small pinhole type wormholes, not costing any letters; the brown spotting and staining peculiar to rice paper. Old, brief note lightly red-inked to title-page. Over all a very good copy.  (33130)

Each copy contains nine original samples of decorated papers and one large original sample of a 'pictorial' paper'” (prospectus).

This is number 85 of 175 copies. The prospectus announced an edition of 215 copies!

Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Quarter dark red cloth by Campbell-Logan with leather spine label and paste-paper printed sides (based on a Remondini design). A copy of the prospectus is laid in as is a slip of errata.  (37499)

Sent from Shaw's home in Ayot St. Lawrence and postmarked in Hertfordshire, both cards areinscribed in Shaw's distinctive hand and signed with his initials.

•  Cards crisp and clean, one with pair of staple holes.Delightful and characteristic Shavian ephemera.  (37045)

The texts of both bills are present here, along with Sheridan’s analysis of how each would address “the question of right between the public and the [East India] Company” (p. 39).

•  ESTC T30944; Goldsmiths’-Kress no. 13610. Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with gilt-stamped leather title label and spine with gilt-stamped leather author label. Half-title and several other pages stamped by a now-defunct institution. Pages with edges untrimmed and a few small spots of staining; mostly, clean.  (10859)

Indited in secretary hand with witnesses' signatures in both italic and secretary, the deed is followed by two blank pages on the interior (as usual); the witnesses were John Morroy (Morrey?) and John Best (Lest?), who both had fine signatures. Not unexpectedly, the widow signed with her mark. A docket on the last leaf's verso reads, “Xher [Christopher] Libthorpe To George Rothe” and another, in a second hand, adds, “and a Deed from Pickering to Post for a lot,” with a computation below on the same page.

The watermark appears to be a heart-shaped shield crowned by a fleur de lis, or trefoil; however we find no match in Briquet or Gravell.

•  Parry, E.C., “A Widow's Might,” Old York Road Historical Society Bulletin, Vol. XXVII, 1966. For the early history of Philadelphia, its incidents and denizens, see: Watson, Annals of Philadelphia (1850).   Previously folded in multiple places, and now along bifolium crease only; four small holes in the upper corner where previously stapled or pinned. “Lacing,” a result of the iron gall ink's exposure to moisture, is in evidence here but does not affect the legibility or stability of the deed, which is neatly repaired in two places at the outer edge of the first recto near the remnants of the red wax seal. An attractive relic of colonial American, Pennsylvania/Philadelphia, commercial, and women's history.  (29823)

As is increasingly the case with Mexican imprints of the 17th century, it islittle found in the marketplace.

Provenance:  18th-century ownership signature on title-page and first leaf of preliminaries of the Conde del Fresno de la Fuente.

•  Medina, Mexico, 1328; Palau 312973; Asuncion Lavrin, “Cotidianidad y espiritualidad en la vida conventual novohispana: Siglo XVII,” in Memoria del Coloquio Internacional Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz y pensamiento novohispano (1995).   Late 19th-century Mexican quarter dark green morocco with mottled green paper sides; binding rubbed and abraded, front endpapers with an old paper label and remnants of one removed. Pencilling on front fly-leaf and title-page verso; top margins closely cropped occasionally costing top of letters of running heads and foliation. Worming, chiefly in margins but occasionally into the text, not costing words, sometimes repaired; first and last few leaves with old repairs to corners and margins and a bit of text restored in pen and ink. Withal, a good++ copy of important work that is not often on the market.  (34203)

Provenance:  Signature on title-page of Howard Osgood, a prominent late 19th- and early 20th-century Hebrew scholar and noted collector.

•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 2558; Wing (2nd ed.) S3801B.   Contemporary speckled calf, spine gilt extra with gilt-stamped leather title-label, board edges stamped with gilt roll; corners and spine extremities worn, front joint cracked and back joint starting, sewing holding. Front pastedown with small French bookseller's ticket and early inked numeral. Title-page with small early inked owner's name and with institutional pressure stamp, reverse with pencilled numerals. Pages clean. (19511)

•  NSTC 2N2681. Removed from a bound volume. Good++ condition. (8418)

•  Palau 239456ii.   Half vellum with caramel cloth sides by Brugalla. Excellent copy.  (20394)

Dated in text 2 December, this would surely have been a most welcome Christmas present!

•  Removed from a binding with sewing holes in inner margins. Date of decree in ink at top of first page. Very good.  (34853)

•  Folded as issued.  (2615)

•  Modern half vellum over burgundy cloth sides. Contemporary inked notation at top right corner of title-page. Very good.  (21056)

•  Lightly in later wrappers; small ownership stamp eradicated from title-page. A very good exemplar.  (24386)

•  Disbound, with a bit of pinhole worming not affecting text; lightly laid into later wrappers.  (24388)

•  Removed from a bound volume; a few wormholes.  (24392)

•  Half vellum with brown cloth sides by Brugalla. Very good copy.  (20392)

Searches of NUC and WorldCat findno copies.

•  Not in Medina, BHA.   Folded as issued; lower margin irregular with mild damp damage.  (33489)

•  Folded and never sewn; as issued.  (24389)

A difficult book to find in its dust jacket.

•  Publisher's green cloth, in publisher's printed paper dust wrapper; jacket slightly darkened, taped to boards, chipped at back upper edge, and nicked at corners and spine extremities; very neatly applied pen and ink call number on spine of jacket. Front (inside) hinge tender; front pastedown with institutional bookplate. Offsetting to endpapers from cover tape, otherwise clean internally.  (24656)

First edition.

•  Sabin 15716; Shaw & Shoemaker 610.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label. Title-page with small inked “pseud.” comment next to author's name. Pages age-toned with offsetting and some light spotting (darkest to title-page); one leaf with upper margin repaired some time ago. Page edges untrimmed; one signature unopened.  (25211)

Stern was the life and business partner of Leona Rostenberg, their firm of Rostenberg & Stern having been one of America's most respected during the post –WWII period and known for its dealing in early printed books Dufief (1776?–1834) was a refugee from the French Revolution who from 1793 to 1818 lived in Philadelphia, where he taught French and ran a bookstore. Among the libraries he acquired was the large residue of Benjamin Franklin's!

•  New. Publisher's light brown cloth with paper spine label.  (35753)

Binding:  Publisher's ribbon-embossed green floral-patterned cloth of Krupp's style Ft6.

•  American Imprints 53109; Palau 322394; Sabin 91388. Not in Smith, American Travellers Abroad. On the binding, see: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823--50.   Publisher's green floral-patterned cloth, spine with printed paper label; corners and spine foot rubbed, spine head pulled, paper label darkened with edges chipped. Front free endpaper with pencilled ownership inscription; occasional pencilled annotations and marks of emphasis. Light to moderate foxing.  (25425)

•  Howes S1145; NSTC S4417; Sabin 93943; Shaw & Shoemaker 26833.   Contemporary tree sheep, recently rebacked with speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; original leather rubbed with edges chipped, new endpapers. Mild to moderate age-toning and foxing throughout; title-page with inner margin repaired; three leaves with a lower corner or bit of margin torn away without approach to text. Scattered instances of early pencilled underlining and annotations. Interesting, sensitive observations from a writer concerned with both commercial and spiritual elements of life in the States; here in a very solid copy with the plate in beautiful condition.  (36315)

The "Buzaglo" referred to in the poem is the eponymouscast-iron stove designed by London inventor/ironmaster Abraham Buzaglo, which the author of the poem contends will, once installed, quell party strife in the House of Commons by warming the uncomfortable chill that provokes and riles the more partisan members.

•  Recent marbled paper wrappers. Very light foxing on first three leaves. Two page numbers shaved.  (3689)

Provenance:  From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Contemporary half sheep in imitation of morocco and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and decorations; rubbed (though spine gilt bright) and front hinge (inside) cracked. Six leaves lacking, as per collation, and an unknown number of plates; upper outer corner of pp. 41/42 torn away with loss of perhaps seven letters. Upper inner portions stained from a thumb's breadth to at worst case an eighth of the page, throughout; other staining and foxing quite minimal, and more often to text than to images. Despite its incompleteness and other evidence of enthusiastic use, this copy of this rarity still offers both considerable charm and several varieties of usefulness.  (38650)

•  ESTC W007021; Evans 34675; Howes T 326; Sabin 96421. Recently rebound in quarter blue goat over blue cloth, leather edges with gilt roll-tooling; spine with gilt-accented raised bands and with gilt-stamped title, author, place, and date. Some pages spotted.

•  NSTC 2L25966; not in Goldsmiths’-Kress. Recent paper-covered boards. Title-page with small inked numerals in upper outer corner. Shouldernotes shaved. Pages clean.  (15269)

Published at the beginning of renewed interest in the U.S. and England in “scientific agriculture.”

•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 25812.   Publisher's blind-embossed green cloth, rebacked with much of old spine unobtrusively reapplied. Binding a little soiled and spine darkened with gilt of title dimmed; tips of corners chipped. Instances of dust-soiling at some top margins; one leaf with loss and soiling along outer edge without affecting text. Ex-library with old rubber-stamp on the title-page and several other pages.  (24439)

•  Publisher's brown cloth, stamped in blind on covers and lettered in gilt on spine; text clean. A nice copy, mostly unopened.  (34739)

Binding:  Marvelous contemporary sponge-mottled sheep binding, round spine richly gilt by repeated use of a small portion of a roll featuring a fine vinous pattern with fruit or berry.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locateonly three U.S. libraries reporting ownership (UC-San Diego, Lehigh, and Brown {not the JCB}).

•  Medina, Lima, 1790; Vargas Ugarte, Impresos peruanos, 2682; Sabin 97718; Palau 344278.   Binding as above; joints and edges rubbed, tiny spots of worming. Private ownership stamp whited-out on title-page. Worming in the inner margins in the lower outer corner of the index, with loss of blank paper only.  (37980)

Much of the text presents a defense of the incorporation of the Merchants' Bank.

Rare: We fail to trace any copies via OCLC; only one holding listed in Shaw & Shoemaker.

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 11490.   As issued, with old folds, edges slightly irregular. Two tiny holes within text, at the point where two folds intersect, and costing only a portion of two letters. Fingernail-sized stain. Four words have been redacted by the previous owner in ink, but can still be easily read.  (24636)

Muller notes that this account “chiefly” concerns New-Netherland and that “it contains all the speeches and reports”; Asher adds that the information here is “not to be found in the letters of the Pensionary J. de Witt and other ministers.”

Provenance:  20th-century bookplate of J.W. Six; later in the collection of Frank Marshall Vanderhoof (American scholar, university librarian, private collector; 1919–2005).

•  Alden & Landis, European Americana, 725/147; Asher, Dutch books and pamphlets, 335; Sabin 98926; Frederik Muller, America (1872 catalogue), 1100.   Contemporary Dutch vellum over boards, round spine, raised bands, blind rules on covers, center cartouche blind-embossed. The usual foxing and browning found in so many copies. Solid, attractive, and a very good copy.  (35777)

•  Shaw & Shoemaker 14060. Removed from a library-style pamphlet binding and in new wrappers.  (2759)

The presenter of the volume was R.T. McLain, chief clerk of the Department of Agriculture; the Hon. J. Gregory Smith, the recipient, was the president of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company.

Binding:  A presentation binding of black morocco over boards with slightly bevelled edges. Covers with a gilt triple fillet border and a gilt floral vine inner “border.” Recipient's name in gilt in center of front board. Round spine, raised bands, gilt spine extra; gilt roll on board edges, different gilt roll on turn-ins. Pink endpapers of a textured paper, printed with an overall pattern of small gilt interlocking circles. Green silk place marker. All edges gilt.

A very nice example of a mid-19th-century presentation binding.

•  Binding as above, lightly rubbed at the joints (outside) and board edges. McLain's presentation card pasted to front pastedown, above Smith's bookplate. A very good copy of a book that is, as we say here, “interesting for more than one reason.”  (35244)

•  Not in American Imprints.   Removed from a nonce volume. Light staining, age-toning. Very good.  (35302)

The patent record copies are accompanied by36 plates illustrating the various devices. Atyped index is stitched in at the front; the title given above comes from this volume's spine label.

A full list of contents is available upon enquiry.

Provenance:  Front and back pastedown each with rubber-stamp of A. Bell Malcolmson, attorney and counsellor at law; final page with pencilled annotation: “Bind for Mr. Malcolmson.” Malcolmson is recorded as having been involved, in 1908, with a case regarding patent infringement of a method for duplicating typewritten work.

•  Contemporary tan cloth, spine with gilt-stamped red leather title-label; cloth spotted and moderately discolored, extremities and spine label lightly rubbed. Preliminary index pages, of onion skin, each with short tear from outer margin; one text leaf with small chip to upper margin; some leaves creased; occasional pencilled annotations and marks of emphasis.  (30399)

•  Very Good condition, in recent wrappers.  (7771)

Upchurch's account of his life and accomplishments includes descriptions of the founding of various lodges and the establishment of their rules, his observations on visiting chapters in California and a number of other states, and (in passing) the poor living conditions in San Francisco's Chinatown; it is illustrated with portraits of the author, depictions of lodge charters and regalia, and other memorabilia. Poems and eulogies were added by Samuel Booth, the editor, who also did his best to shape the plain-spoken Upchurch's thoughts into publishable form while not making any attempt at literary polish.

Binding:  Publisher's roan, front cover with decorative gilt-stamped frame and gilt-stamped facsimile of Upchurch's signature ("Fraternally yours"), back cover stamped in blind. All edges gilt.

This is the original first edition, not a modern reprint. Actual holdings (as opposed to microform or online files) are uncommon in U.S. institutions.

•  Bound as above; rubbed overall most notably at edges and joints, front joint cracked but holding, spine with paper shelving label. Front pastedown with institutional presentation bookplate, lines unused. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean; one leaf with small edge chip.  (29694)

The work begins with a title-page in black and red, bearing the printers' large woodcut device incorporating images of Time and Fortune. The text is printed in the expected double-column format in roman and italic.

•  Palau 276638.   18th-century mottled calf, round spine, modest gilt tooling on spine. Front joint (outside) open along top three inches; front pastedown loosening from the board. Scattered foxing and staining. Sporadic worming in inner margins not touching the text. All edges richly saffron, unusually bright.  (29157)

These ephemeral guidebooks are not widely institutionally held in the U.S., although a different, quarterly publication of the same title (published by E.A. Pierce & Co.) appears to be somewhat more common.

•  Publisher's printed yellow paper wrappers; creased and lightly soiled, with inked date on spine and pencilled annotations on back wrapper. Text block just starting to pull away from wrappers. Pages age-toned; three leaves separated. A useful snapshot of the American economy in the spring of 1921.  (37198)

Following the poetry section there is a series of advertisements for products such as Pratt's Astral Oil and double-deodorized benzine. This is an interesting, attractive little relic of an era when manufacturers of such humble products sought surprisingly often to associate themselves with Much Higher Things — often going to real trouble and expense to do so!

•  Beige printed wrappers with “1888" written on the front cover in ink and a small pink stain at top edge; light age-toning.  (36736)

•  Goldsmiths'-Kress 18239; NSTC W529. Recent paper wrappers. Some instances of light foxing and offsetting.  (11195)

This is a stunning printing of Washington's famous message.  The text is printed in gold ink in four-column format within an elaborate engraved border printed in silver on bright white calendered paper. The firm of “White & Durand” is listed in the 1834–35 New York city directory as specializing in “specimens of xylographic engraving and printing in colours” and seems to have done a goodbusiness in labels for drug store bottles. An earlier incarnation of the firm “A.B.C. Durand, Wright & Co.” had specialized in banknote engraving as early as 1825, and certainly the border here is of that style and quality.

The firm was renamed in the 1835–35 city directory to “Wright & Prentiss.”

Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and the OPACs of the American Antiquarian Society and the Library of Congressfail to locate any other copies.

•  Date attribution based on admiring notice in an 1834 trade journal. Minor indications at some edges of the item having been pinned or tacked for display; faint instances of old staining at edges, in one case slightly into border.An excellent copy of an important and absolutely lovely production.  (33580)

•  Publisher's (appropriately) green morocco, front cover with gilt-stamped title and publication information. All edges gilt. A clean, tight copy.  (35703)

miracle drug

This is no. 1120 of 1500 copies, designed by Bert Clarke and printed at The Thistle Press in monotype Caslon Old Style, with an introduction by Norman Strouse and15 full-page color plates & numerous illustrations in text by Lynton Lamb, who signed the colophon. The handsome book is bound by Russell-Rutter Company in full forest-green cloth with a spine label set in the gilt-stamped outline of a medicine bottle.

The appropriate LEC newsletter is laid in.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 307.   Binding as above, in publisher's yellow slipcase with paper label; minor shelf-wear and discoloration. Spine base lightly scuffed, elsefine.  (30469)

•  Publisher's red textured cloth with title and ALL authors' names gilt-lettered on spine; covers double-ruled in blind, gilt circlet surrounding title on front cover, yellow endpapers with printed publisher's advertisements; binding gently rubbed and lightly soiled, spine pulled at top with loss of cloth and text moderately cocked. Marked as above, interior clean.  (36185)

The fore-matter offerings here are: “On Picasso's Desire and T.S. Eliot's Sweeney Agonistes” by J[udith?] M[alina?]; “Reply” by William Carlos Williams; and “In response to a request for a manifesto on music, 1952" by John Cage.

The first year's program announces these productions: Gertrude Stein's “Ladies' Voices,” Pablo Picasso's “Desire,” T.S. Eliot's “Sweeney Agonistes,” Kenneth Rexroth's “Beyond the Mountains,” and Paul Goodman's “Faustina.”

Also present are a few advertisements, and lists of “Who's Who in the Casts,” the staff, and the directors and sponsors of the theater. The image on the front wrapper is a reproduction of a sketch by Picasso of the design for his famous sculpture “Man with a Lamb.”

Curiously, this group of avant garde artists apparently did not feel sufficient solidarity with the working man to have the program printed at a union shop. In fact, it has the feel and look of an “in house” production.

WorldCat finds onlyfive copies.

•  Printed on cheap brown paper and saddle stitched; upper inner corners of wrappers (only) chipped. A very good copy.  (36241)

This text with a sizable subject index records de Witt's public resolutions from 2 August 1653 to 19 December 1668 on a variety of topics, including the price of gold, the East India Company, and England. In the dedication, vande Water, the printer of this work, notes that he is producing it so that the documents will not be lost to the future.

Evidence of Readership: Notes referring to specific pages written on front free endpaper and a newspaper clipping dated 25 April 1926 laid in text.

•  STCN 216098602.   Speckled calf, gilt spine with stamped and lettered compartments, all edges speckled red; top of spine artfully repaired, joints strengthened, gently rubbed. A few gatherings age-toned and one section at rear with band of very light waterstaining to foremargin; small holes in foremargin of two leaves, possibly created during manufacture, small tear to bottom margin of another. A well-organized look at what was considered important during the middle of the Dutch Golden Age.  (35705)

•  Not in Brown, Culinary Americana.   Publisher's color-printed wrappers, front wrapper with large butterfly and basket vignette; spine and edges rubbed, back wrapper with small scuffs. Pages mildly age-toned. Two pages with small spot of former adhesion between the two, with loss of a few letters; one leaf with short tear from outer margin, not touching text. An interesting reflection of the changing nature of food marketing and technology in the early 20th century.  (36182)