•  Chanticleer (1921–36) 55.   Publisher' red cloth, spine slightly sunned; slight bubbling of cloth, possibly from glue action. Without the d/j. Fore- and bottom edges untrimmed.A very good copy of a very nice and typical Golden Cockerel.  (36985)

•  Publisher's embossed cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title; corners and spine extremities showing minor wear, with gilt oxidized. Front free endpaper with pencilled inscription; some page edges with small blotches. Binding very handsome in its subtle way. Impossible! to get a good image of!  (12986)

•  Publisher's cloth, front and spine stamped in black and blue; small stain to front cover, some wear to head and foot of spine. Top edges gilt, others untrimmed. Sturdy; pages clean.  (3175)

Binding:  Boards fetchingly covered with red-brown Curwen patterned paper by Enid Marx with a gray paper cover label, all edges untrimmed; housed in red-brown paper–covered chemise with patterned doublures matching the binding and a gray printed spine label — all in a gray paper–covered slipcase.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with calligraphic bookplate of Norman J. Sondheim, American collector of fine press books.

•  Dreyfus, History of the Nonesuch Press, 93.   Bound as above, offsetting to fly-leaves from pastedowns, slipcase lightly dust-soiled and rubbed at corners with title and author pencilled on spine. Volume with a few light marginal spots (possibly from paper manufacture), otherwise clean.  (37125)

•  Publisher's quarter sheep with printed sides; neatly respined with cloth tape. Signed by previous owner on front pastedown.  (4182)

The title vignette is signed “J.H.H.” (John H. Hall); the front wrapper gives a publication date of 1838, while the title-page gives 1839.

There are two interesting points about the wrapper here. First, the title is printed down the slim little spine in minute letters, with “bands” above and below it; the “binding” part of the operation of putting this together was designed to be more than usually unforgiving. And the back wrapper offers an interesting emblematic engraving with text reading, “ORATORIO . . . to aid in rebuilding Zion Church.” (Is the reference to “metaphorical Zion”; was this perhaps sold as a fund-raiser; or did the Phinneys just have the plate lying around, and figure it would fit?? — which last does not seem to fit with the care taken in the spine treatment?).

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

•  American Imprints 49687.   Very Good copy. Publisher's printed gray-blue paper wrappers, slightly faded, lower back outer corner nicked. Moderate foxing. A seemingly unread copy, with added interest from thevery pretty contemporary but non-childish hand-coloring.  (38489)

•  Publisher's red cloth, spine with black-stamped title. Offsetting to endpapers. Clean.  (35691)

•  Cloth with a few light spots, spine extremities faintly worn, dust jacket with slightly ragged edges and some spine fading. (2113)

The “lady” was Eliza L. Cabot Follen (1787–1860), the Boston-born author, translator, and abolitionist.  She used her own translation — “a free one; but sedulous care has been taken never to depart from the spirit of the author” (v) — and one of her concerns in selection is to de-Catholicize the archbishop, allowing his more universal appreciation — for, as she says, his “writings necessarily contain many things that could not be acceptable to Christians of all denominations [and have therefore] been uniformly omitted” (v).

Fénelon's appearance in Follen's selective epitome would surely have amused him, and it pleased the book-buying public: This is the work’s third edition.

Provenance:  A note states that “this book belonged to Grandmother Dyer[:] Ann Eliza Morse”; Charles Dyer Norton has also signed an endpaper in ink.

•  American Imprints 7028. On Fénelon, see: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th ed., X, 252–54.   Mid-19th-century plain black calf with gilt spine compartments tooled in an interesting pattern, single gilt rule around covers, a little gilt on board edges, marbled endpapers and edges; some wear and abrasions but spine gilt still bright. Provenance markings as above, some leaves creased across and a little interior staining and spotting especially at rear. A nice old book.  (36673)

•  Publisher's black and red printed paper wrappers, in original similar dust wrapper; dust wrapper with chips and short tears to margins (longer closed tear from upper front edge), spine slightly sunned. Front free endpaper with contemporary inked ownership inscription. Two leaves with short tear from lower margin, touching text without loss. Pages age-toned, embrittled as expectable; in fact, a nice copy, and with a “Three Seal Book Mark” laid in.  (28422)

Signed binding: Publisher's dark blue cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped stylized double fish design, signed with the double D monogram of Decorative Designers; spine with gilt-stamped title and scallop shell. Top edge gilt.

•  Binding as above, corners and spine a bit rubbed. Front pastedown with private owner's bookplate. A clean, attractive copy.  (28862)

The work opens with an introduction from the publishers, who dedicated the Life to the members of the First Christian Church and Society of Kittery, ME. The frontispiece portrait of Fernald was engraved by John Sartain, after a daguerrotype.

Binding:  Publisher's textured black cloth, covers framed in blind rules and with foliate designs surrounding central gilt-stamped floral motifs on both boards. Spine gilt extra, all edges gilt.

•  Bound as above; spine extremities and corners rubbed, cloth showing small split starting at foot of front joint (hinge holding). Mild foxing to margins of frontispiece, with offsetting to title-page from guard leaf; two pages with small section of offsetting from now-absent laid-in item; pages otherwise clean. A solid, worthwhile copy with its gilt shining bright and crisp. (38618)

Not located in RLIN.

•  Original self wrappers (unbound; removed). The front edge of the title page is darkened, else very good.  (17422)

Stepping into the presidency amidst scandal, war, and a poor economy, Gerald Ford was presented with some very difficult leadership challenges. On the one hand, he was the right man at the right time: His honesty and reassurance restored the confidence in the presidency that been lost during the Watergate scandal, and his negotiation of the Helsinki Agreement contributed to the end of the Cold War. However, Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon eroded much of the trust he had built early in his term. This fateful decision, together with the fall of Saigon and his inability to “whip inflation,” were the main factors that cost him reelection. This memoir speaks to his role in navigating the challenges of his time with the same honesty and straightforwardness that characterized his tenure as president.

•  Full red leather, covers lavishly gilt-stamped with a pattern of elephants, spine with raised bands, gilt title, author's name, and gilt elephants within “compartments.” Endpapers bear a version of the image of the obverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. Silk ribbon placemarker. All edges gilt. Fine condition.  (23605)

•  Publisher's green cloth, spine with black-stamped title; minor wear to corners and spine extremities. Pages clean and crisp.  (26152)

Provenance:  On the front pastedown, an inscription reading, “Twenty five cents' worth of Uncle Dan's sympathy for Maggie's misfortune. 1862 May 24.” The name of Robert Hale is inked black on the title-page corner above some red-inked numbers.

WorldCat has located three copies of this 1860 edition, two of which are in the U.S.

•  Sternick, Bibliography of 19th-Century Children's Series Books, 496.   Publisher's navy cloth with gilt lettering and decoration to spine, boards with blind decoration of children dancing hand-in-hand in a circle; overall rubbing especially to spine ends and with some board exposed, spine cocked and mild soiling. Provenance as above; interior with some soiling throughout, mild gutter cracks and rear joint cracked. Sounder than it sounds and still capable of making a child (or adult!) smile.  (38522)

Binding:  Publisher's green cloth, front cover and spine stamped in black, gilt, and yellow, with a frame of apples and greenery surrounding a decorative title and small gilt motifs.

•  Binding as above, corners and spine extremities very slightly rubbed, dust jacket lacking. Endpapers and a few pages sprinkled with spots of faint staining, pages generally clean A popular and entertaining author, in an attractive and well-preserved binding.  (35257)

•  NSTC 2S31074. Removed from a nonce volume. Clean save for some smudging to outer margin of one page.  (16760)

“The Cork Leg and Steam Arm. / The Great Sea Snake. / The Sailor's Consolation. / The Wonderful Nose”

•  Not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages age-toned, otherwise clean.  (16763)

The binding is full blue linen stamped in gold on the spine and front cover, with additional ornamentation to both covers in deep pink. Top edges are gilt, others deckle; one leaf is left unopened.

•  Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 49.   Binding as above; spine sunned and with thumbnail sized dark patch at head and foot. Some cracking along the top edges and spine of the slipcase, which is still sturdy; spine of case sunned, paper label a little soiled. Pages clean; no ownership markings or labels. A very good, clean copy.  (22313)

The College's founding trustees are a Who's Who of Pennsylvanians, both English and German; future trustees are to be chosen half from Lutherans and the other half from the Reformed or “Calvinist Church”; youth are to be instructed in the “German, English, Latin, Greek, and other learned languages” (note order); one-sixth of the endowment is to be used to support an adjunct children's charity school; etc. An interesting 19th-century ethnic-educational ephemerum, apparently not in NUC Pre-1956.

•  Sewn; in original yellow wrappers. Very good.  (9724)

Binding:  Publisher's color printed paper–covered boards with cloth shelfback, in publisher's original dust jacket; now housed in an open-back, cloth-covered slipcase with gilt-stamped leather spine label.

•  Bound as above, jacket darkened, spine and extremities rubbed with lower outer back corner repaired; short tears from central cut-out. Boards slightly sprung, cream paper showing very minor soiling only, free endpapers with offsetting from pastedowns. Pages crisp and clean, some with light offsetting from images opposite. A desirable copy of the first edition, in the now-uncommon dust jacket.  (38643)

From The Book Collector: Occasional Series, vol. 1.

•  Publisher's paperback (not issued in cloth); lightest edgewear, spine faded. Several tiny spots of foxing on page edges (not into margins). Near fine.  (37781)

This is anuncommonly nice copy, still housed in its original publisher's box, which features the front cover image reproduced in color.

•  Not in Brown, Culinary Americana.   Publisher's spiral-bound wrappers, front wrapper color-printed with image of Dutch girls baking, in publisher's box (as above); one edge of box rubbed and corners of box bottom reinforced. Front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription and pencilled date (March 24, 1956). A clean, fresh, virtually unworn copy — and very uncommon as such.  (29584)

•  Publisher's quarter cloth over green paper boards; paper title label on spine. Contemporary gift inscription on front free endpaper. Paper covers with some old minor scrapes and finger marks; VG.  (19462)

•  Publisher's light green cloth with silver-stamped lettering to spine; dust jacket lacking, front board warped ever so slightly and with very faint lines of discoloration, rubbing to joints. Small bookseller's ticket of Mary Glasgow & Baker Ltd. (London) on front pastedown. Light foxing to fore-edge and interior. A solid, sturdy, signed copy.  (37949)

WorldCat locates only nine institutional copies, these in a rather odd array of places with perhaps some being accounted for by H.L. Mencken’s having reviewed the volume not entirely unkindly in Smart Set.

•  For Mencken’s remarks, see: Smart Set, “The Bards in Battle Royal”; vol, 37 (1912).   Publisher’s red cloth with gilt lettering to front board and spine; publisher’s emblem blind-stamped to rear board, light rubbing to extremities. Top edge gilt, other edges deckle; small stains to bottom edge of pages. A pleasing collection of down-home’y poetry.  (37793)

Signed binding: Contemporary half tan morocco with marbled paper–covered sides, spine with raised bands each accented above and below with single gilt rule and single black rule; gilt-stamped title, spine compartments framed in gilt with gilt dots in each corner and each with gilt center device. Front free endpaper stamped “Bound by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.” Top edge gilt; silk ribbon place marker.

•  Binding as above, spine slightly sunned, corners and extremities showing minor rubbing. Front pastedown with private collector’s armorial bookplate. Pages clean. (19752)

•  Publisher's cloth, front cover and spine stamped in white, black, orange, and gilt; lacking the dust jacket, with binding slightly cocked, spine stamping a bit dimmed. Front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription.  (13027)

Binding:  In the style of a percaline mosaïquée, but the gilt and mosaic are applied to a textured pebbled cloth. Spine gilt extra with added “mosaic” of green, white, red and blue. Front cover with a blind-stamped border incorporating elegant corner-pieces; within this, “Souvenir de Versailles” gilt-stamped in an arc above a large on-laid crowned coat of arms flanked by banners and flags, this embellished in gilt with rich use of blue, white, red, blue, and green. Rear cover with similar blind-stamped border and a different large gilt-stamped center device strikingly incorporating an on-lay of blue stamped in gilt with a military medal. All edges gilt.

•  On this type of binding, see: Morris & Levin, The Art of Publishers' Bookbindings, pp. 94–97.   Binding as above, rubbed to the underlying boards at the corners of the boards and top of spine slightly pulled with one bit of rubbing. Scattered pale brown stains mostly on interleaves and sometimes visible on versos of plates; some discoloration in some margins of plates and occasionally into one; overwhelmingly a clean copy, remarkably bright and unfoxed. A strong and nice example of this category of “souvenir” and of a gilt mosaic binding.  (30464)

Binding:  Publisher's quarter white linen with blue-green paper sides, printed paper label on spine; the variant binding without the embossed medallion on the front cover and bearing instead a paper label that gives full publication details and describes the book as in “imperial 8vo” costing “two guineas net.” Top edge gilt, others deckle.

•  Bound as above, without the d/j. A very good copy.  (34706)

•  Publisher's cream cloth, covers and spine with gilt-stamped floral and geometric pattern; binding slightly cocked, lower outer corners showing minor wear, offsetting to rear free endpaper from a leaf of paper(?) once laid in. Top edge gilt, other edges uncut. Dust jacket and slipcase lacking, thus the more affordable as a book; a clean, solid, enjoyable copy.  (33516)

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers. Clean and crisp.  (31231)

•  Clean and fresh.  (31233)

•  Publisher's textured navy paper wrappers, in original brown paper envelope printed in red; envelope corners slightly worn. Wrappers and pages clean and crisp.  (31228)

•  Publisher's printed paper wrappers, in original printed dust wrapper; dust wrapper partially split along front outer fold and nicked at corners. Pages age-toned.  (28931)

•  Hatch, Mosher, 688; Bishop, Mosher, 313.   Publisher's quarter tan paper and blue paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label; spine moderately sunned, with extremities rubbed and one tiny fleck to one compartment. Back hinge (inside) cracked, front hinge tender, volume yet holding firmly; as usual, without the dust jacket or the slipcase. Overall, a very good copy ofan interesting book and an attractive Mosher production.  (34463)

Uncommon: WorldCat locates only one U.S. institutional holding of this 1911 (as per the imprimatur) edition.

Binding:  Cream-colored plasticized boards (with cream cloth intentionally visible at joints), front cover with color-printed overlay of an angel delicately tinted in light blue and pink with gilt backdrop beneath a rose and grapevine motif, turn-ins with gilt roll, moiré silk endpapers. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, corners slightly rubbed, minor discoloration to sides and spine head. Lacking pp. 19–30 (though with its not being entirely clear whether these were ever present). Pages age-toned; lower outer corners of first few leaves bumped. A beautiful little prayerbook.  (30391)

Binding:  Quarter natural-grain goatskin vellum with black buckram sides and gilt lettering to spine; top edge is gilt.

•  Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 315.   Binding as above; vellum darkened lightly in spots, spine-head warped slightly (but in no way broken) from being pulled out of the slipcase. In original red cloth–covered slipcase with cream spine label printed in black; clean and strong and one side with a small black spot, label with faint waterspot. Volume with one light finger smudge to front free endpaper, else clean. Another masterful LEC production, simply handsome, and in a very pleasing copy.  (38941)

•  Publisher's teal cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title and decorative floral motifs; back cover and corners showing very slight scuffing. Back hinge cracked and front hinge starting; front free endpaper excised. Still, an attractive copy.  (18393)

16 steel-engraved maps

While the title-page gives the Boston publication line described above, the printed front cover gives Philadelphia: Thomas, Cowperthwait, & Co., 1838; this is a later edition, following the first of 1832.

A first impression is that “child” readers had, in 1832, much greater powers of attention to print than is now common, but indeed the history here is — the stories are — absorbing and evocative.

•  American Imprints 50587.   Publisher's quarter sheep and printed green paper–covered boards, rubbed and worn; pages cockled and foxed, yet paper good and untattered. One page with stray ink marks, not obstructing legibility. A good, solid, pleasing copy.  (33716)

Binding:  Publisher's red cloth, covers and spine gilt-stamped with avian and foliate designs; all edges gilt.

•  Faxon 786.   Spine and edges moderately rubbed with front hinge cracked; spots of staining to bottom part of front cover. Front free endpaper with good portion torn away, back free endpaper lacking; waterstaining in varying degrees to lower outer corners after p. 120 and some soiling. One signature extruded and others heading for that; one plate shaved very very close to image at top but image itself not quite touched! Not a fresh copy, still, an interesting one.  (12944)

The work isillustrated with a total of 12 engravings, including portraits of the first five presidents and an engraved half-title page.

Provenance:  Ownership signature on two front fly-leaves of Giles Satterthwaite, dated 1824; his note also, “Prise [sic] $1-75.”

•  Sabin 27871; Shoemaker 12704.   Contemporary sheep, spine with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations; binding worn and abraded, spine leather much chipped and cracked with some fragments carefully reattached in first panel; joints, corners, and headcaps restored. Pagesfoxed and age-toned throughout, loosening in some signatures, torn and chipped in margins and corners of a few pages; inner margin of one front fly-leaf reinforced. Ownership inscriptions as noted.  (5503)

The little volume also offers astriking wood-engraved frontispiece in orange and black by Jean Gabriel Daragnès (1886–1950) who additionally provided the wood-engraved headpieces, and the colophon notes the item was printed by Ducros, Lefèvre, & Colas.

•  Red and black printed cream wrappers, gently worn around edges; light age-toning with a few occasional spots, frontispiece offset onto title-page. A very nice copy.  (36392)

Sickness is a theme here

The volume is illustrated with a total of three wood-engraved depictions of New England buildings.

•  Publisher's pebbled terra cotta cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; spine darkened and worn with gilt rubbed, sides with small spots of discoloration, cover gilt nice and bright. Some light smudging to margins, pages otherwise clean. All edges gilt.  (27649)

Binding:  Decorated publisher's binding: blue cloth with “silver”-stamped lettering and fleur-de-lis decorations to front board and spine, front cover with large “silver”-stamped vignette of a medieval gentleman holding a cage with two owls. “Silver” work actually aluminum and very bright!

Provenance:  On front free endpaper, two ownership stamps of Sarah E. Lembeck.

•  BAL 6747 (state A imprint, state A binding).   Bound as above; spine cocked and extremities and joints lightly rubbed. Stamps as above. Crease to p. 42; interior otherwise unspoiled. A handsomely medieval-esque production.  (37506)