nothing new since my last, exceptCapt. Barney in the ship Hyder Aly taking the King ship Monk of 10 nine pounders, in an action of 30 minutes. The Hyder Aly mounted 6 nines & 10 sixes, there never was more execution done by the same force in the same time. The Monk had every officer except two, killed or wounded, amongst the latter was the Capt. She had in all 21 kill'd & 32 wounded. The Hyder Aly had 4 kill'd & 11 wounded, from such slaughter no doubt you'd conclude one of them boarded, but it was not the case, a fair action within pistol shot.

Although the land battles of the American Revolution had ended with the surrender at Yorktown, sea battles continued until receipt of the signing of the Treaty of Paris. The account above refers to Comm. Joshua Barney's capture on 8 April off Cape May, NJ, of the sloop of war General Monk. In a wonderful twist of fate, the intrepid Barney had only arrived in Philadelphia in March — having been occupied since the previous May with his escape, recapture, and second escape from Portsmouth prison! into which stronghold he had been clapped by the British for his previous maritime (infr)actions.

Having, then, been given command of the Hyder Ally (a.k.a., Hyder Ali) only a few weeks previously, and having been charged with clearing the Delaware River and Bay of privateers, Barney had met the General Monk while pursuing that task — and, in a Revolutionary War naval action eclipsed only by that of the Bon Homme Richard and the Serapis, took on and thoroughly defeated a King's ship of superior firepower in a bloody, 26-minute battle.

Following this capture of the General Monk, Congress voted Barney a sword for his gallantry and offered him command of his prize after renaming her General Washington. In November, 1782, he was ordered to sail to France in the Washington with dispatches for Benjamin Franklin who was negotiating the Treaty of Paris. He returned with news of the signing of the preliminary peace treaty and with money from the French.

Barney was an American Hornblower!

•  On Barney, see: Dictionary of American Biography and Appleton's Cyclopedia.   Very good condition. Small blank portion of the integral address leaf torn with loss where the sealing wax was attached. Old dealer's (Sessler's) coding in pencil at base of letter.  (31069)

In this English printing, the text changes to a completely different typeface at p. 20.

•  ESTC T51670; Goldsmiths'-Kress 06815.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front board with printed paper label. Pages age-toned, first and last dust-soiled and last with a corner slimly chipped. An interesting attempt at rebutting some of the critiques of the diplomatic resolution of the Anglo-Spanish War.  (34402)

•  NSTC 2A1050.   Binding as above, moderate rubbing to edges and extremities, gilt vignette showing very slight rubbing. Split in text block repaired and loosened leaves reattached. Front hinge reinforced. Minor offsetting to first and last leaves, some plates gently darkened; overall both attractive and entertaining.  (37266)

•  Publisher's cream paper–covered boards, spines with stamped titles and heraldic rampant lion decorations; spines darkened (uniformly so), some spines chipped or scuffed. Preface and last text page of each volume with pencilled ownership inscription of J.C.B., dated 1923, except vol XV, marked as read in 1959 by J.D. Bowman. Vol. VI with newspaper clippings affixed to free endpapers, offset onto pastedowns. Vol. VIII with frontispiece separated and laid in, first few lower outer corners bumped, small pencilled marks of emphasis. Vol. IX with small scuff to front cover, small pencilled marks of emphasis, newspaper clipping affixed to back pastedown. Vol. XI with lower portion of one leaf torn away, with loss of portions of eight lines. Vol. XIII with front joint cracked and spine paper partially detached, reinforced some time ago with cellophane tape. Vols. XIV and XIX with back endpapers bearing inked and pencilled annotations. An enjoyably readable tour of famous lives in a “period” edition.  (33428)

Binding:  Publisher's apple green paper–covered boards in original matching slipcase with gilt-stamped spine title. All edges gilt.

•  Binding as above: lower front and back edges each with tiny bump, extremities showing very slight rubbing, slipcase with edges rubbed and a few small spots of discoloration. Front free endpaper with pencilled annotations in French. Pages and plates clean. Really in quite remarkable condition.  (30574)

A gift inscription tipped to the front fly-leaf reads, “From the Wardroom Officers of the Joint A/S [i.e., Anti-Submarine] School & Barracks, Londonderry — with their congratulations and best wishes for a long & happy married life,” signed E. Hart Dyke, Commander, and dated 31 August 1946.

Binding:  Full olive green textured calf, spine gilt extra, boards with simple gilt double-rule borders and zig-zag gilt decoration along their edges; gilt floral roll to generous turn-ins and marbled paper pastedowns. All edges gilt. A tiny stamp on a front endpaper indicates this copy was bound by Bayntun-Riviere of Bath, England.

•  Bound as above, mild rubbing to rear board only and light soiling along edge of tipped-in inscription (perhaps from the glue). Binding and interior very clean. A lovely copy with a pleasing provenance.  (37324)

The present edition forms volumes 8 and 9 of the series Historia de la conquista del Nuevo Mundo.

Provenance:  Bookplate of the great 19th-century Mexican collector J. M. Andrade on the front pastedown of each volume.

•  This edition not in Sabin.   19th-century quarter red morocco with red textured cloth sides. Spine with raised bands and very good gilt tooling including center devices in spine compartments. Interiors clean. A very good set.  (25271)

Provenance:  The Pacific School of Religion (properly released).

•  STC (2nd ed.) 15318; ESTC S113043.   17th-century calf, spine with raised bands and gilt-stamped leather title-label; spine with extremities chipped and with hand-inked paper shelving label; binding scuffed, with spine and joints unobtrusively refurbished. As per provenance front pastedown with institutional bookplate, title-page recto and verso and one other page with rubber-stamp, back fly-leaf and free endpaper with slip and pocket. Lower outer corners of first few leaves chewed, without loss; likewise upper outer corners of 21 leaves, with loss of letters on the first of these and several words on later ones. One leaf with tear from outer margin touching text, without loss; generally, gently age-toned with scattered light spots or smudges. An imperfect copy, still a largely perfectly readable and entirely worthwhile example of an uncommon item.  (34695)

The half-title and final errata and advertisement leaf are both present; the text is printed at a slight angle to the page throughout, most noticeably on the title-page.

•  ESTC T34359; Goldsmiths'-Kress 6729.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards, front cover with printed paper label; label with light smudges. Half-title with publication date added in an early hand and with chip in lower margin repaired. Pages lightly age-toned. A nice copy of this entry in a series ofimportant Tory essays by Lord Bolingbroke.  (34383)

Coincidentally, and unknown to him, also on 3 July, Peru officially declared war on Gran Colombia.

Searches of NUC, WorldCat, CCILA, and COPAC fail to locate any copies.

•  Not in Posada.   Tattered at the edges with tears and small pieces of paper missing; old repairs on the verso where a fold tear and another exist; small stains to upper margin, with light age-toning and a very little foxing. Housed in a quarter red morocco clamshell case. Very good.  (34168)

Uncommon: WorldCat and NUC locate only nine U.S. institutional holdings.

•  Martin & Walter 5290.   Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page slightly darkened, with paper shelving label in lower inner corner, pencilled initials in upper outer corner, and inked numeral above header; verso institutionally rubber-stamped (marked duplicate). One leaf with tear from upper margin extending into text, with old repair. Occasional light spotting, overall clean.  (30959)

Provenance:  Armorial bookplate of John Cotman with a stag's head surrounded by the words “Tenax Propositi” on front pastedown, signature of Cotman on front free endpaper.

•  ESTC T136450; Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, II, 46; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, I, 361.   Brown calf Cambridge-style binding, round spine with five raised bands accented in blind double fillets and with gilt leather label; all edges speckled red; joints expertly repaired using Japanese long-fiber technique, binding rubbed. Marked as above; small amount of ink on endpapers, initials on title-page, a few pages with corners bent, one previously torn leaf artfully repaired with only a small bit of foremargin lost. A gorgeous edition of Caesar's collected works.  (36100)

•  Publisher's quarter crimson morocco and gilt black cloth, top edge gilt; sans glassine wrapper, rubbing to tip of spine. Pictorial endsheets and illustrations, tipped-in facsimile of souvenir program from an Army entertainment of 1916. Gilt bright and a good, clean, pleasing copy.  (36762)

The colophon says only that “a few copies of this book” were printed; the back pastedown here bears a very small inked numeral 44, which may indicate this copy's number.

•  Publisher's red cloth, without the original glassine dust wrapper and with darkening around the bottom and fore-edge of front cover; page edges and endpapers also affected (especially the back one). Not pristine but nice.  (17863)

This rebellion was the first of two that Cruz led against the government of Cerna, the heir of Carrera regime. The second one in 1869 led to Cruz's death in battle.

Searches of NUC, and WorldCat locateonly two copies in U.S. libraries.

•  As issued.  (33990)

This is the genuine first edition, not a modern reprint.

Binding:  Publisher's olive cloth, front cover with Art Nouveau water lily design and gilt-stamped title, spine with gilt-stamped title.

•  Binding as above, minor rubbing at extremities. Front free endpaper with pencilled Christmas gift inscription dated 1902; back free endpaper with rubber-stamped numeral (no other markings). Pages and plates clean. A very nice copy.  (28585)

Each volume commences with a copper-engraved frontispiece and title-page vignette, the former done by Robert White after a painting by Lely, the latter signed M[ichael] Burg[hers]. Burghers also engraved a substantial number of head- and tailpieces for the work, as well as decorative capitals.

•  ESTC N9847, N9850, T147811; Brunet, I, 81; Allibone 385.   Contemporary speckled calf panelled in blind with plain calf, decorated with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels; edges and extremities rubbed, joints cracked or starting, some acid-pitting to speckled portions, spines each with small paper shelving label. Each front pastedown with institutional bookplate over private collector's bookplate, and with early inked gift inscription. Title-pages with small institutional rubber-stamp in lower margin; half-titles lacking. Pages generally clean; occasional minor spotting mostly confined to margins. One instance of early inked marginalia.  (24574)

The complete Oxford editions are generally seen bound as seven volumes, but the work appears here as one very large volume, in an attractive contemporary binding.

•  NSTC 2H39552. Contemporary diced dark blue/black calf, covers framed in blind rolls and single gilt fillet, gilt spine extra; slight wear to corners and extremities, joints just starting at top and bottom. Front pastedown with private collector’s bookplate and with institutional bookplate. Pages clean. All edges marbled. Handsome!  (19654)

The first volume is illustrated with12 plates each offering four rows of small portraits, some intriguingly expressive; each volume opens with an engraved frontispiece portrait of a royal George.

•  NSTC 2C23867.   Recent textured maroon cloth, spines with gilt-stamped black leather title and volume labels; title-pages institutionally pressure- (not rubber-) stamped. Scattered light spots of staining, pages generally clean; first few leaves of voI. \ II with outer margins chipped. A hefty, substantive evocation of Georgian life and times.  (30012)

•  One leaf, printed on one side and creased from folding into six parts. Top left and bottom right corners torn. Tear to lower margin resulting in the loss of one or two words of text. (6336)

Provenance:  Front fly-leaf with inked inscription: “John H. White Merry Christmas from Mabel 1903.”

Binding:  Publisher's cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and decorative red-stamped frame surrounding an affixed, color-printed illustration of a broken cannon in a cloudy landscape.

•  Binding as above, very slightly cocked, extremities very lightly rubbed. Inscription as above; pages clean and crisp. A lovely thing.  (35256)

Binding:  Full crushed brown morocco by Lortic (signed on front lower turn-in). Boards and spine plain, five raised bands, all edges gilt. Single gilt rule on board edges; gilt inner dentelles and marbled endpapers. Green silk place marker.

Provenance:  Bookplate of R. Percy Alden (late 19th- and early 20th-century collector). Later manuscript ownership note of Antatole Delornow.

Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only seven copies in U.S. libraries.

•  Renouard, Colines, 382– 83; Schreiber, Colines, 203; Schwieger 317–18; Vander Haeghen, II, 23.   Binding as above; front board reattached using Japanese tissue method and rear joint (outside) strengthened using same method. A very clean, very nice copy.  (37017)

This isnumbered copy 119 of 450 printed. The volume was set in Monotype Poliphilus and printed by hand on hand-made paper by Hodgkinson of Wells, with the binding done by Evans of Croydon.

•  Publisher's half brown morocco and terra cotta cloth, front cover leather with gilt-stamped horse and rider vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title between two raised bands; corners bumped, spine foot and lower raised band slightly rubbed. Signatures unopened.  (35218)

•  Graesse 467; NSTC 2E6790.   Period-style quarter brown cloth with light blue paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label. Intermittent small pencilled marks of emphasis, pages otherwise clean. All edges stained red.  (24872)

The volume is illustrated with43 lithographed plates done by Weber & Co., including a portrait of “A New Mexican Indian Woman,” a fish of the Gila River, a map of “the actions fought at San Pasqual in upper California between the Americans and Mexicans Dec. 6th & 7th 1846,” and a view of cliffside hieroglyphics, as well as a series of 14 botanical images.

•  Cowan & Cowan 195; Graff 1249 (other 1848 issues only); Haferkorn 38; Howes E145; Sabin 22536 (for House ed. only); Wagner-Camp, Plains & Rockies, 148:2; Zamorano 80, 33.   Recent black cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Oversized, folding map lacking. Plates and pages with some light to moderate foxing; one leaf with tear from upper margin, extending into text without loss. Clean, strong.  (27364)

Clearly the men were close and events of 1781 brought them even closer:That was the year of the Tupac Katari rebellion and the nearly year-long siege of La Paz by the 40,000-strong indigenous independence activists who rebelled against the Spanish Empire. And yes, mention is made in this volume of the rebellion.

Into his bibliographical entry for this eulogy Medina copied an interesting document, a letter from the viceroy to the king concerning Erazu. That letter reads in part: “desde el año de 80, obtiene su actual curato, que sirve igualmente con el vicariato de él, con la misma obligación y esmero, sin dar en este ni los anteriores cargos motivos á la menor queja; que al punto que se sintieron en aquel pueblo los primeros movimientos de la rebelión se esmeró en apartar á sus feligreses de seguirla, y dió prontos avisos á Chucuito para librar las armas del Rey: que retirado por sus achaques á la ciudad de La Paz, sufrió en ella sus dos rriesgados penosos sitios, ejercitando su caridad en sepultar diariamente los muchos cadáveres arrojados por las calles: que el infame indio Isidro Mamanú (alias Catari) que destruyó á Chucuito, fue aprisionado por los mismos feligreses, y entregado al corregidor de Puno, bajo cuyo mando continuaron sirviendo hasta la retirada al Cuzco; que concluídos los sitios de La Paz y abiertos los caminos, regresó á su curato, de donde despachó 600 indios auxiliares contra los rebeldes collanos, y un donativo de doscientos pesos para los gastos de esta expedición, tomando también á su cargo la recaudación de tributos de su doctrina en aquellas críticas circunstancias, logrando aumentarlos desde enotnces en quinientos pesos en cada tercio; que dispuso casa para cuartel de las dos compañías de Santa Cruz de la Sierra, sin gravamen alguno de la Real Hacienda, constituyéndose por capellán de ellos durante los tres años que guarnecieron su pueblo, sin reparto ni derecho por los entìerros y demás funciones de iglesia que se les ofrecieron, y haciéndolos con toda solemnidad; que ha establecido una escuela pública á su costa, comprando casa, pagando al maestro, é instruyendo á los muchachos en el idioma castellano; que promovió y logró cortar en todo aquel partido un abuso con que eran gravados sus naturales por los caciques; y que ha sido exacto en asistir en sus doctrinas, en la administración de sacramentos y en la instrucción de sus feligreses. Y considerándolo por todo acreedor á la gracia que solicita de una silla de merced vacante en el coro de la Catedral de La Paz, ú otra que sea del agrado de S. M., lo hago presente á V. E. para los efectos que su superior discernimiento halle correspondientes.”

This was printed with several handsome historiated initials and one attractive headpiece.

•  Medina, Lima, 1754; Sabin 22717.   20th-century Latin American brown calf, letters on spine in sans serif (!!) and some staining to edges; a rear blank (retained from previous binding) is of 19th-century wastepaper with fragmentary manuscript accountings. Old neatly inked numeral to title-page; interior clean and bright, red ribbon placemarker.  (36810)