ANIMAL COMPANIONS
. . . A LIST MADE in MEMORY of OUR SWEET SHOPCAT BLAKE . . .
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Z is forZebra Cis for CAT . . .
(“A” is for “ALPHABET”). The young child's A, B, C; or, first book. New York: Samuel Wood & Sons, No. 261, Pearl-Street; Samuel S. Wood & Co. No. 212, Market Street, Baltimore, [ca. 1820]. Square 8vo (10.5 cm, 4.13"). 16 pp. $300.00
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First published in 1806, this little abecedarium wasthe first children's book ever published by Samuel Wood, whose work included “many thousands of children's religious, instructive, and nursery books.” (Rosenbach) The alphabet in this later edition is illustrated with variations on the fine wood engravings of birds, animals, and objects included in the first, except for the portrait of Xerxes, which seems to have been a constant throughout the many editions. Alexander Anderson, America's preeminent wood engraver, is thought to have supplied the illustrations to the original edition.
The front wrapper wood-engraving on this copy shows three young boys playing with a spinning top, and the rear features a swarm of bees buzzing around a honey pot.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel ("AHA”) at rear.
Rosenbach, Children's, 596 ([c. 1820]); Shaw & Shoemaker 46904 ([1818?]). This ed. not in Welch. Publisher's printed paper wrappers with woodcuts, as above; wrappers foxed and leaves age-toned, not distressingly or weakening paper. Very little used, in good shape. (38483)
(BOB TooGets to Retire)! . . . The adventures of William Waters, and his ass Bob. Otley [England]: W. Walker, [1815]. Near miniature (9.7 cm, 3.75"). 16 pp.; illus. [SOLD]
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Young William Waters' tale is one of success through honesty and industry and it is told in this small chapbook via text, alarge hand-colored wood-engraved frontispiece, and seven small in-text, verybrightly hand-colored wood engravings. (There is an unrelated hand-colored woodcut of a barber on the outside of rear wrapper.)
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and COPAC locate only eight reported copies worldwide.
Original wrappers, all edges gilt; evidence of having been bound in a sammelband; minor damage along spine area. First and last leaves pasted to wrappers. Very good and with very neat, strong coloring. (38792)
(DOGS)!? “Gentleman of Philadelphia County, A” [i.e., Jesse Y. Kester]. The American shooter's manual, comprising such plain and simple rules, as are necessary to introduce the inexperienced into a full knowledge of all that relates to the dog, and the correct use of a gun; also a description of the game of this country. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, 1827. 12mo (18.5 cm; 7.125"). [2] ff., pp. [ix]–249, [1] p., [1 (errata)] f., [3 (ads)] ff.; frontis., 2 plts. $1800.00
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The first American illustrated sporting book and the first American sporting book written by an American. Only one sporting book published in America preceded it: The Sportsman's Companion (NY,1783; later editions Burlington [NJ], 1791, and Philadelphia, 1793), “by a gentleman, who has made shooting his favorite amusement upwards of twenty-six years, in Great-Britain, Ireland, and North-America.”
Kester deals almost exclusively with game birds and waterfowl native to the Delaware Valley that surrounds Philadelphia: wild turkeys, partridge, snipe, quail, grouse, and ducks. With regard to rifles and guns he addresses cleaning, powder, wadding, etc. And when writing about dogs, in addition to notes on training and conditioning them, he offers recipes for common ailments and gun-shot wounds.
The plates are signed “F. Kearny,” an artist born in Perth Amboy, NJ, who studied drawing with Archibald and Alexander Robertson and engraving with Peter Maverick. From 1810 to his death in 1833 he practiced engraving in Philadelphia.
There are two states of gathering “U”: this copy has the typographical error “tibbon” with the stop-press correction to “ribbon” on p. 235.
The volume ends with advertisements for several sporting and fishing goods suppliers.
Shoemaker 27838; Howes K108; Henderson, American Sporting Books, 6; Phillips, Sporting Books, 21; Streeter Sale 4084; Bennett, Practical Guide, 60–61. On Stauffer, American Engravers, I, 148–49. Publisher's sprinkled sheep with simple rope roll in blind on board edges, some abrasion to leather; round spine with gilt double rules forming “spine compartments,” black leather title label. The usual light and scattered foxing noted in all copies, nothing more. A very nice copy. (28553)
“Herself.” Escapes, wanderings, and preservation of a hare. London: Pr. ... by J. & C. Evans, [1821–28?]. 24mo (13.3 cm, 5.25"). 35, [1] pp.; illus. [SOLD]
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The hare tells us in this chapbook of her life, its dangers and rewards, and interactions with humans. Clearly it is intended to teach children about kindness, cruelty, and compassion, and thinking about consequences the last words having to do with merciful dispatch of animals having the misfortune to be delicious. Nine hand-colored illustrations (including the frontispiece) nicely illustrate the prose tale.
The hare finds safe haven at the end of her trials, here; this is ultimately asafe read!
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Publisher's deep blue printed and illustrated wrappers. Occasional small spottings in text but generally a near fine copy. (38788)
The History of WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT, and the Story of PUSS IN BOOTS. Glasgow [Scotland]: Francis Orr & Sons, [c. 1840-1850] . 12mo (16.3 cm, 6"). 24 pp. [SOLD]
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Decorative woodcut frame on title. “[No.] 161" printed at the foot of the title. These renditions are unillustrated, but unusually extended and detailed.
The top corners of two leaves are creased, else very good. Original self wrappers (unbound; removed). (38497)
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Victorian-Era PROVINCIAL PRINTING of a “Diverting” KidLit CHAPBOOK
Joan, Jumping, The diverting history of, and her dog and cat. Otley [England]: Printed by W. Walker, at the Wharfdale Stanhope Press, [ca. 1850?]. Near miniature (10 cm, 4"). 15, [1 (blank) pp.; illus. $625.00
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In this penny chapbook, each page has a small wood engraving appropriate to the text of the four-line poem below it. The reader meets Joan and her mischievous, talented, and at times anthropomorphic cat and dog.
The first and last pages (i.e., 1 and 16, both blank) are pasted to the inside of the wrappers.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
WorldCat locates only three libraries reporting ownership (Pierpont Morgan, Yale, Princeton) but we know of two others (Oxford, Toronto Public).
Publisher's rust-colored wrappers; the original single stitch now perished and leaves loose. Very good. (38910)
Armstrong Binding — Popular Illustrator — The HORSES Get the Last Word
MacGrath, Harold. The man on the box. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., (1904). 8vo (19.2 cm, 7.55"). Frontis., [12], 361, [1] pp.; 6 plts. $80.00
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First edition: A totally, TOTALLY silly (and very “period”) romance set in Washington, DC, and spiced with international intrigue as well aschallenges of horsemanship (met both in riding and, as per title, driving). The author was a Syracuse-born writer of novels, short stories, and screenplays; the illustrator was“American Girl” artistHarrison Fisher, who provided a frontispiece and six plates.
This became, apparently, a Broadway play and then a film starring Charlie Chaplin's brother Syd Chaplin!
Binding:Signed binding by Margaret Armstrong: Publisher's blue-green cloth, front cover and spine pictorially stamped in light green, cream, and black, with “MA” on front cover.
Gullans & Espey, Checklist of Trade Bindings Designed by Margaret Armstrong,158. Binding as above, cocked; extremities and front panel mildly rubbed. Pages and plates clean. An entertaining novel in an attractive presentation. (35662)
(“MONTMORENCY”)? Jerome, Jerome K. Three men in a boatto say nothing of the dog! Ipswich: Pr. by W.S. Cowell Ltd. for the members of the Limited Editions Club, 1975. Oblong 8vo (23.6 cm, 9.3"). xv, [1], 174, [2] pp.; 12 col. plts., 2 double-p. col. plts. $60.00
Limited Editions Club rendition of this classic work of English humor, in which George, Harris, and Jerome (all “seasoned hypochondriacs,” as the newsletter puts it) take Montmorency the dog along with them for a boating trip up the Thames that turns out rather more complicated than expected.Stella Gibbons (a great choice) provided the introduction, and John Griffiths produced the12 full-page and two double-spread color plates, as well as numerous black-and-white ink drawings. John Lewis set the horizontally formatted work (so done “because so few rivers in England are perpendicular”) in Modern Extended and ultra-bold Bodoni type; it was printed by W.S. Cowell Ltd. on Abbey Mills cream-colored eggshell paper, and snazzily bound in gaily striped scarlet, slate, and yellow linen.
This is numbered copy 733 of 2000 printed; it issigned by the artist at the colophon. The appropriate LEC newsletter is laid in.
Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by the Limited Editions Club, 487. Bound as above, with ochre linen shelfback and gilt-stamped title, in yellow paper–covered slipcase with gilt-stamped title; slipcase with a sad inch-long ding to one edge, joints starting in that area, and otherwise mainly scuffs and ordinary shelfwear; volume just reached by the blow and cover just showing that — otherwise clean and fresh — this slipcase suffered its wounds in doing its duty successfully! (36861)
“The Uncle Tom's Cabin of the HORSE”
Teaching American Children to be Kind
Sewell, Anna. Black Beauty: His grooms and companions. Boston: George T. Angell, [ca. 1895–1900]. 12mo. 245, [17] pp. [SOLD]
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Early U.S. edition of the beloved classic, sponsored by the American Humane Education Society and here with an enthusiastic preface by George T. Angell, president of that society. The tale closes with a nice steel engraving of a horse and a little girl in a stable, followed by explanations of the Band of Mercy, Angell's definitions of humane education and of what it means to overload a horse, the constitution of the AHES, and a page about how to put down a dog or cat mercifully — with a small diagram showing where in a dog's skull the bullet should go.
This copy bears a slip affixed to the front wrapper, marking it as sold at the office of the Maryland Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Publisher's printed paper wrappers, front wrapper with affixed Maryland SPCA slip; back wrapper lacking, front wrapper cracked along joint and with short tear from upper edge, corners chipped. Pages browned with short edge tears; title-page separated, with edges chipped, final leaf partially separated and also chipped (taking text, but with chip present). A very reasonable copy of an item commonly found when found at all, in this inexpensively produced paperback state, in fragile condition. (30133)
(TALKING ANIMALS). Gay, John; William Blake, illus. Fables by John Gay, with a life of the author, and embellished with a plate to each fable. London: Printed by Darton & Harvey, 1793. 8vo (22.3 cm, 8.75"). xvi, 256 pp.; 35 plts. (incl. frontis. and engr. t.-p.). [SOLD]
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Gorgeously illustrated edition of Gay's popular fables: Aesop-inspired, rhymed tales of talking animals and foolish mortals, originally published in 1727 and touching on such contemporary subjects as tulip-mania, importunate coxcombs, and literary foes of Swift and Pope, here with an essay on the “Life of John Gay,” from Johnson's Lives of the English Poets. This offering contains35 plates, including a frontispiece of Gay's memorial and an engraved title-page featuring a mask before absolutely charming black and white illustrations for each of the 66 fables, most with two illustrations per plate. Gumuchian notes this offering's illustrations have been taken from the Stockdale edition of the same year and redone as ovals, meaningtwelve of the illustrations are based on William Blake's designs. Of the possible variants, in this text A2r ends “as he pro-“ and the catchword is “bably.”
Evidence of Readership: An early user has added numerous underlines and accents to two pages of text in ink; a more modern reader has helpfully added “Blake” in pencil next to twelve of the engravings. Someone has also tucked ina bonus engraving of “Dog and the Fox” etched from a drawing by Cooper of Ipswich that carries the further identifying line, “Published May 31st 1815 by J. Wheble of Warwick Square, London.”
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
ESTC T13872; Gumuchian 2682. 19th-century tree calf, rebacked with original spine laid on, this gilt extra with black leather title label; covers framed in a gilt foliate roll, board edges with gilt dot-and-dash roll, turn-ins with gilt pineapple roll, marbled endpapers. Binding rubbed and refurbished, top of spine pulled with loss exposing loose headband. Light to moderate age-toning, sometimes more deeply and variably toned around page edges; expectable foxing and offsetting from and around a few plates, two with short marginal tears; and otherwise, two small marginal chips, a stain or two, and one bent corner. Readership and provenance indicia and extra plate as above. Overall a pleasing book to peruse, and certainly one that ischock-full of beautiful images. (38728)
Trowbridge, J.T. The vagabonds. With illustrations by F.O.C. Darley. Boston: Lee & Shepard, 1883. [20] pp.; 4 plts., illus. $95.00
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Later edition of this sad and (convincing)temperance tale of a homeless fiddler and his faithful dog; two promising lives blighted. Illustrated with plates and in-text engravings by Darley.
Binding: Publisher's brown pebbled cloth, front cover black- and gilt-stamped with vignette and decorative title, spine with gilt-stamped title. All page edges gilt.
Binding showing minor wear over extremities. Front fly-leaf with gift inscription dated 1885; pages with light spots of foxing, otherwise clean. (5780)
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“The CAT & the DOG Make OUR House THEIR HOME”
Walks with mamma, or, stories in words of one syllable. London: John Harris, 1824. Sq. 24mo (13.5 cm, 5.25"). 63, [1] pp.; 8 plts. [SOLD]
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Presented here for childhood pleasure are five stories of “Anne's” walks with her mother, all in one way or another involvingnatural history appreciated as God's work, and with four of the five havingexcellent hand-colored wood engravings, some very dramatic and showing “exotic” places, people, or animals.
Moon tells us that “This is one of the earliest examples of J[ohn] H[arris]'s cloth bindings,” and says the cloth is “rose or blue” and the paper label “yellow.” The copy at hand is bound in green cloth with a rose-color paper label.
Searches of WorldCat locate only four North American libraries (URochester, IndianaU, Princeton, and Toronto Public) reporting ownership.
Evidence of use: Inside front cover enhanced with one rather good pencil sketch of a horse in traces, with blinders, and another smaller one, rather childish, of a galloping(?) horse with a whip-flourishing side-saddle rider aboard. Above the latter is pencilled, “Mary, Clara, Shirley.”
Provenance: Inscription “Mary Clara Elizabeth” with surname uncertain; later in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Moon, John Harris's Books for Youth, 963(1). Binding as above, cloth faded and with some stains; part of paper label chipped off and missing. Pages with some childish pencilling apart from the sketches described above, and with stray light brown stains. A few leaves just starting to loosen. A good+ copy. Sketches and plates, grand. (38915)
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Noah Webster & Alexander AndersonTeam Up C is for CAT eternally . . .
& D is for DOG . . .
Webster, Noah. The national pictorial primer. New York: George F. Cooledge & Bros., [1850s]. 12mo (19.2 cm, 7.5"). 48 pp.; illus. [SOLD]
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This is the “pictorial edition of Webster's Elementary Spelling Book.” The wood-engraved frontispiece, title-page vignette, and “more than 150" engravings throughout the volume are by Tompkins Harrison Matteson (1813–84) and engraved by Alexander Anderson (1775–1870). Hamilton says that at least five of the wood engravings were designed by William P. Morgan (p. 12, 23, 38, 43, 48).
The engravings are richly produced and richly various, portraying as they do contemporary American home, commercial, and farm scenes, “exotic” places, modes of transportation both quaint and up to date, children's seasonal games and pastimes, arresting moral and cautionary tales (with emphasis on temperance), and an abundance of lively animals including a whole alphabet of birds — not to mention vivid images of “whale-fishery,” ballooning, and “William Penn & the Indians.”
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Hamilton, Early American Book Illustrators, 351; Pomeroy, Alexander Anderson, 2159. Publisher's printed yellow paper–covered boards with rose-colored shelfback faded to tan on front cover. A nice copy. (38783)
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BLAKE
2004(?)2019
PRB&M SHOPCAT
20112019
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