The “BIRDS in Miniature” with theirBetter “Habitats”
Audubon, John James, & William MacGillivray. The birds of America, from drawings made in the United States and their territories. New York: V.G. Audubon, Roe Lockwood & Son, 1859. 8vo (27.5 cm; 10.875"). 7 vols. I: [iii]–viii, [1], 12–246 pp., 70 plts. II: [iii]–vii, [2], 12–199 pp., 71–140 plts. III: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–233 pp., 141–210 plts. IV: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–321 pp., 211–280 plts. V: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–346 pp., 281–350 plts. VI: [iii]–viii, [1], 10–456 pp., 351–420 plts. VII: vii, [2], 10–372 pp., 421–500 plts. $27,500.00
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After Audubon (1785–1851) completed his landmark work The Birds of America and collaborated with Scottish naturalist William MacGillivray (1796–1852) to write the accompanying text Ornithological Biography, he elected to produce a “popular” edition by combining the images and text in an elegant and portable format — the octavo. For this essentially new work Audubon increased the number of colored plates from 435 to 500, reordered the text, and edited the content to include more ornithological information and less travel narration. Plates were produced through the camera lucida process, using a prism to trace reverse images from the elephant folio prints onto lithographic stones.
“The octavo edition of Audubon's Birds was probably the greatest commercial success of any color plate book issued in 19th-century America.” While it was not inexpensive, the price was such that the octavo “achieved widespread circulation and brought the work into the homes of many well-to-do Americans” (Reese, p. 58).
Present here is the third octavo edition, all title-pages bearing the date of 1859, and containing500 fine hand-colored lithographed plates by Philadelphian J.T. Bowen after J.J. and J.W. Audubon. Ayer notes that where backgrounds were plain in the first octavo they were tinted in later ones and that some already tinted backgrounds were attractively altered, with plates more closely approximating those of the elephant folio through the addition of more detailed scenery.
Catalogue of the Edward E. Ayer Ornithological Library, pp. 22–23; Reese, Stamped with a National Character, pp. 57–58. Brown publisher's leather, spine lettered in gilt and compartments with a blind device; covers triple-ruled and with an ornate arabesque frame containing the title, all in blind; binding lightly rubbed and refurbished. All edges gilt. One leaf with a curious internal closed tear, possibly created in the press, with no loss of text. Two pairs of plates transposed; five plates trimmed closely, in one case just touching type, in three cases with loss of publication information, and in one case with the line identifying the bird's perch partially lost in addition to partial loss of publication line. An excellent set of a splendid edition of one of the most influential color plate books of the 19th century. (36084)
Bartoli, Daniello. Missione al Gran Mogor del P. Ridolfo Aqvaviva ... sua vita e morte, e d'altri quattro compagni uccisi in odio della fede in Salsete di Goa. Milano: Lodovico Monza, 1664. 12mo. [4] ff., 193, [1] p., [1] f. $8750.00
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Rodolfo Acquaviva (a.k.a., Ridolfo Aquaviva), nephew of Claudio Acquaviva the fifth Superior General of the Society of Jesus (1581–1615), after his Jesuit novitiate was ordained a priest in 1578 at Lisbon and sailed for India. Arriving in India he taught at the Jesuit school (Saint Paul's College) in Goa, founded by St. Francis Xavier and the site of the first printing press in India. In 1580 the Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great summoned him to his court and thus began Acquaviva's mission to the Mughal empire. His was, in fact, the first Jesuit mission there.
As Prof. Emerita Frances W. Pritchett of Columbia University writes on her great website (http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00islamlinks/ikram/part2_12.html): “Of all the aspects of Akbar's life and reign, few have excited more interest than his attitude toward religion. . . . [H]e built the Ibadat Khana, the House of Worship, which he set apart for religious discussions. Every Friday after the congregational prayers, scholars, dervishes, theologians, and courtiers interested in religious affairs would assemble in the Ibadat Khana and discuss religious subjects in the royal presence.”
It was to these discussions/conversations/debates that Acquaviva was invited. The religions represented were many, the major participants including Muslims, Jews, Catholics, Hindus, Jains, and Zoroastrians. After several months Acquaviva felt his contributions to the debates insufficient to justify continuing as part of the mission and left the task to fellow Jesuits. Returning to Goa his missionary work led him to the Hindu Kshatriyas of Salcette, south of Goa, which proved a fatal decision. Prior to his arrival, the Jesuits with the aid of Portuguese troops had destroyed some temples there; the Cuncolim Revolt of July, 1583, was partially a result of
those actions and it was in the revolt that Acquaviva and the four companions alluded to in the title of this work were murdered.
The author of this biography was a major Jesuit historian of the Society's activity in Asia. He was the author of the monumental Istoria della Compagnia di Gesu (1650–1673) in 6 folio volumes, Della vita e dell'istituto di S. Ignatio, fondatore della Compagnia di Gesu (1650), L'Asia (1653), Il Giappone, parte seconda dell'Asia (1660), La Cina, terza parte dell'Asia (1663), L'Inghilterra, parte dell'Europa (1667), L'Italia, prima parte dell'Europa (1673), and biographies of Jesuits Vincenzo Caraffa (1651), Robert Bellarmine (1678), Stanislas Kostka (1678), Francis Borgia (1681), and Niccolo Zucchi (1682). Also of interest are his works on science: Della tensione e della pressione (1677), Del suono, dei tremori armonici, dell'udito (1679), and Del ghiaccio e della coagulatione (1682).
This is the second edition of Bartoli's account of Acquaviva and his mission, following the first of the previous year. Searches of NUC, WorldCat, and COPAC locate just two copies of the 1663 edition, both in the U.S., and similarly only two copies of the 1664 (one in Germany, one at Oxford).
DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 975; Graesse, I, 303 (for first edition and other later editions but not knowing of this second). Late 18th-century quarter vellum over light boards covered with green paper. Undeciphered 17th-century ownership inscription on title-page. Waterstaining, at times significant, at others barely visible.
A sound copy with no worming or tears. (35200)
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Marginalia to theMAX & Other Notes
Bible. O.T. Psalms. Hebrew. 1880. [two lines in Hebrew, then] Liber psalmorum. Textum masoreticum acuratissime expressit ... notis criticis confirmavit S. Baer. Praefatus est edendi operis adjutor Franciscus Delitzsch. Lipsiae: Ex officina Bernhardi Tauchnitz, 1880. 8vo (22.4 cm, 8.8"). [1] f., 82 pp.; manuscript notes bound in. $1000.00
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This “textum masoreticum” book of psalms, i.e., the traditional Hebrew text, was edited by masoretic scholar Seligman Baer (1825–97) and theologian Franz Delitzsch (1813–90) as part of their Masoretic Bible series, published by Tauchnitz between 1869 and 1895. A trulyunique copy, this particular volume is thickly interleaved with variously sized sheets and tabs containing the fastidious manuscript notes of published author Walter Robert Betteridge, D.D. (1863–1916), a notable faculty member in the Old Testament Department of the Rochester Theological Seminary who swathed page after page in minute inked marginalia, and added yet more bulk with clippings from related texts — annotated, of course.
Among the doctor's publications was an article on “The Accuracy of the Authorized Version of the Old Testament” (1911), including the Hebrew psalms.
Provenance: Donated by Mrs. Betteridge to the seminary library, with institutional bookplate noting this on rear pastedown.
Recent black moiré silk, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label. Ex-library with bookplate on rear pastedown as above, pressure-stamp on title-page, call number in lower margin of second leaf; paper brittle, dust- or sometimes soot-soiled(?) at edges, and prone to chipping. Replete with scholia, this isa stunning testament to one scholar's study of the O.T. (31077)
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Laugh a Little — Cringe a Little — Carrington Curiosa
Cabanès, Augustin. The secret cabinet of history peeped into by a doctor. Paris: Charles Carrington, 1897. 8vo. x pp., [2[ ff., 3–239, vii, [1 (blank) pp., [4 (ads)] ff. $100.00
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W.C. Costello's translation of Cabanès' Cabinet secret de l'histoire (première série), the sole edition in English and an interesting, if at times gruesome, complication of medical anecdotes, medical humor, celebrity lore, and titillation.
Cabanès (1862–1928) was a medical doctor, historian, and successful writer of a goodly number of works of fiction and history, with a subspecialty of historical medical mysteries. Carrington was a leading British publisher (“abroad”) of late-Victorian and Edwardian pornography/erotica for “bibliophiles,” much of it flagellatory; there have been significant essays on him and his works, butWikipedia provides one irresistible sentence: “Carrington went blind as a result of syphilis and the last few years of his life were spent in poverty as his mistress stole his valuable collection of rare books.”
The chapters in this publication are: A youthful indiscretion of Louis XIV, The fistula of a great king, The maladies of Louis XV, The semi-impotency of Louis XVI, The first pregnancy of Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVI in private life, One of the judges of Marie-Antoinette: the surgeon Souberbielle, What was Marat's disease, Talleyrand and the doctors, The accouchement of the empress Marie-Louise, The ancestors of Marshal Mac-Mahon, and Gambetta's eye.
Nicely printed, with title-page in black and red and text block issued untrimmed, this is a copy of the trade edition: There was a deluxe issue on Japan vellum limited to 30 copies.
Provenance: “Virginia Pritchard Hilton-Green, my father's book.”
Publisher's blue cloth stamped in blind. Minor rubbing; small tear at base of front joint (outside). Inside clean. (35372)
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Folk-Style German Painted Binding
Demme, Christoph Hermann Gottfried, ed. Altenburgisches Gesangbuch nebst Gebeten. Altenburg: Herzogl. Sächs. Hofbuchbruderen, 1825. 8vo (17.4 cm, 6.8"). [2], [v]/vi, 417, [1] pp. [with] Bible. O.T. Psalms. German. Des Königs und Propheten Davids Psalter. Verdeutscht durch Dr. Martin Luther. [Jena: Mauke, 1830?]. 8vo. 84 pp. [and] Episteln und Evangelia, wie solche auf alle Sonn-, Fest- und Feiertage durchs ganze Jahr pflegen gelesen zu werden. [Altenburg: Herzogl. Sächs. Hofbuchdr, 1829]. 8vo. 56 pp. [SOLD]
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Later printing of the popular Altenburg hymnal, this copy brightly bound in peasant style, inscribed, and clearly cherished; with two related texts. The Gesangbuch (words only) was edited by theologian Demme, and is printed in double columns of small but legible Fraktur; this 1825 edition is relatively uncommon. The publication information of the two additional works was suggested by WorldCat.
Provenance: Front cover gilt-stamped M.K./S.W.M./1828. Front fly-leaf with attractively inked presentation inscription in German, signed Sophie Wiedemann in Lobitz and dated 1828, above additional inscriptions dated 1879, 1886, and 1938, the latter in English; back fly-leaf with inked prayer in Wiedemann's hand, above a later inked prayer in English, dated 1984.
Binding: Contemporary varnished red paper, covers framed in gilt roll, covers and spine with floral designs painted in shades of pink, green, and yellow., front cover with gilt-stamping as above. All edges gilt, and gauffered at corners and at the spine. Pastedowns of light blue and red paste-paper.
The binding is highly reminiscent of a “peasant” binding, but clearly is not one as these are generally understood: It is not vellum, not embossed; but yes, it is definitely handpainted and folk-art inspired. A variant.
Binding as above, edges and extremities rubbed, spine faded with paper chipped at joints, head, and foot, partially exposing binding structure, front joint cracked. Free endpapers lacking; fly-leaves with inscriptions as above. Sewing loosening, with some signatures slightly proud and others just starting to separate. A few instances of dried plant matter laid in, including three four-leaf clovers. Occasional spots of minor foxing; one small ink stain affecting two leaves but not obscuring text. Some corners bumped. A multi-generational heirloom devotional, still lovely, and a very appealing example of such. (29894)
Desbarrolles, Adrien Adolphe. Les mystères de la main
révélés et expliqués. Art de connaître la vie, le caractère, les aptitudes et la destinée de chacun d'après la seule inspection des mains. Paris: E. Dentu, 1859. 16mo (17.7 cm, 6.9"). [4], 624, [2 (errata)] pp.; illus. [SOLD]
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First edition of a legendary occultist's first book, issued under the banner “Chiromancie Nouvelle.” An artist and student of Kabbalah, Desbarrolles (1801–86) was — along with his contemporary D'Arpentigny — one of the foundational figures of the modern practice of chiromancy, or palmistry.
The title-page vignette, engraved by Henry Isidore Chevauchet after Durand, shows a gentleman expounding over a young lady's palm; in-text illustrations include an Indian goddess along with the expected diagrams of hands.
Provenance: From the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Caillet, Manuel bibliographique des sciences psychiques ou occultes, 3010. Contemporary quarter green sheep with green and brown marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and bands; binding rubbed overall with sides scuffed, small areas of insect damage to lower front joint. Front free endpaper absent (no visible signs of excision). Light to moderate foxing.A solid and consultable copy of this notable work. (39984)
Duncan, Andrew. The prevention of disease in tropical and sub-tropical campaigns. London: J. & A. Churchill, 1888. 8vo (22 cm, 8.5"). x, 396 pp. $850.00
Beginning circa 1871 the British War Office awarded the Parkes Memorial Prize, consisting of 75 guineas and a gold medal: It was awarded every third year to the writer of the best essay on a subject connected with hygiene. The competition was open to themedical officers of the Army, Navy, and Indian Services of executive rank on full pay, with the exception of the assistant professors of the Army Medical School during their term of office.
In 1886 Andrew Duncan, a surgeon of the Bengal Army, received the Prize for this extended study of military, preventive, and tropical medicine with a focus on scurvy, typhus, cholera, yellow fever, dengue fever, smallpox, venereal disease, and malaria.
Binding: Prize binding of the Army Medical School (housed in the Royal Victoria Hospital). Contemporary tan calf with black leather gilt label, round spine, raised bands, gilt and blind tooling on spine; modest gilt rolls and fillets to form border at perimeter of boards. Gilt supra libros on front board. Gilt-rolled turn-ins. Marbled endpapers and marbled edges.
Provenance: Presentation leaf noting gift of this copy as a prize to A.E.H. Prince (of the Indian Medical Service) in the Department of Hygiene at the Army Medical School, Netley, signed by Col. J. Lane Notter, Professor of Military Hygiene, and dated 1896. Most recently in the residue of the stock of the F. Thomas Heller bookselling firm (est. ca. 1928).
Searches of NUC and WorldCat locate only five U.S. libraries (NIC, NNNAM, PPCP, PPiU-M, PCarlMH) reporting ownership.
Binding as above; front joint (outside) rubbed and starting in lower inch, small area at top of spine pulled with small loss of leather. Else a very nice copy; clean, sound, and withnotable provenance. (39794)
Hill, John. The family herbal, or an account of all those English plants, which are remarkable for their virtues, and of the drugs which are produced by vegetables of other countries; with their descriptions and their uses, as proved by experience. Bungay: J. & R. Childs, 1822. 8vo (21.2 cm, 8.4"). viii, xl, 376 pp.; 54 col. plts. [SOLD]
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19th-century edition of Hill's popular herbal handbook for home medicinal use, originally published in 1755 and here illustrated with54 delicately tinted hand-colored plates, most bearing three images each. The author was a prolific and energetic botanist known for his Vegetable System and other works.
Provenance: Front free endpaper with early inked inscription: “John Watts Book [/] Dunfermline”; front pastedown with inscriptions of both John Watt and Robert Watt, and back free endpaper with that of John.
Rohde, Old English Herbals, 222; Nissen 881 (for Bungay 1803 ed.); Henrey, British Botanical and Horticultural Literature, III, 829. Contemporary half calf and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and rules and blind-stamped devices in compartments; binding worn and scuffed, front joint cracked (sewing holding), spine leather with a number of small cracks. One plate with very short tear from upper margin, just barely extending into plate edge and not approaching image; small spots of foxing to some pages and plates, with two early plates showing somewhat more noticeable spotting. A very browsable and readable copy, with lovely plates. (34849)
Daniel Webster Saves the Day — The Kenniston “Sham-Robbery” Case
Jackman, Joseph. The sham-robbery, committed by Elijah Putnam Goodridge, on his own person, in Newbury near Essex bridge, Dec. 19, 1816, with a history of his journey to the place where he robbed himself. And his trial with Mr. Ebenezer Pearson, whom he maliciously arrested for robbery. Also the trial of Levi & Laban Kenniston. Concord, NH: Printed for the author, 1819. 12mo (17 cm, 6.75"). 151, [1] pp. $450.00
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Daniel Webster to the rescue. Webster was one of the defense attorneys in this bizarre case: He had only shortly earlier resumed private practice following service in the U.S. Congress. The case involved the “respected” and definitely “plugged in” Goodridge who accused the mentally challenged Kenniston brothers of robbery. The cards seemed stacked against the two until Webster rose and began his defense, and stitch by stitch caused Goodridge's story to come apart and succeeded in obtaining the acquittal of the Kennistons.
Also includes accounts of Ebenezer Pearson's action against Goodridge for damages for malicious prosecution.
Shaw & Shoemaker 48361; Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law, 14017. Stitched as issued, in plain pale green wrappers. Light soiling, stray areas of light foxing or staining. Very good. (39251)
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The Irish Rebellion Interpreted for the English Audience
[Jones, Henry]. A perfect relation of the beginning and continuation of the Irish–Rebellion, from May last, to this present 12th. of January, 1641. With the place where, and persons who, did plot, contrive, and put in execution that Romish damnable designe. London: Pr. by J. R., 1641 [i.e., 1642]. 4to (19 cm, 7.5"). 8 [i.e., 16] pp. [SOLD]
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This early account of the 1641 Irish Rebellion comes from the pen of “Dean Jones of Kilmore,” i.e., Henry Jones, the Bishop of Meath, whose name appears on B4r. As presented here by an English merchant headquartered in Dublin, it ignores the multiple causes of the uprising merely playing on the bugaboo of a Catholic vs. Protestant war with the supposed aim of the former being the extirpation in Ireland of all non-Catholics.
ESTC R9329; Wing (rev. ed.) J942A. Quarter red morocco with French-swirl marbled paper sides and gilt spine lettering; binding signed (with small rubber-stamp on verso of front free endpaper) by the Macdonald Company of New York. Leather of the joints rubbed, soiling to the title-page. Very good condition. (37986)
Kirby, William West. Hymns, prayers and instruction in the Chipewyan language. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, (1924). 16mo (16.5 cm; 6.5"). 91, [1] pp. $250.00
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A '20s reprint of the Toronto, 1907, edition that the “Church of England in Canada” published. Of that edition, WorldCat locates only the copy at the University of Manitoba and of this edition it findsonly the copy at Cornell.
Both editions are reprintings of the London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1881 edition, which also is little held.
The work is printed in syllabic characters, with headings in English. The hymns are
without the music.
None of the editions are listed in Banks; or Evans; or Newberry Library, Ayer Indians. Publisher's green cloth, stamped in black; light discoloration of fore-edges of the closed volume. Very good. (37012)
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“The Editor Flatters Himself that the Execution of this Reprint . . . Will beSelf Recommended”
The Noble and renowned history of Guy Earl of Warwick. Containing a full and true account of his many famous and valiant actions, remarkable and brave exploits, and noble and renowned victories. Chiswick: Printed by C. Whittingham for John Merridew et al., 1821. 12mo (19.5 cm, 7.75"). x, [2], 148 pp.; illus. $250.00
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Chiswick Press production of this enduringly popular romance, first printed in the 17th century and here illustrated with a frontispiece of Guy's statue “in the Chapel at Guy's Cliff” by S. Williams, a title-vignette of a woman sitting on a bower bench, and two pages showing his “armour, etc.”
Binding: 19th-century half brown morocco and papier tourniquet paper–covered sides, gilt lettering on spine with ruling in blind, covers with blind beaded roll along leather edges; French curl marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, green ribbon placemarker.
Provenance: 20th-century bookplate of the Sondley Reference Library of Asheville, NC, on front pastedown and its embossed stamps on frontispiece, title-page, and two leaves of text; clipping of a bookseller's description on endpaper. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Bound as above, gently rubbed. Moderate age-toning with light spotting, a few unevenly trimmed leaves of text and one missing corner from paper manufacture, foxing to first and last few leaves of volume. A strong and attractive copy of a book that's still a “good read.” (38427)
Overman, Frederick. The manufacture of iron, in all its various branches. Philadelphia: Henry C. Baird, 1850. 8vo (24 cm, 9.4"). 492, [4 (adv.)] pp.; illus. [SOLD]
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Illustrated with150 in-text wood engravings done by William B. Gihon, this important early treatise on the “practical utility” of the technology of the iron industry was written by a prominent mining engineer and metallurgist. The title-page proclaims, “Including a description of wood-cutting, coal-digging, and the burning of charcoal and coke; the digging and roasting of iron ore; the building and management of blast furnaces, working by charcoal, coke, or anthracite; the refining of iron, and the conversion of the crude into wrought iron by charcoal forges and puddling furnaces . . . to which is added, an essay on the manufacture of steel.” This is the second edition, following the first of the previous year.
Publisher's brown cloth, covers and spine with blind-stamped decorations and gilt-stamped vignettes; extremities rubbed, spine head chipped, gilt lightly rubbed. Ex–social club library: paper shelving label on spine, 19th-century bookplate, front free endpaper lacking, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Small crescent burn mark to upper margin of title-page, a very few small smudges elsewhere, otherwise clean. (28291)
Penn, James. Life of Miss Davis, the farmer's daughter of Essex, who was seduced by her lover... London: T. Hughes (pr. by G. Whiteman), [1802]. 12mo (16.7 cm, 6.6"). pp.; 1 plt. $300.00
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A popular melodramatic tale of ruin and misery, first published in 1767: A dissipated nobleman convinces a lovely country maiden that they are honestly married, sets her up in luxury, then abandons her in a London brothel. The plot is notable for its elaborate detailing of Miss Davis's exceedingly cruel treatment from not only her lover, but also various officials and citizens — though by the close of the story her innate virtue earns her a happier ending than one would expect. The stipple-engraved plate, depicting the fair victim swooning in the arms of one of the brothel denizens, was done by Rumford after Edwards.
This is an uncommon edition: WorldCat does not find any institutional locations. There is apparently one copy of the same printing at the University of Essex, and the date given here is based on their assessment.
This edition not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume; sewing loosening, with signatures starting to separate. Pages age-toned, with small area of waterstaining to upper outer margins; title-page with small spot of staining; plate mounted (some time ago), with three small spots of staining and some darkening around caption. A very readable copy of a striking and strikingly vivid morality tale. (37200)
“A Thought is a Real Thing & Words are Only Its Raiment”
Stephens, James; Thomas Mackenzie, illus. The crock of gold. London: Macmillan & Co, 1926. 8vo (22.9 cm, 9"). vii, [1], 227, [1] pp.; 12 col. plts. $650.00
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“They took the Philosopher from his prison . . . and then they returned again, dancing and singing, to the country of the gods . . . “: A fantastical novel of philosophical adventure, liberally infused with mirth andIrish folklore — as well as a great number of proclamations regarding the essential nature of the sexes and their battle. This is an early edition, following the first of 1912, featuringtwelve color-printed plates as well as large, decorative black and white head- and tailpieces in modern woodcut style by Thomas Mackenzie.
Binding: Contemporary green morocco, covers framed in gilt double fillets, front cover with gilt-stamped title, spine with raised bands, compartments framed in gilt double fillets with
gilt corner shamrocks, shamrock motif repeated on wide, gilt-ruled turn-ins Bright green endpapers. Signed binding, stamped by Donnelley of Chicago on lower front turn-in.
Provenance: Front pastedown with bookplate of Francis John Breck, Jr., dated 10/29/72. Later in the library of Robert L. Sadoff, M.D., sans indicia.
Binding as above, spine and edges sunned to brown, joints opening from head and foot, edges rubbed. Endpapers with offsetting from turn-ins and front free one loosening; pages slightly age-toned. A handsome example of this enduring classic, with Mackenzie'slovely, lyrical illustration. (39825)
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Establishing Quality, Affordable, Modern Education forWOMEN
Stow, Sarah D. Locke. History of Mount Holyoke Seminary, South Hadley, Mass. during its first half century, 1837–1887. [South Hadley, MA]: Mount Holyoke Female Seminary, 1887. 8vo (23.8 cm, 9.375"). xi, [1], 372 pp.; illus., 17 plates. [SOLD]
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The history of a female seminary founded in 1837 by Mary Lyon, a pioneer in women's education, written by Sarah D. Locke Stow, a student of Mount Holyoke's class of 1859. Inspired partly by the Rev. Joseph Emerson, who both in his own school (which she attended) and in print urged thatwomen had a greater purpose than to just “please the other sex,” Lyon wished to reach students from a wider socioeconomic range by establishing a reasonable tuition, and, knowing a woman's place in society was beginning to shift, she from the start requiredseven math and science courses to graduate.
The volume includes steel-engraved and heliotype plates, several of which have protective tissue, illustrating the interiors and exteriors of the campus. An article on Catharine Hopkins, a former Associate Principal of the seminary, is laid in, as well as an errata slip.
Binding: Publisher's brown cloth with beveled boards; gilt lettering to spine and front board with college seal gilt to the latter.
Bound as above; boards mottled and rubbed, spine faded. Very light spots of foxing throughout, with a few spots on a handful of plates. A sound decent copy. (37801)
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“They Rambled on aboutSoho, a Much Frequented Track”
[Taylor, John]. Monsieur Tonson. A new version. Illustrated with beautiful copper-plates. Philadelphia: Morgan & Yeager, [1821–24]. 16mo (17 cm, 6.75"). [12] pp; 12 plts., illus. $875.00
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The online catalogue at the American Antiquarian Society writes of this work: “An adaptation for children of the comic narrative poem Monsieur Tonson, by John Taylor (1757-1832). For his authorship see the Dictionary of national biography.” It also notes that “Morgan and Yeager published together from 1815 to 1824" and that the work was “probably issued after 1820.” Another observation is that the hand-colored plates “might be by William Charles, who worked with Joseph Yeager” but that the title is “not listed in Harry B. Weiss' William Charles: Early caricaturist, engraver and publisher of children's books (1932).”
The title-page (i.e., the front wrapper) informs that the publication price was “25 cents plain, 37 1/2 coloured.” The text and illustrations are mostly printed only on one side of a leaf.
Provenance: 19th-century signature of Richard H. Downing on verso of frontispice; most recently in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
WorldCat locates only three U.S. libraries reporting ownership (Yale, Free Library of Philadelphia, AAS).
Shoemaker 2310; not in Welch; not in Rosenbach, Children's. Buff printed paper covers; text block recased. Wrappers and text age-soiled and with stains; still, a (now) solid and appealing period piece. (38923)
About Great Printers — From a Great Press Owned by Another Great Printer
Warren, Arthur. The Charles Whittinghams, printers. New York: Grolier Club (pr. by the DeVinne Press), 1896. Large 8vo (25.2 cm, 9.9"). Frontis., 344, [2] pp. (index issued later, not present here); 2 fold. plts. (1 col.), illus. [SOLD]
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First edition: One of 385 copies printedby the DeVinne Press handmade paper (plus three on vellum) of this account of the influential uncle and nephew printers, covering their life stories and business history as well as the technical and artistic details of their accomplishments. The work iscopiously illustrated with views of important locations in the Whittingtons' lives and careers, woodcuts and engravings from their publications (along with other decorative elements such as borders and headpieces), reduced-size representations of title-pages, five beautifully accomplished stipple-engraved portraits, examples of different types used by the printers, etc., as well as two oversized, folding facsimiles of correspondence and charters. The covers bear the version of the Chiswick Press lion, dolphin, and anchor device that was designed by Charlotte Whittingham and engraved by Mary Byfield.
Provenance: Front pastedown with attractively designed bookplate of Peter Beilenson, proprietor of the Peter Pauper Press; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Publisher's half dark green leather and tan paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and Grolier Club device, covers with stamped central medallions bearing device as above; spine sunned to brick-brown and with some darker streaks and discoloration, sides lightly scuffed, joints and extremities rubbed. Index (printed and issued as a separate insert, after the original publication) not present here. Scattered light spottings only. Externally somewhat worn, but a solid and enjoyable copy, witha gratifyingly apropos provenance and a Chiswick Bookshop (New York) bookmark iaid in. (39562)
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Deluxe Signed Limited Edition PUBLISHER'S COPY: Life of a Science Fiction Pioneer
Weist, Jerry.BRADBURY: An illustrated life. A journey to far metaphor. Hampton Falls, NH: Donald M. Grant, 2004. Folio (29.2 cm, 11.5"). [36], xxvi, 195, [1] pp.; illus. $1150.00
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First, limited edition thus of a visual record of the great Ray Bradbury's career in comics, movies, television, theatre, and literature. This profusely illustrated limited edition includes32 pages of material not present in the trade edition (incorporated here after the William Morrow title-page dated 2002, marked first edition): the volume opens with the previously unpublished “The Ghosts of Forever: A Film Fantasy,” illustrated by Joseph A. Mugnaini, and “Switch on the Night,” a reproduction of portions of Bradbury's original manuscript bearing his own illustrations. The foreword is by Donn Albright, and the introduction by Bradbury.
Binding: Crimson “snakeskin” leatherette, front cover and spine with decorative gilt-stamped title and creature vignette, housed in matching clamshell case with front cover and spine similarly gilt-stamped.
A total of 26 lettered copies were issued in the binding described above. In addition to beingsigned by Bradbury and Weiston the title-page, the present example is anout-of-series copy marked (in red ink, on the title-page) as the publisher's copy.
Binding as above. A beautiful and unique copy of a striking tribute. (33416)
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The First Colonial Folio: 20 Years' Worth of Puritan Thought on the CATECHISM
Willard, Samuel. A compleat body of divinity in two
hundred and fifty expository lectures on the Assembly's shorter catechism wherein the doctrines
of the Christian religion are unfolded ... and a great light thereby reflected on the present age.
Boston: Pr. by B. Green & S. Kneeland for B. Eliot & D. Henchman, 1726. Folio (35 cm,
13.75"). [2], iv, 3, [3], 666, 581–914, [2] pp. (pagination erratic, skips 160–76); complete as
issued. $2500.00
Click the images for enlargement.
First edition of the Rev. Willard's collected sermons on the Westminster Shorter
Catechism, originally delivered as monthly lectures over 20 years' time. This posthumously
printed volume opens with an account of the author, written by the Rev. Ebenezer Pemberton;
Willard, one of the last of the great orthodox Puritan preachers of New England, was a clergyman
noted for hisopposition to the Salem witchcraft trials and for serving asacting president
of Harvard between the tenures of Increase Mather and John Leverett.
Evans notes that this is “the first folio volume, other than Laws, andthe largest work
up to this time printed in the United States.” This was a subscription printing, and includes
Benjamin Franklin's father and brother, among other dignitaries, in its list of names; the sheets
came from several different presses, and thus “it has fallen out . . . that the Pages for a
considerable way, are numbered over again” (p. 666). The title-page is printed in red and black.
The binding featuresa very unusual 18th-century repair job: to reinforce the joints, an early
hand stitched along either side of the front joint and part way down the back.
Provenance: Title-page with inked ownership inscription of T. White, dated 1726, and
with inked presentation inscription to Susanna White, dated 1782. Front pastedown with inked
inscription of Timothy Badger, 1782; also with 19th-century institutional bookplate and
presentation inscription.
Evans 2828; ESTC W30456; Sabin 104075; Streeter
Sale 675. Contemporary mottled sheep framed and panelled in blind fillets
with corner fleurons, a blind roll around the central panel; small scuffs, extremities rubbed, joints
cracked and fragile, with early sewn repairs as above. Front free endpaper partially separated.
Inscriptions as above; preface with additional early inked inscription in upper margin and inked
numeral in lower margin, a very slim “mag strip” in one gutter margin and no other institutional
markings. Pages age-toned and offset with varying degrees of spotting and staining; some
corners dog-eared. Three leaves each with short tear from upper margin, just touching text
without loss; a few leaves crumpled without tearing. First portion of volume with intermittent
early inked marginalia, one note partially shaved. A milestone of early American printing and an
interesting copy. (31011)
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