A collection of fables, for the instruction and amusement of little misses & masters. Adorned with cuts. York: Printed by J. Kendrew, [ca. 1820]. Near miniature (10 cm, 3.875"). 32 pp.; illus. $150.00
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Penny chapbook of instructive, Aesopian animal fables (many in rhyme), first published in 1760 and here illustrated with23 woodcuts. The work, from Kendrew of York, opens with upper- and lower-case alphabets in both roman and italic.
Provenance: From the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, sans indicia.
Osborne Collection p. 2; Davis, Kendrew of York, 6; Gumuchian 1790. Publisher's printed paper wrappers, front one with an accidental enclosure between wrapper and affixed frontispiece revealed by a small bump; removed from a nonce volume with sewing holes showing, and with evidence by way of the enduring impression of its long-felt pressure that this was therein bound with something smaller following it. A little dust-soiling to some bumped lower corners, towards end, and last page with old spot/adhesion; otherwiseremarkably clean and apparentlyunread unless by a very careful child. (38807)
Aeschylus. [title in Greek, transliterated as] Aischylou Prometheus desmotes, Hepta epi Thebais, Persai, Agamemnon, [Choephoroi], Eumenides, Hiketides. Parisiis: Ex officina Adriani Turnebi Typographi Regii, 1552. 8vo (17 cm, 6.75"). [8], 211, [1] pp. [SOLD]
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First Turnèbe edition of Aeschylus' complete works, here with a dedication by the French humanist himself and a two-page “Bios Aischylou tou poietou,” following the first Aldine edition of 1518. Adrien Turnèbe (1512–65) was chair of Greek at the College Royal in France and succeeded Robert Estienne as Royal Printer for Greek (although his appointment was contested by Charles Estienne). Here, according to Dibdin, he “very materially” corrected the Aldine text, and added a table of various readings.
The text is printed in mostly single columns using the “Cicero” Greek font of Garamond's grecs du roi, with foliated headpieces and decorative initials at the start of each section and Turnèbe's basilisk device on the title-page; this offering is the variant with A3 and A4 signed. Following the editio princeps, “Agamemnon” and “Choephori” are conflated.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear of both book and housing.
Adams A263; Mortimer, French 16th-Century Books, 3; Brunet, I, 77; Schreiber, Catalogue 37, no. 2; Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, p. 237; Hoffmann, Bibliographisches Lexicon der gesammten Literatur der Griechen, I, p. 32; Gruys Early Printed Editions (1518-1664) of Aeschylus, no. II-3 (p. 31-46). On Turnèbe, see: Renouard, Imprimeurs parisiens. 19th-century speckled calf, board edges with gilt zigzag rolls, all edges speckled red; recently rebacked, top edge darkened, boards worn with loss of most gilt, new endpapers with some discoloration and one pencilled phrase. Housed in a navy blue cloth clamshell case with two gilt red leather spine labels. Title-page and first few leaves affected by two unsuccessful leaf repairs leading to chipping, glue action, and a few tears; remainder of text with several pagination errors, a handful of spots, one edge tear from paper manufacture, and one waterstained bottom corner. Ownership label as above, a few leaves with light marks in pencil, one underline in ink. (38365)
A Cenotaph designed by aFAMED “Pintor Americano” A Great Engraved Plate
Becerra Moreno, Juan. Relacion del funeral entierro, y exequias de el Illmo. Sr. Dr. D. Manuel Rubio y Salinas, Arzobispo que fuè de esta Santa Iglesia Metropolitana de Mexico. Mexico: En la Imprenta del Real, y mas antiguo Colegio de S. Ildefonso, 1776. Small 4to (20.5 cm; 8"). [5] ff., 155, [1] pp., fold. plt. $6875.00
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From January 1748 until his death in early July 1765 Manuel Rubio y Salinas served as archbishop of Mexico City, a period that coincided nicely with the rebirth of the Mexican mining industry and the creation of great wealth, new secular and ecclesiastical establishments, and a building boom in the viceregal capital. Rubio and the Church benefitted from the new wealth in significant material ways, but social justice concerns and religious duties were always high on the bishop's list of things requiring his attention, as demonstrated for example inhis leadership in securing the 1754 papal declaration making Our Lady of Guadalupe the patron saint of New Spain.
When Rubio died, the entire viceregal capital turned its energy to commemorating him, much of which is summarized in this volume. It includes a Spanish-language account of the archbishop's last days, his death, and burial (pp. 1–87), followed by Pedro Jose Rodriquez de Arizpe's Latin-language funeral oration (“Maximum occidentis sidus. Ilmus, nempe d. doct. Emmanuel Josephus Rubio, et Salinas . . . In cujus solemni funere quinto idus octobris ann. MDCCLXV, declamabat p. doct. Petrus Josephus Rodriguez, et Arizpe,” pp. 87–112), and ending with Cayetano Antonio de Torres's Spanish-language funeral sermon (pp. 115–51).
The Spanish-language account of the burial includesa detailed description of the funeral monument (i.e., cenotaph) that the city erected for the archbishop, including the inscriptions and epigrams that were by F.J. Alegre. Following the last page of the text, there isa large folding engraved plate by Manuel Villavicencio after the design of the monument by Miguel Cabrera, “pintor americano.” The engraving is detailed, exquisite, and includes a measure of scale.
A good source for the study of Mexican colonial architecture, commemorative ceremonies, and treatment of and thinking about death.
Palau 6584; Medina, Mexico, 5067; DeBacker-Sommervogel, I, 153. Contemporary vellum with remnants of ties; spine damaged with loss to hungry rodents not affecting paper. One short tear in margin of folding plate, well away from image. A very clean, very good copy. (36410)
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An Ambitious Printing Project by aYOUNG AMBITIOUS PRINTER
Bible. German. 1819. Luther. Biblia, das ist: Die ganze Heilige Schrift Alten und Neuen Testaments nach der deutschen Uebersetzung von Doctor Martin Luther. Lancaster, Pa.: Johann Bär, 1819. Folio (39.5 cm, 15.5"). Frontis., [5] ff., 100, 12 pp., [2] ff., 738, 26 pp.; [2 (blank)] ff.; 227, [1], 92 pp. Lacks plate before the N.T. $425.00
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Johann Bär's 1819 German Luther Bible (in fraktur type, a.k.a., “black letter”) was the first complete Bible printed in “Lancaster, [Penn]” and thefirst folio German Bible printed in America: It was an impressive production — large in size, set on good paper, and the type pleasantly laid out and neatly impressed in double-column format. The frontispiece, engraved by J. Henry and showing Moses with the tables of the law, is appealing.
In the preliminaries, the double-column text includes a brief biography of Luther and an essay by the famous Pietist August Herman Franke (1663–1727) advising how to read Scripture. The printer was only 19 years old when he undertook this massive project and despite the numerous subscribers listed on five preliminary pages in four-cloumn format, he was nearly bankrupted by the enterprise.
In the upper outer corner of the front pastedown is the large printed binder's label of “Henrich Miller, buchbinder, in der Ost – Dranien Strasse, gegeneuber der Lancaster.”
O'Callaghan 146; Shaw & Shoemaker 47206; Arndt & Eck, German Language Printing in the U.S., 2363. Contemporary calf over wood boards, evidence of metal and leather clasp closures; leather perished, joints (outside) open, front board much loosened but holding tenuously and rear board more securely attached. Foxing and brown staining, as usual. Lacks the plate opposite the New Testament title-page. A good copy only yet stilla touching “story” and a touchstone American Bible. (35752)
Their Judgment: FARCICAL Process, BUT Enforceable Policy . . .
Bolivia.Treaties. 1842. Manuscript Document Signed. Sucre, 10 December 1842. On paper, in Spanish. Folio, 3 ½ pp. $500.00
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The official, signed report of the Presidential Committee appointed to investigate the just-concluded “treaty of peace, commerce and navigation” with Great Britain. The report observes: “The present treaty is, letter for letter, the same as that concluded in 1837 in Lima by the Proctor of the Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, and the same, also, bearing the date of 30 May 1838 that the Extraordinary Bolivian Congress (meeting in Cochabamba) approved” (our translation). With five members dissenting, the committee decides that the method of congressional approval, though “farcical,” was legal and binding.
Bearing signatures, among others, of Pedro Buitrago, Narciso Dulón, Eusebio Gutiérrez, M. de la Cruz Méndez, José M. Dalence, and Manuel Sagarnaga.
Very good condition. Two small tears at folds, not affecting text. (3107)
Cleghorn, George. Observations on the epidemical diseases in Minorca. From the year 1744, to 1749. To which is prefixed, a short account of the climate, productions, inhabitants, and endemial distempers, of that island. London: Printed for T. Cadell, in the Strand; and G. Robinson, in Pater-Noster Row, 1779. 8vo (20.5 cm; 8.125"). [iii]–xxiv, 311 pp. Lacks half-title. $400.00
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A descriptive, epidemiological account of Minorca based on letters exchanged between Cleghorn (1716–89) and physician John Fothergill (1712–80) while Cleghorn was stationed on Minorca as surgeon to the 22nd Regiment of Foot from 1736 to 1749, here in the fourth edition. Cleghorn, a Scotsman educated at the University of Edinburgh, went on to become the first Lecturer of Anatomy at the University of Dublin.
First printed in 1751, this landmark work on epidemiology contains previously unpublished descriptions of several diseases, such as epidemic jaundice, and was reprinted in 1767, 1768, 1779, and 1815. The DNB (online) notes “his extensive observations rendered the book essential reading for those going to practice in Minorca”; and, cast in the vivid first person as it is and as full of opinions on Minorca's “inhabitants” as it is, it must have been riveting reading as well for even non-medical stay-at-homes.
Provenance: W.G. Ramsay SO.CA. stamped at head of title-page; the “SO.CA.” may indicate “South Carolina” and associate this book with the physician son of David Ramsay — public official, historian of the American Revolution, and physician who introduced the smallpox vaccine in his region. (The younger Ramsay was particularly interested in racial differences, and not in what the 21st century would consider to be a good way.)
Evidence of readership: Three neatly pencilled short notes to the Introduction.
ESTC N10137; Garrison & Morton 1674; On Cleghorn, see: DNB (online). Recent half navy blue buckram and blue marbled paper–covered boards, new endpapers; binding irregularly sized and half-title lacking. Title-page heavily repaired with former owner's signature excised from top right corner. Light to moderate age-toning and waterstaining with the occasional spot; first gathering darkened and partially detached. Medical practice here is an adventure. (36126)
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Chromolithographed Illustrations byEleanor Vere Boyle
Carové, Friedrich Wilhelm; Sarah Austin, transl.; Eleanor Vere Boyle, illus. The story without an end. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1879. 4to (25.8 cm, 10.15"). Frontis., vi, [2], 40 pp.; 15 col. plts., illus. $350.00
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Based on the original German by Carové, Austin's version of this idyllic children's story is decorated witha frontispiece, 15 chromolithographed plates and additional in-text illustrations done from designs by “E.V.B.” This was acclaimed Victorian fairytale artist Eleanor Vere Boyle (1825–1916), whose otherworldly, Pre-Raphaelite–influenced illustrations, particularly the color-printed plates, beautifully reflect the text's ethereal meditations on the peace and joy to be found in the natural world by imaginative observers. An 1868 edition was the first appearance of this popular story featuring Boyle's artwork, with the present example being its fourth printing.
Binding: Publisher's red cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title, front cover with astunning gilt- and black-stamped dragonfly, spiderweb, ivy, and butterfly design. All edges gilt. Original guard leaves present.
Ray, Illustrator and the Book in England, 108; Osborne Collection, pp. 329/30 (both for first ed.). Bound as above; spine sunned and worn, sides with small areas of light discoloration, corners rubbed. Front free endpaper with early inked gift inscription to Muriel. A very few instances of small, faint spots or smudges, pages and plates overall clean and pleasing. Intact copies with all plates present in unmodified original bindings are now uncommon. (40768)
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The Mrs. Beeton of Germany Comes to America
Davidis, Henriette. Praktisches Kochbuch für die Deutschen in Amerika. Zuverlässige und selbstgeprüfte Anweisungen zur Bereitung der verschiedenartigsten Speisen und Getränke, zum Backen, Einmachen u. s. w. Milwaukee: Georg Brumder's Verlag, (copyright 1879). 8vo (21.1 cm, 8.3"). iv, 400 pp. [SOLD]
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First U.S. appearance: One of the best known and most authoritative German cookbooks of the late 19th through early 20th centuries, here in an edition intended for German-Americans and produced by one of the largest German-American publishing enterprises in the country. Printed in black letter, the text is almost entirely in German; the handful of recipes that give English titles are largely desserts (“Apple-Pie,” “Sponge-Cake,” “Cup-Cake,” “Cooky”) — with a few outliers like “Tomatoe-Pickles” — while the fish section adds parenthetical translations for shad, carp, pike, etc. The title-page notes that the text has been supplemented with some typically American dishes, and quantities have been adapted for American usage.
Davidis (1801–76) worked as a governess and teacher before launching a full-time career focusing on cookery and home economics. Her Praktisches Kochbuch für die gewöhnliche und feinere Küche was originally printed in 1844 (under the title Zuverlässige und selfstgeprüfte Recepte der gewöhnlichen und feineren Küche) and went through numerous editions. The present American version enjoyed a great deal of success, with at least five printings following this first.
Binding: Publisher's dark green cloth, spine and front cover with elegant gilt lettering and decorations; the lettering evokes fraktur, the embellishments are delicate with filigree elements, and the gilt vignette on the front cover features a tall bread-filled basket on a draped table also bearing a ham, a lobster, and a duck or goose. All edges marbled.
Provenance: Front pastedown with Cincinnati bookseller's ticket (in German); front free endpaper with early pencilled inscription of Fr[aulein?] J. Fingerle.
Bitting, 115; Brown, Culinary Americana, 4361 (for second ed.). Binding lightly rubbed overall, gilt dimmed, hinges (inside) cracked but holding. Pages slightly age-toned with occasional faint spotting; a few leaves with small nick to upper edge. Representing an important development in German-American culture. (40917)
First book-form edition of Dickens's weekly periodical — a variety of pieces gathered under a framing device of a storytelling circle led by Master Humphrey and the other members of his club. The serial markedthe first appearance of Barnaby Rudge, as well as of the enormously popular The Old Curiosity Shop, which more or less took over the author's original design of focusing on articles and sketches.
The three volumes areillustrated by George Cattermole and Hablot “Phiz” Browne with numerous in-text engravings, displaying the former artist's skill with architecture and views and the latter's with humor and character.
NSTC 2D11892; Smith, Dickens in the Original Cloth, 6. Publisher's ribbed maroon cloth, covers with blind-stamped floral and arabesque frame and front covers with gilt-stamped clock vignette, spines gilt extra; extremities rubbed, spines faded, joints tender with some starting from extremities, cloth showing small splits at joint and spine extremities, each volume now housed in a maroon cloth chemise and the trio in a matching box. Front pastedowns with small, attractive institutional bookplate; vol. III with small area of abrasion from now-lacking bookplate. Pages faintly age-toned with a very few scattered light spots, overall pleasingly clean. Vol. III with small nick to upper outer edge of first few leaves. An attractive item of Dickensiana, with two of the author's most significant illustrators splendidly represented. (33147)
Eutropius. Eutropii Breviarium Romanae historiae ab vrbe condita usque ad Valentinianum & Valentem Augustos cum metaphrasi Graeca Paeanii. Christophorus Cellarius, Smalcaldiensis, recensuit, notis, atque indicibus locupletauit. Cizae (i.e., Zeitz): Sumtu. Io. Bielckii, bibliopolae Ien. Typis Fridemanni Hetstedii, 1678. 8vo (16.8 cm; 6.625"). [42], 263, 268–74, 42, [26] pp. Lacks printed t-p & two endpapers. [SOLD]
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17th-century edition of Eutropius's much-printed history of Rome with commentary from German classical scholar and geographer Christoph Cellarius (1638–1707). The text is printed in double columns, one in Greek (being Paeanius' Greek version) and the other in Latin (Eutropius' original); Eutropius completed the Breviarium romanae by 369 and Paeanius' translation appeared before 380.
While this book lacks the free endpapers and the printed title-page, it offers ahand-colored engraved title-page, executed by M. Hailler's burin and embellished by a watercolorist in blue and yellow.
Provenance: Unreadable inked ownership signature dated 1752 on pastedown and rubber-stamp of the Rev. Charles Woessner of Berkeley, CA, on back of title-page; later in the Pacific School of Religion (properly released).
Dibdin, Greek and Latin Classics, vol. II, pp. 2–3; Schweiger, Handbuch der classischen Bibliographie, II, 346. Vellum over pasteboards, title inked on spine, all edges speckled red; soiled and scratched, ink spots on edges, joints cracked but textblock firmly attached. Ex-library as above, call number and five-digit accession stamp on front pastedown. Marked and lacking two endpapers and printed title-page as above, with light pencilling, one leaf with small tear to inner margin, a few pages with inked or pencilled marginal notes or dashes, and a few bent corners; moderate to heavy age-toning. Uncommon place of printing and a nicely hand-colored added engraved title-page. (36600)
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Visiting the Land of Tigreen — An Illustrated Fantastical Travelogue & Playful Ethnographic Study — Hand-Written & Extensive
[Imaginary Travel]. Manuscript on paper, in English. “The Tigeenish News Paper.” [U.K.: ca. 1940?]. Folio (31.7 cm, 12.51"). [160 (156 used)] pp.; 5 ff. of illus. [SOLD]
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Curious and charming: A detailed survey of the imaginary land of Tigreen, in which the females are all tigers — and notably the dominant, ruling personalities throughout — and the males all lions, with many of the customs seeming to poke gentle fun at Anglo culture. The volume opens with an account of Tigeenish journalism (it should be noted that the country is generally given as “Tigreen,” but its people and language as the “Tigeenish”), and goes on to lovingly describe “Great Names & Well Known Personalities of the Tigeenish World” before embarking on the events of the main travelogue — which include “Going to a Tigeenish Swimming Bath,” shopping and eating out, going to the theater, attending Fuersday services at the village church, and making the “First Visit to the Tigeenish Liberary” (sic). Inked neatly and possibly left-handedly in green, the text is both expository and narrative, with the writer giving a first-person account of events and dialogue; spelling is erratic. As the travelogue opens at item (chapter) 11, with “We have explored into the outlines of Tigeenish life,” and concludes with the party's return to its “home base” village in item 19 — not, apparently, the travellers' true home — the reader of these 150+ folio pages is both tantalized and impressed to realize that they present a broad landscape vista of “Tigeen” as seen through a generous window but a “window” nonetheless, with an even broader, larger fantasy world to be presumed as “existing” beyond it.
The story is illustrated withfive leaves' worth of pencil drawings, including sketches of household chores and of a series of swimmers in their bathing costumes; portraits of ancient Tigeenish royalty, author “Wittiber Bope,” “Mee-Wae the famous ballerina,” and other prominent figures; and two full-page drawings of a game called Blacking-Pot and of church-goers assembled on the steps outside the building.
Clues in the text indicate that this is a British work (the author mentions queuing at bus stops, describes a mode of dress as “equivalent to our late Edwardian stile,” and has one character warn against spoiling breakfast with biscuits, among other details); it was written not earlier than 1936 and, we think, not so late as the wartime forties. The elaborate detail of Tigeenish worldbuilding, including linguistics, may variously reflect the influence of Wonderland, Toad Hall, the Hundred Acre Wood, or Middle-Earth; some aspects prefigure even Narnia (or perhaps the text dates later than we think). The age of the narrator is difficult to pin down, with some of the elements here conveying what could well be enthusiastic teenaged pop-culture fandom (Deanna Durbin is cited as the pinnacle of silver-screen fame), while some suggest a bit more reflective distance from childhood. The focus on domestic details implies, though of course does not guarantee, a feminine sensibility — and confirming this, the author does refer to herself as she and “Miss.”
Certain remarks convey a sort of backstage meta-commentary on the fiction, as if it had an existence outside this manuscript (“Indeed Tigreen functioned largely on my own experiences and childhood's impressions, many of which remain with me”; “She [Poy] was inspired by the fact that when I was a child myself I could never understand why people would exclaim Oh! & Ah! each time they saw such children as Poy making an entry anywhere”; “The pictures you see of Tigeenish personalities, places, & objects placed within the pages are the exact replicas of what they represent . . . in my young days I was not always able to get them to look just as I saw them, even though I tried very hard . . . now I draw them as I meant them to look then & as I visualized them in my childish mind”).
There is no evidence that this feminist-informed fantasy creation was ever published in any form.
Contemporary pebbled green paper–covered sides with red oilcloth shelfback; moderately rubbed overall, front board slightly sprung. Occasional underlining and marks of emphasis in red; some corrections in the same hand but different ink color. A treasure, and intriguing. (41069)
John, Mauropus, Metropolitan of Euchaita (active 11th century). Joannis Metropolitani Euchaitensis versus iambici in principalium festorum pictas in tabulis historias atq[ue] alia varia compositi. Etonae: In Collegio Regali, excudebat [M. Bradwood for] Ioannes Norton, in Gr[a]ecis, &c. regius typographus, 1610. 4to (22.8 cm; 9"). [4] ff., 73, [1] pp., [4] ff. $3500.00
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One of the first two books printed at Eton, both in Greek and both printed in 1610. The Byzantine poetry here is from the pen of John, Mauropus, an 11th-century teacher, hymnographer, orator, Byzantine Greek poet, and correspondent of scholars.
This, the editio princeps, was edited by and has the notes of Matthew Bust (1543 or 1544–1613), Fellow of Eton College and father of his namesake who was Master of Eton (1611–30). The prefatory matter and notes are printed in Latin in italics and the main text is in a large greek face; the actual printer's name is from STC.
Searches of STC, WorldCat, and ESTC locate many copies in Britain and even Europe, but only five in U.S. libraries.
Provenance: 18th-century ownership inscription at top of title-page: “Petri Bonifantii.” Most recently in the collection of American collector Albert A. Howard (sans indicia).
An amazing early English schoolbook!
STC (rev.) 14622; ESTC S103427. 20th-century quarter red morocco with red cloth sides. Light age-toning and some stray ink spots. In fact, very good. (37309)
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“With Upwards of Fifty Illustrations”
Lemon, Mark; Charles H. Bennett & Richard Doyle, illus. Fairy tales. London: Bradbury, Evans, & Co., 1868. 8vo (19.9 cm, 7.83"). [12], 189, [3] pp.; 6 plts., illus. $300.00
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First edition, combining these two fairy tales with art from two popular illustrators of the day: “The Chronicles of the Three Sisters” and “The Enchanted Doll,” with numerous contributions by Charles H. Bennett and Richard Doyle. The first story features four full-page designs, decorative capitals, and in-text vignettes by Bennett, known for his “Shadows” series and his artwork for Aesop's fables; and the latter (a tale written for and originally dedicated to Charles Dickens' two oldest daughters) two full-page designs along with assorted capitals and vignettes by Doyle, a popular comic and fairytale artist.
The three contributors here — Lemon, Doyle, and Bennett — worked together at Punch; this appears to be the only book-form work on which all three collaborated.
NSTC 2L11171. Publisher's green cloth, front cover and spine pictorially stamped in silver and black; binding lightly worn overall (most noticeably at extremities) with very minor bubbling to cloth. Title-page and a few others with small spots of foxing, pages otherwise clean. An attractive copy of a desirable work. (40983)
[Newell, Mrs. D., ed.]. Family circle and parlor annual [volume IX]. New York: J.G. Reed, [1851]. 8vo (22.6 cm, 9"). [1], 10–410 pp., [26] leaves of plates (some col.); illus., music, ports. $255.00
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Sentimental literature originally published as individual issues of the Family Circle magazine and here collected and bound into a yearly volume gift book (with index) — charmingly illustrated not only with 12 of the usual steel-engraved scenes but also with9 hand-colored plates, 4 wood-engraved plates, and a chromolithographed added title-page. The hand-colored plates include a peacock and variety of flowers, shrubs, and trees including alstroemeria, the moss rose, the inga, catalpa, and the Nankin magnolia.
The book's theme is established both by these plates and by the accompanying series of florally themed romantic stories, while other pieces refer admiringly to temperance, patriotism, or female education. Some plates were engraved by R. Soper, Allanson, W. Wellstood, A.L. Dick, and J. Smillie; lyrics and music for “Christian Graces” and “Springdale” are present.
Shockingly the editors report “a most infamous conspiracy to injure and break down several periodicals in this city — our own among the number — has lately come to light” (p. 230). The subscribers’ lists of several periodicals were leaked (apparently by clerks) to unscrupulous individuals who then sent “a vile obscene and filth paper [sic]” to those unsuspecting patrons.
Binding: Publisher's red, richly gold-stamped textured leather, covers with gilt-stamped central bouquet in a basket. All edges gilt.
Provenance: Pencilled name of Peter J. Revill on front free endpaper.
Faxon 188c. Not in Tepper or Thomson. Binding as above anda brilliantly BRIGHT example. Varying degrees of foxing and staining, most notably surrounding plates. A very pleasing volume from many points of view. (40888)
COLORFUL Engravings & (Sometimes!) “COLORFUL” Verses (e.g., “I had a little husband . . . ”)
(Nursery Rhymes). Bysh's edition of nursery rhymes. Embellished with eight coloured engravings. London: Pr. by T. Richardson for J. Bysh, [ca. 1825]. 12mo (14.5 cm, 5.7"). 36 pp.; 6 col. plts. $350.00
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Chapbook of poetry for children, illustrated with hand-colored wood engravings. In addition to the better-known nursery rhymes that have stayed in modern circulation, present here are some grimmer verses about carrion crows, penknives to the heart, little ducks shot through the head, etc., along with a separate section of longer “select pieces” including “The Blind Boy,” “The Beggar's Petition,” and “Winter Reflections.” Each plate offers a pair of images, for a total of 12 illustrations; both the cartoonish engravings and the very bright coloring are vigorously done.
Although the WorldCat entry for this undated edition suggests a publication ca. 1840, John Bysh's peak publishing dates (between 1810 and 1825) and the address given here — as well as the inscription (see below) — indicate an earlier printing. Only two U.S. institutions report holdings via WorldCat (Morgan Library, Princeton).
Provenance: Frontispiece recto with inked ownership inscription of S.G. Rolls, dated 1828. Later in the children's book collection of Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
This ed. not in Opie (see N 953 & N 954 for other Bysh eds.); not in Osborne Collection. 19th-century marbled paper–covered boards, housed in a dark purple cloth–covered clamshell case; binding rubbed, case with remnants of now-absent paper label on spine. Original printed paper wrappers bound in, front with upper and lower margins trimmed. Wrappers darkened and spotted, pages lightly age-toned with scattered small spots of foxing; last leaf with outer margin ragged and with lower portion torn away resulting in loss to the sentimental “Winter Reflections” of about eight lines on each side, neatly repaired some time ago with plain paper. Uncommon and intriguing, with more than a little by way of unexpected content. (40736)
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“In the Dew of Time”
Perishable
Press. Broadside, begins:
“Warning! Oh yes you can too do it & whoumzoevber sed not is full
of snot ... ” [Mt. Horeb, WI: Perishable Press], 1980. 8vo (; 27
x 19 cm.; 10.5" x 7.25"). 1 p. $125.00
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A type specimen thank-you to Paul Duensing for teaching “an old dog a new trick. At least P[aul] H D[uensing] managed to taught [sic] W[alter] S H[amady] to cast type in the barn! Here is the first attempt at solo experiment & this is Ashely-Crawford 24 point. MFG. Spring 1980.”
Fine copy.
(30791)
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Springing to Berkeley's Defense in theTar-Water Controversy Lots & Lots & Lots & Lots & LOTS of PERIOD DETAIL
{Irish Woman Printer}
Prior, Thomas. An authentic narrative of the success of tar-water, in curing a great number and variety of distempers, with remarks. And occasional papers relative to the subject. To which are subjoyned two letters from the author of Siris. Dublin: Pr. by Marg. Rhames for R. Gunne, 1746. 8vo (20.8 cm, 8.25"). 4, 248, [2 (blank)] pp. [SOLD]
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Uncommon first edition: An impressive collection of testimonial letters describing the curative powers of tar-water in cases of asthma, influenza, scurvy and scorbutic disorders, gout, rheumatism, consumptive coughs, and even smallpox — offering a mass of anecdotal information on general ailments, standard treatments of the time (what the patients took or did before they discovered tar-water), and what was considered an intolerable condition as opposed to simply inconvenient. This volume was compiled by one of the founding members of the Royal Dublin Society and inspired by Bishop Berkeley's 1744 publication Siris, Philosophical Reflexions and Inquiries Concerning the Virtues of Tar-water (which praise of tar-water as a universal panacea enraged doctors throughout Great Britain, resulting in a flurry of published debate); it makes several references to Siris, and concludes with two letters from Berkeley, featuring his instructions on how to make the best tar-water and use it most effectively.
The printer was Margaret Rhames, scion of a prominent Dublin printing family. WorldCat and ESTC locate only four U.S. institutional holdings of this edition, which preceded the London first.
ESTC N5208; Wellcome, IV, 440. Period-style half calf and antique marbled paper–covered sides, corners tipped in vellum, spine with gilt-stamped leather labels. Title-page with ownership initials (“WS”) inked in upper outer corner; pages age-toned, with mild to moderate foxing. A solid, pleasingly bound copy of an uncommon and interesting piece of medical history. (30607)
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A Night Out at the Club: Antiquaries, Gamesters, Lawyers, Newsmongers, “Opiniators” et al.
Puckle, James; Samuel Weller Singer, ed.; John Thurston, illus. The club; or, a gray cap for a green head. A dialogue between a father and son. London: Chiswick Press (Pr. by C. Whittingham, for Charles Tilt and N. Hailes), 1834. 8vo (17 cm, 6.69"). Frontis., xvi, [4], 128, 24 (adv.) pp. [SOLD]
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Elegantly printed Chiswick Press production of this popular “humorous little manual” (p. xi), offering “shrewd and instructive views of human conduct” (p. ix) — an alphabet of fools, knaves, and other types of immoral or unpleasant characters with one “wise” exception only. Thurston's 25 character vignettes, originally done in 1817, are expressive without tipping over into cartoonish; they appear here reprinted by Whittingham with the aid of the celebrated wood-engraver John Thompson, who supplied several additional pieces. This isthe first appearance of Singer's edition.
Provenance & Evidence of Readership: Title-page with pencilled ownership inscription of Roger Ingpen, 1924; front free endpaper with pencilled note reading “The notes at the end of this book are by my uncle John at whose sale I purchased this book. - R.I.” (Ingpen was an editor and literary critic best known for his Shelley in England; his uncle supplied occasional marginal
annotations on text pages and detailed pencilled notes on back free endpaper). Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
NSTC 2P28587. Publisher's textured dark blue cloth, covers blind-stamped with acanthus leaf frame, spine with gilt-stamped title; binding cocked, spine sunned, extremities lightly rubbed. All edges gilt. Front hinge (inside) open from head with sewing loosened and tender. Pages evenly age-toned with light spots of foxing to first and last few leaves, pencilled markings as above, otherwise clean. (41041)
Two Innocent Men NOT Hanged — But a Very Near Thing
Sargeant, Leonard. The trial, confessions and conviction of Jesse and Stephen Boorn for the murder of Russell Colvin, and the return of the
man supposed to have been murdered. Manchester, VT: Journal Book & Job Office, 1873. 8vo (23.3 cm, 9.25"). 48 pp. $275.00
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The trial of the Boorns “isone of the most famous cases of American criminal law and a constant reminder that innocent persons can be convicted. Russell Colvin, the alleged victim, had married a sister of the Boorns and had several children by her. He was mentally deficient and disappeared in 1812. Local gossip credited the Boorns with having disposed of him, presumably because he was a burden on the family. In the spring of 1819, the Boorns were arrested and, either from fear or mental weakness, they told stories involving each each other in the death of Colvin Stephen's amounting to a confession of murder. They were tried and sentenced to be hanged; the state legislature, however, commuted Jesse's sentence to life imprisonment. As a last resort a notice was placed in the papers requesting information about Colvin. A farmer in Monmouth County, New Jersey, believed he recognized a hired man in the vicinity from the description. This man, who was mentally deranged, was enticed to Manchester, arriving on December 22, 1819, six weeks before the day set for Stephen's execution. It was definitively established that he was the missing Colvin; he had apparently wandered off of his own volition” (McDade).
Sargeant (17931880), one of the Boorns' defense attorneys, offers this account as a cautionary tale of the fallibility of the legal system when it comes to misidentifications. “Though published fifty-four years after the event, the pamphlet . . . contains important information on the discover and return of Colvin” (McDade 113).
McDade, Annals of Murder, 111 (for the above quotation) & 113 for this account. As issued: Stitched, printed wrappers. Splitting a little at top and bottom of spine, faint minimal touches of old waterstaining and, at end, creasing across upper outer corners. Very good. (39950)
A Noble Book for Your House in Tuscany?
(Smith's Patron Was the Second Earl of Warwick)
Smith, John. Italian scenery [i.e., Select views in Italy, with topographical and historical descriptions, in English and French]. [London: Printed by W. Bulmer and Co. for J. Smith, W. Byrne, & J. Edwards, 1817]. 4to. [1] f. (engr. dedication), [78] ff. (of letterpress), [72] ff. of plates, illus. $2500.00
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Smith is remembered in art circles as a very accomplished water color artist and it was that work that attracted the attention of George Greville, second earl of Warwick. The earl became Smith's patron and sent him Italy where he produced such works as “Outside Porta Pia, Rome” (now in the Tate collection) and “Interior of the Coliseum” (now in the British Museum); “his Italian pictures . . . are considered Smith's best” (ODNB).
Toward the end of the 18th century (1792–1799), Smith produced the first edition of this work, laden with72 engravings (by various artisans) after his original watercolors. This second edition of his Select Views in Italy was not issued with a title-page, although some copies have a copy (reprinting?, remainder sheet?) of the first edition's; it begins instead with a splendidly calligraphicengraved dedication leaf reading, “Italian scenery. To the Queen's most Excellent Majesty this Collection of Select Views in italy is with Her Majesty's gracious permission Humbly dedicated by Her most obedient and devoted Servant, John Smith.” Dated in text 18 January 1817, the leaf was designed by Tomkins and engraved by Ashby; at its bottom, as on a title-page, is “London[,] J. Smith, W. Byrne, & J. Edwards.”
The text in this edition, bilingual inEnglish and French, is the same as that of the first edition; but it was entirely reset and the plates are restrikes of those of the first edition, with the original imprints removed and the numeration moved to the top of the plates. This is, therefore, a particularly interesting object toset beside an example of its first edition!
Provenance: No bookplates or inscriptions, but spine with initials “G.O.B.” tooled at base.
20th-century cordovan-color calf, modestly tooled in blind, spine sunned and lightened with darker streaks and patches evident; joints (outside) with excellent repairs. Text with only an occasional age-stain or instance of foxing; plates remarkably unblemished. Blue silk placemarker. Overall a VERY NICE COPY. (33233)
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“The Great Archer of England”
[Thoms, William John]. The noble birth and gallant atchievements [sic] of that remarkable outlawRobin Hood. London: William Pickering, 1827. 8vo (21.8 cm, 8.56"). [2], xix, [1], 53, [1] pp. $750.00
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“Together with a true account of the many merry and extravagant exploits he play'd in twelve several stories: to which is added, the life of Robin Hood, from a manuscript in the British Museum”: A 19th-century printing of a 1678 prose account, offering a particularly roguish take on Robin as a “bold and licentious” outlaw in the days of Henry VIII.
This is the first printing of Thoms' edition; the work was issued separately, and later reprinted as part of the three-volume Collection of Early Prose Romances (1828). WorldCat locatesonly four U.S. institutional holdings.
Provenance: From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard (sans indicia).
NSTC 2H28672. This edition not in Kelly, Checklist of Books Published by William Pickering (see 1828.22 for three-volume collection); likewise Keynes, William Pickering (rev. ed.), (see p. 92 as above). Modern pebbled black morocco, front cover with gilt-stamped green morocco title-label, in matching morocco and marbled paper–covered slipcase; slipcase rubbed, volume spine sunned and rubbed. Pages faintly age-toned with scattered small spots of light foxing. (37602)
Seeing aRenaissance Man's MIND through His Letters
Tolomei, Claudio. Delle lettere di M. Clavdio Tolomei libri VII. Vinegia: Presso Altobello Salicato, 1572. 8vo (16 cm, 6.25"). 296, [8] ff. $900.00
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Emily Dickinson famously observed that “a letter always seemed to me like immortality because it is the mind alone without corporeal friend.” So it is that here in this collection of Renaissance-era letters we meet the mind of Tolomei (1492–1555), a Humanist poet, diplomat, philologist, literary critic, and Catholic bishop. He counted among his many correspondents such notables as Anibal Caro, King Francis I, Aretino, Paolo Manuzio, Girolamo Ruscelli, and Bernardino Ochino; and among the women of his era Giulia Gonzaga, Vittoria Farnese, Camilla Saracini, Catherine de' Medici, Lavinia Sanvitale, Countess Olimpia Tolomei, and the Archduchess Margaret of Austria (1480–1530).
Topics found in this collection of correspondence are wide ranging: Dante and terze rime, poetic style, preference for the Tuscan dialect, the fountains and viaducts of Rome, proper use of honorifics in letters, the letter “H” in Tuscan Italian and whether it is aspirated or not, teaching the alphabet to beginners, how a prince should react to those who speak ill of him, and the use of Greek words and terms.
This edition “con nuova aggiunta ristampati, & con somma diligenza da molti errori corretti” is printed in italic, and divided into seven “books,” each “book” beginning with a woodcut factotum initial. The printer's handsome woodcut device graces the title-page and the volume ends with three useful indices.
Provenance: Black-stamped supra-libros (faded to “silver”) of Paulus von Pruan (1548–1616), the Nuremberg merchant and collector, and his signature on the front free endpaper; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.
Adams T789; EDIT16 CNCE 30511. Contemporary limp vellum (lacking front pastedown) with slightly yapp edges; evidence that an old manuscript leaf was repurposed in construction of spine and of now-absent ties. Occasionally a little old very light staining or foxing; clean and nice. A desirable copy. (38143)
A Glimpse of Public Policy from theDutch Golden Age
Witt, Johan de. Resolutien der heeren Staten van Hollandt ende West-Vriesland van consideratie, ende oock voor de toekomende tyden dienende, genomen zedert den aenvangh der bedieninge van den Heer Johan de Witt ... beginnende met den tweeden Augusti 1653. ende eyndigende met den negentiende December 1668. Utrecht: Willem vande Water, 1706. 4to (25.3 cm; 10"). [2] ff., 635, 638–828, [33] pp. $550.00
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Johan de Witt was one of Europe's greatest statesmen of the 17th century: Appointed the “councillor pensionary” (i.e., the political leader) of Holland (1653–72), he successfully led the United Provinces in the First and Second Anglo-Dutch wars (1652–54, 1665–67) while at the same time effectively consolidating the country's position as a formidable commercial and naval power.
This text with a sizable subject index records de Witt's public resolutions from 2 August 1653 to 19 December 1668 on a variety of topics, including the price of gold, the East India Company, and England. In the dedication, vande Water, the printer of this work, notes that he is producing it so that the documents will not be lost to the future.
Evidence of Readership: Notes referring to specific pages written on front free endpaper and a newspaper clipping dated 25 April 1926 laid in text.
STCN 216098602. Speckled calf, gilt spine with stamped and lettered compartments, all edges speckled red; top of spine artfully repaired, joints strengthened, gently rubbed. A few gatherings age-toned and one section at rear with band of very light waterstaining to foremargin; small holes in foremargin of two leaves, possibly created during manufacture, small tear to bottom margin of another. A well-organized look at what was considered important during the middle of the Dutch Golden Age. (35705)
Zeisberger, David. Zeisberger's Indian dictionary: English, German, Iroquois — The Onondaga, and Algonquin — The Delaware. Cambridge: John Wilson & Son, 1887. 4to (27.5 cm; 11"). v, [1 (blank), 236 pp. [SOLD]
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“Printed from the Original Manuscript in Harvard University Library.” Zeisberger was an 18th-century Moravian missionary among the native Americans named in the title of this work. He left this polyglot dictionary in manuscript and it ishere printed for the first time. Edited by Eben Norton Horsford.
Sabin 106302n. Publisher's textured cloth in a brick color, hinges (inside) cracked; ex-library with a bookplate, no stamps. Clipping about this “quaint” dictionary affixed to a blank, with offsetting to endpaper verso opposite; interior clean. (31960)
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