fine new acquisitions

Transcription

FINE NEW
ACQUISITIONS
november 2015
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baumanrarebooks.com
1-800-97-bauman (1-800-972-2862)
or 212-751-0011
[email protected]
new york
535 Madison Avenue
(Between 54th & 55th Streets)
New York, NY 10022
800-972-2862 or 212-751-0011
Monday - Saturday: 10am to 6pm
las vegas
We offer here a
selection of fine
new acquisitions
in various fields,
many from private
collections.
Grand Canal Shoppes, The Venetian | The Palazzo
3327 Las Vegas Blvd., South, Suite 2856
Las Vegas, NV 89109
888-982-2862 or 702-948-1617
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Philadelphia, PA 19103
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any reason (please notify us before returning).
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j . d . sali nger
A Great Modern Rarity: Stunning First Issue,
Review Copy Of Salinger’s Classic, With An Extraordinary
Unrecorded Broadside In Which Salinger Reveals Personal
Feelings About This Book And Disappointment That
Children Will Not Read It
1. SALINGER, J.D. The Catcher in the Rye. Boston: Little, Brown, 1951.
Octavo, original black cloth, dust jacket, custom chemise and half morocco
slipcase. $39,500.
First edition of Salinger’s first book, in first-issue dust jacket with
photograph of Salinger on the back panel. With review slip and Salinger
broadside laid in. A lovely copy.
“The Catcher in the Rye is undoubtedly a 20th-century classic” (Parker,
300). “This novel is a key-work of the nineteen-fifties in that the theme of
youthful rebellion is first adumbrated in it, though the hero, Holden
Caulfield, is more a gentle voice of protest, unprevailing in the noise, than a
militant world-changer… The Catcher in the Rye was a symptom of a need,
after a ghastly war and during a ghastly pseudo-peace, for the young to
raise a voice of protest against the failures of the adult world” (Anthony Burgess, 99 Novels, 53-4). Laid in to this copy is a
review slip headed “To the Literary Editor.” In addition, this copy includes an unrecorded mimeographed broadside from the
Little, Brown publicity department that reads: “In J. D. Salinger’s own words: Born in New York City, in 1919. Have lived in
and around New York most of my life. Educated in Manhattan public schools, a military academy in Pennsylvania, three
colleges (no degree). A happy, tourist’s year in Europe when I was eighteen and nineteen. I’d like to say who my favorite
fiction writers are, but I don’t see how I can do it without saying why they are. So I won’t. I’m aware that a number of my
friends will be saddened, or shocked, or shocked-saddened, over some of the chapters of THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.
Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all of my best friends are children. It’s almost unbearable to me to realize that
my book will be kept on a shelf out of their reach.” A 1953 printing of a similar broadside (coinciding with publication of Nine
Stories) has been recorded but discusses only Nine Stories and does not include the last four sentences. The present copy
is dated 1951, the year of publication. Book fresh and fine; bright, unrestored dust jacket near-fine, with only lightest rubbing
to spine head and minor toning. A clean and lovely copy, exceptionally desirable with rare broadside.
“I’m aware that a number of my friends will be saddened, or shocked,
or shocked-saddened, over some of the chapters of The Catcher In The Rye.
Some of my best friends are children. In fact, all of my best friends are children.
It’s almost unbearable to me to realize that my book will be kept on a shelf out
of their reach.” —Salinger, 1951, in this unrecorded broadside
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f . scot t fit zger al d
One Of The Great Rarities In American Literature
2. FITZGERALD, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York, 1925. Octavo, original green cloth, original
pictorial dust jacket. Housed in a custom blue half morocco clamshell box. $75,000.
First edition, first issue in the very rare dust jacket (second printing) of one of the most scarce and
desirable works in American fiction.
In 1922, having already written This Side of Paradise and The Beautiful and Damned, Fitzgerald told
his publisher Max Perkins, “I want to write something new—something extraordinary and beautiful
and simple and intricately patterned” (Bruccoli, 198). The triumphant result three years later was
The Great Gatsby, published just before what Fitzgerald called the summer of “1,000 parties and no
work” (Fitch, 183). Noted critic Cyril Connolly called Gatsby one of the half dozen best American
novels: “[Gatsby] remains a prose poem of delight and sadness which has by now introduced two
generations to the romance of America, as Huckleberry Finn and Leaves of Grass introduced those
before it” (The Modern Movement, 48). The dust jacket of The Great Gatsby is in itself something of
a legend. According to one account, the jacket art
was actually commissioned months before the
“No amount of fire or freshness
book was completed and Fitzgerald was so
can challenge what a man will
inspired by the haunting image of the eyes that he
wrote a scene around it (“For Christ’s sake don’t
store up in his ghostly heart.”
give anyone that jacket,” he wrote to Perkins. “I’ve
written it into the book”). Not only is the dust
jacket one of the most recognizable of the 20th century, it is also one of the rarest. This secondprinting jacket differs from the first only in the correction of the “J” in “Jay Gatsby” from lower to
upper case; in the first issue it was hand-corrected. First-issue book, with “sick in tired” on page
205, and all five other points. Bruccoli A11.1.a. Book fine; some expert restoration to bright, lovely
dust jacket. An exceptionally scarce copy in the elusive original dust jacket, one of the great rarities
of modern literature.
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Pictured: 10 volumes of the complete 25-volume set offered
mark t wai n
Beautifully Bound Limited Edition Deluxe Set Of Twain’s Writings,
With Manuscript Pages From The Gilded Age By Mark Twain And Charles Dudley Warner,
A Double Twain Signature And An Autograph Letter To His Publisher
3. TWAIN, Mark. The Writings of Mark Twain. Hartford, 1899-1907. Twenty-five volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter blue
morocco gilt. $39,000.
Edition de Luxe, one of 1000 copies. This set with manuscript pages
of The Gilded Age, one each by Twain and by collaborator Charles
Dudley Warner, tipped in to Volume X. This set also with a tipped-in
double signature on the limitation leaf, “S.L. Clemens (Mark Twain),”
and an autograph letter tipped to the blank opposite the limitation
page, from Twain to his publisher, “Feb. 16. Friend Bliss: Please mail
or send in your own way, a cloth copy of Innocents Abroad to Sidney
Moffett, New Market, Shenendoah Co, Va, & charge to my Act. Yours,
Mark.” On the reverse is written in a different hand: “Mark Twain Feb.
16, ’75.” Very handsomely bound.
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Leaves of the Gilded Age manuscripts of Twain and Warner were sometimes bound into sets of the Edition de Luxe, and especially the
512 sets called the “Autograph Edition.” Twain’s manuscript leaf, from only six pages into the work (appearing on p. 18 here) begins,
“… for a coonskin & a cake of beeswax to an old dame in linsey-woolsey, put his letter away, & went into the kitchen. His wife was
there, constructing some dried apple pies; a slovenly urchin of ten was dreaming over a rude weather-vane of his own contriving…”
“Friend Bliss” mentioned in the autograph letter is Elisha Bliss (1822-80), manager of the American Publishing Company which
published the first five Twain titles between 1869 and 1880. Bliss marketed authors through subscription sales, a technique that
fulfilled his goal of making Twain “the people’s author” (Kaplan, 61). “His decision to chance a work of humor with his company was
a bold one, but his instinct that Mark Twain had a ready-made audience… proved accurate and enormously profitable…. Bliss can
claim the credit for recognizing Mark Twain’s proper audience, placing his literature in the hands of that audience, and educating his
apprentice author in the mechanics of subscription publication. His influence lurks… behind the humorist’s self-definition of his role
as the ‘People’s Author’ and the spokesman for the ‘mighty mass of the uncultivated…” (Wilson, 90-91). At the end of the 19thcentury subscription sales began to lose ground to urban bookstores. Frank Bliss, Elisha’s heir, shed subscription booklists and began
issuing expensive deluxe editions, none more important than this one. “As if to mark the close of a literary era,” Frank supervised the
production of this limited edition set and, according to Twain, “appeared to be having an easy time selling it, President McKinley and
other big guns have subscribed” (Kaplan, 355). This superb set contains all of Twain’s work, including novels, essays and sketches.
Each volume with a tissue-guarded frontispiece and a vignette
title page. With over 100 tissue-guarded plates, including etchings by W. H. W. Bicknell and photogravures from photographs and drawings. An
extraordinary set with autograph material
in fine condition.
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stephen cr ane
Beautiful First Edition, First Issue Of The Red Badge Of Courage, In Extremely Rare Dust Jacket,
“So Convincing That A Union General Said He Recalled Serving With Crane At Antietam,”
This Copy Belonging To General J. Ford Kent
4. CRANE, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage, An Episode of the American Civil War. New York, 1895. Octavo, original
pale yellow buckram, dust jacket, custom full leather clamshell box. $40,000.
First edition, first issue of Crane’s classic Civil War novel, in exceptionally rare original dust jacket, the copy belonging to
Union General J. Ford Kent.
“Stephen Crane, with no more military experience than
his lively imagination could cull from Battles and Leaders
of the Civil War and from Tolstoy, told so graphically how
a raw recruit feels in battle that The Red Badge of
Courage must be regarded as the first artistic approach
to the war. It pictures no historical figure or event, except
that Chancellorsville is its setting, but its sense of the
helplessness and meaninglessness of the common
soldier, maneuvered by superiors and circumstance, is a
brilliant achievement in impression” (Leisy, 158-59).
“The book was so convincing that a Union colonel said
he recalled serving with Crane at Antietam” (ANB). First
issue, with perfect type in the last line on page 225, with
“Gilbert Parker’s Best Books” listed at the top of the
publisher’s advertisement on page [235], and with top
edge yellow. First published in serial form by the
Philadelphia Press in 1894. BAL 4071. Starrett 3. Grolier
American 100 98. Owner signature of Brigadier General
J. Ford Kent to top of page one. Kent served in the Union
army during the Civil War, and also served during the
Indian Wars and in Cuba during the Spanish-American
War. Interior fine; rear inner paper hinge split but sound.
Original cloth the finest we have ever seen, exceptionally
bright without any of the usual soiling edge-wear. Expertly
restored rare dust jacket is clean and bright with toning
to spine. An exceptional first edition copy of this American
classic, most scarce in original dust jacket, with
wonderful provenance.
“Our novelists of war—Ernest Hemingway and Normal Mailer in particular—
absorbed Crane’s impressionistic mode of rendering battle, Hemingway directly
from Crane, Mailer through Hemingway.” —Harold Bloom
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r alph wal do emer son
“Certain Temperaments Suit The Sky And Soil Of England”:
Emerson’s Illustrated Complete Works,
With Fine Original Manuscript Leaf
5. EMERSON, Ralph Waldo. Complete Works. Cambridge, 1903-04. Twelve
volumes. Octavo, contemporary three-quarter green morocco gilt. $12,500.
“Autograph Centenary” edition, one of 600 copies, illustrated with 56 photogravures, with original manuscript leaf in Emerson’s hand mounted in
Volume I.
The manuscript leaf is a paragraph from Emerson’s 1856 essay “English
Traits,” and reads: “Defoe said in his wrath, that, the Englishman was the mud
of all races. I incline to the belief, that, as water, lime & sand make mortar, so
certain temperaments marry well, & by well-managed contrarieties, develop
as drastic a character as the English. On the whole, it is not so much a history
of one or of certain tribes of Saxons or Frisians coming from one place &
genetically identical, as it is an anthology of temperaments out of them all.
Certain temperaments suit—the sky & soil of England, say, eight or ten or
twenty varieties, as, out of a hundred pear-trees, eight or ten suit the soil of
a particular orchard, & thrive, whilst all the unadapted temperaments die
out.” This is nearly identical to the published version, which reads “Saxons,
Jutes, or Frisians” rather than simply “Saxons or Frisians.” Volume VIII with
just a touch of damp affecting rear board and last few leaves only. Fine
condition, a beautiful and desirable set.
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arthur conan doyle
First Editions Of The Adventures And Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes
6. CONAN DOYLE, Arthur. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. WITH: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. London, 1892, 1894.
Two volumes. Octavo, light blue and dark blue cloth, custom chemises and slipcases. $18,500.
First editions in book form of these classic stories starring literature’s most famous detective, illustrated by Sidney Paget. From the
library of Dickens bibliographer Philo Calhoun.
Sherlock Holmes first appeared in the novel A Study in Scarlet (1887), but his
adventures in the Strand Magazine would bring both him and his creator, Arthur
Conan Doyle, lasting fame. “The initial 12 tales were collected between covers as The
the impossible, whatever remains, Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, published in England and America in 1892; and 11
the second 12… as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, published in 1894. If any
however improbable, must be the ofreader
be prepared to name two other books that have given more innocent but solid
pleasure, let him speak now— or hold his peace!” (Haycraft, 50). These volumes
truth.” —
Sherlock Holmes,
contain such famous and memorable tales as “A Scandal in Bohemia” and “The
Adventure of the Speckled Band.” Of special note is the last case in the Memoirs,
“The Beryl Coronet”
“The Final Problem,” in which Holmes apparently meets his death in a struggle with
“the Napoleon of crime,” Professor Moriarty. Adventures in first-issue binding, with blank street sign on front board illustration. Green
& Gibson A10a, A14a. DeWaal 520, 596. Bookplates of Philo Calhoun, noted antiquarian and rare book collector. Calhoun was an
expert in the bibliographic history of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and his bookplates reproduce one of John Leech’s illustrations from
that title. Bookseller’s small ticket in Adventures. Occasional pencil markings in Memoirs. Minor scattered light foxing, both volumes
expertly recased with original endpapers preserved, cloth fine and fresh, front boards with bright gilt. A beautiful set.
“When you have excluded
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charles dicken s
“The One Great Christmas Myth Of Modern Literature”: First Issue Of A Christmas Carol
7. DICKENS, Charles. A Christmas Carol. London, 1843. Small octavo, original cinnamon cloth gilt, custom slipcase. “…how he wept over it, and laughed
and wept again…how he walked
thinking of it fifteen and twenty miles
about the black streets of London, and
many a night after all sober folks had
gone to bed. And when it was done…
he let himself loose like a madman.”
—John Forster, Life of Dickens, about
the writing of A Christmas Carol
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$22,000.
First edition, first issue of this Christmas classic, with four hand-colored
steel-engraved plates by John Leech, the only one of Dickens’ first editions to
contain hand-colored illustrations.
A Christmas Carol “may readily be called the Bible of Christmas… It was issued about ten days before Christmas, 1843, and 6000 copies were sold on
the first day” (Eckel, 110). “Dickens decided to publish the book himself…
He stipulated the following requirements: a fancy binding, blind-stamped,
with gilding on the spine and front cover; all edges gilded; four full-page
hand-colored etchings” (Gimbel A79). This copy first issue, with blue and red
title page dated 1843, half title and verso of title page printed in blue, “Stave
I” on page [1], and light green endpapers, with the four color plates. Firstissue copies appear with either yellow or green endpapers, no priority established; this copy has green endpapers. Armorial bookplate; contemporary
owner signatures, including one to top of title page. Occasional light scattered
foxing to interior, less than usual; minor expert restoration to joints and corners, gilt bright.
lewi s carroll
The Appleton Alice: First American And Earliest Obtainable
Edition Of Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland
8. CARROLL, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. New York, 1866. Octavo,
modern full red morocco gilt, custom cloth slipcase. $18,000.
Very rare first American edition of Lewis Carroll’s brilliant and beloved topsy-turvy
fantasy—virtually the earliest obtainable edition, preceding the first published
London edition—with both variant title pages, handsomely bound by the Lakeside
Press.
Carroll’s classic romp through the realm of nonsense “‘is, in a word, a book of that
extremely rare kind which will belong to all the generations to come until the language becomes obsolete’” (Carpenter & Prichard, 102). The book’s publishing
history “has a fairy-tale quality all its own. The Clarendon Press, Oxford, printed
2000 copies of what has come to be known as the first edition of the book. On 24
May 1865 Carroll wrote to his publisher… requesting 50 copies to give to friends. On 19 July, however, he heard from John Tenniel,
his illustrator, that he was ‘dissatisfied with the printing of the pictures.’ On 2 August Carroll finally decided on the re-print of Alice,
and he immediately set about recalling all the copies that he had sent out earlier, promising replacements as soon as the new printing was available. The remainder of the original books were
sold to Appleton, the New York publisher, and they would appear, with a new title-page, as the
first American edition.” Only about 20 copies with the original London title page exist, making it virtually unobtainable (Cohen, 11314). This American issue consisted of only 1000 copies. The present copy includes both of the variant title pages, no priority (the
distinction is the position of the “B” in “By” directly above, or above and slightly to the right of, the “T” in “Tenniel”). This copy the
variant (again, no priority) with lowercase “a” on page [ix] and hyphen in “Rabbit-Hole” on Contents Page. Lewis Carroll Handbook
44. Small stain to interior. A very nearly fine copy of the very rare Appleton edition of this most important children’s book.
“We’re all mad here.”
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t . s . eliot
“The First Masterpiece Of ‘Modernism’ In English”
9. ELIOT, T.S. Prufrock and Other Observations. London, 1917. 12mo, original stiff buff paper wrappers respined;
pp. 40. $13,800.
Rare first edition of T.S. Eliot’s first book, one of only 500 copies printed, in the original fragile paper wrappers.
“’Prufrock’ was the first poem [by Eliot] to go beyond experiment to achieved perfection. It represented a break with
the immediate past as radical as that of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth in Lyrical Ballads (1798).
From the appearance of Eliot’s first volume, Prufrock and Other Observations in 1917, one
“Do I dare disturb may conveniently date the maturity of the 20th-century poetic revolution; for, in addition to
the title poem, the book contained ‘Preludes’ and ‘Portrait of a Lady’—both mature works;
the universe?”
and the revolution had come of age” (Britannica). Gallup A1. Connolly, The Modern
Movement 30a. Bookseller’s small ticket to rear wrapper. Usual light toning from wrappers to pages [1] and [40],
minor marginal dampstaining to front wrapper and a few leaves, fragile original wrappers expertly restored.
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james joyce
One Of The Last Copies Signed By Joyce
10. JOYCE, James. Ulysses. London, 1937. Octavo, original green cloth gilt, dust jacket.
$32,000.
First trade edition printed in England, inscribed on the half title: “James Joyce / Paris / 7 April 1939.”
Joyce signed very few copies of Ulysses apart from the signed limited editions (which all together total only 475 copies). At
the time of this inscription Joyce was eagerly anticipating the publication of Finnegans Wake (published May 2, 1939). This
edition was the last issued in Joyce’s lifetime and this copy, inscribed in 1939, is one of the last signed by Joyce, who died
January 13, 1941. This edition was immediately preceded by the 1936 Bodley Head limited edition of 1000 copies and is
the ninth edition of Ulysses overall. The fight for a British printed and published edition of Joyce’s masterpiece had seemed
interminable. In the 12 years following the Shakespeare and Company 1922 first edition Joyce unsuccessfully sought an
English publisher willing to risk prosecution and bring out an unexpurgated edition of his masterpiece. Even when John Lane
finally agreed to take on the project in 1934, the printers protested against certain passages and publication was delayed
another two years. In Copenhagen when the 1936 publication date of the Bodley Head limited edition was announced, Joyce
exulted, “Now the war between England and me is over, and I am the conqueror” (Ellman, 693). “Universally hailed as the
most influential work of modern times” (Grolier Joyce 69). Slocum A23. Book fine, only light edge-wear to lovely original dust
jacket. A very rare and important signed copy of one of the landmark books of the 20th century.
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L a dy O t toli ne M orrell
Eccentric and aristocratic, Ottoline Morrell was at the core of the
Bloomsbury group, creating a roving social club for early 20th-century
literati and artists in her London and Oxfordshire houses. As the
group’s literary hostess—often taking on roles ranging from lover to
enemy—Morrell found herself depicted in the group’s most famous
work, earning her eternal fame as an array of characters including
none other than Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley.
An Extraordinary Presentation Copy:
The Drawings And Engravings Of William Blake,
Inscribed By Siegfried Sassoon To Lady Ottoline Morrell
11.
(SASSOON, Siegfried) (BLAKE, William) BINYON, Laurence. The
Drawings and Engravings of William Blake. London, 1922. Quarto,
original half vellum. $4200.
First trade edition of Binyon’s survey of Blake’s drawings and engravings,
with 104 plates, 16 printed in color and tipped to heavy stock, this copy
presented by English poet Siegfried Sassoon to Lady Ottoline Morrell:
“Ottoline, from S.S. [monogram] Xmas. 1922.”
Recipient Lady Ottoline Morrell, was friend, muse, and patron to numerous
writers and artists, among them Henry James, Bertrand Russell, Virginia
Woolf, Aldous Huxley, D.H. Lawrence, and of course Siegfried Sassoon,
who lived at the Morrell’s Garsington Manor while recuperating from an
injury. Text and plates fine, vellum spine with minor expert repairs. An
extremely good copy, with a very nice literary association.
“Silence Is The Ultimate Guide”: Siegfried Sassoon’s Vigils, One Of 66
Reserved Presentation Copies, Inscribed By Him To Lady Ottoline Morrell
12. SASSOON, Siegfried. Vigils. Bristol, 1934. Small quarto, original half rust cloth. $6000.
Signed limited first edition, one of only 303 copies signed and numbered by Sassoon on
the colophon, this copy one of 66 reserved presentation copies and additionally inscribed
by Sassoon with his characteristic interlocked double-S initials to Lady Ottoline Morrell:
“O.M. from SS.”
After production of this limited edition, the plates were destroyed. Rupert Hart-Davis
records that Sassoon “longed for praise and recognition, but he was so instinctively
reclusive, so unsure of his gifts and afraid of making a fool of himself, that he preferred
his poems to appear first in small and expensive limited editions” (Sassoon, Diaries
1915-1918, 10). Keynes A39. Marginal pencil emendation to one poem. Near-fine
condition. An excellent association copy of this scarce Sassoon limited edition.
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“Always I Detect Irony Beneath Your Manner”:
First Edition Of Forster’s Masterpiece A Passage To India,
The Copy Of Ottoline Morrell
13.
FORSTER, E.M. A Passage to India. London, 1924. Octavo, original
burgundy cloth. $5800.
First trade edition of E.M. Forster’s most famous novel, the last published in
his lifetime, the copy of Bloomsbury group hostess and book collector Lady
Ottoline Morrell, who frequently hosted Forster at her home, annotated by
Morrell and bearing a signed gift inscription from her as well as a tipped-in
photograph of Forster captioned by her.
Forster’s 1921 return trip to India “had the effect of releasing what was to be
judged his masterpiece, A Passage to India” (DNB). A “Limited Edition” of 200
copies was printed the same year, no priority established. Without extremely
scarce dust jacket. Morrell was, in fact, responsible for introducing Forster to
D.H. Lawrence, an important association for them both. For Forster, Ottoline
Morrell was an inroads into the most exclusive circles, but she was also a friend.
As far back as October 4, 1913, he wrote to her, “Every one ought to go to India. There is a desert
of purple stone and cold air in Rajputana where I caught some germ that will stop me from ever
being ill again.” This copy bears a gift inscription signed by Morrell as “O” for Ottoline and reading,
“Philip from O, June 4th 1924.” It also has a laid-in original photograph of Forster reading a
newspaper, captioned below on the pastedown in Morrell’s hand. Morrell has annotated the work
by writing page references on the rear free endpaper and there is a bit of marginal pencil bracketing in the text. Bookseller ticket. A few tiny spots of soiling to interior, tape residue to front endpapers, some wear to cloth. An extremely good copy with an outstanding association.
From Siegfried Sassoon To Lady Ottoline Morrell:
Wonderful Presentation Copy Of 1926 Edition Of Songs Of
Innocence, Inscribed By Sassoon With A Blake Quotation
14.
(SASSOON, Siegfried) BLAKE, William. Songs of Innocence.
London, 1926. Small slim octavo, original buckram. $4000.
Lovely and faithful reproduction of Blake’s famous illuminated book, this
copy presented by English poet Siegfried Sassoon to Lady Ottoline
Morrell: “O.M. from S.S. [monogram] 5.I.27. ‘Now like a mighty wind
they raise to heaven the voice of song.’”
In his inscription Sassoon quotes a line from Blake’s poem “Holy
Thursday,” which appears in this facsimile. “Blake’s works reverse the
roles of [moral verses and didactic fables]… in them it is not the poet who
instructs the child, but the child who teaches the poet. In Songs of
Innocence the child recounts the pleasures of a life in nature” (Britannica).
Blake’s great talents, though, extended beyond poetry. He engraved,
hand-printed and hand-colored a very small number of copies, which
were remarkable for their great beauty; this facsimile is based on one of
those copies. Trial cloth binding for another book bound in at rear. Text
clean, spine darkened with minor expert restoration to original cloth. An
extremely good copy.
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f . scot t fit zger al d
“The Victor Belongs To The Spoils”:
First Issue In Rare Dust Jacket
15. FITZGERALD, F. Scott. The Beautiful and Damned. New York, 1922. Octavo, original green cloth, dust jacket,
custom half morocco clamshell box. $18,500.
First edition, first issue, of Fitzgerald’s scarce second novel in first-issue dust jacket.
“She was beautiful—
“The Beautiful and Damned brought Fitzgerald accolades from those whose opinions he
valued. Mencken congratulated him for staking out new ground… Fitzgerald was aiming high;
he only wanted to be the best novelist of his generation” (Turnbull, 130-31). Fitzgerald wrote
without mercy.”
to Zelda in 1930, “I wish The Beautiful and Damned had been a maturely written book because
it was all true. We ruined ourselves… I have never honestly thought that we ruined each other”
(Bruccoli, 180). First issue, with “Published March, 1922” on copyright page; first-issue dust jacket with letters on upper
cover in white, outlined in black. Bruccoli A8.1.a. Book fine; minor expert restoration to extremely good dust jacket.
but especially she was
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ernest hemi ngway
Inscribed By Ernest Hemingway
16.
HEMINGWAY, Ernest. For Whom the Bell Tolls. New York, 1940. Octavo, original beige cloth, dust jacket. $13,500.
First edition of this classic Hemingway novel, in first-issue dust jacket, inscribed by the author: “For Mae —— with best
regards, Ernest Hemingway.”
“This is the best book Ernest Hemingway has written, the fullest, the deepest,
the truest. It will, I think, be one of the major novels of American literature…
Hemingway has struck universal chords, and he has struck them vibrantly” (J.
Donald Adams). First issue, with Scribner’s “A” on copyright page, in first-issue
dust jacket without photographer’s name. Hanneman A18a. Publisher’s advance
postcard laid in. Interior clean, cloth with light toning to spine. Bright, unrestored
dust jacket with only light rubbing to spine, light edge-wear. A desirable inscribed
copy in near-fine condition.
“The world is a fine place and
worth fighting for and I hate
very much to leave it.”
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ernest hemi ngway
Large Original Photograph Of Hemingway And Cuban Sportsman Elicio Arguelles
Posing With A Giant Marlin In Peru While Filming Old Man And The Sea,
Warmly Inscribed At Length By Hemingway And Signed By Him
17. HEMINGWAY, Ernest. Photograph inscribed. Cabo Blanco, May 1956. Black-and-white photograph, measuring 6-3/4 by 9-1/4
inches; double-matted and framed, entire piece measured 14 by 16-1/2 inches. $22,000.
Original black-and-white photograph of Hemingway with his Cuban sportsman friend Elicio Arguellas on a fishing trip during the
filming of Old Man and the Sea in Peru, inscribed to a Havana boat dealer: “To L.C. De Clairmont from his and Wheerler’s friend,
Ernest Hemingway. This fish caught by Elicio Arguelles. Old Man and the Sea Expedition. Cabo Blanco May 1956.”
Full-length image of Hemingway and Cuban sportsman Elicio Arguelles posing alongside a giant marlin caught by Arguelles at Cabo
Blanco, just off the northern coast of Peru. It was there that Ernest Hemingway spent April and May of 1956 with a crew from Warner
Brothers filming the movie version of his book, Old Man and the Sea. Arguelles, who accompanied him on several of his fishing trips
for the film, proudly stands next to his catch from one such trip with Hemingway at the other side. From Hemingway’s quintessential
fisherman pose, to the story-related setting, to the lengthy inscription in his hand labeling the catch as taking place on the “Old Man
and the Sea Expedition,” this photo is exceptional and rare. The inscribee, L.C. De Clairmont was a Century Blue Ribbon boat dealer
in Havana, Cuba, as well as a friend of Hemingway. Minor surface flaws, some letters of Hemingway’s completely legible writing are a
tad light due to decreased ink flow. Minor surface flaws. About-fine condition.
Pictured on previous page.
“A Peak Of English Poetry”:
First Edition Of The Winding Stair, Signed By Yeats
18. YEATS, William Butler. The Winding Stair. New York, 1929. Octavo, original
gilt-stamped dark blue cloth.
$4500.
Signed limited first edition, one of only 642 copies, signed by Yeats.
The Winding Stair, along with The Tower (published in 1928), contain “the greatest
poetry of Yeats in his difficult later manner… a peak in English poetry” (Connolly
56B). Both titles refer to Thoor Ballylee, the Norman tower that Yeats purchased,
restored and dedicated to his wife Georgie Hyde-Lees. The Winding Stair includes
one of Yeats’ most resonant and best-known poems, “A Dialogue of Self and Soul.”
Book designed by Frederic Warde and printed by William Edwin Rudge for the
Fountain Press. With partial original glassine laid in, rarely found. Without scarce
slipcase. Wade 164. Roth 213. A fine signed copy.
“My Soul. I summon to the
winding ancient stair…”
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ken kese y
“A Roar Of Protest”:
First Edition, Boldly Inscribed By Ken Kesey
19. KESEY, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. New York, 1962. Octavo, original green cloth, dust jacket. First edition of Kesey’s most “popular and enduring” work, boldly inscribed by Kesey:
“For Maggie, Ken Kesey, 1994.”
“Ken Kesey’s first novel remains his most popular and enduring… Cuckoo’s Nest
resonates with the classic theme of the individual rebelling against the controlling forces
of society” (Books of the Century, 98). On publication in 1962, Time magazine called
Cuckoo’s Nest “a roar of protest against middlebrow society’s Rules and the invisible
Rulers who enforce them.” Adapted to the stage in 1963, with Kirk Douglas in the lead,
the novel was the basis for the highly successful 1975 film starring Jack Nicholson. First
issue, with “that fool Red Cross woman” on page 9, lines 12-13, in first-issue dust jacket
containing Kerouac’s endorsement on the front flap. Owner gift inscriptions on front free
endpaper. Tiny tear to half-title where Kesey’s signature pressed through the paper.
Book near-fine, with a few spots of foxing to front endpaper and mild toning to bottom
edge of cloth. Dust jacket very good, with some wear and light staining mainly to
extremities, shallow chipping to spine ends and mild toning to spine. A desirable copy.
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$10,500.
jack kerouac
“Because The Only People For Me Are The Mad Ones”:
First Edition Of On The Road, A Beautiful Copy
20. KEROUAC, Jack. On the Road. New York, 1957. Octavo, original black cloth, dust jacket,
custom half morocco clamshell box. $16,000.
First edition of Kerouac’s second and most important novel, “a physical and metaphysical
journey across America,” very scarce in colorful dust jacket. A stunning unrestored copy in
exceptional condition.
“Between 1947 and 1950, Neal Cassady and Jack Kerouac took off on a freewheeling journey
through the USA and Mexico in search of something outside their domestic experience. Ten
years later their adventures were related in On the Road… The novel’s composition has become
a well-known anecdote in its own right. Returning home from his wanderings, Kerouac spent
almost a year pondering how (specifically, in what form) he might convey the life he had been
living. Several false starts were made, but in April 1951 he fed a 120-foot roll of teletype into
his typewriter, typed for three weeks and the result, largely unrevised, was On the Road”
(Parker, 339). “Just before Jack Kerouac died in 1969, he told Neal Cassady that he feared he
would die like Melville, unknown and unappreciated in his own time… On the Road has become
a classic of the Beat Movement with its stream-of-consciousness depiction of the rejection of
mainstream American values set in a physical and metaphysical journey across America” (Book in America, 136). Bruccoli & Clark
I:217. Book fine, bright and unrestored dust jacket completely unfaded with a few faint crease marks to extremities. A beautiful copy.
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“Bond. James Bond.”
James Bond’s adventures have proven, like diamonds, to be forever.
Offered here are first editions of every book in Ian Fleming’s James Bond series.
Exceptional Unrestored First Edition Of Ian Fleming’s First James Bond Novel
21.
FLEMING, Ian. Casino Royale. London, 1953. Octavo, original boards, dust jacket. $70,000.
First edition of Fleming’s scarce first book, in first-issue dust jacket. An exceptional, unrestored copy.
“Fleming accomplished an extraordinary amount in the history of the thriller. Almost singlehandedly, he revived popular interest in the
spy novel (Reilly, 571). Casino Royale is certainly the rarest of Fleming’s novels. “According to the Cape archives…only 4728 copies were
bound up. Many of these went to public libraries and we believe that less than half of the first printing was sold to the public. The jacket
is genuinely rare in fresh condition” (Biondi & Pickard, 40). This copy in first-issue dust jacket. Book fine. Light wear to extremities of
lovely bright, near-fine dust jacket with shallow chipping to spine ends. An extremely desirable copy, most rare in unrestored dust jacket.
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“B ond. J ames B ond.”
“Whom Have You Been Sent Over To Kill Here, Mr. Bond?”:
Live And Let Die, A Stunning Copy
22.
FLEMING, Ian. Live and Let Die. London, 1954. Octavo, original boards, dust jacket. First edition of Fleming’s second James Bond novel, “full of pace,
incident and color” (Lycett, 238)—in which 007 investigates an
underworld voodoo leader who is suspected of selling 17th century
gold coins to finance Soviet spy operations in America—in the rare
first-issue dust jacket.
“Before Casino Royale was published [in 1953], Fleming had already
researched and written what was originally to be called The Undertaker’s
Wind. Far from repeating the formula of his first success, this [book]
was a world away from the sinister style of a luxurious European
gambling resort” (Black, 10-11). First-issue dust jacket without credit
for jacket design and art. Book fine in a bright, unrestored dust jacket
with only light soiling to rear panel. A fine copy, most scarce in firstissue dust jacket.
$32,000.
“The second adventure of [James Bond]
fully maintains the promise of his first
book…containing passages which for sheer
excitement have not been surpassed by any
modern writer in this kind.”
—Times Literary Supplement
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“He Must Play The Role… The Man Who Was Only A Silhouette”
23.
FLEMING, Ian. Moonraker. London, 1955. Octavo, original boards, dust jacket. $15,000.
First edition of Fleming’s third novel, in which Bond must foil the attempt of a British industrialist to destroy London with a
nuclear weapon, in first-issue dust jacket.
Considered by many to be one of the best of the Bond books, Moonraker afforded Fleming “an
opportunity to wax lyrical about the England he loved—the ‘panorama full of color and excitement
and romance’… [Fleming also] skillfully reintroduced notes of ambiguity and realism into the life of
said Bond calmly.
his globe-trotting hero… Noël Coward read Moonraker in proof in Jamaica and pronounced, ‘It is the
we have to stay alive.” best thing he has done yet, very exciting… His observation is extraordinary and his talent for
description vivid’” (Lycett). The early Bond novels are quite scarce. “This title is extremely rare in fine
condition” (Biondi & Pickard, 42). With “shoot” instead of “shoo” on page 10, penultimate line; sheets bulk at 19mm, indicating
that this copy was part of a second impression on heavier paper, released simultaneously with the first impression, in the same
binding. First-issue dust jacket, with flap price “10s. 6d. net” and jacket design credit line on the front flap. Book fine; light toning
to spine and soiling to rear panel (as often) of bright, unrestored dust jacket with price-clipped front flap. A near-fine copy.
“They want us dead,'
'So
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“One Of The Least Forgettable Characters
In Modern Fiction”
24. FLEMING, Ian. Dr. No. London, 1958. Octavo, original boards, dust
jacket. $4500.
First edition of the sixth Bond thriller, introducing Dr. No, perhaps the
most famous of the Bond villains and the first to appear on film.
The further adventures of “literature’s most famous spy” (Steinbrunner &
Penzler, 151) and basis for the first Bond film in 1962, starring Sean
Connery as Bond, Ursula Andress as Honeychile Ryder, Jack Lord as CIA
agent Felix Leiter, and Joseph Wiseman in the title role. Time acclaimed
the title villain as “one of the least forgettable characters in modern fiction”
(Black, 32). First-issue dust jacket with Fleming’s name printed in black
on the spine, and in the plain first-state binding without the brown-stamped
dancing girl silhouette on front board. A fine, crisp copy.
“To Begin With He Was Ashamed Of Himself—
A Rare State Of Mind”
25. FLEMING, Ian. Thunderball. London, 1961. Octavo, original boards,
dust jacket. $3200.
First edition of Fleming’s ninth Bond novel, featuring the first appearance
of the super-spy’s memorable nemesis, the villainous mastermind behind
SPECTRE, Ernst Blofeld, whose theft of two nuclear warheads threatens
the world.
“Thunderball represented a new departure [for the Bond series], with the
introduction of SPECTRE and of Ernst Blofeld, a commanding villain who
was to reappear. This gave a measure of continuity to the later Bond
novels… Thunderball worked well as an adventure story… the theme of
the theft of atom bombs seemed pertinent and modern” (Black, 49, 55).
As he had in From Russia, With Love (1957) and The Spy Who Loved Me
(1962), Fleming considered permanently doing away with his super-spy
character: “I shall definitely kill off Bond with my next book—better a poor
bang than a rich whimper!” (Lycett, 364). Bond, of course, survives this
adventure, which, due to credit and rights controversy, was adapted twice
to the screen: under the present title in 1965 and as Never Say Never
Again in 1983—both times starring Sean Connery. A near-fine copy.
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“Death Is Forever. But So Are Diamonds”
26.
FLEMING, Ian. Diamonds Are Forever. London, 1956. Octavo,
original boards, dust jacket. $9000.
First edition of Fleming’s fourth James Bond thriller, a fast-paced,
globe-spanning race through the deadly world of diamond smuggling.
“In the 1950s, the mystique of America as a land of wealth and excitement
held great sway in a Britain still in the grips of austerity” (Black, 25), and
this mystique influenced Fleming’s fourth Bond thriller, in which the
super-spy visits the States to battle diamond-smuggling gangsters and
once again meets up with his arch-nemesis Blofeld. Interior fine; very
light scattered foxing to text block edges. Light edge wear to extremities
of bright dust jacket with light soiling to white rear panel and tape repairs
to verso. A near-fine copy.
“Bond Had Become Irreplaceable”
27.
FLEMING, Ian. From Russia, With Love. London, 1957. Octavo,
original black paper boards, dust jacket. $7500.
First edition of one of the most successful Bond novels, in which Bond
must recover a stolen Soviet encryption device from SMERSH.
Fleming considered this, his fifth Bond novel, in many ways his best.
“Described in the Times Literary Supplement as ‘most brilliant,’ the book
was a great commercial success and helped to launch Fleming as a
best-selling novelist” (Black, 27). From Russia was the first Bond novel to
feature Richard Chopping’s distinctive artwork: “Over the course of the
next decade Chopping… was to become widely known for the meticulous
detail of his distinctive Bond novel covers” (Lycett, 300). “This is a very
highly sought after title, as it is generally considered the best novel in the
series and the best of the movies, as well” (Biondi & Pickard, 44). Gilbert
A5a (1.1). Biondi & Pickard, 43-44. Book fine. Expert paper repairs to
spine and fold ends on verso of bright, price-clipped dust jacket. An
about fine copy.
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“I Love Its Colour, Its Brilliance, Its Divine Heaviness…
The Power That Gold Alone Gives”
28. FLEMING, Ian. Goldfinger. London, 1959. Octavo, original boards, dust jacket.
$4500.
First edition of the seventh James Bond thriller, in which Fleming’s super-spy
thwarts Auric Goldfinger’s plot to plunder Fort Knox.
“In the first two months of 1958, Fleming wrote the first draft of Goldfinger under the
working title The Richest Man in the World. This was destined to become a
quintessential example of both the novels and the movies” (Biondi). Perhaps
surprisingly, given 007’s globe-spanning adventures, Goldfinger is the only Bond
novel to include a map (on unnumbered page 246). Light scattered foxing to text
block edges. Light wear to extremities and light soiling to rear panel of bright dust
jacket with tape repairs to verso. A near-fine copy.
“How’s Your Coefficient Of Toughness, James?”
29.
FLEMING, Ian. For Your Eyes Only. London, 1960. Octavo, original boards,
dust jacket. $2500.
First edition of Fleming’s eighth Bond title, the only collection of Bond short stories
published in the author’s lifetime, including the title story, “From a View to a Kill,”
and “Quantum of Solace.”
This five-story collection “provided Fleming with an opportunity to reveal his fine
ability to create powerful impressions of different environments… The five stories
were very varied, but… in each of them the rendition of the environment was a major
theme in the text” (Black, 40). The book is also notable for its jacket, “the only British
dust jacket with any depiction of Bond: the eye in the peephole is his. Fleming made
[artist Richard] Chopping paint it many times, until he was satisfied with the shape
and, particularly, the color” (Biondi & Pickard, 46). Book fine; usual fading to spine
and light soiling to extremely good dust jacket.
“I Would Remember Him Forever As My Image Of A Man”
30.
FLEMING, Ian. The Spy Who Loved Me. London, 1962. Octavo, original
boards, dust jacket. $3000.
First edition of Fleming’s tenth Bond thriller—the author’s unusual examination of
his super-spy “from the other end of the gun barrel.”
Fleming “had become alarmed that his earlier thrillers, designed for an adult audience,
were increasingly read in schools… where young people made a hero out of James
Bond… He did not regard Bond as a heroic figure ‘but only as an efficient professional
in his job.’ Therefore he had sought to write a ‘cautionary tale’ to put the record
straight, particularly for his younger readers. Unable to do this in his usual narrative
style, he had invented a heroine ‘through whom I could examine Bond from the other
end of the gun barrel, so to speak’” (Lycett, 401-02). A near-fine copy.
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“If Anyone Can Bring It Off, You Can. Care To Have A Try, James?”
31.
FLEMING, Ian. You Only Live Twice. London, 1964. Octavo, original boards,
dust jacket. $1200.
First edition, first state, of the 12th James Bond novel—the last published in
Fleming’s lifetime—set in Japan and featuring the further plots of Bond villain Ernst
Blofeld.
The third Bond adventure featuring Ernst Blofeld as villain “was set in Japan, a novelty
for Bond, but one that reflected Fleming’s visits in 1959 and 1962… Fleming worked
hard to discover details of Japanese culture and society… [The novel] reflected
Fleming’s increasing melancholia, with Bond mirroring the author’s moods” (Black,
60-61). The Japanese characters on the book’s cover and dust jacket translate the
book’s title. You Only Live Twice was considered by both reviewers and readers as one
of the best Bond novels. Made into the 1967 film of the same title with a screenplay
by Roald Dahl, starring Sean Connery as Bond and Donald Pleasence as Blofeld. An
about-fine copy.
“You See, We’ve Got All The Time In The World”
2. FLEMING, Ian. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. London, 1963. Octavo, original
boards; dust jacket. $1600.
First trade edition of the eleventh Bond novel, in which 007 takes a bride, only to
have his happiness cut short by the schemes of his archnemesis, Ernst Blofeld.
Published simultaneously with the signed limited edition of 250 copies, the 11th James
Bond novel—the first published after the debut of the Bond film series—became “an
immediate bestseller on both sides of the Atlantic” (Biondi & Pickard, 53). George
Lazenby, in his only outing as the secret agent, starred in the 1969 film version, with
Diana Rigg as Tracy and Telly Savalas as Blofeld. A near-fine copy.
“And All This Because Of A Man Called Bond…”
33.
FLEMING, Ian. Octopussy and The Living Daylights. London, 1966. Octavo,
original boards, dust jacket. $450.
First edition of the James Bond short stories “Octopussy” (in which a Fabergé egg
holds the key to a nuclear attack on an American Air Force base) and “The Living
Daylights” (in which 007 must organize the defection of a Soviet general).
Consists of two stories—including the title piece, “a powerful work about guilt and
punishment” (Black, 78)—planned by Fleming for a never-completed collection and
published posthumously. “The Living Daylights” first appeared in England in the
Sunday Times in February 1962 and was retitled “Berlin Escape” for the June 1962
issue of the American magazine Argosy. Book fine in a fine, price-clipped dust jacket.
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Very Rare First Issue Of The Man With The Golden Gun
With The Gilt Gun On The Front Cover
34. FLEMING, Ian. The Man With the Golden Gun. London, 1965. Octavo, original gilt-stamped boards, dust jacket, custom
clamshell box. $18,000.
First edition of Fleming’s final Bond novel, published the year after the author’s death—in which 007 travels to Fleming’s
beloved Jamaica to neutralize the assassin of the book’s title—the exceptionally rare first issue, one of only 940 copies with
the gilt-embossed gun on the front of the binding.
“Fleming was adamant that this would be the last James Bond novel” (Gilbert A13a). Because Fleming wrote this Bond adventure
while ill— the author “was only able to work on it for one and a half hours a day”—the publisher hired novelist Kingsley Amis to
complete and revise it (Black, 75). The Cape archives state that 940 copies were produced with the golden gun stamping—a
binding that is “effectively the publisher’s trial binding, rejected in favor of a cheaper alternative” without the golden gun altogether
[Gilbert A13a (1.1)]. “Copies tend to turn up most frequently in the extremities of the British Commonwealth, e.g., South Africa,
Kenya, Australia and New Zealand” (Biondi & Pickard, 50), because “publication day would be the same throughout the British
Commonwealth and stock would need to arrive in good time to meet this date… those nations furthest afield would be sent the
earliest available copies (which, of course, meant the ‘Golden Gun’ bindings) at the the first opportunity” (Gilbert). Interior fine;
shallow chipping to spine head, corners bumped, with a minuscule tear to top front outer corner. Unrestored dust jacket bright
and fine. A near-fine copy, most scarce in first-issue binding.
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D65.
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thomas jeffer son
They “Might Expose Him, Living, Or His Character When Dead To Obloquies From
Bigots In Religion, In Politics, Or In Medicine”: Wonderful Thomas Jefferson Autograph
Letter Signed Regarding His Unwillingness To Allow Personal Correspondence To Be
Published With Dr. Benjamin Rush Regarding Political Or Religious Subjects
35. JEFFERSON, Thomas. Autograph letter signed. Monticello [Charlottesville, VA], August 17, 1816. One
quarto leaf, measuring 8 by 9-3/4 inches, written on recto for one page, with conjoined franked address leaf in
Jefferson’s hand. $75,000.
Important, thoughtful, and very desirable Thomas Jefferson autograph letter signed, in which he explains why
he refuses to publish his private correspondence with Benjamin Rush, “preventing the publication of his
letters, or their getting into hands which might expose him, living, or his character when dead to obloquies
from bigots in religion, in politics, or in medicine.” Jefferson’s references to religion in his available letters are
particularly scarce.
Thomas Jefferson, long since retired to private life, declines the request of Dr. James Mease for copies of Dr.
Benjamin Rush’s correspondence with Jefferson. Mease hoped to include them in a volume of Rush’s letters to be
published and specifically requested letters pertaining to Rush’s personal views on religion and politics.
The letter reads in part, “I have duly received your favor of the 7th inst. requesting me to communicate to you such
letters from the late Dr. Rush to myself as I possess on political, religious, and miscellaneous subjects, with a view
to their publication. I possess but few such; but these were of extraordinary confidence… When we are pouring our inmost thoughts into
“When we are pouring our
the bosom of a friend, we lose sight of the world, we see ourselves only
in confabulation with another self; we are off our guard; write hastily; inmost thoughts into the bosom
hazard thoughts of the first impression; yield to momentary exciteof a friend, we lose sight of the
ment; because, if we err, no harm is done… I do not mean an inference
that there is anything of this character in Doctor Rush’s letters to me:
world, we see ourselves only in
but only that, having been written without intention or preparation for
publication, I do not think it within the office of a friend to give them a
confabulation with another
publicity which he probably did not contemplate… Under these circumstances, I hope, my dear Sir, you will see in my scruples only a
self; we are off our guard; write
sentiment of fidelity to a deceased friend, and that you will accept assurances of my great esteem and respect / Th: Jefferson.”
hastily; hazard thoughts of the
Recipient James Mease (1771-1846) studied medicine under Benjamin
first impression; yield to
Rush and was a prominent Philadelphia doctor and scientific thinker, a
graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. He devoted
momentary excitement…”
considerable time to correspondence among other scientifically-minded
individuals around the United States and the world on subjects of horticulture, geology, penal and criminal reform,
technology, and medicine. Mease attended Dr. Rush on his deathbed in 1813. Fine condition, with expected toning.
Quite rare and desirable Jefferson letter with excellent content.
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noah webster
First Edition Of Webster’s Landmark American
Dictionary, 1828, In Contemporary Sheep,
With Rare Original Autograph Manuscript Leaf, For
This Work, With Definitions, Emendations And Edits
36. WEBSTER, Noah. American Dictionary of the English
Language. WITH: Autograph manuscript leaf. New York: S.
Converse, 1828 and No place, circa 1824-25. Two volumes. Thick
quarto (10 by 12 inches), contemporary full dark brown sheep,
custom chemises and clamshell boxes. WITH: Single leaf of laid
paper, ink writing to recto and verso. $45,000.
Rare first edition of Webster’s monumental American Dictionary,
one of only 2500 copies, with frontispiece portrait of the pioneering lexicographer, most elusive in contemporary American sheep
bindings, with rare autograph leaf (two pages on one leaf, spanning
“Biped” to “Bird”) from the original draft of Noah Webster’s 1828
American Dictionary of the English Language, “the standard
English dictionary in the United States” (PMM).
The fruit of nearly a quarter century of labor, Webster’s American Dictionary was “probably the most ambitious publication ever undertaken, up to that time, upon American soil… Its merits at once gave it first place among English dictionaries… Webster established once for all the practice… of freely recording non-literary words… He justly based his
definitions upon usage of American as well as British writers and speakers, and did not hesitate to record ‘Americanisms’
which he deemed worthy… As a whole, Webster’s American Dictionary was a scholarly achievement of the first order,
richly deserving of its great reputation at home and abroad” (DAB). “Although only 2500 copies of the first edition were
printed, the work established Webster as a lexicographer of international repute” (Lathem, 76 United Statesiana 9).
This copy is accompanied by a rare manuscript page from his work presents definitions from “Biped” to “Bird.” Other
words present include “Bipedial,” “Bipetalous,” “Biquadrate,” “Biquintile,” “Biradiated” and “Birch.” This leaf from
Webster’s draft manuscript offers exceptional glimpses into the lexicographer’s
editorial process. For example, he made substantial edits to his definition for
“The most ambitious
the noun “Birch,” cutting an entire paragraph. Webster substituted this deleted passage with text nearly identical to what saw print in 1828. With enpublication ever undertaken,
graved frontispiece portrait of Webster in Volume I. With the rare “Additions
and Corrections” leaf at end of second volume, often not present. The Pierpont
up to that time,
Morgan Library holds most of Webster’s manuscript, which runs some 450
upon American soil.”
leaves; however, early on, leaves from the “A” and “B” sections were separated. All leaves that ever appeared for sale came from these letters, and very
few are now extant. Accompanied by a photocopy of the corresponding page from the 1828 edition of the dictionary.
Skeel 583. Howes W9. Book with interiors quite clean, with frontispiece and title pages expertly cleaned, minor
leather restoration to corners, spines a bit dry. Leaf with old light folds, with minor separations toward lower margin
expertly repaired. An exceptional copy, most desirable in contemporary American sheep, handsomely boxed, with a
fine and desirable manuscript leaf, eminently suitable for framing.
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john hancock
“Let Your Conduct Be Such As To Merit The Esteem Of All Around You”:
Autograph Letter Signed By John Hancock To His Brother Ebenezer, 1760
37. HANCOCK, John. Autograph letter signed. London, 1760. Two 8 1/2- by 7-inch sheets with remnants of a black wax
seal.
$39,000.
Autograph letter signed “Jno Hancock,” with address leaf in Hancock’s hand, to his brother William Ebenezer Hancock. Writing to his
brother from London on December 27, 1760, while attending his uncle’s business, a young John Hancock asks about his uncle and
aunts, extends congratulations on his sister’s marriage, discusses his own ill health and recovery, and inquires about the family’s slaves.
In 1760, Hancock lived in London while learning the English side of Thomas Hancock’s merchant firm. Thomas, his uncle, had
adopted John upon the death of his father in 1744. Here, the 23 year old writes to his younger brother Ebenezer, encouraging his
sibling to work diligently to build himself up in business. When John returned to America in 1761, Thomas’s
health had declined to the point that John began playing a greater role in the business. He notes his sister
“Remember that
Mary’s marriage to Richard Perkins, and inquires about the rest of the family. Molly, Cato, Agniss, Prince, and
Hannibal were Hancock family slaves who lived with the family in the Hancock mansion. John would inherit
the Diligent Hand
these slaves, along with the rest of Thomas’s estate, in 1764. Hancock clearly considered the slaves a part
maketh Rich.”
of the family, even bringing them gifts when he returned from London (Cato received a cap and French horn).
Thomas Hancock left his slaves small bequests in his will and provided for the freedom of at least Cato when
he turned 30 years of age; most of Thomas Hancock’s slaves were freed by the terms of his will. The two sheets used for this letter
have been expertly joined, creating a folio, at a later date. Partial closed tears at letter folds. A wonderful early colonial-era letter by a
future patriot.
Early Impression Of One Of The Most Powerful Images
Of All Time—The 1791 Engraving Of The Interior Of A Slave
Ship—Here In Book Form For The First Time
38. (SLAVERY) HOUSE OF COMMONS. An Abstract of the Evidence...
On the Part of the Petitioners for the Abolition of the Slave-Trade.
London, 1791. Octavo, contemporary diced brown calf rebacked at an
early date. $7800.
First edition of eyewitness testimony on the horrors of the British slave
trade, containing for the first time in book form the famous large folding
wood-engraving of slaves packed onto the decks of the slave-ship Brookes,
together with a folding map of the western coast of Africa at rear.
In November 1788 Parliament enacted the Dolben Bill, which limited the
number of slaves in a cargo to five for every three tons of a ship’s burthen.
Within a few months, anti-slavery activists in Plymouth tested the new bill by
obtaining the measurements of the slave-ship Brookes and imposing slaves
in its hold—in the ratio much less than required by the “humane” Dolben
Bill—with stupefying results. There are 294 persons pictured (one per ton);
the Dolben Bill would have put the number at 495. Modern scholars have
determined that the Brookes actually made one voyage with a cargo of 704!
The famous engraving of slaves closely fitted in the hold of the Brookes is one
of the most powerful and influential images in the history of social justice.
This edition’s very early wood-engraved version of the Brookes’ hull and hold is accompanied by a summary of testimony given by former
participants in the slave trade. Only light scattered foxing, tiny paper repairs not affecting images to folding plates expertly back in paper,
only mild edge-wear to boards. A highly desirable extremely good copy of this seminal work.
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38
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george washi ngton /
alex an der hamilton
“Lt. Col Pawling Did Not Join At Anaquaga—
Nor Had He Been Heard Of”: 1779 Letter,
In The Autograph Hand Of Alexander Hamilton
And Signed By George Washington, Informing
Governor Clinton On The Progress Of Sullivan’s
Expedition Against The Iroquois
39.
WASHINGTON, George, and HAMILTON, Alexander. Letter in
the hand of Alexander Hamilton, signed by George Washington. West
Point, New York, August 31, 1779.
$35,000.
Important letter, in the autograph hand of Alexander Hamilton (then
serving as chief aide to Washington) and signed by George Washington,
updating New York Governor George Clinton on the progress of Sullivan’s
Expedition against the Iroquois in 1779.
The first portion of Washington’s letter concerns a persistent problem that plagued “the Lines”—essentially a
wide swath of no-mans-land that existed between British-occupied New York City and Western Long Island
and the Continental Army manning positions in New Jersey, Connecticut and upstate New York. The region
was frequently raided by both rebel and tory militias. The anarchy that ensued allowed the region to become
haven for bandits who took advantage of the situation. Washington then offers intelligence to the New York
governor on the status of Sullivan’s campaign against the Iroquois, undertaken in
response to the Loyalist and Indian attacks on the Wyoming Valley and other
settlements—in particular the notorious raid on Cherry Valley. In early 1779,
Washington authorized the General to assemble three brigades to march
north from Easton, Pennsylvania, while a smaller force, under the command
of General James Clinton, was to be organized at Schenectady and move
southward to join with Sullivan’s men at Tioga. In addition, General Daniel
Brodhead led a concurrent expedition from Pittsburgh into the Iroquois
country that was to ostensibly link up with Sullivan and Clinton—but due
to a variety of factors confined his raids to far western New York. As
Sullivan predicted, James Clinton’s forces rendezvoused with his forces
on August 21, 1779 (without the contingent commanded by Lieutenant
Colonel Pawling). On August 26, the combined forces began a destructive
campaign against the Iroquois, culminating in the Battle of Newtown on
August 29 which proved to be a complete victory for the Continental Army.
An earlier draft of this letter, also in Hamilton’s hand (but not signed by
Washington) resides in the collections of the Library of Congress. Signature large
and clear; some minor marginal chips and tears do not affect text, light evening
toning, weak horizontal folds reinforced on verso, else very good.
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39
revolutionary war journal
Fascinating Original Journal Of Revolutionary War Quartermaster Nicholas Quackenbush
40. (NEW YORK) QUACKENBUSH, Nicholas. Manuscript journal (“His Book of the Stait of New York”). Albany, New York,
1778-82. Thick 12mo, full contemporary blind-decorated calf; 59 leaves (only 41 pages of manuscript writing). $9500.
Unique manuscript journal of Nicholas Quackenbush, detailing his financial transactions as a Revolutionary War quartermaster—a fascinating primary source for late 18th-century New York and American history, in a handsome contemporary
wallet-style calf binding.
As a quartermaster responsible for military and service support functions, Quackenbush kept a detailed journal of his various
transactions at the height of the Revolutionary War. One particularly interesting entry reads, in part: “and indorse the same on the
back of the order from the Honble [honorable] the President of Congress on you for one hundred thousand dollars lodged by me
in youre hands taking a loose Receipt from him & you will oblige you Honble servant in behalf of Colt [Lieutenant Colonel] Hay.”
Henry Laurens was the President of the Continental Congress mentioned in the journal, who would become an ambassador and
negotiator for the United States. Laurens’ “constancy during the British occupation of Philadelphia and the [Congress’] trying exile
at York may have been his most significant contribution to the national cause” (ANB). Other prominent names in the transactions
include Cornelius Roosevelt and Jacob Borgardus. Contemporary calf lightly rubbed. An intriguing primary source of Revolutionary
military history, in excellent condition. Revolutionary-era quartermaster books seldom appear on the market.
40
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benjami n fr ankli n
The “First Great American”:
Scarce First English Edition Of Benjamin Franklin’s Works, 1793
41. FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Works of the late Doctor Benjamin Franklin. London, 1793. Two volumes. Small octavo, contemporary
full brown calf expertly rebacked with original spines laid down. $9200.
First English edition of this leading popular collection of Franklin’s Works, edited by his friend Richard Price, including Franklin’s
autobiography and major essays, in contemporary calf.
This first English edition of Franklin’s Works, published only three years after his death, offers rich evidence of the pragmatic brilliance
in the words of this Founding Father, who was described as “a great genius” even by his adversary John Adams. Featured is Franklin’s
famed autobiography, “the most widely read of all American autobiographies” (Grolier American 100:21). Also included are numerous
essays, such as his “Advice to a Young Tradesman,” “On Criminal Laws and Privateering,” “On the Slave Trade,” “Remarks Concerning
the Savages of North America” and Franklin’s powerful speech given the final day of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, proclaiming
“for the ages the enlightened creed that became central to America’s freedom. They were the most eloquent words Franklin ever
wrote” (Isaacson, 457). Edited and with a preface by Franklin’s friend Richard Price, this edition includes a re-translation of the
autobiography” from the 1791 French first edition of the autobiography, which appeared in English later same year in a “wretched
re-translation from the Paris edition” (Ford 437, 386). Precedes the first American edition of the Works, published the following year.
First issue, with errata leaf bound at rear of Volume I. Interiors fresh with only light scattered foxing. A handsome near-fine copy.
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41
42
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benjami n fr ankli n
Official 1787 Petition Regarding Bankruptcy, Signed And Endorsed By
Benjamin Franklin As President Of Pennsylvania Less Than A Month Before
He Would Attend The Constitutional Convention
42.
FRANKLIN, Benjamin. Document signed. Philadelphia, April 26, 1787. Original folio leaf (9 by 15 inches) in
manuscript on the recto, docketed on the verso. $25,000.
Official 1787 manuscript document in a secretarial hand signed by Founding Father Benjamin Franklin as President
of Pennsylvania—”B Franklin, Presid”— only a month before making his much heralded appearance, as a
Pennsylvania delegate, to the Constitutional Convention, containing his autograph endorsement in the ‘Petition of
Daniel King & John Gardner” on the bankruptcy of a prominent Philadelphia coach maker who, having later
survived in business, would sell George Washington a
coach in 1793.
Franklin is the only Founding Father
In this rare 1787 official manuscript document, signed by
to be signatory to all four key
Benjamin Franklin as President of Pennsylvania” and
shortly before he appeared at the Constitutional Convention,
documents in America’s founding:
he approves a petition against George Way, a bankrupt
coach maker. Here Franklin endorses the petition at the
the Declaration of Independence,
bottom left, and orders “the Secretary of Council,” to “Let a
Commission issue, as above prayed, directed to Matthew
Treaty of Paris, Treaty of Alliance with
Clarkson, Matthew Mease, George Hughes, Peter Boynton
France and the U.S. Constitution.
& Richard Bache, or any Four or three of them.” Bache,
Franklin’s son-in-law, married Sarah “Sally” Franklin in
1767. While Franklin had initially disapproved, he eventually warmed to his in-law and arranged for his appointment
as U.S. Postmaster General in 1776. Clarkson, also named, was mayor of Philadelphia from 1792 to 1796. George
Way would continue in business and later sold to George Washington a “Coachee” for the sum of $192.66 in August
1793 (“Washington’s Household account Book”). Trace of wax seal to lower right corner. Franklin signature bold and
dark, faint foldlines, mild edge-toning, minor marginal loss lower right infilled affecting only one word. A rare extremely
good document by one of America’s most beloved Founding Fathers.
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43
civil war diary
“The Rebels Had Crossed The River By Point Of Rocks And Were On The Maryland Side,
Having About 2000 Cavalry…”: 1862 Civil War Diary Of Benjamin C. Lincoln,
Officer In The 2nd U.S. Colored Troops, Describing Jeb Stuart’s
Chambersburg Raid And General Lee’s Arlington House
43. (CIVIL WAR) LINCOLN, Benjamin C. Civil War Diary, with related archive of letters and documents. No place, 1861-64. 12mo,
saddle-stitched, original parchment wrappers, containing 20 leaves with handwritten entries on 9 leaves for 18 pages. $8000.
Interesting 1862 Civil War diary and related papers of Union officer and abolitionist Benjamin C. Lincoln, who would become an
officer in the 2nd United States Colored Troops, in which he describes the captured home of Robert E. Lee and Jeb Stuart’s
Chambersburg Raid.
A superb collection, including manuscript diary, related to the career of Benjamin C. Lincoln (1840-65) who enlisted in the 39th
Massachusetts on August 9, 1862, and served that body as a clerk until May, 1863, when he was detached to Washington to work on
the staff of General John Henry Martindale. A fervent abolitionist, Lincoln accepted a commission in the 2nd Regiment of the United
States Colored Troops in the summer of 1863 serving first near New Orleans and later in Key West, Florida. Lincoln died of wounds
received at the Battle of Natural Bridge in March, 1865. Some light wear to spine of diary, rear pastedown lifted, Lincoln’s entries clean,
clearly legible and fine. Expected mailing folds and light toning to remaining items; overall, excellent condition.
44
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stonewall jackson
Two Remarkable Hand-Drawn
Maps Of “Stonewall” Jackson’s
Daring Flank Attack At The Battle Of
Chancellorsville Where He Would Be
Mortally Wounded, Accomplished
By The Nephew Of Abraham
Lincoln’s Vice President, Used By
Him In Preparing His 1896 History
Of Jackson’s Attack And
Accompanied By That Book
44. HAMLIN, Augustus C. Two manuscript maps
detailing “Stonewall” Jackson’s flank attack at
the Battle of Chancellorsville. WITH: The Battle
of Chancellorsville. No place, circa 1890s. Two
maps on one folio leaf of oilcloth and one quarto
leaf of paper; map on oilcloth measures 16 by
10-3/4 inches, accomplished in red, brown and
black ink with green watercolor; map on paper measures 8 by 10-1/2 inches, accomplished in black, blue and red ink, entitled “Map
No. 3 Time 10 PM to 12 M May 2, 1863. (Book: octavo, original cloth). $15,000.
Remarkable set of two spectacular hand-drawn and hand-painted maps documenting “Stonewall” Jackson’s daring flank attack at
the Battle of Chancellorsville where he would be mortally wounded, finely and meticulously accomplished by the nephew of
Abraham Lincoln’s Vice President: artist, author, and Harvard-educated Union military surgeon Augustus C. Hamlin. Accompanied
by his history of the battle, for which he prepared these maps. This battle is one of the most important of the Civil War—considered
the high-water mark for Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia.
These maps are offered together with the book in which later versions of these maps are included: Hamlin’s The Battle of Chancellorsville:
The Attack of Stonewall Jackson and his Army upon the Right Flank of the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville, Virginia, on
Saturday Afternoon, May 2, 1863, with nine
color maps. The maps were prepared by
Augustus Choate Hamlin (1829-1905) and
were used as the basis for his copiously researched analysis of Jackson’s attack on
that fateful afternoon at Chancellorsville. At
the time, many contemporary observers
had blamed the failure on the part of inexperienced soldiers. Hamlin argued, in an
effort to restore the honor of his beloved XI
Corps (with whom he had served as medical director for some time), that those men
had been let down by their officers who
failed to communicate critical intelligence in
a timely manner. Hamlin was the son of
Elijah Hamlin, the younger brother of
Lincoln’s first Vice President, Hannibal
Hamlin. Expected folds, some minor soiling
and marginal wear, else fine condition
overall. Book near-fine.
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45
bill of rights
“Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting The Establishment Of Religion,
Or Prohibiting The Free Exercise Thereof, Or Abridging The Freedom Of Speech, Or Of The Press”
45. (AMERICAN REVOLUTION) (BILL OF RIGHTS) (CONSTITUTION). Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America.
New-York, 1789. Octavo, rebound in 18th-century three-quarter brown calf and marbled boards, custom clamshell box. $20,000.
Rare first octavo edition of Acts Passed at the First Congress, featuring documents of towering significance in American history,
including a very early printing of the U.S. Constitution and, of greatest importance, one of the earliest printings of the Bill of Rights,
containing the 12 amendments sent to the states for ratification and subsequently revised as the ten amendments of the Bill of Rights
that became part of the Constitution in 1791. The first official printing of these Acts was the virtually unobtainable folio edition by
Childs and Swaine, printed earlier the same year in an edition of just 600 copies intended only for official distribution and not for the
public. This is the first appearance of the acts of the First Congress in octavo form.
Convening in New York on March 4, 1789, America’s “First Congress was the first institution to be
“For many Americans,
organized. Indeed, during its first session, beginning in April 1789, it was virtually the entire central
government” (Wood, Empire of Liberty, 55). This exceedingly rare first octavo edition of the Acts
the Bill of Rights is the
Passed at a Congress contains much of the seminal legislation so fundamental to the establishment
of government under the Constitution. From March to its adjournment in September, the First
Constitution” —Hickok
Session of the First Congress officially ratified the Constitution and Washington’s election as first
President of the United States, and passed much of the most basic legislation for the machinery of government. In addition to the
Constitution, of greatest importance herein is the Bill of Rights, present in one of its very earliest printed appearances. Quite rare. Text
generally fresh with light scattered foxing, faint occasional marginal dampstaining. A most desirable extremely good copy of this seminal
volume in American constitutional history.
46
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bar ack obama
Dreams From My Father, Scarce First Printing,
Signed By President Obama In The Year Of Publication
46. OBAMA, Barack. Dreams from My Father. New York, 1995. Octavo, original half black cloth gilt, dust jacket.
$15,000.
First edition of President Obama’s first book, his “provocative autobiography,” signed on the half title in the year of publication.
“All men live in the shadow of their fathers—the more distant the father, the
deeper the shadow. Barack Obama describes his confrontation with this shadow
in his provocative autobiography… and he also persuasively describes the
phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds, and thus belonging to
neither… At a young age and without much experience as a writer, Barack
Obama has bravely tackled the complexities of his remarkable upbringing”
(Paul Watkins, New York Times, contemporary review). Book fine, dust jacket
with two spots of label residue and slightest rubbing to extremities. A very rare
near-fine signed copy.
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47
worl d war i i wake i sl an d archive
The U.S. Air Raid On Wake Island, October 1943—Archive Of Related Maps,
Photographs And Documents Used In Preparing For And Documenting The Results Of The Raid
47. (WORLD WAR II). Archive: Wake Island Raid maps, photographs and documents. Near Wake Island, October 5-6, 1943. Sixteen
maps, photographs and documents; maps range in size from 8 by 8 inches to 18 by 21-3/4 inches; photographs range from 6-1/4 by 8
inches to 18 by 9-1/4 inches. $9500.
Superb archive of rarely seen map and photographs used in planning and documenting the October 5, 1943 raid on Wake Island,
which was taken by the Japanese only weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Wake Island, a U.S. airbase located approximately 2200 miles west of Pearl Harbor, was captured by the Japanese in late December,
1941. The island remained under Japanese control until the garrison there surrendered on September 7, 1945. In October, 1942, a U.S.
task force conducted a two-day air raid on the island. The Japanese commander, Shigematsu Sakaibara, convinced the raid was the
beginning of an attempt to retake the island, marched 98 American civilian prisoners of war to a remote
corner of the island and executed them. (Following the war, Sakaibara was executed for war crimes.) Of
“Red flame
particular interest is a large map on thick stock, folded into quarters and reinforced with tape on the verso,
black smoke 0710” bearing copious pencil annotations documenting the second day of air raids on the island, recording
various points in the action from the initial takeoff from the carrier “0515” through the squadron’s departure
around “0745.” The pilot carefully draws the route of two bombing runs, the first against the runways on the main island of Wake, and
the second targeting the barracks and ammunition storage on nearby Peale Island. The pilot noted the direction of anti-aircraft fire,
positions of guns, as well as the wind and the general weather conditions and damage sighted. The archive also features reconnaissance
photographs, a large body of smaller maps, and a mimeographed schedule for the first day of operations. All items apparently from the
collection of Lt. H.T. Reynolds of torpedo bomber Squadron VT-5, stationed aboard the U.S.S. Yorktown. Typical folds and other wear
consistent with use, though generally very well preserved, in excellent condition overall. A superb collection of original materials used in
the planning and subsequent reports on this historic attack.
48
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19 th century american whali ng journal
Remarkable Manuscript Pacific Whaling Journal, 1859-61,
With Illustrations Of Ships, Whale Tails, Porpoises, And Even Pigs
48. ORR, James H. Manuscript Whaling Journal. Various places, April 7, 1859 to April 30, 1861. Folio, modern half black morocco;
approximately pp. 186. $9000.
Fantastic original manuscript journal kept from April 1859 through April 1861 by
James H. Orr, the 16-year old harpooner aboard the New Bedford whaler “Napoleon”
and subsequently the “Cossack” also of New Bedford, aboard which he returned home
to Massachusetts.
Orr’s journal begins in the South Pacific as the Napoleon sailed northward in sight of “the
island of Juan Bernandes [Juan Fernandez Islands].” On April 10, 1859, the crew makes
their first kill of [original spellings retained]: “fore Blackfish [Orca are variously called
blackfish or ‘killers’].” On May 2, they sighted their first sperm whale, “about ½ past 4
AM raised sperm Whales A Breacher… More of the Whales to day.” Two days later, May
4, he begins a typical description of the chase, kill, and processing of the whales. During
the course of its journey, the Napoleon visited the Galapagos Islands, Tahiti, New Zealand,
and the Chatham Islands. Orr makes it home on April 30, 1861, his final entry. He
returns two weeks after the fall of Fort Sumter and finds his home in the throes of the Civil
War, which he records in part: “This Day The 30th of April /61… the war is all the talk
here now, and the rage Also, So, Good by for my sea fareing life, and three cheers, for
the wars and Uncle Abe Lincoln.” The final 14 leaves are filled with expenses for his
home. One leaf, pages 95-96, excised. Pages bear some light foxing and occasional
soiling (one page bears some glue remnants), but generally clean and bright. A very
good, attractively bound, and quite desirable whaling journal.
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“Know then my own Dear Betsy, that I have lost the Bounty... on the 28 April at day light in
the morning Christian… with several others came into my Cabin while I was a Sleep, and
seizing me, holding naked Bayonets at my Breast, tied my Hands behind my back, and
threatened instant destruction if I uttered a word… I have been run down by my own Dogs...”
—William Bligh, letter to his wife, June 1791
50
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william bligh
“One Of The Most Remarkable Incidents In The Whole Of Maritime History”:
First Edition Of The Official Account Of The Mutiny On The Bounty—
An Exceptional Uncut Copy In Original Boards
49. BLIGH, William. A Voyage to the South Sea... in His Majesty’s Ship The Bounty... Including an Account of the Mutiny. London,
1792. Large quarto, original boards sympathetically rebacked in calf; custom clamshell box. $24,000.
First edition of the official account of “one of the most remarkable incidents in the whole of maritime history,” the mutiny on the
Bounty, with stipple-engraved frontispiece portrait of Captain Bligh by J. Condé after J. Russell and seven engraved plates and charts
(five folding). An excellent and exceptionally large uncut copy in original boards, with contemporary printed loan slips from the
Salisbury Reading Society in England affixed to the front and rear boards, testament to the popular interest in Bligh’s story.
“After visiting Tahiti and the Tonga Islands, the crew mutinied under Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate. The mutiny was largely due
to Bligh’s harshness to his crew; also partly to attachments that had sprung up between the crew and certain of the women of Tahiti”
(Hill). “Bligh with 18 others was put into the ship’s launch along with a few provisions and some instruments and set adrift. After a voyage
of 3,600 miles and 41 days the launch succeeded in reaching Timor and Java… where the emaciated unfortunates were taken in by the
Dutch” (Cox). “One of the most heroic sea voyages ever made” (Hill). The Bounty mutiny and its ramifications would haunt Bligh always,
although his reputation was also forever redeemed by the epic open-boat voyage of 4000 miles across the Pacific. The printed slips
pasted to the covers list 24 members of a small reading group in Salisbury, a provincial market town in southern England. The loans of
the book to the individual readers, noted in ink, date from August to December in the year of publication with a couple more in January
of 1793: the fact that it was quickly read by at least seven members with dates noted is testament to the popular interest in Bligh’s
fascinating story. Text quite clean, some mild offsetting to a few plates only. Original boards remarkably well-preserved, skillfully rebacked.
An exceptional uncut copy, with clear evidence of keen readership at the time of publication.
Splendid, Hand-Colored
Bird’s-Eye View Of
Damascus, 1575
50.
(DAMASCUS) BRAUN,
Georg; HOGENBERG, Franz.
Map of Damascus. Cologne,
1575. Original engraved map,
measuring 15 by 13-1/4 inches.
Matted and framed, measures
22 by 20 inches.
$3800.
Original copper-engraved, handcolored bird’s-eye view of
Damascus, with camels and figures in contemporary costume.
From Volume II of Braun and
Hogenberg’s important Civitates
Orbis Terrarum. Map fine and
fresh. Expert paper repair on
verso to join the two halves of the
map together. A lovely, early map
with bright, contemporary handcoloring.
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51
jerusalem ,
1572
Magnificent, Hand-Colored Bird’s-Eye Views Of Jerusalem—
One Of The City In The First Century, And One As It Existed In The 16th Century
51. (JERUSALEM) BRAUN, Georg; HOGENBERG, Franz.
Hierosolyma [Jerusalem]. FROM: Civitates Orbis Terrarum.
Cologne, 1572. Original engraved map, image measuring
19-1/4 by 13-1/2 inches. Matted and framed, measures 281/2 by 23-1/2 inches. $6500.
Fascinating original hand-colored engraving of two bird’seye views of Jerusalem: one an imaginary view as the city
was during the time of Christ, which also portrays the procession of Jesus to Golgotha, with Judas hanging from a
tree outside the city walls; the other contemporaneous to
the 16th century. With inset vignette depicting Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai and an illustration of the garments worn by Aaron. From volume I of
Braun and Hogenberg’s important Civitates Orbis Terrarum.
A few minor scuffs to attractive frame, map fine with vivid
original coloring.
52
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rivers of wales , 1813
Wood’s The Principal Rivers Of Wales, 1813,
With 159 Lovely Soft-Ground Etchings, 25 Double-Page
52.
WOOD, John George. The Principal Rivers of Wales Illustrated.
London, 1813. Two volumes. Folio (11 by 13-1/2 inches), contemporary
three-quarter straight-grain black morocco gilt rebacked with original spines
laid down. $8200.
First edition of this beautifully illustrated survey of the rivers of Wales, with
159 lovely soft-ground etchings of views along the rivers—25 doublepage—and four folding hand-colored maps.
Author and artist John George Wood traces the courses of 17 Welsh rivers
from source to mouth, depicting in his lovely soft-ground etchings the towns,
bridges, churches, ruins, and landscapes encountered along the way, featuring the Usk, the Taff, the Tafwy, the Towy, the Dovey, the Conway, the Clwyd
and the Dee. Each original etching, made by Wood after sketches and drawings he made on the spot, is finely printed in black ink with a pale tan wash
background. Bound with subscriber’s list but without directions to the binder.
Complete copies are usually described as having 158 plates; this copy has
one plate, “Source of the Tawe,” repeated, with subtle variations between the
two images, and a penciled note on the verso of one stating “This plate is to
replace the same in No. 5, which failed.” Plates in both volumes generally
quite clean and fine. A very good copy of this finely illustrated work.
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53
john ros s
“The Finest Series Of Arctic Views Then Published”:
Ross’ Voyage To Baffin Bay, 1819, With 15 Beautiful HandColored Plates
53.
ROSS, John. A Voyage of Discovery. London, 1819. Quarto, contemporary
full polished brown calf gilt rebacked. $11,500.
First edition, illustrated with 32 engraved plates, charts and maps (13 folding),
including 15 magnificent hand-colored aquatints (four folding) depicting
icebergs, a “bear plunging into the sea” and the ship’s “passage through the ice”
among other dramatic images, handsomely bound.
“A famous, even notorious, voyage, led by Captain John Ross. As his lieutenants,
Ross had aboard William Parry, James Clark Ross and Edward Sabine, all of future
fame as explorers. Ross attempted to proceed westward through Lancaster Sound,
but being deceived, presumably by a mirage, he described the passage as barred
by a range of mountains, which he named the Croker Mountains… On returning to
England in November, the report was, at first, accepted as conclusive, and Ross was
promoted to post rank in December, 1818. In the following year he published this
volume. A controversy soon arose… and opened a life-long quarrel between him
and Sir John Barrow” (Hill 1488). “Barrow charged that Ross’ failure to pursue a
passage through Lancaster Sound was tantamount to cowardice… Barrow’s anonymous but scathing review... effectively ended John Ross’ career with the Admiralty,
a group he also offended with his advocacy of steam power” (Books on Ice 2.5).
Nevertheless, Ross’ voyage “was a pioneering effort in high Arctic exploration, and
his narrative… was the finest series of Arctic views then published. One of the most
striking plates was based not on the work of an English officer but of the expedition’s
Inuit interpreter, John Sackheouse, depicting the successful meeting between the
expedition and Inuits at Prince Regent’s
Bay… certainly the earliest representational
work by a native American artist to be so
reproduced” (Beinecke Library). Bookplates.
Occasional light soiling and offsetting, plates
vivid and beautiful, some with light expert
cleaning, minor abrasions to rear board, expert restoration to board extremities, gilt
bright. An exceptional copy.
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s ir henry elli s
An Exceptional, Large, Uncut Copy In Original Boards: First Edition Of Ellis' Embassy To China, 1817,
With Superb Hand-Colored Aquatints And Large Folding Map Of The Route To The British Embassy In China
54.
(CHINA) ELLIS, Sir Henry. Journal of the Proceedings of the
Late Embassy to China. London, 1817. Quarto, original drab boards
sympathetically rebacked. $7500.
First edition of this entertaining account of Lord Amherst’s embassy
to the Chinese Emperor, splendidly illustrated with seven beautiful
hand-colored aquatints depicting the Emperor’s summer palace at
Tien-Sing, the Tong-Chow harbor, a temple near Nankin, the island
of Pula Leat, and views of other harbor cities, as well as three maps
(one large folding), handsomely bound.
“After the peace of 1815, the English government turned their attention
to the complaints of injustice and exactions on the part of the Chinese
mandarins which reached them from time to time from the English
merchants at Canton. Lord Amherst was chosen to proceed to Peking
as British envoy, to represent to the Emperor Kea K’ing the wrongs
which British subjects were suffering under his rule… Ellis, a diplomat,
accompanied Amherst in his embassy to China, in capacity of third
commissioner, in 1816. A mission to China was then so rare an event
in the history of Europe, that Ellis published in 1817 an authorized
narrative of the journey and transactions of the embassy” (DNB).
Abbey Travel 536. Faded early owner ink signatures on title page.
Faint intermittent dampstain along upper edge, a bit of spotting to text,
plates clean, with vivid coloring. A beautiful wide-margined copy,
desirable in the original boards and uncut.
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55
56
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a dam smith
Rare And Important First American Edition Of Adam Smith’s Wealth Of Nations
55.
SMITH, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Philadelphia, 1789. Three volumes. Small
octavo, contemporary full brown sheep; custom cloth slipcase. $19,500.
First American edition of Smith’s landmark treatise on free enterprise, viewed by Jefferson as “the best book extant… in political
economy,” an exceptional copy with notable provenance all three volumes in rarely found contemporary sheep.
“Two months after Thomas Paine’s Common Sense had helped precipitate the Declaration of Independence… a book destined to
bring profound repercussions in a different sphere of human activity appeared… The Wealth of Nations was a delayed action bomb”
(Downs, Books That Changed the World, 225). Here Smith links the discovery of America to the discovery of the passage to the East
Indies via the Cape of Good Hope as the most important events in recorded history. He makes nearly 100 references to the America
in the Wealth of Nations, and devotes an extensive chapter in Book IV (“Of Colonies”) on
the political philosophies of republics. He observes that the “nearly democratical”
“In political economy I think
governments of the 13 colonies make America particularly subject to “rancorous and
violent factions.” The colonies, he writes, would “gain considerably by a union with Great
Smith’s Wealth of Nations Britain… Before the commencement of the present disturbances, the coercive power of
the best book extant.”
the mother county had always been able to restrain those factions… If that coercive power
were entirely taken away, they would probably soon break out into open violence and
—Thomas Jefferson
bloodshed” (III:383-5). In a document written in the 1770s, Smith contended that if Britain
continued the American war it would lose, even if it won” (O’Rourke, On the Wealth of
Nations). Each volume with contemporary (1795) owner inscriptions and with owner inscriptions of William Crawford, dated 1809, the
latter quite possibly belonging to William H. Crawford, a prominent Jeffersonian who served as Secretary of the Treasury under
Madison and Monroe after a distinguished career in the U.S. Senate. Contemporary marginalia. Interiors fresh with light scattered
foxing; small bit of loss to spine heads with a few joints tender or starting but sound. A highly desirable copy in contemporary sheep
with no restoration.
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57
k arl mar x
“It Is Doubtful That Any Figure In History Has Inspired More Violently Contradictory Opinions Than
Karl Marx” (PMM): First Edition In English Of Marx’s Magnum Opus, Das Kapital
56.
MARX, Karl. Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production. London, 1887. Two volumes. Octavo, original gilt-stamped
burgundy cloth recased. $17,000.
First edition in English of the first part of Marx’s landmark Das Kapital, the only part published in his lifetime, containing substantial
revisions made by Marx for the first French translation, this two-volume work edited by Engels and translated from the third German
edition. A very scarce and important printing of a seminal work in economic and political thought.
“Marx himself modestly described Das Kapital as a continuation of his Zur Kritik des Politischen
Oekonomie, 1859. It was in fact the summation of his quarter of a century’s economic studies…
The ‘Athenaeum’ reviewer of the first English translation (1887) later wrote: ‘Under the guise of
that, vampire-like, only
a critical analysis of capital, Karl Marx’s work is principally a polemic against capitalists and the
capitalist mode of production, and it is this polemical tone which is its chief charm’” (PMM
lives by sucking living
359). “In his funeral eulogy for Karl Marx, Engels concluded that ‘Marx was above all a
labour, and lives the more, revolutionary… It is doubtful that any figure in history has inspired more violently contradictory
opinions than Karl Marx” (Downs, 22). “Only this first part of Marx’s magnum opus appeared
the more labour it sucks.” in his lifetime,” with its publication in German in 1867 (PMM 359). The remainder was
constructed by Engels from Marx’s posthumous papers. Containing Marx’s central concept of
surplus value, this first edition in English is translated from the third German edition of Moore and Aveling, is edited by Engels and
incorporates substantial revisions Marx made for the first French translation (1872-5). Although Engels published the German edition
of volume II in 1885, his preface notes that a translation of it without volume III was necessarily incomplete; the German edition of
volume III did not appear until 1894. Bookplates of Manchester Reform Club with penciled notations. Interiors very fresh with only a
few leaves roughly opened, closed tear to one leaf (I:337), expert archival restoration to spine ends of original cloth.
“Capital is dead labour,
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friedrich a . hayek
Very Scarce Presentation First English Edition Of Constitution Of Liberty,
Inscribed And Signed By Hayek During A 1978 Lecture Tour To South Africa
57. HAYEK, Friedrich A. The Constitution of Liberty. London, 1960. Octavo, original yellow cloth, dust jacket. $18,000.
First English edition, issued the same year as the American edition, of Nobel laureate Hayek’s groundbreaking work on monetary theory
and economic fluctuation, presentation copy inscribed by Hayek during a visit to South Africa: “To Mr. H.W. Middlemann, with the best
wishes, 30-3-78, F.A. Hayek.”
For Hayek, “attempts to alter
Co-winner of the 1974 Nobel Prize in Economics and a prominent member of the “Austrian
School” of economic thought, F.A. Hayek went “beyond [Ludwig von] Mises in reformulating
or control markets should be
the notion of economic coordination as an information problem, competition acting
essentially as a discovery process” (Blaug, 557). “Hayek’s main contributions as an
opposed because they inevitably
economist have been his arguments about the benefits of free markets and the information
provided by prices… Markets, for Hayek, were self-regulating devices that promote
limit individual freedom.”
prosperity. Government policy and other attempts to hinder the workings of markets make
us worse off economically and reduce individual liberty” (Pressman, 119). The Constitution of Liberty, written for a general audience on
the occasion of the centennial of John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, provides “a positive statement of the principles of a free society” and “a
thorough exposition of a social philosophy which ranges from ethics and anthropology through jurisprudence and the modern welfare
state.” Preceded the same year by the first American edition. Hayek inscribed this copy when he was in South Africa on a 28-day lecture
tour. The recipient, H.W. Middlemann, is Hans Middlemann, an influential business leader and philanthropist who served as president of
the South Africa Chamber of Business, and was founder of the Hans Middlemann Scholarship. This copy also contains a laid-in typed
letter to Mr. Middlemann, on University of Cape Town letterhead and signed by the chief librarian. Cape Town bookseller ticket. Interior
generally fresh with light scattered foxing mainly to preliminary blanks and edges; slight foxing, minor edge-wear to rarely found priceclipped dust jacket. One leaf of a 1961 journal interview tipped to dust jacket verso. An extremely good inscribed copy.
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marti n luther
Very Rare First Edition In English Of Martin Luther’s Consequential Commentary On Galatians, 1575—
“Its Importance For The History Of Protestantism Is Very Great”
58. LUTHER, Martin. A Commentarie of M. Doctor Martin Luther upon the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galathians. London, 1575.
Octavo, mid 19th-century full vellum gilt.
$17,500.
Rare first edition in English of Luther’s important commentary on Galatians—“his most influential
work in English”—bound in full 19th-century vellum-gilt.
“The Epistle to the
Galatians is my own
Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation, held his study of Galatians to be “his greatest
exegetical work” (Bray, Reformation Commentary on Scripture, Volume X). Certainly, no other book of
epistle… I have
Scripture excited such passion in him: “The Epistle to the Galatians is my own epistle,” he once
betrothed myself to it.” declared. “I have betrothed myself to it.” In the apostle Paul’s letter, Luther found abundant support
for his doctrine of justification by grace through faith alone, an essential tenet of Protestant faith. “The
original edition of this Commentary—in Latin, like the lectures on which it was based—was prepared
—Martin Luther
for the press by George Rorer, one of Luther’s most assiduous and reliable reporters, with some
assistance from Veit Dietrich and more from Caspar Cruciger… All three had attended the lectures in 1531, and Rorer… had taken
very full notes” (Philip Watson). Luther approved the text and contributed a preface, and the work first saw print in 1535. “The
importance of this Commentary on Galatians for the history of Protestantism is very great. It presents like no other of Luther’s writings
the central thought of Christianity, the justification of the sinner for the sake of Christ’s merits alone” (Theodore Graebner). Printed in
Gothic type. This copy without Vautroullier’s printer’s device on verso of title page (no priority established). Leaves O1 and O2
misbound; all text present. Lowndes, 1415. Large engraved bookplate. Small ticket of 19th-century London bookbinder Charles
Thurnam. Contemporary owner signature to title page. A few old ink markings and marginalia. Light green leafy sprays painted on gilt
and gauffered edges of text block. Some minor dampstaining to first few leaves, expected mild soiling and rubbing to vellum-gilt, light
wear to spine head, joints split, binding sound. An exceptionally rare and desirable copy of a major theological landmark.
60
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i sa ac new ton
First Edition Of Newton’s Observations, 1733
59. NEWTON, Isaac. Observations Upon the Prophecies of Daniel, And the Apocalypse of St. John. In Two Parts. London,
1733. Quarto, early full speckled brown calf gilt. $8500.
First edition, large-paper issue, of Newton’s only “major work on the subject” of
prophecy and symbolic writings, published six years after his death.
To many scholars, Newton
“arrived at his theory of gravity
Newton’s long interest in prophecy produced his only “major work on the subject…
Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel” (DSB). “Like many of his
partly through his exploration
contemporaries, Newton believed that prophecy concealed direct revelations of
hidden truths that would reveal to men—very special men—the future course of
of alchemy and early biblical
history as set forth by the Creator from the beginning of time... the Book of Daniel
and the Revelation of Saint John the Divine were for Newton the keys to the long
theology” (White, 358)
lost prisca theologia” (Christianson, 259). Published six years after Newton’s death,
preceding an edition in Latin by one year. With engraved headpiece. Gray 328. Weber 224. ESTC T41883. Interior quite fresh
with only tiny bit of gutter-edge wormholing not affecting text, expert restoration to joints, spine ends and corners. An exceptional
copy of the rare large-paper issue.
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61
“The Most Worthy Of The Great Philosophers”:
Handsome 1727 Folio Edition Of Locke’s
Collected Works
60.
LOCKE, John. The Works of John Locke. London, 1727.
Three volumes. Folio, contemporary full brown panelled calf,
later gilt decorations to spine.
$6800.
1727 edition of the collected works of Locke, with exquisite
copper-engraved frontispiece portrait by George Vertue and
full-page memorial plate, from the library of a prominent 18thcentury Quaker and his son, Isaac Fletcher, scarce in contemporary paneled calf.
This handsome folio edition contains the immensely important
Two Treatises of Government, “the basis of the principles of democracy,” as well as the letters on Toleration and The
Reasonableness of Christianity. Also included is the groundbreaking Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, “the first
modern attempt” to analyze human knowledge (PMM 193,
194). Third edition; the first edition of Locke’s works was published in 1714, ten years after his death. Yolton 363. From the
library of Isaac Fletcher (1714-81), a prominent British Quaker, merchant and lawyer, and his son John, who became a Quaker minister (1758-1830), with their bookplates in each volume. Interiors fresh with only light occasional soiling, expert restoration to spine,
beautifully bound.
First Edition In English Of Voltaire’s Elements
Of Sir Isaac Newton’s Philosophy
61. (NEWTON, Isaac) VOLTAIRE. The Elements of Sir Isaac Newton’s
Philosophy. London, 1738. Octavo, contemporary speckled brown calf rebacked. $6800.
First edition in English, published the same year as the French edition, of
Voltaire’s groundbreaking work that united two of the greatest minds of the
Enlightenment, offering a clear analysis of Newton’s work, “as well as his underlying philosophy of science” and his theory
of gravity, the work that established Voltaire as
a pioneer in “the modern discipline in the history of science,” with eleven plates on eight
folding sheets, in contemporary calf boards.
Exiled in England in the 1720s, Voltaire recognized the implications of Newton’s genius and
saw “that he had shifted reason onto a new
plane” (Silver, 55-6). Here he offers an analysis
of “Newton’s work, particularly the Optiks (1704),
as well as his underlying philosophy of science” and his theory of gravity (Schofield, ix). Complete with
all eleven plates on eight folding sheets and numerous in-text illustrations. Translated from the French
first edition, issued earlier that same year; “revised and corrected by John Hanna.” Three pages of
publisher’s advertisements at rear. Babson 121. Wallis 157. Penciled owner signature, faint occasional
marginalia, small annotations. Text and plates very fresh and clean, lightest edge-wear to boards. A
highly desirable about-fine copy.
62
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je an - bapti ste say
“Amongst The Fathers Of Economic Science”: First Edition Of Say’s Treatise On Political Economy
62. SAY, Jean-Baptiste. Traité d’Économie Politique, ou Simple Exposition de la Manière dont se Forment, se Distribuent, et se
Consomment les Richesses. Paris, 1803. Two volumes. Octavo, 20th-century half burgundy morocco. $12,500.
First edition of this important contribution to the study of market economics, in the original French.
Say was among the first to divide the field of economics into the areas of production,
distribution and consumption, to discuss the role of the entrepreneur, and to
incorporate those ideas into a framework of laissez-faire liberalism. “Say is usually
ranked with Smith and Ricardo amongst the fathers of economic science… He was
in the true sense of the word the leader of a school—of the liberal and optimistic
school, the influence of which was so great in France… and is even now felt. It is he,
more than any other writer, who impressed on political economy the character of a
natural science” (Palgrave II:357). This important first edition was not published
again until Napoleon’s first fall in 1814, due to Napoleon’s hostility to Say for having
shown, in 1804, his unwillingness to sacrifice his convictions for the purpose of
furthering Napoleon’s designs. This was the most popular work in economics in the
first half of the 19th century. Bound with half titles. Text in French. Goldsmith 23137.
Occasional faint dampstain along upper edge in Volume I, text generally clean.
Desirable copy.
“Say is usually ranked with
Smith and Ricardo amongst the
fathers of economic science…
It is he, more than any other
writer, who impressed on
political economy the character
of a natural science.”
—R.H. Inglis Palgrave
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63
Extraordinary Document Signed By Napoleon As Emperor:
Napoleon Bestows A Barony To A French Abolitionist,
Accompanied By Extremely Rare Fully Intact Official Red Wax Seal,
Silk Ribbons And Hand-Colored Coat Of Arms
64
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napoleon
63.
NAPOLEON. Engraved document signed by Napoleon, with large official wax seal. Milan, Italy,
February 28, 1813. Engraved broadside, completed in manuscript, 23-1/4 by 17 inches; wax seal
measures 5 inches in diameter, 1/4-inch thick, with blue and yellow silk ribbons affixed; floated
and window framed. $16,500.
Rare, ornately engraved document boldly signed by Napoleon (“Np”) as Emperor of
France, King of Italy, and Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, granting a barony
to a French abolitionist, together with the original large wax seal, featuring a bas relief
portrait of Napoleon on the French throne on the obverse and the Empire’s coat of
arms on the verso, with ribbons attached.
As emperor, Napoleon established his own order of nobility. His authority to do so was
established by a constitutional decree in 1808 which gave him, as noted in the present
document, “the right to give the titles that we would think convenient to those among
our subjects who distinguished themselves for services rendered to the State.” The
recipient of this particular title, Jean Louis Viefville d’Essars (1744-1820), was an
attorney at the Parliament in Paris and Conservator of Waters and Forests as well as
serving as the Mayor of Guise. Likely swept up in the revolutionary fervor of 1789, Viefville
delivered a speech and introduced a bill for emancipating France’s slaves and ending the
slave trade. Documents concerning Napoleon’s awards of nobility are prohibitively rare. As
the political winds shifted, recipients destroyed the documents. Very few such documents
come to market, and even fewer still include the original ornate wax seal. Text in French. Foldlines,
some slight wrinkling and light soiling, small cut toward bottom left to accommodate the seal ribbon,
mounting remnants on verso. A magnificent piece in very nearly fine condition, beautifully framed.
General George S. Patton Jr.’s Personal Copy
Of The Autobiography Of Sir Harry Smith,
A Memoir From The Napoleonic Wars, Signed By Him
64.
(PATTON, George S.) (SMITH, Harry) SMITH, G.C. Moore, editor. The
Autobiography of Sir Harry Smith 1787-1819. London, 1910. Octavo,
modern library buckram, custom clamshell box. $7000.
Later edition of this firsthand account of Smith’s military service in the
Napoleonic wars, this memorable association copy belonging to General
George S. Patton Jr., signed and dated by him “G S Patton Mar 1934.”
“During the interwar years Patton consulted an eclectic list of the
famous and the lesser known, ranging from Napoleon and
Clausewitz to du Picq, Jomini, Cromwell, Xenophon and Frederick
the Great” (D’Este,317-18). No other military leader wrote so
frequently in his letters or diary what he was reading, and no
leader’s library was so well-documented since Napoleon’s.
Patton’s library, which was almost entirely inherited by his son,
Major General George Patton III, was given to West Point, with
just a small portion of books, including this volume, inherited by
other descendants or friends. Some dampstaining and foxing to preliminaries, including the leaf that Patton has signed and the title
page, but not affecting Patton’s signature. A fascinating association copy.
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65
66
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abr aham li ncoln
Signed By Abraham Lincoln:
Appointment For Tax Agent To Implement First Income Tax In American History, 1864
65.
LINCOLN, Abraham. Document signed. Washington, August 10, 1864. One leaf, 9-3/4 by 14-1/2 inches, printed on one side
and finished by hand. Together with a secretarial letter measuring 7 by 9-3/4 inches; matted and framed. $16,500.
Civil-War era document signed by President Lincoln and countersigned by Secretary of the Treasury William Fessenden, appointing
Delano Smith as a tax commissioner, responsible for enforcing the first income tax in American history.
Due to the sharp drop in international commerce following the outbreak of the Civil War, Congress passed and Lincoln enacted the
Revenue Act in July 1862, which created a Commissioner of Internal Revenue to collect income taxes to replace lost revenue from import
duties. Designed as a emergency wartime measure, it was the first time the federal government taxed income. Yet only about ten percent
of Americans ever paid any tax as only annual incomes over $800 were taxed (later dropped to $600), exempting most wage earners.
The act, which was to remain in force for ten years, was not renewed upon its expiration in 1872. Born in Litchfield, New York, and
educated at the Clinton Liberal Institute, Delano T. Smith (1830-1905) was highly recommended to serve as auditor for the U.S. Treasury
Department under Salmon Chase during Lincoln’s first administration. Although he lost out on this position, Smith was later appointed
to the office of U.S. Direct Tax Commissioner of the state of Tennessee, which involved collecting taxes from the rebel states. Smith also
worked with his brother to promote the first subway in New York City, known as the Arcade Railway. Expert restoration to verso of fold
lines. A handsome signed Lincoln document, beautifully matted and framed with a portrait.
Rare Complete “Shoulder Strap” Set Of Civil War Memoirs,
Including Those Of Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan And McClellan
66. (CIVIL WAR) GRANT, Ulysses S. Personal
Memoirs. WITH: MCCLELLAN, George B.
McClellan’s Own Story. WITH: CRAWFORD,
Samuel Wylie. The Genesis of the Civil War. The
Story of Sumter. WITH: CUSTER, Elizabeth B.
Tenting on the Plains, or General Custer in
Kansas and Texas. WITH: HANCOCK, A.R.
Reminiscences. WITH: SHERIDAN, P.H. Personal
Memoirs. WITH: SHERMAN, W.T. Memoirs. New
York, 1885-1892. Ten volumes altogether. Octavo,
original green cloth. $8500.
Complete Shoulder Strap set of seven Civil War
histories printed by Twain’s publishing house,
with the trademark gilt-decorated “shoulder
strap” on the spines.
Named for each work’s gilt-decorated spine band
that evokes the stars on an officer’s “shoulder
strap,” this ten-volume collection features the
finest of contemporary Civil War histories. In 1884 Mark Twain joined with Charles Webster, who was married to Twain’s niece, in an
effort, at first, to publish “his own books, and he began successfully with Huckleberry Finn in 1885. Almost fortuitously he got the
contract to publish U.S. Grant’s Memoirs [1885-86]—a huge success… Other Civil War generals preparing their memoirs naturally
hoped to appear with their great commander” (Paine, 831). Most volumes first editions, with the “shoulder strap” editions of Tenting on
the Plains (first published 1887) and Sherman’s Memoirs (enlarged fourth edition, with revisions by Sherman, of the 1875 first edition).
A few owner ink stamps. Endpapers in Sheridan’s Memoirs renewed; inner paper hinges of Crawford’s Genesis cracked, binding sound.
Volumes show minor shelf-wear, but overall a very nice, presentable, complete set in near-fine condition, cloth clean and gilt bright.
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Wi n ston C hurchill
Soldier, journalist, politician, strategist: Winston Churchill was arguably the most dynamic world
leader of the 20th century. We offer a selection of rare Churchill books—long held in an exceptional
private collection—that represents the sheer breadth of Churchill’s achievements.
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A Great Rarity: Churchill’s Autobiography, In The Virtually Unobtainable Original Dust Jacket,
Inscribed By Him In The Year Of Publication
67. CHURCHILL, Winston. My Early Life: A Roving Commission. London, 1930. Octavo, original purple cloth, dust jacket. $45,000.
First edition, first state, presentation copy, of Churchill’s acclaimed autobiography, inscribed in the year of publication: “Presented by
Winston S. Churchill, Dec 1930,” in exceedingly rare original dust jacket.
My Early Life covers the first 25 years of Churchill’s life, to the beginning of his parliamentary career. Included are accounts of his childhood, his active service in Cuba, the North West Frontier and Omdurman, and his exploits during the Boer War, detailing his famous
escape from the Boers as a prisoner of war. In this autobiography “Churchill records his experiences in words which will live as long as
any 20th-century author is read… My Early Life was one of the two Churchill works excerpted by the Nobel Library—for Sir Winston’s
1953 Nobel Prize in Literature was won not for his war memoirs but the totality of his work. This book presents Churchill at his dazzling
best as chronicler and memoirist” (Langworth, 130). With numerous maps (including one folding) and plans and 16 tipped-in illustrations. Interior fine, light wear to extremities of original cloth and fading to spine ends, wear to exceptionally rare original dust jacket including fading and chipping, rear flap partially detached, front panel detached but present. Overall an exceptionally desirable copy, quite
scarce signed and in the virtually unobtainable original dust jacket.
“The European Has Neither The Wish Nor The Power To Constitute
A White Proletariat In Countries Like East Africa”
68.
CHURCHILL, Winston. My African Journey. London, 1908. Octavo, original pictorial red cloth. $1800.
First edition of this early Churchill travelogue, with three full-page maps and over 60 photographs, many taken by Churchill, in bright
original cloth.
As undersecretary of State for the Colonies in 1907, Churchill traveled to Africa on a tour of inspection. He “saw the advantages of
producing a travelogue on Britain’s valuable possessions in East Africa. Among these, Churchill waxes most eloquent on Uganda, which
he calls ‘a pearl” (Langworth, 80). My African Journey “includes photographs allegedly taken by Churchill, the only such appearance in
the canon; the text is important because it shows Churchill raising prescient questions involving the betterment of the East African
population” (Langworth, 80). Occasional scattered light foxing to preliminary leaves, light wear to extremities of bright, fresh original cloth
with light fading to spine and two spots of soiling to front board. Increasingly scarce.
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wi n ston churchill
“How The English-Speaking Peoples… Allowed The Wicked To Re-Arm”: Arms And The Covenant,
Inscribed By Churchill And Signed By His Son In The Month Of Publication
69. CHURCHILL, Winston. Arms and the Covenant. London, 1938. Octavo, original blue cloth, dust jacket. $19,000.
First edition of this collection of Churchill’s speeches on foreign affairs and
national defense, inscribed in the month of publication by Churchill and also
signed by his son, who compiled the speeches: “Inscribed by Winston S. Churchill.
Randolph S. Churchill. June 1938.”
All but two of the speeches collected here were delivered by Churchill in the
Commons in the years leading up to the Second World War. Collected by Churchill’s
son, Randolph, and revised a second time by Churchill, these represent some of the
best written by a man who “devoted more time than any other modern orator to the
preparation of his speeches” (Langworth, 190). “The finest (and most ominous)
pre-war warning of Winston Churchill occurs on [its] penultimate page… Available
in no other Churchill book… the last four paragraphs of that famous speech on 24
March 1938… summarize the theme of this volume, a precursor to the official theme of The Gathering Storm: ‘How the English-speaking
peoples through their unwisdom, carelessness, and good nature allowed the wicked to re-arm’” (Langworth, 190). With a photographic
frontispiece portrait. Churchill’s son Randolph was the editor of this volume. Cohen A107. Langworth, 190-195. Woods A44(a). Book
fine. Toning to spine of scarce, unrestored dust jacket with chipping to spine head (slightly affecting the “C” in “Covenant”), a closed
one-inch tear to top panel, and a one-inch open tear to rear panel. An extremely good inscribed copy, scarce in original dust jacket.
70
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wi n ston churchill
With Presentation Inscriptions By Churchill In Four Volumes To Richard Rhys, 9th Baron Dynevor:
Churchill’s Brilliant History Of The Second World War
70. CHURCHILL, Winston. The Second World War. London: 1948-1954. Six volumes. Octavo, original black cloth, dust
jackets. $21,000.
Volumes II-VI first editions, Volume I expanded second edition, presentation/association copies, of Churchill’s WWII masterpiece, part history and part memoir, written after he lost reelection as Prime Minister, inscribed in Volumes I, III, and IV
in 1951 to close friend Richard Rhys, 9th Baron Dynevor; with a 1951 inscription to Rhys tipped in to Volume II.
“The Second World War is a great work of literature, combining narrative, historical imagination and moral precept in a form
that bears comparison with that of the original master chronicler, Thucydides. It was wholly appropriate that in 1953 Churchill
was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature” (Keegan, 175). With the Second World War, Churchill “pulled himself back from
humiliating defeat in 1945, using all his skills as a writer and politician to make his fortune, secure his reputation, and win a
second term in Downing Street” (Reynolds, xxiii). “Winston himself affirmed that ‘this is not history: this is my case’” (Holmes,
285). Churchill was re-elected to the post of Prime Minister in 1951. Although preceded by the American editions, the English
editions are generally preferred for their profusion of diagrams, maps, and facsimile documents. Volumes II to VI are first editions; Volume I is the expanded and revised “new” or second edition, published one year after the first edition, in a first edition
dust jacket. Cohen A240.4. Woods A123b. Langworth, 254. Inscriptions in Volumes I and III read: “Inscribed for Richard Rhys
by Winston S. Churchill, 1951. Volume IV’s inscription, signed in the year of publication, reads: “To Richard Rhys by Winston
S. Churchill, 1951.” Volume II has Churchill’s inscription tipped in: “Inscribed for Richard Rhys by Winston S. Churchill, 1951,”
and also has Rhys’ pencil ownership signature, as do Volumes I and III. Richard Rhys, 9th Baron Dynevor, a Welsh aristocrat
and patron of the arts, was a theater producer and a publisher. A founder of the Merlin Theatre group, Rhys was also a director of Black Raven Press. In addition to Rhys, Churchill knew many members of his family circle. Interiors fine, some spotting
and rubbing to original cloth. Light wear to extremities of bright dust jackets with light toning to spines (as often) and one mark
of soiling to the lower front panel of Volume III dust jacket. An overall near-fine set with wonderful provenance.
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nove mber 2015
71
“Our Reign In India Or Anywhere Else Has Never Stood
On The Basis Of Physical Force Alone”
71.
CHURCHILL, Winston. India. Speeches and an Introduction. London,
1931. Octavo, original orange cloth. $4500.
First edition in book form of this volume of ten Churchill speeches on the issue
of the emancipation of India, in scarce original cloth.
Upon first joining the English Army, Churchill served in India during the late 1890s.
With the publication of this collection, Churchill wanted “to gain support for his
campaign against the India Bill, over which he had broken with his party leadership,
believing these relatively modest reforms would lead to the loss of India to the
Empire… [however] when the India Bill had passed Parliament in 1935, Churchill
even sent Gandhi his best wishes for success, and lent tacit approval to Attlee’s
plan to grant India Dominion status (thus de facto independence) in 1948. What
he did not approve of was the sudden rush to leave India under Attlee’s Viceroy,
Lord Mountbatten, who arbitrarily moved Britain’s departure date up to August
1947. British authority thus ended before boundaries could be worked out between
Moslems, Hindus and Sikhs; a vast shift of population occurred, amid bloody
attacks by the various sides against each other. Later Churchill would exclaim to
Mountbatten, ‘What you did in India was like striking me across the face with a riding crop’” (Langworth). India is “among the rarest
of Churchill’s hardbound volumes” (Langworth). Without the extremely rare dust jacket. Occasional scattered light foxing to first and
last leaves, light fading to spine with some staining, near-fine.
“The Debut Of An Exciting New Talent”:
Churchill’s First Book, The Story Of The Malakand Field Force
72.
CHURCHILL, Winston. The Story of the Malakand Field Force,
An Episode of Frontier War. London, 1898. Octavo, original apple-green
cloth. $7000.
First edition, second issue, of Winston Churchill’s first book, an
account of his service with the Malakand Field Force in India, with
frontispiece portrait of Sir Binden Blood and six maps, two of them
folding and in color.
When in the summer of 1897 a “Swati revolt threatened the British
garrison holding the Malakand Pass” along the Afghanistan border,
“Churchill caught the next boat to India” where he covered the events of
the campaign for the Daily Telegraph (Manchester, 250). The book “was
hailed as a minor classic, the debut of an exciting new talent, and… a
penetrating study of Raj policy. Churchill’s response to all this is curiously
moving. He was ‘filled with pride and pleasure… I had never been praised
before’” (Manchester, 262). Second issue, published one month after
the first, with errata slip and with 32-page publisher’s catalogue dated
3/98 bound at rear. Without virtually unobtainable dust jacket, described
as “presumed to have existed, no examples have been found” (Woods).
Interior fine; expert repairs to inner paper hinges. Light wear to extremities
of original cloth with soiling to front board and toning to spine. An
extremely good copy, increasingly scarce in original cloth.
72
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nove mber 2015
john f . kennedy
“Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For You— Ask What You Can Do For Your Country”:
Inscribed By JFK At Christmas 1961 To The Chief White House Usher
73.
KENNEDY, John F. Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy. Washington, D.C. 1961. Slim octavo, original gilt-stamped ivory
cloth, slipcase. $39,000.
Rare 1961 presentation volume of Kennedy’s Inaugural Address, one of an unspecified limitation, specially bound for the President
to present to his closest advisers, associates and friends at Christmastime—a holiday tradition he began in his first year in office,
this handsome association copy, with the gilt presidential seal on both book and slipcase, is inscribed by President Kennedy to
the chief White House usher, “For J. Bernard West from John Kennedy. Christmas 1961.”
“Let every nation know… that
we shall pay any price, bear any
burden, meet any hardship,
support any friend, oppose any
foe to assure the survival and the
success of liberty”
John F. Kennedy’s Inaugural Address is held as the most important inaugural since
that of Lincoln, which was delivered from the same portico nearly a century before.
Kennedy speechwriter Sorenson noted that while the speech underwent many drafts,
“the principal architect of the Inaugural Address was John Fitzgerald Kennedy… [His
words] have meaning for all people for all time” (Kennedy, 245). Recipient Bernard
West was chief usher at the White House from 1957 to 1969. In charge of a staff of
72, he was deeply involved in the planning of all major White House functions during
the Kennedy years, including the planning of JFK’s funeral. After his retirement,
West’s book Upstairs at the White House: My Life with the First Ladies became a
surprise best-seller in 1973; it is still considered one of the best sources of information
on life at the White House. With gilt presidential seal on front board of book, front
panel of slipcase. A near-fine copy of a very desirable JFK rarity.
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nove mber 2015
73
Image from The Marilyn Monroe Story,
first edition, available on our website.
marilyn monroe / diamon ds are a girl’ s best frien d
“Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”: RCA Victor Recording Contract Signed By Marilyn Monroe
74. MONROE, Marilyn. Contract signed. Hollywood, California, 1953. Four pages of 8-1/2 by 11-inch onion skin paper. $14,500.
Important four-page recording contract between Marilyn Monroe and RCA Victor. It specifically discusses the film Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes, in which she sang the famous song “Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend”; the contract defers to Twentieth Century-Fox for
all movie-related songs.
In 1953, Marilyn Monroe moved to the status legend. A few years earlier, she had signed a seven-year deal with Twentieth Century-Fox,
but her stardom wasn’t secure until the 1953 release of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. That mid-summer release, with its immediate box
office acclaim, served as the momentum for her signing this singing contract with RCA Victor. The four-page document, drafted under
the corporation’s letterhead, provides for a two-year deal commencing in late 1953, with no mention in the agreement about Monroe’s
compensation except her cut of the resultant royalties. The contract required Monroe to record not fewer that “16 sides,” which can be
interpreted to mean single songs on two sides of a 45 or 78 r.p.m. glass or vinyl discs. The text of the contract makes frequent reference
to Twentieth Century-Fox, to whom Marilyn owed her primary fealty, and to whom RCA Victor respectfully deferred. Songs that were
used to fulfill this contract included songs from Monroe’s two 1954 films, River of No Return and There’s No Business Like Show
Business. Each of the four pages bears two punched holes at the top margins for hardbound filing; each has two pieces of periodapplied white tape at the upper margins; and all four pages bear staple holes in the lower left and upper left corners. Throughout, the
carbon copy text is legible, with some editions added in typewriter. and executed with no typos. Page four is signed by Monroe,
Emanuel Sacks of RCA Victor, and Joseph Schenck of Twentieth Century-Fox. An important entertainment contract in fine condition.
74
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nove mber 2015
amelia e arhart
Iconic Vintage Gelatin Silver Print Of Amelia Earhart, 1935, Signed By Her
75. (EARHART, Amelia) WASHBURN, Joe. Photograph signed. Burbank, California, 1935. Vintage gelatin silver print (8 by 10 inches),
signed on the recto; matted and framed, entire piece measures 15 by 18 inches. $7800.
Vintage gelatin silver photographic print of Amelia Earhart standing in front of her Lockheed Vega airplane, signed by her.
Amelia Earhart recorded a number of firsts in her extraordinary aviation career: she was the first person, man or woman, to fly solo from
Hawaii to the U.S. mainland. She was the second person, and the first woman, to fly solo across the Atlantic (1932); and the first woman
to fly solo across the continental U.S. This photograph of Earhart standing in front of her Lockheed Vega airplane was taken in 1935.
Officials at Lockheed asked Earhart, to pose for some publicity photographs. Earhart agreed, and these pictures have become iconic: one
was used on the Amelia Earhart stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service. Tiny closed tear along left side of photograph. Fine condition.
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nove mber 2015
75
Self-portrait by Einstein
76
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winter 2015
albert ei n stei n
“We Are Having Unforgettable Days
In Palestine. With The Sun Shining,
In Cheerful Company”: Exceptionally Rare
Autograph Signed Letter By Albert Einstein
Written During His Visit To Palestine With
Both An Original Self-Portrait Sketch
And A Sketch Portraying His Traveling
Companion Entirely In His Hand
76. EINSTEIN, Albert. Autograph letter signed with
original sketches. Near Jerusalem, circa February 5,
1923. Postcard illustrated with a rendering of the Red Star
Liner Belgenland, measuring 5-1/2 by 3-1/2 inches, with two sketches by Einstein on the recto and autograph letter by Einstein in
German (along with an autograph letter by his traveling companion) on the verso.
$49,000.
Extremely rare autograph signed letter on a postcard written by Einstein during his visit to Palestine—one of only a couple
manuscript items from this visit known to exist—featuring a very rare self-portrait sketch by Einstein as well as a sketch of the
traveling companion he mentions in his letter. Letter in German.
Einstein writes to noted Zionist Arthur Ruppin in full (translated): “To my dear Mr. Ruppin, We are having unforgettable days in
Palestine. With the sun shining, in cheerful company. Your wife is standing next to me and looking at what I am writing about her.
She is counting the days until you come back. Yours, A. Einstein.”(At the time, Ruppin had been on an extended fundraising trip.)
Above his note, Hanna Ruppin also writes her husband (translated): “Dear Arthur, A pleasant tour of the city. Included is a picture
by Prof. Einstein. Warm greetings, Hanna.” True to her word, on the recto, Einstein had drawn a diminutive self-portrait (signed
below) together with a rendering of “Frau Ruppin.” Above the drawings, he added the words, “Jerusalem,” “Heiligenschein” (or
“halo”) with an arrow pointing to the halo-like marks over his self-portrait’s head. Einstein’s depiction of himself as a rotund, almost
comical figure stands in contrast to the elegantly-dressed “Frau Ruppin” with her stylish hat, shapely figure and umbrella. A newly
minted celebrity following the reception of
the 1921 Nobel Prize for physics, Einstein
was on his return to Europe following a
six-month lecture tour that took him as far
as Japan in late 1922. He returned to
Europe via Sri Lanka and the Suez Canal,
stopping at Port Said on February 1, 1923
for two weeks in Palestine. Einstein made
the stop at the invitation of Arthur Ruppin
(1876-1943), an early Zionist thinker and
leader. This letter is extremely rare. Letters
written by Einstein during his only visit to
Palestine are virtually unknown and no
examples have appeared at auction for the
past forty years. Faint horizontal crease
with a tiny tear at left margin does not affect the drawings or Einstein’s note on the
verso, minor rub spot below address line.
About-fine condition.
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winter 2015
77
jerry s iegel /joe shuster
“It’s Superman!”: Joe Shuster’s Original Ink Modifications To A Reproduction Of His Concept Sketch
For Superman, Signed By Him And Inscribed By Superman Co-Creator Jerry Siegel
77.
SIEGEL, Jerry. SHUSTER, Joe. Original drawing inscribed (Superman). No place, circa 1970. Single quarto leaf of stiff
cream photo paper, measuring 10 by 14 inches. $9500.
Wonderful and dramatic, original
blue ink sketch (with some additional original pencil shading) by Joe
Shuster, modifying a large, later reproduction of his first, 1933 drawing
of Superman, bringing the character
into conformity with his eventual,
iconic appearance. Signed by Shuster
(“JOE SHUSTER and SUPERMAN”)
and inscribed by the character’s cocreator: “To GARY – with best wishes
– from Jerry Siegel.”
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster originally
conceived of “the Superman” as a
mind-controlling villain, but in 1933,
“Siegel had a brainstorm. Make the
Superman a good guy, not a villain.
He got Shuster to draw up the idea…
What survives of their very first pass
at what would become the Superman
we know is a hasty concept sketch”
(Weldon, 10-11). On this later reproduction of his original concept sketch
from 1933, Shuster has added some
pencil shading and has made modifications in blue ink—hair, including a
curly forehead lock; extra musculature; boots and pants, belt and cape;
the now- iconic “S” on the chest—
that transform the original character
into the Man of Steel known and
loved by millions. Old, light creasing
and rubbing. An exceptional and
most desirable piece of American
and world popular culture, original
and iconic art by Joe Shuster, signed
by both him and Jerry Siegel, suitable
for framing.
78
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nove mber 2015
78. Wonderful Large Original Drawing by Charles Schulz, framed, 15-3/4 by 19-3/4 inches.
$7800.
B e atrix P ot ter
“Then Over The Hills And
Far Away She Danced With
Pigling Bland”
79. POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Pigling
Bland. London and New York: 1913. 16mo,
original maroon paper boards, mounted
cover illustration. $1700.
First edition of Potter’s story of two piglets’
escape into a new life, illustrated with
frontispiece, 14 color plates and 37 in-text
vignettes.
Potter’s 19th book, the second title to appear in the “New Series” and the last she
published before her marriage to William
Heelis. The book “has an element of truth
in it,” for in November 1909, in a letter,
Potter wrote, “The two biggest little pigs
have been sold, which takes away from the
completeness of the family group. But they
have fetched a good price, and their appetites were fearful—five meals a day and not
satisfied” (Linder, 213). Without scarce
original glassine. Quinby 22. A few isolated
spots of foxing mainly to preliminary and
concluding pages, binding quite lovely and
bright. A very nearly fine copy.
80
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“Tiddly, Widdly, Widdly,
Mrs. Tittlemouse!”
80.
POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Mrs.
Tittlemouse. London and New York, 1910.
16mo, original blue paper boards, mounted
cover illustration. $1650.
First edition of this scarce Potter title, with
color frontispiece and 26 color plates.
One of Potter’s “comedies of manners…
[and] the most subtle” of them (Carpenter,
148-49). “Potter found delight in drawing
the various intruders in Mrs. Tittlemouse’s
house… Long ago she had studied the
habits and characteristics of these small
creatures, and had painted many pictures
of them—including microscopic studies
showing the beautiful colored scales of butterflies’ wings and the highly magnified
anatomy of spiders and beetles” (Linder,
205). Without scarce original glassine dust
jacket. Quinby 18. Plates and text with light
marginal soiling, small split toward head of
inner paper hinge; binding sound. A pleasing copy of an increasingly elusive Potter
first edition in very good condition.
nove mber 2015
“It Is Said That The Effect
Of Eating Too Much Lettuce
Is ‘Soporific’”
81.
POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of the
Flopsy Bunnies. London and New York,
1909. 16mo, original brown paper boards,
mounted cover illustration. $2300.
First edition of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin
Bunny’s further adventures, with color
frontispiece and 26 color plates.
This book, the story of Peter
Rabbit’s sister Flopsy and her
family, represents the final stage
“in the defeat of Mr. McGregor,
who by the end… has been
made into a proper fool, just as
giants should be” (Carpenter,
146). Potter wrote this beautifully
illustrated sequel to Peter Rabbit
and Benjamin Bunny during the
most productive period of her
career. First edition, first or second printing, with all relevant
points. Without very scarce original
dust jacket. Quinby 16. Boards
slightly rubbed. A clean, beautiful copy
in about-fine condition.
The Story Of Miss Moppet, In Scarce Wallet Form
82. POTTER, Beatrix. The Story of Miss Moppet. London and New York,
1906. 16mo, original gray cloth wallet, mounted cover illustration. $1800.
First edition, second issue—published a month after the first and preceding
the book form—with 14 illustrations and 14 “pages” of text in one long
accordion folder.
During 1906 Potter wrote and illustrated two shorter, simpler books for the
very young, originally published that year in the form of folding panoramic
sheets tucked into a wallet; these were The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit and
The Story of Miss Moppet” (Carpenter & Prichard, 422). This delightful catand-mouse tale is beautifully illustrated in a series of scenes that folds out to
several feet in length. Second (December) issue, with “New York & London”
on rear of wallet (as opposed to “London & New York” in the first, November, issue). Mild rubbing, a few minor creases, and single spot to
interior, light rubbing and a bit of staining, mostly faint, to original cloth. An extremely good copy.
“My Own Favorite Amongst My Little Books”
83. POTTER, Beatrix. The Tailor of Gloucester. London and New York, 1903. 16mo,
original maroon boards, mounted cover illustration. $2600.
First trade edition, first printing, of Beatrix Potter’s second book, described by her as
“my own favorite amongst my little books,” with pictorial label, frontispiece and 26
illustrations in color.
Inspired by a real-life incident involving a tailor’s
pressure to finish a waistcoat for the new mayor of
Gloucester, this book “was Potter’s own favorite of
all her stories, and one can see why, for in it she
indulges her own fascination with the era of her
grandparents and great-grandparents… Fairy
tale, nursery rhyme and Arcadian fantasy all
come together for a moment in perfect balance.
No wonder Beatrix Potter was proud of the
book” (Carpenter, 148). First printing, with
single-page endpaper occurring four times. Preceded by a privately printed edition of 500
copies. Without rare original glassine dust jacket. Bookseller’s blindstamp. A charming,
near-fine copy.
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nove mber 2015
81
“Look At His Savage Whiskers,
And His Claws And His Turned-Up Tail”
84. POTTER, Beatrix. The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit. London and New York,
1906. 16mo, original green cloth wallet, mounted cover illustration. $2200.
First edition, first issue, one of only two Potter stories first published in this special
wallet format, with 14 full-page illustrations and 14 pages of text in one long
accordion folder with green linen backing.
In 1906, Potter was planning “some stories for very young children. Each story
contained 14 pictures and 14 pages of simple text. The pictures and text were
arranged in pairs and were in panoramic form, mounted on a long strip of linen, and
folded concertina-wise into a wallet with a tuck-in flap. Three stories were written in
this form—The Story of a Fierce Bad Rabbit, The Story of Miss Moppet and The Sly Old Cat; but only the first two were published. First
issue, with “London & New York” on rear cover (as opposed to “New York & London” in second issue). Owner signature. Inner paper
hinges and binding with some light wear and minor expert repairs. An extremely good copy.
“What A Funny Sight It Is To See A
Brood Of Ducklings With A Hen!”
85. POTTER, Beatrix. The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck. London, 1908.
16mo, original gray boards, mounted cover illustration. $2600.
First edition of Potter’s much-loved story of
one proud but foolish duck’s quest for a suitable nesting place, with frontispiece and 26
color illustrations.
Set at Hill Top, Potter’s beloved farm in the
Lake District, and starring a real duck who lived
there, The Tale of Jemima Puddle-Duck “is not
just a farmyard story… but a fable warning of
the consequences of venturing into the unknown—and in quite unsuitable clothes”
(Taylor et al., 133-34). Without scarce original
dust jacket. Interior with occasional light soiling, spine slightly faded with partial split to rear
joint, binding sound. A charming and extremely
good copy of an elusive Potter first edition.
82
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a . a . milne
Fine Large-Paper Limited Edition Of Winnie-The-Pooh,
One Of Only 200 Copies Signed By Both Milne And Shepard, A Beautiful Copy
86. MILNE, A.A. Winnie-the-Pooh. New York, 1926. Quarto, original half blue cloth,
dust jacket, pictorial cardboard gift box.
$19,000.
Signed limited first American edition, one of 200 large-paper copies signed by Milne
and illustrator Ernest H. Shepard, in the scarce original publisher’s box. A gorgeous showpiece for any
collection of classic children’s literature.
The most famous bear in children’s literature “first appeared in a poem [found in When We Were Very Young
(1924)]… but the character was only fully developed in Winnie-the-Pooh, which documented the adventures of the
‘bear of little brain’” (Grolier Club, 100 Books Famous in Children’s Literature
71). The book almost immediately achieved classic status in both Britain and
America, thanks not only to Milne’s droll storytelling but also Ernest H. Shepard’s
charming illustrations: “modeled after [Christopher Robin Milne’s] actual toys,
[they] show character and movement in simple line vignettes, [and] add so much… that
most people consider them to be inseparable” from the text (Silvey, 462). Without original
glassine; with scarce original publisher’s gift box. Cutler & Stiles, 116. See Payne II.
Bookseller’s small ticket. Bibliographic pencil notations inside box lid. Elusive original box
lovely with just a bit of restoration. Jacket and book fine. A perfect copy.
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nove mber 2015
83
I n dex
B
J
R
Bill of Rights 46
Jackson, “Stonewall” 45
ROSS, John 54
BLAKE, William 16, 17
JEFFERSON, Thomas 33
BLIGH, William 51
Jerusalem 52
BRAUN, Georg 52
JOYCE, James 15
C
K
SAY, Jean-Baptiste 63
CARROLL, Lewis 13
KENNEDY, John F. 73
SCHULZ, Charles 79
CHURCHILL, Winston 68–72
KEROUAC, Jack 23
SHUSTER, Joe 78
CONAN DOYLE, Arthur 11
KESEY, Ken 22
SIEGEL, Jerry 78
D
L
Slavery 37
DICKENS, Charles 12
LINCOLN, Abraham 67
SMITH, Adam 57
LINCOLN, Benjamin C. 44
SMITH, Harry 65
LOCKE, John 62
T
LUTHER, Martin 60
TWAIN, Mark 6–7
ELIOT, T.S. 14
M
V
ELLIS, Sir Henry 55
MARX, Karl 58
VOLTAIRE 62
EMERSON, Ralph Waldo 10
MILNE, A.A. 83–85
E
EARHART, Amelia 75
EINSTEIN, Albert 77
MONROE, Marilyn 74
F
FITZGERALD, F. Scott 5, 18
MORRELL, Lady Ottoline 16–17
SALINGER, J.D. 3
SASSOON, Siegfried 16–17
W
Wake Island Archive 48
WASHBURN, Joe 75
FLEMING, Ian 24–31
N
WASHINGTON, George 39
FORSTER, E.M. 17
NAPOLEON 64–65
WEBSTER, Noah 35
FRANKLIN, Benjamin 41–43
NEWTON, Isaac 61, 62
WOOD, John George 53
G
O
Y
GRANT, Ulysses S. 67
OBAMA, Barack 47
YEATS, William Butler 21
ORR, James H. 49
H
HAMILTON, Alexander 39
P
HAMLIN, Augustus C. 45
PATTON, George S. 65
HANCOCK, John 37
POTTER, Beatrix 80–82
HAYEK, Friedrich A. 59
Q
HEMINGWAY, Ernest 19–21
QUACKENBUSH, Nicholas 40
HOGENBERG, Franz 52
84
S
|
nove mber 2015
535 madison avenue , nyc
grand canal shoppes , the venetian
|
the palazzo, las vegas
1608 walnut st, philadelphia
www. baumanrarebooks . com
1- 800 -97- bau m a n
|
nove mber 2015
85
535 madison avenue , nyc
1-800-97- bauman
www. baumanrarebooks . com
86
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fine new acquisitions

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