Authors starting with B from Bartlebys Books

Each of the letters is franked "free," but we have been unable to discover an official position for the letter writer (possibly former Massachusetts Congressman Ezekiel Bacon, serving in Washington as First Comptroller of the U.S. Treasury). The first letter recounts a misunderstanding between White and Lt. Twiggs, a fellow junior military officer, leading to a duel in which White took a ball in the hip and endured its surgical removal; the following two letters report on his recovery, visiting f... more information

Philadelphia, (PA):: M. Carey,, 1816.. First American edition (first published in London, the same year). 8vo. 2 volumes: 402, 388 pp. Illustrated with the nine engravings called for in the plate list, along with ten others, a total of 19 engravings, a portrait of the author, 16 plates and views, several folding, plan (torn, without loss), folding map (torn, repair on verso). Blackmer sale 384 (for the London, 1816 edition): "The author of this work was a Spanish traveler who disguised himself as an A... more information

Chapel Hill, (NC):: North Carolina Collection, UNC Library,, 1956.. First edition, a reproduced typescript. 4to. 36 pp [rectos only]. Thornton 513. OCLC locates two copies (New York Public, North Carolina). Self-wrappers (a little foxed). Very good. (3460) ... more information

New York:: Simon and Schuster,, (c1946).. First edition. 8vo. (16), (148) pp. 74 double-page cartoons. The Sad Sack, a civilian trying to become a soldier, Baker created while himself serving in the U.S. Army and it became one of the most popular cartoon characters of the World War II era. Before the war he had worked for Disney on such films as Fantasia and Bambi. Red cloth, illustrated dust jacket. Very good. (1436) ... more information

New York:: Simon and Schuster,, (c1944).. First edition of the first collection of Sad Sack cartoons. 8vo. (9), (230) pp. 115 double-page cartoons. The Sad Sack, a civilian trying to become a soldier, Baker began drawing while himself serving in the U.S. Army, and it became one of the most popular cartoon characters of the World War II era. Before the war he had worked for Disney on such films as Fantasia and Bambi. Red cloth, illustrated dust jacket. Very good. (1435) ... more information

Montgomery, AL:: M'Cormick & Walshe, printers,, 1847.. 8vo. 22 pp. Original printed yellow wrappers; lightly foxed, but very good. First separate edition. With three pencil annotations by the author, amounting to approximately 100 words, each refining his observations and arguments; one manuscript ink correction. Not in Ellison or Owen. Recorded on OCLC, but without giving locations. ... more information

Chicago, (IL):: H.M. Higgins,, c1862.. Second edition (first published by Higgins the previous year). 4to. 7 pp. Cover lithograph illustration of a patriotic war scene, a memorial to Col. E.E. Elsworth, with his oval portrait at the center. Ellsworth was killed in Alexandria, Virginia, 24 May 1861, after removing a Confederate flag flying over a hotel; "his death, being the first of note in the war, produced a profound sensation throughout the country" (DAB). At head of cover: Tribute to Elsworth... more information

(NY:: The author,, c1937).. Original typescript, part ribbon copy, part carbon copy. 4to. (2), 101 pp. [rectos only]. Includes a 10-page preliminary prose "argument" and some historical footnotes. Original typescript for an unpublished book-length poem centering on the Civil War's crucial battle; with pencil additions, corrections, and deletions on may pages. Apparently unpublished; we have been unable to locate this title in appropriate bibliographies. Not recorded on OCLC. Laid in is an ori... more information

Los Angeles, CA:: Tight Lines publishers,, 1932.. First edition, 1/500 copies. 8vo. (10), 239 pp. Illustrated from photographs, plates, mounted portrait frontispiece of the author, line drawings, vignettes, endpaper maps. Swordfish and tuna fishing off Catalina Island. Bruns B-37 (describing a different binding). Front hinge repaired, else very good. Original decorated rough blue cloth (spine darkened). (#4255) ... more information

Edinburgh:: Adan Neill,, 1804.. First edition of the author's dissertation. 8vo in fours. (6), 32 pp. Half-title. Inscribed by the author on the half title in the year of publication "To Dr. Dabnye / with the sincere good wishes / of his friend." Banister was the grandson of the famous Virginia botanist John Banister and the son of the Revolutionary War hero of the same name. OCLC locates seven copies (Johns Hopkins, Minnesota-Bio Med Library, William & Mary, Library Company of Philadelph... more information

Edinburgh:: William Blackwood & Sons,, 1842.. First edition. Small 8vo. xxiii, 181, (2) pp. Half-title; publisher's ad leaf. Close look at agricultural practices in New York and Canada, commentary on slavery in Virginia, and more cursory commentary on other areas in the Ohio Valley and middle Atlantic states. Howes B-132. Sabin 3368. Not in Clark or Haynes. Original brown cloth (a little faded, shallow chip at head of spine). Later owners' names on front endpaper, else very good. (1947) ... more information

Philadelphia, (PA):: Ferris & Leach,, 1909.. First edition. Small 8vo. 128 pp. Illustrated from photographs, plates, portraits. Biographical sketches of Mrs, Madison, born and raised in New Garden, North Carolina. Not in Thornton. Gray boards (stained along top edge), pictorial onlay on upper board. Old tideline through upper margin of last few leaves, but a good solid copy. (3423) ... more information

Buffalo, (NY):: The Courier Company, printers,, 1888.. 12mo. xii, (2), [17]-357 pp. Illustrated, frontispiece portrait, plates. Original rust cloth, gilt title on spine; front hinge cracked, fore-edge of frontispiece a little frayed, else very good. First edition thus (as brought up to 1888; Life first appeared in 1854). Printed leaf of presentation, signed by the author, tipped-in ahead of front endpaper. Barnum, "the great American showman, was himself the greatest of his shows, and knew it … h... more information

NY:: Duffield,, 1913.. First edition. Small 8vo. (8), 136 pp. Illustrated, plates. Life of a 19th century Cheyenne woman. Rust cloth, illustrated dust jacket (soiled, some chipping at spine ends). Very good and quite scarce in the dust jacket. ... more information

NY and Washington:: Neale Publishing Co.,, 1908.. First edition. 8vo. (4), 276 pp. Illustrated, frontispiece plate of the regimental flag, portrait plates. Howes B-181. Nevins "Civil War Books" I, p. 54: "This narrative is a standard source for Texas in the Civil War." Krick 25: "Lively chronicle of fighting, marching, and waiting ... one of the better Confederate memoirs treating of the western cavalry." Scattered light foxing, but a very good copy. Original gilt-stamped gree... more information

NY:: American Society of Mechanical Engineers,, [1904].. First separate edition, originally published in Volume XXV of the Transactions of the society. 8vo. 49-62 pp. Illustrated, tables, one folding. OCLC locates two copies (North Carolina, Oklahoma). Original printed wrappers (vertical crease as for mailing), stapled; some soiling, a good copy. Barth was a close colleague of Frederick W. Taylor, principal proponent of the use of time-management studies. ... more information

Verona:: Tipografia Antonelli,, 1846.. 8vo. 2 volumes: xxxv, 270 pp.; 362 pp. Contemporary half green morocco and green paper sides (lightly rubbed); flat spines gilt titled and tooled, scattered light foxing; small label with printed border and manuscript owner's name, "Buri"; a very good set. First edition. Memoir by Bartolammeo Bartolini, a captain of cavalry, of the "days of horror," detailing the Italian army's retreat after Napoleon's Moscow campaign. Under Eug&e... more information

Washington, DC:: E.E. Barton, publisher,, 1884.. 8vo. xvi, 272 pp. Wood engraved plates, plan of the city; ads for local businesses. Original gilt-stamped plum cloth (dull), later manuscript paper spine label; old repairs to joints and hinges, but a good solid copy. First edition. Ownership marking "Ebbitt House 16th 85" on each pastedown; Ebbitt House (evolving into the present-day and Old Ebbitt Grill) has a long history, from the mid-19th century, as a leading Washington, D.C. hostelry, boardi... more information

Washington, DC:: E.E. Barton, publisher,, 1884.. 8vo. xvi, 272 pp. First edition. Wood engraved plates, plan of the city; ads for local businesses. Original gilt-stamped plum cloth (dull, spine faded), old tideline at top of rear endpapers, some foxing, but a good solid copy. ... more information

Dublin, (Ireland):: J. Moore, W. Jones, R. M'Allister, and J. Rice,, 1793.. Third edition (preceded by those of Philadelphia, 1791, and London, 1792). 8vo. xxiv, 520, (12) pp. Folding map of East Florida, portrait frontispiece of Mico Chlucco, and seven natural history plates (some wear at edges, map torn at stub and repaired). Howes B-223: "Extensive travels, in the early years of the Republic, through the southern frontiers and among the Creeks and Cherokees. A work of high character well meriti... more information