IV. Livres de l'Imitation de Iesvs-Christ, par Thomas a Kempis, Chanoine Regulier
by KEMPIS, Thomas a.
Anvers (Antwerp): l'Imprimerie Plantinienne, 1629. Hardcover. l'Imprimerie Plantinienne. 64mo. Full black calf with raised bands, brass clasps. 349pp. Illustration, historiated woodcut initials. Very good. Binding worn but strong; center third of spine present, while upper and lower thirds are crude but serviceable modern black calf replacements; internally tight and fully handleable. Quite intriguing near-miniature copy of this early French translation of the famed Christian devotional text "The Imitation of Christ," generally accepted as by German-Dutch cleric Kempis (c.... Read More
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Critica Sacra. Duabus Partibus : Quarum Prima continet Observationes Philologicas & Theologicas In omnes Radices Veteris Testamenti. Secunda continet Philologicas & Theologicas Observationes In omnes Graecas Voces Novi Testamenti. Ante hac ab Eduardo Leigh,. maxima ex parte Anglice conscripta, nunc verò ab Henrico à Middoch in Latinum sermonem conversa. / Critica Sacra, Id est Philologicae & Theologicae Observationes In omnes Voces Graecas Novi Testament, Juxta ordinem Alphabeticum...
by LEIGH, Eduardo
Amstelodami (Amsterdam): Johannis a Someran, 1679. Hardcover. Folio (12 3/4" X 8½"). Full vellum with faded paper spine label. Volume I: (16pp), 288pp, (20pp index). Volume II: (20pp), 418pp, (30pp index). Preliminary title in red and black with woodblock vignette. Full-page steel-engraved portrait. Overall very good. Binding quite age toned, spotted and rubbed, though intact and quite handleable despite the usual mild bowing; blank preliminary leaves heavily age toned, with four lines inked from one unidentified early owner (seemingly... Read More
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Autograph Quotation (unsigned)
by MARTINEAU, Harriet (1802-76)
The first female sociologist" according to some and a feminist at a time when that word was unknown, this versatile English writer penned nonfiction, essays, poetry, novels, short stories, travelogues, economics and more and was one of the few self-supporting women writers of her age. Autograph Quotation (unsigned), 1p, 7 3/4" X 6 3/4", n.p., n.y. Very good. Mild age toning and old (not weakened) folds; tipped to similar-size sheet. Four 4-line stanzas from Martineau's 1866 poem, "The Coming... Read More
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Autograph Letter Signed
by McBEE, Silas (1853-1924)
Notable Episcopalian journalist, editor, educator and church architecture consultant; he edited the influential "The Churchman" (1896-1912) and founded and edited "The Constructive Quarterly" (1913-23), served as principal of the all-girl Fairmount School, and having studied cathedral architecture in Europe he designed and supervised church construction in Houston, Nashville, Louisiana and both Carolinas and also designed Walsh Memorial Hall at the University of the South; he was closely involved in construction of a cathedral in Manila with Ralph Adams Cram... Read More
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Autograph Letter Signed
by McPHATTER, Clyde (1933-72)
This legendary R & B tenor hit the charts in the mid-50s with the Drifters and such hits as "Money Honey," "Such a Night" and "Honey Love" before going solo. ALS, 1p, 8½" X 11", New Rochelle, NY, 1958 January 2. Addressed to Donald. Very good. Yellowed tape stain at each corner and one (1¼") at each side. On delightfully corny letterhead of "Clyde McPhatter's Tune Shop," this rare letter was written shortly after his split from the Drifters... Read More
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Collection of Glass Plate Negative Prints of Abraham Lincoln and Civil War Figures
by MESERVE, Frederick Hill (1865-1962)
Known as "America's first great photograph collector," this pioneering figure championed the preservation of historical photographs, traveling the country to rescue original glass plate negatives from certain destruction; so little appreciated and understood were they that he occasionally found them tossed aside in barns and sometimes even reused as glass panes in windows. Meserve saved countless original negatives created by Mathew B. Brady, Alexander Gardner and other seminal photographers from certain destruction. To the Lincoln images he assigned numbers... Read More
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Biographie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne ou Histoire, Par Ordre Alphabetique, de la Vie Publique et Privee de Tour Les Hommes Qui Se Sont Fait Remarquer Par Leurs Ecrits, Leurs Actions, Leurs Talents, Leurs Vertus ou Leurs Crimes
by MICHAUD, Louis-Gabriel
Paris: Ch. Delagrave et Cie, n.y.. Hardcover. Complete 45-volume set. Small 4to. Dark green cloth with gilt spine lettering. Varying paginations (generally 700+ per volume). Overall very good. Mild ex-library, with each volume bearing paper label at foot of spine, circular institutional inkstamp on half-title and/or title page, bookplate on front and rear pastedown and little else; text blocks are uniformly tight and nice and free of edge tears, with no brittleness whatsoever. Full set of this enormous biographical... Read More
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The Travels of Baron Munchausen
by RASPE, Rudolf Erich
New York: The Limited Editions Club, 1929. Hardcover. Introduction by Carl Van Doren. Engravings by John Held, Jr. 4to. Green calfskin spine with gilt lettering/decorations and decorative cloth, slipcase with paper spine label. xxx, 203pp.Top edge gilt. Frontispiece, engravings. Very good/near fine. Mild wear to spine only. Handsome, tight copy of the third title in the LEC's first series, a fictional tale about a German nobleman (often mistaken for nonfiction) originally published in German in 1785. Colophon at rear... Read More
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Inscribed Photograph Signed
by REEVES, Jim (1924-64)
Known as "Gentleman Jim," this influential Country Western singer of the '50s and '60s achieved great popularity with such hits as "He'll Have to Go" (1960); he died at age 40 in a plane crash in Tennessee. Color IPS (verso), heavy stock 3½" X 5½", n.p., n.d. Near fine. Handsome color picture postcard issued by RCA Victor Records, the recto featuring a nice half-length portrait of Reeves in tie and red sweater. Verso features message and address portions, and... Read More
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Typed Letter Signed / Unsigned Photograph
by SARNOFF, David (1891-1971)
This giant of the telecommunications world headed RCA (Radio Corporation of America) from 1919 to 1970 -- but began as a lowly Belarus immigrant office boy in 1907 with the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America in New York, working his way up the radio and television ladder. TLS, 1p, 8½" X 11", New York, NY, 1966 May 10. Addressed to Arnold F. Gates, Literary Editor of the Lincoln Herald (1914-93, noted Lincoln and Civil War scholar). Near fine.... Read More
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The Whole Comical Works of Monsr. Scarron. Containing I. His Comical Romance of a Company of Stage-Players. In Three Parts, Compleat. II. All his Novels and Histories. III. His Select Letters, Characters, & c.
by SCARRON, Paul
London: S. and J. Sprint, 1700. Hardcover. Small 8vo. Rebound in full burgundy calf with gilt spine lettering and compartments. (8pp), 359pp, (3pp), 158pp, (2pp), 64pp. Engraved title page, 3 full-page engravings. Very good. Faintly age toned, but largely free from foxing and edge chips. Tight, attractive first edition of the collected works of the noted French novelist, poet and dramatist (1610-60) in perhaps turn-of-the-century (ca. 1900) handsome binding. Notes the title page, "Translated by Mr. Tho.[mas] Brown, Mr.... Read More
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Horton Hears a Who!
by SEUSS, Dr
New York: Random House, 1954. Hardcover. 4to. Glossy pictorial paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. (Ca. 75pp). Extensive color illustrations, pictorial endpapers. Very good/very good. Rear jacket flap shows inoffensive small abrasion (from price sticker removal?); mild jacket edgewear. A tight, attractive true first edition of this modern classic, with all proper points. Best of all, this special copy bears choice autograph additions: The first adaptation of this tale to the screen was a 1970 made-for-t.v. animated special directed... Read More
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Souvenir: Acis & Galatea -- Masque of Love -- As Produced at the Great Queen Street Theatre, March 10th, 1902
by SHAW, Martin, and CRAIG, Gordon
London: J.D. Waddington, 1902. Paperback. Small 4to. Stiff brown wrappers with black lettering and decoration, brown cloth tape spine. Unpaginated (ca. 75pp). Illustrations (some color, one tipped in). Very good. Yapped edges rather chipped as usual. A tight and nice first edition of this elaborate program which is much more than a program. J.A. Fuller Maitland introduces this elaborate production of Handel's pastoral opera "Acis and Galatea" and Henry Purcell's "Masque of Love." Shaw served as musical director and... Read More
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Document Signed
by (SLAVERY -- WRIT OF REPLEVIN -- ST. CHARLES, MISSOURI). TUTER, Reuben (?-?)
Confidant of Missouri pioneer Jonathan Bryan (1759-1846) of the noted St. Charles family whose relatives included their neighbor Daniel Boone. DS, 1p, 7½" X 12", St. Charles County, MO, 1847 February 2. Near fine. Acknowledgment that Tuter, who signs himself as "Administrator of the Estate of Johnathan Bryan," has had a writ of replevin made out and issued to the St. Charles sheriff, Edward C. Cunningham (1809-65), for delivery to an unnamed offender. The writ seeks to recover the... Read More
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Original Book Illustration Art
by SMOCK, Nell Stolp (1896-?)
This east coast watercolorist and children's book artist illustrated and often also wrote a wide array of children's books from the 1930s into the 1960s -- including "Wilderness Pet," "Wiggly and Giggly the Little Twin Bears," "Whitetail: King of the Forest," "The Three Puppies," "The Small One," "The Nutcracker of Nuremberg," "The Bluebird," "The Night Before Christmas," "The Enchantment of Santa Claus," "The Christ Child," "Pussy Cat Talks to Her Kittens," "Polly Parrot," "Piccolino," "Is There a Santa Claus"... Read More
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Abraham Lincoln: An Horatian Ode
by STODDARD, Richard Henry
New York: Bunce & Huntington, 1865. Hardcover. Small 4to. Stiff glossy purple front wrapper, rebound with brown morocco spine with gilt lettering and marbled paper over boards. 12pp. Very good. Mild rubbing to spine, else tight and quite attractive -- and the pamphlet itself is near fine. First and only edition of this poem mourning the death of Lincoln -- one of the best known works of this American poet, editor and critic (1825-1903) who made his home the... Read More
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Investigation of Senator Herman E. Talmadge: Open Session Hearings Before the Senate Committee on Ethics.... Exhibits -- Volume 3
by (TALMADGE, Herman E.)
Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980. Hardcover. 8vo. Tan cloth with gilt spine lettering against red, black and green. iii, 847pp. Marbled page edges. Extensive illustrations. Near fine. Talmadge (1913-2002) was a Georgia Democrat who served the peach state as 70th governor (1947-1948-55) and as senator (1957-81); in 1979 he became the eighth U.S. Senator officially censured -- for "Improper financial conduct, accepting reimbursements for official expenses not incurred, and improper reporting of campaign receipts and expenditures." Senator... Read More
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The American Claimant
by TWAIN, Mark
New York: Charles L. Webster & Co, 1892. Hardcover. 8vo. Light green cloth with gilt lettering and black and grey pictorial stamping. xv, 277pp, (8pp ads). Frontispiece, line drawings. Very good. Faint bit of edgewear -- but tight, clean and quite attractive. A handsome and bright first edition of this comic tale, with lovely illustrations by Dan Beard. And also, to quote Twain's intro, "the first attempt of the kind in fictitious literature" to "pull a book through without... Read More
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The Franklin D. Roosevelt Collector: November 1948 (Volume I, Number 1) through May 1955 (Volume VI, Number 2)
by VALENTINE, John (editor)
Glendale, CA: The Franklin D. Roosevelt Collectors' Association, 1948. Paperback. Near-inclusive 11-issue run for this 8-year span, lacking 3 issues (November 1953, November 1954 and November 1955). Small 4to. Stiff tan wrappers. Various paginations (most issues ca. 25-42pp). Frontispieces (excepting May 1953 issue), occasional illustrations. Good plus to near fine. Most issues to very good to near fine, with only the second issue good plus (wrappers bit age toned and discolored, with wrinkling throughout). Fine grouping of 12 issues,... Read More
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View of Illinois and Michigan Central Depot & c. From the Corner of Madison St. and Michigan Avenue
by (CHICAGO -- COLOR LITHOGRAPH -- E. Whitefield)
Chicago: E. Whitefield, 1860. Remarkable lithograph from a series of seven downtown Chicago scenes issued by Edwin Whitefield (1816-92) in the 1860s, lithographed and printed by Charles Shober in Chicago. 10¼" X 18¼", matted and framed to 26½" X 20½". Overall very good. The coloring is bright and delicate, with only faint age toning evident. Framing is adequate -- basic and edgeworn, with single hand-ruled cream matte, but since this is how Governor Adlai E. Stevenson II framed it... Read More
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The Hatchet: Series 1. Vol. 11 -- A DAILY NEWSPAPER on "The President's Ship" U.S.S. George Washington "Outward Bound" Carrying The President On His Second Trip To Europe
by (WILSON, Woodrow). McCAULEY, Edward Jr. (editor-in-chief)
On The High Seas: United States Navy, 1919. Paperback. Small 4to. Stiff tan wrappers. (14pp). Very good. Outer wrapper (only) rather age toned, edgeworn and rubbed, but internally tight and near fine. One of the most intriguingly odd newspapers ever: On March 5, 1919 President Woodrow Wilson departed the White House for Paris, boarding the U.S.S. George Washington on March 7th for the seven-day journey to Europe. By March 14 he was in France for the Paris Peace Conference,... Read More
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