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Catalogue 254 New Acquisitions |
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Section III: Cramer to Ehrgott |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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With the Fifth Edition Titlepage 48. [Cramer, Zadok, pub]: THE NAVIGATOR: OR THE TRADERS’ USEFUL GUIDE...[CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOR NAVIGATING THE MONONGAHELA, ALLEGHANY (sic), OHIO, AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS...TO WHICH IS ADDED AN APPENDIX, CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF LOUISIANA, AND OF THE MISSOURI AND COLUMBIA RIVERS, AS DISCOVERED BY THE VOYAGE UNDER CAPTAINS LEWIS AND CLARK]. Pittsburgh: From the press of Zadok Cramer, 1806 [but actually the full 1808 edition text]. [2],156pp. including twenty-eight full-page maps. 12mo. Contemporary half calf and marbled boards. Boards rubbed, worn at edges and corners, chipped at spine ends. Hinges repaired. Very clean and neat internally. A very good copy, in original condition, and much nicer than is usually found. In a half morocco box. A very interesting copy of Zadok Cramer’s navigator, this copy has the fifth edition titlepage, dated 1806, but the text is that of the "Sixth edition – improved and enlarged," which was published in 1808. This sixth edition text is important for being the first to contain material regarding Lewis and Clark. The Lewis and Clark material is taken from the first edition of Patrick Gass’ journal, which was published by Cramer in 1807. We can locate only one other copy which also has the fifth edition titlepage but the sixth edition text, at the Clements Library. The contemporary binding on the present copy would indicate that a few copies were issued in this manner, probably in late 1807 or early 1808. That aside, this is actually the text from the fourth known edition, after those of 1802, 1804, and 1806. The first two editions have been found in a few copies only. Cramer’s work is the first navigational guide for the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, which were vitally important commercial arteries at the time. The text in the present copy is the first to contain material regarding the Lewis and Clark expedition, found on the final ten pages of text. The Lewis and Clark material is taken from Patrick Gass’ journal, which was also printed by Zadok Cramer in Pittsburgh the previous year. Also included are twenty-eight woodcut maps of various sections of the rivers described, including a map of Pittsburgh. A vitally important work in helping to develop the commerce of the early United States, with a very early account of Lewis and Clark’s discoveries. HOWES C855, "aa." SABIN 17385. LITERATURE OF THE LEWIS & CLARK EXPEDITION, pp.89-94. $22,500. "Even the damned may salute the eloquence 49. Cranch, John: [PORTRAIT OF DANIEL WEBSTER]. [ca. 1850]. Oil on academy board, 10 x 8 inches. Inscribed in pencil on the reverse, in an unknown hand: "Portrait of Daniel Webster by John Cranch." Excellent condition, slight chipping and scratching around edges from frame rub. Fine period beaded and decorated American exhibition frame. Provenance: Kennedy Galleries (labels); Collection of Edward Eberstadt & Sons. A handsome bust portrait of the legendary American orator and politician, Daniel Webster (1782-1852), when he was sixty-eight, posed sternly in a brass-buttoned topcoat, white shirt, and black cravat, painted by an artist popular in his lifetime for his portraits of the American ruling class. John Cranch (American, 1807-91) trained at Columbia College (now George Washington University) and became the protege of Charles Bird King and Chester Harding. He was a premier and openly acknowledged copyist of other artists’ pictures; King, Harding, Gilbert Stuart, Thomas Sully, et al. Cranch copies were well placed; his version of Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of John Quincy Adams hung in the Library of Congress until destroyed in the 1851 fire. He frequently exhibited his life-like portraits of famous Americans at the Washington Art Association. In New York City, Cranch’s portraits were shown for many years at the National Academy of Design, where his self-portrait hangs today; and in the gallery space of the Apollo Association, an organization dedicated to the exhibition and reproduction of fine art. His father, federal judge and United States Supreme Court reporter of decisions William Cranch (he compiled reports of cases from 1800 to 1819), introduced the artist to many statesmen who sat for their portraits in the conveniently located District of Columbia studio. A portrait of his father and the Cranch copy of Harding’s classic painting of Supreme Court Justice John Marshall are presently displayed in the Federal Court system. An accurate and distinguished painting of Daniel Webster as elder statesman, corresponding closely to photographic portraits, by a skilled American artist whose work, while easy to locate in museums and the corridors of power, is surprisingly rare. Artnet and Askart report one sale, in the art market. Who Was Who in American Art (Madison, Ct.: Soundview Press, 1999) Vol. 1, p.763. $4250. The First "Go Ahead!" 50. [Crockett, Davy]: "GO AHEAD!" DAVY CROCKETT’S ALMANACK, OF WILD SPORTS OF THE WEST, AND LIFE IN THE BACKWOODS. CALCULATED FOR ALL THE STATES IN THE UNION. 1835. Nashville: Snag & Sawyer, [1834]. 46 [of 48]pp., including five full-page wood engravings and numerous in-text illustrations. Lacks final leaf. Original pictorial wrappers, stitched as issued. Cover moderately browned and soiled, small chips at edges, clean tear in middle (touching text and image), contemporary inscription in upper right corner, partially separated from sewing. Pages 45-46 worn, chipped at edges (affecting headline on both pages), last leaf lacking. Moderate foxing and age-toning throug-hout. A fair copy. Volume one, number one of the celebrated series of almanacs that made Davy Crockett an American folk hero. Only the first two issues were published in Crockett’s lifetime. "It was the Crockett Almanacks which made Crockett a legendary figure and a part of American folklore, rather than the comparatively decorous Sketches and Eccentricities of 1833, and the Narrative of 1834. Constance Rourke, Crockett’s biographer, observes that the legendary Crockett stories ‘constitute one of the earliest and perhaps the largest of our cycles of myth, and they are part of a lineage that endures to this day, in Kentucky, Tennessee and the Ozark Mountains’" – Grolier American Hundred. According to Tennessee bibliographer Ronald Allen, "the early Nashville issues are very scarce, and the 1835 original edition, issued in 1834, is the rarest of all." The raucous full-page illustrations that debuted with this first issue of the almanac became the hallmark of the Crockett series. They include in this copy the following five wood engravings: 1) ["Mr. Crockett’s Intrepidity in Vanquishing
Three Panthers."] The genesis of the Crockett legend as first issued, with numerous engaging illustrations. GROLIER AMERICAN HUNDRED 39. SABIN 17576. HENDERSON, pp.55-56. HOWES C897, "aa." PHILLIPS, SPORTING BOOKS, p.18. ALLEN, SOME TENNESSEE RARITIES 35. ALLEN, TENNESSEE IMPRINTS 1128. DRAKE 13405. $1500. 51. Cruikshank, George, and Horace Mayhew: THE TOOTH-ACHE. IMAGINED BY HORACE MAYHEW AND REALIZED BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK [cover title]. Boston: L.H. Bradford & Co., [ca. 1850-60s]. Forty-three illustrated panels printed on three joined sheets (4.875 x 80 inches extended), folded in accordion-style format. Pictorial paper boards. Front board detached, spine chipped. Boards lightly soiled. Overall good. An early American printing (uncolored), following on the original London edition of 1849. OCLC reports another Boston printing, explicitly dated 1860, to which this may be related. COHN 547 (London ed). $750. 52. Cummings, M.F. and C.C.: ARCHITECTURE. DESIGNS FOR STREET FRONTS, SUBURBAN HOUSES AND COTTAGES. Troy, N.Y.: Young & Benson, 1865. [2],ii pp. plus fifty-two lithographic plates, each accompanied by one page of text, plus [10]pp. of advertisements (many illustrated). Folio. Original cloth, stamped in blind and gilt. Corners worn. Light dampstain in upper margin throughout, affecting corners of plates. Else very good. Of great interest for its material on street-front architecture, including details of brick cornices (which one can still see in many American small cities and towns), window caps, doors, etc. Cummings and Miller offer a variety of elevations for street fronts (stores and dwellings) and for "first class" street architecture (i.e. buildings with the front entirely of stone, primarily banking houses). There are also numerous designs for ornamental woodwork: gables, porches, piazzas, window caps, etc. An indispensable source for restorationists and students of city architecture and the row house. Charles Crosby Miller was an architect in Toledo, Ohio; Cummings was an architect in Troy. An unusual imprint for such an elaborate book. HITCHCOCK 296. $750. 53. Cuoq, Jean André: LEXIQUE DE LA LANGUE ALGONQUINE. Montreal: J. Chapleau & Fils, 1886. xii,446,[2 (1 blank)]pp. 20th-century maroon cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title and publication information. Boards very slightly sprung, with some discoloration along rear joint. Pages age-toned (especially first and last few leaves) and embrittled, with occasional edge nicks. Several signatures towards back of volume unopened. First edition of Father Cuoq’s respected and important Algonquin-French dictionary. Luckily this work was not completed earlier in the priest’s career, for many of Cuoq’s linguistic studies published and sold by Chapleau & Fils perished in a disastrous fire in 1877. Not in Vancil, Cordell Collection. AYER, INDIAN LINGUISTICS (ALGONKIN) 19. PILLING, ALGONQUIAN 101. $900. The Cypress Tree Laments 54. [Cupressus, pseud]: MONODY OF THE GARDEN, ON THE DEATH OF DOCTOR ANDERSON. St. Vincent. [ca. 1811]. Broadside, 39 x 16 mm. Lateral separation neatly mended with no loss, washed. Very good. An unrecorded elegy of sixteen four-line stanzas on the life, character, and botanical labors of Alexander Anderson, almost certainly written and printed on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent – and as such, probably the earliest surviving example of Vincentian poetry. Anderson (1748?-1811), a Scottish surgeon, agronomist, and botanist, survived a stint in the British army during the American Revolution and subsequent imprisonment by the French on Martinique, and in 1785 came to St. Vincent as appointed head of the Botanical Gardens there – founded in 1765, and still surviving as the earliest in the Western Hemisphere. He remained in that office for twenty-six years, successfully cultivating new species (including the breadfruit trees brought by Captain Bligh from Tahiti in January 1793), exploring the island, and chronicling its history and that of the Gardens – valuable accounts only published from manuscript in 1983 (edited by R.A. and E.S. Howard, Harvard University Press and the Linnaean Society of London): see D.J. Mabberley in ODNB. Our Monody..., presented as the lament of "Cupressus" (i.e. the cypress tree), represents the vegetables of the Garden themselves as devastated by the loss of their superintendent: "Each widow’d Plant, in sensitive Decay, / And seeming Sorrow, to the Earth reclines," while "Weeds, with wither’d Foliage strew the Ground / While choaks the Spice beneath the noxious Thorn." The elegaist is a close and affectionate acquaintance, who can recall Anderson walking among "those clustring Bread fruit," or "where yon Mango canopies so wide, / With Boughs, impervious to mid-day Heat," where "in letter’d Ease, he took his Noon-tide Seat." He closes his not-inelegant lament with a prose note: "This truly good Man, and excellent Chris-tian, was not only the kindest master but the moral and religious Preceptor of his Negroes." A contemporary annotator, perhaps the author himself, has added in MS a qualification to one fatalistic line ("No Embryon Hope revives the silent Urn!"), viz., "not to be understood of the soul," and the headnote "Doctor Anderson superintended the Botannick Gardens St. Vincent for thirty years, & died in 1811—." Other corrective markings ("Shadowey" reduced to "Shadowy," and some space-breaks suggested) may indicate that this copy of the broadside is in fact a proof. The primitive typography of Monody of the Garden..., as well as its entirely local reference and relevance, point strongly to local production. Letterpress printing at St. Vincent began in 1788 with Joseph Berrow, who produced The Laws of the Island of Saint Vincent and Its Dependencies (unique copy at JCB), and annual editions of laws are said to have followed, between 1792 and 1799 (Bradford F. Swan, in Colin Clair’s The Spread of Printing...the Caribbean Area [1970], pp.30,34; Isaiah Thomas, surprisingly, overlooks St. Vincent entirely), though ESTC online notes only a "Militia Act" of 1799 (unique copy at PRO). But later presses are practically undocumented: Sabin 75511 is An Almanac Calculated for the Island of St. Vincent for 1834, and you would be hard pressed to find records of any other local printing before the 1860s. This survival, perhaps the earliest example of "literary" publication on St. Vincent, is entirely unrecorded in any likely bibliography or database known to us (e.g. COPAC, RLIN, OCLC, KVC, Sabin, or Don Mitchell’s vast online West Indian Bibliography). $3750. 55. Currier & Ives [publishers]: THE GREAT FIRE AT BOSTON, NOVEMBER 9th & 10th 1872. THE FIRE BEGAN ON SATURDAY EVENING, AND RAGED FOR 15 HOURS; DESTROYING OVER SIXTY ACRES OF BUILDINGS, AMONG WHICH WERE WHOLE BLOCKS OF THE FINEST GRANITE STORES ON THE CONTINENT, AND PROPERTY ESTIMATED AT NEARLY $100,000,000. New York: Currier & Ives, 1872. Handcolored lithograph, heightened with varnish. Image size (including text): 9 1/2 x 12 11/16 inches. Sheet size: 10 3/8 x 14 1/8 inches. In good condition, apart from some light browning and adhesive tape on verso. A fine copy of this dramatic scene, recalling one of the worst disasters to ever befall the city of Boston. The fire began in the basement of a commercial warehouse at 83-87 Summer Street at 7:20 in the evening of Saturday, Nov. 9, 1872. Extensive disregard of the fire regulations allied with the widespread use of wooden mansard roofs meant that the fire had little difficulty taking hold, and in twelve hours it had consumed about sixty-five acres of downtown Boston. Under the leadership of Boston Fire Chief John Damrell, the fire was eventually contained by the firefighters. The Great Boston Fire of 1872 is still one of the most costly fire-related property losses in American history: $73.5 million in damage, with the loss of 776 buildings and much of the financial district. The present highly evocative image shows the fire at its height: illuminating the fearful city and reflecting in the waters of the harbor, with smoke billowing skywards, all contrasting strongly with the uniform blackness of the night sky. GALE, CURRIER & IVES: A CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ 2834. CONNINGHAM, CURRIER & IVES PRINTS 2614. PETERS, CURRIER & IVES 3927. $850. Race, Class, Gender, Sex, Murder: 56. Dana, James: THE INTENT OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. A DISCOURSE DELIVERED IN THE CITY OF NEW-HAVEN, OCTOBER 20, 1790. BEING THE DAY OF THE EXECUTION OF JOSEPH MOUNTAIN, FOR A RAPE. New Haven: Printed by T. and S. Green, [1790]. 28pp. Half title. Original plain wrappers. Foredge chipped, not affecting text. Scattered foxing and staining. A good copy. Joseph Mountain was a runaway slave who committed various crimes after his escape. His own scarce pamphlet was published the same year as his execution. The present sermon, read in the presence of Mountain "but a few hours before his launching into eternity" (p.5), was delivered by James Dana, the popular and distinguished pastor of the First Church in New Haven. Dana’s ordination had been the source of the important Wallingford Controversy in 1752. EVANS 22446. SABIN 51189. DAB V, pp.54-55. $2250. 57. Davison, G.M.: THE FASHIONABLE TOUR: OR, A TRIP TO THE SPRINGS, NIAGARA, QUEBECK, AND BOSTON; IN THE SUMMER OF 1821. Saratoga Springs: Printed and Published by G.M. Davison, 1822. 165pp. 24mo. Contemporary half morocco, gilt, and paper-covered boards. Ink ownership inscription dated June 27, 1822. Light scattered foxing, else very good. The first edition of the first U.S. guidebook to a pleasure tour. During the first decades of the 19th century, Upstate New York and the adjoining regions were a fashionable retreat during the summer months for the wealthy citizens of more torrid climates, particularly the Southeast. This work is designed as a guide for these tourists, and the first part of the work consists of a short itinerary from Charleston to New York. French editions appeared in 1834 and 1839. From 1833, this work was published as The Traveller’s Guide Through the Middle and Northern States.... One of the earliest published accounts of the Erie Canal (under construction) appears on pages 92-93. Not in Rumsey. HOWES D143. $750. The Huntington Edition 58. [Declaration of Independence]: Huntington, Eleazer, engraver: IN CONGRESS JULY 4th 1776. UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN STATES OF AMERICA. [Hartford? ca. 1820-24]. Broadside, 26 x 21 inches. Professional conservation treatment with repairs to closed tears (no loss) and restoration of top corner margins. In fine condition. Handsomely framed with silk matting, frame measures 32 x 27 inches. The Declaration of Independence, the foundation document of the United States, has been printed myriad times since its original publication in 1776. At first as broadsides, then as an essential addition to any volume of laws, it was from the beginning a basic work in the American canon. The present document is one of the earliest broadside reproductions of the Declaration, done within a few years of the first broadside republications. In the period following the War of 1812, Americans began to look back, for the first time with historical perspective, on the era of the founding of the country. The republic was now forty years old, and the generation of the American Revolution, including the signers of the Declaration, was dropping away. With nostalgia and curiosity, many Americans began to examine the details of the nation’s founding. Among other things, such documents as the debates of the Constitutional Convention were published for the first time. It seems extraordinary that the Declaration of Independence, as created, was unknown to Americans, when the text was so central to the national ego. Several entrepreneurs set out to bridge this gap by printing reproductions of the document. The first to do so was a writing master named Benjamin Owen Tyler, who created a calligraphic version of the Declaration and published it in 1818, recreating exactly the signatures of the signers as they appeared on the original. Three other broadside printings of the Declaration were issued in 1818 and 1819, each containing ornamental borders or illustrations. These were followed in the early 1820s by the present printing by Hartford engraver and penmanship author Eleazer Huntington. Huntington followed Tyler’s example by creating a calligraphic facsimile of the Declaration, but stripped out the ornaments and illustrations that had been added by previous publishers, returning the document to the simple title and text of the original, and providing the signatures of the signers in exact facsimile. According to John Bidwell’s list, this is the sixth broadside reproduction of the Declaration of Independence. Bidwell locates only three copies of the Huntington printing of the Declaration, at the Huntington Library, Massachusetts Historical Society, and American Antiquarian Society. Rare, attractive, and important. John Bidwell, "American History in Image and Text" in Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 1988, Vol. 98, pp.247-302 (also issued as a separate pamphlet by AAS), item 6. $25,000. An Extraordinary Calligraphic 59. [Declaration of Independence]: Fuller, John A.: FREEDOMS FOOTSTEP. THE THIRTEEN UNITED COLONIES IN ORDER AS THEY ADOPTED THE CONSTITUTION...DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE...[manuscript titles]. Nevada County, Ca. 1866. Manuscript calligraphic broadside, 26 x 19¾ inches, executed in brown and blue inks. Faint old 4 x 1-inch stain in the portion reproducing the signatures on the Declaration of Independence. Very good. Framed. An remarkable work of American folk art, created to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and, implicitly, the end of the Civil War. In an incredibly attractive and inventive mix of text, design, and image, John Fuller has reproduced the text of the Declaration of Independence with facsimiles of the signatures of the signers, surrounded by the names and dates of the presidents of the United States, the names of the thirty-six states and the dates they ratified the Constitution or were admitted to the Union, and a roll call of famous Revolutionary War battles, all adorned with columns, ivy, eagles, books, scrolls, and the seal of the United States. The focus of the work is the text of the Declaration of Independence, written in a neat cursive hand in a large oval in the center of the sheet. The full text of the Declaration is reproduced in brown ink with light blue underscoring, followed by facsimiles of the signatures of the signers of the Declaration. At the center of the text is a drawing of the Great Seal of the United States. Surrounding the center oval are a series of sixteen smaller ovals giving the names and dates of all the presidents, from George Washington to Abraham Lincoln. In the upper corners of the image are listed "the thirteen united colonies in order as they adopted the constitution," and in the lower corners are the names of the other states and the dates they were admitted to the Union. Tall, elaborate columns with vines and decorations frame the sides of the work, and winding scrolls around the columns give the names and dates of important Revolutionary engagements, as do foundation stones at the bottom of the work. At the base of the columns are statues resting on shields and holding swords, while a window in each column gives a view to a ship at sea. The entire work is crowned by an eagle spreading its wings. Other eagles, as well as images of books, scrolls, urns, and wreaths, decorate the entire work. John A. Fuller was born in England in 1828 and spent his youth in the service of the East India Company, sailing to India and Australia. He arrived in San Francisco in 1850 and spent the next fifteen years engaged in mining, especially around Nevada and Yuba counties. In 1866 or 1867 he went to Alaska as an agent of the Russian American Company of San Francisco, and was in Sitka to observe the transfer of Alaska from Russian to American hands in October 1867. Fuller remained in Sitka for several years, becoming the town’s first postmaster, thus making him the first postmaster in Alaska Territory. He established the first drug store and the first library in Sitka, aided in the production of the first newspapers there, and was also appointed the first government coal agent. Fuller was elected surveyor of the town of Sitka in 1867, and also continued in his post with the Commercial Company, organizing shipments of salmon and lumber to the United States, including 19,000 feet of yellow cedar to William H. Seward for use in his library. In the early 1870s he returned to California, settling in Napa and becoming a member of the City Council and, in 1899, mayor of the city. Fuller died in 1909. A most remarkable work of patriotic American folk art by an adopted American in California, celebrating the Declaration of Independence and the strength of the Union as he prepared to leave his new country for Alaska. Leigh H. Irvine, ed., A History of the New California (New York, 1905). $8500. 60. [Disturnell, John]: THE TRAVELLER’S GUIDE THROUGH THE STATE OF NEW-YORK, CANADA, &c. EMBRACING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK; THE HUDSON RIVER GUIDE, AND THE FASHIONABLE TOUR TO THE SPRINGS AND NIAGARA FALLS; WITH STEAM-BOAT, RAIL-ROAD, AND STAGE ROUTES. ACCOMPANIED BY CORRECT MAPS. New York. 1836. 71,[1]pp. Lithographed frontispiece and two folding maps. 24mo. Contemporary black cloth, red paper label on front cover. Label rubbed, binding worn, with one-inch loss to spine. Overall very good. This is an excellent early guide to New York State, with individual sections on New York City, Saratoga Springs, Lake George, and Niagara Falls. Numerous tables give information on population, steamship routes, canal tolls, stage routes, and railroads. This is a variant issue of Rumsey 4525, without the miniature map of New York City, which was evidently not supposed to be included. Also included are two insets, of New York City and Albany. Scarce. SABIN 96488. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 37148. HOWES N109. RUMSEY 4525 (ref). $950. 61. [Disturnell, John]: NEW-YORK AS IT IS, IN 1837; CONTAINING, A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, LIST OF OFFICERS, PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, AND OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION. INCLUDING THE PUBLIC OFFICERS, &c. OF THE CITY OF BROOKLYN. ACCOMPANIED BY A CORRECT MAP. New York. 1837. iv,250,[2]pp. plus frontispiece and frontispiece folding map. [bound with:] [Disturnell, John]: THE CLASSIFIED MERCANTILE DIRECTORY, FOR THE CITIES OF NEW-YORK AND BROOKLYN.... New York. 1837. 124pp. 12mo. Modern cloth, spine gilt. Map reinforced with tape on verso. Light scattered foxing. Tear, with marginal loss but no loss to text, in lower portion of p.3/4. Bookplate of collector John J. Ford, Jr., on front pastedown; ink cost code, dated 6/11/60, on front free endpaper. Very good. New York As It Is... appeared annually from 1833 through 1835, and again, for the final time, in 1837. Together with The Classified Mercantile Directory..., with which it tends to be bound, Disturnell’s work provides detailed listings and descriptions of the civic institutions and businesses of New York. The frontispiece, drawn and engraved by R. Hinshelwood, portrays the campus of New York University in a tranquil era, with families promenading down a lane and groundskeepers working in the foreground. The partially colored folding map, executed by D.H. Burr, shows the streets of Manhattan and outer Brooklyn. This is the only edition of The Classified Mercantile Directory... listed in the NUC, with three locations given. Neither title is listed in Howes or Sabin. SPEAR, p.247 (locates only NHi for the first title; NHi, NN for the second). $750.The First American Encyclopedia 62. Dobson, Thomas, ed: ENCYCLOPAEDIA; OR A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE; CONSTRUCTED ON A PLAN, BY WHICH THE DIFFERENT SCIENCES AND ARTS ARE DIGESTED INTO THE FORM OF DISTINCT TREATISES OR SYSTEMS, COMPREHENDING THE HISTORY, THEORY, AND PRACTICE OF EACH, ACCORDING TO THE LATEST DISCOVERIES AND IMPROVEMENTS...THE FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, IN EIGHTEEN VOLUMES, GREATLY IMPROVED. ILLUSTRATED WITH FIVE HUNDRED AND FORTY-TWO COPPERPLATES. Philadelphia: Thomas Dobson, 1798-1803. Twenty-one volumes, consisting of eighteen volumes of the Encyclopædia... and three volumes of the Supplement..., with nearly 600 engraved plates. Large quarto. Uniformly bound in modern three quarter morocco over marbled boards, spine gilt. Inner hinges reinforced with cloth tape, a few volumes beginning to separate at front inner hinge, and few leaves loose, but text blocks and bindings solid. Contemporary ownership signature of Ephraim Clark, highlighted with additional contemporary red ink, on titlepage of twelfth volume. Light age-toning, minor occasional soiling and foxing, moderate offsetting from plates to facing text pages. A very good set. The first encyclopedia published in America, based on the third edition of the British Encylopaedia Britannica, with numerous articles revised or rewritten. Originally sold by subscription and issued in parts between 1790 and 1797, the titlepages to all eighteen volumes of the present set are dated 1798, and Evans assigns individual numbers to each of these separate volumes. Thomas Dobson, the publisher of the work, issued an additional three-volume supplement in 1803. A major feat of late-18th-century American printing and publishing, Dobson’s encyclopedia consists of articles concerning ecclesiastical, civil, military, and commercial matters, "including elucidations of the most important topics relative to religion, morals, manners, and the economy of life: together with a description of all the countries, cities, principal mountains, seas, rivers, &c throughout the world; a general history, ancient and modern, of the different empires, kingdoms, and states; and an account of the lives of the most eminent persons in every nation, from the earliest ages down to the present times." Evans writes that "this American edition is something more than a reprint of the third edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, on which it is based, as it contains much original matter, and some of the longer articles are written anew, ‘by gentlemen eminent in the respective sciences in this country.’" Examples of entirely new articles included those on America (rewritten by Jedidiah Morse), anatomy, and chemistry. "That the scholars of this country could critically review and correct the scientific authorities of Great Britain in these, and other important branches of study, is significant of a high standard of scholarship" – Evans. The engravings illustrating the work are remarkable for their detail and execution, and represent the high point of copper plate engraving in the United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. NAIP lists sixteen individual engravers associated with the project, many well-known in their time. Appropriately for the text, the plates cover a multitude of topics including natural history, medicine, geography, science, engineering, and much, much more. Some of the images, such as the anatomical plates, constitute the earliest illustrations on individual subjects published in the United States. In numerous aspects of publishing the work, Dobson was willing to spare no expense for high quality American craftsmanship. In addition to employing American engravers, superfine paper manufactured in Pennsylvania was utilized and types were cast by Blaine and Company especially for the work. A remarkable production in all senses, a complete set is scarce on the market. "From various causes, chief among which were, its irregular manner of publication [by subscription], and the period of years required in its printing, copies of the work are uncommonly found even in the older and larger libraries, and all have some peculiarities or defects...When the risks of publication are considered, the courageous and admirable manner in which the publisher carried out the work to a conclusion, gives the name of Thomas Dobson, of Philadelphia, a high rank in the book-publishing annals of this country" – Evans. EVANS 22486, 33676-33693. RINK 116. NAIP w031873. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 4096 (SUPPLEMENT). NEWBERRY LIBRARY, CIRCLE OF KNOWLEDGE 23. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, CIRCLE OF KNOWLEDGE 21. $5000. 63. Doddridge, Joseph: NOTES, ON THE SETTLEMENT AND INDIAN WARS, OF THE WESTERN PARTS OF VIRGINIA & PENNSYLVANIA, FROM THE YEAR 1763 UNTIL THE YEAR 1783 INCLUSIVE. TOGETHER WITH A VIEW, OF THE STATE OF SOCIETY AND MANNERS OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF THE WESTERN COUNTRY. Wellsburgh, Va.: Printed... for the Author, 1824. [4],316pp. Antique style half calf and boards, leather label. Contemporary ownership inscription on front pastedown, noting "Price $1.25." Text heavily foxed, as is often the case with this title. A very good copy. "Classic on the life of the first settlers beyond the Alleghenies. Doddridge’s parents moved to Washington County, Pennsylvania, then a wilderness, in 1773, when he was four years old, so he knew by family tradition and actual experience the frontier life he describes so well" – Streeter. "...A striking picture of the life, times and manners of the early frontiersmen" – Church. All authorities agree on the remarkable nature of this book, not only for facts, but for its insight into frontier life. With references to numerous Indian captivities, detailed by Ayer. HOWES D390, "aa." STREETER SALE 1334. CHURCH 1327. SABIN 20490. FIELD 437. VAUGHAN 94. THOMSON 331. AYER 74. $1000. 64. Drake, Daniel: AN INAUGURAL DISCOURSE ON MEDICAL EDUCATION; DELIVERED AT THE OPENING OF THE MEDICAL COLLEGE OF OHIO, IN CINCINNATI, NOVEMBER 11th, 1820. Cincinnati: Printed by Looker, Palmer and Reynolds, 1820. xii,[3]-31pp. 12mo. Original plain blue front wrapper, most of rear wrapper lacking. Small hole in lower outer corner of titlepage, not affecting text. Scattered light foxing. Very good. An early work by one of the first great physicians in the West. When it opened in Cincinnati in 1820, the Medical College of Ohio was only the second medical school west of the Alleghenies, with an inaugural class of twenty-four students. Speaking at the opening of the medical college he founded, Dr. Daniel Drake discusses the various branches of medicine, their contributions to society, the importance of Cincinnati as a growing metropolitan center, and the need for higher standards in medical education. The text is prefaced by a memorial from Drake to the General Assembly of Ohio pleading for continued and increased funding for his institution. Although Drake was the founder and president of the Medical College of Ohio, his tenure at the college was a short and stormy one, as the faculty tried to expel him in 1822, and Drake left the school shortly thereafter. He was involved in the founding of numerous Ohio and Kentucky institutions and wrote a number of important works, especially medical in nature, on the area. A scarce and pioneering work. AUSTIN 697. CORDASCO 20-0192. AII (OHIO) 545. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 1048. SABIN 20825 (note). THOMSON 354 (note). $3000. 65. Dripps, Matthew: TOPOGRAPHICAL MAP OF NEW YORK AND VICINITY EMBRACING FIFTEEN CITIES AND ABOVE 1700 SQUARE MILES. New York: M. Dripps, [1855?]. Folding pocket map, 23 x 27½ inches, with full period color. Bound into original 16mo. brown cloth boards, stamped in blind and gilt. Very good. A detailed map of metropolitan New York, which extends as far east as Oyster Bay, Long Island. The map shows the rapid transit system, canals, and railroads. The map also includes two insets: a map of Long Branch, New Jersey, and vicinity; and Navesink Park. Scarce. Not in Phillips or Rumsey. $2750. 66. Duncan, William: THE NEW-YORK DIRECTORY AND REGISTER FOR THE YEAR 1793 [i.e. 1792].... New York: Printed for the Editor by T. and J. Swords, 1793. xi,252pp. 12mo. 19th-century three quarter morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt, raised bands. Original marbled wrappers bound in. Morocco lightly stained. Lower outer corners of front wrapper and front free endpaper of original volume repaired. Lacking plan, else overall very good. The seventh New York directory. In addition to the substantial register of city institutions and services and the directory proper, Duncan’s publication for 1793 includes a "List of Remarkable Events which have taken place from the first discovery of America to the present period" and a "Description of the Slips and Wharves Belonging to the City of New-York." OCLC locates no copies; Spear and Evans together record three copies. Scarce. EVANS 25422. SPEAR, p.234. $3750. 67. Earhart, John F.: THE COLOR PRINTER. A TREATISE ON THE USE OF COLORS IN TYPOGRAPHIC PRINTING. Cincinnati: Earhart and Richardson, 1892. 137pp., included numerous in-text illustrations (some color), plus portrait frontispiece and ninety chromolithograph plates. Quarto. Decorative cloth, stamped in red, blue, yellow, gray, and gilt. Ink inscription on flyleaf: "To Aberdeen Typographia from James Smith of the Bon Accord Press 1942." Slight edge wear, ½-inch chip at head of spine, ½-inch closed tear in front free endpaper with early tape repair. Overall very good. Dedication page signed in ink by author. Earhart was a Cincinnati printer and color lithographer. This book is a tour-de-force essay on the use of color in printing, illustrating up to ten colors per page and combinations obtainable by overprinting. A magnificent book demonstrating the best of American chromolithography in the 1890s, with extensive instruction on its execution. Actual tables of proportions of inks to use are provided. McGRATH, p.192 (listed but not discussed). REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 111. $1000. Minnesota Indian Captivity 68. Eastlick, Lavina: THRILLING INCIDENTS OF THE INDIAN WAR OF 1862; BEING A PERSONAL NARRATIVE OF THE OUTRAGES AND HORRORS WITNESSED BY MRS. L. EASTLICK, IN MINNESOTA. Mankato: Free Press Printing Company, 1890. 37pp. Original publisher’s wrappers. Cellotape repairs on spine, covers soiled and chipped. Toned and brittle, a few leaves detached, a few margins chipped (with no loss of text). A good copy. In a half morocco box. The scarce third edition of this account of the Dakota (Sioux) Uprising of 1862 in Minnesota. Mrs. Eastlick, whose husband and three children were brutally murdered during the uprising, witnessed one of the bloodiest massacres in frontier history. The author describes her firsthand account of the violence and her escape to safety as "a plain unvarnished statement of all the facts that came under my own observation, during the dreadful massacre of the settlers of Minnesota. Mine only was a single case among hundreds of similar instances." A good, if fragile, copy of this scarce narrative. OCLC records six locations of this 1890 edition and three locations each of two 1864 printings. No edition of this appeared in Siebert, nor is there any edition in auction records since 1975. HOWES E16 (1864 ed. only). OCLC 11829017. $2000. 69. Edwards, Samuel E.: THE OHIO HUNTER: OR A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE FRONTIER LIFE OF SAMUEL E. EDWARDS, THE GREAT BEAR AND DEER HUNTER OF THE STATE OF OHIO. Battle Creek. 1866. 240pp., including chapter tail pieces. Portrait. 12mo. Original blindstamped cloth, spine gilt. Cloth faded, rubbed, and edgeworn, chipped at spine ends. Scattered light foxing. A good plus copy. In a half morocco box. One of the rarest Ohio and Michigan books. "The Ohio Hunter is endlessly fascinating, for while some of the episodes are close to fancy, most of them are probably based on fact, if not wholly accurate. Many of Edwards’ adventures occurred in Michigan" – Graff. "One of the most fascinating accounts of the life of a frontier hunter in print" – Clements Library. The Streeter copy brought $350 in 1969. One of the best accounts of this period, and certainly one of the most readable. BAY, p.324. GRAFF 1217. HOWES E70, "b." JONES 1493. GREENLY, MICHIGAN 112. THOMSON 367. SABIN 56983. CLEMENTS LIBRARY, ONE HUNDRED MICHIGAN RARITIES 93. STREETER SALE 4091. PHILLIPS, SPORTING BOOKS, p.108. $2250. Lithographs of Union Leaders 70. [Ehrgott, Forbriger, & Company]: [A REMARKABLE COLLECTION OF THIRTY-FOUR BLACK AND WHITE LITHOGRAPHIC PORTRAITS OF UNION GOVERNMENT AND MILITARY LEADERS, FROM A SINGLE SERIES PUBLISHED IN CINCINNATI DURING THE CIVIL WAR]. Cincinnati: Ehrgott, Forbriger, & Company, 1862-1864. Thirty-four black and white lithographic plates, each plate 16¼ x 12¼ inches. Thirteen of the plates include the imprint of Ehrgott, Forbriger, & Company. One plate has the imprint of "Litho.d & Published by Gibson & Co. Cincinnati." Plates lightly washed, three with marginal repairs evident, some plates with mild old stain still visible. A very good set. In a chemise inside a quarter leather clamshell box, gilt leather label on front cover. The lithographic firm of Ehrgott, Forbriger, & Company, founded in 1856, issued seventy-nine different prints of sixty-nine different Union politicians and officers in this series. Many of the prints utilize the same backgrounds and props, including identical horses, troops, ships, desks, and landscapes. The collection, which represents almost half of the entire series of portraits, includes Abraham Lincoln and four of his cabinet members (Seward, Chase, Welles, and Stanton), three governors (John Brough of Ohio, O.P. Morton of Indiana, and Andy Johnson of Tennessee), eighteen generals, seven naval officers, and Col. Elmer Ellsworth (the first high-ranking Union officer to die in the war). The portraits of Union government and military leaders in the present portfolio include: 1) "Abraham Lincoln. President of the United
States." A very good set of popular prints from the Civil War. Collections as extensive as the present gathering of Ehrgott, Forbriger portraits rarely appear on the market. $8500. |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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