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Catalogue 254 New Acquisitions |
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Section VII: New York to St. Christopher |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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153. [New York]: STEUBEN COUNTY ART WORK. [Chicago]: W.H. Parish, 1893. Nine volumes, consisting of seventy-six photographs, average image size 8 x 6 inches, and approximately three pages of text in each volume. Folio. Original printed pictorial wrappers. Slight chipping along edges. All images near fine. An excellent collection of photographs, in remarkable condition. An extremely rare collection of photographs from upstate New York. Steuben County sits along the Susquehanna River on the Canadian border in what was formerly Seneca country. These seventy-six photographs depict a region rich in Victorian architecture, rugged landscape, and numerous vineyards. Accompanying the views is an elaborate history of the county, from the exploits of its namesake, Baron Steuben, first inspector general of the Continental Army, to the organization of its numerous schools and institutions. Owing to their size and construction, a rare and beautiful assortment of photographs. $750. 154. [New York City]: THE WHARVES, PIERS AND SLIPS BELONGING TO THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 1868. [Volume I:] EAST RIVER. New York: The New York Printing Company, 1867. Lithographic title made up from various decorative typefaces within a decorative border (verso blank), lithographic list of "The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of New York" (verso blank), 17pp. letterpress text printed in black (verso of final leaf blank). Lithographic section title (verso blank). Sixty-six lithographic plans, printed in red and black, and handcolored in blue and pink, each preceded by a single page of letterpress explanation (twenty-one of these pages printed in black and red). Oblong quarto, 9 3/16 x 11 1/2 inches. Contemporary green half morocco, covers with blind fillets, the upper cover with central rectangular panel blocked in gilt containing the name of the original owner, "William M. Graham"; the flat spine divided into five unequal compartments by gilt fillets and roll tools, lettered in gilt in the second and fourth compartments, marbled endpapers. Some old dampstaining. Provenance: William M. Graham (binding); Frank Robertson (State Hill, N.Y., penciled ownership inscription). A comprehensive survey of the waterfront of New York at the end of the Civil War: an important historical document and a spectacular example of American color printing. As is noted in the preface, by 1867 many of New York City’s "Wharves, Piers and Slips...[had] become so much out of repair and dilapidated as to be almost unfit for use, not only preventing any adequate revenue being derived there from, but producing serious injury to the commerce" of the city. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund of the City of New York (headed by Mayor John T. Hoffman) adopted the proposals put forward by Peter B. Sweeny and commissioned Wesley Smith, John C. Frazier, and Joseph T. Martin to urgently prepare a report on the value and state of the wharves, piers and slips, and to estimate the cost of repairing and even extending them. The present work is the part of their report that deals with the East River (a second volume was published, devoted to the North River, with a sixty-five more plans). In the introduction they mention how important the piers are to the economic prosperity of the city, how the contract system of rebuilding and repairing the waterfront was not working and was open to abuse (rotten timbers or timbers of the wrong size being used, structures falling down shortly after their construction, etc.). The introduction ends with a summary of the estimated financial benefits of repairing and extending the wharves, piers, and slips: "present value," $15,793,500; "cost of repair," $1,119,185; "value when repaired," $18,707,400; "cost of extending," $791,550; "value when extended," $20,377,100. This is then followed by eleven pages of estimates for individual structures. The second section, "Plans and Explanations," is preceded by a section title. Then follow sixty-six fine plans, drawn to scales that range from sixty feet to the inch, to 200 feet to the inch. Each plan includes an integral title, the names of nearby streets, a plan of the structure with measurements and an indication of any proposed alterations, together with occasional notes about the materials used in the construction, as well as figures printed in red indicating the "depth of water in feet at low tide." Facing each plan is a printed note of the various estimates, as well as occasional relevant notes concerning disputes of ownership, etc. The book is beautifully produced: carefully laid out using attractive and legible typography with fascinating lithographic plans that make highly effective use of color printing allied with hand-coloring. An excellent example of late 19th-century design, which is also an important record of the maritime aspect of New York history. This copy is in a period binding with the name "William M. Graham" on the upper cover. One likely candidate is a William M. Graham of Middletown, Orange County, who served as a member of the New York State Senate, representing the 10th District, between 1868 and 1871. OCLC 12820245. $3750. The Second Sea Chart of Maine 155. Norman, John: A CHART OF THE COAST OF AMERICA FROM WOOD ISLAND TO GOOD HARBOUR FROM HOLLANDS SURVEYS. Boston. [1791]-1801. Black and white copper engraving, 20½ x 32½ inches. From William Norman’s The American Pilot (Boston, 1801). Very good. State two of the second sea chart of the Maine coast to be published in America. State one lacked the title, which Wheat & Brun identify as first appearing on state two, which first appeared in the 1803 edition of the atlas. But this example of state two was published in the exceedingly rare 1801 edition, unknown to Wheat & Brun, and it is possible that the alteration was undertaken before the close of the 18th century. The American Revolution brought an end to Britain’s leading role in the mapping of America. The task then fell to the American publishing industry, still in its infancy, but with firsthand access to the new surveys that were documenting the rapid growth of the nation. In particular, there was a need for nautical charts for use by the expanding New England commercial fleets. The first American marine atlas, Mathew Clark’s A Complete Set of Charts of the Coast of America, was published in Boston in 1790. Two of Clark’s charts had been engraved by John Norman, who was inspired to launch his own enterprise. On Jan. 1, 1790, Norman advertised in the Boston Gazette the publication of A New General Chart of the West Indies, with a notice stating that he was currently engraving charts of all the coast of America on a large scale. These were assembled and published as The American Pilot (Boston, 1791). Norman’s Pilot, the second American marine atlas (indeed, the second American atlas of any kind) marked an advance over the earlier work of Mathew Clark. New editions of the Normans’ Pilot appeared in 1792 and 1794, and after John Norman’s death his son, William, brought out editions in 1794, 1798, 1801, and 1803. Despite the seemingly large number of editions, The American Pilot is one of the rarest of all American atlases, and one of only a small handful published in the 18th century. Wheat & Brun (pp.198-199) locate just ten complete copies for the first five editions: 1791 (Huntington, Harvard); 1792 (LC, Clements); 1794 (1) (LC, JCB, Boston Public); 1794 (2) (Yale); 1798 (LC, Boston Public). This example came from one of the rarest of all, the 1801 edition; not in the Library of Congress, and unknown to Wheat & Brun and all other commentators except Tom Suarez. WHEAT & BRUN 166. See Suarez, Shedding the Veil, p.164. $17,500. The Original Township Ranges: 156. [Ohio]: PLAT OF THE SEVEN RANGES OF TOWNSHIPS BEING PART OF THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES N.W. OF THE RIVER OHIO WHICH BY A LATE ACT OF CONGRESS ARE DIRECTED TO BE SOLD. Philadelphia: Matthew [sic] Carey, [1796]. Map, 24¼ x 13¾ inches (the area of the plate mark), on a 25¾ x 18½-inch sheet. Small closed split at the left center fold, 1½ inches long, barely intruding into the plate mark. Small closed split at right center fold, ½ inch in length, far outside the plate mark. Some old light staining along the left edge. Five small uniform holes in the upper margin. Overall, in near fine condition. A fundamentally important map in the westward development of the United States and the mapping of Ohio and the Old Northwest. This map was created as a result of the Land Ordinance of 1785, which set out an orderly method for surveying and selling western lands. The Confederation Congress hoped that proceeds from these sales would help settle the debts growing out of the American Revolution. The map was created from the surveys of Thomas Hutchins, who had been Geographer to the United States until his death in 1789. Hutchins had already surveyed the area several times, and he and his assistants mapped out four of the original seven township ranges before he died. The final three ranges were subsequently mapped, and the "Seven Ranges" became the first portion of Ohio surveyed under the Land Ordinance of 1785. The area surveyed under the Ordinance and depicted on this map is in the form of a triangle, with a ninety-one-mile western boundary, a forty-two-mile northern boundary, and with the Ohio River forming the eastern boundary. Each township range would consist of thirty-six square miles of territory divided into thirty-six separately numbered square mile sections, each made up of 640 acres. Certain sections were reserved for the federal government, and others were earmarked for sale. Section sixteen in each township was set aside for a public school. The map is drawn on a scale of four miles to the inch. The true importance of this map is not its immediate cartography, but what it set in motion. From these townships westward, all of the United States (excepting those areas along the Mississippi or in the Southwest, where French and Spanish settlement had created different land patterns) were laid out in the township grids from Ohio to the Pacific Ocean. More than any other act of man, this has transformed the landscape of America, as anyone looking out an airplane window can readily see. "Very few printed pieces are of more importance in the history of Ohio than this survey of a part of the future state" – Fifty Ohio Rarities. The present map is in Wheat & Brun’s second state, with "Matthew" [sic] Carey’s publication information just below the neat line at the bottom. WHEAT & BRUN 677. KARROW (OHIO) 2441. RISTOW, pp.145-47. CLEMENTS LIBRARY, FIFTY OHIO RARITIES 39. SMITH, MAPPING OF OHIO, pp.123-25. EVANS 30918. VAIL 1081. SABIN 94884. $5000. Rare Issue, with the Speech 157. Paine, Thomas: DISSERTATION ON FIRST PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT. TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE SPEECH ALLUDING TO IT, AND DELIVERED AT THE TRIBUNE OF THE FRENCH CONVENTION, JULY 7, 1795. Second Edition. London: Printed for V. Griffiths, 1795. [3],6-39,[1],6pp. Later 19th-century three-quarter morocco over linen-covered boards, spine gilt. Spine and boards lightly worn. Titlepage slightly soiled, light tanning in text. A very good copy, possibly lacking the half title. The extremely rare second edition of Paine’s Dissertation... published by Griffiths in London, following an earlier edition printed the same year for the same publisher. It was first issued in English and French in Paris, also in 1795. The work was first read on July 7, 1795 to the French National Convention, while Paine was present. According to Gimbel, Paine originally wished to publish his principles of government in Holland in order to help the Dutch form a republican government. Instead, "while the new French constitution was being discussed, he altered the work to fit France. He tore away the mystery of government and felt that the ‘meanest mind’ could understand his simple basic principles of government...The universal suffrage demanded in it was not adopted in the new constitution, nor was much attention given to his other suggestions." Extremely rare, this printing is not recorded in ESTC, OCLC, or RLIN. ESTC does record a London edition of 39,[1]pp. and a third London edition with the same pagination as the present copy, both printed in 1795 for Griffiths. The Thomas Paine Collection of Richard Gimbel (now at the American Philosophical Society) records numerous 1795 editions, but none with this exact titlepage, which includes the phrase: "the speech alluding to it." The titlepage of this second edition also has a printed note at the top indicating: "The only genuine edition, from the Paris copy, now in the possession of the publisher." HOWES P19 (other eds). GIMBEL (Yale exhibit catalogue) 95 (Paris ed. in French). THOMAS PAINE COLLECTION OF RICHARD GIMBEL, pp.64-66 (other eds). ECHEVERRIA/WILKIE 795/72, 795/73 (two issues of Paris ed. in English). $2500. 158. Paine, Thomas: LETTER TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ON AFFAIRS PUBLIC AND PRIVATE. Philadelphia: Printed by Benj. Franklin Bache, 1796. 76,[1]pp Modern buckram, gilt leather label. Early ink notes and stains on titlepage. Foxed, mostly in first two dozen pages. Small hole (likely a paper defect) in final (advertisement) leaf, not costing any text. Overall, a good plus copy. An important Paine tract wherein the author complains that Washington did nothing to intervene for his freedom when he was held prisoner during the French Revolution, and attacks the President’s military skill to boot. EVANS 30951. GIMBEL 104. HOWES P24, "aa." SABIN 58224. $2250. A Marvelous Miniature Theatre 159. [Paper Toy Theater]: Singer, J.H.: THEATRE IMPERIAL [including printed cardboard parts and scripts for three plays: Robinson Crusoe, Pocahontas, and The Battle of Bunker Hill]. [New York: Manufactured by J.H. Singer, 1883-1885]. 4; 4; 4pp. plus numerous paper-on-cardboard pieces lithographed in several colors. Three bifolia: Bunker Hill stitched to plain wrappers with contemporary manuscript notation on front wrapper; other two scripts in printed self-wrappers. Bifolia separated or separating at folds, with small marginal chips at tears; pinholes in upper margin of Pocahontas; else very good. Theater set includes grooved wooden base (1 x 11¼ x 15 inches) and cardboard proscenium arch (11¾ x 15 inches) with chromolithographed theater scene affixed to recto and flat wooden supports and maroon cotton curtain rolled on wooden rod affixed to verso. Lacking brass ring for curtain and one wooden support beam for arch, but easily replaceable. Each script is accompanied by approximately fifteen chromolitho-graphed paper-on-cardboard set pieces (see below). A nearly complete set in very good condition, with set pieces still in bright colors and, in most applicable instances, affixed with original thread for moving along grooves. A charming late 19th-century toy theater set by J.H. Singer, with scripts and set pieces for three plays. An elaborately lithographed cardboard proscenium arch, complete with a working curtain, frames the stage of the "Theatre Imperial" and reveals several layers of colorful scenery and movable cardboard figures. The theater itself stands on a wooden base cut with twelve rows of grooves for placing the various cardboard scenery pieces and figures included with each play. The Theatre Imperial is a wonderful example of the vivid and detailed work of J.H. Singer, the important 19th-century American toy manufacturer known especially for the high-quality lithographed paper pieces produced for his toys and games. Toy theaters became a popular form of home entertainment in both Europe and North America during the mid-1800s, adapting sets and scripts of famous plays of the day to the miniature stage. Singer’s toy theater, patented in 1883, appears originally to have included the script and set for the appealing adventure narrative of Robinson Crusoe, which includes pieces and directions for four separate scenes. Crusoe was followed by Pocahontas and The Battle of Bunker Hill, which were issued for use with the theater by Singer in 1884 and 1885, respectively. All three scripts, with two complete sets, and one nearly complete set, of figures and scenery are present here, as follow: 1) Play of Robinson Crusoe (1883). Four-page set of directions and script; five large double-sided pieces depicting a shore scene on rectos, cabin scene on versos; scenery pieces labeled, "Water" and "Shore"; smaller figure and scenery pieces labeled, "Wreck," "Raft," "Hut," "Flag," "Friday," "Parrot," "Goat," "Ship," "Boat," and "Boatmen," and four "Crusoes" labeled "Crusoe A" – "Crusoe D." A complete set. 2) Play of Pocahontas (1884). Four-page set of directions and script; one large double-sided piece depicting "River" on recto and "Council Chamber" on verso; one piece depicting "Forest"; two pieces, labeled "C" and "D," with Council Chamber scene; smaller pieces labeled or referred to in script as "wigwam," "Powhatan," "Pocahontas," two "Brave B"’s, "John Rolfe," "John Smith," three pieces labeled, "Soldier," fire, two "Brave A"’s, "John Smith on rock," and "Brave C." Complete. 3) Play of the Battle of Bunker Hill (1885). Four-page set of directions and script; five large double-sided pieces depicting Boston street scene on rectos, battle scene on versos; scenery piece labeled, "Guard House"; smaller pieces labeled or referred to in script as "Squad of Soldiers" (standing at attention), "Putnam," "Gage," "Clinton," and "Howe," and three pieces of soldiers in battle. The script mentions figure pieces for "Prescott" and "Warren," which are not present here; the set is otherwise complete. A marvelous working toy theater and collection of plays, in exceptionally good and complete condition, from a bright chapter in the history of popular American home entertainment. $1500. With the 1792 Howell Map 160. [Pennsylvania]: AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE RISE, PROGRESS AND PRESENT STATE OF THE CANAL NAVIGATION IN PENNSYLVANIA...TO WHICH IS ANNEXED, "AN EXPLANATORY MAP." Philadelphia: Printed by Zachariah Poulson, 1795. xvi,77,[1]pp. plus folding map, 18¾ x 26 inches. Small quarto. Expertly bound to style in 18th-century half calf over 18th-century marbled paper boards, spine gilt, red morocco lettering piece. Contemporary ink signature at top of titlepage. Light stain along lower edge of some text pages. A few closed splits along some map folds with no loss. Overall in good plus condition. First edition, first issue of this rare account of canal navigation in Pennsylvania, and of a proposal to build a canal linking the mid-Atlantic with Rhode Island. The canal account is enhanced by a most important and early map of Pennsylvania (see below). The idea for such a canal was hatched by the important financier, Robert Morris, by cleric William Smith, and by others in the early 1790s. The late 1780s and early 1790s saw the first great wave of private canal building in the Untied States, of which the Morris/Smith canal plan was one such example. Their plan ran into political opposition, however, and this memorial was addressed to the Pennsylvania legislature, laying out the argument of the backers in favor of the canal. Included is a brief history of canal building, statistics regarding the proposed work, and several acts of the state legislature regarding canals. A second issue, of eighty pages also done in 1795, is noted by bibliographers. Authorship is attributed to either William Smith or Robert Morris, who were a manager and president, respectively, of both the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company and the Delaware and Schuylkill Canal Company. Wilberforce Eames in his entry in Sabin’s Dictionary, however, argues convincingly for Smith as the author. The very important map, by Reading Howell, is his 1792 map of Pennsylvania. Howell’s map was the first post-Revolutionary map of the entire state of Pennsylvania, and the first to show all the state’s boundaries. Howell was a landowner and a surveyor, and he used his own work, along with the personal surveys of others to create his map. It shows the entirety of the state in very good detail, identifying mills, forges, roads, and portages. The map names and defines the counties of the state, as well as adding a number of new place names, streams, and roads. New canals are also shown, including one beginning at the mouth of Conewago canal on the Susquehanna River, and another beginning on the Delaware River just north of Pennsylvania and going to Norris Town. A scarce narrative of early American canal building, with a keystone Pennsylvania map. HOWES S692, "aa." STREETER SALE 981. SABIN 84620. EVANS 29474. RINK 4532. The map: WHEAT & BRUN 443. PHILLIPS MAPS, p.678. RISTOW, pp.108-10. GARRISON, pp.281-82. $9500. 161. Perrot, Nicolas: MEMOIRE SUR LES MOEURS, COUSTUMES ET RELLIGION DES SAUVAGES DE L’AMERIQUE SEPTENTRIONALE.... Leipzig & Paris. 1864. viii,xliii,341pp. Modern three quarter maroon morocco and marbled boards, gilt-lettered spine. Internally bright and clean. Very good. The rare first publication of a manuscript, dating from around 1700, on the customs of North American Indian tribes. Perrot was the first "coureur des bois" to maintain a journal of his travels. He is also credited with having negotiated the peace of 1671 (Sault Sainte-Marie) between the Royal Authority of New France and the various tribes of the Great Lakes region. "This work of Perrot had remained in manuscript for more than a century and a half, but not unknown. It had served Charlevoix in the preparation of his great history of New France; as it had long before its governors La Barre, Denonville, and Frontenac, in determining their policy towards the various tribes of Indian allies and foes it describes" – Field catalogue. "[Perrot] was a voyageur, fur trader and Indian agent employed in turn by the Jesuits, Sulpicians and successive French governors. He had an intimate knowledge of the Upper Lake region and extensive connections among the Indians" – TPL. SABIN 61022. HOWES P246, "aa." TPL 130. LANDE 705. FIELD CATALOGUE 1799. $1250. Rare Views of Mexico 162. Phillips, John: MEXICO ILLUSTRATED, WITH DESCRIPTIVE LETTER-PRESS, IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. London: E. Atchley, Library of Fine Arts, 1848. Letterpress titlepage, text in English and Spanish. Tinted lithographic additional title, twenty-five tinted lithographic plates, printed by Day & Son, after Rider, Phillips, and others. Folio, 22 x 14½ inches. Original red morocco-backed red moiré cloth, blocked in gilt on upper cover with centrally placed device of an eagle on a cactus seizing a snake in its beak, flanked by a wreath, "Mexico" in gilt beneath, the flat spine divided into three unequal compartments, titled in gilt in the second, the others blank, the leather on the spine and corners replaced but matched exactly to the original morocco. In a modern red morocco-backed, cloth-covered box, tooled and lettered in gilt on spine. A fine and rare series of views, apparently published shortly before the end of the war of 1846-48 between Mexico and the United States. The work was clearly published both as a purely topographical work of the highest quality and as an attempt to cash in on the interest that the war had generated. The plates show a fascinating number of sources, from straight forward eye-witness records by both Phillips and Rider, to an adaptation of a 17th-century engraving first published by Arnoldus Montanus, to a number of the views taken from the earlier work of Carl Nebel and Pedro Gualdi. The full details are given in Roberto Mayer’s article in the Annales del Instituto de Investigaciones Esteticas (see below). Three plates show an apparent direct link with the conflict: the view of Vera Cruz is accompanied by text which refers to Gen. Scott’s siege and bombardment of the city (March 7 to 29, 1847); the view of Rio Frio includes the Mexican army in line of march; and the final plate of Matamoros includes a number of vessels flying the United States flag, and a note in the accompanying text which recalls the opening gambit of the war when the United States forces were ordered by President Polk to advance to the Rio Grande in January 1846. They established a depot at Point Ysabel, and erected a fort in Texan territory, commanding Matamoros, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande. There are a number of fine views of Mexico City and its surroundings, but no mention is made of the final act of the war when Gen. Scott marched on the capital, stormed its defenses against greatly superior forces, and entered the city after severe fighting on Sept. 13, 1847. A peace treaty was finally signed on Feb. 2, 1848 in which Mexico ceded Texas, New Mexico, and Upper California to the United States in return for $15,000,000. The main thrust of the work is to offer a fine topographical overview of the country. The order of the plates lead the viewer on a tour of the country starting at Campeche on the southern rim of the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast to Vera Cruz, turning inland to Mexico City via Jalapa, Orizaba, and Puebla. After some time spent in the capital and its environs, the tour turns north up through the center of the country to San Luis Potosi and Monterey before finally heading east and returning to the Gulf at the mouth of the Rio Grande at Matamoros. ABBEY 671. SABIN 62498. PALAU 224780. ALBERICH 1500. Roberto L. Mayer, "Phillips, Rider y su album Mexico Illustrated Quienes fueron los autores de los dibujos originales?" in Annales del Instituto de Investigaciones Esteticas (2000) 76, pp.291-306. $32,500. 163. [Phoenix Assurance Company of London]: CHARLESTON...THIS POLICY OF ASSURANCE...WITNESSETH THAT ___ HA__ PAID THE SUM OF ___ TO THE UNDERSIGNED ___ OF CHARLESTON AS AUTHORIZED AGENT TO THE PHOENIX ASSURANCE-COMPANY OF LONDON, FOR INSURANCE FROM LOSS OR DAMAGE BY FIRE...[caption title]. [London. 1804]. Broadside form, 19½ x 12 inches. Copper engraved scene, 5¾ x 7 inches, at head of form. Two vertical and three horizontal folds. Neat 4-inch closed tear along center vertical fold and 1½-inch closed tear at top horizontal fold, the latter affecting engraving, both repaired with old glue on verso. Glue residue on verso, lightly staining center portion of recto. Overall very good. Fire insurance policy form of the Phoenix insurance company in Charleston, South Carolina, never filled in. The Phoenix Assurance Company, still operating today as Phoenix Life, Ltd., was founded in 1782 by a consortium of sugar refiners in London seeking more reasonable rates for the insurance of their risky holdings against fire. By the mid-1780s, Phoenix had established itself as a successful fire insurer across the whole of Great Britain for a wide array of businesses and homes. In 1785 the Phoenix Company sold its first North American policy at Charleston, which had long been connected with the sugar trade. It was not until 1804, however, that Phoenix began establishing actual agencies in the New World, and Charleston was among the first of the many American cities chosen for business. The handsome copper engraving at the top of the form depicts a helmeted goddess (presumably Athena) on a pedestal bearing a shield stamped with the word, "protection," and the image of a phoenix rising from ashes. Behind the figure is a nighttime scene of the burning remains of a building and a family of victims spilling on to the street. A team of firefighters are extinguishing the flames with a pump-operated hose; behind them is a scaffolded building under repair. The engraved caption reads: "phoenix fire office, lombardo street and charing cross." No institutional records of the printed form in any issue have been located. A rare and interesting document from the early history of the international insurance business. Clive Trebilcock, Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance Volume I 1782-1870. (Cambridge University Press, 1985), pp.184-201. $1500. The Third Known Copy 164. [Playing Cards]: THE NEW GAME OF CARDS, OR, A PACK OF CARDS CHANGED INTO A COMPLEAT AND PERPETUAL ALMANACK, IN A DIALOGUE BETWEEN A NOBLEMAN AND HIS SERVANT...THE WHOLE ADAPTED TO THE ENTERTAINMENT OF THE HUMOROUS, AS WELL AS TO THE SATISFACTION OF THE GRAVE, LEARNED, AND INGENIOUS. Northampton. 1799. 8pp. Contemporary brown paper wrappers. Wrappers dampstained and worn, rear panel separated along spine edge. Text pages separating from front wrapper with original threads still extant. Text browned, dampstained, and foxed. A half dozen words illegible due to poor inking. A good copy. An extremely rare late 18th-century edition of The New Game of Cards, a highly popular humorous dialogue between a nobleman and his servant. NAIP records seven editions printed in America between 1761 and 1799, most surviving in a single copy; and the title was reprinted in six additional editions between 1802 and 1815. The first American edition, printed in Boston in 1761, was apparently based on a 1760 London edition. The pamphlet records servant Jack’s explanation of how his deck of cards serves as his almanac. He points out that "the four suits in the cards intimate the four quarters in the year; then there are thirteen cards in every suit, that’s just as many as there are weeks in a quarter; there are as many lunations in a year, as there are cards in a suit; there are twelve court cards which intimate the twelve months of the year." Jack provides additional calendric comparisons, and then declares how he can also convert his cards into a prayer book. He delineates how different elements of the deck remind him of various religious teachings. For example, "the three reminds me of the Trinity, in which are three distinct persons, co-equal and co-eternal; it also puts me in mind of the three days Jonah was in the whale’s belly, and the three hours that our Saviour hung upon the cross, and the three days that he lay inter’d in the bowels of the earth...." The pamphlet concludes with the nobleman rewarding the servant for his wit and humor, raising him to the highest level of service, and doubling his wages. An extremely rare 18th-century edition of the humorous New Game of Cards. Two copies only of this Northampton 1799 printing are recorded, at the American Antiquarian Society and the Massachusetts Historical Society. EVANS 35878. NAIP w011436. $2500. 165. Porcher, Francis Peyre, M.D.: RESOURCES OF THE SOUTHERN FIELDS AND FORESTS, MEDICAL, ECONOMICAL AND AGRICULTURAL; BEING ALSO A MEDICAL BOTANY OF THE SOUTHERN STATES; WITH PRACTICAL INFORMATION ON THE USEFUL PROPERTIES OF THE TREES, PLANTS, AND SHRUBS. Charleston: Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1869. xv,733pp. plus a 32pp. medicinal catalogue and 12pp. of advertisements. Original blue cloth, spine gilt. Significant discoloration to cloth, spine nicked. Occasional light foxing. Old stain in upper right corner of final eighty leaves of text, not affecting text; otherwise clean internally. A good, solid copy. A revised and "largely augmented" edition of Porcher’s "classic work for the Confederacy" (Berman & Flannery). This is a comprehensive text by a prominent southern physician. The plants listed in the work are generally described in great detail, with many entries offering instructions for their cultivation and anecdotes cited regarding their use. In addition to the primary text, the book includes a preliminary essay and introduction, a bibliography, and two indices. CORDASCO 60-1438. Alex Berman and Michael A. Flannery, America’s Botanico-medical Movements (New York, 2001), p.42. $850. 166. Prescott, William H.: HISTORY OF THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO.... New York: Harper and Brothers, 1843. Three volumes. Portraits. Folding maps. Half titles. Original publisher’s cloth. Some foxing on preliminary leaves, else very good. First printing of the first American edition of Prescott’s classic work. In his first contract outside his home city of Boston, Prescott negotiated the publication in New York of 5000 copies of this work. It was published one volume at a time between Dec. 6 and 21, just a few months after the first edition in London. BAL 16340. GROLIER AMERICAN 100, 51. HILL 1383. SABIN 65262. $750. The 1824 Election 167. [Presidential Politics]: A FOOT-RACE [caption title]. [Boston]: Crackfardi [i.e. David Claypool Johnston, 1824]. Printed etching, 8½ x 11 inches (the full sheet measures 12¼ x 14¼ inches). Light foxing. A bit wrinkled and stained (mostly outside the plate mark). Overall in good plus condition, with wide margins. A great satirical print of the 1824 presidential election, mocking the major candidates, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, and William Crawford, as well as Henry Clay, who had just withdrawn from the race. The three active candidates are shown striding forward in a neck-and-neck race, while a large crowd of onlookers comments on the scene. The U.S. Capitol, White House, and "Presidential Chair" (noted as paying $25,000 per annum) are shown in the background. Each candidate has his partisans and his detractors, exposing the sectional and political allegiances in the race. John Quincy Adams (who won the election) is cheered on by his father, former president John Adams, who shouts "Hurra for our son Jack." A westerner with a stove-pipe hat and powder horn retorts "Hurra for our Jack-son." Two men dressed in coachmen’s livery carry on another exchange: "That inne-track fellow [Crawford] goes so well; that I think he must have got the better of the bots [boss?]," while the other responds: "Like enough; but betwixt you & I – I don’t think he’ll ever get the better of the Quinsy." An Irishman and a Frenchman proclaim their favorites, while on the far right a sidelined Henry Clay bemoans, "D—n it I can’t save my distance – so I may as well draw up." On the far edge of the image one man asks another, "How is Clay now?," which prompts the response, "Oh dirt cheap." This print was produced by David Claypool Johnston (1798-1865), an artist known as the "American Cruikshank." Murrell calls Johnston "one of our foremost ante-bellum humorous draughtsmen," and he produced several such satirical prints on a variety of subjects during his long career. This print was likely produced in October 1824, just a month before the election took place. A copy in The New York Public Library bears a legend stating that the copyright was entered on Oct. 6, 1824, while our copy only notes: "copyright secured." A rare and important American political print. JOHNSON, DAVID CLAYPOOL JOHNSTON 41. MURRELL, HISTORY OF AMERICAN GRAPHIC HUMOR 102 (p.106). REILLY, AMERICAN POLITICAL PRINTS 1824-4. NEVINS & WEITENKAMPF, pp.32-33. WEITENKAMPF, POLITICAL CARICATURE IN THE U.S., p.21. $2750. 168. Proud, Robert: THE HISTORY OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN NORTH AMERICA, FROM THE ORIGINAL INSTITUTION AND SETTLEMENT OF THAT PROVINCE, UNDER THE FIRST PROPRIETOR AND GOVERNOR WILLIAM PENN, IN 1681, TILL AFTER THE YEAR 1742.... Philadelphia: Zachariah Poulson, 1797-98. Two volumes. 508; 373,[1],146pp. plus portrait frontispiece in first volume and folding map in second volume. Modern paper boards, paper labels. An occasional touch of light foxing. Very good. "A learned and valuable work...The appendix contains several important documents and reprints, among which may be mentioned: ‘Certain Conditions, or concessions, agreed upon by William Penn,’ ‘The Frame of the Government of the Province of Pensilvania, 1682, 1683, 1696,’ ‘The Charter of the City of Philadelphia, 1701,’ ‘Journals of Christian Frederick Post, from Philadelphia to the Ohio, 1758-59,’ etc. The author was a native of Yorkshire, England, who settled in Philadelphia in 1759, where he resided till his death in 1813. For many years he was teacher in a school attended chiefly by members of the Society of Friends" – Sabin. The frontispiece portrait is of William Penn, and the map shows Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland. EVANS 32729, 34421. HOWES P639, "aa." SABIN 66223. NAIP w020454. $750. 169. Riddell, Robert: THE PRACTICAL CARPENTER AND JOINER. ILLUSTRATED BY CARDBOARD MODELS, MOUNTED ON LINEN. SHOWING AT A GLANCE THE BEST AND MOST PRACTICAL METHODS FOR OBTAINING EVERY CONCEIVABLE CUT REQUISITE IN CONSTRUCTIVE CARPENTRY, JOINERY, AND STAIR-BUILDING...Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged. Philadelphia: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger, 1874. [4],43pp. plus frontispiece, preliminary plate of workshop with five workers, and thirty-seven plates (seven printed on linen and backed on cardboard, two printed on cardboard, five printed on yellow cardboard [one of the yellow plates folding]). Oblong quarto. Original publisher’s green cloth binding, boards stamped in blind, front board stamped in gilt with author, title, and price information (ten dollars). Binding moderately worn at edges of boards and spine, light white flecks on front and rear covers. Nine plates (seven printed on linen, two printed on cardboard) mounted on guards, incised to various extents with all parts present. Five plates printed on yellow cardboard mounted on guards. Plate 35 partially detached. Light age-toning, moderate dampstaining, foxing, and soiling on plates and in text. A good copy. A marvelous instruction book for carpenters and joiners, with numerous problems designed to be solved by creating pop-up figures which assist the reader in understanding both practical geometry and various construction problems. In his introductory remarks Riddell writes: "One very remarkable feature in this work, and one for which I claim entire originality, is the method I have adopted of illustrating the various problems. In all former books on Practical Geometry, published in this or any country, the old system has been followed of giving the drawings on a flat surface. These answered the purpose intended only in a measure, but the learner could never obtain from them any practical conception of the constructive principles sought to be conveyed. This I felt alone could be acquired from models, and after much careful study and thought, I succeeded in illustrating the problems by a series of drawings made on cardboard, which being cut according to instructions I have given, form perfect models, giving the learner a more thoroughly practical and clear comprehension of constructive principles than he could ever hope to obtain by the study of drawings on a flat surface alone." This revised and enlarged second edition follows the first edition published in 1872. In the present copy, nine of the thirty-seven plates, printed on either linen or cardboard, were incised by one or more former owners to create various three-dimensional models, and all of the plates are present and complete. The earlier edition also had nine plates intended to be cut to create models, but had five fewer instructional plates and five fewer pages of text. A remarkable example of a later 19th-century American architecture manual, with wonderful pop-up potential. HITCHCOCK 1007. OCLC 25578600. $2500. Brockholst Livingston’s Copy 170. [Robertson, James]: AN ACCOUNT OF THE TRIAL OF THOMAS MUIR, ESQ. YOUNGER, OF HUNTERSHILL, BEFORE THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY AT EDINBURGH, ON THE 30th AND 31st DAYS OF AUGUST, 1793, FOR SEDITION. New York: Printed and Sold by Samuel Campbell, 1794. 148pp. plus frontispiece portrait. Antique style three quarter calf and marbled boards, spine gilt, leather label. Contemporary ink signature of Brockholst Livingston and later ink numerical inscriptions on titlepage; some offsetting on titlepage. Scattered foxing. Very good. Brockholst Livingston’s copy, bearing his contemporary signature on the titlepage. Livingston (1757-1823) was appointed by Thomas Jefferson to the Supreme Court, where he served from 1806 to 1823. A teenage friend and companion of Alexander Hamilton, he was later alternately an ally as a legal advocate and a bitter political opponent. The volume concerns Thomas Muir, the lawyer and Parliamentary reformer who was charged in 1793 with "wickedly and feloniously...exciting a spirit of disloyalty to the King and Established Government." He did this, according to the proceedings of his trial, by recommending Paine’s Rights of Man and by distributing and reading aloud other "seditious writings." Muir was convicted and sentenced to fourteen years’ transportation, eventually being dispatched to Botany Bay. He would soon be rescued from Botany Bay by Americans who had heard of his situation and eventually joined Thomas Paine in Paris. Four American editions of An Account... were printed in 1794, after the Scottish and English editions of the preceding year; Evans assigns the present edition priority. "This is an excellent account of Muir, the anonymous author drawing sane and just conclusions" – Ferguson. EVANS 27633. FERGUSON 158 (another ed). DNB XIII, pp.1165-66. $1500. 171. Robinson, James: THE PHILADELPHIA DIRECTORY FOR 1807. CONTAINING THE NAMES, TRADES, AND RESIDENCE OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE CITY, SOUTHWARK, AND NORTHERN LIBERTIES: ALSO, A CALENDAR FROM THE 1st OF FEBRUARY 1807 TO THE 1st OF FEBRUARY 1808, AND OTHER USEFUL INFORMATION. [Philadelphia]: S. Manning, [1807]. [380]pp. Modern half brown morocco, green gilt morocco label. Internally clean. Very good. The directory lists the names, addresses, and occupations of the city’s inhabitants; land and water transportation information, including routes and times of departure; city and state government information; private association and lodge information; auctioneers; and locations and times of mail pick up and delivery. "Contains an account of Philadelphia" – Spear. SPEAR, p.277. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 13375. $750. An 18th-century Caribbean-printed Almanac 172. [St. Christopher]: LOW’S POCKET COMPANION, AND COMPLETE ANNUAL LEEWARD ISLAND REGISTER, FOR MDCCXCIV; BEING THE SECOND AFTER BISSEXTILE, OR LEAP YEAR. WITH MANY ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS. Basseterre, St. Christopher’s: Edward Luther Low, [1793]. [16], 17-60,[1]pp. plus seven leaves interleaved in first half of text. Contemporary wrappers. Ownership inscription on recto of front free endpaper, "Wm. Ridgeway bought this book in St. Kitt’s 2/4 1793," with another ownership inscription dated 1826. Additional ownership inscriptions of William Ridgeway on rear free endpaper and rear pastedown. Contemporary personal name inscriptions (James Smith Burlington, Robert Thomas Burlington, Wm. Ridgeway, Joseph Ridgway Burlington, John A[?] of Burlington County, State of New Jersey) and notes (measurements for a boat, purchase of a horse by Granville Woolman) on verso of front free endpaper and on interleaved blank sheets. Small sketch on verso of last printed leaf. Ownership inscription on rear fly leaf: "Joseph A. Duzdale, Presented by Father Wm. Ridgeway, Burlington 1820." A few scattered ink inscriptions on text pages. A very good copy. An unrecorded significant surviving imprint from the early years of printing on St. Christopher. All 18th-century Caribbean imprints are rare, and those from St. Kitt’s remarkably so. Thomas writes that "printing was brought to this island as early as 1746, and may have been introduced two or three years sooner. There were two printing houses established before 1775." Much of the early printing on the island was devoted to publishing newspapers, laws, ephemera, and other job printing. Only a few substantial works were published before 1800. Other than a newspaper and a government act, OCLC lists only four 18th-century titles printed in Basseterre, three of these printed by Low in 1790. The present edition of Low’s almanac is unrecorded, although OCLC records a single copy of the almanac for 1791, at the Massachusetts Historical Society. Although printed in St. Christopher, the almanac was clearly intended for use throughout the Leeward Islands. In addition to standard calendar information for the year, the volume includes court days for 1794 for St. Christopher, Antigua, Nevis, and Tortola. Government officials and clergy for Antigua, Montserrat, the Virgin Islands, and Nevis as well as St. Kitt’s, are also provided. The volume also includes a list of the Kings and Queens of England, currency tables, a gardener’s monthly calendar, a record of sugar exports from St. Christopher’s in 1793, and a curious and lengthy article on "political arithmetick" concerned with population numbers. Most surprisingly and importantly, there is a page devoted to "Jewish festivals, to be observed in the year 1794." This is extremely rare evidence of the Jewish community in this British sugar colony. Finely printed, with decorative typographic borders around the text of each page, the almanac is evidence of Cave’s assertion that "in general, the publication standards of the West Indian book almanacs of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were very high, both in internal design and execution (those of St. Kitts being particularly well done)." This copy has numerous manuscript inscriptions on the blank leaves that were originally bound into the almanac, and on other front and rear blank pages. Many of these are ownership inscriptions related to residents of Burlington County, New Jersey. These include the purchase note of William Ridgeway, who bought the volume in St. Kitts in 1793, and Joseph A. Duzdale, who received the volume from Ridgeway in Burlington, New Jersey in 1820. The names of three men named Burlington are also found, as is a fourth man from Burlington County. Other inscriptions include measurements for a boat and a sales agreement for a horse. A substantial and significant unrecorded 18th-century Caribbean imprint, handsomely printed in St. Christopher. Thomas, History of Printing in America, pp.607-8. SWAN, CARIBBEAN PRINTING, p.30. Cave, Printing and the Book Trade in the West Indies, pp.21-22. $15,000. |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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