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Catalogue 255 The |
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Section V: Jay to Massachusetts |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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The Fiscal State of the Nation, 1779 111. [Jay, John]: A CIRCULAR LETTER FROM THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO THEIR CONSTITUENTS. Philadelphia, printed; Boston, re-printed. 1779. 15,[1]pp. Gathered signatures, previously stitched, now pinned together with a nail. Scattered foxing, slight tear in last leaf, dampstain in lower left quarter of first leaf. Contemporary ownership signature at head of first leaf. Very good. In a half morocco box. Herein John Jay outlines the fiscal state of the infant nation, in particular light of the growing war debt. The pamphlet was ordered to be printed and distributed to the numerous parishes throughout the nation, to be read by the several ministers at the close of religious services. Jay implores the populace to maintain its resolve, and to be wary of insidious reports that the new government is failing. NAIP w015193. EVANS 16559. SABIN 15515. $3000.112. Jefferys, Thomas: THE AMERICAN ATLAS; OR, A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE WHOLE CONTINENT OF AMERICA; WHEREIN ARE DELINEATED AT LARGE ITS SEVERAL REGIONS, COUNTRIES, STATES, AND ISLANDS; AND CHIEFLY THE BRITISH COLONIES.... London: Printed and sold by R. Sayer and J. Bennett, 1778. Twenty-three engraved maps on thirty sheets, handcolored in outline. Folio, 21¾ x 15½. Expertly bound to style in 18th-century half russia over original marbled paper boards, spine gilt in seven compartments with raised bands, red morocco lettering piece. In a black morocco backed box, lettered in gilt. Provenance: Henry Tomkinson (armorial bookplate). In a half morocco box. The very rare 1778 issue of The American Atlas, the most important 18th-century atlas for America, and an irreplaceable snapshot of the land as it was during the birth of the United States. Walter Ristow characterizes it as a "geographical description of the whole continent of America, as portrayed in the best available maps in the latter half of the eighteenth century...as a major cartographic reference work it was, very likely, consulted by American, English, and French civilian administrators and military officers during the Revolution." As a collection, The American Atlas stands as the most comprehensive, detailed, and accurate survey of the American colonies at the beginning of the Revolution. Many of the elements that make up The American Atlas came into being as a result of the British need to understand the geographic and social layout of their colonies after their victory in the French and Indian War of 1756-63. The maps that resulted from the numerous surveys proved to be by far the best contemporary records of the region. Among these distinguished maps are Braddock Meade’s "A Map of the Most Inhabited Parts of New England," the largest and most detailed map of New England that had yet been published; a map of "The Provinces of New York and New Jersey" by Samuel Holland, the surveyor general for the northern American colonies; William Scull’s "A Map of Pennsylvania," the first map of that colony to include its western frontier; Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson’s "A Map of the Most Inhabited part of Virginia," the best colonial map for the Chesapeake region; and Lieut. Ross’ "Course of the Mississipi," the first map of that river based on British sources. Jefferys was the leading British cartographer of the 18th century. From about 1750 he published a series of maps of the British American colonies. As geographer to the Prince of Wales, and after 1761, geographer to the King, Jefferys was well placed to have access to the best surveys conducted in America, and many of his maps held the status of "official work." Jefferys died on Nov. 20, 1771, and in 1775 his successors, Robert Sayer and John Bennett, gathered these separately issued maps together and republished them in book form as The American Atlas. The first edition with only twenty-two maps on twenty-nine sheets appeared in 1775, and there were subsequent editions in 1776 and 1778. The maps are as follow (many of the maps are on several sheets, and in the Index each individual sheet is numbered; the measurements refer to the image size): 1-3) Braddock Meade (alias John Green): "A Chart of North and South America, including the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Published 10 June 1775." Six sheets joined into three, 43½ x 49½ inches. This great wall map of the Western Hemisphere was chiefly issued to expose the errors in Delisle and Buache’s map of the Pacific Northwest, published in Paris in 1752. STEVENS & TREE 4(d). 4) Imperial Academy of St. Petersburg: "The Russian Discoveries. Published March 2nd 1775." One sheet, 18 x 24 1/8 inches. The first official mapping results of the explorations of Bering and Chirikof in Siberia and the Pacific Northwest were issued by the Russian Imperial Academy in 1758. These corrected the earlier incorrect maps including the mythical discoveries of Admiral Fonte. This is a British version of that map. 5-6) Thomas Pownall after E. Bowen: "A New and Correct Map of North America, with the West India Islands. Published 15 February 1777." Four sheets joined into two, 45¼ inches. Thomas Pownall updated Bowen’s North America map of 1755. Pownall’s version included the results of the first Treaty of Paris drawn up after the end of the French and Indian War. STEVENS & TREE 49(f). 7) Thomas Jefferys: "North America from the French of Mr. D’Anville, Improved with the English Surveys Made since the Peace. Published 10 June 1775." One sheet, 18 x 20 inches. STEVENS & TREE 51(c). 8) Samuel Dunn: "A Map of the British Empire in North America. Published 17 August 1776." Half sheet, 18¾ x 12 inches. STEVENS & TREE 53(b). 9) Thomas Jefferys: "An Exact Chart of the River St. Laurence from Fort Frontenac to the Island of Anticosti...Published 25 May 1775." Two sheets joined into one, 23½ x 37 inches. STEVENS & TREE 76(d). 10) Sayer & Bennett: "A Chart of the Gulf of St. Laurence...Published 25th March 1775." One sheet, 19½ x 24 inches. 11) "A Map of the Island of St. John in the Gulf of St. Laurence...Published 6 April 1775." One sheet, 15 x 27¼ inches. 12) James Cook and Michael Lane: "A General Chart of the Island of Newfoundland...Published 10th May 1775." One sheet, 21½ x 22 inches. James Cook went on to gain renown for his Pacific exploration. 13) "A Chart of the Banks of Newfoundland...Published 25 March 1775." One sheet, 19½ x 26 inches. Based on the surveys of James Cook (see above), Chabert, and Fleurieu. 14) Thomas Jefferys: "A New Map of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island with the Adjacent Parts of New England and Canada...Published 15 June 1775." One sheet, 18½ x 24 inches. Originally published in 1755, at the beginning of the French and Indian War, this map "proved to be important in evaluating respective French and British claims to this part of North America" (Ristow). England gained sole possession of the region by the Treaty of Paris, 1763. STEVENS & TREE 66(c). 15-16) Braddock Meade (alias John Green): "A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of New England. Published November 29, 1774." Four sheets joined into two, 38¾ x 40¾ inches. The first large-scale map of New England. "The most detailed and informative pre-Revolutionary map of New England...not really supplanted until the nineteenth century" (New England Prospect 13). STEVENS & TREE 33(e). 17) Capt. [Samuel] Holland: "The Provinces of New York and New Jersey, with Part of Pensilvania...Published 17 Aug. 1776." Three insets: "A plan of the City of New York," "A chart of the Mouth of Hudson’s River," and "A Plan of Amboy." Two sheets joined, 26½ x 52¾ inches. An important large-scale map of the Provinces of New York and New Jersey, by Samuel Holland, surveyor general for the Northern English colonies. With fine insets including a street plan of colonial New York City. STEVENS & TREE 44(d). 18) William Brassier: "A Survey of Lake Champlain, including Lake George, Crown Point and St. John. 5 August 1776." Single sheet, 26¾ x 18¾ inches. Second state including naval activity on the lake up until Oct. 13, 1776. STEVENS & TREE 25(b). 19) "A New Map of the Province of Quebec, according to the Royal Proclamation, of the 7th of October 1763. From the French Surveys Connected with those made after the War, by Captain Carver, and Other Officers. 16 February 1776." One sheet, 19¼ x 26¼ inches. STEVENS & TREE 73(a). 20) William Scull: "A Map of Pennsylvania Exhibiting not only the Improved Parts of the Province but also its Extensive Frontiers. Published 10 June 1775." Two sheets joined, 27 x 51½ inches. The first map of the Province of Pennsylvania to include its western frontier. All earlier maps had focused solely on the settled eastern parts of the colony. 21-22) Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson: "A Map of the Most Inhabited Part of Virginia, containing the Whole Province of Maryland...1775." [nd]. Four sheets joined into two, 32 x 48 inches. "The basic cartographical document of Virginia in the eighteenth century...the first to depict accurately the interior regions of Virginia beyond the Tidewater. [It] dominated the cartographical representation of Virginia until the nineteenth century" – Verner. STEVENS & TREE 87(f). 23-24) Henry Mouzon: "An Accurate Map of North and South Carolina with their Indian Frontiers. Published May 30, 1775." Four sheets joined into two, 40 x 54 inches. "The chief type map for [the Carolinas] during the forty or fifty years following its publication. It was used by both British and American forces during the Revolutionary War" – Cumming. STEVENS & TREE 11(a). CUMMING 450. 25) Thomas Jefferys: "The Coast of West Florida and Louisiana...The Peninsula and Gulf of Florida. Published 20 Feby. 1775." Two sheets joined into one, 19½ x 48 inches. A large-scale map of Florida, based upon the extensive surveys conducted since the region became a British possession by the Treaty of Paris, 1763. STEVENS & TREE 26(b). 26) Lieut. Ross: "Course of the Mississipi...Taken on an Expedition to the Illinois, in the latter end of the Year 1765. Published 1 June 1775." Two sheets joined into one, 14 x 44 inches. The first large-scale map of the Mississippi River, and the first based in whole or part upon British surveys. STEVENS & TREE 31(b). 27) Thomas Jefferys: "The Bay of Honduras. Published 20 February 1775." One sheet, 18½ x 24½ inches. 28-29) J.B.B. D’Anville: "A Map of South America...Published 20 September 1775." Four sheets joined into two, 20 x 46 inches. 30) Juan de la Cruz Cano y Olmedilla and others: "A Chart of the Straits of Magellan. Published 1 July 1775." One sheet, 20½ x 27 inches. HOWES J81. PHILLIPS ATLASES 1165, 1166. SABIN 35953. STREETER SALE 72 (1775 ed). Walter Ristow (editor), Thomas Jefferys The American Atlas London 1776, facsimile edition (Amsterdam 1974). $165,000. 113. [Jenings, Edmund]: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE MODE AND TERMS OF A TREATY OF PEACE WITH AMERICA. London, Printed; Hartford, Re-printed: Hudson and Goodwin, 1779. 23pp. Gathered signatures, stitched as issued. Some edge wear. Browning, scattered dampstaining. Good, untrimmed. In a half morocco box. First published in London in 1778. Jenings proposes that, for its own benefit, Great Britain fully and openly acknowledge the independence of America. Jenings wrote his pamphlet after the Franco-American alliance had become public knowledge. He argues that by ending the war and recognizing American independence, Britain could still secure the affection of her former colonies and avoid a protracted struggle with France, and possibly Spain, Portugal, and the Dutch. His recommendations were not followed, though his counsel was wise. Jenings admitted authorship of this pamphlet in a letter to John Adams (that letter now resides in the Adams Papers). A Philadelphia edition also appeared in 1779, and NAIP cites Bristol as noting a Charleston printing that appears to be a ghost. EVANS 16246. HOWES C706, "aa." AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 78-51a (ref). SABIN 15995. $3750."I have not yet begun to fight" 114. [Jones, John Paul]: COMBAT MEMORABLE ENTRE LE PEARSON ET PAUL IONES [caption title]. Augsburg: Académie Imperiale, [nd, but ca. 1781]. Handcolored engraving, 11¾ x16 inches, with caption printed in German and French below image. Contemporary inscription in lower margin of Dutch translation in title. Minor soiling in margins of plate, minor old folds at edges. Colors clean and fresh. A very good copy. A striking optical view showing the Revolutionary War naval battle between the American ship, Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, and the British Navy vessel, Serapis, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson. Certainly one of the bloodiest naval engagements of the War, the battle occurred on Sept. 23, 1779 in the English Channel off of Flamborough Head. Jones and his crew struggled valiantly against the forty-four guns of the Serapis, and although his own vessel was in ruins, Jones would still not accept the British demand for surrender, declaring, "I have not yet begun to fight." The battle continued, and later that day the Serapis surrendered to the American naval forces. The contemporary handcolored image centers on the ships enveloped in smoke, with scattered survivors of the battle floating on a destroyed ship’s mast seen floating on the lower right margin of the foreground. The print, published in the series, "Collection des Prospects," was engraved by Balthasar Friedrich Leizelt after an illustration by Richard Paton (Cresswell suggests that the image was "probably copied from Lerpiniere and Fittler’s engraving, which was published by John Boydell in 1781"). The images in the series were intended to be projected by a machine with special mirrored lenses which would render the illustrations in three-dimensional effect for the viewers. Fowble, in Two Centuries of Prints in America, writes of the plates in the series: "the primary title above the image is printed in reverse. When mounted and put into a perspective glass this title would be reflected in opposition and thus be readable to the viewer. Titles and descriptions printed below the images were usually cropped and glued to the reverse or simply folded under." An engaging and lively view of a famous naval battle, colorfully dramatizing the engagement of American and British vessels in the Revolutionary War. AMERICAN NAVAL PRINTS 7. CRESSWELL 310. $4500.115. [Kippis, Andrew]: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE PROVISIONAL TREATY WITH AMERICA, AND THE PRELIMINARY ARTICLES OF PEACE WITH FRANCE AND SPAIN. London. 1783. [2],94pp. Modern half calf and marbled boards, spine lettered in gilt. Very good. "The Second Edition Corrected," following the first London edition of the same year. Kippis argues that the best should be made of a bad situation now that American independence was unavoidable. He also discusses the preliminary treaty article by article. Appendices focus on the cost of maintaining forces in Canada and the value of Canadian commerce. Supposedly Kippis wrote the book from material furnished him by the Earl of Shelburne. An important tract for the history of the treaty and Canada. HOWES K178. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 83-57b. SABIN 37953. SERVIES 589 (note). COHEN 7720 (note). $750.Indian Massacres 116. [Knight, John, and John Slover]: INDIAN ATROCITIES. NARRATIVES OF THE PERILS AND SUFFERINGS OF DR. KNIGHT AND JOHN SLOVER, AMONG THE INDIANS DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. Nashville: W.F. Bang & Co., 1843. 96pp. 16mo. Antique half calf and marbled boards. Top and bottom corner of foredge trimmed at an angle throughout, not affecting text. Light scattered foxing. Very good. Rare Tennessee edition of this important Indian captivity narrative, one of the most famous resulting from the conflicts on the frontier at the time of the Revolution. Knight and Slover took part in Crawford’s ill-fated attack on the Ohio Indians in 1782, and were taken captive by the Shawnee. "For interest and importance, in Ohio valley history of the period, comparable only to Filson’s Kentucky and the narratives of Matthew Bunn and Col. James Smith" – Howes. The first edition of this work appeared in 1783, of which only four copies are known, one of them imperfect. The account was included in many of the 19th-century compilations on Indian warfare. HOWES K214, "b." VAIL 684 (ref). AYER 176. SABIN 38111. SIEBERT SALE457. $16,500.German Chronicle 117. [Korn, Christoph Heinrich]: GESCHICHTE DER KRIEGE IN UND AUSSER EUROPA VOM ANFANGE DES AUSSTANDES DER BRITTISCHEN KOLONIEN IN NORDAMERIKA AN. ERSTER [-ACHTER] THEIL. [Nuremburg]: Gabriel Nicolaus Raspe, 1776-77. Eight parts (of thirty). [6],112; 84; [2],127,[1]; [2],114,[1]; [2],134, [2]; [2],[5]-111,[1]; [2],109; [2],117,[1]pp. plus four engraved plans, one engraved view, and five folding maps (four handcolored). The final printed page is a publisher’s advertisement. Small, thick quarto. Contemporary boards, paper title and shelf labels with manuscript annotations on spine. Both labels faded. Printed bookplate on front pastedown. Contemporary manuscript underlining throughout text. Internally clean and fresh. A fine copy. The earliest European chronicle of the American Revolution, compiled from contemporary accounts by Christopher Heinrich Korn. Korn continued through 1784, in thirty parts, his record of the war between England and the forces allied against her, but all of the later parts focus entirely on Europe, and only the first eight found here are of American interest. Complete sets are very rare, and the present set of the first eight parts, devoted entirely to events in America, contains most of the American material. The first part surveys events through 1755, the second part covers the period from the French and Indian War to the Revolution, parts three through five relate events from the fall of 1775 to November 1776, and parts six through eight cover 1776 and 1777. Besides being an important contemporary account of events in America, the set contains some important illustrations, including plans of Boston and Quebec, a view of Quebec, and a map of Montreal. HOWES G147. SABIN 27213. PALMER, p.346. DIPPEL 101. JCB (1493-1800) 3:2245. $6500.118. Lamb, Roger: AN ORIGINAL AND AUTHENTIC JOURNAL OF OCCURRENCES DURING THE LATE AMERICAN WAR, FROM ITS COMMENCEMENT TO THE YEAR 1783. Dublin. 1809. iv,xxiv,[5]-438pp. Contemporary mottled calf, red gilt morocco label. Occasional minor foxing. Old ink ownership signature at head of titlepage. Very good. One of the best personal narratives by a soldier in the American Revolution, used by Robert Graves as the basis for his two historical novels. Lamb was a sergeant in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers who went to Canada in 1776 and was captured the following year in Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga. He escaped and made his way to New York, re-entered the army, and served in southern campaigns until the fall of Yorktown. He again became a prisoner of war, escaped, and after many adventures reached New York, where he remained until the British evacuation in 1783. Besides his own narrative, he gives a good account of the history of the war. HOWES L36, "aa." CLARK I:268. SABIN 38724. SERVIES 820 (another ed). $1500.Revolutionary Military Manual 119. [Lambart, Richard, 6th Earl of Cavan]: A NEW SYSTEM OF MILITARY DISCIPLINE, FOUNDED UPON PRINCIPLE. By a General Officer. Philadelphia: Printed and sold by R. Aitken..., 1776. 267,[1]pp. Contemporary calf, neatly rebacked in modern calf, original leather label. Boards worn at corners. Titlepage trimmed along upper edge, with no loss. Slight toning and foxing. About very good. The first American edition, and overall second edition (and only edition listed by Sabin), first published in 1773. Concerns military dress, movements, strategy, and various exercises. This was one of the first military manuals issued in Revolutionary America. SABIN 53405. EVANS 14815. NAIP w013843. HILDEBURN 3411. SPAULDING & KARPINSKI 321. $3500.120. Lathrop, John: A DISCOURSE PREACHED, DECEMBER 15th... BEING THE DAY RECOMMENDED BY THE PROVINCIAL CONGRESS, TO BE OBSERVED IN THANKSGIVING TO GOD FOR THE BLESSINGS ENJOYED; AND HUMILIATION ON ACCOUNT OF PUBLIC CALAMITIES. Boston: Printed by D. Kneeland, 1774. 39pp. Dbd. Tanned, else very good. A Revolutionary pamphlet by the Pastor of the Second Church in Boston. Lathrop favors the colonists’ side, as he did in several other patriotic speeches of the period. EVANS 13370. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 121. SABIN 39178. $750.Important French History 121. [Leboucher, Odet-Julien]: HISTOIRE DE LA DERNIERE GUERRE, ENTRE LA GRANDE-BRETAGNE, ET LES ÉTATS-UNIS DE L’AMÉRIQUE, LA FRANCE, L’ESPAGNE ET LA HOLLANDE.... Paris: Chez Brocas, 1787. xxxi,[2],357,[3]pp. plus seven folding maps and two folding tables. Quarto. Contemporary mottled calf, spine finely gilt with leather label, edges of boards gilt. Outer joints moderately worn, top of upper joint beginning to separate, small chip at bottom of spine. Occasional minor soiling, a few of the folding maps and tables with minor old tape repairs on verso. A very good copy. One of the best contemporary histories of the American Revolution, described by Howes as the "best French chronicle of the Revolution; particularly valuable on naval affairs." The maps include an excellent one of the American coast from Georgia to New Jersey, another from that region north to Nova Scotia, and several of the West Indies. The folding maps also include the Gulf of Mexico, St. Kitt’s, and the Lesser Antilles. The folding tables detail war ships lost by combat, wreck, or capture, and the French officers killed or wounded. This copy is the rare first edition, here printed on large paper. HOWES L169. BELL L130. SABIN 39613. $3250.122. Lee, A[rthur]: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM ARTHUR LEE TO L(?).W. STOCKTON]. Paris. June 10, 1779. [1¼]pp. written on folded sheet, addressed on verso. Quarto. Some foxing. Very good. Arthur Lee, diplomatist and statesman of the Revolutionary and Federal periods, was sent to France in 1776 as one of three commissioners to negotiate a treaty with France and to solicit aid, one of the other commissioners being Benjamin Franklin. At the time he wrote this letter, Lee was commissioned to the court of Spain, but still resided in Paris. This letter is apparently a response to correspondence from Stockton concerning problems with an unnamed printer. "If some one had not been tutoring him, he would not have varied from his first account, & upon the whole I cannot but think M. Dumas knows more of it than he ought to do." He remarks: "You mentiond [sic] Mr. Sayre’s arrival. I should be glad to hear, where he has been, what account he gives of things in the north, and what are his views." This certainly is a reference to Stephen Sayre, a patriot who was committed to the Tower of London for a time and afterward forced to leave England. He was then employed by Benjamin Franklin on some important missions and was his private secretary for a period. In 1777, Arthur Lee appointed Sayre secretary of his mission to Berlin, but the two had a falling out and separated. Early in 1779, Sayre went to Stockholm, then returned to Paris before going to Russia. In closing this letter, Lee conveys a letter of introduction for Stockton to use when meeting Col. William Fitzhugh in Maryland (not present here). $2500. Extra-illustrated 123. [Leggett, Abraham]: Bushnell, Charles I., ed: THE NARRATIVE OF MAJOR ABRAHAM LEGGETT, OF THE ARMY OF THE REVOLUTION.... New York. 1865. 72,[1]pp. plus many extra illustrations. Frontispiece portrait. Modern three-quarter red morocco and boards, gilt-lettered spine, t.e.g. Internally bright and clean. Fine. Frank Cutter Deering’s copy, with his bookplate on the front pastedown. The first appearance of Major Leggett’s diary kept during the Revolution, narrating events in the northern army. Edited by Charles Bushnell. A lovely copy, greatly enhanced by Deering’s varied extra illustrations. HOWES L234. SABIN 39861. OCLC 5384188. $750.Philadelphia as a Seaport (?) 124. Leizelt, Balth Frederic [engraver]: VUE DE PHILADELPHIE. Augsburg. [ca. 1776]. Copper plate engraving with contemporary coloring and engraved legend. Image 10¾ x 15¼ inches, overall 14 x 17 7/8 inches. Some slight spotting and staining, noticeable chiefly in the margins. A good copy. A very interesting and highly imaginative view of Philadelphia, taking as its actual model the Seaman’s Hospital and environs of Greenwich, England. This view and several similar views engraved by Leizelt were intended for use in a mirror peepshow machine; hence, the engraved title at the top of the plate is reversed and the legend at the bottom is printed in proper sequence. The supreme irony of this fanciful view is that Philadelphia is represented as a seaport city, complete with a pitched naval battle going on in the harbor; or, perhaps more imaginatively, as Venice. This copy conforms to Snyder’s primary state. The plate was reprinted in France in the 1790s. SNYDER, CITY OF INDEPENDENCE: VIEWS OF PHILADELPHIA BEFORE 1800, 242. $1000.Advice on Winning the War in America 125. Lloyd, Henry, Maj.-Gen.: THE HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR IN GERMANY, BETWEEN THE KING OF PRUSSIA, AND THE EMPRESS OF GERMANY AND HER ALLIES.... [bound with:] CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR IN GERMANY, BETWEEN THE KING OF PRUSSIA, AND THE EMPRESS OF GERMANY AND HER ALLIES ILLUSTRATED WITH A NUMBER OF MAPS AND PLANS.... London. 1781. Two volumes bound in one. [6],xxxix,[5],xxxix,[1],147,[1]; [4],186pp. plus a total of seven folding maps, twelve folding plans, and seven folding tables. Half title present for first title. Quarto. Contemporary speckled calf, ruled in blind, spine gilt, gilt morocco label. Small hole in one leaf affecting a few letters, but clear in context. A very handsome copy, in exceptional condition. The first title originally appeared in 1766, and the present issue uses the sheets from that printing with a new titlepage. The second title is here in its first, and apparently only, appearance. A major work on the early years of the Seven Years’ War, known in America more commonly as the French and Indian War, written by a Welsh-born soldier of fortune. Henry Lloyd spent most of the 1740s to 1770s fighting in the service of France, Austria, and Russia, though he never served in the British forces. He attained the rank of major-general in the Austrian army. Carlyle, in his biography of Frederick the Great, describes Lloyd as "a man of great natural sagacity and insight, decidedly luminous and original" (DNB). Lloyd pays special attention in this work to the campaigns of 1756 and 1757, though there is much in the nature of general military philosophy as well. Among the folding maps and plans are details of the battles of Prague, Chotzemitz, Gros-Jagersdorff, Rosbach, Breslaw, Lissa, and more. A map of Poland is also included, of significant help to anyone with military ambitions in Europe. Of particular importance for Americanists is a chapter at the end of the second volume devoted to military strategy in the British colonies of North America. Writing from the perspective of an invader, Lloyd states: "The country is open, that is, it has no fortress excepting Boston, New-York, and Charles-Town; it is very extensive, and very thinly inhabited in proportion to its extent; so that there is no one province, I believe, which could maintain a fleet and an army for a month, which of course must be supported from England...New-York is the point from whence our army must advance into the country...In short, to conquer America, you must draw a line from Boston to Albany, and act on that line in the manner we have proposed: all operations on the lines, drawn from the coast into the country, from Boston to Charles-Town, will prove hereafter, as they have already done, unsuccessful." An important work of military history and strategy, with significant American content. DNB XI, pp.1301-1302. $3250.126. [Longchamps, Pierre de]: HISTOIRE IMPARTIALE DES ÉVENEMENS MILITAIRES ET POLITIQUES DE LA DERNIÈRE GUERRE.... Paris. 1785. Three volumes. 564; 531; 618pp. 12mo. Contemporary calf, leather labels. Spine ends worn on first and second volumes. Front hinge of first volume starting, with some chipping along outer hinge. Corners worn. Internally quite clean. Overall a good set. First Amsterdam edition, after the Paris edition of the same year. This history of the American Revolution covers conflicts in other parts of the world, but is largely devoted to the French part in the war in America, and is one of the first French accounts of the war. A popular work, it appeared in several editions after the original Paris printing of 1785. HOWES L447. GEPHART 5702. SABIN 41905. $750.127. Mably, L’Abbe de: OBSERVATIONS SUR LE GOUVERNEMENT ET LES LOIX DES ÉTATS-UNIS D’AMERIQUE. Amsterdam: Chez J.F. Rosart, 1784. [2],213pp. [bound with:] [Jay, John]: EXTRAIT DU JOURNAL DE LECTURE, No. XXXVII. LETTRE CIRCULAIRE DU CONGRÈS DES ÉTATS UNIS D’AMÉRIQUE A SES CONSTITUANTS. [Paris. 1779?]. [2],26pp. [with:] [French Drama]: LA PAIX DE 1782 OU LE BOWL DE PUNCH DE MASTER OLIVER DREAMER. London. 1782. 47pp. First two titles 12mo., third title octavo. Contemporary calf, gilt, spine gilt with floral design. Binding rubbed and worn, chipped at head of spine. Internally fine. These three titles, printed in French but produced throughout Europe, all touch on the American Revolution and its aftermath. Mably’s work consists of four letters written to John Adams, then the American Minister to Holland, on the government, laws, and political divisions in the United States. One of the letters deals specifically with Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia. The second item is a circular letter from the Congress of the United States of America to their constituents on the subject of raising funds for the public debt, and is signed in print by John Jay, Sept. 13, 1779. Herein Jay outlines the fiscal state of the infant nation, in particular light of the growing war debt. In the United States the letter was ordered to be printed and distributed to the numerous parishes throughout the nation, to be read by the several ministers at the close of religious services. Jay implores the populace to maintain its resolve, and to be wary of insidious reports that the new government is failing. This French printing, likely produced to reassure the French shortly after they entered the Revolution on the American side, is extremely rare. OCLC locates only one copy, at the University of Pennsylvania. That copy, however, is printed in an octavo format, as opposed to the duodecimo format as in the present copy. The third title consists of a farcical French drama touching on the American Revolution. Mably: HOWES M5, "aa." SABIN 42923. Jay: SABIN 15515 (Philadelphia ed). OCLC 17381334. Drama: SABIN 58262. $1500.128. Macaulay, Catharine: [AN] ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND, IRELAND, AND SCOTLAND, ON THE PRESENT IMPORTANT CRISIS OF AFFAIRS. London: Printed. New-York: Reprinted by John Holt, 1775. 15pp. Half title. Dbd. Contemporary ownership inscriptions on half title (one dated July 17, 1776), ink notes on titlepage. Tanned, a few stains. Trimmed close at the top of each page, costing the "an" at the beginning of the title and virtually every page number, and touching some sixteen words of text, including the top line of text on page ten, which is mostly trimmed away. A fair copy. Designated the third edition on the titlepage, though this is actually the first and only American edition, printed the same year as four other British editions. Macaulay, a prominent British historian and controversialist, was an early and staunch defender of the American cause. In this pamphlet she criticizes the Quebec Act and the taxation of the colonies, while also criticizing her fellow Britons for acquiescing in the Stamp Act, the Boston Port Act, and other oppressive measures. She ends with a rousing call to her countrymen to defend their interests, and those of their brethren in America, against governmental oppression. On its publication, this work was called "a masterly specimen of accurate reasoning, and municipal information: predictions so cooly and sedately delivered evince a deep insight into political science, a profound knowledge of history and of human kind, not to say a degree of divine illumination, and well worth the serious consideration of every Briton who wishes for the prosperity of his country" (Monthly Review, quoted in Evans). Catharine Macaulay, known as the "Republican Virago," was called "the woman of the greatest abilities that this country has ever produced" by Mary Wollstonecraft (quoted in DNB). She visited the United States in the 1780s, and carried on a correspondence with George Washington. This first and only American edition of Macaulay’s important treatise on the American colonies on the verge of the Revolution is rare – we can locate only a total of five copies: at Yale, the Connecticut Historical Society, Pennsylvania Historical Society, Library Company of Philadelphia, and New-York Historical Society. HOWES M15. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 169e. SABIN 42944. EVANS 14173. NAIP w004097. $1750.What Connecticut Owes 129. [Madison, James, et al]: ADDRESS AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE STATES, BY THE UNITED STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. Philadelphia, Printed; Hartford, Reprinted: Hudson & Goodwin, 1783. 50,[31]pp. plus folding table. Quarto. Gathered signatures, stitched as issued. Evenly tanned, final few leaves dampstained. Small chips in lower edge of folding table, affecting a few words. On the whole, very good, untrimmed. The first Hartford printing of this important report by a committee consisting of Madison, Hamilton, and Oliver Ellsworth, issued the same year as the Philadelphia first printing. The report deals with raising national revenue and other important issues facing the new nation. Appended are some relevant state papers: a letter from Franklin and his treaty of Vergennes; Adams’ contract with the Netherlands regarding loans; and material relating to the Newburgh Address, including the petition of the officers, extracts from Washington’s reply, and related resolutions of Congress. The final unpaginated thirty-one pages of this edition relate specifically to receipts and expenditures of Connecticut, with most of the text a town-by-town listing of balances due the national treasury from various Connecticut localities. HOWES A76, "aa." EVANS 18226. NAIP w015154. $2500.The Best Early History of Kentucky, 130. Marshall, Humphrey: THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE DISCOVERY – SETTLEMENT – POLITICAL AND MILITARY EVENTS – AND PRESENT STATE OF THE COUNTRY. Frankfort: Henry Gore, 1812. 5,[1],2, 407pp. plus engraved plate. Contemporary calf, brown morocco label. Rubbed, gilt on label faded. Lacks front free endpaper, rear free endpaper torn. Minor foxing. Plate backed on archival rice paper, with marginal loss and one small area of loss about a quarter centimeter square in the middle of the plate. Later ownership signature on front free endpaper. Very good. In a half morocco box. The most important early history of Kentucky, with the extremely rare Indian massacre plate, in a contemporary binding, and with the ownership signature of Daniel Boone’s granddaughter, Harriet Boone, on the titlepage, reading: "Harriet H. Boone’s Book." Besides the family association, this copy is singularly exceptional for containing the nearly unknown Indian massacre plate. The engraved illustration shows a kneeling Indian scalping a white man, while three other Indians take aim at two pioneers fleeing into the woods. Two more Indians stand in the background. According to Jillson, these two pioneers are likely Daniel Boone and his father, Squire Boone. Of the two copies Jillson discusses, only one, that of George Fowler, has this plate. None of the other bibliographies cited below mention it. As illustrated in the title, Marshall’s text covers all aspects of the state’s history. The most engaging segments discuss Kentucky’s relationship with Virginia, Daniel Boone, the history of the Revolutionary War on the Kentucky frontier, and relations with the Shawnees and other Indian tribes. Some scholars have criticized Marshall for riddling his work with his own fervent political opinions, but these opinions do not detract from its historical reference value. Marshall first went to Kentucky after service in the Revolutionary War. He settled in Fayette County soon after becoming deputy surveyor of present-day Woodfort County. An ardent Federalist, he was always politically active, and was one of the earliest persecutors of participants in James Wilkinson’s scheme to negotiate free navigation of the Mississippi from Spain. Controversial throughout his life, his anti-religious writings were often burned, but his political and theological beliefs did not prevent Marshall from earning lasting fame with this history. Originally intended as two volumes, a second edition, with a second volume, was not published until 1824. Kentucky’s best early history, immeasurably enhanced by the Indian massacre plate, with a family association. The Streeter copy, lacking this plate, sold for $900 in 1967. COLEMAN 3244. AII (KENTUCKY) 435. KENTUCKY HUNDRED 34. JILLSON, p.47. HOWES M313, "b." SABIN 44779. STREETER SALE 1647. FIELD 1018 (later ed). KENTUCKY ENCYCLOPEDIA, pp.609-10. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 25945. $9500.131. Marshall, John: THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE AMERICAN FORCES DURING THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY, AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES...TO WHICH IS PREFIXED, AN INTRODUCTION, CONTAINING A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE COLONIES PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH ON THE CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA. London. 1804-7. Five volumes. xxxvi, 579,[1]; viii,633,[3]; viii,570 [i.e. 572]; viii,684; viii,843,[5]pp., plus twelve folding maps and three plates bound in as frontispieces (two folding). One in-text illustration. Original pink paper boards, printed paper labels. Bindings generally worn, especially along spines; some chipping; wear at corners and edges. Volume number written on each spine in red. Save for some instances of pencil underlining or margin notes, very clean and fresh internally. One map in the first volume (which is loosely laid in) has a tear at extreme left edge, just intruding into the image. Overall a handsome set, in very good original, unsophisticated condition, untrimmed. Octavo issue of the British edition which, according to Howes, is the best edition of Marshall’s classic biography of Washington. "After the able, accurate and comprehensive work of Chief Justice Marshall, it would be presumptuous to attempt a historical biography of Washington" – Jared Sparks. The first American edition and this first British edition contain a history of the colonies in the first volume which was omitted from later editions. Howes calls for ten maps and six plates. This conforms to this copy and the list of maps and plates in the rear of the fifth volume, with one of the "plates" actually an in-text illustration on page 570 of the third volume. A quarto British edition was also produced at the same time. HOWES M317. SABIN 44788. $3000.A Very Early Martinique Imprint 132. [Martinique]: GAZETTE DE LA MARTINIQUE, DE JEUDI 5 OCTOBRE 1780. Saint Pierre, Martinique: Pierre Richard, Imprimeur du Roi, 1780. 4pp. (Issue number XL, pp.165-168). Small folio. Old folds. Very clean. A fine copy. An extremely rare and early issue of the Gazette de la Martinique, published on Oct. 5, 1780 in Martinique, with the first page entirely devoted to news of the war in America. The remainder of this issue includes dispatches from London and Paris and local news from Saint-Pierre. Any example of 18th-century Caribbean printing is rare, and no other issues of this newspaper are recorded. According to Swan, printing in the French islands "proliferated in the years immediately following the outbreak of the revolution in France. For instance, [Isaiah] Thomas notes that the Gazette de la Martinique had commenced publication at St. Pierre in December, 1784, and that it was printed by permission of the government." This issue precedes by four years the date of the first Martinique printing noted by Swan and Thomas. The text is of considerable interest, being almost entirely devoted to news of the American Revolution. Besides the doings of Congress, there is military news from the Carolinas and Europe, and much on the maneuvers of British and French naval vessels in the Caribbean, as well as local notices. A fine, possibly unique copy of an extremely rare 18th-century Caribbean newspaper. No issues recorded in the Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection catalogue. Not in the NUC or OCLC, and apparently unrecorded. SWAN, CARIBBEAN PRINTING, p.32. $1250.133. Maseres, Francis: THE CANADIAN FREEHOLDER: IN [THREE] DIALOGUES. London. 1777-1779. Three volumes. 483; xxii, 404; xlii,[399]-810pp. Half titles. Original plain boards, uniformly rebacked in period-style plain paper. Covers detached from first volume. Else near fine, internally crisp and untrimmed. Maseres was the attorney general of Canada from 1766 to 1769 and a staunch proponent of the rights of Canadians as British subjects, and particularly the religious liberty of the French Canadians, even though he was himself a devout Protestant. He was convinced that the harshness of the Quebec Act was a disaster for the Canadian merchants whom he represented in London, and for England’s chances of holding its American empire together. This long argument, published over three years and in the form of a dialogue between a British gentleman and a Catholic Canadian freeholder, covers most of the pressing political concerns of the American colonies. It is interesting both from a Canadian perspective and as part of the larger argument over the more southern colonies. Maseres was one of the firmest Whig friends of the American colonies at the time of the Revolution. This is his longest and most elaborate political work, and the volumes are rarely found together. The present set includes the second state of the first volume titlepage, stating "in two dialogues," with the third volume stating "in three dialogues." LANDE 615. TPL 521. GAGNON I:658. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 76-93, 79-71, 79-72. SABIN 45412. $2750.Price Freezes 134. [Massachusetts]: STATE OF MASSACHUSETT’S [sic] BAY...AN ACT TO PREVENT MONOPOLY AND OPPRESSION [caption title]. [Boston 1777]. 11pp. String-tied self-wrappers, as issued. Contemporary ink notations on first page and verso of final text page. Two small holes in final leaf, affecting about five words. Very good. The present copy bears the ownership signature of Jonathan Stone of the central Massachusetts town of Rutland, just north of Worcester. The final blank page contains Stone’s ink notes recording the names of leading Rutland citizens and politicians, as well as several calculations. In 1777, Massachusetts passed a State Price Act, allowing towns to set prices on various groceries and commodities to prevent profiteering through hoarding and price gouging. This printed version of the Act, passed Jan. 25, sets out the reasoning for the law in a preamble, provides a list of goods and services with the maximum prices that could be asked, and authorizes localities throughout the state to set their own prices based on "usage and custom." The law was repealed in October 1777. EVANS 15404. CUSHING 976. NAIP w033147. $1750.The Most Influential Constitution 135. [Massachusetts]: A CONSTITUTION OR FRAME OF GOVERNMENT, AGREED UPON BY THE DELEGATES OF THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS-BAY, IN CONVENTION, BEGUN AND HELD AT CAMBRIDGE ON THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER, 1779, AND CONTINUED BY ADJOURNMENTS TO THE SECOND OF MARCH, 1780. Boston: Printed by Benjamin Edes & Sons, 1780. 53pp. Half title. Dbd. Four leaves trimmed close at the foredge, touching but not taking the final letter in each line on two leaves. Very good. First printing of the first Massachusetts state constitution, a document of capital importance in the framing of subsequent state constitutions and the United States Constitution as well. A slightly more radical constitution was proposed in 1778 which, for example, granted suffrage to all males except Blacks, Indians, and mulattoes, but it was rejected by the people. The present constitution begins with a long declaration of the rights of Massachusetts citizens (including freedom of the press and protection from unreasonable searches), and then spells out the roles and powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. "In some respects the constitution of 1780 remedied the defects of its predecessor of 1778. A bill of rights assured to each citizen ‘the security of his person and property’ as an unassailable condition to the social contract. A strong executive with extensive veto powers, an independent judiciary appointed for good behavior, and a senate representing property effectively restrained the house of representatives, the only popular branch of government" – Handlin. There is also a section continuing the special privileges of Harvard College, and another encouraging the appreciation of literature in the commonwealth. The Handlins note that John Adams’ role was pre-eminent in the crafting of the 1780 constitution. It is a constitution that served as a guide for other states and for the Constitutional Convention of 1787. See the Handlins’ Commonwealth for an extended discussion of the creation and importance of the Massachusetts constitution. "Despite the title, Massachusetts is declared to be a free and independent Commonwealth (not State), and its people are referred to repeatedly as ‘subjects.’ Freedom of religion is guaranteed to all Protestants, except that Catholics are barred from holding office. (However, there is nothing to keep them from coming to New York to run for office.) Enfranchisement is based solely on property" – Eberstadt. This octavo edition is the first issue, followed by a more common folio issue. A state constitution of great influence. EVANS 16844. NAIP w015133. SABIN 45691. EBERSTADT 166:71. ROSENBACH 8:752. Oscar & Mary Handlin, Commonwealth (Cambridge, 1969), esp. pp.24-31. $2500. Massachusetts Seizes Loyalist Property 136. [Massachusetts]: [Paine, Robert Treat]: TO THE HONORABLE THE JUSTICES OF THE INTERIOR COURT OF COMMON PLEAS...[caption title]. [Np, but likely Boston. ca. 1780]. Broadside, 11 x 17¼ inches, completed in manuscript. Docketed on verso. Light fold lines, minor toning. Very good. A broadside form, completed in manuscript and signed by Robert Treat Paine as Attorney-General of Massachusetts, declaring his intent to seize Royalist property belonging to one Robert Jarvis. Paine, representing Massachusetts, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The form states that Jarvis, "since the nineteenth Day of April, Anno Domini, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-five, viz. on the twentieth Day of the same April, being an Inhabitant and Member of the late Province, now State of Massachusetts-Bay, levied War, and conspired to levy War against the Government and People of this Province, Colony, and State; and then and there adhered to the King of Great-Britain, his Fleets and Armies, Enemies of the said Province...." Jarvis is described as having fled to Canada, and the boundaries of the property to be seized are recorded in manuscript, probably in Paine’s hand. The confiscation of Royalist property was a common practice throughout the colonies during the Revolution, and this broadside is good evidence of how it was accomplished in Massachusetts. As an aside, Paine previously prosecuted the British soldiers charged with murder in the wake of the Boston Massacre. Rare. Not in NAIP. ANB 16, pp.922-23. $1500.Defending a Tax Increase 137. [Massachusetts]: AN ADDRESS OF THE LEGISLATURE TO THE INHABITANTS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. Boston: Benjamin Edes and Sons, 1781. 22,[2],7,[1],8pp. Half title. Printed self-wrappers, stitched. Small tears at untrimmed foredge. Half title foxed, minor foxing elsewhere. Overall very good. A public address followed by two acts, separately paginated but intended as one publication, concerning the management of the Revolutionary War debt in Massachusetts. The address, signed in type by Jeremiah Powell and Caleb Davis, includes a small table showing how war taxes have been spent to date, and it defends the need for an increase. The first act concerns adjusting the state currency and paying monies owed on Continental loan certificates, while the second act authorizes the treasurer of the Commonwealth to borrow $400,000 for the prosecution of the war. Good evidence of the fiscal management of the war in Massachusetts. The present copy belonged to Thomas W. Streeter and contains pencil notes in his hand on the first page of text; this volume is not, however, in the Streeter catalogue. NAIP w037193. EVANS 17216. OCLC 1262315. SABIN 45588. $1750.Buy American! Or at Least 138. [Massachusetts]: AT A MEETING OF THE FREEHOLDERS AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF THE TOWN OF BOSTON...THE COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO CONSIDER WHAT STEPS ARE PROPER TO BE TAKEN ON THE ALARMING AND DESTRUCTIVE LENGTHS TO WHICH AN ILLICIT TRADE WITH OUR ENEMIES IS NOW CARRIED, REPORTED AS FOLLOWS [caption title]. [Boston. 1782]. [2]pp. on folded folio sheet, printed in four columns. Addressed on verso. Bottom blank quarter of second page neatly clipped away, with no resultant loss of text. Three small chips at the edges, not affecting text. Very good. This vituperative bifolium is the result of a public meeting held at Faneuil Hall in Boston on Sept. 6, 1782 to address the question of commerce with the British. The text asserts that, unable to defeat the rebels on the battlefield, the British are attempting to tear them and their allies asunder by flooding the colonies with goods. "By this trade they expect to destroy that great, that mutual confidence so happily subsisting between us and our magnanimous allies [and] to open to themselves new avenues and acquire fresh means of instilling the principles of Toryism and sowing the seeds of disaffection among the weak and unwary." The inhabitants of Boston voted to take ten measures to suppress the trade with Britain, including rooting out those who buy British, encouraging others to turn malefactors in to the authorities, and to guard against the infiltration of British goods generally. The measures are followed by a circular letter addressed to other Massachusetts towns encouraging them to follow suit, and the broadside is signed in manuscript at the end by William Cooper, Boston town clerk. Evans and Ford locate a copy only at the Massachusetts Historical Society, and NAIP adds only the Boston Public Library. Very rare and interesting. EVANS 17480. MASSACHUSETTS BROADSIDES 2316. NAIP w001615. $4500. |
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