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Catalogue 257 The Streeter Sale Revisited |
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Section VII: Mackenzie to Miller |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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200. Mackenzie,
Alexander: VOYAGES FROM MONTREAL, ON THE RIVER ST. LAURENCE, THROUGH THE
CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA, TO THE FROZEN AND PACIFIC OCEANS; IN THE YEARS
1789 AND 1793. WITH A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT OF THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND
PRESENT STATE OF THE FUR TRADE OF THAT COUNTRY.... London. 1801.
viii,cxxxii,412,[2]pp. plus three folding maps. Frontispiece portrait.
Quarto. 19th-century three-quarter morocco and marbled boards, spine gilt,
raised bands. Slight offsetting from portrait onto titlepage. Some slight
tears in folding maps, some repairs, but no loss. Slight spotting on maps.
Modern bookplates. Overall a very good, quite clean copy. This
classic of North American exploration describes the extraordinary travels
of the author in northwestern America in 1789, when he discovered the
Mackenzie River, and in 1793, when he crossed the continent to the
Pacific. Mackenzie also
provides an excellent history of the fur trade in Canada, as well as
vocabularies of several Indian languages.
The “Map of Mackenzie’s track from Ft. Chipewyan to the Pacific
Ocean in 1793" was a milestone, and as Wheat says, “at once
questions began to be raised about the now patent inadequacies of all
prior maps of the American Far West.”
A cornerstone in any collection of North American travel and
exploration. The Streeter copy sold for $450. 201. Marcy,
Randolph B.: THE PRAIRIE TRAVELER. A HAND-BOOK FOR OVERLAND
EXPEDITIONS.... New York. 1859. 340pp. including frontispiece and
wood-engraved plates, plus folding map. 16mo. Original publisher’s
blindstamped cloth, spine gilt. Gilt on spine faded. Slight age-toning at
edges, small clean tear in left margin of folding map (no loss). A very
good copy. Marcy
offers advice to the prospective emigrant, including listing what
equipment and supplies are necessary, and giving distances, a description
of the country, etc., with reference to many of his own experiences in the
Rocky Mountains and on the western plains. The Nebraska Book Company bought the Streeter copy for $80.
It later belonged to a New York collector, who sold it at Swann
Galleries in 1999. It was
bought by the (later exposed) map thief, Forbes Smiley, on behalf of a
private collector for an astounding $5000.
Was it the commission? The
collector later had ample opportunity to regret his choice of agent, but
he might have started right here. A Standard Reference 202. Margry,
Pierre, ed: DECOUVERTES ET ETABLISSEMENTS DES FRANÇAIS DANS L’OUEST ET
DANS LE SUD DE L’AMERIQUE SEPTENTRIONALE. Paris. 1876-1886. Six
volumes. Illus. Large octavo. Original printed wrappers. About fine,
untrimmed and unopened. Contains
many valuable documents concerning the travels and discoveries of La
Salle, D’Iberville, St. Denis, Hennepin, Cadillac, Duluth, and other
French explorers in the Midwest in the 17th and 18th centuries.
“...Many here printed for the first time, comprising extracts
from missionaries’, governors’ and other official reports and
correspondence, soldiers’ and traders’ journals, etc. describing
French explorations, relations with the Indians, and trading enterprise
from Hudson’s Bay to the Gulf of Mexico and from St. Lawrence to the
Rocky Mountains between 1614 and 1754" – TPL. For many years Goodspeed’s had the remainder of this important set, and
one could obtain a copy when needed. Like
so many stashes of this sort, now long ago and far away.
The Streeter set went to Canner for $200. The First American Horse Book 203. Markham,
Gervase [et al]: THE CITIZEN AND COUNTRYMAN’S EXPERIENCED FARRIER.
CONTAINING, I. THE MOST BEST APPROVED METHOD OF ORDERING, DIETING,
EXERCISING, PURGING, SCOURING, AND CLEANSING OF HORSES...TO ALL WHICH IS
ADDED, A VALUABLE AND FINE COLLECTION OF THE SUREST AND BEST RECEIPTS IN
THE KNOWN WORLD FOR THE CURE OF ALL MALADIES AND DISTEMPERS...BY J.
MARKHAM, G. JEFFERIES, AND DISCREET INDIANS. Wilmington, De.: James
Adams, 1764. 364pp. Contemporary calf, raised bands. Top spine compartment
perished, calf worn at corners and rubbed. Dampstains in first twenty
leaves. A few instances of marginal worming, not affecting text. Scattered
foxing. 19th-century ink annotation in several leaves. Contemporary ink
signature of Isaac Marshall on front pastedown. A very good copy of this
fragile work. In a half morocco box. This
is the first American work on horses to be composed, at least in part,
from American experience. Although
British agricultural writer Gervase Markham’s work served as a basis for
this compilation, it was only the starting point.
A letter from the American editor, John Millis, to printer James
Adams survives, in which Millis describes how he combined “many things
of his own experience” as well as lore collected from other farriers,
presumably including the “discreet Indians.”
“The author concerns himself with the running horse and the
hunter as well as with the ordinary horse of daily usefulness” – The
Colonial Scene. Millis
includes in the book a leaf of attestation dated at Kennet, Chester
Township, extolling the usefulness of his book, and signed by four
witnesses, including noted American horticulturist Humphrey Marshall. This book is also one of the first works of the press in Delaware, where
printing began in 1761. Millis
seems to have largely marketed it himself.
He “employed several tavern keepers to take in subscriptions”
and had 600 copies printed. Rink
notes eight copies in his bibliography, to which we can add the Streeter
copy, the present one, and two copies sold by us in 1993 (the Mellon-
British Art Center Yale copy) and 2000.
A rare and interesting work. Scribner’s paid $130 for the Streeter copy. “The first printed account of man’s entry 204. [Marra,
John]: JOURNAL OF THE RESOLUTION’S VOYAGE, IN 1772, 1773, 1774, AND
1775. ON DISCOVERY TO THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE, BY WHICH THE NON EXISTENCE
OF AN UNDISCOVERED CONTINENT...IS DEMONSTRATIVELY PROVED. ALSO A JOURNAL
OF THE ADVENTURE’S VOYAGE, IN THE YEARS 1772, 1773, AND 1774. WITH AN
ACCOUNT OF THE SEPARATION OF THE TWO SHIPS.... London. 1775.
xiii,[1],328pp. plus folding map and five plates. With an additional
folding map, “Part of the Tropical Discoveries of the Resolution Sloop
Captain J. Cook in 1774.” Contemporary calf, spine richly gilt, gilt
morocco label. Front hinge weakening, light shelf wear. Bookplate on front
free endpaper. Small worm holes in the lower margin of the second half of
the leaves, not affecting the text. A very good copy. The
earliest published complete account of Cook’s second voyage, issued at
least eighteen months prior to the official version.
The second voyage included the first crossing of the Antarctic
circle, making Marra’s narrative the earliest firsthand account of the
Antarctic, and the engraved plates are the first depictions of that
region. Due to the strict
regulations against private publications, the work was published
anonymously, but the identity of the author did not remain a mystery for
long. “Correspondence
between Cook and the Admiralty shows that the author was John Marra, one
of the gunners’ mates in the Resolution.
He was an Irishman whom Cook had picked up at Batavia during the
first voyage. He made an
abortive attempt to desert at Tahiti on 14 May 1774, an escapade of which
Cook took so lenient a view that he says – ‘I know not if he might
have obtained my consent, if he had applied for it in proper time.’
This did not, however, as Marra states at p. 241, prevent his being
put in irons...” – Holmes. This copy contains the extremely rare extra folded map, “Part of the
Tropical Discoveries of the Resolution Sloop Captain J. Cook in 1774,”
which is noted by Beddie and Rosove, but which is not called for in most
of the references. This map
has, however, been present in three of the twenty-five copies of the first
edition sold at auction in the last thirty or so years.
The chart appears opposite the first page of text and shows New
Caledonia and the Great Cyclades islands to the north and Norfolk island
to the south. It is a most
interesting production, and is to be found in two states: first, as here
with the engraver’s name and with the position of Norfolk Island
incorrectly placed 4° too far south; and second, with the engraver’s
name erased (but just visible), with the Norfolk Island’s latitude
corrected. The chart follows
two of the Gilbert manuscript charts (see David 2.225/6/) in spelling
Ballabeah Isle with a final “h,” unlike all the other manuscript
charts. We have a definite
date for the corrected issue of this chart, as it accompanied the article,
“Late Voyages of the Resolution and Adventure,” published in the Gentleman’s
Magazine, Vol. XLVI, 1776 (edited by David Henry), opposite page 120
in the March issue. Therefore,
it seems probable that the uncorrected chart found its way into copies of
Marra issued during the last two or three months of 1775. “A rare work...contain[ing] details of many events not recorded in the
official account, and a preface recording the causes which led Banks and
his staff to withdraw from the expedition at the last moment.
Accordingly it is a vital second voyage item...” – Davidson. The Streeter copy sold for $300. “Most valuable early history 205. Marshall,
Humphrey: THE HISTORY OF KENTUCKY. EXHIBITING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MODERN
DISCOVERY; SETTLEMENT; PROGRESSIVE IMPROVEMENT; CIVIL AND MILITARY
TRANSACTIONS; AND THE PRESENT STATE OF THE COUNTRY. Frankfort: Geo. S.
Robinson, 1824. Two volumes. v,[1],[3]-47,[1],465,[1],8; v,[1],524pp.
Modern half calf and marbled boards. Ex-historical society, with ink stamp
on titlepages and some internal pages. Scattered foxing. Very good. Second
edition, after the original 1812 Frankfort printing, of the most important
early history of Kentucky. This
edition is enlarged by the addition of a second volume.
Also, included in the first volume of this edition is Constantine
Rafinesque’s “Ancient Annals of Kentucky.”
“Rafinesque’s tract is an essay towards the aboriginal history
of Kentucky, with an account of the antiquities and native tribes found in
it. Marshall’s history is
very largely composed of minute relations of the border wars, and the
massacres by the Indians” – Field. 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. Of
this second edition Jillson notes: “Not a little new material has been
added with a general softening of tone throughout.” 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.
The first edition of Marshall’s history is rare, and this second
edition is also a scarce book. A private collector paid $100 for the Streeter copy. 206. Martin,
François-Xavier: THE HISTORY OF NORTH-CAROLINA, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD.
New Orleans. 1829. Two volumes. [12],325, [1],[blank leaf],[114];
[4],411,[1]pp. Half title in each volume. Early 20th-century three-quarter
morocco and marbled boards, spines gilt, raised bands. Lower forecorner of
half title in first volume torn and repaired, text not affected. Light
scattered foxing. Overall just about very good. An
important early history, quite scarce, the first devoted entirely to the
state, by the prolific lawyer-historian, François-Xavier Martin, issued
the same year as his history of Louisiana.
Jumonville locates only five copies. The Streeter copy went to Seven Gables for $150. 207. [Martyn,
Benjamin]: AN IMPARTIAL ENQUIRY INTO THE STATE AND UTILITY OF THE PROVINCE
OF GEORGIA. London. 1741. 104pp. Half title. Later three-quarter calf
and boards. Bit rubbed. Library deaccession stamp on titlepage. Else very
good. The
author was one of the main promotional writers for the colony of Georgia.
He provides an account of the settlements and a warm and glowing
description of the country. This
copy is the variant issue described by Vail, without the price printed on
the titlepage. The Streeter copy went for $160. The “Lost” First Cortés Letter 208. Martyr,
Peter: DE NUPER SUB D. CAROLO REPERTIS INSULIS, SIMULQ[UE] INCOLARUM
MORIBUS. Basel: [Adam Petri], 1521. 43pp. (pp. 20 and 21 misnumbered).
Woodcut title border. Small quarto. Later vellum boards. Boards lightly
rubbed, endpapers torn. Old faint institutional ink stamp on front free
endpaper, titlepage, and verso of final text leaf; small neat ink number
on front pastedown and titlepage. Slight tanning in some text margins,
early ink marginalia and neat underlining on pp. 32 and 33. Overall, a
very good copy. In a half morocco box. Martyr’s
1521 Basel letter, which contains information from the lost First Cortés
Letter. This is a key work for
the New World from 1516 to 1520, including the conquest of Mexico and a
description of Cuba. “This
is Martyr’s first narrative of the discovery made by Grijalva and the
expedition of Cortes to Mexico, added to a fuller account of Cuba than was
contained in his three decades already printed.
Harrisse called this work an extract from the Fourth Decade, but it
is evidently a much more important work, Stevens and other authorities
defining it as a substitute for the lost first Cortes letter.
This work supplements, rather than overlaps other narratives by the
author” – Streeter. According
to the Church entry on the famous Cortés Letters addressed to Emperor
Charles V: The
first of these, known as the Lost First Letter, is supposed to have been
written at Vera Cruz, July 10, 1519. Whether
it was actually lost or suppressed by the Council for the Indies, at the
request of Narvaez, is unknown...As this Letter is mentioned by Cortes in
his Second Letter and by other contemporaneous writers, there can be no
doubt of its having been written. Extensive
researches made by later historians have, however, failed to bring it to
light. A publication by Peter
Martyr, entitled De Nuper Sub D. Carolo Repertis Insulis, published
at Basel in 1521, is usually substituted for it. A
remarkably important piece of Americana, recounting to Europe for the
first time the exploits of Cortés at the beginning of the Conquest. The Streeter copy went to Goodspeed’s for $700. One of the Great American Biographies 209. [Mather,
Cotton]: PIETAS IN PATRIAM: THE LIFE OF HIS EXCELLENCY SIR WILLIAM PHIPS,
KNT. LATE CAPTAIN GENERAL, AND GOVERNOUR IN CHIEF OF THE PROVINCE OF THE
MASSACHUSET-BAY [sic], NEW ENGLAND. London. 1697.
[10],110,[8]pp. 12mo. Late 19th-century morocco, covers and spine gilt,
gilt inner dentelles. Hinges slightly abraded. Titlepage soiled and
slightly chipped, with contemporary inscription. Some age-toning, a few
leaves trimmed close at top. Lacks leaf A1 (note of recommendation to the
public). A good copy. Governor
Phips was a most colorful character, not in keeping with the Puritan
Mathers, who were his staunchest supporters.
He earned his knighthood by discovering the wreck of a Spanish
treasure galleon in the Bahamas, recovering a large fortune in gold and
silver bullion, and earning for his stockholders – among them King James
II – a dividend of 8000 percent. His
rise from humble beginnings to the governorship of Massachusetts is an
early American success story. Phips presided over New England at a time when it was rocked by the witch
trials and King William’s War against the French, which saw most
outlying settlements besieged by the French and Indians.
Streeter calls this “one of the great American biographies.”
Samuel Eliot Morison describes it in The Puritan Pronaos as
“good reading now as when it first appeared.
Mather glossed over the vulgarities and immoralities of this
self-made hero...but in terse, vigorous English he described enough
fighting, treasure-hunting, mutinies, ship wrecks, and other adventures to
satisfy the most red-blooded reader. The
lives of Eliot and Phips...are a worthy beginning for New England
biographical literature.” Kraus paid $525 for the Streeter copy. The Greatest History of New England 210. Mather,
Cotton: MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA: OR, THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF
NEW-ENGLAND, FROM ITS FIRST PLANTING IN THE YEAR 1620. UNTO THE YEAR OF
OUR LORD, 1698. IN SEVEN BOOKS.... London: Thomas Parkhurst, 1702.
[32],38,[2],75,[2], 238,[2],125-222,100,[2],88,118,[2]pp. plus double-page
map. Folio. Contemporary paneled calf, rebacked to style, spine gilt.
Ownership inscription on titlepage, “Job Lousley’s Book Hampstead,
Norris Berks 1844,” with additional annotations concerning the work.
Additional ownership inscription on leaf 7p verso, inner margin: “Job
Lousley’s Book Hampstead Norris Berks 1844.” Light marginal soiling in
upper inner margin at beginning and end of text block. Internally very
clean and fresh. A very good copy. The
first edition of what Streeter calls “the most famous American book of
colonial times.” Mather’s
opus is an indispensable source for the history of New England in the 17th
century, both for its biographies and its history of civil, religious, and
military affairs. Much of the
book’s value rests in its incomparable wealth of detail regarding daily
life in early colonial New England. David
Hall has referred to it as “a mirror of the 1690’s,” the decade in
which most of it was written. Far
from being a dull chronicle of events, the Magnalia... is full of
lively biographical pieces, vivid descriptions of the times, and many
surprising sidelights. It has
been mined by all modern scholars of social history for its unsurpassed
view of New England at the end of the 17th century. The
map, which depicts New England, Long Island, and eastern New York, has
been labeled by cartographic historian Barbara McCorkle as “the first
eighteenth-century general map of New England.”
It was probably adopted from A New Map of New England. New York.
New Iarsey. Pensilvania. Maryland. and Virginia, likely composed by
Phillip Lea in 1680. This copy has two separate mid-19th-century inscriptions by Job Lousley
of Hampstead Norris, Berkshire. The
titlepage bears the following commentary in the same hand about the Magnalia...:
“A most wonderful and curious volume full of unaccountable and strange
things containing apparitions conversions judgements witchcraft [?]
imposters &c &c to collect and write, a very scarce and valuable
book and worth 2-2-0...most extraordinary and rare book and very
interesting.” A second
ownership inscription in the inner margin of the verso of the fourth final
leaf at the end of the volume (leaf 7p) reads: “Job Lousley’s Book
Hampstead Norris Berks 1844.” Perhaps
this second “interior” ownership inscription was to serve as a
security marker by providing an additional ownership mark in case the
volume was stolen. Lousley was
a British farmer and antiquarian. Having
a particular interest in language, he was involved in the production of A
Glossary of Provincial Words Used in Berkshire, published in London in
1852. While he may not have
published many works, books he owned and annotated are recorded.
RLIN records seven titles with Lousley’s signature. A landmark in colonial New England history, and a book of increasing
rarity; here with intriguing mid-19th-century ownership annotations. Streeter’s copy contained the very rare errata, hence the price it
fetched at the time (the two errata leaves were actually printed in
Boston, not London), with Nebenzahl paying $1300.
Credit half of that price to the errata leaves. 211. [Mather,
Cotton]: RATIO DISCIPLINÆ FRATRUM NOV-ANGLORUM. A FAITHFUL ACCOUNT OF THE
DISCIPLINE PROSESSED AND PRACTISED; IN THE CHURCHES OF NEW=ENGLAND. WITH
INTERSPERSED AND INSTRUCTIVE REFLECTIONS ON THE DISCIPLINE OF THE
PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. Boston: Printed for S. Gerrish in Cornhill, 1726.
[2],iv,10,207,[3]pp., including contents leaf. 18th-century calf, boards
and spine gilt, gilt leather label. Slight wear to boards and spine.
Modern bookplate on front pastedown. Titlepage partially browned, last
printed page moderately browned at margins. Slight age-toning, otherwise
internally very clean. A very good
copy, complete with the contents leaf at the end of the volume which is
often lacking. One
of Cotton Mather’s most important works.
“An important exposition of the tenets of Congregationalism that
carefully reaffirms the principles of the Cambridge Platform” –
Streeter. A key work of New
England church history. Goodspeed’s paid $120 for the Streeter copy. 212. [McAfee,
Robert B.]: HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR IN THE WESTERN COUNTRY. Lexington.
1816. 534pp. plus errata. Contemporary calf, expertly re-backed with
original backstrip laid down, leather label. Usual browning and foxing,
else good. Thomson
views this book highly: “It is the original authority from which later
writers borrowed freely...all the incidents of the War of 1812 in Ohio and
the Northwest Territory are given with great minutiae of detail.”
According to American Imprints Inventory, the book was
written by McAfee and revised by James Buchanan.
One of the most extensive products of the Kentucky press to that
time, and one of the longest prose works, outside of laws, of that early
period. A most important
historical source. Nebenzahl paid $120 at the Streeter sale. 213. McGowan,
Edward: NARRATIVE OF EDWARD McGOWAN, INCLUDING A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE
AUTHOR’S ADVENTURES AND PERILS WHILE PERSECUTED BY THE SAN FRANCISCO
VIGILANCE COMMITTEE OF 1856. San Francisco. 1857. 240pp. including
seven full-page woodcuts within pagination. 12mo. Modern half brown
morocco and marbled boards, black gilt morocco label. Faint dampstain in
upper margin throughout, occasionally affecting text. Text block with
light edge wear. Overall very good. This
copy bears the bookplate of noted Zamorano Eighty collector Daniel
Volkmann. McGowan was accused
of being an accomplice in the murder of James King of William, but managed
to escape the Vigilantes. He
published this narrative to vindicate his conduct.
When McGowan returned to San Francisco, he edited the weekly
newspaper, Ubiquitous, in which he was free to rail against the
Committee and its actions. “...a
prime rascal, one of the truly colorful characters in California during
the middle of the last century” – Graff.
An intriguing view of the Vigilance Committee. Goodspeed’s paid $275 at the Streeter sale. 214. McLeod,
Donald: HISTORY OF WISKONSAN, FROM ITS FIRST DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT
PERIOD. INCLUDING A GEOLOGICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE
TERRITORY WITH A CORRECT CATALOGUE OF ALL ITS PLANTS. Buffalo:
Steele’s Press, 1846. 310pp. plus four plates. Original blindstamped
cloth. Spine ends frayed. Touch of foxing. Free endpapers replaced.
Overall just about very good. This
copy includes the four plates not present in all copies, but it does not
contain the folding map, which is present in only a few copies.
One of the earliest and rarest state histories to offer an account
of the territory which now forms the state of Wisconsin.
The plates depict native burial mounds and remains, many of which
would send proponents of “ancient astronaut” theories into fits of
enthusiasm. Includes much
information concerning navigation on the Great Lakes, native inhabitants,
development of commerce, and means of travel, etc. Streeter’s copy had the folding map and went to Carnegie for $850. Crowning Infamy of the Ages 215. Mercer,
Asa S.: THE BANDITTI OF THE PLAINS OR THE CATTLEMEN’S INVASION OF
WYOMING IN 1892 [THE CROWNING INFAMY OF THE AGES.]. [Denver. 1894].
Preliminary leaf printing ordering information, 139pp. Original black
cloth. Minor wear at corners, slight spotting on front cover. Front hinge
cracked, rear board cracked just along hinge, but still solidly bound.
Overall, still a very good copy. The
Thomas W. Streeter copy, with his bookplate on the front pastedown, and
his pencil notes on the front free endpaper and titlepage.
This copy brought $800 at the Streeter sale in 1968. One of the most famous books on the cattle industry, growing out of the
Johnson County War in Wyoming in 1892, which pitted the large, established
members of the Wyoming Stockgrowers Association against the smaller
cattlemen and squatters on the range.
In the course of the bloody conflict, Mercer, editor of the Northwestern
Livestock Grower, published in Cheyenne, took the side of the small
growers and produced this vitriolic work.
The book is said to have been suppressed, and it may have been to a
certain extent, but a fair number of copies exist today, although it
certainly remains rare. The
book is often listed as being printed in Cheyenne, but Mercer’s children
maintain that it was printed in Denver, where Adams agrees it was bound.
Its importance is great, chronicling one of the last major
upheavals of frontier violence in the wars for the open range against
fencing. It has since appeared
in many later editions. This copy brought $800 at the Streeter sale, from a private collector. 216. [Mexican
Army]: REGLAMENTO DEL ESTADO MAYOR DEL EJERCITO QUE DEBE OPERAR SOBRE
TEXAS; FORMADO POR EL SR. GENERAL D. LINO J. ALCORTA, Y APROBADO POR EL
SUPRMEMO GOBIERNO DE LA REPUBLICA. Mexico: Imprenta de J.M. Lara,
1844. 11pp. Original printed wrappers. A fresh, near fine copy. Rules
relating to the organization of the Mexican army in Texas.
“This Reglamento is dated July 20, 1844, and is signed at the end
by Alcorta and Valentin Canalizo, then general en gefe del ejercito del
Norte. It was presented by
Canalizo to the president, Santa Anna, and approved by him at Tacubaya on
July 31, 1844” – Streeter. Four
copies are located by Streeter (CS, CU-B, TxWB, TWS). The Streeter copy sold to Nebenzahl for $35. 217. [Mexican
War]: CONTESTACIONES HABIDAS ENTRE EL SUPREMO GOBIERNO MEXICANO, EL
GENERAL EN GEFE DEL EJERCITO AMERICANO, Y EL COMISSIONADO DE LOS
ESTADOS-UNIDOS. Mexico. 1847. 36pp. Small quarto. Original printed
wrappers, stitched. Minor chipping at spine, else very good. The
second and best issue. Many
documents, proposals for treaties and counter-proposals, instructions, and
papers of U.S. envoys Trist and Scott regarding the negotiations for the
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Texas,
Alta California, and New Mexico are discussed in various segments,
including Trist’s offer to let Mexico retain San Diego harbor by
establishing a southern boundary of California at the 33rd parallel.
One of the more intriguing Mexican War pamphlets. Quaritch bought the Streeter copy for $50. The Streeter Copy 218. [Mexico]:
CONSTITUCION POLITICA DEL ESTADO LIBRE DE GUANAJUATO. SANCIONADA POR SU
CONGRESO CONSTITUYENTE EN 14 DE ABRIL DE 1826. Mexico. 1826. xx,73pp.
plus 4pp. Small quarto. Original printed wrappers. Minor chipping, some
corners creased. Internally clean. The
Streeter copy, with bibliographic notes in his hand.
The constitution of the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, as determined
by the constitutional convention of 1826. This was passed at the Streeter sale and ended up with Lindley Eberstadt.
We bought it at a lot in Eberstadt’s sale in 1985.
And it’s still available! 219. Michaux,
François André: VOYAGE A L’OUEST DES MONTS ALLÉGHANYS, DANS LES ÉTATS
DE L’OHIO, DU KENTUCKY ET DU TENNESSÉE, ET RETOUR A CHARLESTON PAR LES
HAUTES-CAROLINES.... Paris. 1804. vi,312pp. plus folding map. Half
title. Contemporary half speckled calf and salmon boards, spine gilt,
green leather labels. Some minor flecking to spine, but still bright and
nice. A very good, fresh copy. “...The
zest with which Michaux describes some of the wonders of the West in this
brief and discursive journal is as pleasant as his intelligent discussion
of economical facts, and puritan domesticity in the East...he gave his
countrymen a correct and impressive idea of the products and promise of
the great West, but more especially of Ohio and Kentucky” – Thomson.
A classic travel narrative by one of the great early naturalists in
America, later famous for his work on trees.
With a handsome folding engraved map of the United States. Scribner bought the Streeter copy for $160. “A fundamental piece for Detroit 220. [Michigan]:
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, TO WHOM WAS
REFERRED THE MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT...OF DECEMBER 23, 1805, TRANSMITTING
A REPORT FROM THE GOVERNOR AND PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE TERRITORY OF
MICHIGAN, RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF THE TERRITORY. Washington: A. &
G. Way, 1806. 56pp. Dbd. Very good. The
report of the House committee charged with responding to a request for
federal action by Gov. William Hull and territorial judge August Woodward,
on the question of land disputes and the post-conflagration status of
Detroit. Woodward was the
compiler of the early laws of Michigan, known as “The Woodward Code,”
and he was the main architect of the Detroit city plan.
Included is a chronological table of settlements in the territory
of Michigan, beginning in 1763. “The
report contains three letters from Judge Woodward to the Secretary of the
Treasury, written in January and March, 1805, which analyze and classify
the land titles of the territory. This
is a fundamental piece for Michigan and Detroit” – Streeter.
Scarce, with Shaw & Shoemaker and OCLC locating a total of
seven copies. The Streeter
copy sold for $200. Goodspeed’s bought the Streeter copy for the Clements Library. 221. Miller,
Benjamin S.: RANCH LIFE IN SOUTHERN KANSAS AND THE INDIAN TERRITORY. AS
TOLD BY A NOVICE. HOW A FORTUNE WAS MADE IN CATTLE. New York. 1896.
163,[1]pp. Portrait. Original front wrapper, rear wrapper and spine
supplied in expert restoration. Otherwise very nice and clean. A good plus
copy. In a folding fabrikoid box. Miller
was born in 1851, attended Cornell, and went to Kansas in 1878.
This colorful narrative of his life as a rancher there over the
next five years is an excellent firsthand account of ranching in the
Indian Territory during that early period.
In later life Miller spent a year and a half in Alaska in 1898-99,
and died in Binghamton in 1930. One
of the best early accounts of the Indian Territory, and quite scarce. Howell paid $125 for the Streeter copy. |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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Questions or comments?Write us at amorder@reeseco.com |
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