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Catalogue 260 Colonial Americana |
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Section V: Mather to Otis |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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One of the Great American Biographies 118. [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." STREETER SALE 652. CHURCH 766. HOLMES, COTTON MATHER 279-A. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 697/121. JCB (2)II:1082. SABIN 46455. HOWES M394, "b." $5000. A Very Rare Mather Title 119. Mather, Cotton: THIRTY IMPORTANT CASES, RESOLVED WITH EVIDENCE OF SCRIPTURE AND REASON. (MOSTLY,) BY SEVERAL PASTORS OF ADJACENT CHURCHES, MEETING IN CAMBRIDGE, NEW-ENGLAND. (WITH SOME OTHER MEMORABLE MATTERS.) NOW PUBLISHED FOR GENERAL BENEFIT. Boston: Printed by Bartholomew Green and John Allen, 1699. 78,[1]pp. including the errata leaf at the end. 16mo. Modern morocco by Riviere, boards and spine gilt, t.e.g., gilt inner dentelles. Age-toning and moderate dampstaining. Top edge closely trimmed, affecting some page numbers in upper margin. First few leaves worn at lower outer corner. A very good copy. In a half morocco box. A compilation of thirty questions and judgments regarding religious practice by individuals and churches, "chiefly amongst members of the churches of Boston and vicinity, and came before the Cambridge Association of Ministers for their discussion and final resolution. The decisions were, of course, merely advisory and carried no authority for enforcement" – Holmes. Several of the issues focus on institutions and their representatives, but others concern personal behavior. The latter include questions concerning whether to "drink healths," what type of loan of money upon usury may be practiced, and "whether the games of cards, or dice, be lawful to be used, among the professors of the Christian religion." These cases were reprinted, with a new introduction and commentary, in the fifth book of Mather’s Magnalia Christi Americana under the heading, "Historical Remarks upon the Discipline Practiced in the Churches of New-England." In his diary Mather writes of the work: "And tho’ it go under the name of all the associated ministers, yet I think, I may humbly pretend to be the real author of it; all but two or three pages of it, being mine." A very rare Mather title; no copy has appeared at public sale for decades. NAIP locates eleven copies, all at old institutions which have held the title decades or over a century. EVANS 878. NAIP w019558. WING (2nd ed) M1160. HOLMES, COTTON MATHER 394. $17,500. The Greatest History of New England 120. 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, 12 7/16 x 8 inches. Late 19th-century green morocco by W. Pratt, covers paneled in gilt and blind, spine in six compartments with raised bands, the bands emphasized by gilt and blind rules, lettered in gilt in the second and third compartments, the others with simple repeat decoration in gilt, gilt turn-ins, a.e.g. Map backed on linen with slight loss in upper right corner. Lacks errata. Provenance: John Fiske (1842-1901, American historian and philosopher) with armorial bookplate. The Fiske copy of the greatest history of New England: a landmark in colonial New England history, a book of increasing rarity, rarely found in this condition. 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. HOWES M391, "b." STREETER SALE 658. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 702/127. HOLMES, COTTON MATHER 213. SABIN 46392. CHURCH 806. McCORKLE 702.3, 680.4 (ref). $12,000. With the Engraved Frontispiece Portrait 121. [Mather, Cotton]: PARENTATOR. MEMOIRS OF REMARKABLES IN THE LIFE AND THE DEATH OF THE EVER-MEMORABLE DR. INCREASE MATHER. WHO EXPIRED, AUGUST 23, 1723. Boston: Printed by B. Green, for Nathaniel Belknap, 1724. [2],x,xiv,239,[5]pp. plus errata leaf. Frontispiece portrait. 12mo. Early 20th-century crushed red morocco by Riviere & Sons, spine gilt, gilt inner dentelles, a.e.g. Front board expertly reattached. A few margin notes in an early hand. An attractive copy. In a half morocco and cloth box. This copy belonged to noted collector and librarian Frederick B. Adams, Jr., and his bookplate is affixed to the front pastedown. Cotton Mather’s homage to his famed and prolific father, one of the most influential men in the history of colonial New England, who died the previous year. It constitutes the earliest extensive biography of Increase Mather, and gives important details of his religious and political activities in Massachusetts. Holmes describes the biography as an "eminently readable work." The book includes an early catalogue of Increase Mather’s works. The errata notes that this title was the first work printed by Timothy Green, Junior (1703-63), at the time an apprentice in his uncle Bartholomew’s shop and a member of the distinguished Boston printing family. Of primary importance is the frontispiece portrait of Increase Mather, which is the second engraved portrait to be published in the British colonies. According to Holmes, the portrait was not originally published with the work and appears "to have been added to special copies, either at the time of publication, or since." HOLMES, COTTON MATHER 271. HOWES 393, "b." JCB (3)I:347. CHURCH 893. JONES 419. EVANS 2557. SABIN 46447. $10,000. 122. [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. Mid-20th-century polished calf, boards and spine gilt, black and red leather labels stamped in gilt, gilt inner dentelles. Titlepage browned, worn, and soiled, with old tear repaired in lower third of page. A very good copy, complete with the frequently lacking contents leaf at the end of the volume. 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. EVANS 2775. SABIN 46474. HOLMES 318. STREETER SALE 672. CHURCH 903. $5000. New England’s First Principles 123. Mather, Increase: THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF NEW-ENGLAND, CONCERNING THE SUBJECT OF BAPTISME & COMMUNION OF CHURCHES. Cambridge: Samuel Green, 1675. [8],40,8pp. Small quarto. Early 20th-century three-quarter morocco over linen boards. Titlepage soiled, lacking portion of top and foredge, affecting typographic border and first and third words of title, which are supplied in facsimile. Contemporary manuscript annotations on titlepage, one partially trimmed. A few leaves browned, occasional minor stains. A good copy, with the bookplate of Michael Zinman on the front pastedown. In this tract Mather has gathered together the views of "the chief fathers in the New-England Churches" (Cotton, Hooker, Richard Mather, Norton, Shepard, and others) on the controversial subjects of baptism and church membership. The intent of the book is to enforce the doctrines set forth by Richard Mather and others in the Half-Way Covenant of 1662, liberalizing the requirements for baptism. At the time, Increase Mather had strongly opposed the reforms suggested by his father. Thirteen years later his views had changed, influenced not a little by his father’s deathbed appeal to alter his thinking. Holmes tells us that the arguments assembled here on baptism and church membership "may fairly be regarded as a key to early New-England thought on those questions." EVANS 208. HOLMES 54. SABIN 46683. $20,000. A Classic Work 124. Mather, Increase: KOMETOGRAPHIA, OR A DISCOURSE CONCERNING COMETS; WHEREIN THE NATURE OF BLAZING STARS IS ENQUIRED INTO...AS ALSO TWO SERMONS OCCASIONED BY THE LATE BLAZING STARS. Boston in New-England: Printed by S.G. for S.S., 1683. [1],[7],[2],143pp. 12mo. Antique-style calf, spine gilt extra, leather label, by Trevor Lloyd. Without front and rear blank endpapers (A1 and K8). Some toning to titlepage and preface. Very good. A landmark work in the development of astronomy and empirical science in the British colonies in the New World. Kometographia... was prompted by the appearance of Halley’s comet over North America in 1682. Mather had written the sermons, Heavens Alarm and The Latter Sign (sometimes bound with the Kometographia..., but not present here), on the occasion of a 1680 comet, yet in the Kometographia... we find a work of a character entirely different from the two earlier sermons: a treatise on the nature and history of "blazing stars," written at a distance somewhat removed from their theological significance, and incorporating observations on the trajectory and physical demeanor of Halley’s Comet (the former recorded by Boston printer John Foster); allusions to the latest opinions on comets; and references to, among others, Kepler, Hevel, Tyco Brahe, and Robert Hooke. Mather intended his treatise for both the ordinary reader and the reader with some background in the complexities of contemporary astronomy. For the former he included accounts of previous appearances by comets, along with some discussion of the events they were said to presage. For the latter he recorded "some things of the nature, place; motion of Comets, which only such as have some skill in Astronomy can understand." Of this work Mather’s biographer, K.B. Murdock, states: "Both Halley and Newton completed their scientific pioneering in regard to comets, after 1680. In writing his Kometographia...Mather was a contemporary student of the same phenomena...his book quite defies the classification as one which ‘supports the theological cometary theory fully.’ Instead, his doctrine is most cautiously expressed...He accepts some of the newest scientific tenets, and his attempt to combine them with his religious views results in a position held by others for a century after him, and not wholly abandoned today...in the matter of comets, Mather was in the front rank of his time." One of the most celebrated 17th-century American imprints. Murdock, Increase Mather, pp.145-47. HOLMES, INCREASE MATHER 67A, 62B1. CHURCH 682. EVANS 352. SABIN 46696. $20,000. The Foundation of Organized Governance 125. [Mather, Richard, et al]: A PLATFORM OF CHURCH-DISCIPLINE, GATHERED OUT OF THE WORD OF GOD, AND AGREED UPON BY THE ELDERS AND MESSENGERS OF THE CHURCHES ASSEMBLED IN THE SYNOD AT CAMBRIDGE IN N.E..... Boston: Printed by J. Allen for N. Boone, 1717. xvi, 40,[8]pp. Contemporary plain wrappers, stitched. Extensive 18th-century ink inscriptions on front cover, endpapers, and in text margins. Edges worn and lightly chipped, affecting some inscribed content but not printed text. Dampstain in lower quarter of terminal twelve leaves, light soiling and foxing throughout. A good copy. In a half morocco box. A very early edition of the foundation document of New England Congregationalism. Generally known as the "Cambridge Platform," A Platform of Church-Discipline... was drawn up in 1648, principally by Richard Mather, and first published in Cambridge, Massachusetts the following year. That was followed by editions in 1671 and 1701 before the present edition was published. Both of these editions are even rarer than the first, and this is effectively the earliest obtainable edition. Streeter, describing the first edition, calls this a work "of the greatest American significance, maintaining as it did the principles of self-government and independence that deeply influenced the origins of the American political system." Thomas Holmes, bibliographer of the Mathers, calls it "the platform upon which the structure of New England Congregationalism was built, rebuilt, tenemented, and redecorated." The compilers of the Grolier Hundred call it "the culmination of the Puritan theory of the Union of Church and State." The present copy is extensively inscribed by an 18th-century owner, E[?] Williams, who notes its purchase from Sophia on Nov. 13, 1753. The manuscript material includes verses of hymns, an obituary extract, and commentary on early American religious figures, filling the entirety of seven blank pages and the margins of several others. The earliest obtainable edition of one of the most important texts in American history. EVANS 1869. HOLMES, MINOR MATHERS 51-K. SABIN 63337. NAIP w035672. GROLIER AMERICAN 100, 3 (ref). STREETER, AMERICANA BEGINNINGS 13 (ref). $6000. With the Portrait of Increase Mather 126. [Mather, Samuel]: MEMOIRS OF THE LIFE OF THE LATE REVEREND INCREASE MATHER, D.D. WHO DIED AUGUST 23, 1723. WITH A PREFACE BY THE REVEREND EDMUND CALAMY, D.D. London: Printed for John Clark and Richard Hett, 1725. [8],88pp. plus engraved frontispiece portrait of Increase Mather. Later polished calf, leather label. Minor foxing and toning. Very good. Prepared by Samuel Mather, the son of Increase, this London edition is a revised and edited version of his brother Cotton’s Parentator..., issued in Boston in 1724. It seems to be much rarer than the American edition, and far more desirable as it contains an excellent portrait of Mather. The final three pages include a list of Increase Mather’s writings. The editor notes that "instead of entertaining the reader with extracts of the funeral discourses made on the occasion of his death, or with a description of the place where he was buried, I shall exhibit a catalogue of his books." SABIN 46406. BRINLEY SALE 1057. HOLMES, MINOR MATHERS 111. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 725/138. $3500. "...an universal alarm against the authority 127. Mayhew, Jonathan: A DEFENCE OF THE OBSERVATIONS ON THE CHARTER AND CONDUCT OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE PROPAGATION OF THE GOSPEL IN FOREIGN PARTS, AGAINST AN ANONYMOUS PAMPHLET FALSLY [sic] INTITLED, A CANDID EXAMINATION OF DR. MAYHEW’S OBSERVATIONS, &c. AND ALSO AGAINST THE LETTER TO A FRIEND ANNEXED THERETO, SAID TO CONTAIN A SHORT VINDICATION OF SAID SOCIETY. BY ONE OF ITS MEMBERS. BY JONATHAN MAYHEW, D.D. PASTOR OF THE WEST CHURCH IN BOSTON. Boston. 1763. 144pp. Dbd. Near fine. In a half morocco and cloth box. This work recapitulates and extends Jonathan Mayhew’s 1763 argument with the Church of England’s Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. John Adams later wrote the following about Mayhew and the controversy: "To draw the character of Mayhew, would be to transcribe a dozen volumes. This transcendent genius threw all the weight of his great fame into the scale of his country in 1761, and maintained it there with zeal and ardor till his death, in 1766. In 1763 appeared the controversy between him and Mr. Apthorp, Mr. Caner, Dr. Johnson, and Archbishop Secker, on the charter and conduct of the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts...If any gentleman supposes this controversy to be nothing to the present purpose, he is grossly mistaken. It spread an universal alarm against the authority of Parliament. It excited a general and just apprehension, that bishops, and dioceses, and churches, and priests, and tithes, were to be imposed on us by Parliament. It was known that neither king, nor ministry, nor archbishops, could appoint bishops in America, without an act of Parliament; and if Parliament could tax us, they could establish the Church of England, with all its creeds, articles, tests, ceremonies, and tithes, and prohibit all other churches, as conventicles and schism shops." Rare; no copy appears in auction records since 1974. EVANS 9442. SABIN 47130. John Adams, "The Meaning of the American Revolution" in Niles’ Weekly Register, March 7, 1818. $2500. Washington’s Journal 128. [Moreau, Jacob N., comp]: A MEMORIAL CONTAINING A SUMMARY VIEW OF FACTS, WITH THEIR AUTHORITIES. IN ANSWER TO THE OBSERVATIONS SENT BY THE ENGLISH MINISTRY TO THE COURTS OF EUROPE. New York: Printed and Sold by Hugh Gaine, 1757. iv,190pp. Contemporary American binding of paneled calf, rebacked. Boards rubbed. A very good copy. This copy bears a contemporary ownership signature, dated 1757, on the titlepage reading: "Caleb Cushing’s book." It is possible that this was the grandfather of the diplomat and statesman, Caleb Cushing (1800-79). One of two 1757 American printings of Moreau’s Memoire..., originally published in French in 1756. The Hugh Gaine edition is actually one of three imprints that appeared in the American colonies in 1757, two in New York and one in Philadelphia. The two New York printings (the other was issued by Parker & Weyman) contain the same pagination, implying that the two share the same printing of the text, with different titlepages. Neither Evans nor anyone else has ascribed priority to any of these first American printings. All are very rare. The text contains the first American printing of George Washington’s journal of his first, disastrous military expedition to confront the French on the Ohio in 1753-54. Upon their victory over Washington’s troops at Fort Necessity, the French seized Washington’s journal of the expedition, Braddock’s instructions to Washington, and the former’s letters to the British Ministry. These papers were sent to France without delay. They were printed and sent to every court in Europe, offering evidence to support the French claim that Washington was on a deliberately provocative mission. Also included are a number of papers relating to the mounting Anglo-French tension in North America in the decade following the peace settlement of 1745 which led to the confrontation in the Ohio country. The memoir also contains a survey of the alleged French rights to the region west of the Alleghenies. Washington is severely criticized for his conduct, especially in causing the death of the French commander, Jumonville. The work is an essential one for understanding the causes of the French and Indian War. Streeter quotes Lawrence Wroth, in his JCB Library Report of 1945-46, as calling this memoir "One of the most important documents in American colonial history." The Brinley copy of this printing brought $20, a goodly sum in 1878. SABIN 47512. HOWES M787, "b." EVANS 7896. NAIP w038531. WROTH AMERICAN BOOKSHELF, pp.22, 40 (refs). BRINLEY SALE 242 ("rare"). $10,000. 129. Morgan, John: A DISCOURSE UPON THE INSTITUTION OF MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN AMERICA, DELIVERED AT A PUBLIC ANNIVERSARY COMMENCEMENT, HELD IN THE COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA MAY 30 AND 31, 1765. WITH A PREFACE CONTAINING, AMONGST OTHER THINGS, THE AUTHOR’S APOLOGY FOR ATTEMPTING TO INTRODUCE THE REGULAR MODE OF PRACTICING PHYSIC IN PHILADELPHIA. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1765. vii,[1],xxvi,[2], 63pp. 12mo. 20th-century three-quarter morocco over boards, spine gilt. Spine and covers soiled, slightly worn. Titlepage and last printed page laid down on paper. Titlepage soiled and chipped (affecting a few letters in imprint). Worming in top and bottom margins throughout volume (no loss of text). Light browning. A good copy. First edition of the first book published in the North American British colonies on medical education. Morgan served in the French and Indian War, but received his formal medical training in Edinburgh. Upon his return to America in 1765, he proposed a system for medical education in America with this address and founded the first medical school in America at the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania Medical School). "At the College’s annual commencement the same year, he delivered the present Discourse, an elaborate exposition on the nature and scope of medical science, its conditions in America, obstacles to medical study and reasons for the establishment of medical schools. He argued the need for separating the functions of physician, apothecary, and surgeon, and declared his intention to limit himself to the practice of internal medicine solely by prescription. These were advanced ideas which at first met with much opposition, as his opponents claimed that they were not applicable to conditions in the colonies" – Norman. A good copy of an important work in the history of medicine in the colonies. SABIN 50650. EVANS 10082. NAIP w030863. HILDEBURN 2147. AUSTIN, EARLY AMERICAN MEDICAL IMPRINTS 1335. GUERRA a-367. NORMAN 1549. $7500. The Aftermath of the Zenger Trial 130. [Morris, Lewis]: THE CASE OF LEWIS MORRIS, ESQ; LATE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW YORK, WHO WAS REMOVED FROM THE SAID OFFICE BY HIS EXCELLENCY WILLIAM COSBY, ESQ; GOVERNOR OF THE SAID PROVINCE. TO BE HEARD BEFORE THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LORDS OF THE COMMITTEE OF HIS MAJESTY’S MOST HONOURABLE PRIVY COUNCIL, FOR PLANTATION AFFAIRS [caption title]. [London. 1735]. 8pp. Folio. Marginal loss, affecting a few words of text, expertly filled in with japan tissue. Printed docket title, unaccomplished with spaces left blank for date of hearing, on p.8: "Lewis Morris, Esq; Late Chief Justice of the Province of New York, Petitioner. William Cosby, Esq; Governor, Respondent. The Petitioner’s Case. To be heard before the Right Honourable Lords of the Committee of his Majesty’s most Honourable Privy Council, at the Cockpit at Whitehall, on [ ] the [ ] Day of 1735. An extremely rare printed summary of the case of Lewis Morris, former chief justice of New York and later governor of New Jersey, against William Cosby, colonial governor of New York and New Jersey. The document was presented at a hearing of the case before the Privy Council in London, and undoubtedly a very small number of copies were produced, primarily for council members judging the case. The suit between Morris and Cosby immediately followed Morris’ efforts to attack Cosby in the New York press, and the trial of Peter Zenger, Morris’ paid journalist, for libel. Morris was the owner of significant land holdings in New York and New Jersey from the late 17th century, and grew to be one of the richest and most powerful men in the American colonies. By 1715, Morris had been appointed chief justice of the supreme court of New York. He also served on the governor’s council for New Jersey. But in the 1730s he fell out with the new royal governor. "With the administration of Gov. William Cosby, [Morris] found himself once more at odds with the representative of the Crown. When Cosby sought to establish a court of chancery to hear his suit against Rip Van Dam, chief-justice Morris pronounced the whole proceeding illegal, whereupon the governor removed him and appointed James De Lancy in his place. Morris was elected to the assembly from the town of Eastchester, and joined James Alexander and William Smith in championing the popular cause against the ‘court party’ led by Cosby and De Lancy" – DAB. Alexander, Smith, and Morris resorted to public opinion, hiring printer and journalist John Peter Zenger and establishing the New-York Weekly Journal, primarily to attack Cosby. The Governor responded by submitting his famous libel suit against the newspaperman. Zenger was acquitted, the first major victory for the freedom of the press in the British colonies, but this particular mode of attack by Morris was effectively silenced. Frustrated in New York, in 1734 Morris presented the Eastchester assembly’s grievances in London in this suit, where he failed to secure the removal of Gov. Cosby, but won vindication of his own conduct as justice. The present legal brief, distributed at the time of the hearing, clearly and concisely lays out the arguments of Morris and his lawyers, providing justifications for Morris’ actions and support for his case to be reinstated. "It is therefore humbly prayed, that the said Mr. Cosby’s reasons may be disallowed as insufficient, and that Mr. Morris may be restored to the office of Chief Justice, from which he was so unduly removed, and to the salary and profits thereof, from the time of his removal, and that judges in the Plantations may be declared, tho’ removable at the pleasure of the Crown, yet not so at the pleasure of a governor, than which nothing can more contribute to make them dependent." Although Morris was officially vindicated, this suit was no more successful than Zenger’s journalism in winning his fight against Cosby. However, the Privy Council did appoint Morris governor of New Jersey. An extremely rare printed legal brief concerned with administrative decisions and political maneuvering in the British colonies. OCLC and RLIN both record two copies at NYPL, both of which are imperfect. ESTC cites two copies at University of Kansas, one cropped and mutilated. Sabin also notes a copy at the New York State Library, evidently later lost in the 1908 fire there. This document has an immediate bearing on the story of the Zenger trial, which can be seen in this context as less a story about freedom of the press than about Lewis Morris’ political ambitions. SABIN 50847. ESTC N54795. OCLC 41994109. DAB XIII, pp.213-14 (Morris); IV, pp.459-60 (Cosby); XX, pp.648-49 (Zenger). $6750. 131. Mortier, Pierre: CARTE PARTICULIERE DE LA CAROLINE DRESSÉE SU LES MEMORIES LE PLUS NOUVEAUX PAR LE SIEUR S***. Amsterdam: P. Mortier. [1700]. Copper-engraved map, with original outline color. Sheet size: 19 1/3 x 24 1/3 inches. Very good. This is the first map of South Carolina to be printed outside of England, and was included as part of Pierre Mortier’s Suite de Neptune François, published in Amsterdam in 1700, and often incorrectly attributed to Nicolas Sanson. The map, here in the first state, embraces most of South Carolina from the Santee River in the north, to the South Edisto river in the south. It is directly derived from the extremely rare A New Map [of] South Carolina of 1695 by John Thornton and Robert Morden. All topographical details are identical to those of its antecedent; however, most of the place names have been Gallicized. Importantly, however, Mortier labeled over 250 plantations with their proprietor’s names, far more than any previous map. The street grid of Charleston is outlined, and the network of roads connecting the various settlements is delineated. "Carolina was established in 1663 when Charles II granted the province to eight favorites, known as the Lord Proprietors, who had helped him regain the throne of England. The original grant included the territory between the 31st degree to 36½° north latitude, from Jekyll Island, Georgia, to Curritiuck Inlet, North Carolina. Two years later, the tract was enlarged to include the land between the 29th and the 31st degree north latitude, thus adding a large portion of Florida. The grant extended west to the Pacific Ocean" – Degrees of Latitude. Carolina was divided in to two separate colonies in 1712, and South Carolina received its royal charter in 1729. BURDEN, THE MAPPING OF NORTH AMERICA II:768. CUMMING, THE SOUTHEAST IN EARLY MAPS 121. KOEMAN, ATLANTES NEERLANDICI IV, M. Mor 7-34. DEGREES OF LATITUDE, p.93. $9500. Origins of New World Animals 132. [Myl, Abraham van der]: DE ORIGINE ANIMALIUM ET MIGRATIONE POPULORUM...UBI INQUIRITUR, QUOMODO QUAQUE VIA HOMINES CAETERAQUE ANIMALIA TERRESTRIA PROVENERINT; & POST DELUVIUM IN OMNES ORBIS TERRARUM PARTES & REGIONES: ASIAM, EUROPAM, AFRICAM, UTRAMQUE AMERICAM, & TERRAM AUSTRALEM, SIVE MAGELLANICAM, PERVENERINT. Geneva: Petrum Columesium, 1667. 68pp. [bound with:] [Kirchmayer, Georg Kaspar]: DE DIVVII UNIVERSALITATE DISSERTATIO PROLUSORIA. Geneva: Petrum Columesium, 1667. [5],109pp. 12mo. Contemporary calf, spine richly gilt. Chipped at spine ends, boards a bit rubbed. Light tanning, scattered foxing. Very good. Abraham van der Myl (1563-1637) was a noted Dutch naturalist with a keen interest in New World animal species. Once reliable information and images about the animals of South America began to reach Europe, scientists ventured to explain why New World animals from the southern latitudes did not resemble animals from similarly situated areas in the Old World. Myl (also known as "Milius") argues here that since there were scores of species in America that did not exist elsewhere, they must have been placed there by a Divine plan. He presents an interesting theory mixing science and religion, drawing upon quotes and examples from both disciplines. "In this work, which first appeared in Geneva in 1667, the Dutch clergyman and scholar, Abraham Myl, represents the viewpoint that America was not settled before the flood, but was inhabited afterwards by Noah’s descendants" – Wolfenbuttel. "Includes a curious dissertation on the origin of the American race" – Sabin. It is not uncommon to find these two scarce works bound together, and it is quite likely that they were issued together. Kirchmayer’s work is also a mixture of cosmography and religion, with much on the Biblical flood. De origine...: SABIN 48982. WOLFENBUTTEL LIBRARY, THE NEW WORLD IN THE TREASURES OF AN OLD WORLD LIBRARY (1976) 53 (later ed). EUROPEAN AMERICANA 667/100. PALAU 169293. JCB (3)III, pp.161-62. OCLC 28780549, 14296973, 53418799. De divvii...: OCLC 28780549. $2750. Important Account of South Carolina 133. [Nairne, Thomas (attrib)]: A LETTER FROM SOUTH CAROLINA; GIVING AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOIL, AIR, PRODUCT, TRADE, GOVERNMENT, LAWS, RELIGION, PEOPLE, MILITARY STRENGTH, &c OF THAT PROVINCE; TOGETHER WITH THE MANNER AND NECESSARY CHARGES OF SETTLING A PLANTATION THERE, AND THE ANNUAL PROFIT IT WILL PRODUCE...The Second [sic] Edition. London: Printed for J. Clarke, 1732. 63,[1]pp. Modern paneled speckled calf, maroon gilt morocco label. Faint foxing, else internally clean. Very good. With the bookplates of Charles Littell, the John Carter Brown Library (with a deaccession note written by Lawrence Wroth), and Thomas W. Streeter on the front pastedown. Styled the "Second Edition" on the titlepage, but this is in fact the third edition, after those of 1710 and 1718. The attribution of authorship has frequently been debated. Others have suggested that the author was Jean Pierre Purry, though it is more likely that he was the recipient of the letter. Nairne, one of the great figures in the early history of South Carolina, was appointed "Agent and Itinerary Justice Among the Indians" in 1707. This work presents "an unusually fine account of the fur trade, Indian relations, and the activities of the French west of the mountains. As to accuracy of observations, style, organization and presentation, it is one of the finest accounts of colonial South Carolina. Nairne...had advocated the planning of a Swiss colony west of the Savannah, but he was never able to accomplish this objective, since the Yamassees burned him at the stake in 1715" (Clark). This edition of Nairne was not in the Streeter sale itself (as were the first edition of 1710 and the second of 1718), and so was one of the items divided between the firms of Edward Eberstadt and Goodspeed’s after the material for the sale had been selected. At that time it was in the binding in which the JCB had put it around the turn of the century. It was deaccessioned by them in 1938 to Littell, and bought by Streeter at the Littell sale in 1945 via Lathrop Harper (for $85). SABIN 87861. HOWES N5, "b." CLARK I:128. STREETER SALE 1115 (ref). $6500. 134. Neal, Daniel: THE HISTORY OF NEW-ENGLAND CONTAINING AN IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF THE CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL AFFAIRS OF THE COUNTRY TO...1700. TO WHICH IS ADDED THE PRESENT STATE OF NEW-ENGLAND. WITH A NEW AND ACCURATE MAP OF THE COUNTRY. AND AN APPENDIX CONTAINING THEIR PRESENT CHARTER, THEIR ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE, AND THEIR MUNICIPAL-LAWS. London: Printed for J. Clark, R. Ford, and R. Cruttenden, 1720. Two volumes. [2],vi,x,[2],330; [4], 331-712,xv,[1]pp. plus folding map and including publisher’s advertisements on final printed page. Titlepages printed in red and black. Antique-style paneled calf, gilt morocco labels. Lightly age-toned, an occasional fox mark. A very good set, in a handsome binding. In a half calf and cloth slipcase. Larned has high praise for this book: "[Neal’s] work was superior to anything of the kind that preceded it...his attitude is that of one who wishes to remain impartial. He deals chiefly with political, religious, and military questions, but has an interesting chapter, largely condensed from Josselyn, describing the state of New England; and he has paid some attention to legislative history...His style is often sprightly and he displays a sense of humor. For some aspects of the revolution of 1688-1689 his work is still useful." Contains a few Indian words and sentences, with English translations. The map is an excellent depiction of New England from Long Island north. HOWES N26, "aa." PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 2726. LARNED 992. SABIN 52140. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 720/178. $3000. 135. [New York]: AN ORDINANCE FOR REGULATING & ESTABLISHING FEES. BY HIS EXCELLENCY ROBERT HUNTER, ESQ....IN COUNCIL THIS 19th DAY OF OCTOBER...ANNOQ; DOMINI, 1710 [caption title]. [New York: Printed by William Bradford, 1710]. 20pp. Folio. Dbd. Light scattered foxing. Very good. This list is expanded from an earlier version of the same year, giving Gov. Robert Hunter’s comprehensive table of administrative fees for the various offices and courts of New York and New Jersey, printed by William Bradford, the "pioneering printer of the English middle colonies" and first printer of New York. This early edition of Hunter’s ordinance was published at the beginning of his remarkably popular governorship of New York, an office he held until 1719. Later editions of the ordinance were published with the LAWS... of New York in 1713 and 1719; the present edition was reprinted separately in 1716 (Evans 1848) but signed, "Ro. Hunter," at the end instead of "R. Hunter," as it is here. NAIP records seven copies, OCLC none. Scarce. EVANS 1482. NAIP w011521. $2000. The Earliest Available Laws of New York 136. [New York]: THE LAWS, OF HER MAJESTIES COLONY OF NEW-YORK, AS THEY WERE ENACTED THE GOVERNOUR, COUNCIL AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY, FOR THE TIME BEING, IN DIVERS SESSIONS, THE FIRST OF WHICH BEGAN APRIL THE 9th, ANNOQ; DOM. 1691. [bound with:] A JOURNAL OF THE VOTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF HER MAJESTIES COLONY OF NEW-YORK IN AMERICA. BEGINNING THE 20th DAY OF OCTOBER, 1702.... [bound with:] PORT OF [blank] KNOW YE, THAT [blank] MASTER OR COMMANDER.... New York: Printed by William Bradford, 1713-[1715], [1708], and [1702-1714]. Three leaves of ephemera and two volumes bound in one. [6]; [4],88,113-114,155-163,[170]-238; 78pp. Small folio. Expertly rebound in antique-style calf. Blank forms "completed" in pencil in 19th-century children’s hands. Later 18th-century and possibly 19th-century ownership inscriptions of the Davis family on front pastedown in purple and blank ink. Some purple ink staining on recto of first blank form. Chipping to edges of first several leaves; mild foxing, soiling, and marginal dampstaining throughout. Very good. A bound collection of three very rare early New York imprints, all apparently from the press of William Bradford, the "pioneering printer of the English middle colonies" (DAB) and first printer of New York. Bradford (1663-1752) originally settled in Pennsylvania, where he began operating a printing press in 1685 and a bookstore in 1688. Various controversies led to significant legal hassles there, including the temporary seizure of his types and paper in 1692, and in 1693 he answered a call to come to New York and print the acts of assembly and other official papers for the colonial council. The present documents are among these earliest of official New York imprints. A Journal of the Votes of the General Assembly... was a project Bradford began in 1695 as Votes of the House of Representatives, the first issues of which are the earliest legislative proceedings to be published in America. The present issue follows the legislature from 1702 through 1708. NAIP and OCLC record a total of six copies, at the New York Historical Society, New York State Library, Columbia, Harvard, Yale, and the Library of Congress (the New York Public Library copy is recorded by Evans as incomplete at 7pp.). The present example of The Laws... is third collection of New York laws, after the first of 1694 and 1710, and covers legislation passed from 1691 to 1713. Laws here include acts "for quieting and settling the Disorders that have lately happened within this Province" (1691) "for restraining and punishing Privateers and Pyrates" (1693 and 1698), and "against Jesuites and Popish Priests" (1700), as well as numerous acts "for Regulating Slaves" and one for "Baptizing them" (1706). The index reflects the odd pagination in the volume, which skips from page 88 to page 155 (in this volume a leaf paginated 113/114, not mentioned in the index, is also included). Evans 1636-8, 1706, and 1770 indicate that after p.182, further annual session laws were issued in 1714 and 1715. Only two similar – but neither identical – copies of Laws... are located by OCLC, at Yale Law School and Columbia Law School. OCLC and NAIP both also list a similar volume at The New York Public Library including session laws issued through 1716. In addition to the legal compendiums above, this volume contains three copies of an extremely rare early 18th-century printed blank form for sea vessels, likely printed by Bradford. The completed form would certify that the holder had cleared customs for a journey, recording the name of his vessel and its tonnage, arms, crew, origin, and itinerary. The only recorded copies of this imprint were found as endpapers in a volume owned by Michael Zinman and now held by the Library Company of Philadelphia. Like ours, the Zinman copies were used as endpapers for in a volume of early New York laws in a Bradford binding, making it clear that they were products of his press. A remarkable collection of early New York colonial laws and early New York imprints, issued by William Bradford, who, by "great Charge and Trouble...brought the great Art and Mystery of Printing into this part of America" (Bradford, Kalendarium Pennsilvaniense, 1685). EVANS 1636, 1637, 1638, 1706, 1770, 1368. NAIP w016212 (variant), w011516, mzrecordcopy154. DAB II, pp.563-64. William S. Reese, "Works of George Keith Printed in America" in The Princeton University Library Chronicle Vol. XXXIX, No. 2 (Princeton, 1978), pp.98-124. $37,500. Fighting Over the Taxes in New York, 1713 137. [New York]: TO ALL WHOM THESE PRESENTS MAY CONCERN. HAD I NOT BEEN AN EYE AND EAR WITNESS OF THE LATE RASH MEASURES IN THIS PROVINCE, I COULD NOT HAVE BELIEV’D THAT AN INFANT COLONY OF ENGLAND, AS YET SUCKING HER BREASTS, COULD THUS HAVE FLOWN IN HER FACE...[caption title and opening lines of text]. New York: Printed and sold by William Bradford, 1713 [imprint from colophon]. 7pp. Folio. Dbd. Light scattered foxing. Very good. A rare colonial New York pamphlet defending Royal governor Robert Hunter against the New York Assembly in the revenue controversy of the early years of his administration. When Hunter first took the reins as governor of New York and New Jersey in 1710, the New York General Assembly declared that he, and by extension the Crown, were not constitutionally permitted to levy taxes on the colonists for operation of the colonial government without approval by the legislature. The anonymous author of the present pamphlet is aghast at the impertinence of the Assembly and imagines the reasoning of its members must be affected by the "All-Powerful Force of madera and cordial": "I’ll be bold to affirm, and make it good, That Wine and Brandy are Sold Dearer at a certain House...than at any Tavern in the Province" (p.5). The Assembly’s constitutional claims were eventually borne out, but Hunter’s tact and thoughtful leadership prevented the crisis from becoming a catastrophe. The DAB notes that by the end of his term as governor, Hunter "had made himself popular, a rare achievement in the New World, where royal officials were viewed with suspicion and distrust." The pamphlet exists in two variants: one, recorded by Evans, has eight printed pages; the other, recorded by Bristol and Shipton and Mooney, and of which the present copy is an example, has seven. Neither has been assigned priority, but it appears that the seven-page edition is the rarer of the two, with the North American Imprints Project and OCLC locating four copies, at the London Public Records Office, the New-York Historical Society, Princeton, and the Library of Congress (twelve copies of the eight-page variant have been located). A rare and desirable document, produced and sold by New York’s first printer, William Bradford. BRISTOL B438. SHIPTON & MOONEY 39580. EVANS 1641 (variant). NAIP w016123. DAB IX, pp.401-2. $6000. A Remarkable Collection 138. [New York]: [Bradstreet, Martha]: [LARGE COLLECTION OF MANUSCRIPT MAPS, SURVEYS, PATENTS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS RELATING TO LANDS IN DELAWARE COUNTY, NEW YORK, FROM THE ARCHIVE OF MARTHA BRADSTREET]. [Delaware County, N.Y. 1786-1848]. Various pieces, as detailed below. The collection as a whole is in very good condition. An extensive archive of maps, surveys, and patents relating to land between the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers in present-day Delaware County, New York. The archive traces the history and division of the land, from the initial allotment of patents to three major families (Evans, Livius, and Bradstreet), and through the surveying, selling, resurveying, and reselling of the land over subsequent generations. The collection was assembled by Martha Bradstreet (1780-1871), the step-granddaughter of colonial general John Bradstreet, who had obtained large grants of land in upstate New York in the 1750s and ’60s. Throughout much of her life Martha Bradstreet labored to reclaim lands, mostly around Utica, that she maintained were part of her rightful inheritance. She was hindered in this by the uncertainty of colonial surveys and by the many squatters who had settled on the land before she reasserted family claims in the early 19th century. A formidable litigator, she spent decades trying to gain control of Bradstreet grants. The present archive of items, relating to Delaware County lands in southern New York, was assembled by her as part of her assiduous pursuit. Overall, a wonderful archive illustrating the complications of colonial, Federal, and later land issues in New York, with an important series of maps and surveys. A detailed list of the archive contents is available on request. $25,000. 139. [New York Laws]: LAWS OF NEW-YORK, FROM THE YEAR 1691, TO 1751, INCLUSIVE, PUBLISHED ACCORDING TO AN ACT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. New York: James Parker, 1752. [4],iii,488pp. Large folio. Antique-style calf, leather label. Contemporary ink signature on titlepage, moderate age-toning, light occasional foxing, else very good. This compilation, prepared by William Smith (author of the History of New York) and William Livingston, was "the first digest of the colonial statutes in force at that time," according to the DAB. An important and handsomely produced volume. BENEDICT 345. TOWER 624. EVANS 6897. $3250. Paying for the Minister of Trinity Church 140. [New York – Trinity Church]: ANNO REGNI SECUNDO ANNAE REGINAE. AN ACT FOR THE BETTER ESTABLISHMENT OF THE MAINTENANCE FOR THE MINISTER OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK [caption title]. [New York: Printed by William Bradford, 1703]. 6pp. Folio. Gathered signatures, stitched, removed from larger volume. Minor chipping at edges; marginal dampstaining, affecting a few words of text; else very good. An early New York legal imprint publishing two laws pertaining to the building and operation of Trinity Church. "An Act for the better Establishment..." provides, among other things, a larger fund from the Crown to compensate the rector of Trinity Church, William Vesey, so that the voluntary fund may be directed back toward its original goal of raising money for the erection of a steeple. The second act (pp.3-6), "granting sundry privileges and powers to the Rector and Inhabitants of the City of New-York," establishes the legal status and powers, land rights, and administration of Trinity Church as an official organ of the Church of England. Among the earliest official documents relating to one of New York’s oldest congregations, printed by William Bradford, the "pioneering printer of the English middle colonies" and first printer of New York. Two copies located, at the New-York Historical Society and Columbia Law School. Rare. BRISTOL B282 (with [1705?] suggested printing date and pp.2-3 misnumbered "222-223"). SHIPTON & MOONEY 39431. NAIP w016204. $3250. Early English History of Nova Scotia 141. [Nova Scotia]: A GEOGRAPHICAL HISTORY OF NOVA SCOTIA. CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE SITUATION, EXTENT AND LIMITS THEREOF. AS ALSO OF THE VARIOUS STRUGGLES BETWEEN THE TWO CROWNS OF ENGLAND AND FRANCE FOR THE POSSESSION OF THAT PROVINCE. WHEREIN IS SHEWN, THE IMPORTANCE OF IT, AS WELL WITH REGARD TO OUR TRADE, AS TO THE SECURING OF OUR OTHER SETTLEMENTS IN NORTH AMERICA. TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN ACCURATE DESCRIPTION OF THE BAYS, HARBOURS, LAKES, AND RIVERS...TOGETHER WITH THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE INDIAN INHABITANTS. London: Printed for Paul Vaillant, 1749. [5]-110,[1]pp. including errata. Antique-style three-quarter calf and marbled boards, leather label. Internally clean and crisp. A fine copy. An informative early account of Nova Scotia, and one of the first published works describing the rival claims of the French and the British to the region. "Preface states the work to be written for prospective settlers, and based on the Author’s own observations and on Charlevoix" – TPL. This pamphlet stresses the importance of the area to British trade and the security of the other North American colonies. In 1748, British commissioners were appointed to resolve the dispute with the French. Includes descriptions of the Indians inhabiting the region, accounts of missionaries sent to administer to them, and notes on French relations with Native Americans in Nova Scotia. Apparently quite rare, this work is not listed in Lande or Lande supplement. The present copy is complete as issued and agrees with the copy in TPL. SABIN 56135. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 749/112. FIELD 1144. TPL 210. $2750. The Very Beginning 142. Otis, James: A VINDICATION OF THE CONDUCT OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PROVINCE OF THE MASSACHUSETTS-BAY: MORE PARTICULARLY, IN THE LAST SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY. Boston: Printed by Edes & Gill, 1762. 53pp. Antique-style calf and marbled boards. Titlepage age-toned. Some light soiling or foxing. Overall very good. In a half calf and cloth clamshell box. Otis’ first political pamphlet, concerning writs allowing unreasonable searches and seizures by customs authorities of property belonging to Boston merchants. At issue were the Writs of Assistance issued by Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, which served as general search warrants. Designed to attack smuggling, Otis attacked the writs as trampling on the rights of citizens and antithetical to the English Constitution. This was an important first argument on what became a leading issue of the pre-Revolutionary era, and established Otis as one of the leading political thinkers in the American colonies. Like others before and after him, Otis focused on the funding of the unpopular measure, claiming it needed authorization from the Legislature. "This defense of the legislative body...was the source of all subsequent colonial argument in the controversy with England" – Howes. HOWES O149. STREETER SALE 734. EVANS 9225. SABIN 57869. $9500. |
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