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Catalogue 261 Early & Exotic Imprints |
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Section I: Massachusetts to Rhode Island |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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Part I. United States & Canada >> Massachusetts New England’s First Principles 1. 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. Boston Clergy Tries 2. Hubbard, William: THE HAPPINESS OF A PEOPLE IN THE WISDOME OF THEIR RULERS DIRECTING AND IN THE OBEDIENCE OF THEIR BRETHREN ATTENDING UNTO WHAT ISRAEL OUGHT TO DO: RECOMMENDED IN A SERMON.... Boston: Printed by John Foster, 1676. [8],63pp. Small quarto. 19th-century speckled calf, ruled in gilt, spine gilt, gilt morocco label, gilt inner dentelles. Two small closed tears in foredge of titlepage, with no loss. Scattered foxing. Very good. A rare and early American election day sermon, published in the second year of printing in Boston. In this sermon, delivered on May 3, 1676 and dedicated to John Leveret, governor of the colony of Massachusetts, William Hubbard, the minister of Ipswich, urges those eligible to vote to exercise their rights and cast ballots for their rulers. Hubbard supports his exhortation with biblical and historical precedents. He says that "you are now called to the exercise of your civil liberty (wherein much of your other libertys are bound up)," and urges "the regular, conscientious proceeding in this business of Election," by which the people "have the liberty to choose their own rulers." With much of New England being engaged in wars with the local Pequot Indians, Hubbard spends quite a bit of time offering council on the proper way to prepare for and undertake conflict: "war ought not to be made without good advice." The sermon was delivered before the governor, council, and deputies of the Massachusetts colony. Hubbard is best remembered for his history of King Philip’s War, published in 1677. EVANS 214. NAIP w012661. SABIN 33444. $15,000. 3. Clough, Samuel: CLOUGH, 1707. KALENDARIUM NOV-ANGLICANUM, OR AN ALMANACK FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1707. AND FROM THE CREATION, 5656. BEING THIRD AFTER LEAR [i.e. LEAP]-YEAR. WHEREIN ARE CONTAINED...ALL THINGS NECESSARY FOR SUCH A WORK...CALCULATED FOR THE MERIDIAN OF BOSTON IN NEW-ENGLAND, LAT. 42.25. Boston: Printed by B. Green, for Benj. Eliot, and Nich. Boone, 1707 [i.e. 1706]. [24]pp. including an "advertisement by the author" on p.[3]. Dbd. Moderately age-toned. Edges worn with slight tears and chips. A few leaves torn with slight loss of text, some pages (including titlepage) repaired with modern tissue. A good copy. An early 18th-century New England almanac by Samuel Clough, who issued a series of annual almanacs published in Boston between 1700 and 1708. In addition to the calendar for 1707 and weather predictions, this Kalendarium Nov-Anglicanum includes "a brief account of the Christian era, demonstrating that the present year 1707, is in reality 1710, with the exact time of the birth of our blessed Saviour, from a learned author." The "advertisement by the author" is for Clough’s shop in Boston where "all sorts of money scales & weights, large and small, made & sold by the author" were available. DRAKE 2928. EVANS 1243. NAIP w125654. $2250. >> New York Very Early New York Imprint 4. [New York Customs]: PORT OF [blank] KNOW YE, THAT [blank] MASTER OR COMMANDER OF THE [blank] BURTHEN [blank] TONS OR THERE-ABOUTS, MOUNTED WITH [blank] GUNS, NAVIGATED WITH [blank] MEN, [blank] BUILT [blank] BOUND FOR [blank] HAVING ON BOARD [blank] HATH ENTER’D & CLEAR’D IN HER MAJESTYS CUSTOM-HOUSE AT [blank] ACCORDING TO LAW.... [New York: Printed by William Bradford, 1702-1714]. Broadside, 7¼ x 11½ inches. Edge-toned, lightly foxed. Very good. A very rare early 18th-century printed blank form for sea vessels, likely from the press of William Bradford, New York’s first printer. 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 (one free, one pastedown) in a volume owned by Michael Zinman and now held by the Library Company of Philadelphia. Both the Zinman and present copies were discovered bound with volumes of early New York laws in Bradford bindings, making it clear that they were products of his press. Further, the final printed lines date the document to the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14), during which time Bradford was the only printer in New York. NAIP mzrecordcopy154. $750. The First New York Liquor Licenses 5. [New York City Liquor License]: CITY OF NEW-YORK...[blank] ESQ; MAYOR OF THE CITY OF NEW-YORK. TO THE SHERIFF, CONSTABLES, AND OTHER HER MAJESTYS OFFICERS WITHIN THE SAID CITY, GREETING. KNOW YE, THAT I HAVE LICENSED...[blank] OF THE CITY AFORESAID, [blank] TO SELL WINE, BEER, BRANDY RUM, SYDER, OR ANY OTHER SORTS OF STRONG LIQUORS BY RETAIL.... [New York: Printed by William Bradford, 1702-1714]. Broadside, 7¼ x 11½ inches. Light foxing. Very good. An unrecorded printed blank form for a retail alcohol sales license in New York city, produced for the Mayor’s office during the first two decades of New York printing. The final lines of the form date the printing to the reign of Queen Anne (1702-14), during which time William Bradford was the only working printer in New York. William Bradford (1663-1752) was the "pioneering printer of the English middle colonies" (DAB) – the first in both Pennsylvania and New York. He 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 Bradford answered a call to come to New York and print the acts of assembly and other official papers for the colonial council. No records have been found locating an alcohol license form printed in New York earlier than the present document, making this the first known example of its kind. DAB II, pp.563-64. $850. Paying for the Minister of Trinity Church 6. [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 are 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. 7. Stevens, James Wilson: AN HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL ACCOUNT OF ALGIERS; CONTAINING A CIRCUMSTANTIAL AND INTERESTING DETAIL OF EVENTS RELATIVE TO THE AMERICAN CAPTIVES. Brooklyn: Thomas Kirk, 1800. 318,[6]pp. Modern half calf and cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Head of spine slightly gnawed. Scattered foxing. Good. Lacks the folding frontispiece. Second edition, after the first of 1797 printed in Philadelphia. Stevens’ work includes an account of the occupation of Algiers by the Spaniards; wars in the region; depredations committed by the Algerines against American commerce and the enslavement of American seamen; treaty negotiations between Algiers and other nations; as well as a description of the country. "One of the first books printed in Brooklyn" – Sabin. HOWES S966. SABIN 91535. DOGGETT, LONG ISLAND PRINTING 53. EVANS 38560. $600. 8. Woodward, Augustus B.: CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Flatbush, N.Y. 1809. 87pp. Original printed wrappers. Internally bright and clean, with wide margins. Old library stamp on titlepage. Contemporary manuscript caption title on front wrapper. Near fine. Woodward compiled the laws of the Territory of Michigan known as the "Woodward Code" during his tenure as one of three judges of the newly formed territory, a post to which he had been appointed by his good friend, Thomas Jefferson. In the present work he offers his thoughts regarding the role of the executive in American government and proposes the establishment of a department of domestic affairs. "His philosophical and political ideas were at times visionary" – DAB. This is one of the earliest Flatbush imprints. HOWES W657. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 19261. SABIN 105148. $1000. Very Rare First Edition 9. Seaver, James E.: A NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE OF MRS. MARY JEMISON, WHO WAS TAKEN BY THE INDIANS, IN THE YEAR 1755, AND HAS CONTINUED TO RESIDE AMONGST THEM TO THE PRESENT TIME.... Canandaigua: Printed for J.D. Bemis and Co., 1824. 189pp. 16mo. Later morocco. Outer hinges slightly rubbed. Tanned and quite heavily foxed. A good copy. In a half morocco box. The very rare first edition of "one of the most authentic and interesting of captivity narratives," according to Howes and Streeter. Jemison was captured by the Senecas in 1758 at the age of twelve, the rest of her family having been massacred. She was initially taken from near Fort Pitt to eastern Ohio, but after the French and Indian War the tribe moved north to western New York State. This volume includes long accounts of the Revolutionary War in upstate New York, as well as incidents of frontier fights throughout the War of 1812, and Mrs. Jemison’s life in the area around Buffalo from the Revolutionary period to 1823. Frederick Strecker, bibliographer of the Jemison narrative, notes that "considerable of the history of the settlers of western New York, has its source in the Jemison narrative." Jemison’s account was recorded by Dr. James Seaver when Jemison was seventy-seven, and Seaver transcribed and arranged for the publication of her memoirs. Jemison lived with the Senecas until her death at ninety, having married several times and having continued to live with the tribe even after the Revolution, when she was free to return to white society. HOWES S263. STREETER SALE 905. AYER 248. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 3541 (ref). HUBACH, pp.15-16. JONES 863. $3750. Printed at the Lithographic Press 10. [West Point Lithography]: [TEN LITHOGRAPHED MILITARY MANUALS, WITH SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL, PRINTED AT THE LITHOGRAPHIC PRESS AT THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY, BOUND TOGETHER FOR GEN. JOSEPH HOOKER WHILE A CADET AT WEST POINT]. West Point. [nd, ca. 1833-1837]. Various paginations. Folio. Contemporary three-quarter sheep and paper boards, gilt morocco label of "J. Hooker" on front board. Rubbed, scuffed, and edgeworn, chipped at spine ends. Ex-lib. with small bookplate on front pastedown. Pencil notes, likely in Hooker’s hand. Internally clean, tight, and very good. In a cloth case, leather label. A remarkable contemporary bound volume of ten military and technical manuals, with supplemental material, printed for use by the cadets at West Point at the school’s lithographic press. Although a few of these works turn up individually in library catalogues (most notably in the Catalogue of the United States Military Academy compiled in 1876, which lists some of the titles collectively and individually), most were issued in very limited numbers solely for the use of cadets at the Military Academy, and consequently all are very rare. The volume in hand thus presents a trove of specimens from one of the most interesting early American lithographic presses. Little is known about the school’s lithographic establishment, founded in 1831, but one can surmise that George Aspinwall, whose name appears as lithographer on the final two works in this collection, was hired to meet the school’s need for detailed, well illustrated instruction manuals. An article, "Tentative List of Textbooks Used in the United States Military Academy 1802-1902," published in the Centennial of the United States Military Academy...1802-1902 (GPO, 1904), includes only some of the titles present here, at times listing them under the famed military educator, Capt. D.H. Mahan, and sometimes with later dates of publication, indicating likelihood that these books were reprinted over the years. The technical subject matter covered in these books is fascinating, and illustrative of the increasingly professional nature of military training and of West Point. As Barton Hacker has noted: "Pursuing the art of war could now begin from a solid base, the underlying principles codified as military science to be taught in the classroom...." At West Point the 1830s brought a new era in the course of study, based on the experiences of Capt. Mahan in France, which gave rise to the courses of study exemplified in these manuals. Michael Twyman has detailed the operations of the British lithographic press at Chatham and the French military lithographers at Metz. The latter certainly served as the model for Mahan, who introduced similar practices to West Point. Besides their significance for military science, engineering, and architecture, these works are specimens of American lithography, produced at a relatively early date, with much skill and attention to detail. Although all quite rare, they were plainly works of great influence, since they would have been studied by all West Point graduates of the era, many of them men who shaped American history over the coming decades. This volume was owned and compiled by Gen. Joseph Hooker, a skillful military commander and an ambitious officer, who graduated from West Point in 1837. It would seem that he had these manuals bound up while he was at West Point, or perhaps soon after his graduation, and thus preserved copies of the actual textbooks he used as a student. Upon graduation, Hooker served in Florida, the Northeast, and at West Point, until finding his first professional success during the Mexican War. In that conflict "he performed so superbly both as a staff and combat officer that he received three brevet promotions, the final one to lieutenant colonel. No other northern commander of the coming Civil War emerged from the Mexican conflict with a better record or higher reputation than Hooker" (ANB). In the 1840s he was transferred to Sonoma, California, but became disenchanted by military life and resigned in 1853, engaging in ranching and business, dabbling in politics, and incurring a large personal debt. In 1861 he applied to be reinstated to the army, and was appointed brigadier general by Lincoln. Hooker distinguished himself at several battles, including Seven Days, Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg, and he earned the sobriquet, "Fighting Joe Hooker." In January 1863, Lincoln elevated him to commander of the Army of the Potomac. Hooker resigned the commission in mid-1863 following a defeat at the hands of Lee and Jackson at Chancellorsville, but went on to distinguish himself in Tennessee and as a commander in William T. Sherman’s march through the South, despite the fact that he and Sherman largely detested each other. Though Hooker’s name has come down through history associated with excessive drink and licentiousness, the truth about the man is much more complex, and his accomplishments are significant. One scholar has offered this balanced assessment of Hooker’s military abilities: "First, he had few equals and perhaps no superior among Union generals as a commander of a corps or any force he could personally supervise and inspire. Second, he was deficient, as revealed at Chancellorsville, in those qualities of mind and temperament needed to lead a large army in a successful offensive campaign against a foe as redoubtable as Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia. But, then, the only northern general who ever did so was Grant, and it took him a year and 100,000 casualties to do it. Thus it is quite possible that if Hooker had gone against any Confederate army commander other than Lee, he would have garnered the glory he sought" (ANB). The works are as follow:
CATALOGUE OF THE LIBRARY OF THE UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY (Newburgh, 1876), passim. Generals in Blue, pp.233-35. ANB 11, pp.133-34. MICHAEL TWYMAN, EARLY LITHOGRAPHED BOOKS (London, 1990), especially pp.60-75, 318-27, "Military Manuals: the presses at Chatham and Metz." Hacker, "Engineering a New Order: Military Institutions, Technical Education, and the Rise of the Industrial State" in Technology and Culture 34(1), Jan. 1993. Ford, "Charles S. Storrow, Civil Engineer: A Case Study of European Training and Technological Transfer in the Antebellum Period" in Technology and Culture 34(2), April 1993. $22,500. 11. [Wright, Asher]: A SPELLING BOOK IN THE SENECA LANGUAGE: WITH ENGLISH DEFINITIONS. Buffalo-Creek Reservation, Mission Press. 1842. 112pp. Original unbound folded sheets. Very good and clean, entirely in original condition, uncut and untrimmed. In a half morocco and cloth case. Wright was a missionary printer among the Indians near the present site of Buffalo. The Indians were eventually moved south as the population pressure grew, and Wright moved with them. The introduction includes the following apology:
Productions from Wright’s mission press are very rare. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 4253. $3000. 12. [Seneca Hymn Book]: [Wright, Asher]: GAA NAH SHOH NE DE O WAAH SA O NYOH GWAH NA WEN NI YUH. HONONT GAHDEH HODI YADO NYOH. Do Syo Wa [Buffalo Creek Reservation]: Seneca Mission Press, 1843. 136pp. 16mo. Presentation binding of red straight-grained morocco, tooled in gilt, gilt name ("Phebe W. Ames") on front board, a.e.g. Some scattered foxing, but near fine. A scarce hymn book in the Seneca language, printed at the Mission Press on the Buffalo Creek Reservation in western New York. The hymns are prefaced by a brief essay on speaking and singing the Seneca language by Asher Wright, and the index to the hymns at the end is also written in English. Asher Wright, missionary to the Seneca tribe in western New York State, produced a variety of works in the Seneca language, all of which are rare. Not in Ayer, Indian Linguistics, who only mentions a later edition. Siebert, likewise, did not have a copy. The present volume is one of the earliest and most substantial works printed on the Seneca Mission Press. PILLING, PROOF-SHEETS 1347. PILLING, IROQUOIAN, p.176. SABIN 26277. $2500. One of the Rarest 13. Miller, Linus W.: NOTES OF AN EXILE TO VAN DIEMAN’S LAND: COMPRISING INCIDENTS OF THE CANADIAN REBELLION IN 1838, TRIAL OF THE AUTHOR IN CANADA...AND TRANSPORTATION TO VAN DIEMAN’S LAND.... Fredonia, N.Y. 1846. xi,[1],378pp. Original cloth. Head and toe of spine frayed, corners and outer hinges a bit worn. Scattered moderate to heavy foxing, a couple signatures starting. A good copy. Miller, an American citizen who participated in the Canadian rebellion of 1837-38, was transported to the penal colonies in Van Dieman’s Land and New South Wales. He was one of nine political exiles who published accounts of their experiences. His is a vivid first-hand narrative of the Rebellion, his trial, conviction, and transportation, life in the penal colony, and subsequent pardon and return home. This is one of the rarest of the Canadian exile narratives, of interest for both its Australian and North American connections. FERGUSON 4349. HOWES M613. SABIN 49037. COHEN 4305. LANDE 1980. TPL 2790. STORY, p.699. $1750. >> Connecticut 14. Eliot, Jared: THE TWO WITNESSES; OR, RELIGION SUPPORTED BY REASON AND DIVINE REVELATION. BEING THE SUBSTANCE OF A LECTURE-SERMON, PREACH’D AT THE NORTH-SOCIETY IN LYME, OCTOBER 29, 1735, BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION OF THE COUNTY OF NEW-LONDON; AND PUBLISHED AT THEIR DESIRE. New London: T. Green, 1736. [4],79pp. including half title. Later 19th-century three-quarter dyed sheep over marbled boards, spine gilt. Slight wear to outer joints and corners. Half title browned and soiled, titlepage moderately age-toned and soiled, slight age-toning elsewhere. Top edge of text closely trimmed, touching the top edges of some headlines. A very good copy. An early Jared Eliot publication, based on a sermon delivered in Lyme, Connecticut in 1735 and printed the following year in New London. Eliot graduated from Yale College in 1706 and was ordained as pastor of the Congregational Church in Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1709. He served in that position until his death in 1763. In addition to his religious role in the community, Eliot was actively involved in the natural sciences, medicine, and agriculture. "For more than forty years he never failed to preach at least once every Sunday, and was highly regarded in the colony as a minister and adviser in church matters. Without neglecting the duties of this office, he pursued his interest in natural science and achieved eminence in widely different fields...He bought considerable tracts of land, experimented wisely in their improvement, and embodied his results in an Essay on Field Husbandry in New England, published in six parts at intervals in the years from 1748 to 1759. These for a long time were the most widely read and prized agricultural essays in America. With President Ezra Stiles of Yale College, he introduced silk culture into the colony" – DAB. EVANS 4013. NAIP w029632. SABIN 22140. TRUMBULL 671. JOHNSON, NEW LONDON IMPRINTS 337. DAB VI, pp.78-79. ANB 7, pp.400-1. $750. 15. Eliot, Jared: GIVE CESAR HIS DUE. OR, THE OBLIGATION THAT SUBJECTS ARE UNDER TO THEIR CIVIL RULERS AS WAS SHEWED IN A SERMON PREACH’D BEFORE THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT AT HARTFORD, MAY THE 11th, 1738. THE DAY FOR THE ELECTION OF THE HONOURABLE THE GOVERNOUR, THE DEPUTY-GOVERNOUR, AND THE WORSHIPFUL ASSISTANTS. New London: T. Green, 1738. [2],44pp., lacking the half title. Early 20th-century cloth, spine gilt. Old ownership inscription on front free endpaper, dealer’s description tipped into front hinge. Titlepage soiled, portion of right margin repaired (no loss). Right margin of first leaf torn (with loss), text supplied in ink facsimile. Text age-toned, slightly dampstained. A good copy. An election sermon by Jared Eliot, based on a sermon delivered before the General Assembly of Connecticut on May 11, 1738, and published the same year in New London. Eliot graduated from Yale College in 1706 and was ordained as pastor of the Congregational Church in Killingworth (now Clinton) in 1709. He served in that position until his death in 1763. In addition to his religious role in the community, Eliot was actively involved in the natural sciences, medicine, and agriculture. "For more than forty years he never failed to preach at least once every Sunday, and was highly regarded in the colony as a minister and adviser in church matters. Without neglecting the duties of this office, he pursued his interest in natural science and achieved eminence in widely different fields...He bought considerable tracts of land, experimented wisely in their improvement, and embodied his results in an Essay on Field Husbandry in New England, published in six parts at intervals in the years from 1748 to 1759. These for a long time were the most widely read and prized agricultural essays in America. With President Ezra Stiles of Yale College, he introduced silk culture into the colony" – DAB. EVANS 4241. NAIP w01243. SABIN 22137. TRUMBULL 672. JOHNSON, NEW LONDON IMPRINTS 360. DAB VI, pp.78-79. ANB 7, pp.400-1. $500. 16. [Connecticut]: ACTS AND LAWS OF HIS MAJESTY’S ENGLISH COLONY OF CONNECTICUT IN NEW-ENGLAND IN AMERICA. [bound with:] THE CHARTER GRANTED BY HIS MAJESTY KING CHARLES II. TO THE GOVERNOUR, & COMPANY OF THE ENGLISH COLONY OF CONNECTICUT IN NEW-ENGLAND IN AMERICA. New London: Printed and sold by Timothy Green, 1750-1752. [1],[1],6,[2],268pp. Folio. Contemporary sheep. Hinges starting, sheep moderately worn and rubbed. Occasional minor foxing and stains. Contemporary ink inscription on front free endpaper; 19th-century ownership inscription on front free endpaper: "The property of John Turner Wait June 23. 1837. Norwich Conn." Very good. The 1750 revision of the acts and laws of colonial Connecticut, printed with the colony’s 1662 royal charter (with a separate titlepage) and an index. Bound with the acts and laws passed October 1750 through October 1752 (pp.257-68). This is John Turner Wait’s copy, bearing his signature. Wait (1811-99), a prominent attorney from Norwich, New London County, served as a Republican representative from Connecticut in Congress from 1876 to 1887. EVANS 6479, 6480, 6653, 6830, 6831. JOHNSON 520, 521, 532, 560, 561. $2250. 17. [Day, Thomas]: THE SUICIDE. A DIALOGUE EXHIBITED ON THE STATE AT THE PUBLIC COMMENCEMENT OF YALE-COLLEGE, SEPT. 13th, M.DCC.XCVII. Litchfield: Printed by T. Collier, [1797]. 20pp. including half title. 12mo. Dbd., first leaf (with half title) detached. Contemporary gift inscription on half title to Vermont state representative (1806, 1807, 1819) and U.S. Congressman (1813-15) William C. Bradley: "For Wm. C. Bradley from his friend Eben. Walkbridge." Upper outer corner torn of half title with loss, affecting letters "ley" in "Bradley" in gift inscription. Contemporary inscription "By Thomas Day" between title and imprint on titlepage, small hole in titlepage, with loss of word "of" after "commencement." Otherwise a good copy. A late 18th-century American play concerned with conflicts between a father and his son, performed at the Yale-College commencement in September 1797. The author, who also played the role of the son in the drama, graduated from Yale and became an attorney. In addition to his legal practice, he published numerous works primarily concerned with the law. A curious late 18th-century Connecticut imprint from the town of Litchfield, where printing began in 1785. EVANS 32019. NAIP w022376. TRUMBULL 562. HILL, AMERICAN PLAYS 55. $950. >> Pennsylvania The Death of the Victim 18. Leeds, Titan: THE AMERICAN ALMANACK FOR THE YEAR OF CHRISTIAN ACCOUNT, 1738.... Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Andrew Bradford, [1737]. [24]pp. including two woodcut illustrations. 12mo. Printed self-wrappers, stitched. Contemporary numerical ink annotation in outer margin of p.[20]. Fine, untrimmed. In a half morocco box. A fine copy of Titan Leeds’ American Almanack for 1738, the year of the author’s death. The death of Titan Leeds was a subject of some controversy earlier in the decade, when Benjamin Franklin, writing as Richard Saunders in the first issue of the "Poor Richard" almanac (and inspired by Jonathan Swift’s famous Bickerstaff hoax of 1708), predicted that his "good friend and fellow-student" would die "on October 17, 1733, 3 hr. 29 m., P.M., at the very instant of the conjunction of the Sun and Mercury." When Leeds announced his survival the following year, launching invectives at his competitor, "Saunders" responded in his 1734 almanac that his "dear friend" must, indeed, have died, as the true "Mr. Leeds was too well bred to use any man so indecently and so scurrilously" as he had used "Poor Richard" in his protests. For the next several years Richard Saunders continued to insist that Leeds was no more, and following the announcement of Leeds’ actual death in 1738, Saunders printed a letter from Leeds’ ghost admitting: "I did actually die at that moment, precisely at the hour you mentioned, with a variation of 5 minutes, 53 seconds." The "ghost" of Titan Leeds, in fact, hovered in the imprint of The American Almanack through its 1746 issue, the final year for which Leeds was said to have calculated the calendar before dying. In addition to the calendar, the 1738 American Almanack contains schedules for courts, Quaker and Baptist meetings, and fairs; a list of roads and distances between points from Boston to South Carolina; a catalogue of living monarchs and their dates of birth; an excerpt from The Dunciad; original verse; a bookseller’s advertisement for Andrew Bradford; and a note to the reader with apocalyptic speculations pertaining to the Pope. The titlepage features an elaborate armorial woodcut, and a woodcut anatomical depiction of the zodiac appears on page [3]. DRAKE 9600. EVANS 4150. HILDEBURN 557. NAIP w022437. $15,000. First European Language Bible 19. [Bible in German]: BIBLIA, DAS IST: DIE HEILIGE SCHRIFT ALTES UND NEUES TESTAMENTS, NACH DER DEUTSCHEN UEBERSETZUNG D. MARTIN LUTHERS MIT JEDES CAPITELS FURTZEN SUMMARIEN, AUCH BENGEFÜGTEN VIELEN UND RICHTIGEN PARALLELEN; NEBST EINEM ANHANG DES DRITTEN UND VIERTEN BUCHS ESRA UND DES DRITTEN BUCHS DER MACCABAER. Germantown: Christoph Saur, 1743. [4],995,[1],277,[7]pp. printed in double columns. Ornamental capitals. Titlepage printed in red and black. Quarto. Contemporary calf over wood boards, rebacked in sympathetic modern tooled calf, raised bands. Original hardware present on the foredge of the boards, though the clasps are lacking. Titlepage stained. Text tanned, some staining. Several leaves chipped on foredge (with no loss of text), about a dozen leaves repaired along the foredge. Overall, a good copy. The first European language Bible printed in America, and the second Bible printed in America after John Eliot’s Indian Bibles of the 1660s. The text is based on Martin Luther’s version by way of the thirty-fourth edition of the Halle Bible, with Book Three of Edras, Book Four of Edras, and Book Three of Maccabees supplied from the Berlenburg Bible. Believed to have been printed in an edition of 1200 copies, of which slightly over one-tenth are known to have survived, and very few in such good condition. Christoph Saur was a native of Wittgenstein, Germany, who settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania and practiced medicine before turning to printing. Evans lists two variant titlepages of this first Saur Bible – this copy conforms to his second variant, with the titlepage worded in a slightly different style. A good copy of a landmark in American religious and printing history. DARLOW & MOULE 4240. EVANS 5128. HILDEBURN 804. ARNDT 47. SEIDENSTICKER, p.20. NAIP w018551. $12,500. The Largest Book Produced 20. Braght, Tielman Janszoon van: DER BLUTIGE SCHAU-PLATZ ODER MARTYRER SPEIGEL DER TAUFFSGESINTEN ODOR WEHRLOSEN-CHRISTEN, DIE UM DES ZEUGNUSS JESU IHRES SELIGMACHERS WILLEN GELTTEN HABEN, UND SEYND GETODTET WORDEN.... Ephrata, Pa.: Drucks und Verlags der Brüderschafft, 1748-1749. Two volumes bound in one. 56,478,[4]; [14],949,[11]pp. plus one leaf of plates and additional illustrations, lacking the frontispiece. Thick folio. Contemporary calf, rebacked, raised bands, metal corner mounts, later clasps and straps, reinforcing bands at head and toe of spine. Slightly rubbed and scuffed. Uniform browning, scattered foxing. Bookseller’s label on front pastedown, contemporary manuscript notes in German on rear free endpaper. Very good. A massive work from the noted Brotherhood Press in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, translated by Johann Peter Miller and commissioned by the Mennonites. "The largest book printed at the Brotherhood Press. The Ephrata Brethren were three years engaged upon its printing and binding...The engraved frontispiece, representing the army of the martyrs marching to Heaven is generally missing, as the design was offensive to the Mennonites" – Evans. The largest book produced in colonial America. HILDEBURN 1050. EVANS 6256. ARNDT 96. NAIP w019947. $3000. 21. Sharp, Anthony [pseud]: THE LANCASTER ALMANACK, FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 1779.... Lancaster [Pa.]: Printed and Sold by Francis Bailey, [1778]. [30]pp. (lacking pp.[31-36]), including in-text woodcut illustrations. 12mo. Illustrated printed self-wrappers, stitched (one thread of two lacking). First leaf detached, with portion of upper inner corner (1½ x 1 inch) torn away. Marginal dampstaining on front leaf, significant dampstain on remaining leaves. Good. Revolutionary War issue of Francis Bailey’s Lancaster Almanack, with significant patriotic content. Francis Bailey, an official printer to both the U.S. Congress and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, operated a printing press in Lancaster, Pennsylvania from 1773 to 1780, during which time he produced numerous important federal documents, including the first official printing of the Articles of Confederation. In the same year that he published the present volume, Bailey printed a German-language almanac in which George Washington was first dubbed "the father of his country" ("Des Landes Vater"). The front cover of the 1779 Almanack features a large, elaborate woodcut scene combining themes of astronomy, America, and liberty. In addition to the calendar, the volume includes various recipes and maxims, patriotic verse, and an account of Ethan Allen’s reply to Gen. Howe’s proposal that he desert the American cause and join the British army. The illustration, "The Anatomy of Man’s Body, as governed by the Twelve Constellations," appears on page [5]. A scarce volume, with only four copies located between NAIP and OCLC. DRAKE 10073. EVANS 16054. HILDEBURN 3808. NAIP w032746. $1500. 22. Evans, Oliver: THE YOUNG MILL-WRIGHT’S & MILLER’S GUIDE. IN FIVE PARTS.... Octoraro, Pa. 1807. viii,364pp. plus twenty-five plates (some folding). Antique three-quarter calf and marbled boards. Titlepage stained, moderate foxing throughout. Contemporary ownership signature on titlepage. Else good. One of the most important native-grown works of early American technology, this is a complete treatise on the mechanics and hydraulics of mills, with directions for constructing the author’s patented improvements in mills. Part Five was written by Thomas Ellicott. The plates are remarkably detailed and depict all manner of mechanical milling devices, as well as cross-sections of the intricate internal workings of a flour mill. The NUC locates nine copies of this edition, with only the 1795 Philadelphia first edition predating the present issue. "...One of the earliest books of its class" – Sabin. This book was issued by Francis Bailey, from the same press from which he issued the Octoraro Bible. A most unusual imprint for this early American flour mill manual. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 12525. RINK 1421. SABIN 23182 (ref). $2000. Yankee Revolutionary in Chile: 23. Johnston, Samuel B.: LETTERS WRITTEN DURING A RESIDENCE OF THREE YEARS IN CHILI, CONTAINING AN ACCOUNT OF THE MOST REMARKABLE EVENTS IN THE REVOLUTIONARY STRUGGLES OF THAT PROVINCE WITH AN INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF A CHILIAN SHIP, AND BRIG OF WAR, BY MUTINY, AND THE CONSEQUENT IMPRISONMENT AND SUFFERINGS OF SEVERAL CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR SIX MONTHS, IN THE DUNGEONS OF CALLAO. Erie, Pa.: Printed and Published by R.I. Curtis, 1816. [9]-205pp. Original plain boards. Spine partially perished. Each board attached by a single cord. Scattered fox marks. Else a very good copy in original state, untrimmed, with contemporary ownership inscription of John Leymour on titlepage. In a half morocco box, spine gilt. An extremely rare account by a Yankee revolutionary in South America, this copy owned by both Thomas W. Streeter and Frank S. Streeter, with the former’s pencil notes on the front pastedown. After briefly describing the voyage from New York to Valparaiso, the author details his involvement with the Chilean Revolution against Spain during 1812-14. While in Chile he established the first newspaper there, La Aurora. Henry Wagner relates in his memoirs how he almost bought a copy of this rarity at a Chilean auction ("...there was one [book], however, which almost made my heart stop beating..."), but he was outbid by a prominent local publisher who happened to be a good friend as well. "...Johnston had taken part in the revolution against Spain, and in all had a most exciting time. Johnston arrived at Chile in a voyage around the Horn in the fall of 1811 and in due course travelled from Valparaiso to the capital at Santiago where J.R. Poinsett was Consul-General and the Carreras in charge of the government. There is much authentic material about the Chilean revolution" – Streeter. Not listed by Shaw & Shoemaker or Hill. STREETER SALE 4136 (this copy). SABIN 36385. WAGNER, BULLION TO BOOKS, pp.230-31. $12,500. The Famous "Long-Lost Friend" 24. Hohman, Johann G.: THE LONG SECRETED FRIEND, OR A TRUE AND CHRISTIAN INFORMATION FOR EVERY BODY; CONTAINING WONDERFUL AND APPROVED REMEDIES AND ARTS FOR MEN AND BEAST. APPROVED BY MANY CERTIFICATES IN THIS BOOK; AND OF MANY, WHICH ARE NOT INSERTED. Harrisburg, Pa.: John G. Hohman, 1846. 56pp. 12mo. Contemporary half calf over paper boards. Boards and spine soiled and slightly worn. 20th-century ownership inscription on front pastedown. Light waterstaining, occasional minor foxing. A very good copy. In a half morocco box. The first English edition of one of the most celebrated books of German Americana, De lange verborgene freund..., first published in German in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1820. An unusual combination of materia medica, spiritual guide, medical work, and book of charms, the volume’s potential magical power has been the basis of several works of fiction. Hohman, who translated and published his own work, is also the author of other German language publications printed in Reading. These include a materia medica, Die land- und haus-apotheke (1818), and a spiritual work, Der kleine catholische catechismus (1819). The author’s interest in the spiritual and the medicinal are evident in the receipts recorded here, some of which employ home medicinals, while others utilize religious invocations. Robacker calls Hohman’s book "...the first work which indicated a definite break with the religious traditions of the past...no more and no less than a book of practical witchcraft." Before the book was published, Hohman had made a living as an illuminator of manuscripts and baptism records. His sources are obscure; at one point he claimed to have obtained the information "from a gypsy," but more likely they grew out of folk tradition. Hohman’s remedies cover a wide range of human illnesses, including bleeding, fevers, warts, worms, heartburn, burns, sores, chills, whooping cough, headaches, and toothaches. His solutions include a variety of home medicines and techniques. For example, a cure for the colic includes taking "an half a Gill of good rye-whiskey, then fill a pipe full of smoke tobacco, smoke the whole into the whiskey and drink it. This has done the author of this book and many more good services." Some remedies call for reciting particular phrases, while others, such as that for hectic fever, ask the patient to write particular letters on a piece of paper to be carried until the illness disappears. Solutions for problems in the animal world are also provided, including different horse ailments, many sheep diseases, hollow horns in cows, bad dogs (including "a remedy to make a dog stay, if no body else has done it before"), and how "to make the cattle like to come home." Extremely broad in scope, the author includes solutions for numerous social problems, including "a good and powerful remedy for bad people," "preservation for sickness and theft in house and yard," "a charm to stop thieves," and (in case these don’t work) how "to compel a thief to bring back what he stole." Recipes "to keep justice in court and council" and "against all wickedness" are also recorded. A rare, remarkable compilation of 19th-century folk remedies for a wide range of illnesses and problems. OCLC records two copies at Fordham Health Sciences Library at Wright State University, and the Harris Collection of American Poetry and Plays at Brown University. OCLC 1125333. ARNDT 2462 (German first ed). ROBACKER, PENNSYLVANIA GERMAN LITERATURE, pp.45-47. $5000. >> Virginia The First History of Virginia 25. Stith, William: THE HISTORY OF THE FIRST DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA: BEING AN ESSAY TOWARDS A GENERAL HISTORY OF THIS COLONY. [bound with:] AN APPENDIX TO THE FIRST PART OF THE HISTORY OF VIRGINIA.... Williamsburg: William Parks, 1747. Two volumes bound in one, as usual. viii,331pp. (pp.305-341 misnumbered 295-331); v,[1],34pp. Contemporary speckled calf, red gilt morocco label, ornate gilt spine in six compartments, label renewed. Minor shelf wear. Faint toning. Signature X printed on paper that has more foxing than the other signatures, as usual. Very good. In a half morocco and cloth box. First edition, third issue of Stith’s book, this issue possibly published as late as 1753. Stith’s text is one of the first American histories to be written and printed in the British colonies, and the first such in Virginia. Stith, who was well connected in the colony, had access to numerous important sources, including the library of William Byrd of Westover, the personal recollections of Sir John Randolph, county court books, the official records of the London Company, and John Smith’s seminal Generall Historie of Virginia. Printing began in Virginia when William Parks established his press in Williamsburg in 1730. This is one of the earliest accessible Virginia imprints, and one of the most interesting. An appealing copy of a landmark book. BERG, WILLIAMSBURG IMPRINTS 58. EVANS 6071. SABIN 91860. SWEM 5325. HOWES S1014, "b." NAIP w023158. CHURCH 963. STREETER SALE 1100. $12,500. Unusual Virginia Imprint 26. [Dyer’s Guide]: THE FAMILY DYER, BEING A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR COLOURING EVERY VARIETY OF SHADE, ON WOOLEN, COTTON, LINEN, AND SILK GOODS. TOGETHER WITH AN APPENDAGE.... Mountain Valley, near Harrisonburg, Va.: Joseph Funk & Sons, 1849. 49,[2]pp. Contemporary half brown cloth and marbled boards. Scattered foxing. Very good. Self-styled third edition. A thorough dyer’s manual, composed by "an eminent European dyer." A most unusual Virginia imprint (all Joseph Funk imprints are relatively rare). OCLC locates only four copies. OCLC 8036701. $1000. >> Rhode Island Another Franklin’s First Almanac 27. [Franklin, James, Jr.]: POOR JOB, 1750. AN ALMANACK FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1750...BY JOB SHEPHERD.... Newport: Printed and Sold by James Franklin, [1749]. [24]pp. 12mo. Printed self-wrappers, stitched. Large vertical tear in title-leaf, repaired in unobtrusive early tape; original upper-outer corner of title-leaf lacking, supplied in manuscript on contemporary paper. Upper two-thirds of second leaf (with illustration) lacking. Good. The first "Poor Job" almanac, printed by James Franklin, Jr., nephew of his father’s famous runaway apprentice, Benjamin Franklin. NAIP notes: "The preface shows that the pseudonym is that of the calculator, who is identified as the printer James Franklin by H.M. Chapin (American collector 2 [1926]: 325-329; ‘Check list of Rhode Island almanacs.’ Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society n.s. v. 25 [1915]: 22). But Franklin is not known to have been educated in mathematics and astronomy." Drake records only one complete copy, at the Rhode Island Historical Society. Rare. ALDEN 85. DRAKE 12799. EVANS 6414. NAIP w022767. $1500. Another Franklin’s Almanac 28. [Franklin, James, Jr.]: POOR JOB, 1751. AN ALMANACK FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1751...BY JOB SHEPHERD.... Newport: Printed and Sold by James Franklin, [1750]. [24]pp. including one woodcut illustration. 12mo. Printed self-wrappers, stitched. Contemporary ink inscription in margins of p.[10]. Light soiling on wrappers, else fine. A near fine copy of the second "Poor Job" almanac, printed (and probably written) by James Franklin, Jr., nephew of his father’s famous runaway apprentice, Benjamin Franklin. The almanac contains, in addition to the calendar, a preface with an account of the pseudonymous author’s early inclination to the stars; lists of courts and Quaker meetings; a "Geographical Description of the World"; a table of English Kings; and several poems, including one entitled, "The City and Country Mouse," on the final page. An anatomical depiction of the zodiac is printed on page [4]. The margins of page [10], beside the calendar for April, are inscribed with the record of what appears to be a mystical vision: "April ye. 12th. in the morning Gideon Cornwell...April ye. 20[?] in the morning I saw the river in the form of Cart wheels." ALDEN 94. DRAKE 12800. EVANS 6606. NAIP w025674. $2000. |
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