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Catalogue 263 Recent
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Section IV: Jefferson to Michigan |
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Papers
on Book Collecting by William S. Reese
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Jefferson’s Greatest Work 99. Jefferson, Thomas: NOTES ON THE STATE OF VIRGINIA. London. 1787. [4],382pp. plus partially colored folding map and folding table. Contemporary calf, expertly rebacked. Upper board edges and corners restored, in matching gold tooling. Bookplate on front pastedown, contemporary ink signature on titlepage, map strengthened at folds, else internally very clean and bright. Very good. In a cloth clamshell box, leather label. The first English edition of Jefferson’s famous work. This is the only book-length work by Jefferson to be published in his lifetime, and has been called "one of America’s first permanent literary and intellectual landmarks." It was largely written in 1781 and first published in Paris, in French, in 1785. Written in the form of answers to questions about Virginia, the book supplies a description of the geography, with an abundance of supporting material and unusual information. As J.M. Edelstein notes: "Jefferson wrote about things which interested him deeply and about which he knew a great deal; the Notes, therefore, throws a fascinating light on his tastes, curiosities, and political and social opinions." The handsome map which accompanies this edition (but is often lacking), based on the Fry and (Peter) Jefferson map, was not issued with the Paris editions. The story of the creation of this book and its publishing history is an interesting one. It is told fully by Millicent Sowerby in her catalogue of Jefferson’s library, where it occupies some thirty pages in small type. HOWES J78. SABIN 35895. VAIL 760. CLARK I:262. SOWERBY IV, pp.301-30. ADAMS, THE EYE OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 57. $67,500. Jefferson, the Megalonyx 100. Jefferson, Thomas: [AUTOGRAPH LETTER, SIGNED, FROM THOMAS JEFFERSON TO COLONEL JOHN STUART REGARDING THE REMAINS OF A LARGE AMERICAN ANIMAL, DUBBED BY JEFFERSON THE "MEGALONYX"]. Monticello. Nov. 10, 1796. [1]p. on a folded lettersheet, addressed by Jefferson in his hand as well. Old folds, tear in integral address leaf from wax seal. Near fine. Matted and framed alongside an engraved portrait of Jefferson. A terrific Thomas Jefferson letter, illustrating his great interest in archaeology and his activities as an amateur scientist, his pride in the natural history of the United States, and his encouragement and patronage of American scientific research. Jefferson was deeply interested in natural history and archaeology, and devoted a room at Monticello to the display of fossils and specimens. This letter is ample evidence of the correctness of Harlow Shapley’s remark that Jefferson deserves the title, "Founder of American Paleontology" (Shapley, p.235). After Jefferson left the office of Secretary of State in 1793, he moved back to Monticello and occupied himself with various pursuits, including his study of science and natural history. These interests were evident in his Notes on the State of Virginia, first written in 1782, in which Jefferson touted the flora and fauna of his native state and of the United States generally. Jefferson often defended American species against the criticisms of European scientists such as the Comte de Buffon, who argued that "the American climate had a degenerative effect upon life" (Boyd). In April 1796, as Jefferson engaged in a contest for the Presidency with John Adams, he received a letter from John Stuart, a former scout and Indian fighter, who alerted Jefferson to the discovery of several large animal bones in Greenbriar County, Virginia. Stuart wrote that the remains pointed to the existence of a clawed "animal, which was probably of the Lion kind" but much larger than those found on other continents. Stuart said that he was motivated to report the discovery to Jefferson after "observing by your Notes your very curious desire for examining into the antiquity of our country." Jefferson was excited by the discovery and encouraged Stuart to search for more bones, which would allow an educated recreation of the animal’s size. By the late summer of 1796, Jefferson – who was a member of the American Philosophical Society and soon to be its incoming president – was corresponding with botanist Benjamin Smith Barton, editor of the Society’s Transactions. Jefferson proposed submitting an article for publication in the Society’s journal regarding the qualities and history of the theoretical large "American lion," which Jefferson had dubbed the "megalonyx" or "Great-claw." Barton agreed to Jefferson’s proposal, keeping him apprised of delays in publication while Jefferson awaited a thigh bone from the creature that would allow him to hypothesize as to the animal’s size and structure. In the present letter Jefferson writes John Stuart, thanking him for the bones he has sent him (which consisted of several foot and leg bones) and encouraging him to search for more. He also dangles the prospect of membership in the Philosophical Society as an incentive to Stuart. The letter concludes with Jefferson stating his belief that the animal still exists, and he offers his thoughts on what would come to be called "natural selection." This is the copy of the letter sent by Jefferson to John Stuart in Greenbriar, Virginia. Jefferson’s retained copy is in the Library of Congress. The letter reads, in whole:
Despite Jefferson’s encouragement, John Stuart was unable to provide him with any more bones to aid in a reconstruction of the "megalonyx." In early March 1797, Jefferson was in Philadelphia, waiting to be sworn in as Vice President, and also preparing remarks on the animal to be delivered at a meeting of the American Philosophical Society. A chance discovery in a Philadelphia bookshop of a copy of the September 1796 issue of the London-published Monthly Magazine caused Jefferson to rethink his theory of the nature of the "American Lion." That issue contained an article by Georges Cuvier discussing the remains, found in Paraguay, of a large sloth. Jefferson realized the similarity between the remains of the Paraguayan sloth and the "megalonyx," and revised his remarks accordingly. As to the mammoth, he perhaps continued to hope, when he dispatched the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, that they would bring him back evidence of their survival in the West. A wonderful Jefferson letter, showing the polymath’s great interest in American science and natural history, and his active participation in scientific research and discovery. PAPERS OF THOMAS JEFFERSON 14, pp. xxv-xxxiv; 29, pp.205-6. Julian P. Boyd, "The Megalonyx, the Megatherium, and Thomas Jefferson’s Lapse of Memory" in Papers of the American Philosophical Society (Vol. 102, 1958), pp.420-35. Harlow Shapley, "Notes on Thomas Jefferson as a Natural Philosopher" in Papers of the American Philosophical Society (Vol. 87, 1944), pp.234-37. Dumas Malone, Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty, pp.341-46. Silvio Bedini, Thomas Jefferson Statesman of Science, pp.267-72. $65,000. Jefferson’s Last Book 101. Jefferson, Thomas: THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES, IN MAINTAINING THE PUBLIC RIGHT TO THE BEACH OF THE MISSISIPI [sic], ADJACENT TO NEW-ORLEANS, AGAINST THE INTRUSION OF EDWARD LIVINGSTON. PREPARED FOR THE USE OF COUNSEL.... New York. 1812. 80pp. plus frontispiece map. Modern half calf and marbled boards. Light scattered foxing, else very good. An important later work of Jefferson, in which he advocates government intervention to protect the public interest in free access to the beach port off Gravier’s Plantation near New Orleans. The predicament proved to be one of the bitter controversies of the Jefferson presidency. Livingston, a prominent New Orleans attorney, claimed ownership of a strip of beach (the batture) at New Orleans which had long been used as a common boat landing. Jefferson asserted government ownership up to the high-water mark and had a federal marshal forcibly dispossess Livingston. The case became a celebrated test of federal power and continued to be bitterly argued, so much so that Jefferson felt constrained, four years after leaving the presidency, to compose his legal reasoning in the present pamphlet. It is the longest legal opinion that Jefferson ever wrote, and one of his very few books. Although widely celebrated for his writings, starting with the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s only actual books were Notes on the State of Virginia, a Manual of Parliamentary Practice, and the present volume. SABIN 35912. $6000. Rare Engraved View of a Catholic Settlement 102. [Kentucky]: [Nerinckx, Charles]: KLYN LORETTEN IN NOORD-AMERICA. PETIT LORETTE ETATS UNIS DE L’AMERIQUE. LITTLE LORETTO KENTUCKY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA [caption title]. [Mechlin?, Belgium. nd, but ca. 1815]. Colored engraving, 11¼ x 13¾ inches. Very minor staining; two repairs in upper margin, not affecting image. Very good. A beautiful handcolored engraving depicting the Kentucky frontier community of "Little Loretto," a religious settlement founded in 1812 by Belgian Catholic priest Charles Nerinckx. Born in Herfellingen, Belgium, Nerinckx came to the United States in 1804 to assist Father Theodore Badin, the first priest ordained in the United States, in the organization of new congregations and the building of churches in a vast spread of land on the Kentucky frontier. In 1812, Nerinckx established an order of Catholic nuns, the Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross, and returned to Europe twice in order to garner support for the settlement. It is probable that this engraving was made as an adjunct to his fundraising campaign, and published in Mechlin, where Nerinckx attended seminary. Drawn and engraved by Courtois of Malines, the broadside depicts a complex of log cabins, with the sisters gathered directly in the center, surrounding the vision of Mary with the Holy Crucifix directly above her, and two crimson banners, carried by angels, reading, "O Suffering Jesus...O Sorrowful Mary." Beneath the image there are three key columns in Dutch, French, and English, captioning various parts of the engraving. The Order is still in existence today as well as part of the original settlement. A rare and beautifully colored image of an American frontier religious community. $3500. First Report of the War Department 103. [Knox, Henry]: A PLAN FOR THE GENERAL ARRANGEMENT OF THE MILITIA OF THE UNITED STATES. New York: Printed by Francis Childs and John Swaine, 1790. 26pp. Folio. Gatherings stitched as issued. Scattered foxing and staining on titlepage with lower right corner torn and lacking (no loss), edges slightly frayed. Internally clean, edges slightly age-toned. A very good copy. In a cloth clamshell case, leather label. With a copy of the Pennsylvania Packet for Friday, Feb. 5, 1790. General Henry Knox first made proposals for the organization of a national militia in 1786, during the Confederacy period. With the establishment of the federal government under the Constitution, he renewed his proposals, which were published by order of the House of Representatives on Jan. 18, 1790. This is the first report issued by the War Department, one of the four departments of the new government, and the third issued by the new federal government, preceded only by Hamilton’s appropriations report of 1789 and the same author’s famous report on public credit, issued four days before the present work. Knox argued that a large standing army was "hostile to the principles of liberty," and suggested that the United States should trust in a well regulated militia, with the potential of calling up all able men between the ages of eighteen and sixty-five as its primary means of defense. A staggered system of call-up would be used, and annual encampments undertaken. All the necessary organizational plans are laid out in the report. A most important work, providing much of the basis for American attitudes about the regular army into the 20th century. This copy is accompanied by the Feb. 5, 1790 issue of The Pennsylvania Packet, and Daily Advertiser which includes an installment of the Secretary of War’s plan. EVANS 22958. HOWES K220. $5000. With Lithographs of Washington 104. [Kollner, Augustus]: PUBLIC BUILDINGS AND STATUARY OF THE GOVERNMENT; THE ARCHITECTURAL ORNAMENTS OF THE CAPITOL OF THE U. STATES, AT THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. Washington: Lithographed and published by P. Haas, 1840. [4],44,[2]pp. plus twenty-three lithographic plates (including two folding plans and two folding plates). Contemporary cloth, front cover gilt ("Public Buildings and Statuary of the U.S. Capitol"). Covers lightly worn, contemporary stitching through front and rear boards near spine. Additional lithographic titlepage ("Public Buildings and Architectural Ornaments of the Capitol of the U. States at the City of Washington"). Minor foxing throughout. Plates generally clean. A very good copy. An enchanting illustrated guide to the art and architecture of the United States Capitol, with lithographic plates signed (in print) by the artist, Augustus Kollner, and the publisher and lithographer, P. Haas. Each of the images is accompanied by explanatory text. Included are views of the Capitol, the "Presidents House," the Treasury, the Post Office, and the Patent Office as well as interior scenes of the Capitol and the Senate Chamber. Representations of statuary found in various Washington buildings include Thomas Jefferson, Pocahontas and Captain John Smith, Daniel Boone, Penn’s Treaty, and the Pilgrims at Plymouth. The folding plans are diagrams of the floor of the Senate and the floor of the House of Representatives, and the folding plates are of Greenough’s statue of Washington and an interior view of the House of Representatives. Each is accompanied by an index indicating the desk of each Senator and Representative. This is the second issue of Kollner’s guide, with a title dated 1840, after the first issue of 1839. Only the title date is changed. Kollner was a prolific and long-lived Philadelphia artist (he lived until 1908) who also produced a larger series of views of American cities between 1848 and 1851. This book is some of Kollner’s earliest work, as well as being one of the earliest series of views of Washington, and one of the earliest publications with representations of the art decorating the U.S. Capitol. OCLC 5620465. $2000. 105. La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, François: TRAVELS THROUGH THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA, THE COUNTRY OF THE IROQUOIS, AND UPPER CANADA, IN THE YEARS 1795, 1796, AND 1797; WITH AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF LOWER CANADA. London. 1800. Four volumes. xvi [of xxiv],591,[16]; [2],523,[16]; [2],717,[21]; [2],610,[8]pp., and four pages of ads, plus three folding maps and nine folding tables. This set lacks the dedication leaves at the front of the first volume. Contemporary speckled calf, spines gilt, gilt morocco labels. Very light wear to the boards, corners bumped. Contemporary London booksellers’ ticket on front board of first volume; contemporary private bookplate on front pastedown of three of the volumes. Very clean internally. A handsome, near fine set. The second – and most extensive – English-language edition of this important narrative of travel in the United States and Canada in the last decade of the 18th century. The Duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt fled France after his father was killed by a mob in 1792. He lived in North America in 1795-97. Arriving in Philadelphia, he travelled overland to Upper Canada, and the latter half of this first volume is devoted to his stay there. His published account was considered highly offensive by Lieut.-Gov. Simcoe. The Duc describes his travels in New England and his southern tour, which took him as far as Charleston and Savannah, but was largely spent in Virginia, where he spent a week with Jefferson at Monticello in the summer of 1796. He includes extensive comments on agriculture. A later southern tour took him around Maryland and to the site of the future capitol of Washington. He also describes travels in New Jersey and his stay in New York, as well as providing general discussions of law, culture, etc. Clark refutes judgments of La Rochefoucauld as prejudiced, blaming this unfaithful English translation for portraying him in such a light, and lauding the original French version as "a sound, informative account." Whatever the deficiencies of the translation, it is the only one extant. Clark also praises the author’s capacity for gathering detailed information, his clear descriptions, and his naming of informants, who include some of the most distinguished men in America. Clark concludes, "It is a profitable work to read." The maps shows the northern and southern United States. CLARK II:103. HOWES L106, "aa." MONAGHAN 925. TPL 682. CARSON, TRAVELLERS IN TIDEWATER VIRGINIA 133. SABIN 39057. $2500. A False Boston Imprint 106. [Lafayette, Marquis de]: LE TRIOMPHE DU BEAU SEXE, OU EPITRE DE M. LE MQUIS DE LA FAYETTE A SON EPOUSE. DU CAMP DU GENERAL WAGINSTON [sic], EN QUARTIER D’HIVER A LANCASTER, LE 22 JANVIER 1778. Boston [i.e. Paris]: De l’Imprimerie du Congres, 1778. 37,[9]pp. 19th-century half calf and green paper boards, corners tipped in vellum, spine richly gilt. Very clean internally. Near fine. A rare and interesting poem, carrying a false Boston imprint, and supposedly penned by the Marquis de Lafayette while wintering with George Washington and the Continental Army in January 1778. The poem, a sort of farewell from Lafayette to his wife, contains allegorical references to the struggle of the colonies for liberty, while the notes mention this struggle specifically. Although the imprint is "Boston," the piece was almost certainly printed in Paris, and the types and ornaments used seem distinctively French. Other evidence leading us to believe that it was not printed in America: George Washington’s name is badly misspelled on the titlepage; he was quartered at Valley Forge, not at Lancaster, in January 1778; and the title says it was printed in Boston, "by the press of the Continental Congress," though the Congress was actually sitting at York, Pennsylvania (not far from Lancaster) at the time. "In a pamphlet published in Paris, 1790, by Jean-Baptiste Poupart de Beaubourg, entitled ‘Mes onze ducats d’Amsterdam,’ etc., etc., the author states that he is also the author of Lafayette’s touching adieux to his wife..." (Letter from Louis Gottschalk to Lawrence C. Wroth, in the John Carter Brown Library’s bibliographical file, as quoted on OCLC) The catalogue of the Roderick Terry sale in 1934 calls this "an excessively rare pamphlet." We are able to locate only six copies, at the New-York Historical Society, Yale, Cornell, Lafayette College, the John Carter Brown Library (which has the Terry copy, as well as an issue with forty-three pages), and the Library of Congress (located there by Echeverria & Wilkie). Rare and quite interesting. JACKSON, LAFAYETTE BIBLIOGRAPHY, p.201. SABIN 96990. ECHEVERRIA & WILKIE, 778/65. TERRY SALE (PART 2) 176. OCLC 34161985, 36140004. $10,000. "The first bound book 107. Lapham, Increase A.: A GEOGRAPHICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF WISCONSIN; WITH BRIEF SKETCHES OF ITS HISTORY, GEOLOGY, MINERALOGY, NATURAL HISTORY, POPULATION, SOIL, PRODUCTIONS, GOVERNMENT, ANTIQUITIES, &c, &c. Milwaukee. 1844. iv,[5]-252,[4]pp. Colored folding map. 12mo. Original cloth. Cloth rubbed and spotted, original spine neatly laid down, wear and loss to top outer edge of rear board, not affecting text block. Small closed tear along fold of map. A very good copy. At the time of publication, much of eastern Minnesota was included in the Wisconsin territory as St. Croix Country:
Here, there are brief descriptions of and references to the headwaters of the Mississippi, Lake of the Woods, Rainey Lake, Lake Pepin, the Falls of St. Anthony, and the explorers Hennepin, La Salle, Carver, Pike, and Schoolcraft. "The first bound book printed in Wisconsin" – Howes. HOWES L97, "aa." GRAFF 2398. SABIN 38979. AII (WISCONSIN): 205. McMURTRIE (WISCONSIN) 182. $2000. Classic of the War of 1812 108. Latour, Arsene Lacarriere: HISTORICAL MEMOIR OF THE WAR IN WEST FLORIDA AND LOUISIANA IN 1814 – 1815.... Philadelphia. 1816. xx,264,cxc pp., plus eight maps and plans (seven folding). Half title. Modern polished calf, tooled in gilt, gilt leather label. Tanned, some scattered foxing. "General Map of the Seat of War" neatly repaired, but with some slight loss. Overall, very good. One of the most important books on the War of 1812 in the South and West, describing the campaign around the battle of New Orleans. "Major Latour’s account of the military events is minute and interesting, and the appendix contains an invaluable collection of state papers" – Sabin. "Chief authority, well-documented, on these operations" – Howes. The eight maps (Sabin states that there are only seven) consist of battle plans and "A General Map of the Seat of War in Louisiana and West Florida" executed by Major Latour in his capacity as engineer. Streeter describes the maps and plans (which are sometimes found bound in a separate atlas) as "invaluable," and Clark calls the Historical Memoir... "a detailed and precise narrative of the 1814-15 campaign from the first arrival of British forces on the Louisiana coast until their complete evacuation." The portrait of Jackson, not found in all copies, is not present here. SABIN 39214. CLARK II:158. STREETER SALE 1075. HOWES L124, "aa." SHAW & SHOEMAKER 38034, 38035. SERVIES 878. $3500. 109. [Law, Thomas]: THOUGHTS ON INSTINCTIVE IMPULSES. Philadelphia: Printed by Jane Aitken, 1810. 90pp. Dbd. Contemporary presentation inscription on titlepage. Light scattered foxing; faint dampstain in the lower outer corner of most leaves, not affecting text. Very good. An unusual meditation on desire, will, and the moral principle in human nature, supported by an interesting variety of literary passages. The anonymous author and compiler was Thomas Law (1759-1834), a British-born economist who immigrated to the U.S. in the 1790s "out of admiration for American institutions and reverence for [George] Washington, with whom he soon became acquainted" (DNB). Law was best known for his strong advocacy of a United States national currency, a subject on which he wrote, lectured, and petitioned to Congress during the 1820s. Thoughts..., an impressively readable work for an author better known for his financial writings, was followed by Second Thoughts on Instinctive Impulses in 1813, which found an admirer in Thomas Jefferson. In 1814, Jefferson wrote in a long letter to Law saying that he read Second Thoughts... "with great satisfaction" and found that it "contained exactly my own creed on the foundation of morality in man." The present copy is inscribed, presumably by the author, to "Edmund Law Esqr.," who is likely the author’s son from his mistress in India. A scarce title, with Shaw & Shoemaker and OCLC together locating eight copies. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 20531. DNB XI, pp.676-7. Thomas Jefferson, [Letter to Thomas Law, June 13, 1814], http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl230.htm. $1250. Map of Key Points in the War of 1812 110. Lay, Amos: A NEW CORRECT MAP OF THE SEAT OF WAR IN LOWER CANADA...COMPILED FROM ACTUAL SURVEY MADE BY ORDER OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT LAID DOWN WITH MANY LATE ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS BY AMOS LAY, LAND SURVEYOR. Philadelphia: A. Lay and J. Webster, [1814]. Large flat map, 22 x 34 inches, partially colored. Folded into contemporary three-quarter green sheep and marbled boards, rebacked with original spine laid down, manuscript title on front board, string ties. Bisected and mounted on linen. A few light fox marks. Very good. In a cloth clamshell case, leather label. An important and rare map of Lower Canada, produced by American mapmaker Amos Lay during the War of 1812. The map depicts Canada north from the New York and Vermont border, with townships and larger boundaries shown, as well as roads, rivers, etc. It is probably the best American-made map of Canada of the time. Several land grants are identified, as is a "tract under consideration for endowing an University." "Shows the site of the northern battles of the War of 1812. Rare" – Rumsey. Amos Lay produced his first maps around 1801, and made a number of maps of New York State. This map, interestingly, was made in Philadelphia and not New York, being one of the first engraved by Henry Tanner. RUMSEY 423. RISTOW, p.99. $3500. The Very Rare Catalogue Supplement 111. [Library of Congress]: A SUPPLEMENT TO THE CATALOGUE OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. Washington: Printed by Daniel Rapine, 1820. 28pp. Quarto. Printed self-wrappers, stitched. Light dampstains affecting approximately one-third of each leaf, moderate foxing, else very good. In a half morocco box. The rare supplement to the rare Catalogue of the Library of the United States (1815). The supplement lists approximately seven hundred titles acquired since the donation of Thomas Jefferson’s library to Congress in 1815, with a distinct focus on travels and voyages, the sciences, and European history. Sabin, Shoemaker’s American Imprints, and OCLC together locate only two copies, at Harvard and the Library of Congress. SABIN 15566. AMERICAN IMPRINTS 4061. $4500. 112. Loehr, Charles T.: WAR HISTORY OF THE OLD FIRST VIRGINIA INFANTRY REGIMENT, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA.... Richmond: Wm. Ellis Jones, Book and Job Printer, 1884. 87pp. plus frontispiece portrait. Original pictorial cloth, stamped in gilt. Institutional bookplate of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States on front pastedown. Light offsetting from portrait to titlepage. Very good. A Confederate regimental written by the Sergeant of Company D, First Virginia. The work earns one of Nevins’ more positive reviews: "Only fifty pages of this slim volume comprise Loehr’s diary-based reminiscences, but they are an above-average personal narrative on service in Lee’s army." The photographic frontispiece portrait, mentioned by neither Howes nor Nevins, was apparently not issued with all copies. DORNBUSCH II:1315. HOWES L425. NEVINS I, p.122. $2250. 113. Longworth, David: LONGWORTH’S AMERICAN ALMANACK, NEW-YORK REGISTER, AND CITY DIRECTORY...CONTAINING MOST THINGS USEFUL IN A WORK OF THE KIND. New York: Printed for the Publisher by T. & J. Swords, 1798. [2],86,[220]pp. 12mo. Later marbled paper over boards backed in cloth, printed paper label. ¾-inch stain on label. Corners of first several leaves chipped (not affecting text), with early repair in upper outer corner of first leaf, even toning throughout. Very good. Longworth’s third almanac and New York City directory, containing Abraham Shoemaker’s "Astronomical Calculations." David Longworth published his popular almanac and directory annually from 1796 to 1817, after which point publication was assumed by Thomas Longworth and continued into the 1840s. The "New-York Register" begins with extensive lists of duties and other financial reports and concludes with a listing of major New York institutions, including government bodies, churches, fraternal lodges, hospitals, banks, and markets. The "City Directory" lists over 8000 New York residents with their addresses and means of livelihood, providing a fascinating cross-section of New York in the Federal era. Despite their popularity, few of the Longworth almanacs survive, particularly those published before 1820. Spear locates four copies. EVANS 34012. SPEAR, p.235. $1500. 114. Longworth, David: LONGWORTH’S AMERICAN ALMANAC, NEW-YORK REGISTER, AND CITY DIRECTORY.... New York: David Longworth, 1806. [22],[27]-444,[4]pp. 12mo. Contemporary plain boards, rebacked in modern morocco, spine lettered in gilt. Original paper over boards generally worn away (boards still very good), toning and occasional foxing, overall very good. Longworth’s 1806 almanac and New York City register and directory. David Longworth published his popular almanac and directory annually from 1796 to 1817, before publication was assumed by Thomas Longworth and continued into the 1840s. Longworth begins the present issue with a commentary on New York surpassing Philadelphia as America’s true "centre of wealth and population," in response to a young Philadelphian’s suggestion to the contrary. The almanac that follows is accompanied by rhymes, anecdotes, and an anatomical map of the zodiac. The "New-York Register" contains extensive lists of duties and other commercial concerns, in addition to its listing of major New York institutions, including government bodies, fraternal lodges, insurance companies, banks, and hospitals. The "City Directory" lists 13,536 New York residents with their addresses and means of livelihood, providing a fascinating cross-section of New York at the dawn of the 19th century. With twenty-three advertisements throughout the text, several of them illustrated. Despite their popularity, few Longworth almanacs survive, particularly those published before 1820. Spear locates five copies. SPEAR, p.238. $1000. 115. Macaulay, Catharine: AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, AND IRELAND, ON THE PRESENT IMPORTANT CRISIS OF AFFAIRS. Printed by R. Cruttwell, in Bath: For Edward and Charles Dilly, in the Poultry, London, 1775. 29,[1]pp. Antique-style three-quarter calf and marbled boards. Very good. The first of four British editions published in 1775. Macaulay, a prominent British historian and controversialist, was an early and staunch defender of the American cause. In this pamphlet she criticizes the Quebec Act and the taxation of the colonies, while also criticizing her fellow Britons for acquiescing in the Stamp Act, the Boston Port Act, and other oppressive measures. She ends with a rousing call to her countrymen to defend their interests, and those of their brethren in America, against governmental oppression. On its publication this work was called "a masterly specimen of accurate reasoning, and municipal information: predictions so coolly and sedately delivered evince a deep insight into political science, a profound knowledge of history and of human kind, not to say a degree of divine illumination, and well worth the serious consideration of every Briton who wishes for the prosperity of his country" (Monthly Review). Catharine Macaulay, known as the "Republican Virago," was called "the woman of the greatest abilities that this country has ever produced" by Mary Wollstonecraft (quoted in DNB). She visited the United States in the 1780s, and carried on a correspondence with George Washington. HOWES M15. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 75-94a. AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE 169a. SABIN 42944. $3000. 116. [Madison, Wisconsin]: MAP OF MADISON AND THE FOUR LAKE COUNTRY DANE CO. WIS. [ca. 1855-1860]. Lithographed map. Sheet size: 19 7/8 x 29 inches. In very good condition. A very rare and highly important early map of the Wisconsin capital. This is one of the finest and most important early maps of Madison, and in spite of these distinctions, the identity of its author and publisher have, so far, remained elusive. What is clear, however, is that this map was intended to promote the thriving city to potential new residents. The city itself is shown to occupy an isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Menona, which when considered along with the two nearby lakes of Waubesa and Kegonsa make up the "Four Lake Country." Madison was founded in 1836, as a real estate promotion orchestrated by James Duane Doty, a federal judge, and named after the late president James Madison. It was chosen as the territorial capital of Wisconsin in 1837, and maintained this designation upon the granting of statehood in 1848. Madison was officially incorporated as a city in 1856, and its population was recorded as 6,863. A key in the upper right corner of the map identifies eight of the city’s most important institutions, including the state capitol (1) and the University of Wisconsin (2), founded in 1848. The city’s orderly streets give way to carefully ordered grants of farmland, traversed by roads. Also evident are the three recently completed rail lines linking the city to Chicago, Milwaukee, and the Mississippi corridor. Three additional rail lines which were under construction link the city to points north and are also delineated. In the upper right corner of the map the "Indian Names" of the area’s four main lakes are translated into their English equivalents, such that Lake "Menona" means "Fairy Lake." The two columns of text that frame each side of the map explain various aspects of the city’s virtues, including an entry entitled "Horace Greeley on Madison," which recounts the prominent New York journalist and future presidential candidate’s impressions gained during his recent visit to the city. This is not only a very interesting map of Madison, but a very important historical document portraying Wisconsin’s capital during an especially important stage in its early development. $1200. A Font of American Economic Data 117. [Manufactures]: TABULAR STATEMENTS OF THE SEVERAL BRANCHES OF AMERICAN MANUFACTURES, EXHIBITING THEM I. BY STATES, TERRITORIES AND DISTRICTS, II. BY COUNTIES, CITIES, AND TOWNS...IN THE AUTUMN OF THE YEAR 1810.... Philadelphia: Printed by A. Cornman, 1813. [2],46pp. Quarto. Original blue-grey wrappers. Light foxing and tanning. Bottom edge of pp.3-4 torn away, costing the list of states, territories, and districts on those pages (though the list is easily accessible from the adjacent pages). Else very good, in original condition. In a cloth clamshell case, leather label. A wealth of economic data on the young American republic, with statistics broken down by state and territory. Includes statistics on the manufacture of cotton and cloth goods, hats, guns, candles, skins, wood products, and much, much more. There is also information on the number and types of industrial machines in use in the various states. Sabin appends a note regarding this title to his description of the third United States Census, though this actually appears to be a stand-alone, privately printed publication, not a government document. However, much of the data seems drawn from the 1810 census. Shaw & Shoemaker and OCLC together locate only two copies, at the American Philosophical Society and the New Hampshire Historical Society. Rare, and providing much useful information. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 29909. OCLC 57274964. SABIN 11663 (note). $3500. 118. [Maryland]: ELLICOTT’S MILLS [caption title]. Baltimore: Drawn from Natur [sic] & lithographed by Ed. Weber, [nd, ca. 1845]. Handcolored lithograph, image size: 16 x 21 inches. Small closed tear in the upper portion of the sky. In very good condition. Attractively matted and framed. A very rare, attractive, and early view of Ellicott’s Mills, Maryland, one of the most important milling and manufacturing towns in the eastern United States. Ellicott’s Mills was founded in the early 1770s by John, Andrew, and Joseph Ellicott on the site of present-day Ellicott City, Maryland. They promoted wheat farming in the area, developing a method of replenishing the soil, and built their mill along the swiftly flowing Patapsco River. The Ellicotts were among the first American entrepreneurs to practice merchant milling on a large scale, and their business grew as they persuaded more Chesapeake-area farmers to grow wheat rather than tobacco. In 1830, Ellicott’s Mills became the first terminus of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad outside Baltimore. This handsomely colored lithograph shows the Ellicotts’ large mill complex as it straddles the Patapsco River along several hills. Sizeable buildings are shown on both sides of the river, including several multi-story white structures on the lower bank. On the upper bank, a train with two cars is seen pulling away from the mills as several men work among long wood planks. Two men on horseback are shown in the lower foreground. This lithograph is not listed in McCauley’s Maryland Historical Prints, nor is any copy located on OCLC. It is not included in Reps’ Views and Viewmakers of Urban America, though he does list two 1850s views of Ellicott’s Mills produced by Sachse & Company. Deak lists views of Baltimore and Washington made by Edward Weber, but not the present view of Ellicott’s Mills. Though this lithograph is undated, Edward Weber died in 1848 and the name of his firm was changed to E. Weber and Company, hence our attribution of a date of circa 1845. Rare, attractive, and important. $6000. The Earliest Newport View Book 119. Mason, George Champlin: NEWPORT AND ITS ENVIRONS. ILLUSTRATED BY A SERIES OF VIEWS. Newport: Chas. E. Hammett, 1848. Tinted lithographic title with vignette. Ten lithographic plates only (of eleven), all after Mason. Lacking the plate titled "Newport from Fort Dunham"; also lacking one leaf of descriptive text and the dedication leaf. Oblong folio. Contemporary brown cloth, upper cover with centrally blocked panel containing title "Newport / and / environs" lettered in gilt, yellow-glazed endpapers, expertly rebacked and recornered to style. Some old damp damage and spotting on covers. Very good. The earliest collection of Newport views, by the prominent Newport architect, George Champlin Mason. These views, a pastoral lithographic tour, are very rare, and among the first to showcase the town as a recreational haven. The last copy of this work to be listed as having sold at auction was in 1985, and OCLC, citing eleven plates and no descriptive text, locates only four copies in institutional libraries. Bartlett describes only a small format work by Mason, Newport Illustrated, in a Series of Pen & Pencil Sketches (New York, 1854). "George Champlin Mason was a native of Newport and a man of many talents – an artist, writer, and prolific architect. Eventually, he took his son into partnership for the design of some of the fine homes and estates in Newport dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. When in his twenties, the elder Mason spent two years abroad, where he studied drawing and architecture in Paris, Florence, and Rome. On his return, Mason prepared the drawings for his first published work, Newport and Its Environs. It was designated ‘Volume I,’ although there is no evidence that a second volume ever materialized. All of the views bear Mason’s signature and tend to emphasize – with their attention to cows, ducks, sheep, streams, and fishing – the pastoral quality of Newport’s surroundings" – Deak. Deak calls for twelve lithographs plus the elaborate titlepage. This is an error. The titlepage vignette, which is captioned "Fort Dumpling," is the subject of the first descriptive leaf, and is also included in the list of twelve plates which appears across the top of the titlepage. It is not known who executed the lithography, but in the lower margin of each text leaf, "Francis Hart, Printer" of New York is credited with the letterpress. A complete list of the present plates follows, in order of appearance: |5) "Newport Harbour, from the Blue Rocks." 6) "Easton’s Beach." 7) "Head Quarters of Genl. Prescott in 1777." 8) "Coggeshall’s Ledge." 9) "Old Stone Mill, Newport." 10) "State House and Parade." 11) "Whitehall." Lacks its accompanying descriptive leaf. SABIN 45442. BRADFORD 3247. DEAK, PICTURING AMERICA 558. BARTLETT, p.182 (ref). OCLC 36985187. $3750. 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. [30],38,[2],75,[2],238,[2],125-222,100,[2],88,118,[2]pp. including final leaf of publisher’s advertisements plus double-page map. Folio. Late 19th-century brown morocco, boards 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 other four panels with floral decoration in gilt, gilt turn-ins, a.e.g. Boards slightly worn at corners, edges, and outer joints, with a few minor scratches. Map repaired and backed on linen with slight loss in upper margin. Internally fresh and clean, final leaf slightly soiled with small repair at lower corner. A very good copy. Lacks errata. 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. A landmark in colonial New England history, and a book of increasing rarity. 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. A Classic Work 121. 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..., and mentioned on the titlepage, accorded separate Evans numbers, 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:
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. First American Book 122. Mattson, Morris: THE AMERICAN VEGETABLE PRACTICE, OR A NEW AND IMPROVED GUIDE TO HEALTH, DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF FAMILIES.... Boston. 1841. Two volumes bound in one. xii,[2],706pp., including in-text illustrations, plus errata page, advertisement page, and twenty-four chromolithographic plates and uncolored double-page plate of the human skeleton. Modern calf, gilt morocco labels. Some scattered pencil notes and underlining, else internally very clean. Very good. The first American book illustrated with true chromolithographs. The plates depict specimens of leaves and buds which, in conjunction with the text, serve as an identifying guide to medicinal plant varieties. The text consists of six parts, with the section on Vegetable Materia Medica containing the chromolithographs. McGrath describes the plates as "surprisingly good," and if one considers that this unassuming work stands as the first example of a process of color printing which later produced a torrent of illustrated books of widely varying quality, we can certainly appreciate the care that went into this initial American effort. "Here...the line and organization are studied. The chromolithography even exhibits overprinting, a relatively complex sophistication for a first book" – McGrath. The contributing artists are William Sharp (nine plates), Morris Mattson (one plate), Miss C. Neagus (twelve plates), and Anne Hill (two plates). From a medical point of view, this is one of the most significant materia medicas published in the first half of the 19th century in the U.S. It provided some of the best illustrations of plants published up to that time. BENNETT, p.72. McGRATH, pp.102-3 and passim. REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 17. $3750. An Important Early Issue 123. [Mead, Braddock, alias John Green]: A MAP OF THE MOST INHABITED PART OF NEW ENGLAND CONTAINING THE PROVINCES OF MASSACHUSETS BAY AND NEW HAMPSHIRE, WITH THE COLONIES OF CONECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND, DIVIDED INTO COUNTIES AND TOWNSHIPS: THE WHOLE COMPOSED FROM ACTUAL SURVEYS AND ITS SITUATION ADJUSTED BY ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS. London: Thomas Jefferys, Nov. 29th, 1755 [but ca. 1764]. Copper-engraved map, on four unjoined and untrimmed sheets as issued. Sheet size: of each 29 3/8 x 21 3/8 inches. Very good. The largest and most detailed map of New England that had yet been published, and one of the great maps of the east coast of America, by one of the greatest figures in 18th-century cartography: "Mead’s contributions to cartography stand out...At a time when the quality and the ethics of map production were at a low ebb in England, he vigorously urged and practiced the highest standards" (Cumming, p.47). This is the grandest, most accurate and detailed map of New England produced during the British colonial period. It depicts the entire region from Long Island Sound up north to the line of 44’30 of latitude. While it shows that the coastal areas and the lower Connecticut Valley were well settled, areas of the interior, especially in New Hampshire and the future Vermont were just developing, with the early boundaries of townships having recently been established by surveyors. Importantly, this map contains two highly-detailed cartographic insets, one of the city of Boston (upper left), and another of Boston Harbor on the lower right sheet. The map is also adorned with a very handsome pictorial title cartouche, depicting the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock in 1620. The present map is the first issue of the second edition of this work, and has been significantly updated from the original issue of 1755. The map’s publisher, Thomas Jefferys was the leading British mapmaker of the mid-18th century. He became geographer to the Prince of Wales in 1746 and then to King George III in 1760. He published a remarkable number of maps and charts, and is best known for his work, The American Atlas (1775). This map’s maker, John Green, was an intriguing and larger-than-life figure, who has been called "the genius behind Jefferys." In addition to his extensive cartographic abilities, Green’s personal history also stands out from amongst the biographies of other 18th-century British map makers. Green was born Braddock Mead in Ireland around 1688, married in Dublin in 1715 and moved to London in 1717. He was imprisoned in 1728 for trying to defraud an Irish heiress, and assumed his alias after his release from prison. He worked with Ephraim Chambers on his Universal Dictionary before joining the employ of Cave, Astley, and Jefferys. William Cumming remarked that he "had a number of marked characteristics as a cartographer...One was his ability to collect, to analyze the value of, and to use a wide variety of sources; these he acknowledged scrupulously on the maps he designed and even more fully in accompanying remarks. Another outstanding characteristic was his intelligent compilation and careful evaluation of reports on latitudes and longitudes used in the construction of his maps, which he also entered in tables on the face of the maps...Mead’s contributions to cartography stand out...At a time when the quality and the ethics of map production were at a low ebb in England, he vigorously urged and practiced the highest standards; in the making of maps and navigational charts he was in advance of his time. For this he deserves due credit" (Cumming, p.45). DEGREES OF LATITUDE 35. McCORKLE, NEW ENGLAND IN EARLY PRINTED MAPS 755.19 (first edition/state). SELLERS & VAN EE, MAPS & CHARTS OF NORTH AMERICA & WEST INDIES 799. Stevens & Tree, "Comparative Cartography" 33(c), in Tooley, THE MAPPING OF AMERICA. Crone, "John Green. Notes on a neglected Eighteenth Century Geographer and Cartographer" in IMAGO MUNDI VI (1950), p.89-91 (ref). Crone, "Further Notes on Braddock Mead, alias John Green" in IMAGO MUNDI VIII (1951), p.69. CUMMING, BRITISH MAPS OF COLONIAL AMERICA, pp.45-47. $35,000. With 192 Plates by Prang 124. Meehan, Thomas: THE NATIVE FLOWERS AND FERNS OF THE UNITED STATES IN THEIR BOTANICAL, HORTICULTURAL, AND POPULAR ASPECTS. Boston. 1878-80. Four volumes bound in two: ix,192, v,200; ix,196, 204pp. plus forty-eight chromolithographed plates in each volume, for a total of 192 plates. Quarto. Contemporary three-quarter morocco and pebbled cloth, gilt emblem on front boards, spines gilt, raised bands, a.e.g. Very minor foxing and offsetting. Overall very good. Meehan was an Englishman, trained at Kew, who moved to Germantown, Pennsylvania in 1853, where he spent the rest of his life running a nursery and editing various gardening periodicals. This is his masterwork, and one of the leading authorities on ferns in America. It is also a notable 19th-century American color plate book, issued by Prang of Boston, the leading chromolithographer of the period. The first volume comprises the entire first series, the second volume contains the second series. TAXONOMIC LITERATURE 5783. McGRATH, pp.145-46. BENNETT, p.75. $2500. 125. Melish, John: A GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH THE CONTIGUOUS BRITISH AND SPANISH POSSESSIONS, INTENDED AS AN ACCOMPANIMENT TO MELISH’S MAP OF THESE COUNTRIES. Philadelphia: Published by the author, 1816. 182pp. plus five maps (one folding and handcolored) and errata slip tipped onto front fly leaf. Contemporary three-quarter red calf over marbled boards, spine gilt. Titlepage lightly dampstained. A few worm holes in upper inner margin throughout, affecting a few printed characters. Expanded worming, also in upper inner margin, affecting last ten pages and folding map (touching a few printed areas). Still, a very good copy. The first enlarged edition with the errata slip, after the 1815 original but issued prior to the designated "second edition." Sabin’s collations appear to be confused, but Howes’ listing is correct. The work was issued to accompany the large map, the first to represent the entire country, coast to coast. The map was sold separately, not accompanying any editions of the present work. The folding map of Pennsylvania is noted as a specimen of county maps to be constructed by an act of the Legislature. With maps of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, and a handcolored folding map of the area surrounding Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 38219. CLARK II:218. SABIN 47431. HOWES M490. BUCK 94. $1000. Seaman’s Papers, 126. [Merchant Marine]: CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. AT THE SECOND SESSION, BEGUN AND HELD AT THE CITY OF NEW-YORK, ON MONDAY THE 4th OF JANUARY, 1790. AN ACT FOR THE GOVERNMENT AND REGULATION OF SEAMEN IN THE MERCHANTS’ SERVICE...[recto caption title]. IT IS AGREED, BETWEEN THE MASTER, SEAMEN AND MARINERS OF THE [blank, completed: "Schooner Theada of Boston Abner Derby"] MASTER, NOW BOUND FROM THE PORT OF [blank, completed: "Boston for Baltimore and back to Boston"]: THAT IN CONSIDERATION OF THE MONTHLY OR OTHER WAGES, AGAINST EACH RESPECTIVE SEAMAN AND MARINER’S NAME HEREUNDER SET, THEY SEVERALLY SHALL AND WILL PERFORM THE ABOVE MENTIONED VOYAGE...[verso caption title]. [Boston]: S. Hall [imprint from colophon], [ca. 1795, form completed and signed 1798]. Broadsheet, 17 x 12¼ inches. Recto printed in three columns; blank form on verso completed in contemporary manuscript. Folio. One vertical and one horizontal fold. Light foxing, some discoloration along folds. Very good, untrimmed, floated between two panes of glass in a 21 x 15½-inch wood frame. A very rare Massachusetts variant of a merchant marine-related broadsheet, printing the 1790 act regulating merchant seamen on the recto and a blank form of agreement between a ship’s master and seamen on the verso. The Act for the Government and Regulation of Seamen in the Merchants’ Service... of 1790 was an early federal law requiring strict contracts to be signed and followed by a ship’s master and his crew for interstate voyages. Between about 1795 and 1800, the law was printed with a blank agreement form on the verso in several American port cities. These broadsheets are all quite rare, with only one recorded copy of the present example, which is held by the American Antiquarian Society. The form in the present copy is filled out for the Schooner Theada, bound from Boston to Baltimore and back in 1798, and includes signatures and wage agreements for the master, his mate, four hands, a cook, and a boy. EVANS 23849. NAIP w015168. $2500. Limited to Only Thirty Copies 127. [Meredith, William]: HISTORICAL REMARKS ON THE TAXATION OF FREE STATES, IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO A FRIEND. London. 1778. [2],82,[2]pp. (final two pages are the translations of the Greek notes in the text). Quarto. Contemporary three-quarter calf and marbled boards, leather label. Spine rubbed, minor wear to corners. Bookplate on front pastedown with ink notes. A near fine copy, internally clean and fresh. Meredith responds to William Barron’s History of the Colonization of the Free States of Antiquity..., published in London in 1777. Barron attempted to justify the taxation of the American colonies by drawing on the precedent of ancient Athens. The fifteen letters in Meredith’s effort are dated from April 30, 1778 to Oct. 14, 1778. A four-line quotation from Shakespeare is printed on the titlepage. According to Howes, only thirty copies were issued, which rates a "b" in his system. This information is corroborated by John Almon’s biographical note on Meredith in his Biographical, Literary and Political Anecdotes (1797). Among the rarest of American Revolutionary tracts. HOWES M532, "b." SABIN 47944. AMERICAN CONTROVERSY 78-71a. $3500. Primary History of the French Campaign 128. Métral, Antoine: HISTOIRE DE L’EXPÉDITION DES FRANÇAIS, A SAINT-DOMINGUE, SOUS LE CONSULAT DE NAPOLÉON BONAPARTE. Paris. 1825. xii,348pp. plus frontispiece portrait and folding map (map measures approximately 15 x 18½ inches). In French. Half title. Later cloth, spine gilt. Half title bearing contemporary ink inscription: "Offert à M. Le Barón de Ferusac [sic]." Light foxing on frontispiece, titlepage, and first several pages of text, else fine. The early authoritative history of the 1802-3 French expedition to Saint-Domingue that resulted in the betrayal, capture, and imprisonment of Toussaint Louverture by the French, France’s eventual defeat by Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ forces at the Battle of Vertières, and Saint Domingue’s declaration of independence as the Republic of Haiti in 1804. The volume includes the "Mémoires d’Isaac-Louverture" and "Notes Diverses d’Isaac, sur la vie de Toussaint-Louverture," by the son of Toussaint, followed by editorial commentary, and prints the royal recognition of Haiti’s independence by Charles X, issued April 17, 1825. Issac’s memoirs are a primary source for details of the biography of his great father. The frontispiece depicts Toussaint Louverture in his general’s uniform, and the map, "Carte de St. Domingue, Par J.B. Poirson, 1803 Revue et augmentée en 1825," shows the entire island of Santo Domingo with topographic features, roads, and political divisions. The present copy is inscribed to the Baron of Férussac, presumably André Étienne Justin Pascal Joseph François d’Audebert de Férussac (1786-1836), the prominent French naturalist. $1500. "...a production of unrivalled 129. Michaux, François André, and Thomas Nuttall: THE NORTH AMERICAN SYLVA; OR, A DESCRIPTION OF THE FOREST TREES OF THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AND NOVA SCOTIA.... Philadelphia: ...D. Rice & A.N. Hart, 1859. Five volumes. 257 colored plates: the Michaux volumes contain 156 handcolored engravings and the Nuttall volumes contain 121 handcolored lithographs. Uniform publisher’s tooled morocco, spine gilt. Bindings scuffed, mostly at the corners, edges, and hinges, but also on the spine of the first volume. Uniform light tanning, an occasional fox mark, but the plates brightly colored. About very good. This publication is the most important work on American trees prior to the 20th century. It is the product of the efforts of two of the greatest naturalists to work in 19th-century America, François André Michaux and Thomas Nuttall. The beautifully executed plates illustrate leaves and nuts or berries of American trees across the entire continent. Sabin says of the work: "It is no exaggeration to remark that it is the most complete work of its kind, and is a production of unrivalled interest and beauty." This is a reissue of the combined edition of the two works, issued by the Philadelphia publishers, Rice and Hart. Michaux’s work was based on his extensive travels in the eastern half of America, and those of his father, from the 1790s on. Both men were friendly with Jefferson and other leading figures, who aided them in their work and travels. His book was first published with a Philadelphia imprint in 1817-19, although actually printed in Paris, where the plates were engraved as well. These plates were executed by the great French flower painters, Redouté, and his associate, Bessa. The sheets of the first effort at reprinting the work were destroyed by fire, but the copper plates were separately stored and survived to be employed in this edition, where the work of Michaux fills the first three volumes. Thomas Nuttall was one of the most intrepid American naturalists of his day, travelling extensively in the Mississippi Valley and the Far West in the 1820s and ’30s to gather botanical specimens. His work, designed to supplement that of Michaux, covers eastern species missed by the Frenchman and new species Nuttall had gathered in the Midwest and West. His work first appeared in Philadelphia in 1842-49. The publishers, Rice and Hart, then issued it as a combined set with Michaux’s work in the uniform configuration found here, originally in 1857, then again in 1859 as in the present set. The more up-to-date method of using colored lithographs for the plates was employed in the Nuttall volumes, since the publisher did not have engraved plates in stock, as was the case with the Michaux work. A nice set, in the publisher’s original binding, of a classic of American natural history. BENNETT, p.76. MEISEL III, p.436 (ref). SABIN 48695. OAK SPRING SYLVA 20 (ref). Graustein, Thomas Nuttall (Cambridge, 1967). TAXONOMIC LITERATURE 5966, 6930. Savage, André and François André Michaux (Charlottesville, 1986). REESE, STAMPED WITH A NATIONAL CHARACTER 21. $6750. "A fundamental piece for Detroit 130. [Michigan]: REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, TO WHOM WAS REFERRED THE MESSAGE OF THE PRESIDENT...OF DECEMBER 23, 1805, TRANSMITTING A REPORT FROM THE GOVERNOR AND PRESIDING JUDGE OF THE TERRITORY OF MICHIGAN, RELATIVE TO THE STATE OF THE TERRITORY. Washington: A. & G. Way, 1806. 56pp. Dbd. Very good. The report of the House committee charged with responding to a request for federal action by Gov. William Hull and territorial judge August Woodward, on the question of land disputes and the post-conflagration status of Detroit. Woodward was the compiler of the early laws of Michigan, known as "The Woodward Code," and he was the main architect of the Detroit city plan. Included is a chronological table of settlements in the territory of Michigan, beginning in 1763. "The report contains three letters from Judge Woodward to the Secretary of the Treasury, written in January and March, 1805, which analyze and classify the land titles of the territory. This is a fundamental piece for Michigan and Detroit" – Streeter. Scarce, with Shaw & Shoemaker and OCLC locating a total of seven copies. The Streeter copy sold for $200. STREETER SALE 1386. STREETER MICHIGAN 6658. SABIN 48780. GREENLY, p.419. SHAW & SHOEMAKER 11717. OCLC 24866207, 39695379. $1000. |
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