require('includes/navbar.php') ?>

AMERICANA
AFTER 1820
A-Ba Bb-Bz
Bibles1 Bibles2 Ca-Ch
Ci-Cz D E F G H I-J K-Le
Lf-Lz Ma-Mc
Md-Mz N-Pd Pe-Q
R-Sg Sh-Sz T U-Wd We-Z
“There is one people, the sole survivor of the really olden times . . . ”
Raphall, Morris Jacob. Post-Biblical history of the Jews; from the close of the Old Testament, about the year 420 B.C.E. till the destruction of the second Temple, in the year 70 C.E. Philadelphia: Moss & Brother, 1855. 8vo (20 cm, 7.9"). 2 vols. I: [2], [7]–405, [1] pp. II: 486 pp.
$450.00
First edition: History of the Jewish people written by the Swedish-born rabbi of B'nai Jeshurun, New York's first Ashkenazi synagogue. Dr. Raphall was a popular and accomplished lecturer, author, and crusader against anti-Semitism who unfortunately achieved some later notoriety for his argument that Scripture did not prohibit slavery.
Click the images for enlargements.
Singerman, Judaica Americana, 1409. Publisher's brown cloth, covers blind-stamped, spines with gilt-stamped title; bindings slightly cocked, corners worn, spine heads chipped, spines each with band of dark cloth tape immediately above title. Ex–social club library: front pastedowns each with 19th-century bookplate and inked numerals, front free endpapers lacking, title-pages lightly rubber-stamped. No other markings. Back fly-leaf of vol. I with pencilled doodles, back pastedown and free endpaper of vol. II waterstained. Pages clean. (26365)

Early German Study of Japan — In English
Rein, Johannes Justus. Japan: Travels and researches undertaken at the cost of the Prussian government. New York: A.C. Armstrong & Son, 1884. 8vo (25.8 cm, 10.25"). x, [2], 534 pp.; 13 plts., 5 maps (2 col. fold.).
$200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First U.S. edition: The first English translation of Rein's original German. Rein (1835–1918), a geographer and natural historian (two Japanese plants now bear his name), was sent to Japan to investigate production techniques for such traditional goods as lacquer wares, leather, porcelain, fabric, etc.; he took advantage of his nearly three-year journey to write this comprehensive and substantial treatise on the country. This volume is not at all focused on commercial concerns, speaking instead to topography, climate, history, natural history, and many aspects of ethnography (e.g., architecture, diet, dress, family and religious practice); Rein's writings on Japanese manufacture were published in a second volume, Industries of Japan. Together with an Account of its Agriculture, Forestry, Arts, and Commerce. (This was not translated into English until 1889 and is not present here).
The present volume is
illustrated with a total of 18 plates: eight steel engravings, five mounted phototypes (by Strumper & Co. of Hamburg), and five maps (including two very large folding maps printed in color), as well as several in-text engravings.
Publisher's brown cloth, front cover stamped in red, white, and gilt with images of Japanese lanterns, back cover with publisher's stylized monogram in red, spine with gilt-stamped title and additional lantern image; rubbed, front cover with small dent to edge and cloth partially split at joint, spine with paper shelving label and cloth torn at head/foot (especially the latter at rear joint). Ex–social club library: call number on front fly-leaf, rubber-stamp on title-page and three other pages, no other markings. Large folding map of Japan with small tear from one edge. A few leaves uncut. Pages and plates clean. A significant work in a still-attractive copy, priced to reflect condition. (26861)

The Wonder of
BIRDS
Rennie, James. Natural history of birds. Their architecture, habits, and faculties. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1840. 12mo. 308 pp., illus.
$40.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Second American edition, following that of 1839; on birds and nest building. Rennie was a professor of natural history, at King's College, London. First published in London in 1831, this is a “Stereotype edition” in the “Harper's family library” series as number XCVIII (i.e., 98).
“With numerous [in-text wood] engravings” — definitely, charming.
See: Wood 553; Freeman 3166. Publisher's tan cloth printed with publishing information on front cover and ads for various Harper Library series on the back. Strip of cloth tape at top of spine and slightly onto the covers; ex–social club library, with 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpaper, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. A nice, clean little book. (26731)

“We the People . . . of Rhode Island” — The 1843 Constitution
Rhode Island. The Constitution of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, as adopted by the Convention, assembled at Newport, September, 1842. Providence: Pr. by Knowles & Vose, 1842. 8vo. 24 pp.
$250.00
This is the first printing of the Rhode Island Constitution, which went into effect in May 1843. Until then, the state had been governed by the original Royal Charter granted by Charles II in 1663. It was disenchantment with the charter's old colonial property qualifications for the franchise that caused the celebrated Dorr War (1841–42), an armed rising that pitted the suffrage movement against supporters of the charter. The reactionary forces won the day, but nevertheless found it expedient to frame a new written constitution, in 1842, which granted voting rights to adult, native-born citizens who owned $134-worth of real estate or paid the $1 poll tax (cf. Article Second, pp. 6–8).
A landmark document in Rhode Island history.
Click the image for an enlargement.
Sabin 70572. Sewn. Waterstained; soiling to outer leaves. Early reader's two small ink notations on title-page, just below the imprint. Uncut, partly unopened copy, with one signature opened unevenly. (24487)

Fontana: Use Quality Pasta
Rich, Jean. The Jean Rich cook book macaroni - spaghetti - egg noodles. Braidwood, IL: National Macaroni Manufacturers Assoc., [1930]. 16mo. 31, [1] pp.; col. illus.
$17.50
Illustrated with seven color-printed artist's renderings of dishes awaiting their diners. This cookbook was distributed by (and customized for) several different noodle companies, but the recipes were the same in all variants — the present example was sponsored by Fontana Food Products, known for their pasta products. The author was a “recipe counselor”
for the National Macaroni Manufacturers Association.
Not in Brown, Culinary Americana. Publisher's printed paper wrappers, showing only very minor wear. A clean copy. (26076)

Professional
Quality ACHIEVABLE
by
Ambitious
Home Cooks
Richards, Paul. Pastry for the restaurant: Receipts
especially adapted for hotels of the European plan. Chicago: Hotel Monthly Press, © 1914. 8vo.
[2], 144, [14] pp.
$65.00
First edition: French pastries, American pies, cakes, puddings, ice cream, sweet
breads, etc., from the author of several books on baking, cookery, and restaurant management.
At the back of the volume are six pages intended for memoranda (left blank here) and eight pages
of advertisements for “Popular handbooks for hotel, restaurant, transportation, catering,
institution and club use.”
Click the images for enlargements.
Bitting 397; Brown, Culinary Americana, 814.
Publisher's limp black cloth in imitation of morocco, front cover and spine
with gilt-stamped title; very minor wear, with one short crease to cloth at bottom of front cover.
Front free endpaper with small owner's label (partially removed) and inked ownership
inscription. Paper age-toned but not brittle, pages very clean, all edges red.
(26831)

Legends of the American Landscape — Plates & Painterly Prose
Richards, Thomas Addison. American scenery, illustrated. New York: Leavitt & Allen Bros., [1854]. 4to (22 cm, 8.7"). Frontis., 310 pp.; 30 plts. (lacking add. t.-p.).
$200.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Collection of thematically unified short stories inspired by the beauties of nature across the U.S.: Scenic high spots such as the Croton Fountain in New York's City Hall Park, the Virginia landscape, Tallulah Falls, the Rocky Mountains, etc. elicit dramatic and comic stories from an invented gallery of “accomplished and genial travellers” who “present at the same time an instructive topography and an entertaining romance” (p. 7). The author was himself a prominent landscape painter, and here matches his fiction with a frontispiece and 30 steel-engraved plates (some from his own designs) depicting the scenes described.
The work was also published in the same year under the title The Romance of American Landscape, and bears that running title here. This copy has an intriguing early pencilled inscription: “The 1st book my Father gave me came out of his book store - C.L.”
Binding: Publisher's brown sheep in imitation of morocco, covers with embossed grapevine and latticework border stamped in black and with decorative gilt-stamped title (“LANDSCAPE ANNUAL”); spine with same gilt-stamped title and gilt- and black-stamped decorations. All edges gilt.
Sabin 70958; Wright, II, 2030. Not in BAL. Binding as above, light wear to edges and extremities. Hinges (inside) starting. Front fly-leaf with inscription as above; additional engraved title-page with vignette of Mt. Vernon, lacking. Intermittent light to moderate foxing, mostly to margins of plates.
Lovely book, lovely copy. (26679)
Manuscript
Cookery
Book — Auburn, New York
Richardson, Charlotte A. Autograph manuscript
signed, in English, on paper. Auburn, NY, ca. 1896–1920 with additions in another
hand from ca. 1930–45. 8vo, 142 pp. (some blank).
$95.00
In the "Sundries" section of Richardson's very full recipe book
we find "canopé [sic] Washington," as well as canapés
of cheese, sardines, and shrimp. Her book is a mixture of handwritten recipes,
others clipped from newspapers and magazines, and some carefully typed on slips
of paper. Some of the handwritten ones are identified as to source: "Sarah's
Ginger Bread" originated with Sara [sic] A. Green of 146 West Pearl Street
in "B." while the walnut wafers are attributed to Marguerite Stenart Thatcher.
One tipped-in recipe is "Mrs. Calvin Coolidge's Favorite `New Orleans Stew.'"
With the expected cake and pickle recipes are some surprises, showing newly-introduced
possibilities brought about by the innovations of the 20th century: peanut
croquettes, brownies, and chocolate cakes made using cocoa powder are
good examples.
A stock copy book, each page ruled in blue; flexible covers.
Very good condition with the expectable amount of dark offsetting from the
pasted-in newspaper articles.
For
more COOKERY, much of it
American — click here.
“Was She Always So?”
Richmond, Legh. The dairyman's daughter: An authentic narrative ... A new edition, comprising much additional matter. New York: Carlton & Lanahan; San Francisco: E. Thomas; Cincinnati: Hitchcock & Walden, (ca. 1842). 12mo. Frontis., 176 pp.
$75.00
Attractive edition of the hugely popular, oft-printed 19th-century religious treatise retelling the life of Elizabeth Wallbridge, who died young not long after renouncing her worldly ways and becoming a devout Christian.
Publisher's blind-stamped blue cloth, rebacked preserving original gilt-stamped spine; edges rubbed, spine darkened. Pages clean. (20711)
.
. . Again I feel the pressure / Of
her slender little hand . . .
Riley,
James Whitcomb. An old sweetheart of
mine. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1902. Frontis., [62] pp; 17 plts.
$100.00

This heart-warming and charming gem by the well-known Hoosier poet has drawings
by famed American illustrator Howard Chandler Christy and pink decorations by Virginia Keep. It
is “an extended version . . . the short version first appeared in Old-Fashioned Roses, 1888" (BAL).
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
Binding: Green cloth
binding stamped in gilt, red and green (we have seen a variant in a wine colored
cloth). Pictorial onlay signed by Christy.
BAL 16657. Corners and
edges slightly rubbed. Inscribed. A beautiful copy. (24838)

Armstrong–Christy Production
Riley, James Whitcomb. Out to Old Aunt May's. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., (copyright 1904). Frontis., [50] pp; 20 plts.
$60.00
First legitimate published edition of the extended version of this poem (a briefer version appeared in the periodical Afterwhiles in 1888, and an earlier book-form printing was for copyright purposes only according to BAL). This is the first printing, matching the points described by BAL, in binding state A.
This nostalgic evocation of the exploits of two young boys at their aunt's countryside house is illustrated with 20 full-page plates and numerous smaller “studies from nature” by Howard Chandler Christy. Margaret Armstrong designed the binding, including the floral framing decorations and the endpapers are signed with her “MA.”
BAL 16667; Gullans, A checklist of trade bindings by M. Armstrong. Publisher's green cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and white-stamped decorative frame around an affixed half-tone portrait, spine decoratively stamped in gilt and white; corners and spine extremities very slightly rubbed, back cover with small adhesion, binding otherwise clean and beautiful. Sewing loosening a bit; this is heavy paper. (24864)

Raising & Studying
“Fairy Creatures”
Robertson-Miller, Ellen. Butterfly and moth book. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1912. 8vo. Frontis., xviii, [2], 249, [1] pp.; illus.
$65.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
First edition. “Personal studies and observations of the more familiar species . . . with illustrations from drawings by the author and photographs by J. Lionel King, G.A. Bash, Dr. F.D. Snyder and others.”
“Personal” this is, both in construction and in style; it is written in accessible language and with wonder given full rein.
But it is real science. (Robertson-Miller published in agricultural and other scientific journals.)
Binding: Publisher's sage green cloth, front cover and spine stamped in olive, black, and pale green.
Bound as above with lower edge of front cover darkened, corners and spine extremities lightly rubbed. Front hinge slightly tender. Pages clean. (22214)

“Dr Franklin” — Illustrated
Robinson, David F. Stories about Dr. Franklin, designed for the instruction and amusement of children. Hartford: D.F. Robinson & Co. (pr. by P. Canfield), 1829. 16mo (13.1 cm, 5.25"). 69, [3] pp.; illus.
$147.50

Uncommon first edition of this juvenile version of Franklin's biography, illustrated with 10 woodcuts, six hand-colored.
Click the image at right for an enlargement.
Shoemaker 40547. Not in Rosenbach, Early American Children's Books. Publisher's printed yellow paper wrappers, front wrapper lacking, back wrapper stained with edges nicked, spine overstitched at a later date. Moderate spotting and staining to pages; corners bumped. Slightly tattered: first few leaves with short tear from outer margin, not touching text; title-page and subsequent two leaves with short tear from inner margin, extending into text without loss. (24545)
Inspiration,
“Biblology,”
Attributes,
Angels
Robinson, Ezekiel
Gilman. Manuscript on paper, in English. “Christian theology
by E.G. Robinson, D.D. Vol. I & Vol. II.” Rochester, NY: 1868–69.
8vo (20.3 cm, 8"). 2 vols. I: [4], 316 pp. II: [4], 315, [1] pp.
$450.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Highly detailed lecture notes from a course on Baptist theology
taught at Rochester Theological Seminary, neatly transcribed in 1868 and 1869
by A. Coil. Dr. Robinson (1815–94) was president and professor of theology
at Rochester, and later president of Brown University. Originally intended for
the use of his students, the present work was privately printed in partial form
in 1872 but not officially and fully published until the year of Robinson's
death — doubtless, with a number of interesting differences from what
was recorded by Mr. Coil.
The final section of the first volume and first section of the second volume
here are on angels; the second has also an interesting section on the "Salvation
of Infants." The preface to the printed text notes that “however
[readers] may value this book, the printed page can only imperfectly indicate
the power of the living teacher,” and it is fair to feel closer to that
teacher via these volumes.
Original half sheep and textured paper–covered sides,
spines with gilt-ruled compartments; bindings rubbed overall, front cover
of vol. I detached, spines sunned and with remnants of paper shelving labels.
All edges marbled. Front free endpapers with early inked ownership inscription.
Pages clean. (26318)
Printed
by
Lydia
Bailey
First
Edition Uncut,
Untrimmed
Robinson, William Davis. Memoirs of the Mexican
revolution: Including a narrative of the expedition of General Xavier Mina....
Philadelphia: Pr. for the author, [by] Lydia R. Bailey, pr., 1820. 8vo (28.4
cm, 9.25"). xxxvi, 396 pp.
$850.00
Click the interior image for an enlargement.
First edition of a highly important eye-witness account
of Mexico during the late years of its wars for Independence. Robinson was one
of the first U.S. writers on Mexican matters and here provides the first detailed
information in English on General Mina's expedition against the royalist forces
of Mexico, launched from the Southern U.S. Robinson also broaches here the possibility
of a trans-isthmian canal through Nicaragua.
Shoemaker 3035; Sabin 72202; this edition not in Palau. Contemporary
boards, rebacked with paper in the style of the era; original paper label
reapplied. Uncut copy with edges untrimmed. Library bookplate with stamps
on it, but no other institutional markings.

POETRY in a
Frankly Magnificent Embossed Binding
Signed by Gaskill
Rogers, Samuel; Thomas Campbell; James Montgomery; et al. The poetical works of Rogers, Campbell, J. Montgomery, Lamb, and Kirke White. Philadelphia: Grigg & Elliot, 1841. 8vo (22.4 cm, 8.8"). Frontis., vii, [1], 98, [2], [v]–viii, 66, [2], [v]–viii, 195, [1], v, [1], 29, [1], xxiii, [1], 56 pp.
$400.00
Deluxe poetry compilation. The frontispiece engraving, offering portraits of the poets set within an embellished architectural frame, was done by G.B. Ellis; the text is set in double columns, with annotations.
Click the images for enlargements.
Binding: Signed binding by Gaskill: Oxblood calf ornately embossed with a central medallion of Aurora in her chariot, surrounded by foliate designs, within a framing roll of drawer-handles and tulips; spine with gilt-stamped authors' names and embossed foliate designs; board edges and turn-ins with gilt rolls. All edges gilt.
American Imprints 41-4210; Wolf, From Gothic Windows to Peacocks, 190. Binding as above, corners and spine extremities showing faint traces of wear. Moderate foxing throughout.
A beautiful example of Philadelphia Victorian high book culture and of a classic Gaskill binding in particular. (25994)
Rollins, Carl Purington. This house of havoc. New York: Pr. by the Press of the Woolly Whale for the American Institute of Graphic Arts, 1941. 8vo. 16 pp.
$25.00
Printed for those attending the presentation of the medal of the American Institute of Graphic Arts to Rollins, long (and influentially) the University Printer at Yale and a master of printing, typography, and type design. The sentiments here are conservative and nostalgic to the point of being cranky; the booklet is lovely. Sewn in publisher’s printed paper wrappers; clean and all but unworn, with the lower outer corners just slightly bumped.

Dr. Rush in
NON-Medical Mode
Rush, Benjamin. An account of the manners of the German inhabitants of Pennsylvania, written in 1789...notes added by Prof. I. Daniel Rupp. Philadelphia: Samuel P. Town, 1875. 12mo. Frontis. (port.), 72 pp.
$75.00
Rush gives a complimentary account of the Pennsylvania Dutch, which Rupp has amply annotated and published for him posthumously. Frontispiece is a wood engraving of “I.D. Rupp.” A page of advertisements has been bound in at the end.
Click the images for enlargements.
Provenance: Pencilled ownership inscriptions of James A. Hoffman, Kutztown (PA), 1877. “Thou shalt not steal.”
Sabin 74200; Howes R516. Contemporary green publisher's cloth with light wear and one spot to back cover. An article, “A Lesson in Pronunciation for Germans” has been affixed to the rear pastedown. A nice clean copy. (3043)
The Trent Affair
Rush, Benjamin. Letter on the rebellion, to a citizen of Washington from a citizen of Philadelphia. Philadelphia: John Campbell, 1862. 8vo. 23, [1 (blank)] pp.
$75.00


The author, a grandson of Dr. Benjamin Rush, defends the actions of Captain Wilkes in the so-called Trent affair, which involved the interception of a British vessel on the high seas and the capture of two Confederate emissaries on board. Sabin 74243.
Sewn as issued. Once folded in six parts. Long 2 1/2 inch tears extending from fore-edges, to first three leaves. Two dog-eared corners, a few short tears to final leaf, two small holes with loss of a few words of text. (557)
An
AMERICAN
Statesman
in London
Rush, Richard. Memoranda of a residence at the court of
London, comprising incidents official and personal from 1819 to 1825. Including negotiations on
the Oregon question, and other unsettled questions between the United States and Great Britain.
Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845. 8vo (24.5 cm, 9.6"). xii, 640 pp.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition of the second series about Rush's involvement with
the negotiations between Great Britain and the United States on the conflicting
claims to Oregon, and other “diplomatic maneuvers” (Howes). Rush
was the American envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from 1817
to 1825; in addition to the political content, he here provides a good amount
of information on his
social and cultural activities while
in London.
Sabin 74265; Howes R523; Allibone 1893. Publisher's brown
cloth, blind-stamped, spine with gilt-stamped title and blind-stamped decorations;
rubbed with cloth split at joints and front cover with spot of discoloration.
Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate on front pastedown, old
inked call number on endpapers and flyleaf (which has small old adhesions
of paper to verso); no other markings. Very light to moderate waterstaining
to upper inner portions of central third of the volume. (26480)
Maritime Piety
The sabbath at sea; or the history of Samuel Newman. New York: American Tract Society, [ca. 1832-1838]. 16mo. 28 pp. (covers numbered 2 & 3).
$75.00
Vol. 5, no. 141 of the publications of the American Tract Society: A short tale in which sailors worship first at the floating Chapel for Seamen, then learn to conduct their own onboard services. The title vignette is a wood engraving by Alexander Anderson.
Publisher's printed paper wrappers, apparently removed from a nonce volume, with sewing holes; paper split over spine, with edges chipped and corners creased. Pages showing light foxing. (15359)

Written & Published
Here in Philadelphia
. . . This the
English Version
Salazar, J[osé] M[aría].
Observations on the political reforms of Colombia. Tr. from the manuscript by
Edward Barry. Philadelphia: Pr. by William Stavely, 1828. 8vo. 47, [1 (blank)]
pp.
$1250.00
The author of this was a native of Antioquia, a lawyer, and a diplomat;
he wrote this treatise while serving as the Venezuelan plenipotentiary minister
to the United States. It was printed for the first time in Philadelphia, and
appeared simultaneously in two editions, one in English and the other in Spanish.
Writing in hopes of influencing the congress of Grand Colombia, which in 1826
was considering revising the constitution, Salazar offers his noteworthy, extended
thoughts on what political organization would be best.
This
is a very scarce book. Palau did not know of this English translation,
and fewer than eight U.S. libraries report owning a copy of it.
Palau 286648 (for the Spanish-language edition); Sabin 75576;
Shoemaker 35093a. Recent quarter dark green morocco with marbled paper sides.
Pages 3 through 6 are supplied in xerographic facsimile. Browning and foxing.
(Saleman’s
Sample Book). Lewis, William Dodge, ed.
The new Winston simplified dictionary and reference library. Philadelphia: Universal
Book & Bible House, copyright 1937. 8vo (22.5 cm, 8.9"). Frontis., [approx.
145] pp.; 25 plts. [with] Brown, Thomas Kite,
Jr., ed. The new Winston
simplified dictionary for young people. Philadelphia: Universal Book & Bible
House, 1937. Frontis., [approx. 126] pp.; 20 plts.
$150.00
Mock-up of these two Winston reference books, with numerous in-text
illustrations as well as color-printed plates and maps. These are more sample
books than canvassing items, with only the front pastedown providing testimonial
information and the text otherwise consisting of straight excerpts from the
intended publication.
The outer binding is red textured cloth with the front cover stamped in black
and gilt, and the interior front cover sample for the children’s version
is a different red textured cloth stamped in black. The leaves for subscribers’information
are unused.
Not in Arbour. Publisher’s cloth as described above, gently
worn with corners rubbed and small scrape to front cover. Interior clean.
For more SAMPLE BOOKS, & an explanation of
what these ARE, click here.
Canandaigua
Imprint
Sampson, Ezra.
The brief remarker on the ways of man. Or compendious dissertations, respecting
social and domestic relations and concerns, and the various economy of life;
designed for, and adapted to,
the
use of American academies and common schools. Canandaigua,
N.Y.: Pr. by J.D. Bemis & Co., 1821. 12mo. 264 pp.
$65.00
A nice Finger Lakes region edition of this uncommon title. Shoemaker 6710. Publisher's sheep. Abrasions to covers and spine, with pieces of leather flaked off; joints abraded. Foxing. Tear to rear free endpaper. Bookplate on front pastedown. (1078)

A Classic of Modern American Poetry
Sandburg, Carl. Good morning, America. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1928. 8vo. x, [6], 251, [1] pp.
$25.00
First trade edition of this important collection from a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.
Click the images for enlargements.
Publisher's blue cloth, front cover and spine with gilt-stamped title; edges and extremities lightly worn, spine darkened, evidence of something round once set on cover, scattered small spots of light discoloration. Interior clean and nice. (26682)

OnFever (Not Gold Rush Fever) for the American West
Sappington, John. The theory and treatment of fevers ... Revised and corrected by Ferdinando Stith. Arrow Rock [Mo.] : Published by the author, 1844. 12mo (16.5 cm; 6.5"). 216 pp.
$325.00
Click the interior images for enlargements.
Two firsts “crown” this small book: The first medical book in English published west of the Mississippi and the first medical book printed in Missouri. In it Sappington, a non-medical school trained doctor, advocates the use of quinine in cases of malaria, as well he might have, for he made a goodly sum of money purveying his quinine pills during various malaria epidemics.
A famous work of medical Western Americana.
Provenance: Bookplate (late 19th-, early 20th-century) of “H.P. Engle, M.D.”, probably the Iowan of that name.
Sabin 76909; Cushing S73; Heirs of Hippocrates 1321; Cordasco 40-1154. Publisher's sheep: worn, joints open and boards soon to detach. Foxing as usual. Now with a paper dust wrapper, image of the title-page gracing its front, and housed in a red cloth clamshell case with two neat leather spine labels. (25101)

Presidential
Poems from
“The
Poet & Philosopher”
Schmidt, Fritz Leopold. Our presidents in verse. New
York: The Poet & Philosopher Magazine, © 1925. 12mo (17.3 cm, 6.8"). Frontis., [4], xii, 111,
[1], xiii–xvii, [1] pp.; illus.
$100.00
Click the images for enlargements.
First edition: Sonnets on the presidents of the United States
of America from Washington through Harding, each illustrated with a halftone
portrait. This volume was a free giveaway for subscribers to the Poet &
Philosopher Magazine, of which Schmidt was at one time the editor, and is
now not often seen on the market. An errata slip is tipped in at the front.
Different
readers will of course have different favorites; one PRB&Mer's is the
poem on Van Buren, beginning, “A panic wild has seized our glorious
land!” and moving to its denoument with that president couch[ing his]
lance anent / Commercial Ruin, who on the field is slain.”
Publisher's blue cloth with all edges rose; gilt-stamped title
on front cover and spine, blind-stamped American eagle on front cover; spine
very slightly darkened, extremities a bit rubbed, back cover with spots of
light discoloration. A solid, clean copy, better-looking than above description
might imply. (26694)

“Apikuni's” Letter, Signed
Life among the Blackfeet Indians
Schultz, James Willard (a.k.a., Apikuni). Typed Letter Signed to Dr. George Bird Grinnell. In English, on paper. “Bozeman, Montana: 1929. Folio (28 cm, 11"). [1] f. (verso blank).
$450.00
James Willard Schultz (1859–1947) was a popular and prolific author whose colorful stories about the frontier drew upon his personal experiences while living with the Blackfeet Indians, in northwest Montana; he was married to a Blackfeet woman and Appekunny Mountain in Glacier National Park is named for him.
The letter begins: Dear Pinutoyi Istsimokan: Your letter of January 24, about Joe Butch (Henkel). Yes, he is an old timer, but terribly unreliable.” (Unreliable though Henkel may have been, he, too, had a mountain named for him.)
Schultz goes on to tell Grinnell that he is currently writing a story “whenever a lessening of neuritis pain permits.” There are two paragraphs about Eli Guardipee, a Métis, who has been with him for a month helping him with the Blackfeet language. He writes, “I gave him a very pleasant time of it, good room and meals, plenty of good beer, and sent him to a motion picture show nearly every evening. . . . He knows the Blackfeet language better than any mixed blood or white man I ever knew, and loves to dig into the real meaning of its words and expressions.” Other topics include his study of Nahwatosis (or Blackfeet tobacco) and his desire to be called before a Congressional Committee investigating the Indian Bureau.
Grinnell was an anthropologist, naturalist, and significant writer/editor as to the American West; he actually discovered the Montana glacier that bears his name.
As it was sent, with some later folds; slight chipping at edges. (24631)
(SCIENCE
of SOAP).
Manuscript/print extracts on paper, in English. [Northeast U.S., 1899–1902].
8vo (20.3 cm, 8"). [106 (44 blank)] ff.
$175.00
Florilegium of late 19th– and early 20th–century science
pertaining to soapmaking, composed of both hand-inscribed material and clippings
from various periodicals. In addition to such articles as “The Specific
Heat of Glycerin Waste Lyes and Crude Glycerin,” the volume contains an
advertisement for a patented soap frame, chemical analyses of various soap-related
commercial products, information on running a boiler room efficiently, and statistics
regarding the fat yield of a steer; also present are occasional motivational
pieces entirely unrelated to soap.
Pebbled cloth, lightly worn. Leaves with minor cockling, some
staining and offsetting. Some pages with portions excised; one leaf excised
entirely.

An
Arctic Explorer
Scoresby-Jackson, R. E. The Life of William Scoresby.
London, Edinburgh, & New York: T. Nelson & Sons, 1861. 8vo. Frontis., engr. title-page, ix, [1
(blank)] pp., fold. map, pp. [9]–406 pp., 5 color plates.
$650.00
Click the images for enlargements.
Scoresby-Jackson (bap. 1833, d. 1867) was a physician and geographer and the
nephew of William Scoresby, the famed Arctic explorer. DNB online says of him and this work:
“He remains best-known for his life of his uncle, William Scoresby, published in 1861. It is a
sympathetic account of a man who captured the public imagination for his lonely scientific
endeavours and selfless following of his Christian vocation.”The work is illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, a folding map of the coast of
Greenland and part of the Arctic Circle, and five plates in color (notably “ice blue”) of snow
flakes, ice floes, an atmospheric phenomenon, and two views of different parts of the Greenland
coast.
Sabin 35452 & 78184. Publisher's purple textured
cloth, boards blind embossed and front one with a gilt center device; spine sunned; lettered in
gilt. Top of spine with small loss of cloth and an excellent repair; one plate with a separated
sliver of tissue-guard adhered to it. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, very light
rubber- and pressure-stamp on title-page, pressure-stamp on another page, light rubber stamp on
map, no other markings. A good++ copy. (26822)

“Neither
Romance Nor Pure History”
— The Pilgrims &
Their Departure from England
Sears, Edmund H. Pictures of the olden time, as shown
in the fortunes of a family of the Pilgrims. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co.; Cincinnati: George S.
Blanchard; London: Sampson Low, Son, & Co., 1857. 12mo (19.8 cm, 7.75"). viii, 342 pp.
$100.00
First edition: Historical novel based on the author's
genealogical researches, with chapters entitled “The Exile,” “The
Adventurer,” and “The Pilgrim.” Sears later in the same year
issued a now-rare private edition of this work which included a spurious pedigree
of Richard Sears, not present here. The
Massachusetts-born Sears was a Unitarian minister and author of the famous carol
“It Came upon the Midnight Clear.
Click
the images for enlargements.
Wright, II, 2174; Sabin 78641. Publisher's brown cloth,
covers blind-stamped with star-shaped design, spine with gilt-stamped title
and blind-stamped decoration; binding cocked and rubbed, spine extremities
chipped. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number
on pastedown and fly-leaf, front free endpaper lacking, title-page pressure-stamped.
No other markings. Pages faintly age-toned, otherwise clean. (26565)
Practical
Manual for
“OUTERS”
Seneca
[pseud. of Henry H. Soule]. Canoe
and camp cookery: A practical cook book for canoeists, Corinthian sailors and
outers. New York: Forest & Stream Publishing Co., 1893. 12mo (19.3 cm, 7.6").
96 pp.
$190.00
Second edition, following the first of 1885. This cookbook thumbs
its nose at any “good housewife” or “careful cook” who
would try to tell a camper to send boiled corn to table in a napkin (p. vii)
without having bothered to mention salting the water or even how much water
to use, favoring instead rough-and-ready preparations with very specific instructions.
Recipes make use of the obvious venison as well as squirrel, woodchuck, porcupine,
and opossum; a brief guide to identifying edible mushrooms is present.
Click
the images for enlargements.
The author was physically disabled from childhood, but admired by his fellow
students at Cornell both for his fierce independence and for his enthusiasm
for outdoor life: “On more than one occasion the young fellow who could
not walk a foot without his crutches, or swim a stroke, has paddled his frail
canoe from Ithaca to Syracuse . . . sleeping under his boat at night and with
no other companion than his dog” (Chi Phi Quarterly, vol. XI,
no. 2, 74–75).
This is the original second edition,
not
a modern reprint or facsimile.
Binding: Publisher's blue
cloth, front cover with gilt- and black-stamped title and pictorial vignettes,
spine with gilt-stamped title.
Brown, Culinary Americana, 2521. Binding with
minor rubbing to corners and spine extremities, spine slightly sunned. Front
free endpaper with pencilled gift inscription.
A
beautiful copy of an unusual and intriguing testament to the pleasures of
Nature and its offerings. (26676)
PLACE
AN ORDER |
E-MAIL US |
PRB&M HOME