AMERICANA AFTER 1820

NOT a “Collector's Copy” — ButFUN to Have
in This Early Form

•  First edition, second printing; top page edges stained gray as issued, M. McKnight Kauffer listed on front dust jacket flap.

•  Cloth with a few light spots, spine extremities faintly worn, dust jacket with slightly ragged edges and some spine fading. (2113)

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      & UNDER,  click here.

The Party of Lincoln

•  A piece of literature for the 1860 Republican Presidential campaign, as evidenced by the full-page party advertisement on the last page. Ferry is a strong anti-slavery speaker.

•  Folded, never bound.

“Domestic Life on Shipboard”

Click the images for enlargements.

•  First edition: A charming, giddy (for the most part) maritime romance set on a trip from New York to California, written from the perspective of a lighthearted would-be adventurer. This is the genuine first edition, not a reprint.

•  Sabin 24947; Wright, I, 965. Publisher's speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rubbed, spine label with small scuffs, some leaves pulling away from sewing. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate, pressure-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Waterstaining (appropriately?) to inner margins of first few leaves, with lower inner margins of those leaves nicked; spotting and staining variously. (26375)

SIGNED by the Author — Gerald Ford

•  This copy is SIGNED by President Gerald Ford. From Easton Press's “Library of the Presidents” series, this offering includes the introductory pamphlet by Henry Kissinger.

Stepping into the presidency amidst scandal, war, and a poor economy, Gerald Ford was presented with some very difficult leadership challenges. On the one hand, he was the right man at the right time: His honesty and reassurance restored the confidence in the presidency that been lost during the Watergate scandal, and his negotiation of the Helsinki Agreement contributed to the end of the Cold War. However, Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon eroded much of the trust he had built early in his term. This fateful decision, together with the fall of Saigon and his inability to “whip inflation,” were the main factors that cost him reelection. This memoir speaks to his role in navigating the challenges of his time with the same honesty and straightforwardness that characterized his tenure as president.

•  Full red leather, covers lavishly gilt-stamped with a pattern of elephants, spine with raised bands, gilt title, author's name, and gilt elephants within “compartments.” Endpapers bear a version of the image of the obverse side of the Great Seal of the United States. Silk ribbon placemarker. All edges gilt. Fine condition.  (23605)

Yes, That Henry Ford

•  First edition: Guide to old-time American dances, illustrated with images of Benjamin B. Lovett, Ford's personal dancemaster, and Lovett's wife; the volume also includes numerous depictions of foot placement and dance positions, as well as adictionary of dance terms and sheet music for two quadrilles, the Lancers “Oriental,” and a number of other dance tunes. Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Publisher's quarter brown cloth and brown printed paper–covered sides, minimal wear. Clean and fresh.  (26829)

How to be aGood & Well-Liked Little Girl or Boy

•  A sparkling, as new set. “My Uncle Toby's Library” was the first children's series published by Wise (1813–98), an English-born Methodist Episcopal pastor, author, and editor who emigrated to New England in 1833. Originally published in 1853–54, this series comprises twelve illustrated didactic tales, eight of which are uniformly bound here as a charming and attractive set. The titles present are: Arthur Elleslie; or, the Brave Boy; Minnie Brown; or, the Gentle Girl; Ralph Rattler; or, the Mischief-Maker; Aunt Amy; or, How Minnie Brown Learned to Be a Sunbeam; Fretful Lillia; or, the Girl Who Was Compared to a Stingnettle; Minnie's Picnic; or, a Day in the Woods; Cousin Nelly; or, the Visitor; and Minnie's Playroom; or, How to Practise Calisthenics. The last-named volume involves Minnie and her friends learning various exercises (with dumbbells and other equipment) under the watchful eye of instructor Miss Pinkney, and is illustrated with woodcuts of the movements.

•  Sternick 496.4 (describing binding as red).   Publisher's blind-stamped green textured cloth, spines gilt extra; bindings fresh and clean. Eight vols. of 12 present. Each volume with inked ownership inscription dated 1863 on front free endpaper. Pages slightly age-toned with occasional faint offsetting from illustrations, generally clean. A beautiful set, virtually as new.  (24423)

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This Should Be Thought Of Partly as a GERMAN Americanum!

•  Franklin College was ancestor to today's Franklin & Marshall College and its Charter suggests much of its flavor. The founding trustees are a Who's Who of Pennsylvanians, both English and German; future trustees are to be chosen half from Lutherans and the other half from the Reformed or "Calvinist Church"; youth are to be instructed in the "German, English, Latin, Greek, and other learned languages" (note order); one-sixth of the endowment is to be used to support an adjunct children's charity school; etc. An interesting 19th-century educational ephemerum, apparently not in NUC Pre-1956.

•  Sewn; in original wrappers.

The FRANKLIN Company

•  By the terms of this document, shareholders had to be U.S. citizens, directors were barred from borrowing funds from the corporation, and no more than $10,000 of annual income could come from any real estate holdings owned by the company.
Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Sabin 61675; not in Shoemaker. Original plain blue-green wrappers, chipping over spine, front wrapper with inked title and numeral. Sewing going, with signatures loose in wrappers. Title-page with three-digit stamped number and with pencilled notation in upper margin. A very scarce publication.

Fremont's Third Expedition

California

Click the image to the right for an enlargement.

•  John Charles Frémont (1813–90) was born in Savanannah, Georgia, a strong and activist opponent of slavery, a born explorer, and strong-headed and -willed. His service in California during the Mexican War, for the Union during the Civil War, etc., in many ways shows why he was tapped to be a presidential candidate; but it was certainly his role as an explorer that captured the imagination and the hearts of many Americans.

Here Frémont presents to the U.S. Senate his formal report on his third expedition to the West. The map referred to in the title wasissued separately under title “Map of Oregon and Upper California. . . 1848" and is not present; hence the affordable price here.

The original edition, not a reprint. A government publication: [U.S.] 30th Cong., 2d sess. House. Misc. [doc.] 5.

•  Sabin 25837; Howes F366; Wagner-Camp-Becker, Plains and Rockies, 150:2.   Recent marbled paper–covered boards with leather label on front cover. Occasional light foxing.  (24883)

Chirognomy for the Curious: Practical Palmistry

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  Entertainingly written introduction to palm-reading, originally published in 1883 under the title Chiromancy or the Science of Palmistry. The volume is illustrated by Dora Noyes with19 figures depicting different types of hands.

Binding:  Publisher's limp dark blue-green cloth, front cover and spine with black-stamped title, front cover with yellow-stamped palm diagram.

•  Cloth slightly wrinkled over front cover, corners and spine extremities showing minor rubbing. Pages clean.  (26696)

Fancy WorkIllustrated

Click the images for enlargements.

•  First edition: “Being a complete guide to all kinds of ladies' fancy work, with full descriptions of all the various stitches and materials, and a large number of illustrations for each variety of work.” The illustrations are indeed present in quite a large number, and beautifully represent the wide range of techniques and projects described.

Binding: Publisher's red cloth, front cover with elaborate black-stamped frame and gilt-stamped title.

•  Bound as above with extremities rubbed, spine sunned, spine and back cover with spattered staining; front hinge (inside) tender yet holding. Front fly-leaf with inked gift inscription dated 1955 and with considerably older, rubber-stamped owner's name lined through. Pages clean. Advertisement leaves at end, fascinating.  (26620)

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