MUSIC & DANCE
MUSIC & DANCE
The ESSAYS that Made Lamb's Reputation — 1st U.S. Edition 
Lamb, Charles. Elia. Essays which have appeared under that signature in the London Magazine. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea, & Carey (pr. by Mifflin & Parry, and J.R.A. Skerrett), 1828. 12mo (I: 18.4 cm, 7.25", II: 16.8cm, 6.6"). 2 vols. I: 292 pp. II: 230 pp. (both vols. without ads.).
Click the images for enlargements. 
true
first edition of the unofficial second series, of Lamb's pseudonymously
published essays for the London Magazine. These eloquently written pieces
mingle humor and pathos as they describe the experiences of the author and his
acquaintances while attending boarding school, playing whist,
listening
to music, visiting Quaker meetings, etc. Food is a recurring
topic (“A Dissertation upon Roast Pig”); there are two essays on
Valentine's Day (one in each volume), and several on plays and actors.
The first series made its first appearance in book form in London, 1823. The authorized second series was not published until 1833, under the title The Last Essays of Elia; the pieces selected for the unauthorized American second series offered here are different from those contained in that volume, and mistakenly include three essays written by other hands.
• Shoemaker 33813 & 33814; NCBEL, III, 1225; NSTC 2L2346. Vol. I: Uncut copy. Publisher's quarter once-red cloth and paper sides, covers printed with “Elia” within a simple frame, spine with printed paper label; binding rubbed and lightly soiled, spine sunned to yellow. Repaired tear to one leaf, touching text without loss; remarkably clean and sound. Vol. II: Contemporary speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rubbed, and head of spine chipped with old refurbishing. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number ticket on front pastedown, front free endpaper with inked numerals, title-page pressure-stamped. Author's name inked on title-page; front free endpaper and title-page reinforced at fore-edge (the latter from the back). Both volumes age-toned, with intermittent spots of staining; advertisements absent. The set now housed in a quarter blue morocco and blue cloth–covered clamshell case with marbled paper–covered sides and gilt-stamped spine. (26434)
Free
Yourself from
the
Tyranny
of Tuners
Martin, H.T. Every woman her own piano tuner; or,
hints and aids to piano tuning. Cleveland: Standard Music Co., © 1880. 12mo (14.6 cm, 5.75").
48 pp.
Click the image for an enlargement. • Publisher's quarter cloth and printed paper–covered boards;
front cover worn and stained, spine chewed in three spots. Pages age-toned,
otherwise clean. 
Just
— COOL! (26662)
With Printed Music —
Edmund Dulac's Last
Project
Milton, John, & Henry Lawes. The masque of Comus. Cambridge: Printed for the members of The Limited Editions Club at the University Press, 1954. 4to. [1 (blank)] p., [1 (blank)] f., [3 (2 blank)], frontis., [6 (2 blanks)], 3–59 pp., [1 (blank)] p., 12 pp. of printed music, [2 (1 blank)] pp., [1 (blank)] f., [1 (blank)] p.; 5 plts.
The illustrations are full-page watercolors, six in all, by Edmund Dulac. The LEC Bibliography says they were "printed in process offset," but this is in error: The mailing notice asserts they were "reproduced in six printings by the Sun Engraving Company," and a member of the family that owned that enterprise observes to us that it did not in fact have offset presses—while it was noted for its color letterpress productions, including the original (1940) Szyk Haggadah.
The design is by John Dreyfus, who chose a monotype Bembo font printed by the University of Cambridge Press; the engraving of the music was done by G.T. Friend. The binding is quarter gold-stamped vellum with marbled paper sides; top edges are gilt. Since Hubert Foss and Edmund Dulac both died during the production of this book, a one-page photo-print from The Times of London's obituary section summarizing the achievements of these two men has been included with this offering. The monthly letter and mailing notice are also present.
• Limited Editions Club, Bibliography of the Fine Books Published by The Limited Editions Club, 1929–1985, 250. Two tiny stains on the fore-edge, a penstroke marking p. 54, and two other pen-point spots. With the original slipcase.
The First Rules of the
First New World Cathedral Choir — SCARCE Montúfar, Alonso de. [drop-title] Nos don fr. Alonso de Montufar. [Mexico: no publisher/printer, 1803]. Small 8vo (15 cm, 6"). 24 pp.
Click the image for an enlargement. Scarce: We trace only 5 copies in U.S. libraries. The work begins with a fabulous full-page engraving of the Virgin of Guadalupe that also incorporates the coat of arms of Mexico.
• Medina, Mexico, 9609. Not Grajales & Burrus. Plain wrappers as issued. A good+ copy. (19474)
“A Second Edition of My Mutilated Poems”Neal, John. The battle of Niagara: Second edition — enlarged: With other poems. Baltimore: N.G. Maxwell (pr. by B. Edes), 1819. 18mo (15.6 cm, 6.2"). Add. engr. t.-p., 272 pp. 
“Goldau:
Or the Maniac Harper,” along with a few shorter works. Neal, who went on to become a prominent voice in 19th-century American literature, describes in the preface here his distress over the first edition, which he calls “crowded and disfigured with innumerable errors — chiefly typographical, however; though in some cases, whole lines were left out . . .” Alas, this edition also required an errata leaf.
• BAL 14856; Shaw & Shoemaker 48824; Wegelin 1066. On Neal, see: Dictionary of American Biography, XIII, 398–99. Period-style quarter tan cloth over light blue paper–covered boards, spine with printed paper label. Dedication page and a few others (not including title) stamped by a now-defunct institution. Waterstaining to upper margins and some inner page parts, with final leaves darkened and a few spotted with foxing. Some upper edges chipped; final leaf with inner margin repaired.
BENEDICTINES Come
to the New World
A
FINE Engraved Title-Page & 18 Splendid Plates[Plautius, Caspar]. Nova typis transacta navigatio novi orbis Indiae occidentalis.... [Linz], 1621. Folio (32.6 cm, 12.875"). )(4 (-)(4, blank) A–M4 N4 (-N4, blank); Engr. t.-p., [2] ff., 101, [1] pp.; 18 plts. 
This
book bears an ornate, emblematic engraved title-page, with portraits of St.
Brendan and Boyl and more, and no fewer than 18 leaf-filling plates by Wolfgang
Kilian. These plates, which mixfancy and realism in entirely engaging ways, include
a portrait of Columbus, a scene of St. Brendan celebrating mass on the back of a whale, botanical images of the marvelous Peruvian potato, and numerous views of the missionaries’interaction with the natives, some friendly, and some not—the unfriendliest being notably violent and gory. Also, on p. 35–36 is given an example of purportednative
American music, with both words and notation. This copy is one (probably the first) of two states of this sole edition (with only three leaves in the preliminaries), without the additional foldout plate found in some copies.
• Alden & Landis, European Americana, 621/100; Sabin 63367; Palau 224762. Binding as above and shown at left (distortion noted), chipped on corners and at head and foot of spine. Small wormholes visible on inside of covers, running into margins of pages and plates, and a few closed tears, neither affecting print or plates. Engraved title remounted. Small stains, light spots of waterstaining, and light soiling.
A
very covetable illustrated Americanum of the early 17th century, in an enjoyable copy.
Single-click
any image above, for an enlargement.
“In Vienna Everyone Worships the Opera” Prawy, Marcel. The Vienna Opera. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1970 (© 1969). 4to. 224 pp.; illus.
extensively illustrated history of “the very center of Viennese culture.”
Click the image for an enlargement. • Publisher's cloth, virtually pristine, in excellent dust wrapper with minimal rubbing to spine extremities. (26317)
The Choir
Master ofPopayán, 1621Ramírez Carrillo, Alonso. Manuscript document, unsigned. On paper, in Spanish. Peñafiel, Spain, 1621. Folio (31 cm; 12.25"). 15 ff.
• Detailed here is the last will and testament of the choir master of Popayán, Colombia. Ramírez was an absentee office holder, for he lived in Peñafiel, Spain, indulged in this failure to take up his duties in the New World by the bishop of Popayán—who happened to be his uncle. The choir master’s wealth was considerable and while not itemized as in an estate inventory, it is more than hinted at via the bequests here of real estate (with provenance), of silver and gold chalices and crosses, and of cash in the form of coin. The bequests also give an interesting picture of the size of his family and the ranking of nieces, nephews, etc.
Certified, contemporary copy of the original.
• Sewn. In good condition. Very legible notarial hand.
The Choir Master OwnedVineyardsRamírez Carrillo, Alonso. Document (“escritura pública de donación”). In Spanish, on paper. Peñafiel, Spain, 24 April 1615. Folio. [10] pp.
Click the image for an enlargement. A contemporaneous certified copy of the original document.
• Written in a clear notarial hand. Very good condition.
“A Voyage to Abyssinia” — Good Lively & Readable AccountSalt, Henry. A voyage to Abyssinia, and travels into the interior of that country, executed under the orders of the British government, in the years
1809 and 1810; in which are included, an account of the Portuguese settlements on the east coast of Africa .... Philadelphia: M. Carey; Boston: Wells & Lilly (pr. by Lydia R. Bailey), 1816. 8vo (23.5 cm, 9.25"). 24, 454 pp.; fold. map.,
illus. 
music,
along with the factual details of his diplomatic achievements — or lack
thereof, in terms of concrete agreements — followed by an appendix comparing
vocabulary words from various languages spoken along “the Coast of Africa,
from Mosambique to the borders of Egypt, with a few others spoken in the Interior
of that Continent” (p. 395).
This is an untrimmed copy in original boards, with 24
pages of advertising for Carey publications bound in at
the front of the volume. The preliminary map, engraved by John Bower, has
hand-colored border lines; this American edition does not call for the plates
found in the English first, but does include in-text depictions of several
“Ethiopic inscriptions.”
• Shaw & Shoemaker 33864; NSTC 2S3118. Publisher’s quarter tan paper over light blue paper–covered sides; front cover detached and back joint cracked, binding spotted, paper cracked and split along spine, spine label now absent and replaced with hand-inked title, spine with later paper shelving label. Front pastedown with institutional bookplate, front free endpaper with inked ownership inscription dated 1829. Half-title with portion of outer margin torn away (not touching text) and laid in. Map lightly foxed, with two short tears along folds. Pages age-toned, with occasional spots of foxing.
Uncommon Hymnal . . . Sammlung verbesserter und neuer Gesänge, zum Gebrauch bey dem öffentlichen Gottesdienst sowohl als bey der Privaterbauung. Frankfurt am Mayn: J.L. Eichenberg, 1772. 8vo. 8, 530, 63, [1 (blank) pp.
Click the interior images for enlargements. • Contemporary sheep with spine gilt extra and covers gilt modestly, rubbed and pulled at top of spine; ex-library with paper label and remnant of call number on spine, perforation-stamps on title- and one other leaf, several inked or stamped old numbers, and old pencilling. Paper browned as so often, with some foxing and soiling; all edges red. (25827)
Sentimental Scots Songs Seven sentimental songs. Glasgow: Pr. for the booksellers, [ca. 1840?]. 12mo.
8 pp. 
• Not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume. Upper corners nicked; pages slightly age-toned but otherwise clean. (16761)
Jenny Vow'd
away to Run / WithJockey to the Fair . . . Six love songs.
Glasgow: Pr. for the booksellers, [1840?]. 12mo. 8 pp.
• NSTC 2S31173. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages clean. (16755)
Sousa & theDevil's Music Sousa, John Philip. The fifth string. Indianapolis: Bowen-Merrill Co., © 1902. 8vo. Frontis., [4], 124, [2] pp.; 6 plts.
Click the images for enlargements. Binding: Publisher's olive cloth, Art Nouveau binding signed “P”; front cover pictorially stamped in gilt and orange, spine with gilt-stamped title.
• Binding a bit cocked with corners and spine extremities rubbed; spine with two small faintly discolored areas from now-absent labels. Light spotting to pages surrounding plates. (25993)
“The Grammarian Must Either Associate with,Musician”Steele, Joshua. Prosodia rationalis: Or, an essay towards establishing the melody and measure of speech, to be expressed and perpetuated by peculiar s ymbols. The second edition ... London: Pr. by J. Nichols for T. Payne & Son, B. White, and H. Payne, 1779. 4to (29.2 cm, 11.5"). vi, [2], vii–xvii, [1], 243, [1
(blank)] pp.
Click the images for enlargements. 
Not a pretty copy, but a usable and fascinating book.
A Lot of“STORYS” for the Money! Storys of
the bewitched fiddler, perilous situation, and John Hetherington's dream.
Glasgow [Scotland]: Printed for the Booksellers, [18--]. 12mo. 24 pp.
a
strange violin which turns out to be made of a dead man's
bone embossed in silver. Engraved on it is the name of a much-feared local magician.
With some trepidation he returns the violin to its owner and in return is given
a bottomless purse of money. His four nephews, envying his new-found wealth,
murder him for his money. The second story [6 pages] is a vividly dramatic account
of the narrow escape of sailors whose ship is set on fire by lightning. John
Hetherington, a tailor who cannot resist clipping small pieces out of each piece
of cloth his customers bring him, falls asleep after a meal of Welsh rabbit
[toasted cheese]. He dreams he has died and is met by the Devil, who unrolls
a long patchwork scroll of all the pieces he has stolen. This cures him of the
practice of "cabbaging". The final page of the chapbook contains an anecdote
about soldiers from an American regiment making fun of a hunchback who gets
back at them with a dig about Bunker Hill where the regiment suffered heavy
losses. "[No.] 28." printed at the foot of the title.
• Not located in RLIN. Very good. Original self wrappers (unbound; removed). (17584)
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