Evidence of readership: Occasional pencilled marginalia, including “Great chapter,” “Know,” and, in one case,the comment, “Voltaire again!”

•  ESTC W11665; Evans 17930.   Contemporary sheep, spine with raised bands and binding slightly sprung; leather cracking over spine and lost in small areas at corners, edges, and spine foot to insect damage or abrasion. Front free endpaper lacking; back free endpaper with inked inscription dated 1789. Pages browned and stained, with minute insect damage to blank areas (only) of first few leaves and with marginalia as above.  (14942)

The volume is decorated with 21 beautifully hand-colored lithographs of birds and flowers, done by the Endicott firm of New York.

Binding:  Publisher's olive green textured cloth, covers with gilt-stamped floral vignette framed in gilt with blind-stamped decorations; spine with gilt-stamped title and bird and flower design. All edges gilt.

Provenance:  Elegant small signature of M. Augusta Gibbes on title-page, dated 1859, and a presentation inscription of the same date from her aunt and uncle on front free endpaper.

•  BAL 3961 (first ed.); Bennett, American Colorplate Books, 27. Not in Reese, Stamped with a National Character.   Binding cloth worn and irregularly faded/stained; pages age-toned and spotted due to nature of paper, not abuse, with light waterstaining in margins towards back of volume. Plates clean, with one torn and neatly repaired from the rear some time ago. Sewing starting to loosen, with some signatures separating. Inscriptions as above. Despite imperfections still a charming book.  (27170)

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•  Publisher's maroon cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and vignette of an invalid, spine with gilt-stamped title; minor wear to edges and extremities, spine with small area of discoloration at head. Ex–social club library with one of its most attractive bookplates on front pastedown, title-page pressure-stamped, small inked numeral on dedication page, no other library markings. Front free endpaper with early pencilled ownership inscription. Pages slightly age-toned, otherwise clean.  (27183)

The title-page appears within a very fine copper-engraved architectural and allegorical frame. This copy bearsinteresting evidence of early readership, with inked marginalia in a very neat hand and underlining in both black and red.

Binding:  Contemporary alum-tawed pigskin, covers elaborately tooled and embossed in blind with resulting concentric compartments (one roll being pictorial representations of the virtues).

•  Brunet 21364; VD17 12:116615R.   Binding with some portions darkenedor rubbed, spine leather with numerous small cracks, clasps now absent; front hinge (inside) repaired, and binding strong. Title-page and first dedication page each with reasonably unobtrusive institutional pressure-stamp. Pages age-toned, with annotations as above. A solid, engaging copy.  (26927)

uncut and largely unopened copy in original publisher's binding.

Logan had actually helped select the original titles ordered for the Philadelphia Library Company, and after his death in 1751, his impressive personal collection served as the basis of the Loganian Library, which was incorporated into the Library Company of Philadelphia's holdings in 1792. The acquisition of this personal collection was a landmark in the organization's existence, and a Library Company document refers to Logan's holdings as “the best collection of books in colonial America . . . an American Bodleian” (“At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin,” 8).

This volume includes a chart of descendants of the Logan family, in addition to n addition to the lengthy bibliography of the Loganian library organized by subject and the brief history of the Library Company mentioned in its title.

Evidence of readership: Uncut, this volume is also almost entirely unopened; however, the sections “Mathematics, Arithmetic, Mechanics, Optics, etc.” through “Belles Lettres” have been slit for access (pp. 176–201), and part of the index was also clearly consulted.

•  American Imprints 46259.   Publisher's quarter blue cloth and tan paper–covered sides, spine with printed paper label; worn with discolorations, spine sunned with extremities chewed and label stained. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate, call number on endpapers, rubber-stamp on title-page and a few others, no other markings. Volume uncut and, as above, generally unopened. Endpapers lightly foxed, pages clean.  (27104)

The present volume isillustrated 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)

•  Howes D120.   Publisher's pebbled brown cloth, covers framed in blind with central gilt-stamped horse and rider medallion on front, spines with gilt-stamped title; edges/extremities lightly rubbed and spines each with a patch lightened (moreso to vol. I). Ex–social club library: call number on endpapers, title-pages rubber-stamped. Minor offsetting from some plates, pages otherwise clean.  (26900)

The oversized, folding maps of France and the world featurehand-colored provincial and continental borders; two additional oversized, steel-engraved plates depict the gods atop Mt. Olympus and the seven wonders of the world.

Early editions of this work are uncommon.

•  Quérard, La France littéraire, 341.   Contemporary marbled paper–covered boards, spines with gilt-stamped leather title-labels; bindings faded and with some soiling/rubbing (most notably to spines). rubbed. Half-title of vol. I, pp. vii/viii of preface, and printed volume labels all bound in at back of vol. II; some signatures of vol. I unopened. Title-pages with traces of mostly effaced inscriptions; first and last few leaves of both volumes very lightly waterstained. One plate with two short tears from lower edge, not touching image. Solid and interesting.  (27048)

•  Publisher's terra cotta cloth, covers black-stamped, spines with gilt-stamped title; light shelf wear to bindings, spines each with horizontal area of discoloration. Ex–social club library: call number on endpapers, rubber-stamp on title-pages, no other markings. Pages clean.  (27117)

This contemporary file copy was retained in Rome and signed “S. Card. S. Susannae” (i.e., Cardinal Scipione Cobelluzzi, who was also at this time the Librarian of the Vatican Library).

•  Written in a very handsome italic on very good quality vellum. Light discoloration along lower edge, below the writing.  (26978)

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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)

•  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)

In the U.S., both Goff and the ISTC only locate only stray leaves of this text: two at Stanford and one at Illinois.

Provenance:  Clearly once part of a offering of The Foliophiles Incorporated, and probably from its ad hoc album Pages from the past : a collection of original leaves from rare books and manuscripts [New York: T.F.I., c1926–27].

•  ISTC ij00554000; Goff J554; H 9556*; GKW 7675; Pr 4725; BMC, V, 309.   Mounted on a brown cardboard backing, with a description (but no bibliographical information) on the verso of the board. Leaf in very good, bright condition.  (27100)

Binding:  Publisher's brown cloth, covers and spine heavily gilt-stamped with arabesque designs featuring color-stamped portions in blue, red, yellow, green, and white. Bright yellow endpapers, all edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, extremities rubbed, spine sunned to a pleasant olive. Sewing starting to loosen in some spots. Back free endpaper recto (not the yellow side!) with inked numerals and small rubber-stamp; light staining intermittently, not affecting the plates (which are both lovely and in lovely condition).  (26982)

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While the title-page merely says the piece is “by a Lover of Mankind,” Benezet's authorship was well established by Evans.

•  Bristol B3689; Shipton & Mooney 42555; Hildeburn 2980; ESTC W26174. Not in Blake.   Recent quarter calf, old style, with marbled paper sides. Text cockled, with stray stains and age-toning; title-page crumpled. Original edition, not a modern reprint.  (27123)

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

This edition opens with a copper-engraved added title-page signed by J. Padebrugge; the main title-page bears the Elzevir sphere mark. Willems notes that it is “une copie exacte et ligne pour ligne de celle [the Elzevir edition] de 1672, dont en effect Moetjens s'était rendu adjudicataire, mais c'est positivement une réimpression.” It is, in effect, aline-for-line piracy, and a handsome one faithful to its original's good qualities.

Uncommon: OCLC and NUC Pre-1956 locate only eight U.S. holdings.

Provenance:  Front pastedown with bookplate of collector Robert J. Hayhurst.

•  Brunet, III, 1309; Willems 1472.   Contemporary vellum, spine with early inked title; vellum remarkably clean. Original blue silk place marker present and intact. Front free endpaper with upper outer corner excised, mostly removing an early inked ownership inscription; title-page with early inked inscriptions lined through; back free endpaper with recent pencilled purchase record. One leaf with short tear from outer margin, just touching text without loss. Pages clean. A nice book.  (25561)

The text is printed in gothic with side- and shouldernotes, and the title-page has a woodcut of the arms of the Bishop of Trent.

WorldCat locates only three copies in the U.S. and COPAC only three in the U.K.

Binding:  Publisher's green cloth with textured covers; spine stamped and lettered in gilt. Front cover stamped in gilt with a frame with corner brackets; a very large oval center medallion shows an angel with harp posed between a broken pediment and an hour glass on a closed book, all flanked by weeping willows. Rear cover stamped in blind with same decorative elements. All edges gilt.

•  Sabin 83734.   Binding modestly rubbed, with spine faded and its gilt dimmed; cover gilt in parts “gone to copper” rather attractively. Scattered foxing; several sorts of spotting/staining, darkest stains in upper margins. Overall, a beautiful book in a better than decent copy.  (26863)

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This volume, occasionally but not definitively attributed to Jean-Louis Barbeau de La Bruyère, is commonly known as the “Recueil d'Utrecht”; it appears here with a title-page printed in red and black.

•  Period-style deep brown calf, covers framed and panelled in gilt rolls with gilt-stamped corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped burgundy leather title-labels, gilt-ruled raised bands, and gilt-stamped compartment decorations. Light offsetting to first and last few leaves and scattered spotting, pages otherwise clean.  (27084)

•  Sabin 22260.   Publisher's brown cloth, covers framed in blind, spines with gilt-stamped title and banner motif; lightly worn and moreso at corners, spines each with relatively unobtrusive strip of cloth tape at head. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplates, front free endpapers excised, rubber-stamp on title-pages and a few others, no other markings.  (26890)

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•  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)

The plate is a very fine copper engraving of the viceroy's coat of arms and is signed in the plate “Garcia.” (There is also one handsome headpiece.)

•  Not in Medina, Mexico; not in CCILA; not in Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico Español; not in Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico Mexicano.   Never bound, never stitched; irregular at the lower area of the inner margin of all leaves with rodent-gnawing visible. Light waterstaining in lower inner corners as well. Some finger soiling; light chipping along top edges. Title-page lightly dust-soiled.  (26879)

•  Publisher's quarter lavender cloth over sage-green printed paper–covered sides, light rubbing; spine sunned, front cover with old spot. A few smudges to page margins, only; otherwise quite clean.  (26920)

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Provenance:  Ownership signature on front free endpaper, “Mr. Justice McDougall, Jamaica.”

Autograph manuscript addition: Tipped onto the title-page is a manuscript letter signed by Brougham, dated 1839. In this informal but warmly written letter apparently addressed to an uncle, he declines an invitation and briefly mentions “the children,” whom he thought were left safe from the measles at Paris; he had one living daughter at the time of this letter's composition, and may be referring to members of his extended family.

•  NSTC 2B51067.   Publisher's limp red cloth in imitation of morocco, yapp edges, covers blind-stamped, spine with gilt-stamped title; extremities rubbed, spine slightly darkened with small paper label, sides with small areas of minor discoloration. All edges stained red. Front free endpaper with early inked inscription and small private pressure-stamp. Pages age-toned; one early inked correction.  (26986)

Binding:  Publisher's brown cloth, covers and spine heavily gilt-stamped with arabesque designs featuring color-stamped portions in blue, red, yellow, green, and white. Bright yellow endpapers, all edges gilt.

•  Binding as above, extremities rubbed, spine sunned to a pleasant olive. Sewing starting to loosen in some spots. Back free endpaper recto (not the yellow side!) with inked numerals and small rubber-stamp; light staining intermittently, not affecting the plates (which are both lovely and in lovely condition).  (26982)

Binding:  Publisher's olive-green cloth, front cover and spine stamped with title and floral decorations in maroon, dark blue, and gilt.

•  Wright, III, 773.   Binding slightly cocked, extremities rubbed, back cover with small spots of discoloration, spine head lightly discolored. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, title-page rubber-stamped, no other markings. A few leaves with small spots of staining (tea drops?), otherwise clean. An entertaining read in a pretty, if not pristine, binding.  (26886)

The vellum binding is elaborately tooled in gilt and in-painted in blue, green, and salmon. All edges are gilt and gauffered.

•  Binding as above with light rubbing. A very handsome, interestingly late example of this uncommon binding style.  (26690)

Binding: Publisher's red cloth, front cover handsomely stamped in black and gilt.

Provenance:  Front fly-leaf with inked ownership inscription of Thomas D. Embree (later a prominent Democrat in Bates County, MO) dated 1891, back fly-leaf with inscription in the same hand reading “Bates Co. Teachers' Institute, Butler Mo.”

•  Marple, Iowa Authors & Their Works, 312.   Spine very slightly sunned, sides with a few small, unobtrusive spots of discoloration — overall a bright copy showing virtually no shelf wear. Front and back fly-leaves with inscriptions as above. A few scattered spots of light foxing, pages otherwise clean.  (26761)

The texts of the psalms are given in Latin, as is the commentary and explication. As one will surmise from the size of this work, the commentary and explications are much, much more extensive than the psalms themselves!

The text is printed in roman, single-column format, with phrases and passages in Greek and Hebrew in those typefaces. Each psalm begins with a four-line woodcut historiated initial; and the typographer's lay-out and execution are both workmanlike and handsome.

Provenance:  19th-century booklabel of collector W. Jackson.

•  VD 16 ZV 1677.   19th-century vellum, later recased in that binding and hinges (inside) strengthened with cloth; soiled. Pin-hole type worming at front and rear of volume, in-text and touching but only rarely costing a letter, never impairing ability to read and understand; light waterstaining in some lower margins or across corners. A very few old marginal notes or corrections.  (25943)

12 hand-colored floral plates done by notable botanical illustrator James Andrews

•  Contemporary half sheep and marbled paper–covered sides, spine with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped raised bands; binding moderately rubbed overall. All edges gilt. Trimmed during binding, in a few cases just touching edges of images. Front pastedown with private collector's rubber-stamp. Scattered faint spotting, pages and plates generally clean. You can imagine subscriberseagerly waiting for each issue of this.  (26865)

An appendix of examples of Hottentot and Caffre language is also supplied.

The engraved plates include illustrations of a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, dwarf mice, and Hottentot weaponry, as well as an oversized folding landscape and a map of the territory covered by the author.

•  ESTC T131019. Recently rebound in quarter calf over marbled paper sides, spines with gilt-stamped title labels. Title-page and two others of vol. I stamped by a now-defunct institution; one page with outer margin reinforced. Small hole to map. Title-page of vol. II with topmost left portion of title repaired and replaced in facsimile; title-page and five others stamped. Pagination skips in vol. II from 136 to 139. A few minor spots of foxing to plates; one plate with short edge tear carefully repaired.

Also contained here is the famous Oracula Magica Zoroastris cum Scolliis Plethonis et Pselli as edited by Johannis Opsopoeus.

•  STCN 168904; Brunet, II, 1465; Caillet 10165; Hoffmann III, 396; Landwehr, Hooghe, 72; Schweiger, I, 287 .   Contemporary half brown calf with mottled paper sides; spine with gilt-accented raised bands, red leather gilt label, and gilt devices in compartments; all edges interestingly marbled. Binding worn and top of spine pulled. Without the added engraved title-page, and a small, early paper repair on title-page; not a perfect copy, but certainly a decent one and priced accordingly.  (26691)

•  Publisher's cloth, lettered in gilt on the front. Near fine.  (26702)

•  Not in Gottlieb, Early Children's Books & Their Illustration.   Publisher's quarter rose and ivory cloth, covers with title stamped in brown surrounded by green latticework, dust jacket lacking; binding darkened and spotted. Front free endpaper with small inked ownership inscription. Sewing starting to loosen; light offsetting from facing images occasionally noticeable; some pages with tears at inner margins; a good copy only — yet, still, a charming thing!  (27046)

Binding:  Publisher's green cloth elaborately stamped in gilt on front cover with an overall pattern of torches with bows, surrounding a central cartouche with the title and author in gilt.

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•  BAL 9577 (for first edition).   Binding as above, lightly rubbed at base of spine, small area of minor discoloration on spine. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, rubber-stamp on title-page, no other markings.  (26805)

This copy bears the full-page woodcut portrait of Pope Clement VII on the verso of the fourth preliminary leaf, which is not found with all copies. Additionally, the title-page bears an interesting 14-piece composite woodcut border and the verso of that page has a stunning full-page woodcut of the coat of arms of Charles V, the Holy Roman emperor, to whom the letter is addressed. The coat of arms is surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The text is printed in roman with side- and shouldernotes; the lay-out is elegant and there is one large, handsome woodcut initial.

As usual, the letter is here bound with Peter Martyr's De Rebus, et insulis noviter repertis, which provides an account of the recently discovered islands of the West Indies and their inhabitants. It is often considered a substitute for the lost Cortés letter.

One of the most important early descriptions of Mexico and of the first encounter of the West with the Aztec civilization, this is a work of bedrock importance to the New World. No complete copy has appeared for sale since 1985.

•  Alden & Landis, European Americana, 524/5; Sabin 16947; Harrisse, BAV, 125. Sanz 933–34; Medina, BHA, 70; Church 53; Burden 5; JCB, German Americana, 524/4; Streeter Sale 190.   18th-century half vellum and sprinkled paper over boards, gilt red leather label. Map supplied in expert facsimile; blank leaf H8 lacking. Bookplate of John Carter Brown (Library) on front pastedown, with deaccession stamp. Occasional very minor soiling in the text, else very good — a copy clean and even crisp.  (26808)

And, indeed, this account of a young man's experiences on the Neversink on a voyage around “The Horn” recounts the cruelty and hardship that Melville and all seaman experienced on naval vessels, but it also tells of camaraderie and good times.

Evidence of readership: Foremargins with finger oil staining. Notes in margins: p. 275, “this book is full of folly and exagerations” (sic); p. 345, “perfectly just”; p. 389, “what an improbable story — a regular U.S. Sailor wearing a rag[g]ed white jacket, a regular non-descript”; p. 403, “mis print”; lower area below final line of text: “damn bad,” “not good,” “good for the devil.”

Provenance:  From the library of the German Society of Pennsylvania.

•  BAL 13662; Wright, II, 1871.   Slightly later quarter sheep with marbled paper sides; binding shows wear, refurbished. Text with staining and spotting as evidence of heavy reading and use; last several gatherings with reinforcement at gutter. Various margins with short tears. Two leaves misbound; lacks two leaves of advertisements. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper and at top of title-page, pressure- and rubber-stamp on title-page, three pages with light rubber-stamp, no other library markings. Now in a half-calf clamshell case with gilt spine. A copy with a distinct, interesting, and perhaps further-explorable history!  (26827)

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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)

Binding:  Publisher's color-printed paper–covered boards, cloth joints; unusual for the way that the sewing decoratively knotted through the spine.

•  Light signs of wear to hinges and extremities, overall clean and attractive. Pages slightly age-toned. A witty little thing, in construction as well as sentiments.  (26752)

This ambitiously designed production is from the press of one of Mexico's famous 17th-century woman printers, the Widow Calderón.

The work ends with a short essay addressed to López de Abiles by Lic. Miguel Sánchez and with anagrams by him as well. Sánchez was the author of Imagen de la Virgen Maria madre de dios de Guadalupe, milagrosamente aparecida en la ciudad de Mexico that had appeared in 1648. As a researcher with considerable knowledge of the Virgin of Guadalupe, he praises López de Abiles in no uncertain terms.

For some unfathomable reason Medina lists this under the extensive half-title — Poeticum viridarium in honorem, laudationem, et obsequium purae admodum ... Mariae: eiusdem dominae miraculosae Mexiceae imaginis de Guadalupe.... — and the cataloguer at the University of Arizona has blindly followed Medina down that road so that the WorldCat record is not findable via the real title.

Rarity: WorldCat locates only one copy worldwide but we know of two others. No additional copies were located via COPAC, Catálogo Colectivo del Patrimonio Bibliográfico, Metabase, or the OPACs of the Spanish National Library, the Mexican National Library, and the British Library.

•  Medina, Mexico, 1016; Andrade 582; Grajales & Burrus, Bibliografia guadalupana, 82.   In later wrappers, a little tattered at the spine. Lacks the half-title and the plate. Top margins of last 10 leaves rodent-gnawed with loss of paper but not of text, although a few letters are touched and the headline words “Segundum Anagramma” lost to that animal. Some light staining, front and rear. In all, a good if damaged copy of an important rarity.  (26413)

•  Publisher's vellum over boards, spine with raised bands and faux hand-inked title, in original red cloth slipcase. A beautiful, clean, unworn copy in a perfect slipcase.  (26750)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with inked ownership inscription of Ida M. Hardy, dated 1867. The book itself, alas, provides no indication whether Ms. Hardy was a traveller of the actual or armchair sort.

•  Sabin 57368. Not in Phillips, List of Maps of America.   Publisher's brown cloth of Krupp's style Lea8, covers blind-stamped, front cover with gilt-stamped title; a little sunned with corners bumped and binding slightly cocked. Front pastedown with inscription as above, front free endpaper with mostly erased pencilled inscription. Mild smudging to some page edges; a few leaves with light waterstaining to lower outer portions. One leaf torn, repaired some time ago with cellophane tape, touching but not obscuring five words; map with short tear from lower edge, upper edge a bit crumpled. A solid copy, with map and all plates.  (26666)

In addition to simply calling the constitution unwise, ill-conceived, etc., González A. parses it for ideas traceable to “heretical” and other writers whose works were on the Index. When in doubt (or, perhaps, when NOT in doubt!), club your enemies with old-time religion, hellfire, and damnation!

First continental edition, following the Mexico City edition of 1816.

•  Palau 105019; Sabin 17823.   Publisher's acid-stained brown sheep; round spine, no raised bands, gilt ruling to create spine compartments, each compartment with a gilt center device. Attractive blue and white marbled endpapers. Some rubs and abrasions, generally light; rear cover with one scrape through leather to board. A clean, tight copy.  (27226)

•  Sabin 27289; not in Goldsmiths'-Kress.   Publisher's blind-stamped textured cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title and pictorial vignette; binding cocked, extremities rubbed, spine sunned. Ex–social club library: call numbers on endpaper, front free endpaper excised, pressure-stamp on title-page, two other pages rubber-stamped, no other markings. Some plates with small areas of staining to margins.  (26638)

•  Publisher's blue cloth, front cover with white-stamped title and pictorial vignette, spine with white-stamped title; joints and extremities showing moderate wear, covers with small spots of light discoloration. A solid, internally clean copy. A pleasure, in hand.  (26664)

The work is illustrated with a number of mounted black-and-white photographs.

Each book in the series was published by the author as a very limited edition and distributed to his friends as a Christmas gift; the present copy is inscribed by Abbott: “Wishing you peacetime Christmas cheer.”

This is the original first, 1918 edition, not a modern reprint.

•  Publisher's bark-patterned paper–covered boards, front cover with printed title; extremities chipped (most notably spine head). Front free endpaper with pencilled inscription as above; pages clean.  (26848)

This edition includes the engraved frontispiece, a kitchen and larder scene, along with nine other plates (as called for) showing carving and trussing diagrams.

•  Bitting 410–11; Cagle 971 (for first ed.). On Rundell, see: DNB, XLIX, 403.   Contemporary speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label, board edges with gilt roll; binding lightly scuffed/rubbed overall and with some pitting thanks to the “speckling.” One front fly-leaf excised. Front free endpaper with bold inked ownership inscription dated 1813 and with two small pencilled “decorations”; title-page with decorative but sadly illegible private collection rubber-stamp. One recipe with early inked annotation. Scattered light foxing and staining, pages mostly clean. A classic, in a very nice copy of a less-common edition.  (26674)

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Signed binding:  Black sheep in imitation of morocco, covers framed in heavy gilt borders surrounding gilt-stamped arabesque designs, spine gilt extra; front free endpaper with bookbinder Bradley's small pressure-stamp. All edges gilt.

•  Faxon 224. Not in Hamilton, Early American Book Illustrators. On binder's stamp, see: Spawn & Kinsella, American Signed Bindings, 55f.   Binding as above, minor wear to corners, spine with tiny scuff towards foot; binding clean and bright. Pages with varied degrees of foxing/staining and age-toning. Very spiffy.  (26673)

Provenance:  Front pastedown with presentation bookplate of a Catholic Sunday School in Virginia, dated 1880; front free endpaper with recipient's ownership inscription.

•  Sabin 82267; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 3631; Wagner-Camp 395; Howes D285.   Publisher's green cloth blind-stamped in diapered pattern containing crosses (not in Krupp), spine with elaborate gilt-stamped title and decorations; binding cocked and rubbed, sides with spots of discoloration. Front pastedown and free endpaper as above. Back hinge (inside) reinforced with cloth tape. Pages age-toned, with scattered spotting.  (26581)

true first edition of the unofficial second series

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)

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)

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Binding:  Publisher's olive-brown vermiform embossed cloth of Krupp's style Mis1, spine with gilt-stamped series and individual title.

•  American Imprints 41-3339; Cordier, Bibliotheca Japonica, 475–76.   Binding as above, cocked and front board slightly warped, sides with light discolorations; spine faded and head with strip of dark cloth tape extending onto sides. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call number on front pastedown, first three leaves pressure-stamped, no other markings. First half of volume with pages faintly waterstained in upper portions and cockled; a sound book and as good a “read” as it was for the club members.  (26428)

Johannes Bebelius’ printer’s device appears on the title-page and on the verso of the final leaf, while the errata are printed on the verso of leaf 195, just above the colophon.

Evidence of readership: Faded sepia marginalia and/or underlining on folios 154, 155, 156.

WorldCat locates only six copies in U.S. libraries, one of which has been deaccessioned.

•  VD16 B3048.   Full dark modern calf old style, green leather spine label; spine with raised bands accented with blind rules extending onto covers to terminate in trefoils, and simple blind double fillets to covers; title-page reinforced at inner margin, lightly soiled. Pinhole worming, on most pages in lower margin; occasionally in text touching a letter but not costing text. “Elenchus” leaves with light waterstain to upper outer quadrant; same in inner upper and upper margins of commentary most notable from folios 100 to end, where at times it is brown and into the text of the inner columns.  (26539)

We have, at the moment, an interesting number of such “first American editions.” Please, enquire!

•  BAL 10549; Edel & Laurence, Bibliography of Henry James (3rd. ed.), A11b; Wright, III, 2913.   Publisher's terra-cotta cloth, spine with gilt-stamped title; extremities rubbed and cloth with areas of discoloration. Ex–social club library: call number on endpaper, rubber-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Pages with scattered light stains, still a very nice copy.  (26637)

Binding:  Publisher's gray cloth, front cover with gilt-stamped title and green-stamped grass vignette, spine with gilt-stamped title. Binding signed “HP.”  Top edge gilt.

•  Binding as above, sunned and stained/spotted; front hinge (inside) cracked; frontispiece and title-page with small waterstain along inner margin. Pages mostly clean, with scattered light spotting. A copy with faults, but not faults to devastate its interest.  (26629)

•  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)

Binding: Publisher's brown cloth, front cover and spine stamped in gilt and black in an “Arts and Crafts” inspired design.

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•  BAL 954; Wright, III, 461.   Binding with light rubbing at edges and some light discolorations to covers; ex–social club library with call number on endpaper, pressure- and rubber-stamp on title-page, no other markings. Clean; in fact a nice book.  (26572)

•  Publisher's blue textured cloth, covers blind-stamped, spines with gilt-stamped title and compartment decorations; worn and scuffed with spines sunned and heads each with strip of dark cloth tape extending onto boards. Ex–social club library: Each volume with 19th-century bookplate on front pastedown, call number on endpaper, title-page pressure-stamped. Vol. IV lacking front free endpaper. Vol. II with one leaf with inner margin reinforced, several leaves with outer edges chipped, pp. 3–30 lacking from two articles. Paper slightly brittle, with occasional short edge tears; pages age-toned.  (26396)

Provenance:  Vol. I title-page with inscription dated 1790, reading “Joseph Russells cost 10s a Vollume [sic]”.

•  ESTC T102429.   Contemporary treed calf, spines with gilt-stamped leather title labels; worn but sound. Bookplates of a now-defunct institution on front pastedowns. Some instances of offsetting and foxing, generally no more than moderate, with pages otherwise clean.  (8655)

Provenance:  Each volume's front fly-leaf (facing title-page) with inscription dated 1791, reading “John Humphrey, his book 1791 Price 10s”; each volume's pastedown with small bookplate of Richard McIlvain.

•  ESTC N2800.   Contemporary treed calf, spines with gilt-stamped leather title labels; worn, with all front covers and free endpaper of vol. IV detached. Some instances of light offsetting and foxing, with pages generally clean; some leaves chipped or with marginal tears, one tear causing loss of a few letters from a heading.  (14671)

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Very uncommon: NSTC and OCLC locate only the copy at the National Library of Scotland. RLIN located only the copy at Yale.

•  NSTC S3358; Goldsmiths’-Kress 21080.   Disbound. Very Good copy.  (11008)

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•  Sabin 92310; American Imprints 34408.   Publisher's green pebbled cloth with some discolorations, sunned spine with gilt-stamped title; corners/edges rubbed. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and call-number ticket on front pastedown, title-page pressure-stamped, no other markings. A few early leaves separated; two leaves with outer margins reinforced some time ago.  (26425)

The state of the Russian military forces is here described at length. The commerce section includes chapters on viniculture, sericulture, and apiculture, as well as mining and salt harvesting; at the back of the third volume are extensive tables of Russian imports and exports, merchant ships arrived and sailed, duties and taxes, and names of the most active St. Petersburg merchants. Coins and measures are also examined.

Binding:  Contemporary treed calf, flat spines with gilt tooling of several sorts creating compartments, each with a large device; gilt-stamped green leather title and volume labels.

•  ESTC T109837; Allibone 2434. On Tooke, see: Dictionary of National Biography online.   Bound as above, two volumes with front covers off and all other joints weak; covers showing some gouges and spines some chips, the set apparently having been exposed not only to normal wear/rubbing but sometime long past to something (heat? “repairs”?) that darkened and roughened them irregularly. Ex–social club library: front pastedowns each with 19th-century bookplate and inked numerals, title-pages pressure-stamped. Intermittent light foxing and light to moderate offsetting throughout; vol. III with waterstaining in upper margins. Map lightly foxed but otherwise in excellent condition. A set of booksstill striking, and priced to permit the next owner to contemplate repairs.  (26366)

The volume is illustrated with an additional engraved title-page and eight other steel-engraved plates, as well as several in-text engravings of dramatic moments in soldiers' lives.

•  Sabin 82457.   Publisher's dark red/plum cloth, covers blind-stamped, spine with gilt-stamped title; spine sunned, corners and spine extremities moderately rubbed. Ex–social club library; front fly-leaf with inked numerals covered over with paper, rubber-stamps on frontispiece recto, title-page, and several other pages. Paper slightly embrittled; occasional short edge tears. Title-page and five plates with very faintest waterstaining in lower margins, other pages seemingly untouched.  (26273)

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•  Not in American Imprints. Binding: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823--50, p. 40.   Publisher's brown fine-ribbed cloth of Krupp's style Rib2, covers blind-stamped with foliate and arabesque designs, front cover with gilt-stamped title; spine sunned, edges and extremities worn, sides with spots of light discoloration. Foxed moderately (not worse) throughout; front fly-leaf with pencilled gift inscription dated 1845.  (26633)

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We locate no copies via WorldCat, METABASE, CCILA, or COPAC.

•  In modern wrappers. Old inked ownership inscriptions eradicated from title-page. All pages lightly cockled.  (26555)

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•  Disbound, with a bit of pinhole worming not affecting text; lightly laid into later wrappers.  (24388)

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Provenance & evidence of readership:  Title-page with note, “Joseph Reed, his book”; Reed's ownership noted again on a blank page at the end, dated 1772. Endpapers heavily marked with other early inked inscriptions — so heavily marked that it is hard to “untangle” the elements, but names and dates are clearly present, including the names of other Reeds. Additional inscriptions and annotations are scattered throughout the volume.

•  ESTC W019063; Evans 12032; Rink, Delaware, 59; Sabin 21942.   Recent mottled calf, covers framed in blind roll, spine with gilt-stamped burgundy leather title-label and gilt-dotted raised bands. Back free endpaper lacking; other endpapers and pages marked as above. Pages age-toned with spotting, blotting, and/or waterstaining quite variously.  (27082)

•  NSTC 2A17980 (for all years 1855–61).   Removed from a nonce volume. Title-page with small inked numeral in upper outer corner, otherwise clean.  (17033)

•  NSTC 2S40115. On Stewart, see: Dictionary of National Biography, XVIII, 1169–73.   Contemporary treed calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorations; rubbed with front joint opening and top spine compartment showing old shelving notations. Ex–social club library: Front pastedown with old inked numeral and 19th-century bookplate affixed over an older one; front free endpaper with inked call number offsetting to bookplate. No other markings; pages gently age-toned.  (26443)

Provenance: The front free endpaper bears a neatly inked ownership inscription dated 1860 (J.C.W. Kempe) and an additional inked “sold to” inscription dated 1871 (Aden Mc Bowman); Bowman also signed another blank, and the presentation leaf is made out to Kempe as “P.G.J.C.W. Kempe.”

Binding:  Publisher's deep blue/black diced sheep in imitation of morocco, covers with gilt-stamped vignette of Friendship, Love, and Truth personified within an architectural frame; spine gilt extra with column motif. All edges gilt.

•  BAL 6877; Faxon 609.   Binding as above, joints and extremities rubbed, spine gilt slightly dimmed. Inscriptions and presentation leaf as above. Poetry clippings, fabric swatch, and lock of hair laid in. Scattered staining, generally light, throughout; chromo very bright and nice.  (27041)

Willis himself was the founder of the magazine that became the Home Journal, and was celebrated in his day for his essays and travel writings as well as several collections of his journalistic work. The Cambridge History of American Literature calls him the “prince of magazinists,” and remarks on “the evanescent sparkle and glancing brilliance” of A L'abri, later known as Letters from under a Bridge. These charming, witty essays touch on Willis's Yale education (and its lack of practical application!); fishing; a dinner with Lady Blessington, Benjamin Disraeli, Count D'Orsay, and Lord Durham; the possibility of local railroad construction to connect the Hudson with Lake Erie; the relationship of American to British literature, etc. Whatever the ostensible topics of the individual letters, each touches in affectionate and amusing fashion on some aspect of life in the Susquehanna region.

A publishing practice, demonstrated: Bound in at the back of this volume are yellow printed paper wrappers for John Smith's Letters, and the title-page and preface for Fireside Education — both items published by Colman in the same year as the present work.

•  BAL 22752 (spine label in first state, cloth described as “Brown S cloth “); American Imprints 59260; Fearing, Check List of Books on Angling, Fishing, Fisheries, Fish-Culture, etc., 135; Sabin 104504. On Willis, see: Cambridge History of American Literature online.   Publisher's brown cloth embossed with floret and dash pattern, spine with printed paper label; corners rubbed, and spine cloth chipped with paper label chipped and darkened. Front free endpaper with early pencilled ownership inscription. Foxing throughout; occasional pencilled marginalia and marks of emphasis.  (25806)

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)

slavery — which the author defends as a legal institution, but attacks as a detriment to the state's overall prosperity

•  Sabin 33370; Howes H739.   Publisher's cloth, vol. I (now) olive and vol. II brown, covers blind-stamped, spines with gilt-stamped title and gilt-stamped seal of Virginia (“Sic semper tyrannis”); corners and spine extremities rubbed, sides with areas of light discoloration, endpapers darkened. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate on front pastedowns, call number inked on front free endpaper of vol. I and front fly-leaf of vol. II, vol. II lacking front free endpaper. No other markings. Upper margins of vol. I with small areas of light waterstaining, extending to touch top lines of text at back of volume only; vol. II with similar light waterstaining never touching text. Vol. II with occasional lightly pencilled marginalia and marks of emphasis, many pertaining to the perceived value of the footnotes and references.  (26452)

Binding:  Publisher's olive-brown vermiform cloth of Krupp's style Mis1, spine with gilt-stamped series and individual title.

•  Sabin 32058. On binding: Krupp, Bookcloth in England and America, 1823--50, Mis1.   Binding as above, head of spine chipped, front joint with small spot of insect damage. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate and small call-number ticket on front pastedown, title-page pressure-stamped, no other markings. First map creased, outer edge slightly tattered. Pages age-toned. A nice copy.  (26418)

Beristain describes Paredes as being “outstanding in the Mexican language.” His volume was intended for use by missionaries, by parish priests, and by Indians: Indeed, there is a prologue intended to persuade Indians in particular to read and learn this catechism.

Provenance:  Henry Ward Poole ownership signature in minute pencil on rear free endpaper, dated Mexico 1879; old paper auction label at top of spine with lot number; private ownership stamp and bookplate of John Carter Brown; later in the John Carter Brown Library, Providence; deaccessioned.

•  Garcia Icazbalceta, Lenguas, 56; Viñaza 341; H. de León-Portilla, Tepuztlahcuilolli, 2286; Palau 269110; Medina, Mexico, 4500; DeBacker-Sommervogel, VI, 210–211; Sabin 71488; Leclerc 2334; Pilling, Proof-sheets, 2891.   19th-century Mexican acid-stained calf, gilt roll of a rope design on boards; gilt spine extra; spine label defective and missing much leather. Title-pages closely cropped at foremargin not costing any letters; small piece torn from the frontispiece. Light to moderate waterstaining and light wear. A rather decent copy of a decidedly important work.  (26388)

This copy, interleaved with lined pages, was apparently meant for a scholar's use — but the added blank leaves have been left blank.

•  Darlow & Moule 8987.   Recent black moiré cloth, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and publication labels; half-title with institutional perforation-stamp, final page with rubber-stamped numeral, no other markings. Scattered faint spotting, otherwise clean. A handsome copy of an interesting work “got up” in an interesting way.  (26950)

The volume is illustrated withtwo steel-engraved plates, one view of Tahiti and one of Pitcairn's Island.

•  American Imprints 11221; Hill, Pacific Voyages, 70.   Publisher's speckled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; edges and extremities rubbed, spine darkened, spine leather with fine cracks, spine head covered with dark cloth tape extending onto sides. Ex–social club library: 19th-century bookplate on front pastedown, inked numerals on front free endpaper, title-page pressure-stamped. Pages with scattered spots of staining; last page with series title pencilled across — quite decoratively!  (26390)