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1817ref. C031726 ad2822 ad pages. Small octavo 7 3/4" x 4 3/4" bound in original stiff boards with spine label in black lettering. Hagedorn: 3. 1817 First American edition. This is the third chess book published in the United States and was not noted by Fiske in his bibliographical work. A revised edition was also published in 1817. Fisk first notes this in 1824 as a reprint of the London 1806 edition and notes that it was reprinted in England in 1809 1813 1819 and at other times. The name of the compiler has never been made public. The miscellaneous collection of anecdotes essays and poems at the end is not without interest. Condition: Corners bumped and rubbed paper hinges cracked spine rubbed former owner's label on front paste down else a good to very good copy of a very scarce chess item. M Carey and Son hardcover books
1798ref. 15285London: Published by Haines & Son No. 19 Rolls Buildings Fetter Lane 1798. Mezzotint. Printed on wove paper. In excellent condition with the exception of some glue residue on the verso of the sheet. Four vertical creases in sheet. A small abrasion in image. Image size: 9 1/4 x 13 7/8 inches. A bold hunting scene of a rider drawing cover. This early hunting scene follows the tradition of James Seymour by presenting a small format sporting picture in a bold decisive style. The artist and engraver are not recorded on the plate which was typical of works published at the period by Haines & Son. Haines & Son were prolific publishers and printsellers who catered to the decorative print market they often republished earlier plates which they acquired from other publishers such as Carington Bowles and Robert Sayer. This image which is listed as plate 2 is most likely the second plate in a set of six prints. Published by Haines & Son, No. 19 Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane unknown books
ref. 1141July 1859. Drawing. Pencil Drawing: 6 x 9 . Ink Drawing 14 x 8½. Cambridge MA. unknown books
1930ref. 319883Printed in Florence Italy: Micheal Angelino Press 1930. Illustrated by Mahlon Blaine. 264pp. 8vo. Pictorial wrappers some wear. Blaine Mahlon. Illustrated by Mahlon Blaine. 264pp. 8vo. Micheal Angelino Press unknown books
1643ref. 17509London: Edward Husbands T. Thomas Warren R. Best 1643. FIRST EDITION. Engraved frontispiece of Parliamentary chambers and Charles I title within decorative border with woodcut device and the letters “C V” in contemporary brown ink on either side of the device woodcut initials head- and tailpieces Contemporary full calf possibly repaired at a very early date; interior excellent. From the library of the Birmingham Law Society with the name in gilt on the front cover and bookplate on the paste-down as well as small stamps on title and a few text leaves. First edition. This volume contains the record of all the proceedings between Parliament and King Charles I between the end of 1641 and early 1643. In 1640 Charles established the Long Parliament in order to acquire funds for the Bishop’s War against the Scots. However as soon as the Long Parliament took control they began dismantling the monarchy’s authority by removing the King’s advisors and sympathizers. This text represents a tumultuous period in British history coinciding with the very beginning of the English Civil War making it an important reference source. Edward Husbands, T. [Thomas] Warren, R. Best unknown books
ref. 19834An attractive amateur watercolor of a British gunboat from the War of 1812 the painting probably contemporary with the ship depicted. The visible part of the painting measures 19 by 27 cm. With the burlwood frame and off-white matting the wall hanging is 43 by 51.5 cm. The gunboat has a dozen guns on the starboard side which is shown. Two British flags are unfurled one on top of the foremast and one by the stern. In the distance are the outline or silhouette of five other ships. Below the painted part of the paper is written in faint pencil "Begun Wednesday 18 April Finished Thursday 19 April". Unfortunately no year is given. The paper onto which the watercolor was done is dampstained in the margins with the stains spread onto the painted portion but there not too conspicuous. Light staining besides visible in the margins. The frame and matting are modern and without issue -- they are pristine. unknown books
1940ref. D4105Privately Printed c. 1940s. Hardcover. Very Good. Black leather boards gilt-stamped lettering on upper board; 4to; pp. 120 mimeographed typed; illustrated throughout with tipped-in b/w photographs. Upper board flaring slightly; lettering gently rubbed; faint age-toning. A truly unique edition. In order to circumvent the then-existing obscenity laws the author created by hand this mimeographed soft-core volume augmented with tipped-in photographs of glamorously posed nude models. Intended as the initial book of "The Bob and Betty Series" copies of the book were available for ten dollars from the author in a very limited edition for private circulation only. Privately Printed hardcover books
1819ref. 22534London: Longman Hurst Rees Orme And Brown 1819. First edition. Hardcover. Contemporary half maroon calf marbled boards rebacked with original spine laid-down. Very good. 2 vols. XX 389 318. pages. 9.2 X 5.5 cm. Errata in second volume rear. The preface indicates the writer is male also in the preface notes seeking advise from two friends then throwing their suggestions in the round bin with the following: "I had mistaken their characters they had mistaken mine." A a scare 19th century novel with only 5 on JISC Library Hub all in the UK. Holdings in OCLC seem to confirm the previous. Owner's signature on free front endpapers of both volumes. Flat spines lettered in gilt with gilt florets in the panels. Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, And Brown hardcover books
1803ref. 242928London: W. J. Richardson 1803. First. hardcover. very good. With a variety of Curious and Entertaining Illustrations LACKING. 140 pages WITH 3 other titles listed below. Slim 12mo full brown polished calf ornately gilt spine rubricated edges; inner hinges strengthened. London: W.J. Richardson 1803. First Edition. A nice clean copy of a very scarce book. Specimens of the Yorkshire Dialect.Likewise A Glossary.to Which is Added Ducks and Green Peas; or the Newcastle Rider also The Newcastle Apothecary. 24 pages. Knaresbrough: Langdale 1844. Fifth Edition. BOBBIN Tim II. Plebeian Politics or the Principles and Practices of Certain Mole-eyed Maniacs Vulgarly Called Warrites By Way of Dialogue Betwixt Two Lancashire Clowns Together with Several Fugitive Pieces. Copper frontispiece portrait of Bobbin and illustrated title page. 60 pages. Manchester: S. Ruffell. BOBBIN Tim. The Lancashire Dialect; or the Adventures and Misfortunes of a Lancashire Clown in a Dialogue.Fold-out hand colored copperplate 24 pages. London: William Cole. W. J. Richardson unknown books
1900ref. 00253THE NOAH'S ARK PICNIC Hodder & Stoughton ca. 1900 first edition the slightest of wear to the rear fore edge else a fine copy and truly rare thus. We are able to locate only one holding and that is in the Cotsen Library at Princeton. Illustrated in color featuring Golliwogg and others. Hodder & Stoughton unknown books
1930ref. 4325Japan 1930. One uchikake kimono. Measurements: collar to hem = ca. 163 cm; sleeve hem to sleeve hem = ca. 125 cm. With original price tag: "PRICE 176 ç€ç‰© 打掛" Price 176 Kimono / Uchikake" the meaning of which is unclear: an old price shop item number or perhaps a reference to the size of the kimono. Some seams coming undone overall in surprisingly good condition the fabric very shiny and bright. Preserved in a Hollinger Window Display Box Size: 20 1/2 x 16 1/2 x 3". AN EXCEPTIONAL COMPLETELY UNUSED BRIDAL KIMONO WITH AN EXUBERANT AND DECIDEDLY "ART DECO" PATTERN OF SHINY LOBSTERS THE LIKES OF WHICH WE HAVE NOT BEFORE ENCOUNTERED. The present wedding kimono is technically it is a uchikake or kaidori a kimono worn over a kosode or furisode by a bride on her wedding day. It is wildly patterned with Ise-ebi shiny lobsters which are considered auspicious in Japanese culture as are the colors red and gold as here. The lining of the uchikake is made from red and pink fabrics the latter patterned with birds flowers and trees. The garment features bright gold itsutsumon five hand-embroidered crests with a design described as maru ni tsuta ivy in a circle design. The white shitsuke-ito basting threads or tailors' tacks and original price tag are still intact show that our uchikake was never used. That our specimen was never worn hardly suggests that the intended marriage had an auspicious beginning or that it even had a beginning. Indeed one wonders if the wedding ever took place with or without the present kimono which for almost 100 years has been rightfully preserved as extraordinary example of Japanese textiles. AN EXCELLENT SPECIMEN SUITABLE FOR EXHIBITION AND STUDY. unknown books
1823ref. 24513London: Printed For William Sams 1823. First edition. leather_bound. Contemporary brown calf flat spine with label lettered in gilt. Very good. iv 59 1 pp. 23 x 13 cm. 24 hand coloured copperplates attributed to Thomas Rowlandson and doggerel verse in the style of frequent collaborator William Combe. A rare colour plate book in the medieval chivalric genre. Probably inspired by the success of Walter Scott's Ivanhoe published in 1819 and the Regency craze for all things medieval Gothic. Sir Ethelbert romancing the fair Adelaide despite the evil machinations of rival knight Gondibert. The plates depict knights in armour in combat at tournaments sword-fighting duels dastardly deeds pageantry and courtly love. Not in ABBEY or TOOLEY. Spine label with loss interior and plates clean and fresh. Printed For William Sams unknown books
ref. 155Erotic painting of a couple copulating. Tantra position from the Kama Sutra. 10 3/4 x 7. Framed. unknown books
1856ref. 140940710London and New York: H. Bailliere 1856. First Edition. Very Good. First edition. iv 208 pp. Bound in publisher's elaborately blind stamped dark cloth with gilt spine lettering yellow endpapers. Very Good with slightly sunned spine slight wave to text a little foxing to contents former owner's bookplate on paste down. Nice shape overall. The complete run in six issues of an anonymously-edited mid-19th century spiritualist publication scarce in book format. Prophecy ghostly manifestations in London California and the European continent clairvoyance mesmerism fairies "Sir Charles Isham on Spiritualism" and "Loss of the Steamship Pacific" are some of the many topics covered herein. A copy of this book apparently wound up in his Harry Houdini's collection; the famous magician was a skeptic and debunker of spiritualism. H. Bailliere unknown books
ref. 540949Englewood Cliffs N.J.: Prentice-Hall 1971. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. First edition. Fine in very near fine dust jacket with tiny creases on the jacket flaps. Fictitious "diary" of a smart 15 year-old who descends into heavy drug use and other ills allegedly found by her parents after her death by overdose and published as a cautionary tale. The book was actually the product of author and "editor" Beatrice Sparks and other "preparers" who have since produced a number of similar first-person warnings for youth though the exact authorship remains unknown. Despite or perhaps because of its manufactured origins surprisingly compelling reading. Basis for a 1973 TV movie with William Shatner as Alice's father and Mackenzie Phillips in her prophetic debut as one of Alice's ill-influencing friends. Something of a cult classic reprinted several times and very scarce in the first edition. Prentice-Hall hardcover books
1940ref. 140948117British Columbia: no publisher 1940. Near Fine. A lovely vintage photograph album containing plants that are either native or endemic to the Pacific Northwest likely British Columbia neatly assembled by an amateur botanist. Most images are taken in the wild while several are of pressed plant specimens shot against a white background. The last three images differ from the theme: One depicts a black bear attempting to get into a barrel of Swift'ning Shortening lard a Chicago-based company whose product was later sold in a Canadian shop in Manitoba under the name Swift Canadian Co. a cluster of Lymantria dispar caterpillars on a leaf and a freshly caught trout. Oblong. 8 x 5.5". Commercial string-bound black leatherette photo album with upper cover lettered in gilt. Canadian Kodak Co. "No. A Eaton Special" label to rear pastedown. 78 neatly arranged silver gelatin prints 21 of which are hand-colored ranging in size from 6cm x 8.5 cm to 17.5cm to 12.5cm. Images are corner mounted 5 mounted with glue typically with mounted typed captions at bottom margin. Lacking two photos. Near Fine with light rubbing to covers of album some images silvered. A beautiful collection of images. The first comprehensive field guide to plants of the Pacific Northwest was not published until 1973. [no publisher] unknown books
1758ref. 19100The Hague: Vaillant 1758. FIRST EDITION. Contemporary gilt calf-backed pastepaper boards red edges green silk marker. Gift inscription on the front flyleaf. A superior copy. First edition of this anti-Jesuit diatribe. The author trumps up a global conspiracy theory in which Jesuits murdered kings and emperors including an organized plot to kill King Henry IV and the execution of Emperor Kangxi of China by missionaries. The text systematically moves from one country to the next reporting on the supposed crimes that Jesuit residents or visitors committed there: sedition fraud homicide theft and libel. Bibliotheca Brasiliense 1316; see Goldsmiths’-Kress 9442. Vaillant unknown books
ref. 140946234UK: Unknown 1980. Near Fine. Two vintage anarcho-punk/ peace punk armbands from the United Kingdom manufactured circa 1980. Machine sewn white cotton linen with black elastic bands at verso. Screen printed red anarchist designs. Each are 6.5 x 3.5". Near Fine with light fading and minor abrasions at edges. Scarce in-your-face political ephemera from Britain's angry young and poor. Manufactured roughly one year after Margaret Thatcher's 1979 election -- a vote that solidified the anarchist and punk legions in opposition. The "Anarchy in '80" armband shows up around the leg of a guitarist in a photo of an obscure UK punk group The Condemned on the blog Leaders of Men taken in 1979 or 1980. The blogger refers to it as "proto crust" which seems accurate; it likely emanated from the cluster of punks around Crass and Subhumans that would become canonical "crust punk" bands. [Unknown] unknown books
1890ref. 003393S. l.: s. n. 1890. Very good. Two photographs n. d. ca 1890 - 1900; beige card stock - images 9 1/2 x 4 plates 13 1/4 x 7 3/4; small nicks to edges and a few minor spots - mostly to verso; in very good or better condition. Large and stunning platinotypes by an anonymous photographer they depicted two of Yosemite National Park's most famous landmarks - the majestic Yosemite Falls and the towering Three Brothers rock formation. Platinum prints renowned for their archival stability and undeniable beauty were created by placing the negative and the platinum-salt-emulsion-coated paper in direct contact. The sensitizer was absorbed into the paper not sitting on the surface which gave the image a matte surface unlike that of silver gelatin prints for example. The first patent for the patinotype process was obtained by British inventor William Willis Jr. in 1873. Although cheap at that time by 1907 platinum would become 52 times more expensive than silver and even more so with the onset of WWI all available platinum would be used in the war effort - making platinotypes rarer and more elusive than other types of photographs. s. n. unknown books
1847ref. 243635Venice: Antonelli 1847. hardcover. very good. Lithographs and huge folding map of Venice. 3 volumes: volume I volume II parts I & II. Very thick tall 4to original tan boards spines soiled and significantly rubbed but internally fine. Venezia: Antonelli 1847. Very good. One signature loose. Antonelli unknown books
1784ref. 26075Londres i.e. Paris: Et se trouve à Paris chez Pissot 1784. First Edition. Octavo; pp. 6264pp.; 4 A-Q8 R4; woodcut title page vignette head- and tail-pieces; full contemporary red imitation morocco double ruled in gilt flat spine decorated in gilt. Extremities rubbed with boards occasionally exposed contemporary blue ribbon marker detached but present. A Very Good attractive copy. Pechmeja's best-selling prose poem published anonymously under the patronage of one Madame de Beauvau presumably the Marquise de Boufflers. The work enjoyed both enthusiastic and scathing reviews from the most celebrated literary figures of the time. Readers admired the work's literary beauty and its touching description of friendship while others found fault with the moral and economic message which would be described as socialist in the modern sense. Among the most notable Télephe detractors was the author Jean-François de la Harpe who wrote "The author seems like Rousseau to make a crime out of private property without which no society could exist. He doesn't want children to inherit their fathers' fortunes as if inheritance wasn't a natural right and as if the fathers themselves didn't work for the sake of their children" my translation. Others including the relatively enthusiastic reviewer the Baron von Grimm were nonplussed by Pechmeja's dour description of the fate of man and the injustices of oppression maintaining that while virtue must always be exercised little happiness can ultimately be experienced even with the purest intentions my paraphrase of Michaud and Grimm. Grimm rejects comparisons made to Fénelon's novel Les Aventures de Télemaque 1699 saying that if Marmontel's Les Incas 1747 is the Télemaque for the age of the encyclopedia then Télephe is the Télemaque for economists. Within three weeks of publication sales had dropped dramatically and while the book was reprinted once in the 1790s and subsequently translated into English and German Télephe never re-experienced its initial popularity. ESTC T132203. References: Baron von Grimm and Denis Diderot's Correspondance Littéraire Philosophique et Economique Vol. XII mars 1794 pp. 80-3. Joseph Fr. Michaud Biographie Universelle Ancienne et Moderne Vol. 33 pp. 244-6. Et se trouve à Paris, chez Pissot unknown books
1907ref. NF3881SEAPORTS OF THE FAR EAST ILLUSTRATED Allister Macmillan 1907 first edition light wear to the fore edge corner tips and spine edges some modest spotting to small areas of the covers else a tight vg copy featuring historical and descriptive commercial and industrial facts figures & resources and many photographs of Hong Kong Shaghai Manila & Singapore and other places of the far east. A curiously rare book. Allister Macmillan unknown books
1687ref. 3835Lugduni imprint false: likely printed in Germany 1687. First Edition. Very good. 8vo 180 x 100 mm. 8 295 pp. Later German quarter calf over decorated blue paper boards actually two different sheets were utilized printed waste utilized as spine lining the text is in Latin and French vellum corner tips black spine label gilt binding a bit worn all edges stained red. Paper defect on fol. H3 pp. 101/2 affecting five lines of text with loss paper stock foxed and somewhat browned as is common with Germany medical books at this date but a good unsophisticated copy with a few leaves unopened. UNKNOWN PHYSICIAN ARGUES AGAINST HEAVY SMOKING IN 1687. This curious medical book discusses in 65 chapters an uncharacteristically broad array of afflictions: vertigo vomiting stomach complaints "hypochondria" "melancholia hypochondriaca" ailments of the liver and spleen arthritis fever coughing grief scurvy bloody urine epilepsy asthma and much more. To these discussions are added a series of bewildering letters to various unknown recipients including an argument addressed to a young student AGAINST SMOKING TOBACCO "Ad juvenem quendam studiosum cui Nicotianae fumum dissuaseram" pp. 231-236. Here the anonymous author argues against the "noxious" smoke of tobacco "Nicotiana" which is an "enemy to human nature." But the author conceeds that "No one of a sound mind will deny that this plant has been endowed with amazing strength by God the greatest Creator." Also: "All other plants were created in vain and the earth was crushed by the useless weight of millions of plants in vain because the faculties of all other plants were in this one plant . that can by itself remove and quench both cold and hot disease." However the conclusion is that even "Moderate smoking is harmful but much more harmful to those who sin in excess." We learn that the tobacco plant "not only has the power of subverting the stomach but also has a certain narcotic capacity and if we are to believe the writers of Indian affairs it often produces wonderful visions." Such however should very rarely be put to use. Furthermore tobacco is harmful to the skin and flesh; if smoked frequently the brain is weakened by the narcotic power; nor does it help the eyes. Finally the author implores his young recipient to "abstain from daily smoking." No copy in the U.S. The BL copy lacks the title-page. BnF Catalogue des sciences médicales II p. 258. unknown books
1865ref. 3882Philadelphia: W.W. Harding 1865. Album 5 x 6 x 2.5 in. Title-page a little foxed verso blank Index to portraits 2 pp. followed by 25 thick cards creating 50 slots; all are filled with 47 cartes-de-visite 2 views and one chromolithograph a little foxed. Bound in original blue-green roan over deeply embossed carved boards covers and spine gilt edges dazzlingly gilt and gauffered each board with four porcelain beads two working catches and clasps with luxuriously wrought mounts and two porcelain beads moire pastedowns and endpapers. Minor scuffing to binding extremities. SUPERB CIVIL WAR ERA PHILADELPHIA BINDING THE GILT AND GAUFFERED EDGES GLEAM AMAZINGLY. The assemblage of the present album may be localized to Minnesota or neighboring Wisconsin owing to the surprising inclusion of two small views by Benjamin Franklin Upton 1818-1910 of the St. Croix River which demarks the two states. One of the images is entitled "Views of the Dells on the St. Croix River" a stereoscopic copy dated 1865 is at the Getty; the other is a log jam downriver from the bridge with a group of loggers posed in the foreground two stereoscopic copies of this scene are view held by NYPL Photography Collection. While it is not certain that the family who assembled the album are from either Minnesota or Wisconsin it seems self-evident that the St. Croix River was of considerable significance. Was the last name of this family "Quincy" We are perplexed by a third surprising inclusion namely a chromolithograph of a "Quince Blossom" probably not at random. The present album is far more luxurious than Harding's more common and much more inferior "Universal Photograph Album" 1861 and ours is distinguished by its exceptional condition. W.W. Harding unknown books
1820ref. 30251820. Watercolor heightened with india ink repaired tear lower left small spots of gum arabic lower center otherwise in good condition the colors very fresh. This fine Biblical scene is from the Book of Ruth chapter 2 in which Boaz owner of the fields being worked tells Ruth that she is welcome to glean there gather what has been left behind and that she will be safe. Ruth kneels to the ground: "Then she fell on her face and bowed herself to the ground and said unto him 'Why have I found grace in they eyes that thou shouldst take knowledge of me seeing I am a stranger" verse 3. Boaz answers in effect that it is because he knows she is an orphan and a stranger that he welcomes her. unknown books
