518 résultats
1875réf. 20118New York: J L Mott Iron Works 1875 / 1877. First Editions. The catalog of 1875 is in its original printed limp black cloth gilt stamped publisher's binding; the Supplement is as issued - a printed title wrapper. Both contained within a custom made portfolio with cloth ties. Very good; neatly rebacked; occasional marginal tears; one endpaper with modest chipping at the fore-edge. Folio. 2 132 pp.; Supplement - 8 pp. The catalogs measure appx. 54 x 38 cm. Both are lavishly illustrated throughout; printed on glazed paper. A stunning large format catalog for all kinds of garden ornaments - for public and private use. There are also several pages for stable equipment lamps aquariums garden seating planters etc. Mott was a manufacturer of all kinds of metal goods and plumbing supplies. McKinstry citing only much later printings of smaller catalogs; Romaine p. 258 - citing a much later printing of this garden ornament catalog in the same large format as a "masterpiece". J L Mott Iron Works hardcover books
1875réf. 21027New York City: Rogers Brothers ca1875. Edition unknown. Original publisher's stamped three-quarter leather and green cloth. Very good; contemporary annotations throughout; one leaf cut down. 4to 40 thick card-stock leaves on linen stubs meas. appx. 260 x 204 mm. Photographs are deep robust albumen prints mounted both recto and verso. The volume bears the ink stamp of Koch & Bergfeld Bremen Germany on the corner of the front pastedown. Apparently a unique first iteration of an extensive inter-business trade catalog. The Rogers Company catalog are located in OCLC in one 16 page price list without illustration. Romaine adds to this but shows nothing that approaches the kind of catalog offered here. McKinstry offers nothing from the Winterthur collection. This elaborate photographically illustrated catalog was expensive and time consuming to produce and most likely had a limited distribution to jobbers for the Rogers Co. products. Each item in this catalog has a penned or printed in the photo stock number with pricing information in dollars. The company produced all manner of "electro-silver-plated" tableware; depicted in the photographs. In addition to daily utensils and serving dishes of all kinds e.g. cut glass cruits for every form of entertainment there are elaborate decorative centerpieces for table decoration. Rogers Brothers hardcover books
1867réf. ST20572Hamilton Scotland: W. Naismith 1867. FIRST EDITION. 168 x 106 mm. 6 1/2 x 4 1/4". vii 183 pp. In the very rare original green paper wrappers. Spine cocked wrappers somewhat soiled spine with paper beginning to lift along the bottom inch of the rear joint other minor exterior defects but the volume solid and internally in excellent condition. QUITE A GOOD COPY of a fragile inexpensively produced volume one would expect to find in shambles. Told in the form of letters drawn from the author's actual correspondence as well as his contemporary journals this first-hand account by a young sailor of the transatlantic slave trade in the years 1800-04 brings those horrific voyages vividly to life. At the same time the author writing in direct unvarnished prose makes it clear he is at least as much an observer of difficult sea life in general as he is concerned with the abolition of a great evil. In the preface Robinson 1786-1875 explains his reasons for publishing this record of his time aboard a slave ship: "I have heard so many gross misstatements respecting West Indian slavery and the horrors of the 'Middle Passage' that I formed the resolution should time be allowed me to give the result of my own experience . . . in order to disabuse the minds of many well-meaning people." He is rightly aware that some readers may be offended by unconvincing apology in an account encumbered with naïveté : "It is doubtless the opinion of many that I put myself into a wrong position and incurred blame and obloquy by entering into this obnoxious trade at all. It may be so; I will not dispute the matter. I certainly did not feel myself comfortable or at home in the service. But let it be remembered in my favour that the trade was then a lawful one; whilst at the same time I was induced to enter it by what is called an accidental circumstance . . . and an irresistible desire for a seafaring life so completely carried me away that it became a matter of perfect indifference to me where the ship went if not to the bottom provided I was aboard of her--or in what trade engaged if not a pirate." As indicated the letters originating in various ports in England West Africa and the West Indies depict a harsh life at sea for all involved but most especially for the wretches who made up the ship's cargo. An accident on board nearly cost Robinson his foot and ended his career at sea just a year before in his words "the united voice of a generous and philanthropic people" passed the Emancipation Bill into law ending British participation in the slave trade. The phrasing here makes it clear our narrator had his heart mostly in the right place. This is a very rare book which is not surprising for a pocket-sized work from a provincial press near Glasgow issued in insubstantial paper wrappers. OCLC records just two copies in libraries both in the UK while RBH and ABSA seem to list no copies at auction except the present one. W. Naismith unknown books
1930réf. 42850Leicester UK: Cascelloid 1930. Very good . Beautifully-produced trade catalogue from the Cascelloid "Palitoy" company displaying a wide range of baby dolls and other toys. Several uncomfortable designs of black children with pitch-dark skin date this catalogue at roughly the 1930s when the Cascelloid company was dubbed the "House of Constant Progress" by the industry press for its material innovations with the plastics Bexoid and Plastex. One page features a celluoid model by the noted designer Mary Lucie Attwell a doll named "Diddums." The catalogue also displays the company's offerings of animal dolls die-cast trucks pool toys golf and ping-pong sets rattles pinwheels and more. Needless to say color photography was not the norm at this time and this catalogue comprises a beautiful set of vivid and sharp photographic prints. A truly exceptional example unlike anything we've seen: simultaneously surreal and nostalgic. Oblong 4to. album. Blue leather-covered boards. Contains 29 color photographs all 9" by 6.5" approx. mounted on rectos one each of light-gray cardboard leaves. About very good plus overall. Moderate rubbing and edgewear to boards. Several pages display mild soiling and offsetting from photos. Prints just a bit yellowed but remain sharp vivid and clean. [Cascelloid] unknown books
1930réf. 42850Leicester UK: Cascelloid 1930. Very good . Beautifully-produced trade catalogue from the Cascelloid "Palitoy" company displaying a wide range of baby dolls and other toys. Several uncomfortable designs of black children with pitch-dark skin date this catalogue at roughly the 1930s when the Cascelloid company was dubbed the "House of Constant Progress" by the industry press for its material innovations with the plastics Bexoid and Plastex. One page features a celluoid model by the noted designer Mary Lucie Attwell a doll named "Diddums." The catalogue also displays the company's offerings of animal dolls die-cast trucks pool toys golf and ping-pong sets rattles pinwheels and more. Needless to say color photography was not the norm at this time and this catalogue comprises a beautiful set of vivid and sharp photographic prints. A truly exceptional example unlike anything we've seen: simultaneously surreal and nostalgic. Oblong 4to. album. Blue leather-covered boards. Contains 29 color photographs all 9" by 6.5" approx. mounted on rectos one each of light-gray cardboard leaves. About very good plus overall. Moderate rubbing and edgewear to boards. Several pages display mild soiling and offsetting from photos. Prints just a bit yellowed but remain sharp vivid and clean. [Cascelloid] hardcover books
1785réf. 57874Mexico. November 22 1785. Announcing the Compañia Real de Filipinas Regulating Trade with the Philippines A very rare Mexico City printing of the announcement of the creation of the Royal Company of the Philippines by Spanish royal decree in 1785 which regulated and effectively monopolized trade with the Philippines. This copy bears the manuscript rubric of Don Bernardo de Gálvez and signature of his secretary Joseph de Gorraes. Gálvez then Viceroy of New Spain ordered this broadside printed for the reason that "An Establishment so important and of such general interest should be understood and known by all" our translation. The creation of the Royal Company would be particularly relevant to residents of Mexico as most if not all of the trade with the Philippines would come through New Spain. Accompanying the announcement this broadside also prints Articles 1 2 14 21 and 100 of the royal decree which were considered to effectively summarize the purpose and mechanics of the new Company. The articles printed here proclaim that the Company is to enjoy the protection of the Crown for at least twenty-five years establish a fund to back its shares describe how shares and subscriptions could be purchased and organize a general meeting of shareholders. Notably absent from this broadside is the important article of the decree which closed Manila's ports to foreign vessels giving the Company an effective monopoly on all trade between Asia and the Americas. The Royal Company of the Philippines quickly gained vast wealth from this lucrative deal transporting commodities such as indigo coffee sugar spices and cotton across the Pacific. Regardless of its initial success the Company did not endure - the wave of rebellions against Spanish rule in Central and South America in the early 19th century quickly rendered it obsolete and the company was officially dissolved in 1834. A rare broadside announcing this important Royal Decree to the people of the Western Hemisphere; OCLC records only one copy at the Bancroft Library. Broadside printed on two joined sheets of sealed paper 23½ x 17 inches in total. Old folds and light creases a few small worm holes. Very good. OCLC 21747301. unknown books
1939réf. 1729691939. INK TRADE CATALOGUE. Kraski. Trest 'Poligraf'. 173 unnumbered leaves of text and illustrations. Vertical 4to 265 x 175 mm publisher's cloth fastened with string. Moscow: Nauchno-issledovatel'skii institut poligraficheskoi i izdatel'skoi tekhniki 1939. The State Trust of the All-Union Economic Council of National Economy "Poligraf" existed since 1924 and produced movable types. They also produced printing inks. In this sample book they are divided by the techniques they were intended for: movable-type printing lithography offset lithography mezzotint. The samples are on different kinds of papers to show the differences for printing. At the end is an overview of complementary mixtures and drying oils including fatty printing pastes to increase the capacity of printed forms. One of 300 copies only. Of the greatest rarity and not listed on OCLC. hardcover books
1796réf. 5074Mexico City: May 13 1796. About very good. Broadside 17 x 12.25 inches. Old fold lines. Slight separation and loss at center fold slightly affecting a few letters. Minor wear else. Proclamation made by the Viceroy of New Spain authorizing trade between Cuba and the United States. The Caribbean was in tumult in the 1790s with Toussaint L'Ouverture overthrowing the French colonial government and outlawing slavery. Likewise in Cuba there was a similar revolt against slavery demanding abolition and equality -- both revolutions were of substantial concern to slaveholders in the American South. Specifically the present decree mentions flour and other vital foodstuffs as a measure against shortages in Cuba intended to prevent further trouble. "Para precaver la escasez de viveres y con especialidad de harinas que verosimilmente causaria la guerra concedio El Rey Permiso por Real Orden de 25 Junio de 93. para que los Anglo-Americanos.pudiesen conducirlos a la Havana pagando los derechos los puertos habilitados de España." The Viceroy at the time was Don Miguel de la Grua Talamanca de Carini y Branciforte First Marques de Branciforte. The Marques was notoriously corrupt even for colonial Spain having gained position through marriage to the Prime Minister's sister. He made sure to make some profit on everything that passed through his hands including taking advantage of the war in Cuba to remove the French from their lands and sell them to his benefit. A rare and interesting decree. We locate a single copy in OCLC at the University of Minnesota. May 13 unknown books
1855réf. List3333Massachusetts New York Maine Pennsylvania and others 1855. Fifty letters with four empty envelopes or covers. Forty-four letters addressed to I.H. Bartlett & Sons: two from the 1830s eight from the 1840s and thirty-four from the 1850s. With five letters addressed to Capt. John C. Blanchard 1838 1839 1844 and 1849 and one to Cumston & Hatch N.d. Overall excellent to Near Fine. Ivory Hovey Bartlett 1794–1871 was a merchant and whale oil seller based in New Bedford Massachusetts. Bartlett moved to New Bedford from Plymouth in 1819 first dealing in grain and later transitioning to general merchandise and whaling.1 Whale oil and spermaceti were widely used in lamps and as lubricant and whalebone baleen was used for structure in items like umbrellas and corsets. In the nineteenth century whaling was the basis of New Bedford’s economy—supporting shipbuilding refineries toolworks and more—making it the wealthiest city in North America at the peak of the industry in the midcentury. Whaling declined in the 1860s with the rise of petroleum which could be both used as a lubricant and distilled into kerosene for lighting. Offered here is a collection of letters mainly to Bartlett’s company I.H. Bartlett & Sons with five to Captain John C. Blanchard of Searsport Maine and one to Cumston & Hatch. The latter is unknown; Blanchard was in the cotton and sugar trades sailing between the US Europe and West Indies. Letters to Bartlett are mainly from other mercantile firms; they pay bills make purchases discuss oil prices and occasionally complain. For instance Robert Robinson of Portland Maine writes: “I have just got 4 Casks of my oil 3 of the last and 1 of the invoice of 30th ult. I cannot understand why my oil should be keep back in this way. Hyde had seven casks by yesterdays Boat the same boat which mine came by it seem’s as if the fates where against this Oil as yesterday boat did not arrive untill late yesterday afternoon and this mornings boat has arrived without the balance there must be something wrong somewhere . I must say I think such neglect should be made known but perhaps it would be better to suffer for fear of the future. I shall not be able to get off any oil untill tomorrow as the oil was not out of the boat untill this morning. it is not thirteen days since that one cask left New Bedford .”. October 13 1852 Most of Bartlett’s customers buy whale oil though beef molasses and coal are also discussed but some are interested in whalebone; as are Wright Bros & Co a Philadelphian umbrella manufacturer who write to complain about market speculation: “The fact appears to us that speculation and the calculation of holders put the price kept it so high that it considerably lessened consumption – so much so of late that some have been disposed to slide it off below New Bedford rates very quietly.” October 23 1852 The letters to all parties are generally all business except for two of the five to John Blanchard: one from his wife Caroline Houston and one from fellow Searsport captain David Nickels Jr. 1823–1888 who writes from Bangor: “I see by to day’s Mercantile gazette that you are in trouble I can sympathize with you God knows I have had a good share of it since I left the land of Gospel light and liberty as the good people say in their prayers I have been in this place fifteen days you doubtless knew I was chartered by Capt Pendleton to go from Leith to Bangor for a cargo of slates and from here to Boston I sailed from Leith on the 27th of November last for this place I got as far as the Orkney Islands on the 30th of November the wind blowing heavy from the westward and having a pilot belonging to the Orkneys on board I concluded to take the harbour of Longhope and lay till a shift of wind or till it moderated . in spite of all our endeavouring we were driven on shore broke the keel out of her filled as high as the lower deck which was on the 3d of December and on the 22d of March we left the Orkney Islands after having been near four months there When I got here I found the man who was to freight the Barque from here to Boston had neglected to place funds in the hands of the slate agent of this place consequently he refuses to put slates on board of the vessel till he receives funds from Boston .”. May 13 1849 Overall a look at the dealings of maritime merchants in the mid-nineteenth century particularly in the critical east coast whaling industry. 1 “Death of a Well-Known Merchant” The Standard-Times February 6 1871 2. unknown books
1843réf. 24188St. Louis: John B. Sarpy 1843. Folio. 2 pp. 12 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches. Docketed on verso fold lines with some separation a few repaired. A manuscript affidavit written by fur magnate John Baptiste Sarpy of Pierre Chouteau & Co. that gives one a granular sense of the difficulities of running a frontier business dependent on mountain men like Jim Bridger and Frapp. A remarkable window onto the business dealings of famed mountain man Jim Bridger this signed manuscript affidavit of John B. Sarpy testifies to his actions on behalf of the estate of fellow fur trader Henry Fraeb also known as Frapp who was killed by Indians in the Rocky Mountains. Sarpy who was a partner in the major fur firm Pierre Chouteau &. Co. had worked closely with Frapp and knew him well. In his affidavit he writes about the Chouteau Company's concerns about Jim Bridger Frapp's partner at the time of his demise and the difficulty of getting Bridger to pay his debts. Written in St. Louis Sarpy's affidavit states: "On the 8th day of August last he was appointed . . . administrator of the estate of Henry Fraeb then lately deceased. Said Fraeb had been a trader in the mountains & was at the time of his death in partnership with a man of the name of James Bridger & said Bridger & Fraeb were indebted to the firm of Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Co. & it was feared by the members of said firm that unless some one became the administrator of the said Fraeb the said Bridger might interpose difficulties in the settlement of the accounts existing between them & Bridger & Fraeb & for the purpose of doing justice to themselves as well as to the said Fraeb the said Sarpy applied for letters of administration which were granted to him as above mentioned. The said Bridger has however since this time been here & has settled in full the accounts existing between the firm of Pierre Chouteau Jr. & Co. & the said Bridger & Fraeb. And the said Sarpy says that no property has come into his hands as the administrator of the said Fraeb although it may be that the said Fraeb has property in the mountain country or in the hands of James Bridger his former partner." Though he may have been one of the greatest and most beloved mountain men of all time Jim Bridger was not the best debtor in the world nor did Pierre Chouteau & Co. forget business. John B. Sarpy unknown books
1870réf. 55334Osage Mission Ks. N.d. ca. 1870s. Hand-Painted Trade Sign for a Kansas Livery Stable A remarkable and very attractive handmade sign for D.B. Gregory's livery stable in Osage Mission Kansas. Undated the style of the sign suggests a date of the 1870s. The center of the sign shows a lovely illustration in profile of a horse pulling a single-rider four-wheeled carriage along a dirt road. The text above the illustration reads "D.B. Gregory & Co." and below: "Livery & Sale Stables / Best Stock / Horse & Buggies / Main Bet. County & Neosho Strs. / Osage Mission Kan." The lettering is in black with blue and purple shadowing and "Osage Mission Kan." is drawn in a very ornate style. The entire sign is decorated with purple watercolor ornamentation. On the verso is a pencil sketch of the horse and the lower half of the carriage likely a preliminary sketch for the finished illustration. David B. Gregory born in 1846 in Iowa established his livery business with his brother in Osage Mission now St. Paul Neosho County Kansas by the early 1870s. An advertisement in the March 23 1873 issue of the OSAGE MISSION TRANSCRIPT describes Gregory's livery as having a "fine and well selected stock of horses and carriages.the best matched teams for style and speed in the city. Saddle horses for ladies and gents a specialty that defy competition." Settlers came to the region around Osage Mission in the 1840s following the founding of nearby Fort Scott in 1842. Osage Mission itself was founded in 1847 by Father John Schoenmakers as a mission to local Indian tribes and then grew into a town in its own right serving as a trading post and gateway for commerce and westward exploration. By the late 1860s it had grown to nearly 900 people with a hotel boarding house saloon stables general store hardware store and blacksmith. A rare significant and informative survival from the American frontier. Hand-drawn and hand-painted watercolor sign on a 14 x 18¾-inch sheet of cardstock. Pencil sketch for the same sign on the verso. Small chips at lower corners some light soiling. Very good. unknown books
1890réf. 24064Chicago: Unique. ca1890. Bolted stainless steel clamp needed to support the weight of the contents. Overall very good; some of the photographs are faded to various degrees otherwise rich crisp images most likely contact prints from a view camera negative. Oblong folio. Album 2.5" x 15.5" x 11.5"; photographs 13.75" x 11"; containing 129 albumen or early silver bromide original photographs mounted on to cloth backing along with several blueprints; a handful of additional photographs are laid in with a paper wrap. Most of the images are uncredited though about six have the photographer's stamps on the back. Album cover stamped in gilt with the name of the firm. Small silver plaque affixed to the center of the cover with the name E F Steck engraved upon it. Steck was the superintendent of the company. The inside front cover is marked #1. Exhaustive catalog documenting firefighting equipment used during the waning days of the horse-drawn fire truck era with photographs of various fire pumps hook and ladder trucks fire extinguishers fire grenades water nozzles etc. and two blueprints showing the inner workings of a carbonic acid chemical engine pump and extinguisher. Probably a unique prototype to hold all of the original photographs taken of the company's inventory. Photographs depict an array of trucks and apparatus including several views of the same product used by fire companies from across the country including Massachusetts Pennsylvania New York Chicago Los Angeles and Oregon. While the majority of the images show unmanned trucks and apparatus against a white canvas background there are some photographs taken on the street in front of fire stations or with firefighters to show scale or in action shots notably one image depicting nine men on a ladder reaching to the top of a five-story building and firefighters shooting water at smoldering buildings. A few images capture civilians usually on the periphery or looking out windows. The first 80 photographs in the album have red and white number labels on the reverse. The following 27 photographs are not numbered but are titled and listed by the manufacturer's style type; there are 13 styles and between one and three photographs of each style. The next 20 photographs feature a variety of apparatus and the last two depict fire extinguisher products. Unique. unknown books
1842réf. 232013Boston: Samuel N. Dickinson 1842. Printed title in blue and red within an embossed gilt ornamental frame one printed "Notice" from the publisher dated June 1842 49 specimens of embossed cards many tinted some printed all mounted to stiff card stock; and 7 sheets of "Embossed Specimens of Printed Billets" sewn to a stiff printed card. Oblong 4to. Bound in an album of contemporary half calf and marbled paper boards with red leather label on upper cover stamped in gilt "Dickinson's Embossed Cards" calf shows much deterioration and corrosion although the sewing is still intact 28 specimen cards have been removed and are no longer present some minor soiling and foxing but generally vey clean and sound internally custom morocco backed folding box. Printed title in blue and red within an embossed gilt ornamental frame one printed "Notice" from the publisher dated June 1842 49 specimens of embossed cards many tinted some printed all mounted to stiff card stock; and 7 sheets of "Embossed Specimens of Printed Billets" sewn to a stiff printed card. Oblong 4to. With a very interesting presentation note from a previous Philadelphia owner Alfred Darrach dated 1928 affixed to the front pastedown identifying the original owner his grandfather as Christian Gobrecht 1785-1844 artist engraver embosser inventor engraver to the U.S. Mint and from 1840-1844 the 4th United States Engraver of the Mint where he was responsible for the creation of several new models and designs including the famous Seated Liberty design which appeared on a variety of American coins from 1836 through 1890. Gobrecht designed many notable medals coins and dies during his career but he also "invented a speaking doll and later a camera lucida. He also produced engravings for calico printers and dies for bookbinders. He engraved the brass dies for embossing the Morocco covers of the Boston Token from 1831 - 1836 as well as the eagle cover of the Philadelphia Token. Among the medals he engraved were the Charles Willson Peale medal the Franklin Institute medal etc ." - DAB. A remarkable specimen album in and of itself all the more so for having belonged to one of America's most important engravers. We cannot say for sure but it is entirely likely that if Gobrecht himself did not design many of the dies for this embosser he may have used the album for his own work and possibly removed the cards which are no longer present. Samuel N. Dickinson unknown books
1675réf. 45901London: Printed by the Assigns of John Bill and Christopher Barker 1675. Enforcing the Triangular Trade: The Basis for the British Colonial System A rare broadside reiterating and reinforcing the decree of the English government that all foreign goods destined for British colonies must first pass through England a policy of mercantilism later termed the "triangle trade." "This program permitted the profits from colonial trade and commerce to center in England promoted British shipping and enabled the British government to support itself by taxing this trade as it flowed through England" - DAH. The English government began its mercantilist policies under the Commonwealth government in a series of "navigation acts" which regulated English trade. The first Navigation Act passed in 1651 targeted Dutch commerce. It stipulated that only English ships could carry freight into English territories and that if a ship was not English it could only carry goods from the country from whence it hailed i.e. Dutch ships could only import Dutch goods etc. Acts passed in 1660 and 1663 under the Restoration government of Charles II isolated trade even further mandating that British colonial goods only be imported to England and forbidding English trade on anything other than English vessels. This policy of trade which was continued for the next two hundred years marked the ascent of British colonial mercantilism and planted the seeds of discontent which resulted in the American Revolution one hundred years later. The present proclamation is an enforcement of the Navigation Act of 1663 An Act for the Encouragement of Trade under which "no commodities of the growth production or manufacture of Europe shall be imported into any land island plantation colony territory or place to his Majesty belonging." In other words all European trade to the American and East Indian colonies of the English had to pass through English ports en route. As the law is being disobeyed to the detriment of trade and tax revenue the proclamation extends power for enforcement to the officials of the realm. It states: ".whereas his Majesty is well informed that notwithstanding the said Act of Parliament great quantities of other commodities.have been and are daily imported into several of his colonies plantations and territories in Asia Africa and America.and that his Majesties subjects of some of his colonies and plantations have not onely sic supplied themselves with such commodities not shipped in England.but have conveyed them by land and water to other of his Majesties colonies and plantations to the great prejudice of his Majesties customs and of the trade and navigation of this kingdom." An important proclamation which illustrates the difficulty in maintaining and enforcing the laws central to the first British Empire. Old fold lines. Repaired with tissue on verso along vertical fold. A few other small tears or tissue repairs. Very good. ESTC R25339. WING C3378. GOLDSMITHS' 2112. STEELE I:3619. KRESS S1421. DAH III p.374. unknown books
1688réf. 368775Montreal 1688. In French. 2pp. recto and verso on a single leaf. Signed by Perrot Bleinz and notary Benigne Basset. With an English transcription. Quarto. Old folds. Near fine. Provenance: Archibald de Léry MacDonald; Lawrence Lande. Exhibition: An Exhibition of Early Documents and Printed Material Relating to the Beginnings of Trade in North America from the Private Collection of Dr. Lawrence M. Lande McGill University May 30-July 15 1985 with an 8-page exhibition catalogue. In French. 2pp. recto and verso on a single leaf. Signed by Perrot Bleinz and notary Benigne Basset. With an English transcription. Quarto. Scarce seventeenth century voyageur fur trade contract for an expedition to the wilderness to trade with the Ottawa signed by one of the most important early traders and explorers of Canada and the upper midwest. "Partnership agreements such as this one of Nicholas Perrot are of great rarity" Lande. Perrot 1644-1717 was an explorer interpreter trader commandant diplomat and seigneur. He was one of the best-known figures in the early fur trade of New France particularly during the latter part of the 17th century and took possession of large tracts of land in the Great Lakes region in the name of King Louis XIV. His travels commonly took him deep into unexplored territory and he was the first Frenchman to explore the Upper Mississippi in what is now Wisconsin and Minnesota. Perrot arrived in New France about 1660 as a young donné or contracted assistant in the company of Jesuit Missionaries and travelled to the western Great Lakes region where he gained the friendship of the local First Nations people by trading guns for furs believing that they were entitled to defend themselves from their enemies. He also took the opportunity to learn several Native languages which served him well during his career. Perrot soon entered the fur trade full time and began forming business partnerships. He enlisted himself as a translator with government authorities and participated in peacekeeping missions to bring warriors of several First Nations together to sign peace treaties. By 1685 he was appointed Commandant-in-Chief at Bais des Puants present day Green Bay Wisconsin and surrounding regions and travelled to the upper reaches of the Mississippi River in the territory of the Sioux tribes where he built Fort St. Antoine in present-day Minnesota. During the spring of 1687 in preparation for taking part in raids on Indian villages in the Seneca country Perrot left his store of furs with the Jesuits at St. Francois-Xavier mission in present-day Wisconsin. While out with the raid party a fire at the mission destroyed his entire fur inventory valued at more than 40000 livres. Financially ruined Perrot returned to Montreal to deal with creditors and renew partnership agreements like the present. In the summer of 1688 Perrot partnered with Simon Bleinz to undertake an expedition to trade with the Ottawa Indians and other Nations. Perrot had always been a staunch ally of Governor Frontenac and had obtained a fur trade license from the governor for this venture to ensure that his activities were in keeping with the rules and regulations of the trade. The agreement states that Perrot would supply Bleinz with goods food provisions a canoe and other necessary supplies for the voyage and that Bleinz would convey the goods to the trading area and do all that he was able for the success of the partnership. Bleinz had the option of taking at his own expense six shirts two capots or hooded coats of blanket cloth moosehide or other material and one rifle to trade for his own personal profit. The pelts resulting from the venture were to be distributed evenly amongst Bleinz another unnamed associate of the partnership and Perrot. An "apichimon" or bonus of six beaver pelts was to be paid to Bleinz by the partnership upon the successful conclusion of the expedition. "Perrot who was often unappreciated even during his lifetime was France's best representative among the Indians of the west. His knowledge of the languages of the country his natural eloquence the happy blend of daring and coolness that were the essence of his character had made it possible for him to win the esteem confidence and even affection of the Indians. The Potawatomis the Menominees the Foxes the Miamis the Mascoutens and the Sioux granted him with the honours of the pipe of peace the rights and prerogatives enjoyed by their own chiefs. His credit was not less among the Ottawas and the Hurons. During the last four decades of the 17th century at a time when alliance with the nations of the west was indispensable in order to ward off the Iroquois peril and allow access to new territories Perrot thanks to the influence that he had acquired rendered valuable assistance to the colony" Dictionary of Canadian Biography. The present document is from the famed collection of Lawrence M. Lande 1906-1998 detailed as item 107 in his second bibliography of his collection The Founder of our Monetary System John Law Compagnie des Indes & the Early Economy of North America Montreal: 1984. Lande began collecting manuscript material relating John Law the Compagnie des Indes and the fur trade - North America's first economy - as early as the 1960s principally working with dealers Izzy Ehrlich and Alfred Van Peteghem purchasing material from the collections of Thomas Phillips Philip Sang and historian Archibald Lery MacDonald the assemblage of which Van Peteghem termed an "unparalleled feat." All of the printed material and many of the documents were donated by Lande in his lifetime; however a grouping of the manuscript items including the present document were sold by his heirs after his death. Lande Founder of our Monetary System 107 unknown books
réf. 10960Scroll 385 x 8560 mm. with fine colored paintings using brush ink & various colors of wash of the route and major features along the way. Japan: mid-Edo. The route from Edo today’s Tokyo to Nagasaki and vice versa by land and by sea was one of the major thoroughfares and trade routes of Edo-period Japan. The Dutch and Chinese had been allowed to establish exclusive trading outposts in Nagasaki and Edo was the heart of domestic commerce and administration. Foreign goods especially silks other luxury items raw materials useful to the military and medicinal goods flowed through Nagasaki to Edo and the rest of Japan while Japanese goods including copper silver and porcelain were transported to Nagasaki for export. Most of the silver was sent to China to settle the trade balance. From the late 1670s to the 1740s Japan was the world’s largest copper producer and exporter. This route also carried the head of Nagasaki’s Dejima trading post to Edo for frequent mandatory ceremonial audiences with the shogun. The beginning of our scroll depicts the land route from Edo to Kyoto and then on to Osaka. The famous battleship Atake Maru is seen docked at the mouth of the Sumida River. Starting from Edo Castle in the great capital the scroll proceeds to Nagoya and Kyoto along the TÅkaidÅ road which was the most important highway of the Edo period. It depicts in great detail and with manuscript labels: stations on the route; bridges; major castles temples and shrines; the palace at Kyoto; other notable buildings; important geographical features including Mount Fuji partly shrouded in clouds; and towns and villages along the way. Distances are given and travellers are well-depicted showing their various clothing. Also shown are ships and skiffs in the nearby sea. We see more landmarks along the TÅkaidÅ road from Kyoto to the commercial hub and port city of Osaka an extension built in the 1620s. Arriving at Osaka we view the great castle the city’s canals and other sites. The rest of the scroll shows the hazardous passage from Osaka to Nagasaki through the 400 km. long Inland Sea Seto Naikai. The accomplished artist depicts the two main routes and alternate routes depending on the weather one for summertime in the open sea and the other hugging the coast for wintertime. Another route is shown that involved landing in the Bungo area of Kyūshū island and crossing overland to Nagasaki. Navigating through the Inland Sea with its 3000 plus islands and rocky outcroppings presented enormous problems in the era before modern navigation systems. Shown in very great detail are areas of turbulence including famous whirlpools numerous islands rock formations landscapes for orientation anchorages harbors along the way and fishing areas. The route then passes through the narrow Kanmon Strait the stretch of water separating the main island of Honshu and Kyūshū to the Sea of Japan finally arriving in Nagasaki. Dejima is prominently shown. A foreign ship is shown passing the GotÅ islands making its way to Nagasaki. Our scroll is finely drawn in black ink and heightened with wash in green blue gray pink and red. The routes are drawn from a partial “bird’s-eye” perspective with lovely vistas of mountains and islands and villages and towns. In fine condition preserved in an oldish wooden box which has the inscription on the outside of the lid 江戸長崎海陸é“ä¸çµµå›³ “From Edo to Nagasaki Travel by Land and by Sea Illustrated”. Inside this lid is the ownership inscription of RyÅra Gakuto. unknown books
1770réf. 97Birmingham or Sheffield 1770. Oblong folio. 390 x 220 mm. 15 1/4 x 8 3/4 inches. Vellum spine over decorative blue paper wrappers paper label with title in Italian on upper board and ink title in Italian on spine. Paper stock toned with age a few leaves with staining in the margin otherwise in good condition. Silversmith model book containing 80 full-page engravings of candles sticks and holders candelabra pitchers plates salt and pepper shakers serving utensils silverware and other household pieces. Each image is beautifully and careful engraved with rich detail and ornamentation. Each includes a printed product number as well as one in ink with a different item number and a price. Although there is no title-page or signatures of engravers this large sales catalogue appears to be English as some of the engravings have English words of explanation engraved in the text. The binding is definitely Italian and the paper label is in an Italian hand. The watermark is a "fleur de lis" pattern suggesting an international company manufacturing the silver. There were only a few English companies with the capacity to export at this time including silver works in Sheffield and Birmingham both of which by 1770's had established networks of dealers selling their wares across the continent. This catalogue with specific Italian connections is very unusual and suggests the scope of the business had reached export capacity by the third quarter of the century. The most important Italian silver makers at this time were Giardini of Rome and Venuti of Naples. . unknown books
1713réf. 68433London: Printed by John Baskett 1713. Spain Grants Britain a Monopoly on the Slave Trade in the Americas First edition in English of one of the most important documents in the history of slavery in the Americas and in the political and financial history of Europe and the Americas in the early 18th century. This copy is housed in a large sammelband containing dozens of original documents and extracts related to English-Spanish relations. Though the term "assiento" could refer to any number of Spanish contracts "the Assiento" almost always refers to the "Assiento de Negros": a monopoly contract granted by the Spanish crown between 1528 and 1779 for the sole right to import slaves from Africa into the Spanish colonies. Normally granted to individual companies the 1713 Assiento was granted directly to the British crown as part of negotiations for the Treaty of Utrecht which ended the War of Spanish Succession. In the decades following this 1713 Assiento an estimated 200000 enslaved Africans were transported across the Atlantic. The document grants sole privilege for the trade to the British crown for a period of thirty years expiring in 1743. The agreement consisting of forty-two articles allows for a maximum of 4800 slaves to be introduced to the colonies each year with a provision for increasing that annual amount each year by paying an added duty places limits on sale prices sets the cost of the duty to be paid for each enslaved person allows for the use of British or Spanish ships and mariners in the slave trade provides for the French Guinea Company's extraction from the colonies and establishes the details of precisely where British ships would be allowed to travel and trade. The British were also granted the unique privilege to send one vessel with a cargo of up to 500 tons of other trade goods to the Spanish colonies each year. While the Assiento seemed a lucrative deal most Assientists over the years saw considerable losses due to the difficulty of cross-Atlantic trade and the duties paid to the Spanish king. The real benefit to its grantees was not profits from the slave trade but rather the illegal ability to send other contraband on board their vessels to the otherwise closed-off Spanish markets in the New World. Britain was eager to get their own products overseas and to deny this revenue stream to the French who had held the Assiento since 1701 thereby preventing them from refilling their coffers too quickly and upsetting the balance of power in Europe after the costly War of the Spanish Succession. Queen Anne delegated the Assiento privilege to the South Sea Company which had recently been established to pay off Britain's considerable national debt. The privilege was largely granted to them as an encouragement to investors in order to allow the Company to achieve its original purpose more readily. Ultimately however it proved to be a costly and unprofitable endeavor for the South Sea Company who were able to import only about one-third of their allowed quota of slaves each year were frequently interrupted by war and were required to render twenty-five percent of their profits to King Philip V of Spain. The present example comes from the British Foreign Office Library inlaid and bound into a folio volume of other treaties between Great Britain and Spain arranged chronologically by treaty date. Over the course of many years the library of the Great Britain Foreign Office inlaid copies of nearly every treaty involving Great Britain to folio size and bound them together by region. The library was dispersed in the late 20th century with most of the volumes and particularly the American volumes sold by this company. Most of the other treaties with Spain within this volume are clippings or extracts from larger works or true copies in manuscript of treaties dated between the years 1176 and 1739. Included in the volume however is a separately printed English edition of the Treaty between Great Britain and Spain as part of the Treaty of Utrecht ESTC T51509. There are two issues of the Assiento treaty; this is the issue with a semicolon after "Assiento" and no punctuation after "or" on the titlepage. A crucially important document in the history of colonial trade Spanish-British relations English finances and slavery in the Americas. Folio. 19th-century half roan and marbled paper boards. Boards worn some restoration at joints. Text trimmed and inlaid into folio sheets bound in volume of treaties between Great Britain and Spain. Bookplate of the British Foreign Office Library on front pastedown. HANSON 1896. ESTC T4476. EUROPEAN AMERICANA 713/85. JCB 1III:175. SABIN 2227. SPERLING 34. hardcover books
