Mid-19th-century Valentine Basket by Anonymous - 1850

Idaho, 1950. Soft cover. Very Good. Blue paper covers with silver stenciled candle to front cover, mimeographed pages, 9" x 6", 20 single-sided pages. Special thanks to Chris Boyd of Boyd's Used and Rare Books for triangulating contributor names to identify Moscow, Idaho as the likely origin of this cookbook. Wear to yapped wraps, else very good. The most interesting contribution is for Nesselrode Pie. This pie was created in 1945 by New York baker Hortense Spier. The original recipe included pecans, but as others copied the recipe it (d)evolved into having chocolate flakes and maraschino cherries instead. The New York Times claimed in a 1988 article that, "while for years it was a popular American Christmas dessert, Nesselrode pie left our collective culinary consciousness about 30 years ago and has hardly been heard from since." (Dec. 7, 1988, Section C, Page 20.) The recipe included in this cookbook does indeed have chocolate flakes, meaning this was probably published in the late 1940s or 1950s.

S. l. (Moscow [?]): s. n., 1950. First Edition. Very good. Two leaflets, n. d. (ca 1950s); 8 1/2 x 4 3/4; single leaves, pp. [2]; lithographed illustrations to recto, text to verso; minor creasing and wear to corners; very good or better condition.Published as advertisements for "Mosryba" - a large wholesale and retail fish store in Moscow - the colorful leaflets described two different fish, found along the far North shores of Russia - Moiva (Capelin) and Terpug (Rasp) - and listed several recipes with each of them, including Capelin in Butter-vinegar Sauce and Roasted Rasp with Onion

original hand coloured steel engraving. Condition: with slight burn marks at top right margin, not affecting plate. Condition considered when pricing.

original hand coloured steel engraving. Condition: with smudges and burn marks, barely affecting plate.Condition considered when pricing.

New York, Clinton Hall: J. S. Redfield, 1848. First Edition. Very good. First edition, n. d. (ca 1848 - tentative date obtained from publisher's address, Clinton Hall, 137 Nassau, where he published between 1843 and 1852); 4 1/2 x 3; pp. [1], 4-16; yellow wraps, tied with a string and decorated and ruled in black; illustrated with woodcuts; small nicks to tips of spine; very mild age-toning and a small spot to front wrap; upper corner of back wrap clipped; occasional faint spots to margins; overall in very good condition.Justus Starr Redfield (1810 - 1888) began his career very young, first as a stereotyper (as Redfield & Savage), and in 1831 - as a publisher in his own right. He published four series of toy books, the current one being No. 12 of the Third Series, which became very popular and would later be re-published by Kiggins & Kellogg. This particular one contained five stories in verse and included "Meddlesome Matty,"The Idle Boy," etc.

S. l. : s. n., 1890. Very good. Menu, n. d. (1890s); 7 x 5; single, card stock, beige sheet, printed in black, with an elaborate border of stars around the title; bright fuchsia, decorative ribbon to upper left corner; a few small spots; in very good condition.A humorous menu (possibly from Maine, as the Southwest Harbor Public Library holds a similar menu for a "Conundrum Sociable" from the 1890s, by the ladies of Seal Cove, for the Cemetery Fence Fund), it listed specialties such as: "Greased Staff," "A Girlish Boy," "The Cause of Neighborhood Contention," "The Joy of Darwin's Grandfather," and others. Four selections could be had for 15 cents and seven selections - for 25 cents.

S. l.: s. n., 1850. Very good. Two labels, n. d. (mid-19th century); approx. 12 x 4 and 9 3/4 x 3 1/2; edges in lovely scalloped patterns; lavish gilt decorations on green and white backgrounds and central, chromolithographed images laid-on; one with a few remnants of paper to verso from being removed from a scrapbook, the other backed with a scrapbook leaf; a bit of wear and mild rubbing; overall in very good condition.In the early- to mid-19th century, textile labels were used to hold the ends of fancy bolts of fabric, which could be only purchased by affluent ladies, those who could afford to own fine textiles. Usually richly decorated, the labels were considered a premium bonus of a kind and often saved in scrapbooks. Many of them, including the present ones, featured an oval image of a colorful and pleasing subject - in this case, a portrait of a beautiful lady and a woman weaving a harvest crown.

S. l. (Burlington, VT): Van Ness and American Hotels, 1889. First Edition. Good. Menu card; 6 3/4 x 4; beige card stock with a chromolithograph illustration of two birds standing on a branch on recto and text on verso; a few faint spots to left margin; two closed cuts to top and right edges; lower right corner creased; upper left corner with a small indentation, most probably as published and starting out as a hole for tying a string through it; in about good condition.A beautiful menu, it outlined a lavish, multi-course, dinner feast for December 24, 1889 and was published by the Van Ness and American Hotels, two landmark hotels in Vermont under joint management. Their proprietor was Urban Andrain Woodbury (1838 - 1915) - Civil War veteran, businessman, Mayor of Burlington, Lieutenant Governor, and 45th Governor of Vermont. The menu included Shoulder of Mutton, Minced Beef on Toast, Wine Jelly, Chocolate Bavarian Cream, etc. Interestingly enough, the two birds in the illustration appeared to… Read More

(Lancaster, NH): Lancaster Gazette Power Job Print, 1886. First Edition. Good. Broadside; 11 1/4 x 4 3/4; light-brown paper, printed in black in several sizes and styles of type; bottom edge unevenly trimmed; several small nicks and a short, closed cut to edges; faint crease lines and light age-toning; in good to very good condition.Listing the entries for the various horse races over the three-day event and detailing the names of the jockeys and the horses, the broadside was published for the joint Coos County, New Hampshire - Essex County, Vermont Agricultural Fair in 1886.

Salem: Salem Gazette Office, 1835. Good. Broadside; 12 x 9 3/4; off-white stock, printed in black, ruled with an elaborate, geometric border; edges trimmed unevenly; old crease lines; a few small, incospicious pieces of tape to verso; a bit of age-toning and a few tiny punctures to lower half; minor foxing to margins; in good or better condition.The Essex Agricultural Society was officially granted a charter in 1818 and its first president was the Honorable Timothy Pickering (1745 - 1829) - Revolutionary War hero, Postmaster General, Senator, Secretary of War, and Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. The initial goal of the society was to "promote and improve the agricultural interests of farmers and others in Essex County," by gathering and providing information from more progressive farming communities to every farmer in Essex County. The broadside listed the exercises to be held, in order, including "Thanksgiving Hymn," an "Address by… Read More