Search Results: Authors starting with I from Nat DesMarais Rare Books, ABAA

New York: Gremor Press, (1944). First edition. One of 300 copies. [vi], 58, [6, index and colophon] pp. with cover illustrations and six in-text illustrations by Ian Hugo. Publisher's white boards, front lettered and with design. Previous owner's discreet presentation. Some sunning at board edges and overall aging but a very good copy.Introduction by Anais Nin, who was had 'relations' with both the author and the illustrator of this volume. Her "Dear John" to C. L. Baldwin is quite famous: "Anais Nin had particularly harsh words for poet C.L. Baldwin, a onetime lover, who strayed outside his marriage to consort with her, only to return to his family. "The day I discovered your deadness -- long ago -- my illusion about you died and I knew you could never enter my world, which you wanted so much. Because my world is based on passion, and you know that my world, which you now deride, made Henry (Miller) a great writer. But in the middle of this fiery and marvelous give and take, going out with you was… Read More

Chicago: A. W. Bowen, 1904. First edition. Quarto. 664 pp. with numerous photographic portraits and a frontispiece after a painting by Russell. Recent brown fabricoid with gilt spine and cover lettering, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. A very clean and attractive copy.An invaluable source for early Idaho history and its pioneers.

Claremont, New Hampshire: Published for the Subscribers, [1880]. First edition. Twelvemo. [2, half-title: Scraps of California History Never Before Published, verso blank], 239 [1, “The Inscription”] pp. Original half calf over brown cloth, gilt lettering to front cover, marbled endpapers, red edges. Some light rubbing to extremities, erasure marks to title page, bookplate to front pastedown. A very clean copy in an attractive contemporary binding.First edition of “the first book dealing exclusively with the Bear Flag Revolt” (LC, California Centennial 118n). "Simeon Ide, in assembling and printing these “scraps of history” about William Brown Ide, wanted to establish his brother’s place in history. He believed that too much credit and attention had been given to John C. Fremont (q.v.). For a short-lived period of twenty-two days, William Ide, one of the leaders of the famed Bear Flag Revolt of June 14, 1846, became “Commander-in-Chief” of the California Republic. Even with its… Read More

Chicago: Gravure Illustration Company, 1916. First edition. Complete in nine folio volumes. Unpaginated but comprised almost entirely of illustrations with attendant tissue guards. Publisher's illustrated brown wrappers, Housed in the original brown cloth portfolio with gilt cover letterirng, original ties and marbled pastedowns. Excellent condition.Despite the title these volumes contain lovely photogravures of of rural views, residences, nature scenes, with accompanying historical and descriptive text. OCLC, which records only 4 copies, gives the collation as follows; 11 leaves, [73] leaves of plates. The are no photographers credited. The main towns of La Salle are Ottawa and Utica. Ottawa was the first site of the famous Lincoln–Douglas debates on August 21, 1858. The community has a strong association with the 16th President, and elements of the downtown area of the city retain much mid-19th century architecture. Utica is considered the gateway to the Starved Rock area, home of three famous… Read More

Chicago: H.F. Kett & Co., 1878. First edition. Thick octavo. 845, [1, ads] pp. including numerous full page plates. Double -page color map of the county at the front. Publisher's beveled brown cloth with gilt spine and cover lettering. Previous owner has written his name at the end of the Contents. Some minor extremity wear and lightly cocked. Old bits of info pasted in at rear pastedown. A very clean and attractive copy.

[Lawrence, MA?]: N/p., 1909. A workbook accomplished by an unnamed but very skilled draftsman for the Botany 101 class taught by Don Soxman in 1909. Octavo. Blank workbook in which the student has drawn 36 very skillful botanical illustrations in pen and colored pencils and accompanied by 40 pp. of text. As we know nothing of the student or the assignment the 36 lovely colored illustrations will have to speak for themselves. Original gray wrappers with string-tied spine. An obviously much younger person has drawn childlike pictures in the versos of 2 pages. As the verso of every text page is blank this does not disturb the flow. A charming remembrance of pre-Internet education.

Paris: Galerie "Le Nouvel Essor", 1934. One of 30 copies with an extra suite of the illustrations (of an edition of 99). Folio. (11 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches). There are three bifoliums; the first has the title, a Leopold-Levy engraving and the colophon (signed in pencil by the artist); the second merely bears the technical acknowledgments (e.g. Typoigraphie de Phillipe Gonin); and the third is blank but for a long presentation pencil inscription by Leopold-Levy thanking a collaborator). Next comes the extra suite of plates. They are housed in their own paper fold-over case on the front of which the artist has written in pencil: Examplaire No. 6 suite, LL., Finally comes the text which also has its own wrap-around paper cover with the title on from. 100. pp. with Leopold-Levy engravings throughout. All housed in the publisher faux-wood chemise which is in the publisher's matching slipcase. Some uplifting of the material on the top of the slipcase but, overall, a wonderfully clean and lovely copy.This is… Read More

Tokyo: N.p., 1924. A charming and chatty letter from Miss Takeuchi of Tokyo to Miss Claphman of Arlington, MA. The sheets are of onion-skin paper and tinted blue. Each sheet measures 11 x 7 inches and each sheet has a finely executed gouache of a Japanese woman in traditional garb on the right margin. Original canceled envelope still present. The expected fold-lines, else a wonderful survivor.The letter was penned in late June of 1924. We know Berith was born in in 1904 and thus she was twenty when she received this letter. Hana writes of how much she enjoyed her stay in Boston so that is likely where the two met and thus became pen pals, The letter is full of the trivial things new pen pals write to each other but the real highlight of this item are the guoaches painted by Hana Takeuchi on the left margin of every sheet. All four of the paintings are of high society Japanese women in kimonos. A sentence from Hana's letter lays out the obvious - "I am studying a little of Japanese painting and… Read More

N.p.: South Manchuria Railroad., [ca. 1938]. This map has no date that we can see but history would likely place it at the end of the 30s. It is a full color and artistic panorama measuring 40 1/2 x 8 inches. The color map is on the recto and the verso is filled with text and illustrations of all the desirable and holy sites that the train's path goes through. The eight panels show the area of Kongosan, or the Diamond Mountains. Some soiling to front panel and a recurring 1 inch tear to top border of each panel. Very bright and attractive.In 1910 Japan formally annexed Korea as a colony although in actuality Japan had been ruling Korea in some manner since 1876. The Japanese felt that their growing empire needed a buffer zone between the other two powers in the regions; China and Russia. Manchuria was also rich agricultural land with vast fields of soy. The laying out of a railway is a godd method of establishing borders so the Japanese were quick to lay down tracks. The Diamond Mountain or the… Read More

Sacramento/San Francisco: California Winery/J. A. Folger & Co., 1906-11. Two original invoices made out to the venerable California Gold Rush firm of Sun Sun Wo Company of Coulterville. The first is for a barrel of Port Wine form the California Winery of Sacramento (1906). The second is for a case of Golden State Coffee from J. A. Folger Company of San Francisco (1911). Both bear extensive note in Chinese kanji on the verso. Very good."The Sun Sun Wo Store is the lone remnant of one of the Mother Lode’s largest Chinatowns. Built in 1851, the store’s adobe walls were formed of soil which came from its basement excavation. Several inches of dirt were placed over the beamed ceiling which helped insulate those inside from winter cold and summer heat. It also made the ceiling fire resistant which accounts for the structure being one of the few buildings in Coulterville to survive the 1899 fire intact. The store is named after its original owners, Mow Da Sun and his son Sun Kow. It was the largest… Read More

Allahabad: Text Book Committee of Agra and Oudh, 1906. First edition, "Twelth [sic] Impression". Small octavo. [40] pp. Publisher's stabbed and sewn printed buff wrappers. Some scattered foxing but a very good copy overall.OCLC locates only 3 copies of this reader. It was advertised as a Hindi Reader with Christian religious reading exercises. In all the major colleges in India under the British Raj, all courses were taught in English. Nascent nationalism was just starting to appear and it is logical that the intellectuals desired to reclaim their own language as one worthy of being used in an educational setting. More than likely the Christian bits were tossed in to allay the suspicions of the British overlords.

Bombay: Police Department, 1908. First edition. Octavo. xii, 340 pp. plus 18 full page photographic illustrations of the 'criminal classes' (really just a euphemism for the underprivileged). Publisher's brown cloth with gilt spine and cover lettering. Aside from some minor wear to extremities, a very attractive and clean copy.From the 1870s to 1924 various legislation together known as Criminal Tribes Act in India designated entire communities as habitual criminals. This was largely intended to protect the public from people whose ways did not conform to 19th century social norms. Most of these were small communities/tribes of poor, low-caste nomadic people living on the edge of society. It was thought that criminal behavior was hereditary and, thus, millions of caste/tribal groups were determined as criminals at birth. This included eunuchs and gender-non conforming people. The practice was denounced by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1936, but it continued into the early 1950s. This book provides… Read More

V.P.: N.p., 1962-1963. Original three-ring binder with an Indy %00 sticker on the front. The album deals with the best yearsws of Ebb Rose's racing career; 1962=62. It includes 17 professional silver gelatin photographs (each measuring 9 7/8 x 8 inches). and 64 color snapshot (each measuring 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches). Plus numerous clipped newspaper stories and some cuttings from the original programs. Neat and tidy history of a brief period in American car racing.Jesse Ebb Rose (February 27, 1925, Houston, Texas – August 27, 2007) was an American racecar driver. Rose raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1961–1963 seasons, with 4 career starts, including the 1961–1963 Indianapolis 500 races. His best finish at Indy was in 14th position in both 1962 and 1963. Rose was racing against some of the biggest names in racing history; Parnelli Jones, Bobby Unser and A. J. Foyt. There is one whole page of telegrams sent to Rose congratulating him on making the finals. Much of the later part… Read More

[Washington, D.C.]: [Government Printing Office], 1856. First editions of both reports, 34th Cong, Ist Sess, Executive Documents #94 & 130. Disbound octavos. 40; 39, [1] pp. Bright and clean.Both reports of this historic treaty council. "Despite the bitter cold endured, in mid-February of 1856, Gen. Harney sent notification to all the Sioux nations in the surrounding area that; “on March 1, 1856, there would be a “Peace Council” at Fort Pierre and all chiefs should attend.” As the day approached groups of Indians began arriving in droves from every direction. An estimated 7,000 Indians gathered at Fort Pierre, 2,500 of which were painted warriors, the remainder were elders, women and children, all living in approximately one thousand tipis’ dotting the short grass surrounding the old Fort. The Council, which lasted five days, took place outside the stockade, with orations from both sides, each extolling the virtues of “peace” and “burying the tomahawk!” When the council had… Read More

N.p.: New Zealand Government, (1933). First edition. Quarto. [32] pp. with the vast majority of the book being comprised of half-page photographic illustrations with explanatory text beneath, Publisher’ string tied beige wrappers, front cover with a color lithograph of a Maori woman by L.C. Mitchell. Verso of rear cover with a listing of New Zealand agencies and offices abroad. A very good copy.James Cowan (14 April 1870 – 6 September 1943) was a New Zealand non-fiction author, noted for his books on colonial history and Maori ethnography. A fluent Maori speaker, he interviewed many veterans of the New Zealand Wars. His book The New Zealand Wars: A history of the M ori campaigns and the pioneering period (1922–23) is his best known work although virtually every book he wrote concerned some aspect of Maori life. One of his first books bore this exact title; this iteration can be viewed as the digest and illustrated version. Later in life, the Labour government granted him a pension in… Read More

[Manchester]: N.p., [1907-1941]. This album documents the career of John Cecil Smith, a licensed patter maker at the Manchester firms of Hans Renold, Ltd. it contains 33 original photographs (most 8 1/2 x 5 1/4 inches but some differ) corner-mounted on thick leaves which are all bound on stubs. It also contains other memorabilia of Smith's time with the company. Quarto (7 1/4 x 9 1/2 inches), half black roan over gilt-ruled green cloth. Spine is absent but the album remains firm and the photographs are very bright indeed.Swift joined Renold's as an apprentice in 1907, and, following a career path that is almost unheard of today, went on to spend his entire working life with same company: an apparent testament to the success of the enlightened management techniques instituted by the firm's founder. Bound and laid in are Swift's 2 pp. apprenticeship agreement, printed and manuscript, dated 18 September 1907; as well as his apprenticeship agreement, printed and manuscript, dated 18 September 1907.… Read More

Riverside: Riverside Portland Cement Co., 1927-1928. First edition of this scarce trade publication. Vol. III. Nos. 1-12 (complete). Each issue 10-20 pp. and with numerous photographic illustrations. All wrappers present. Bound in contemporary quarter leather over cloth, gilt spine lettering. An excellent gathering. A journal for the cement trade in Southern California. Lead articles include the new City Hall of Pasadena, residence of Richard Wallace on Laurel View Drive, the Coliseum of downtown LA, Lincoln Theater, proposed new Title Insurance and Trust Building, Santa Barbara, San Pedro, Palos Verdes, etc. Plus numerous highlight articles about specific residences. Basically, an architectural history of Los Angeles.

N.p.: Northeastern Retail Lumberman's Association, [ca. 1928]. First edition and unrecorded by OCLC. [4] pp. flyer with two full page photographic illustrations. All printed on tinted yellow card stock. Very good copy of this fun item.As a promotional gig the lumber industry, likely at the urging of the author E. A. Wade, decide to build a mobile hone out of a single Douglas Fir trunk. They hollowed it out, added all the amenities shown in the picture (bed, sink, restroom, etc.) and mounted it on a "Graham Brothers, built by Dodge Brothers, Inc. The truck is powered a six-cylinder engine, and in crossing the four highest mountain ranges and on all kind of roads, we have never been disappointed in out automotive equipment." Apparently two men took the Log to 34 states, drove 18,000 miles and visited 127 schools, all to promoted the 26,000,000 of Douglas Firs in the Pacific Northwest.

London: G. F. Neame, (1890). First separate edition (first appeared in the Timber Trades Journal). Octavo. 16 pp. Publisher's printed brown wrappers. Two large Japanese kanji stamped on front. Might be missing rear wrapper (though front wrapper is p. 1 and last page is p. 16). Some edge chipping and mild soiling. No copies located by OCLC.A mildly technical pamphlet dealing with the strengths and uses of Douglas fir, from carriages to use in railways. The last 4 pp. are testimonies from customers (includes testimony from the Southern Pacific Company). In 1886, the Port Blakely Mill Company joined forces with several Puget Sound area mills to start the Pacific Pine Lumber Company. Pacific Pine Lumber set quotas for regional mills and established lumber yards in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1897 the Pacific Pine Lumber Company went out of business and their affairs were taken over by another firm to form the Pacific Lumber Company, with offices on Market Street in San Francisco. This firm in turn… Read More

(San Francisco): (Union Lithograph Co.), [1912]. First edition. Quarto (9 x 12 inches). Title leaf and 56 full page photogravures of the lumber (rectos only) and the lumbering process. Publisher's two tone flexible cloth with front ocver gilt lettering and designs. An excellent copy.An informative advertisement as it documents via images the the entire process; from images of old growth pines in the field, through the felling, transportation and milling. Only five copies located by OCLC.