Search Results: Authors starting with Y from David M. Lesser, Fine Antiquarian Books LLC

Albany: C. Van Benthuysen, Printer to the Legislature, 1858. Original printed front title wrapper [old rubberstamp, light dust and wear]. 192pp, plus folding canal-related maps and plans [several clean splits at the folds]. Clean text. Bound in modern cloth with gilt-lettered spine title. Good+.

Novi-Portus [New Haven]: Samuel Green., 1778. 22, [2 blanks] pp. Disbound, title page with some darkening, else Very Good. "The first triennial catalogue to be published in octavo form" [Evans]. Graduates from 1702-1778, in double columns, are listed. FIRST EDITION. Evans 16175. NAIP w037698 [5].

[Springfield, 1861. 8pp, stitched into modern plain wraps. Lacks the original wrappers, which contain the imprint. Light wear and fox, Good+. Responding angrily to the assault on Fort Sumter, Yates rallies the people of Illinois to resist the South's "ambitious and restless leaders, to the great peril of our noble Union, of our Democratic institutions and of our public and private property." He observes, "The attack upon Fort Sumter produced a most startling transformation on the Northern mind, and awakened a sleeping giant." He urges the Legislature to take the necessary steps to prepare for an arduous conflict. Sabin 34298.

New York, 1866. Disbound without wraps, clean texts. Except as noted, Very Good. (1) Report of the Executive Council to the Honorary Council of the Citizens' Association of New York. 64pp. (2) Items of Abuse in the Government of the City of New-York. Tax-Payers, Citizens, Read! Read!! Read!!! 22pp. (3) To the Honorary Council of the Citizens' Association of New-York. 16pp. (4) An Appeal by the Citizens' Association of New York, Against the Abuses in the Local Government, to the Legislature of the State of New York, and to the Public. 32pp. (5) Important Reform Measures Passed by the Legislature... 12pp. The Citizens' Association was formed in 1863 to produce "radical Reform in the Municipal Government." Its pamphlets set forth the City's deep-seated problems: "swarms" of office-seekers and office-holders, corruption, bureaucratic overlap, wasted revenues, mismanagement, dumbed-down public schools, filthy streets, and much, much more. Reforms are proposed. FIRST EDITIONS. Sabin 54188n [items 1, 2, 3]. Read More

[Virginia, 1863. Folio, 8" x 12-1/4". [6] pp, printed on recto and verso of first leaf, and on rectos only of the remaining two leaves. Completely in ink manuscript. Signed elegantly at bottom of page [5], "R. B. Montgomery 1st Lieut. Commanding Company." Docketed on final page, 6 April 1863. Very Good. The 1st New York Infantry Regiment was mustered for two years' service in April 1861. After serving at Big Bethel, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, they were duly mustered out in May 1863. This history by 1st Lieutenant Robert B. Montgomery describes the organization of the company and its actions. He writes in part that at Glendale on 30 June 1862, the "company behaved with great gallantry, and much praise is due to the sergeants George F. Irish & David Van Winkle for their intrepid & daring valor." At Second Bull Run, the company "was engaged with enemy six different times on that day." The present strength is noted with 59 remaining, 11 killed, 2 died from wounds, 5… Read More

[Virginia, 1864. Folio, 8" x 12". Three loose leaves making [6] pp, completely in ink manuscript. Occasional short separations at folds, light age toning and soiling, some edge wear with slight loss of text. Overall, Good+. The 1st New York Infantry Regiment was mustered for two years of service in April 1861. After serving at Big Bethel, Fair Oaks, Malvern Hill, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville, they were duly mustered out in May 1863. This history by 2nd Lieutenant John S. Brush details the organization of the company and its movements. The Company arrived at Big Bethel on the morning of June 10th [1861], formed a line of battle, remained under the enemy's fire for nearly two hours before being ordered to retreat. They moved on to Newport News where the Rebel Iron Clad Merrimac shelled the garrison for two hours before retiring; no casualties were reported. Onward to join the Army of the Potomac, and to the White House [plantation] on the Pamunkey River, on June 4 [1862]. Then to Savage… Read More

[New York: Isaac H. Blanchard Co, 1900. Original green cloth [corners bumped, a bit of extremity wear, gilt spine lettering and front cover lettering dulled]. xxxix, 627pp. Many folding color maps, charts and illustrations. Two single-page printed items from the Merchants' Association laid in: [1] "The edition of this report is limited. Kindly notify us if it does not interest you so that we may send for this copy." [2] Printed transmittal letter. Occasional light wear, about Very Good. The Merchants' Association was "formed by wholesale traders in an effort to attract dry-goods firms to New York City and assist those already there. After 1900 it developed into a powerful group with influence over governmental affairs." Jackson Encyclopedia of New York 751. Its impressive report delineates minutely the sources of the City's water supply, its future needs, and the legislative and executive action necessary to meet those needs. Financial analyses, borough-by-borough reports, and alternative courses are… Read More

New York, 1816. Number 1. 45, [3 blanks] pp, disbound. Lightly tanned, Good+ or so. [offered with] THE CORRECTOR, OR, INDEPENDENT AMERICAN. NO. 2. New York: 1816. 50pp, stitched, untrimmed. Original printed wrappers [lightly worn and soiled]. Scattered spotting. Very Good. This scarce Democratic publication ended after the 1817 issue, its third. The first issue opens with an essay on the Fourth of July, noting, "It is not only astonishing, but really humiliating, to observe with what veneration a certain class of our good citizens look upon every thing of British birth, or British origin." The Corrector specializes in analyzing and evaluating several characters-- whose identity is never explicitly stated-- prominent in New York politics. The first person so sketched, perhaps Aaron Burr, is treated with contempt, his "uniformly dark and repulsive" character described. He is "Controlled by no principle; bound by no tie but that of self interest, and accessible to no feeling but that of fear." The… Read More

New York: John S. Taylor, Publisher and Bookseller, 1838. 50, xxviii, [blank], [1 errata]. Scattered light foxing, Disbound. Good+. The troubles began as soon as the University started up, with the appointment of Dr. Mathews, a "rash and ambitious" man, as Chancellor in 1831. He alienated the faculty almost immediately and became a "fruitful source of embarrassments and convulsions." Fiscally unsound, he "lost" the financial records; academically suspect, he is "more intent upon gorgeous embellishments, vain parade and mere effect, than upon building up solidly and wisely an institution of learning." This, regrettably, is the view of "the whole Faculty of Science and Letters." The last straw-- or, as this pamphlet refers to it, "explosion"-- occurred when Mathews ejected seven teachers "from the duties of their Professorships." All his deficiencies are examined here with great care. FIRST EDITION. Sabin 14827. AI 51966 [5].

[Albany?], 1863. 52pp, color frontispiece illustration with protective tissue. Original printed pictorial wrappers [front wrap chipped], loose gatherings. Some chipping at blank edges. The frontis illustration is quite attractive. Very Good. The pamphlet includes Adjutant General John T. Sprague's Circular dated January 21, 1863, proceedings in regard to the presentation of flags by the seven regiments, a history of the national flag, and lists of members of the New York Legislature and the State Assembly. "In a circular dated 21 January 1863, Adjutant General John Sprague expressed 'that all regimental colors, worn out in service, and of consolidated regiments, be forwarded to General Headquarters so that they may be deposited in an appropriate manner as a record of the war and fortitude of her sons.' On 24 April 1863 before a joint session of the Legislature with Governor Seymour in attendance, Adjutant General Sprague presented seven flags to the assembled body - one flag each from the 30th,… Read More

[New York?, 1824. 12pp, disbound with some loosening and light wear. Good+ to Very Good. The Memorial is "Addressed to the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in opposition to a petition of 'the Merchants, Traders, and other Citizens of the city of New-York,' that Congress impose a duty of 10 percent upon sales at auction. Includes statistics dated through Dec. 31, 1823. Signed at end: M. Hoffman, Son & Pell, J. & P. Hone & Co. [and others]" [OCLC]. Merchants were concerned about what they regarded as "the paralizing influence of the auction system." They opposed auctioneers' disruption of their retail markets; auctioneers, on the other hand, argued that they contributed to market efficiency and hence the public good. OCLC 4110356 [4]. Sabin 54106n. Not in AI, Rink.

[np, 1859. 8pp. Caption title, as issued. Untrimmed and uncut folio sheet. Some foxing, each page printed in two columns. Good+. "TAXATION! grinding, annually returning, steadily increasing taxation, is eating out the substance of the people of New York. It has become an oppression..." This "misgovernment" is the result of Whig misrule, "produced by the improvident, reckless and dishonest policy pursued in regard to our canals." The Whig "run-in-debt policy" is contrasted with the Democrats' "prudent pay-as-you-go policy." This rare pamphlet's lesson for voters: "VOTE THE DEMOCRATIC TICKET." OCLC 191282998 [1- AAS] as of January 2024. Not at the New York Public Library or NY Historical Society. Not in Sabin.

Albany, 1856. Original printed wrappers with wrapper title [as issued]. Stitched, 224pp. One plate, one enormous folding map. Wraps a bit edge-chipped and a light rubberstamp, occasional light text toning, Very Good. The great New York canal system is "a source of just pride to every good citizen." Its advantages and scope are reviewed here.

[Albany: Albany Atlas, Extra, 1846. 22, [2 blanks] pp. Caption title [as issued]. Printed in double columns, disbound, scattered foxing. Good+. An examination of the surprising Whig triumph in the just-concluded New York State elections, in five Letters. The author attributes the Whig sweep to a concerted effort by the Anti-Renters against Democratic Governor Silas Wright, who had vigorously suppressed mobs engaging in "organized and armed resistance against the collection of rents" from leasehold estates in the Albany area. "Riotous and insurrectionary assemblages of armed men were almost daily witnessed, and flagrant outrages upon persons and property, were matters of common occurrence, committed with entire impunity." Wright became their target in the 1846 elections. A variant printing, and the only one recorded in American Imprints and on OCLC, is entitled, 'The Result of the N.Y. State Election...' Sabin 70118. Not in Eberstadt, Decker.

[New York, 1886. 14, [2 blank] pp. Original printed blue wrappers, stitched. Near Fine. New York State authorized Alfred E. Beach in 1868 to construct pneumatic tubes beneath New York City and Brooklyn for the purpose of conveying letters and parcels; an 1873 Act authorized Beach to construct an underground railway in New York City. The Beach Pneumatic Transit Company was incorporated in 1868; it became the New York Arcade Railway. Above-ground property owners, including Astor, opposed the projects. Claiming that the underground construction would damage their property, they argued that the projects violated New York State's prohibition on the grant of monopolistic privileges to private companies. Judge Van Brunt dismissed their claims, and upheld the Company's power to undertake the construction. The New York Court of Appeals reversed Van Brunt, declaring the Railway Company's Charter unconstitutional and defeating, for the time being, its plan for underground rapid transit.

London, Edinburgh, & New York: Nelson & Sons, Toronto: James Campbell, 1858. 3.75" x 5.75". vi, [7]-64pp. Original printed and illustrated wrappers [spine and corner wear, small hole in rear wrap]. Frontispiece map of Niagara River area. Small cut illustration of rapids on title page. Color plate opposite p.64 [some text loss of caption]. Good+.

New York: Printed by Hugh Gaine, 1789. Large folio. 10 3/4" x 15 1/2". Two volumes in 20th century binder's cloth, with gilt-lettered morocco spine labels. Vol. I: [3], [1 blank], 336, [11-Index], [1 blank], xii, [1], [1 blank]; Vol. 2: [1-title], [1 blank], 471, [1 blank], [17-index], [1 blank] pp.. Volume 1 is lacking the final blank leaf. A clean and bright text. Very Good. Samuel Jones and Richard Varick compiled this book, "which comprehends the Constitution, and the public Statutes of this State, from the Revolution to the End of the Twelfth Session of the Legislature." Volume I opens with the 1777 New York Constitution. The Statutes through 1789 are printed, all under the reign of the long-serving Governor George Clinton. Revolutionary Acts-- such as raising five Continental Battalions, Lotteries, regulating the militia, treatment of deserters-- are included. Several Acts concerning New York's efforts gradually to eliminate slavery are here: barring slave importations after June 1, 1785… Read More

[New York, 1833. 9pp, folding chart, untrimmed, stitched. Scattered foxing. Very Good. The large folding chart shows tolls collected at each location on each canal.

New York: Published by Gould, Banks and Gould. C.S. Van Winkle, Printer, 1812. 92pp. Rubberstamp on title page, lightly toned and foxed. Good+ in modern plain wrappers. Cohen 1353. AI 26290 [4]. OCLC 31218863 [7], 704084706 [1] [as of January 2016].

New York, 1879. 116pp, stitched and early staples; some loosening of text. Blank portions of inner lower corners chewed on first few leaves. Original printed wrappers [worn, chipped]. Blank portions of title page with remnants of old newspaper clipping. The text is otherwise quite clean. More than 20 color maps (some folding) of the various Assembly Districts. Maps in Very Good condition; overall the pamphlet is Good+. This document establishes the boundaries of the various election districts in New York City and County, and includes color maps of each.