Search Results: Titles starting with W from Walkabout Books

Kansas City, MO: Curtis Folding Grand Stand Co. Softcover. Very good. Undated, 1920s. 3.75 x 9 inches, oblong, stapled self-wrappers, with half-tone photographic illustrations and line drawings. Near fine. Although little known to the general public, William Hanford Curtis (1873-1955) was a legendary figure in the circus world, credited with having mechanized and modernized much of the equipment used to transport and erect circus tents and bandstands. He received a patent for his Folding Grand Stand in 1919. It was quickly adopted, as it decreased the amount of time needed for setting up and taking down audience seating for circuses and other outdoor events. This brochure showcases that time savings (e.g., a Hagenback-Wallace Circus grand stand is shown "being folded ready for transportation in 4 1/2 minutes") and also illustrates some of the technical features of the apparatus. Not located in OCLC.

New York: McFadden Publications, 1925. Softcover. Very Good. x, 179 pp + illustrations, with frontispiece, in original wrappers with yapp edges. Wrappers chipped at the edges; some light creasing to corners of a few pages; else clean and sound. "In these pages, I propose to tell you something of the benefits of this remarkable exercise - the exercise for rich and poor alike. I propose to show you that as long as you have a pair of legs attached to a body, and a determination to build up your physical system, that you have the most potent agent that anyone can command for what amounts, in many instances, to actual rejuvenation" (preface).

New York: Simon and Schuster, 1940. Hardcover. Very good. Second printing. 13" x 9.5", pp 157, (1), illustrated in color. Original beige cloth lettered in blue. No dyst jacket. Corners bumped, very slight soiling to cloth, a little fraying at head of spine, tiny crease to corner of one tipped-in color plate (p. 65). Binding sound, text and endpapers unmarked.

Mission, SD: Sinte Gleska College, 1986. Softcover. good. 111 pp, with illustrations, in original wrappers. Light toning to edges of wrappers, light handling wear, pink highlighting on 6 pages of text and in table of contents; else clean and sound. Includes essays, short stories, and poetry by Tom Simms, Charlotte A. Black Elk, Josepha Bruchac III, W.H. Emery, Carter Revard, Ruth Tracy, R.A. Swanson, Mike Good Shield, and others.

Philadelphia: Carey and Hart, 1849. First Edition. Hardcover. Good. pp. x, [13]-386, in publisher's blind-stamped brown cloth. Losses to spine ends, corners rubbed through, slightly shaken, but still a better than average copy of this title, which is often found in poor condition. Hill (1910): The ships made port in Rio de Janierio, Valparaiso, Callao, Paita, the Marquesas, Honolulu, Monterey, Mazatlan, Manzanillo, Acapulco, and Gayamas. Extensive visits were made in Rio, Lima, California, the Gulf of California, and Mexico. Woods was traveling in central Mexico when the Mexican War began, and he escaped via Vera Cruz. The intelligence gathered by Wood in Mexico was instrumental to the U.S. seizure of California by Commodore Sloat in that war.

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1863. Hardcover. Very good. Two volumes in the rarest binding state (without Burton's name or FRGS on the spines), but with a "second edition" slug on the title pages. This state was apparently unknown to Penzer and was probably the result of an attempt to boost sales by the publisher, as the text is unchanged. Plate of Julu house is the frontispiece to Volume I, and the map (now detached and laid in) is in Volume II. . Both volumes lightly bumped/rubbed, but clean and sound. Small bookplate of F.H. Spencer on each front pastedown. Much to his dismay, Burton's first consular posting landed him on a small, desolate island off the coast of West Africa. He took every opportunity to leave the place, exploring various parts of the mainland and making observations on cultural and traditions, health and sanitary conditions, and slavery, among other things. The account of his journeys into Sierra Leone and Nigeria to investigate stories of gold and gold mining is credited with… Read More

Leipzig: Verlag von Heinrich Matthes, 1862. Hardcover. Very good. First German edition of Paul Kane's "Wanderings of an Artist among the Indians of North America". 8.25" x 6", pp xii, [1]-225 + [2] ad pp, illustrated with 4 chromolithograph plates, additional illustrations in the text. Bound in roughly contemporary quarter cloth and marbled boards, with no lettering on spine. Binding sound, scattered foxing throughout. Recounts Kane's travels in the Red River settlement, Saskatchewan, across the Rockies, and down the Columbia River to Puget Sound and Vancouver Island.Howes K-7; Sabin 37008.

Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1908. Hardcover. Good. 286 pp + 4 (folding detailed financial statements) + 1 (folding map), with index, in library binding, red pebbled cloth. Ex-library with bookplate from Dayton Museum of Natural History, front hinge cracked. This volume covers issues pertaining to Armament, Transporation, and Supply and includes reports from the Quartermaster-General, Commissary-General, Surgeon-General, Paymaster-General, Chief of Signal Officer, and Board of Ordinance and Fortification. The folding map shows the U.S. Signal Corps telegrpah and Cable System in Alaska and U.S. Cables and Canadian Line Connecting with the United States.

Kraus Reprint Limited, 1991. Hardcover. Near Fine. xii, 212 pp, with index. Minimal wear to edges, name written on front pastedown; else fine. No dust jacket. Reprint of the 1913 Hakluyt Society edition. Second series, No. XXXI. Please note: the image associated with this listing shows another volume in the same series, but it other than the title it appears identical to this one.

St. Paul, MN: Northern Pacific Railway, 1921. 10.25 x 8,5 inches, stapled wrappers. 64 pp, with many illustrations from photographs, colored map on verso of front cover, double-page map at center showing the routes of the Northern Pacific from Chicago to the West Coast. Lightly rumpled, a few chips and short tears, a few pages with offsetting from laid-in clippings; very good. Pages 1-55 related to Washington, the remainder to Northern Idaho. General text describes scenic beauty, climate, resources, irrigation projects, and other advantages for the investor or settler. This is followed by a county-by-county rundown of land prices, primary crops and livestock, resources, industries, soil and climate, transportation, water, power, and potential markets. The Idaho counties included are Bonner, Benewah, Kootenai, Clearwater, Latah, Idaho, Lemhi, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shoshone. Most of the illustrations show agricultural and range lands. Five copies of this edition located in OCLC. Other editions were… Read More

Tacoma: F.T. Houghton, 1891. First Edition. Softcover. Good. 14 pp + [1] (membership application). Original printed wrappers are chipped and detached; text is clean. Explains the need for a state historical society, as "Washington was thirty-six years a territory and now nearly two years a State; having thus reached a period when its early pioneers and its traditions will soon pass away and remain unrecorded, unless they, and other matters illustrative of the State's early history...are preserved beforer the actors are gone." The organization's founding President was Elwood Evans and Vice- President tas Edward Eldridge. The initial by-laws established five standing committees: Ways and Means, Publications, Library, Memorials, and Building. Annual dues were two dollars. Smith 4315. OCLC records only one copy in Washington, at the state library.

Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1920. Softcover. Very good. v, 86 pp, complete with all seven plates, including four folding maps. Some chipping to spine paper, upper corner lightly bumped, Plate I (Map of the Arid Region of the United States), originally bound in, has been removed and placed in the rear pocket with Plates VI and VII. One corner of Plate I is chipped, and portion with the map's printed title has been neatly removed and laid in with the rest of the map. All else very good. The Preface notes that "Travelers in this region must depend for their existence on the desert water holes (springs, wells, or natural tanks), many of which are separated from one another by a hard day's journey with team  and wagon" and most of which have not been mapped, described, or well marked with signs, making desert travel hazardous." This work--which is rarely found complete--was part of a systematic effort to remedy the situation.

London and New York: John Lane the Bodley Head and Dodd, Mead, 1929. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine/near fine. 222 pp + 12 plates, illustrated endpapers, bound in black cloth stamped in gilt. A most attractive copy with slight wear to top and bottom edges of boards, light offsetting to endpapers from jacket flaps, smudge on the back of a single plate. Dust jacket has slight edgewear, one short, closed tear. Two popular Restoration comedies, newly illustrated.

Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin. Hardcover. Very good. Early reprint (title page undated, copyright page states "Published, February 1913." 338 pp, indexed and illustrated (including double-page map), in original blue cloth binding. No dust jacket. Light shelfwear to boards; binding sound, text clean, with the exception of some foxing to the first few leaves. Previous owner's raised stamp on front free endpaper. As described in contemporary review in the Missionary Herald, "the earlier part of Miss Kendall's journey brings out vividly the life of such unfamiliar regions as French Tonking and the provinces of Yunnan and Szechuan in West China, and includes such unusual experiences as a peek into Lolo Land, a stop at Tachieniu--gateway to Tibet--and a remarkable sojourn at the monastery of Omei Shan, that ancient and mysterious mountain shrine of Buddhist China. The middle part of the journey follows the more usual highways, down the Yangtze and north to the Wall, but the route becomes… Read More

New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1909. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo 8" - 9" tall. xvi, 368 pp, with two maps (one folding) and many illustrations from photographs. Original red cloth boards stamped in gilt and black. Spine slant, slight sunning to upper board, previous owner's name on front free endpaper, else clean and sound. Decima Moore (1871-1964) was a successful stage actress and singer in London before marrying Sir Frederick Gordon Guggisberg, an officer in the Royal Engineers. He was appointed director of surveys in the Gold Coast in 1905, and upon returning from their travels three years later, the couple recounted their experiences in alternating chapters.

Washington, D.C.: Department of the Interior, 1891. First Edition. Softcover. Very good. 15 pp, 7.75 x 10 inches; stapled self-wrappers. Old creases from folding, light handling wear; very good. Issued in advance of the full 1890 census report on the Alaska territory "in view of the extraordinary interest now being manifested in everything that relates to this remote and comparatively unknown country," this bulletin provides details on the "four principal sources of wealth" in Alaska: fur, fish, minerals, and timber. The author, a Russian-born soldier, historian, and newspaper editor, was director of the 1890 Census for Alaska. Here, after discussing the resources prominent in different parts of the territory, he bemoans the fact that the land is being stripped of its bounty by outsiders, with little care or compensation for the native population and other local residents: "The spectacle of so vast a tract of country being thus drained continually for twenty-three years… Read More

Broadside, 21 x 11 inches, printed in four columns, with two cartoon illustrations. Horizontal folding creases, archival tape repair to one long tear on the back, all else very good. If you'd like a peek into the intricacies of North Dakota Republican Party politics leading up to the 1908 election, look no further. In brief, the conservative wing of the Republican Party, known as the "Stalwarts," supported local political boss and Republican National Committeeman Alexander McKenzie, whose "McKenzie Machine" had dominated politics in the state for more than a decade. A faction of progressive "insurgents" wanted McKenzie ousted from power. This Pro-McKenzie broadside reports on the recent activities of both factions and provides a table showing the affiliation (Stalwart, Insurgent, or Undecided) of delegates elected to attend the upcoming State Republican Convention by county. Despite the seeming domination of Stalwarts, McKenzie was forced to retire later in 1908, and… Read More

New York: Wehman Bros, 1895. Softcover. Very good. 7 x 4 5/8 inches, 122 pp + [8] (ads), in original side-stapled printed wrappers; sparsely illustrated. Some loss of paper on spine, but still tightly bound and very good. The first 86 pages are dedicated to instructions for a wide range of magic tricks for people of all skill levels, using both everyday objects and specialized apparatus. Includes many illusions performed with cards, coins, rings, handkerchiefs, and hats, as well as a section of "miscellanous tricks" that includes effects such as "the chest that opens on command," "How to make water remain in a vessel with holes in the bottom," "to produce bowls of fish and fire from a borrowed shawl," "the dancing egg," "the flying glass of water," "the Chinese marble trick," and "to shoot a small bird and bring it to life again." The magic section is followed by a lengthy chapter on ventriloquism and a much shorter one on mind-reading effects, which explains some basic principles and notes that… Read More

Berlin, Germany: Gebrüder Mann. Hardcover. Very Good. 13.5 x 21 cm, oblong. Unpaginated, approximately 70 pages, with color illustrations. Chip missing at head of spine; light wear to boards; "Mahlau" hand-written on spine; contents clean and sound. No dust jacket. Undated. Text in German. Contains a short foreword, epilogue, and list of plates followed by 48 color plates.

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1976. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near Fine. 288 pp + illustrations from photographs, with glossary, select bibliography, index. A fine copy in a clean jacket with mild edge wear. The first full-scale biography of Weizmann.