Rare books from Argonaut Book Shop

New York: Limited Editions Club, 1979 Introduction by Harry T. Moore. Numerous color plates from watercolors and black & white pencil studies. SIGNED by the illustrator, Raphael Soyer and by the author, Isaac Bashevis Singer. Number 1476 of 2000 copies. Cloth-backed boards. Spine slightly faded, else a very fine copy with slipcase.. Illus. by Soyer, Raphael.

San Francisco: The Grabhorn Press, 1934 Reprinted from the only other edition of 1853. Limited to 550 copies. Foreword by G. Ezra Dane. Small quarto. Pp. xxi, [1], 79, [1]. Frontispiece, twenty headpieces, and four full-page drawings in color by Charles Nahl. Printed in double columns. Colophon and thirty-one initials printed in sepia. Original blue-green boards, tan spine, printed paper spine label; colored drawing and title by Charles Nahl on front cover. A very fine and bright copy with the elusive plain peach dust jacket. Scarce in this condition. The humorous sketches of California Gold Rush life by the man as famous for his profile as well as his wit, "Old Block" of California. Includes a new foreword by G. Ezra Dane. One of the Fifty Books of the Year. [Grabhorn: 204]..

San Francisco: Lithographed by W. W. Elliott Lithograph. No date (c.1890). 24x38 inches. Lithographed in black on white. Top border edge just a bit rough, but a fine crisp copy. A magnificent bird's-eye view showing all of the city of Stockton, California and the surrounding country. All of the streets and roads are labeled. Surrounding the view are 26 insets showing public and commercial buildings. Includes promotional text for the city as well as an index of significant buildings and places, keyed by number to the view. At the bottom border, "Compliments of E.A. Crennan & Co., Real Estate Auctioneers, Stockton, California." W.W. Elliott is best known for his views in a number of the county histories produced in the 1870's and 1880's. Unlike many lithographers of similar views of that period, Elliott had a knack for artistic shading which gave his images a wonderful quality of depth and clarity. This lithograph is quite scarce and is rarely offered It is not mentioned in… Read More

New York: Horizon Press, 1956 First edition. Presentation, SIGNED by the author, "To Harry Riskes - Frank Lloyd Wright / 57" (Harry Riskes was a contractor working for Frank Lloyd Wright for many years). Also includes another presentation to Riskes from his colleague, John G. Phillips. Quarto. 134pp. Illustrated throughout with frontis portrait, photographs and plans, 2 folding color plates. Black cloth decorated and lettered in red and gilt. Tiny scar to center of inner rear hinge. A fine copy. Well-illustrated story of Wright's nineteen-story office and apartment skyscraper for the H. C. Price Company in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.. Signed by Author.

Philadelphia: S. Augustus Mitchell, 1849 Folio. (17 3/8 x 14 inches). Lithographed title with large vignette, letterpress "Table of Contents," and 73 hand-colored lithographed maps, charts and city plans. Three-quarter red morocco over marbled boards, large red morocco title label on front cover, elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt. Spine and corners renewed in red leather. Boards rubbed and scuffed at edges. Maps in fine condition. Overall, a fine copy. A very nice copy of this very scarce atlas, with hand-colored maps of all the individual States and Territories, and including the rare and famous map of "Oregon, Upper California & New Mexico" showing the large yellow-colored area in California labeled "Gold Region." The Atlas concentrates on the American continent with 43 maps of the area, including a fine double-page coast-to-coast map of the United States. Samuel Augustus Mitchell and his sons were the leading publishers of maps in the United States during… Read More

San Francisco: James H. Barry, 1887 First edition with the 1887 date on the title-page and the 1890 date on the cover. The first edition is very scarce. 12mo. 57pp. Original printed pink wrappers. Slight chipping to head of spine, front wrapper faded near spine. A near fine copy. The author was a non sympathizer, and "his book is written from the point of view of the 'Law and Order' faction" (Cowan). Included at the beginning is a roster of the members of the Committee. [Cowan I: p.165; Cowan II: p.464; Howes I: O-84; Howes II: O-87; Rocq: 10749]..

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1889 Riverside Press edition, first published over a period of six years from 1884-1889. 8 volumes. Small, thick quarto. Approximately 500-600 pages per volume. Well-illustrated with hundreds of portraits, facsimiles, engravings, maps, facsimile signatures, etc. Each volume indexed separately, the final volume containing a general index. Extensive notes. Publisher's three-quarter dark brown morocco, spines gilt and blind-stamped, dark brown pebbled cloth sides. Light extremity rubbing. Bookplate in each volume. A fine set. The set is "composed of critical essays by different writers covering American history in detail to the adoption of the Constitution and briefly to about 1850. The most valuable parts of the work are the critical essays on the sources and Mr. Winsor's notes, which together form an exhaustive and generally critical account of the printed and manuscript sources and of the secondary authorities on American history. The volumes are rich in… Read More

Edinburgh: Imprented be Robert Walde-grave prenter to the Kinges Majestie, 15. Martii, Anno Dom. 1597, 1597 First edition. With a later owner's name in ink on blank verso of title, "Robert Dalryample, 1733." 5 works in 1 volume. Quarto. 10¼x7 inches. Folios [3], 1-162, 1-178, [20], [1], 40. [4] + 17 pages + leaves [24], [2], 34, folding genealogical table (some repair to verso), [78]. Numerous historiated initials as well as decorative chapter head and tail pieces. Coats of Arms to titles, a few neat contemporary ink annotations throughout. Repair to portion of fore-edge of D1 and D2. Two-inch circular repair to blank portion of primary title. A few pages misnumbered, but collated complete. Newer binding of half polished calf, brown cloth sides, crimson morocco spine label. A fine copy. The legislative record of the Scots parliament, included in which is the first Scots law dictionary ("De verborum significatione") of ancient Scottish legal terms, complied by Sir John… Read More

Venice: Carlo Conzatti, 1665 Octavo (8½x6 inches). Pp. [24], 471, [1]. Text in Italian. Title printed in red and black. Illustrated with 197 woodcuts throughout text, some of which appear more than once. Woodcuts are generally 2x1¼ inches or smaller, a few larger. Printer's woodcut device on last leaf. Bound in full contemporary vellum over boards, morocco spine label, gilt, red sprinkled edges. Front end affixed to pastedown, small marginal fragment torn from K8, repair to short tear at T7. One woodcut with two holes. Some light internal foxing, toning. A very good copy. The Epistles and Gospels to be read throughout the year, according to the Church services. Originally written by the Jesuit Petrus Canisius (although only the Translators are mentioned in the title). Remigio's real name was Remigio Nannini. He was born in Florence c. 1521. He was a Dominican friar, author of secular and religious works, editor and translator. He died in 1581. Epistole et Evangeli was his most… Read More