Rare books from Classic Books and Ephemera

London, Eng: Darton and Harvey, 1806. Hardcover. Good +. iv, [4], 424 p.: folded engraved frontispiece map, 3 folded leaves of engravings; 18 cm. Full calf with six spine compartments between gilt rules. Front fixed endpaper bears former owner's name: E.J. Deane. At head of title page is inscription: G.A. Finch 1807. In Good+ Condition: one vertical crack down spine; front board detached but present; back joint starting, but stitching is solid; small amount of leather lacking at ends of spine; frontispiece map and one other engraving each have a small repair; otherwise plates are clean and solid; text is clean and bright. A scarce copy of this fictional "tour" of Asia Minor and the Greek islands, based by the author on actual travel accounts of the area.

Paris: Pillet Ainé, 1820. 3rd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good +. "Troisieme Édition, revue, corrigée et augmentée." [2], 157, [3] p.: 2 portrait frontispieces drawn and engraved by Ambroise Tardieu, 1 facsimile; 21 cm. Polished calf spine with six spine compartments between double blind rules. Red morocco spine label in second compartment reading: Quesne Histoire de Dumont. Marbled paper over boards. Page edges are lightly speckled red. Two pages of publisher's advertisements follow text. Front fixed endpaper bears engraved bookplate of George Henry Hely Hutchinson with the Hutchinson family crest. Pierre-Joseph Dumont had the misfortune to be on a French ship that went down off the coast of Africa near Algiers in 1782. Those, like himself, who survived were captured and made slaves. He survived until liberated by Lord Exmouth 34 years later. In Very Good+ Condition: rubbed; minimal foxing; pages and plates are clean and bright.

Philadelphia, Pa: Conrad Zentler, 1813. Hardcover. Very Good. viii, 538, [24] p.; 18 cm. Signatures: pi4 A-3A6. Full calf with clasps; six spine compartments between raised bands. Printed in two columns. Wood-engraved title vignette, wood-engraved head-pieces and tail-pieces. Includes indices to names of tunes and titles. Ownership inscriptions on front endpapers of Joseph Keinbach, 1857, and ? Schneider, 1867. First Century of German Language Printing in the U.S., 1988, which states that this is a revised edition of the Schwenkfelder hymnbook printed in 1762 in Germantown, Pa., by Christoph Saur. Early Am. Imprints (Shaw & Shoemaker), 29737. Hymnal without music, as was typical of German-language hymnals of this period. In Very Good Condition: leather is rubbed; a few page corners creased; foxing and darkening of paper throughout; otherwise clean and tight. A solid copy with intact clasps.

Boston: T. Bedlington, 1826. Hard Cover. Very Good -. 2 volumes: each with a frontispiece and an added engraved title page; 15 cm. Contemporary full calf with five spine compartments between double gilt rules; black spine label in second compartment with gilt-tooled title Life of Washington. Title page of vol. 1 is dated 1825; the added engraved title pages and the title page of vol. 2 are dated 1826. Stereotyped by T. H. Carter & Co., Boston. The front fixed endpaper of each volume bears the armorial bookplate of Geo. Dawson Coleman. The back of the frontispiece of volume 2 bears the name of former owner Peter Carpenter. Former owner Alfred Albert D.B. Carpenter has left variants of his name on both front fixed endpapers, as well as the title page and added engraved title page of volume 1, and the last page of text of each volume. Both Carpenters' names are also on the blank leaf following text at end of volume 1. George Dawson Coleman (1825-1878) was a member of the Coleman family… Read More

Napoli [Naples, Italy]: Michele Stasi, 1779. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. 2 volumes bound together ([2], vi, 307, [1] p.; [2], 264 p.): engraved frontispiece portrait of Redi by A. Zaballi; 21 cm. Contemorary full vellum with gilt-stamped spine title. All page edges marbled. Both fixed endpapers are hand-decorated. Red ribbon book mark. Woodcut title vignette (printer's device?), initial letters, and headpieces. Francesco Redi (1626-1698) was a poet and court physician to Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, and his successor, Cosimo III. His series of experiments, published in 1668 as Esperienze Intorno alla Generazione degl'Insetti (Experiments on the Generation of Insects), helped to refute the theory of spontaneous generation. In Very Good Condition: ends of spine and corners are rubbed; shadow on title page of vol. 1 from frontispiece; discoloration on pp. 223-230; pp. 262-290 are heavily foxed; otherwise scattered foxing.

Philadelphia: David McKay Co, 1931. Hardcover. Very Good +/fair. Wyeth, N. C.. [4], 163 p.: color frontispiece and 7 additional leaves of color illustrations; 25 cm. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt-stamped spine title; color front cover pastedown. White dust jacket repeating the front cover pastedown illustration on the front section. Illustrated endpapers. Dedication page bears an inscription by the author, along with a separate gift inscription dated Christmas 1931. The illustrations by N.C. Wyeth were the result of a commission by the Unitarian Laymen's League. Presents 29 Parables of Jesus, grouped in three categories: Parables of the Kingdom, Parables Illustrating the Grace of God, and Parables of Moral Instruction and Warning. Book is in Very Good+ Condition: spine slightly soiled and sunned; both boards are clean and bright; minor soiling on p. 13; otherwise pages and illustrations are clean and bright. Dust jacket is in Fair Condition: old repairs on inside; sections of dust… Read More

London: s.n., 1679. Pamphlet. Near Fine -. [2], 12 p.; 30 cm. Signatures: [A]2 B-C2 D1 (folio). Pages are untrimmed. "4" in ink at lower edge of title page. Wing I-78. Published anonymously but attributed to the defendant, Charles Cornwallis, 3rd Baron Conwallis (1655-1698), who was tried for murder. He and another man, Charles Gerrard, while drunk and disorderly in the middle of the night threatened a sentinel (who was able to defend himself) and then two young men who were passing by. Gerrard attacked one of the young men, breaking his neck and killing him. Cornwallis was found not guilty of murder (although six of his peers found him guilty of manslaughter). In Near Fine- Condition: pages are lightly soiled.

Philadelphia: William McCarty, 1813. Hardcover. Very Good -. "Printed by William & David Robinson, Trenton." [4], 380 p.; 18 cm. Contemporary full tree calf with six spine compartments between gilt rules. Leather label in second compartment with gilt-tooled title "American's Guide." Handwritten paper labels with red borders over third and sixth compartments with title and printing information. Oval stamp on front fixed endpaper and p. 100: Historical Society of Montgomery County, Historical Hall, Norristown, Pa. Title vignette of a version of the Great Seal of the United States. Contents: Declaration of Independence -- Articles of Confederation -- Constitution of the United States -- of New Hampshire -- of Massachusetts -- Charter of Rhode Island -- Account of the Constitution of Connecticut -- Constitutions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Vermont, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana --… Read More

Philadelphia: Francis Bailey, 1794. Hardcover. Good. "Printed by Francis Bailey . . . for Edmund Hogan." xii, 776 p.: tables; 22 cm. Contemporary full calf; red leather spine label with gilt-tooled title: "Hogan's State Trials." Although this is "Vol. I," no more published. First Edition. Early Am. Imprints, ser. 1 (Evans ), no. 27132. The Dedication by Edmund Hogan is dated Jan. 1795. Special title page for each trial: An Account of the Impeachment and Trial of the late Francis Hopkinson, Esquire, Judge of the Court of Admiralty for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; and, An Account of the Impeachment, Trial, and Acquittal of John Nicholson, Esquire, Comptroller-General of the State of Pennsylvania. The list of subscribers (pp. [ix]-xii) contains members of the Pennsylvania legislature and other prominent figures including Thomas Bradford, Benjamin Franklin Bache, William Bingham, Tench Francis, Albert Gallatin, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris,… Read More

Harrisburg, Pa: Board of Commissioners for the Second Geological Survey, 1883. Hardcover. Very Good -. Second Geological Survey of Pennsylvania: 1883. xx, 574, 5, [1] p., frontispiece map and 54 leaves of plates: 60 in-text illustrations; 23 cm. Original grey cloth with gilt-stamped spine title. Without the separate atlas containing 25 large plates listed on p. [vii]. Whitpain Library Co. stamps on front endpapers. Printed slip attached to front free endpaper stating that the volume was "Compliments of Theodore M. Harrar, House of Representatives." The Whitpain Library Company was a subscription library established in 1817 in Broad Ax, a village in Whitpain Township, Pennsylvania; in 1884 it contained 2,000 volumes. Theodore M. Harrar (b. 1846) represented Montgomery County in the Pennsylvania House in 1883 and 1884. In Very Good- Condition: cloth is rubbed and faded; most of gilt is lacking from spine; three small splits in cloth; one plate is detached but present; otherwise, clean and tight.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic: Fotografía Manon, 1916. Very Good. 15 5-x-7-inch black-and-white photographs: 8 of the USS Memphis (wrecked by a tidal wave on the coast of the Dominican Republic on 29 Aug. 1916); 1 of the memorial service for sailors who drown when the Memphis was wrecked; and 6 of American military personnel in camp. Four of the USS Memphis photos have "Foto: Mañon" on the front. Fotografía Mañon was located in Santo Domingo. In Very Good Condition: a few small scrapes; no writing on front or back.

Philadelphia: Orrin Rogers, 1839. Hardcover. Very Good. 173, [1] p.; 16 cm. Modern full calf with printed paper spine label. Marbled endpapers. John Fenwick (1618-1683) was the English Quaker who in 1675 led a group of Quakers to New Jersey, where they established the first English settlement in West Jersey, named New Salem. The author, Robert Gibbon Johnson (1771-1850), was a Salem resident and a founder of the New Jersey Historical Society. In Very Good Condition: binding is clean and tight; old dampstain along upper fore-edge of about half of pages; light foxing throughout, heavy on a few pages; occasional marginal pencil mark; otherwise, clean and tight.

1776. Near Fine. 56 x 75 cm. Attractive calligraphy on vellum. Christopher Gullett of Exeter, gentleman, grants to the Rev. Saint Andrew Saint John of Somerly in Southampton Co., John Burton of Jacobstow in Devon Co., esq., and Ambrose Hall of London, administrators and assigns, the property known as Hayton in Sampford Spiney, Devon Co. With an ebossed grey-and-gilt one shilling stamp affixed to one side and an engraved stamp on the reverse; and the signature of Christopher Gullett at the lower edge with a red seal. Sealed and delivered in the presence of Wm. Kirkby and H. Hall. In Near Fine Condition: exterior when folded slightly soiled; otherwise, clean and bright.

Stratford, Ont: McLagan Furniture Co, 1915. Paperback. Very Good -. [1], 31 leaves: illustrations; 31 x 45 cm. Brown card covers with gilt embossed cover title; stapled. No date of publication. George McLagan established his furniture business in Stratford, Ontario, in 1905. This catalog features suites for the dining room and bedroom, and funiture for the hall, parlor, living room, study, and office. Allthough 4 "record cabinets" are included, no photograph cabinets are shown, which were introduced by McLagan in 1916. Scarce. In Very Good- Condition: cover is lightly rubbed and soiled; creasing and minor loss at corners; closed 6-cm. tear from lower edge of back cover; 3 closed tears of 2 cm. or less from upper and lower edges of front cover; light soiling of upper corner on some leaves; otherwise, clean and solid.

Washington, D.C.: Office of the Vice President, 1953. Near Fine. 1 typed letter on Office of the Vice President letterhead with eagl watermark, signed by Richard Nixon, dated 7 July 1953. Nixon was sending forms to Bryan F. LaPlante, Chief, Washington Area Security Operations, Atomic Energy Commission, to obtain a "Q" clearance for Christian A. Herter, Jr., who was to join Nixon's staff. Bears stamp of the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission in lower corner. Christian A. Herter, Jr. (1919-2007), had served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives until his father, Christian A. Herter, Sr., was elected governor in 1953. Later that year he became an aide to Vice President Richard Nixon, travelling to Asia with him. In the 1960s he joined Mobil Oil, becoming Vice President in 1967. In 1970, then President Nixon appointed him deputy assistant secretary of state for environmental and population affairs. In Near Fine Condition: lightly creased; one small spot near left-hand edge; otherwise, clean… Read More