Rare books from ZH BOOKS

London: Freemantle & Co. / Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1900. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First American edition, n. d. [1900]; 6" x 8"; pp. [4], v-xvii, [1], 1-464; pictorial cloth over boards; deckled fore-edge; gilt top edge; minor fading to boards; a bit of rubbing to tips of spine (small closed cut to bottom edge); slight vertical line through front cover; pages mostly very clean with a few faint spots of foxing limited to first and last several pages; illustrated with color fronts and 100 b & w full-page illustrations; in very good condition. "A New Translation by Mrs. Edgar Lucas." A scarce copy of the original Rackham-illustrated "Grimm's Fairy Tales," it brought Arthur Rackham his enormous fame and prompted the publishing of the 1909 deluxe signed edition. The great illustrator himself pointed out in the 1909 edition's prefatory note: "Some years ago a selection of "Grimm's Fairy Tales" with one hundred… Read More

Paris [presumably], 1660. Soft cover. Very Good. First edition (c1660); platemark: 4 3/16" x 7", sheet: approx. 4 1/2" x 7 1/2". Etched signature in lower left corner of plate: AB. Flamen. fe., lower right corner of plate: Cum privil. Regis XII. Minor foxing to lower margin; small light spot to lower right corner of sheet; very good or better. Albert Flamen was a Flemish etcher, engraver, and painter - active in France in the mid-1600s. Most of his works consisted of series of fish, including the current "Brill" one, birds, and mammals. He also created a set of moralizing emblems (1672) - one of his very few dated works. One copy of the etching located at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Glasgow: Printed for the Booksellers, 1793. Hardcover. First edition thus (first separate publication); 12mo (3 1/2 x 5); pp. [2], 3-128; lacking first and last blank leaves else complete (collated); contemporary roan; closed cut to head of spine; few scratches and rubbed spots to covers; corners show some wear; uniform age-toning to pages; text clean; overall in very good condition.In 1688, at his death, John Bunyan left his widowed wife the manuscripts for 12 works never published in his lifetime. She kept them until 1691 when, in turn, the writings were entrusted to Charles Doe - a bookseller and Bunyan's friend and editor. One of the manuscripts was that of 'Christ a Complete Saviour.' In 1692, "Doe's Folio" was published in collaboration with publisher William Marshall - containing the 12 unknown works together with 10 other titles which had appeared in earlier editions. The fact that the collection was published in folio was quite unusual and astonishing since… Read More

New York: Robert M. McBride and company, 1939. Hardcover. Very good. First edition; 5 1/2 x 7 3/4; pp. [10], 11-208; blue cloth over boards; gilt title; deckled page edges; few small rubbed spots to tips of spine, else minor wear; personal stamps of Senator Homer Bone to front and back cover verso; in very good condition. Signed with a lengthy inscription by the author on ffep.Boake Carter a radio news commentator in the early part of the 20th century. He achieved national fame with his covering of the Lindberg baby kidnapping. In 1936, he had more listeners than any other radio commentator in the country. His commentaries progressively became more controversial - given his fervent criticisms of President Roosevelt and his "New Deal." By 1937, the pressure from the president's allies had caused Carter to lose his job and his sponsorship. When he died of an alleged heart attack in 1944 it was speculated he had been murdered by the leader of a British Israelite Cult. Carter wrote… Read More

Salem, MA: The Salem Register, 1877. Softcover. Very good. Two brochures, 1877 and 1883; 9 1/4 x 6 and 11 3/4 x 6 1/2; single leaves, folded, pp. [4], text to pp. 1 and 4 only; cream stock ruled with intricate boarders and printed in red and black, respectively; the 1877 copy with a few very minor nicks to fore-edge; in very good to near fine condition; the 1883 copy with several closed cuts to edges, an old horizontal crease, and a small chip to lower corner; in good to very good condition.Used as "Thank You" keepsakes, the brochures were given by carriers to their customers on the first day of each new year and contained a long-winded, cheerful poems, which presented the previous year's news in verse. The Salem Register (1800 - ca 1911) was a newspaper, published in Salem, Massachusetts. Established by William Carlton, its initial purpose was to advocate for the election of Thomas Jefferson to the Presidency.

Elgin, Ill: Willson Press, 1915. Hardcover. Good. First edition; 8 x 5; pp. [11], 8-156, [8]; light-blue oilcloth over boards, with dark-blue decorations; thin cracks to cloth along spine; hinges reinforced with thin strips of linen; scattered spots, mostly to margins of several pages; corners and tips of spine rubbed; illustrated with a photograph frontis and advertisements; several manuscript recipes to last few leaves; overall in good or better condition.The Larkin Children's Home's history can be traced back to 1892, when Ms. Mary Peabody of Elgin, Ill. was asked to care for 3-day old twins, whose mother had died of pneumonia. Hearing of her generous spirit, soon several more children were handed off to her. In 1894 and 1895, her home would be known as "The Miss Mary Peabody Home for Babies." In 1896, The Elgin Children's Home Association was formed to "...care for and to provide for the wants of destitute, abused or neglected children under 14 years old..."… Read More

Paris: Perceval, 1948. Very good. Lithographed poster (in the lower right margin: "208/P/6-48 Printed in France. Perceval Paris."); sheet 15 3/4 x 24 3/4, image 13 x 22 1/2; two small spots and a short, closed tear to right margin (not affecting illustration); several small creases to edges and corners; colors bright; overall in very good condition.Lucien Boucher (1889 - 1971) was a marvelous artist, mainly known for his series of travel posters for Air France, which he began creating around 1935 and continued well into the 1960s. This particular one was especially captivating, showing the airline's routes east to Japan and west to North and South America. It highlighted the current, at the time, expansion of Air France's network and illustrated landmarks, animals, people, and the continents' terrain in vivid colors.

Oakland, CA: Calderwood, G. W. and Loofbourow, G. T., 1897 (Copyrighted 1896). First Edition. Very good. First edition; 11 3/4 x 9 1/4; pp. iii-v, [3], 9-99, [1]; pink wraps, printed in blue, with a sepia-tone photograph; illustrated with numerous maps and b & w photographs; two stamps of the Calfironia State Board of Trade to lower margin of front wrap; small, antiques shop label to front wrap verso; a thin strip of clear tape to spine cover; a few spots to margins; overall bright and well-preserved; in about very good- condition.Intented to be "mailed free to prospective home seekers on application to Secretary of Merchants' Exchange or Board of Trade, Oakland, Cal.," the book was pronounced by, then, former Mayor William R. Davis, to be: "...the best and most accurate presentation of our resources and local attractive features, and as an advertising medium yet published in the interest of Alameda County." It began with an aptly-titled chapter - "Deadly… Read More

New York: Thomas Y Crowell Company, 1917. First Edition. Very good. First English edition; 8 x 5 1/2; pp. [10], 9-90, [8]; blue cloth over boards, illustrated with an intricate wreath in blue, yellow, and black (unsigned, but attributed to Margaret Neilson Armstrong); pictorial DJ; illustrated with three color plates, including the frontispiece; cloth with light wear to tips of spine and corners, else bright and clean; age-toning to endpapers and several minor spots to first few pages; small, ornate, unused bookplate to front board verso; very good to near fine condition. Dust jacket with tiny nicks to edges and small loss of paper to tips of spine and corners - in good to very good condition.By the author of beloved "Heidi," "What Sami Sings..." told the story of a young, orphaned boy, who loved nature and the songs of the birds. First published in German in 1887, it was not translated into English until 1917, by Helen B. Dole, and it has been especially difficult to obtain… Read More

London: Printed by J. C. for Thomas Basset, at the George in Fleet Street, near Cliffords Inne, 1674. First Edition. Very good. First edition; 6 3/4 x 4; pp. [8], 1-250; 3/4 polished calf and marbled boards; rebacked; spine in 5 panels with raised bands and gilt decorations; engraved printer's device to title page verso; engraved vignette at beginning of first chapter; thin rubbed line along hinge of title page obscuring the first letter of the title; period brown-ink smudge and a small puncture to upper corner of title page; edges of first few leaves a bit brittle with several small nicks; two bookplates to endpapers - the first, that of Colonel Robert Coleman Hall Brock (1861 - 1906) - prominent lawyer, financier, and scientist; the second, that of Thomas Mitchell - possibly Lieutenant Colonel Sir Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792 - 1855 ) - surveyor and explorer of south-eastern Australia; a third, period signature to bottom of last page; overall in very good condition.Called one of the… Read More

S. l.: American Defence Society and YMCA, 1918. First Edition. Near fine. First edition; 5 x 3 3/4; pp. 1-8; lithographed wraps; illustrated with a facsimile letter from Theodore Roosevelt; minor wear to spine and corners; in near fine condition.The pamphlet, written by Hollywood author Charles L. Robinson and published jointly by the YMCA and the American Defence Society (Approved by the War Department Commission on Training Camp Activities, Social Hygiene Instruction Division), it instructed American soldiers on the risks of venereal diseases and implored the troops to be faithful to their wives and significant others back home. It also contained a facsimile of a Teddy Rosevelt letter, which thanked the author for his outstanding work. The pamphlet was widely distributed among Americans serving in France during WWI.

Washington DC: Published by Order of the Secretary of War, 1873. First Edition. Good. Six maps for: Monday, February 17, 1873 - 11 P. M.; Tuesday, February 18, 1873 - 7:35 A. M.; Tuesday, February 18, 1873 - 4:35 P. M.; Wednesday, February 19, 1873 - 7:35 A. M.; Wednesday, February 19, 1873 - 4:35 P. M.; Wednesday, February 19, 1873 - 11 P. M.; 8 3/4 x 11 1/2; relief shown by hachures and gradient tints; small reference table in the lower half of the image; edges brittle, with small chips and cuts; overall in good to very good condition.A scarce collection of maps, their publication began in January of 1871, with no less than 3 maps being published every day. Samuel Morse's invention of the telegraph had made it possible to easily observe, gather, and transmit data from different points over the entire country. A small note at the head read: "All observations made at the same moment of actual (not local) time." Released by the US Army's Signal Service, the maps were intented… Read More

S. l.: s. n., 1850. Very good. Two labels, n. d. (mid-19th century); approx. 12 x 4 and 9 3/4 x 3 1/2; edges in lovely scalloped patterns; lavish gilt decorations on green and white backgrounds and central, chromolithographed images laid-on; one with a few remnants of paper to verso from being removed from a scrapbook, the other backed with a scrapbook leaf; a bit of wear and mild rubbing; overall in very good condition.In the early- to mid-19th century, textile labels were used to hold the ends of fancy bolts of fabric, which could be only purchased by affluent ladies, those who could afford to own fine textiles. Usually richly decorated, the labels were considered a premium bonus of a kind and often saved in scrapbooks. Many of them, including the present ones, featured an oval image of a colorful and pleasing subject - in this case, a portrait of a beautiful lady and a woman weaving a harvest crown.

Chicago: Philipsborn, The Outer Garment House, Chicago, 1913. First Edition. Very good. First edition; 9 1/2 x 7; pp. 2-160, [4]; pictorial wraps by Charles Warde Traver (1870 - 1945); illustrated in black and white; a few minor spots to wraps and tiny nicks to tips of spine; two leaves (pp. 143 to 146) tipped-in - appear to have never been properly bound; overall in very good condition.Remarkably-well preserved, the catalog presented the spring and summer fashions of one of Chicago's most famous department stores. It showcased an amazing array of dresses, corsets, hosiery, gloves, purses, coats, suits, and even children's accoutrements.

New York: James Herring, 1833. First Edition. Very good. Engraving in a paper frame; sheet 8 1/2 x 5 3/4, with frame 10 1/2 x 7 3/4; subtitle and facsimile signature below portrait; very minor age-toning to margins and tiny, barely-visible pin holes to corners; in very good or better condition.Created after a portrait by famed miniaturist painter Sarah Goodrich, nee Goodridge (1788 - 1853), the engraving depicted Rhode Island Colony artist Gilbert Charles Stuart (1755 - 1828), who would be considered one of America's top portraitists. The creator, Asher Brown Durand (1796 - 1886) of the Hudson River School, would gain tremendous recognition as one of the country's finest engravers after engraving the Declaration of Independence for John Trumbull in 1823. He would largely switch from engraving to oil painting in the 1830s.