Browse the latest catalogs, newsletters, and e-lists of rare books, fine bindings, incunabula, print ephemera, and much more from the members of the ABAA below. (Also includes podcasts, blog posts, and other digital formats.)
*New* indicates any catalogs brought to our attention since the early October 2024.
AARDVARK BOOKS/EZRA TISHMAN BOOK APPRAISALS
Featured item:
Delafield, Emily Prime (Illustrated by Bertram Goodhue)
NEW YORK: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1898. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. 8vo. Lovely, paper-covered boards, brilliantly colored -- Bertram Goodhue's genius dances off the late nineteenth-century page, and still pops -- powerfully -- into our 21st century consciousness -- 125+ years later! 1-1/2-inch spot (spilled turquoise ink) to top left of rear board, and a repaired 1 1/2 in. x 1/2 in. closed tear to paper over spine.
A play with characters from the Carroll classic,including of course Alice in Wonderland, The White Rabbit, The Queen of Hearts, The Knave, Humpty Dumpty, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, The Cat, The Mad Hatter, etc., Gorgeous color Illustrations to both covers by the legendary typeographer and font-inventor Bertram Goodhue include The Knave (Frontispiece); The White Rabbit, Alice, and the Queen of Hearts. Twenty-panel decorative endpapers in orange and red with various Carroll characters within each grid. Printed by D.B. Updike at the Merrymount Press in Boston. Scarce. Very Good.
Offered by Aardvark Books and found in "SABF 2024 Highlights."
Featured item:
Limited edition color lithograph (image size 19-1/2" x 14" matted and framed to an overall size of 27" x 23"). Of an edition of 300 SIGNED in pencil by the illustrator in the bottom right margin, this copy is marked "Artist's Proof" in pencil at the bottom middle margin and titled in pencil in the lower left margin with the notation "A/P." Appears to be Fine, not examined out of the frame which has minor wear.
Offered by Charles Agvent and found in "Fall Miscellany."
ANTIPODEAN BOOKS, MAPS, PRINTS
- E-list #44 ~ W.W.I., Americana, Australia, Photographs, Maps, Ephemera
- E-list #43 ~ Antipodean Books at the Brooklyn Virtual Book Fair
- November 2024 New Acquisitions in Americana *New* -- catalog available by request from naretakis@mindspring.com...
- Recent Acquisitions & Selections from Stock (Summer 2024)
- Recent Acquisitions and Highlights in Maps *New*
- Recent Acquisitions & Highlights in Western Americana, October 2024 *New*
- E-list October 23, 2024 *New*
- Artists' Books and Exhibition Catalogues: Electronic List 146
- French World War I Print Portfolios, Drawings, Photographs, Periodicals & Livres d'artistes: Electronic List 145
- EVOLVING HISTORY of IDEAS (New York Book Fair)
- Catalog 24: LUDWIG WITTGENSTEIN – THE MAN and HIS THOUGHT
W. C. BAKER RARE BOOKS & EPHEMERA
Featured item:
Boston: James Fisher, 71 Court Street, c.1841. Broadside, laid down on a stiff backing sheet, slightly trimmed to 30 x 25 cm., taking the "Pr. by Chas. Thomas & Co." statement in the lower margin. Engraved by D. Kimberly. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by the Franklin Print Co. The lettering by J.B. Bolton. A printing of The Declaration of Independence, with fac-similes of the signatures and likenesses of the signers, the arms of the states, and of the United States, and portraits of the presidents. Engraved script, with text below a reproduction of Trumbull’s painting and above Durand’s key and facsimile signatures. The whole within an ornamental border featuring medallion portraits of Presidents Washington through W.H. Harrison, and the seals of 26 states. An American eagle, holding a banner carrying the U.S. motto tops the border. Some overall toning to sheet. OCLC: NY Historical, Univ. of VA, MA Historical.
Offered by Bartleby's Books and found in "Americana Miscellaneous, September 2024."
- eList 225: Women *New*
- eList 224: Art and Illustration *New*
- eList 223: Halloween *New*
- eList 222: New Arrivals *New*
- eList 221: Spooky Season *New*
- 2024-35 The Hotch Potch *New*
- 2024-34 The Hotch Potch *New*
- 2024-33 The Hotch Potch *New*
BLUEMANGO BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS
- Purely Americana... Primarily Manuscripts (Boston Book Fair) *New*
- Empire State Book Fair
- Recent Acquisitions *New*
- Brattlecast #195: Railroad Timetables (Podcast) *New*
- Brattlecast #194: The Boston Book Fair (Podcast) *New*
ANDREW CAHAN, BOOKSELLER, LTD.
- E-List 31: The Hand Press Era *New*
- 2024 Print Catalog *New*
Featured item:
London: Moon Society (a Branch of the National Institute for the Blind), 1938. Presumed Mixed Editions (see below). Two volumes; large oblong folios (28.5 x 34.5 cm); publisher’s limp brown boards, printed paper spine labels; each volume begins with the alphabet leaf titled “A Simplified System of Embossed Reading for the Use of the Blind Invented by William Moon, L.L.D, &c.” Individual descriptions as follows:
1. Moon Christmas Annual 1938 [title taken from spine label]. [86]ll. of embossed text. Some light soil to boards, faint vertical crease across upper cover, some brief curling to board margins, textblock uniformly toned and slightly brittle, a contemporary owner has added some occasional transliteration of the text in pencil Roman lettering, else a Very Good, sound example. Gift bookplate mounted to front pastevdown from the Moon Society surrounded by a large contemporary ink ownership signature. No copies of this Christmas Annual in OCLC as of August, 2024, though there are three copies of the 1937 Annual listed (Indiana U., Western Washington University, and Oxford).
2. The Gospel According to St. Mark. [92]ll. of embossed text. Ex-Wayne County Library (Detroit, MI) with their contemporary check-out sleeve mounted to rear pastedown, otherwise free of library markings; boards rather worn, joints starting to split, some small damp-spots, textblock uniformly toned and brittle, else a Good to Very Good example. Gift bookplate to front pastedown of the Library of Congress. This edition not located in OCLC as of August, 2024, though an 1858 edition with different pagination is located at Princeton.
The typography for the Simplified System of Embossed Reading was first designed by William Moon (1818–1894) for his blind pupils at the school he had founded in Brighton in the 1840s. Moon himself had lost his eyesight completely by the time he reached his mid-20s, the result of a severe case of childhood scarlet fever. Rather than pursuing his holy orders, he founded a school for the blind and the deaf-mute.
Moon originally relied on the Frere system of embossed reading, but he discovered that his students, many of them elderly and having lost their vision in adulthood, struggled to learn the system with its heavy use of contractions. The Moon system instead is a simplified system of Roman lettering for which type was designed and procured with the aid of friends of the school. The works issued using the Moon System were primarily religious, Moon’s most ambitious undertaking being the publication of the Bible in monthly parts. The present volume of the Gospel According to St. Mark is most certainly a later edition of the original installment. The volume appears to be contemporaneous with the Christmas annual offered alongside it: the library rubber-stamps in the rear date from 1939 to 1942.
According to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography William Moon and his Society published a fairly prodigious output, though few examples remain either on the market or in institutions. The Moon System evidently did not endure against the increasing use of braille, and while both volumes here are substantial, the binding and paper materials are flimsy and would easily fall apart with over-use, giving them an almost ephemeral quality.
Offered by Capitol Hill Books and found in "2024 Print Catalog."
Featured item:
Armstrong, Charlotte
London: Peter Davies Ltd., 1956. First U.K. Edition. Sharp copy of this early novel by Armstrong, set in a small southern California college, where an absent-minded professor misplaces a container of poison, which involves a score of unrelated people in a frantic search. Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1957.
First Impression. Octavo (19cm); turquoise cloth, with titles stamped in gilt on spine; dustjacket; [4],5-220,[4]pp. Small contemporary owner's ink name and date at upper margin of title page, else Fine in a Near Fine dustjacket, unclipped (priced 12s.6d. net), with a hint of sunning to spine, a few pinpoint rubbed spots to spine ends, and two spots of dust-soil to front joint.
Offered by Captain Ahab's Rare Books and found in "Holiday Catalog."
- African American E-list
- E-list on the South (June 2024)
- From the library of John Henry Nash -- list available on request from info@carpediemfinebooks.com...
- New Arrivals
BRIAN CASSIDY, BOOKSELLER AT TYPE PUNCH MATRIX
Featured item:
[ANON} Loisir d'un soldat français.
Manuscript on paper. Ingolstadt et al., l'an 7 (22 September 1798-21 September 1799). A genuinely peculiar visual diary, created by an anonymous French soldier captured by the forces of the Habsburg Monarchy during a battle of the Wars of the Second Coalition. The soldier, incarcerated in an Ingolstadt fortress, apparently had substantive freedom—and access to artists' supplies—and produced a rather whimsical manuscript through which a martial darkness runs. Our artist/author chose to include in his album a disparate record of his incarceration, with birds-eye views of the gardens surrounding the Ingolstadt fortress and the two prison structures (complete with tunnels, latrines, and exercise yards); a sentimental portrait of an unknown female prisoner; two forbidding children in Teutonic garb (one smoking); a brace of battle-hardened Habsburg soldiers loading weapons; an imaginary scene of the family of the incarcerated soldier writhing in anguish at the thought of their relative in the hands of the enemy. The author gives many tantalizing clues to his identity, including a monogram—A.D.—and two self portraits: one in a cell, with a broken arm, where he is confronted by a jailer bearing chains; and the other a tiny representation as a paysageur, painting the town of Furstenburg. But so far our artist remains anonymous, leaving as the sole witness to his life this odd album of some thirty drawings.
This small, square manuscript presents far more questions than it answers, but in its way has something for everyone: innocent silhouettes, a binary scene of corpulent putti dancing against a carbon-black background (an illustration called "love in the shadows"); naked sirens embracing in the sea; landscapes of lonesome, forbidding citadels atop steep promontories. All is interspersed with rather prosaic exercises in perspective, shading, and the calligraphic art of monogramming. The second-to-last drawing is a folding map of Western Europe, centered on France, with her pays du coutume hand-colored according to province. A most engaging and unusual witness to a solitary soldier's experience in the Coalition Wars during the seventh year of the French First Republic.
Offered by W.S. Cotter Rare Books and found in "Fall List 2024."
- Strictly Business *New*
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- October New Arrivals *New*
- New Arrivals in Americana *New*
- R. David Parsons Collection, Part 3 *New*
- THE LUNAR VOYAGE FROM THE 17th CENTURY TO THE PRESENT -- In conjunction with the RBMS and the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing -- Offered jointly with John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller
- Popular Fiction 1814-1939: Selections from the Anthony Tino Collection -- Offered jointly with John W. Knott, Jr., Bookseller
- E-list: Photographic Archives, Latin-Americana, African-Americana, Lincoln Conspirators, American Indian History, and More -- Joint catalog with Auger Down Books
DE SIMONE COMPANY, BOOKSELLERS
- List 59: Important Italian and French Manuscripts, Illustrated Books, & Broadsides *New*
- List 58: Women, Illustrated Books, Cookery, Collections
- New Arrivals (November 18, 2024) *New*
- Shaker Books, Ephemera and Photography
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Collections & Archives *New*
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
EDITIO ALTERA RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Art & Architecture (Boston 2024) *New*
- General Humanities (Boston 2024) *New*
- Science & Medicine (Boston 2024) *New*
Featured item:
Rome: Ascanio & Hieronymo Donangelo, 1591. 8vo. (4), 187 pp, (16). With 2 full-page and 3 half-page engravings in text. Contemporary vellum.
Sole edition of this curious work by a Spanish Dominican resident in Rome, Alfonso Chacón (ca. 1540-1601). Partly astronomical, partly theological, and partly ethnographic, Chacón’s work is concerned not only with the crosses which appeared in the skies over England and France in 1591, but also with similar apparitions witnessed through the accounts of Jesuit missionaries to the East and West Indies, to whose reports Chacón evidently had access thanks to his positions as Apostolic Librarian to the Holy See. He is most interested in contemporary accounts from England of mysterious celestial crosses, and pages 65-74 give a lengthy discussion of the astronomical phenomena seen over Norfolk on St George’s Day in 1591, including a full-page illustration with facing legend.
Offered by Editio Altera Rare Books & Manuscripts and found in "Science & Medicine (Boston Book Fair 2024)."
- Comic collection of William "Gatz" Hjortsberg -- Details available upon request from info@elkriverbooks.com...
- Highlights from the ABAA Virtual Book Fair
- Ancient and Medieval History *New*
- November New Arrivals *New*
- Lincoln & America's Rivers *New*
Featured item:
Davis, Clyde Brion. The Arkansas.
New York: Farrar & Rinehart Incorporated [1940]. First edition. 8vo. [8], ix-x, [2], 3-340, [2] pp. Red cloth with gold lettering blocked in grey and black lettering on the spine; red topstain. Title page with green decorations. Price of $2.50 on the front flap of the dust jacket. Illustrated endpapers and pastedowns. Illustrated with two full-page maps and with in-text designs (in black and white) by Donald McKay. Part of the Rivers of America series, started by Constance Lindsay Skinner. Edited by Stephen Vincent Benét and Carl Carmer. Near Fine. Jacket with a small wrinkle to its rear panel and sunning to its spine panel.
Offered by Evening Star Books and found in "Lincoln & America's Rivers."
Featured item:
Edwin James
Account of an Expedition from Pittsburgh to the Rocky Mountains, performed in the years 1819, 1820
The first English edition of An Expedition From Pittsburgh To The Rocky Mountains by Edwin James, published in London in 1823.
Octavo, [three volumes], vii, [map], 344pp; vii, [1], 356pp; vii, [1], 347pp, [1]. Full brown calf, title in gilt over black label, raised bands. Includes the half titles in Volume II and III. Photograph of the Rocky Mountains, circa 1866, affixed to front pastetown of each volume. Front free endpaper removed in all three volumes. Ownership label on front pastedown of Volume II and III.
This work is complete, with fold-out map of the “Mississippi Country” by Sidney Hall, fold-out geological cross-section, and 8 aquatint plates by S. Seymour, including the frontispiece illustrations. Maps in near fine condition, faint transference along hinge, bright illustrations.
An attractive set, scarce in this condition.
The first edition of this work by Edwin James was published in Philadelphia by H.C. Carey & Lee in 1823. This work includes the famous “Map of the Country drained by the Mississippi” by Stephen Long, which is credited with creating the “Great American Desert” myth, now known as the High Plains, east of the Rocky Mountains. With the discovery of the Ogallala Aquifer in the mid-19th century, settlers began to realize the agricultural potential of the region.
Offered by First Edition Rare Books and found in "New Arrivals."
RODGER FRIEDMAN RARE BOOK STUDIO
Featured item:
Darwin, Charles. The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex.
London: John Murray, 1871. 2 volumes octavo (20 cm). Original green cloth. Spine cocked somewhat on volume 1. Both volumes well-read, but quite good. Owner's name in pencil on title page of volume 1. References: Norman 599; Garrison-Morton 170. Corrections to the text in volume 1 mark this printing as the second issue of the first edition. Volume 2 is the first restriking (“seventh thousand.”) It is noted that the word "evolution" occurs here on page 2 of volume 1 for the first time in any of Darwin’s works.
Offered by Rodger Friedman Rare Book Studio and found in "Darwin."
Featured item:
Women’s Center Newsletter, Summer 1973
New York: Women’s Liberation Center of New York, 1973. Offset. Single leaf folded to form [4]pp. 8 1/2 x 11 in. Three small tears to edges, slight loss to bottom right corner; very good.
Early flyer from The Women’s Liberation Center, published just a year after its founding by Lesbian Feminist Liberation and the Lesbian Switchboard.
The Women’s Liberation Center was a key node in the New York women’s and gay liberation movement, housing the offices and meeting space of several important organizations of the period, including Lesbian Feminist Liberation, Women’s Abortion Project, the Lesbian Lifespace Project, Older Women’s Liberation, the Lesbian Switchborad, Radicalesbians Health Collective, and several others over its 15 years in the firehouse. Additionally, the Center hosted frequent programming, including concerts, screenings, workshops, community dinners, and many other public events.
A year before the publication of this newsletter, The Women’s Liberation Center was evicted from a loft on 22nd Street and moved into the firehouse, which housed the Center until 1987. This newsletter details the history of the firehouse, the precarious legal status of the Center’s use of it, the process the Center would have to successfully navigate in order to formalize its use of the firehouse, and an ultimately successful political strategy to win a lease. The newsletter also includes an article on the prevalence of rape in New York City and movement efforts to combat it and support survivors, along with a comic by Carol Sanders.
A scarce document from an important early node of the women’s liberation movement and movement for abortion rights.
Offered by Fugitive Materials and found in "Catalog 2: The Birth of a Gay Network."
- OCCASIONAL LIST 22: A Miscellany: Original Art Work; Small Archive of Major English Watercolourist; Interesting Theatrical Pieces; Manuscript Material, Etc., Etc. -- available on request from fgrare@fgrarebooks.com...
- Recently Catalogued *New*
- Seattle Book Fair 2024 *New*
Join the ABAA-Public Google Group, a listserv where ABAA members announce select books for sale, share information on their participation in upcoming book fairs, and showcase their recent catalogs!
The ABAA-Public Google Group is a read-only email group, so email traffic is kept to a minimum and only ABAA members can announce books for sale — ensuring all items are in full compliance with our Code of Ethics.
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THOMAS A. GOLDWASSER RARE BOOKS
DAVID A. HAMILTON AMERICANA BOOKS
- Western Americana *New*
- American Natural History *New*
- Americana *New*
Featured item:
[CIVIL WAR] - READ, Joseph Corson
Southern Mississippi and Alabama Showing the Approaches to Mobile
[Washington]: Coastal Survey Office, 1863. Folding map, (24 x 25 1/2 inches), mounted in twenty-four sections on linen. Original card covers with printed paper label. Contemporary ownership inscription on label. Light wear. Minor foxing. Rare field operations map of Mississippi.
This rare Civil War map was created by the Coast Survey office, the main cartographic arm of the Union Army, for use in the Union campaigns into the South. This copy was owned and used by Colonel Joseph Corson Read, the Chief Commissary of the Army of the Cumberland. In November 1863, the Union armies captured Chattanooga, the "Gateway to the South," enabling them to stage a prolonged offensive into the Southern heartland. Grant moved very quickly to overwhelm the South and immediately ordered Sherman to move against Atlanta and its vital railroad supply lines, at the same time as he sent Nathaniel Banks to attack Mobile, Alabama. Joseph Corson Read (1831-1889) was one of the first wave of men to take up Abraham Lincoln's call for volunteers to put down the rebellion in April 1861. He remained continuously in the army, serving first on General Jesse Reno's staff and rising to the rank of Chief Commissary for the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by George H. Thomas. Thomas was impressed with Read, and on May 1, 1864, with the spring campaign against Atlanta imminent, Thomas named Read Chief Commissary of the Army of the Cumberland in the Field. This meant that, although Colonel A.P. Porter was the Army's overall chief, Read would serve alongside Thomas in the field and had the responsibility to supply the entire army as it moved South. During the long and arduous Atlanta campaign he was the man on the ground, making the supply side work. Read developed a close relationship with Thomas, one with both personal and professional aspects. This map, scaled at ten miles to the inch, shows Mississippi and Alabama from Jackson to Montgomery, starting about fifty miles north of those two points and continuing south to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico. Rivers, roads, and rail lines, and all the towns they connect, are detailed, with waterways printed in blue. Two of the railroads, the Mobile & Pensacola, and the Mobile & Great Northern, construction and removal dates during the war. An important map that would have been used by the Union Army in the field, specifically by the Chief Commissary of the Army of the Cumberland.
Offered by Donald A. Heald Rare Books and found in "Americana."
JONATHAN A. HILL, BOOKSELLER, INC.
- elist 257 New Arrivals in Art, Photography, Poetry, Literature, Literary Broadsides *New*
- elist 256 *New*
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Literary Archive of Heather McHugh -- Details and price available upon request to james@jamesjaffe.com. Institutional inquiries only.
Featured item:
Bontemps, Arna
New York: William Morrow and Company, 1934. First Edition. Hardcover. Regarded as the finest example of Bontemps’s independent work, this children's novel follows a boy and his pet dog living in a rural part of Alabama. It immediately preceded the novel Black Thunder (1936), which recounts the slave rebellion led by Gabriel Prosser that took place near Richmond, Virginia in 1800. Bontemps (1902-73), an American poet, novelist, and librarian, was a noted member of the Harlem Renaissance. Octavo: 120 p. with 4 color plates and numerous textual illustrations by Ilse Bischoff. Original red cloth binding, with black stamping. Previous owner's ink signature is inked out on the front flyleaf. A bit of soiling along the edges. The dust jacket is edgeworn and soiled, with a bit of chipping and some general soiling. Scarce in any condition. Good / Good.
Offered by johnson rare books & archives and found in "African Americana."
JOSLIN HALL RARE BOOKS, EPHEMERA & PHOTOGRAPHY
- New Arrivals: Fine Press and Book Arts *New*
- Catalog 21: Book Arts, Literature, History, & More! *New*
- Political Book Arts *New*
- Edgar Allan Poe *New*
Featured item:
[Arion Press] Melville, Herman; Barry Moser, illustrator
San Francisco: Arion Press, 1979. One of 265 copies of which 250 copies were for sale. However, this spectacular copy is one of only five specially bound by the press in luxurious white leather. The owner of the press, Andrew Hoyem kept one copy and this copy was owned by a private collector. The whereabouts of the other three copies are unknown, and this special edition has never appeared on the market or at auction. This book has been described by William Everson as “a feat of craftsmanship unexcelled in modern printing,” and named by the Grolier Club as one of the 100 most beautiful books of the twentieth century.
According to the 24 page prospectus for the book, this was the sixth publication issued by the press, which is described by them as “one of the most elaborate printing ventures ever to be undertaken by an American press, and nothing will be spared in the effort to make it the finest of books.” There is a several page description of the making of this magnificent edition. They write: “Despite many editions -perhaps because of its length - it has not been accorded the full typographical treatment that a classic of its stature deserves”....in the early days of [the press] they considered the possibility of their printing a handset folio Moby Dick. It took ten years from the early discussions for the press to secure the capital for this long-planned venture. They go on to explain in detail the type and paper selection, followed by a section on the illustrations by the renowned artist Barry Moser of the Pennyroyal Press. It was decided from the inception of the project that there would be no dramatic or interpretive illustrated scenes that would imposed on the reader’s imagination. Instead, the text would be interspersed with informative depictions of subjects mentioned by Melville.
It took 14 months to print this folio copy of Moby Dick. Bound in full white leather with the illustrated image of a whale debossed on the front cover and titling to the spine. With beautiful blue endpapers. The text was set by hand in Goudy Modern, with initial letters printed in blue at the start of each of the 135 chapters in Leviathan Capitals, a special alphabet designed for the purpose by calligraphers Charles Bigelow & Kris Holmes. Printed on Barcham Green’s handmade paper, which is watermarked with the outline of a whale. Very light occasioinal foxing to fore-edges, not affecting the text pages. Housed in a custom box covered with gray cloth bearing a title label printed on the same white leather used on the special binding. Accompanied by the prospectus. In fine condition. Measures 10 x 15 x 3 inches. 577 pages.
Offered by Kelmscott Bookshop and found in "Catalog 21."
JOHN W. KNOTT, JR., BOOKSELLER
- New Arrivals (November 20, 2024) *New*
- New Arrivals: Pulps (September 12, 2024)
- Catalog #74: 100 Rare Books -- with an emphasis on history and military affairs. Please request from mail@kubikbooks.com...
- ABAA 75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair
- Claude Shannon's Library Catalog 1: Papers he wrote or co-authored
Featured item:
Bardeen, J. ; Brattain, W. H.
Physical Principles Involved in Transistor Action [Bell Monograph]
New York: Bell Telephone Laboratories, Incorporated 1949. First Separate Edition. 18, [2 (blank)] pages. 10 7/8 x 8 3/8 inches. Original blue and gray printed wrappers with 5 hole punches at the spine (as issued). A touch of wear to the extremities, and offsetting to rear panel (apparently from an adjacent Bell Monograph). Front cover clean, rear soiled. Clean internally. Very Good. Wraps.
This paper was first presented (in part) at the Chicago meeting of the American Physical Society, Nov. 26, 27, 1948. It was first published in both in the Bell System Technical Journal 28, No. 2 (April 1949) and in the same month in The Physical Review Vol 75, pp. 1208-1225 (April 15, 1949). We are not aware of an offprint of this paper from either the Physical Review or the Bell System Technical Journal. Hence this is the First Separate Edition, as close as one can get to an "offprint" of this paper, issued as the Bell Telephone System Technical Publications Monograph B-1659.
Offered by Kuenzig Books in their recent catalog for the "ABAA 75th Anniversary Virtual Book Fair."
MICHAEL LAIRD RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
Featured item:
Douglass, Frederick. Ball, James Presley (photographer).
[Carte-de-Visite of Frederick Douglass].
Pittsburgh: Chas. Jameson, [circa late 1860s]. Albumen photograph measuring 3½” x 2¼” on larger card mount. Very good: some spotting to image, light wear to mount. This is a carte-de-visite of Frederick Douglass, originally taken by James Presley Ball in Cincinnati, in 1867. A fuller version of it is shown in Picturing Frederick Douglass, #53. Ball was an African American abolitionist, photographer and businessman, who started as an itinerant daguerreotypist before settling in Cincinnati and opening a studio there in 1849. In 1855, Ball published an abolitionist pamphlet accompanied by a 600-yard-long panoramic painting entitled “Mammoth Pictorial Tour of the United States Comprising Views of the African Slave Trade.” During 1855 Ball’s daguerreotypes were shown at the Ohio State Fair and at the Ohio Mechanics Annual Exhibition. He later ended up in Minnesota opening a studio with his son, and in September 1887 became the official photographer of the 25th anniversary celebration of the Emancipation Proclamation. Due to the photograph's imprint, we believe this to be an early pirated version of the photo. It was issued by Charles Jameson, who had been active at this Harrisburg address since the Civil War. A rare and outstanding image of Frederick Douglass by an important African American photographer.
Offered by Langdon Manor Books and found in "Elist 11 African Americana."
- Civil Liberties, 1682–1986 (November 19, 2024) *New*
- Recent Acquisitions: English, American, Latin American & Continental Law (November 12, 2024) *New*
- Illustrated Books & Pamphlets, 1567–1944 (November 5, 2024) *New*
- Continental Law, 1520–1863 (October 29, 2024) *New*
- Recent Acquisitions: English, American & Continental law, 1588-1925 (October 22, 2024) *New*
DAVID M. LESSER, FINE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKS
- Election-Related Selections *New*
- Illustrations, Lithographs, Political Satire *New*
- New Acquisitions, African Americana *New*
LIBER ANTIQUUS, EARLY PRINTED BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- New Arrivals (October 2024) *New*
- RBMS 2024
- LGBTQ, Cocktails, Kids, and more *New*
- Food & Drink History *New*
J. & J. LUBRANO MUSIC ANTIQUARIANS
- Catalogue 105: CORELLI & GEMINIANI Masters of the Italian Baroque *New*
- Catalogue 104: JEAN-BAPTISTE LULLY & JEAN-PHILIPPE RAMEAU
STUART LUTZ HISTORIC DOCUMENTS
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Witches for All Hallows Eve *New*
MAIN STREET FINE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Leftovers from Haunted Hallways (Halloween) *New*
- Late Summer New Arrivals
- Early Books of the Renaissance *New*
- October Miscellany *New*
- Rare Book Chat Episode 9 (Podcast) *New*
- New Arrivals
- MEXICAN ILLUSTRATED BOOKS. 50 YEARS OF ILLUSTRATED BOOKS PUBLISHED IN MEXICO -- catalog available to institutional buyers by request from mmbooks@comcast.net
- Illustrated Catalog on Carlos Merida (1891–1984) -- Mexican painter, sculptor, writer and graphic designer -- available by request from mmbooks@comcast.net
MARTAYAN LAN RARE BOOKS & MAPS
- e-catalog #99: Books from the Collection of Cameron Allan
- Children’s Dance Theater Archive of Carla Blank and Jody Roberts -- Offered jointly with Kate Mitas, Bookseller. Details available on request from maser@detritus.com...
BRUCE MCKITTRICK RARE BOOKS, INC.
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Amsterdam Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Louis M. Jason's book Literary (and Other) Celebrity Doodles II is now available. Contact the store at info@mysterypierbooks.com to order...
- Father's Day Gift Offerings
- Catalog 65, May 2024 -- by subscription only. Contact oldwestbooks@earthlink.net for details about obtaining a copy.
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- Catalog 29: New Acquisitions (September 2024)
Featured item:
Strassburg (Strasbourg): Johannes Wähinger, October 1503.
A very early edition of the most populuar pre-Reformation prayerbook in the German-speaking world, a relatively standard collection of prayers—if somewhat less so during its early years—commonly billed as THE GERMAN EQUIVALENT TO THE BOOK OF HOURS so ubiquitous in France at the time. The German lands lacked a standardized collection of prayers as widely accepted as the French Horae. Their prayerbooks were instead typically unique, responding to the particular needs and desires of the individual. “Against this particular book-historical background, the idea of a printer prayer book with a predetermined order of the individual texts was not immediately obvious...Various printed prayer books did indeed exist, especially of shorter individual texts, but hardly any of these editions were printed more than once. That did not change until the Hortulus animae (first published in 1498) which for this reason alone marks a turning point in prayer-book literature” (Matter). The Hortulus origin story is not entirely forthcoming, though it’s generally agreed to have come to fruition around Strassburg, with Sebastian Brant sometimes receiving credit for its conception. Like the French Hours, it, too, focused on celebrating the Virgin Mary.
Offered by Patrick Olson Rare Books and found in "Catalog 29: New Acquisitions."
- General List (November 2024) *New*
- Occasional List (October 2024)
- A list for the Annual Convention of the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) *New*
- Timm Ulrichs: A Pioneer of Concrete Poetry, Computer Art and Copy Art
PHILLIP J. PIRAGES FINE BOOKS & MEDIEVAL MANUSCRIPTS
- 2024 New Acquisitions List #29 *New*
- Seattle Book Fair List *New*
PRIMARY SOURCES, UNCHARTED AMERICANA
Featured item:
New Orleans, Louisiana, March 4, 1808. Letterpress funeral invitation, 9 1/2 x 7 in. (24 x 18 cm). English and French text in parallel columns, surrounded by decorative frame. Woodcut devices in margins around frame. Old folds, some ink smudging, docketed on verso. About fine.
John Ward Gurley was struck dead in New Orleans on March 3, 1808, at the tender age of twenty-nine. At the time of his death, he was serving as attorney-general for the newly established Territory of Orleans, as registrar of the land office, and as aide-de-camp to the governor, William C. C. Claiborne, who had appointed the young man--holding a degree from Yale--attorney general four years earlier. By most measures, Gurley’s future in frontier politics, and perhaps even at the national level, seemed preordained. Yet to his constituents in New Orleans, among whom he was as well known for his hot temper and quickness to duel as for his political acumen, it must have come as no surprise when pistol and ball sent him to his grave. Early the next day, his parents and friends issued a hastily printed notice in English and French, inviting guests to the funeral at four that afternoon, adding that “The corpse is deposited at the house of Wm. Simpson, Esq., Dauphin street [son Corps sera exposé chez M. Wm Simpson, rue Dauphine].” This remarkable imprint is surely among the most haunting such notices in the genre, especially for its time and place. It also appears to be the earliest surviving specimen of New Orleans job printing.
Offered by Primary Sources, Uncharted Americana and found in "Catalogue 8" (item #4).
Featured item:
Zawadke, Dorothy Louise.
[Manuscript Notebook] Freehand Lettering.
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Cheney, WA: Washington State Normal School, c. 1936. Quarto. 28 ll., 4 inserted plates. Paper over boards with pebbled cloth shelfback; graph paper; front cover lettered with linear design in black, white and red. But for the free endpapers and a blank between the title page and the first page, this notebook is filled to completion on the rectos only and included four inserted leaves. Binding is rubbed and a bit soiled; nevertheless solid.
Attractive school notebook by Washington State Normal School student Dorothy Zawadke, date based on a short 1936 newspaper article announcing Zawadke's scholarship award while a student at the school. The present notebook blends penwomanship with typographical and graphic design. Leaves of neatly lettered text ("Lettering is more than a mere sideItem #2 Item #3 line, it is an art worthy of specialization") are interspersed with self-styled "Plates" of different alphabets and ornamental examples.
Towards the end of the volumes are the four inserted leaves: the first, a lettered poster. The second with sample monograms, where Zawadke uses black, red, and the negative white space of the leaf to design 7 engaging monograms of her initials. The third leaf contains her unique (and let's face it, flawed) alphabet design, the letters fitted into a thimble-like shape with indistinguishable Us and Vs, Ds and Os. However, this is followed by the final inserted leaf on which is mounted a hand-drawn folding travel brochure titled "Just Around the Corner from Fifth Avenue: Bermuda," which gorgeously blends typography ("Fit the letters to the purpose"), illustrations, and design. A wonderful example of juvenile type design.
Offered by Michael Pyron, Bookseller and found in "Private Press & Artist's Books."
RABELAIS BOOKS ON FOOD & DRINK
RICHARD C. RAMER, OLD & RARE BOOKS
- Special List 531: Sixteen Recent Acquisitions *New*
- Special List 530: Bindings *New*
- Special List 529: Southern Borderlands, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona & California *New*
Featured item:
ALVIA DE CASTRO, Fernando. Panegirico genealogico y moral del Excelentmo. Duque de Barcelos.
Lisbon: Por Pedro Craesbeeck, 1628. 4°, old (late seventeenth or early eighteenth century [?]) calf (wear to corners, upper corner of front cover defective; head of spine somewhat defective), plain and almost flat spine, with sewing bands slightly visible, covers richly tooled in gilt (some gilding rubbed, and with some tooling painted but severely rubbed), text-block edges sprinkled red. Woodcut arms of the Duque de Barcelos on title, woodcut initials. Light dampstaining, mostly very small and limited to upper margins of a few leaves. In very good to fine condition, in an unusual binding. Ink inscription in upper outer corner of front free endleaf: “Custou-me 600 reis // 20/10/[17?]78.” (4), 68 ll.
Rare FIRST and ONLY EDITION of this important genealogy of two of Portugal’s wealthiest and most powerful families: the noble family of Barcelos, and its offshoot, the royal family of Bragança, which was to rule Portugal continuously from 1640 until 1910, and Brazil from 1640 to 1889. In this work Alvia de Castro traces the lineage of the Condes de Barcelos (a title created in 1298) back to the early Christian kings of Castille and Navarre. He also describes the fortuitous unions which commingled Barcelos blood with that of the royal houses of Spain and Portugal: the third Conde de Barcelos, for instance, was the illegitimate son of D. Dinis; and the eighth Conde (and first Duque de Bragança) was the legitimized son of D. João I.
Offered by Richard C. Ramer Old & Rare Books and found in "Special LIst 530: Bindings."
- America in Color *New*
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- The Age of Exploration: The Parsons Collection *New*
- Manufacturing & Industry *New*
Featured item:
Birch, William R. and Thomas:
Springland Cot, Pa.: W. Birch, 1800.
The first edition of the first, and one of the most important, of all American color plate books. William Russell Birch, who conceived this splendid celebration of the city of Philadelphia, then the largest city in the United States, was a native of England. When he arrived in America in 1794 at the age of thirty-nine, he brought with him a strong academic training in art with no less a master than Sir Joshua Reynolds. His talent and all his creative skills were put to good use in his adopted city, where he founded an engraving firm. Birch hoped that his carefully planned and executed portfolio would serve as an advertisement "by which an idea of the improvements of the country could be conveyed to Europe, to promote and encourage settlers to the establishment of trade and commerce."
Birch's idea was to present a series of plates which would illustrate notable buildings and characteristic scenes in his adopted city. From the beginning, he worked assiduously on the project he assigned himself, often rejecting drawings or reworking the copper plates when the printed impressions did not satisfy him. For the subject matter, there was no aspect of Philadelphia or of the vitality of its streets that he did not sweep into his embrace: the harbor; the grid plan of the streets; the ships and cargo that came into the port; the elegance of the buildings, public and private; the residents, poor and rich alike; the fashions worn by the fashionable; the ethnic minorities; markets and the produce sold in them; varying types of transportation, including coaches, wagons, mounts, and the omnipresent wheelbarrow; a funeral procession; a military drill; a colorful troop of native Americans visiting the city; lamp posts, sentry boxes, fences, gateposts; and, everywhere, Philadelphians attending to business, labor, or leisure. It is an ambitious urban portrait, full of affection for a city that the artist adopted as his own at a time when it was at a peak of development and enjoying distinction as the temporary seat of the federal government.
Offered by William Reese Company and found in "America in Color."
- Catalog 55 *New*
- Catalog 54
Featured item:
Margaret Atwood (source, screenplay), Harold Pinter (screenplay)
THE HANDMAID’S TALE [1989] Revised draft film script
New York: Daniel Wilson Productions, [1989]. Vintage original film script, 11 x 8 1⁄2" (28 x 22 cm), 102 pp. The name of Cynthia Greenhill is written on the title page. She worked on a couple of other films in this era, but is not included in this film’s credits. The front page notes that this draft includes revisions from 1/17/[89] on pink paper and revisions from 1/24/[89] on blue paper. This example of the script does incorporate those dated revisions, but the entire script is printed on white paper. Printed wrappers, brad bound, a few pages with light marginal spotting, overall near fine.
The completed film does not represent screenwriter Harold Pinter’s original vision for this adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel. When director Volker Schlöndorff took over the film’s direction (which had originally been assigned to Karel Reisz) and requested rewrites, Pinter suggested he enlist the original author and she, among several other people, were responsible for the final shooting script. However, only Pinter received screen credit for the script in the released film. Thus, this original Harold Pinter screenplay draft—never published—Is of tremendous value to scholars or fans of Pinter and his work. And, of course, any adaptation of Atwood’s feminist classic is of enduring interest.
Offered by Walter Reuben, Inc. and found in "Catalog 55."
ROOTENBERG RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS
- Recent Acquisitions (November 19, 2024) *New*
- Mountains & Mountaineering *New*
- Recent Acquisitions (October 22, 2024) *New*
- Catalog 24-2: Suppression of Contagious Diseases
- Catalog 24-1 (January 2024)
- A Handfull of 19th Century American Books
- Wines and Viticulture - 17 items from 4 centuries
- List: 150th Anniversary of Mendeleev's Periodic System
- California Book Fair 2019: 130 Items on Science and Medicine is now available on request from scientiabk@gmail.com...
- Occasional List 87: "So soft and slobbery as thine is." *New*
- Occasional List 86: More Type Specimens and Printing
- Catalogue 425 *New*
- Second Life Books. REFERENCE COLLECTION. Just over 700 items Collected in just over 50 Years *New* -- contact orders@secondlifebooks.com for details
MARC SELVAGGIO, BOOKS & EPHEMERA
Featured item:
Criterion Advertising Company Inc. America Goes to Market.
New York: Criterion, [1934?]. Folio (40.5 cm). Yellow cellophane sheet + 22 ff, each illustrated with generous description and promotion text on bottom portion. Original black wrappers with silver-stamped front cover as well as die-cut center square showing the inside title. Overall, a very good copy.
A truly extraordinary, well-illustrated document—every leaf a virtual sales presentation or poster-- in which the Criterion Advertising and Merchandising Service describes how it can help a company reach the Heart of the American Market—which for Criterion was literally the Main Street of Anytown, USA [see this catalogue’s cover illustraton]. Much discussion on the Heart of this market—the Home Neighborhood— and on the key decision makers, especially the Housewife, the “Guardian of America’s Pocketbook” [see this catalogue’s front cover]. Much of Criterion’s sales thrust is through its own designed and printed Three-Sheet Posters, with many samples shown here (as well as a scene of its printing shop and lithographic presses. Overall, this is a truly bold production to be presented in the middle of the Great Depression. The layout of each sheet here act as subtle examples of Criterion’s skill in applying message and design. Of course, within ten years, the make-up of the market space (storefronts) as well as the customer-base would change forever. Ninety years later, the America of today—especially Main Street—looks nothing like the once vibrant commercial centers shown and discussed here, gutted by the Interstate Highway system, big-stores [eg. Walmart, Dollar General] located outside of the Center, the flight from urban neighborhoods... well, and other real factors! No copies located in OCLC, which however records another brochure from the firm, Criterion Service: a medium of reminder advertising (1926) at Duke.
Offered by Marc Selvaggio, Books & Ephemera and found in "Catalogue No. 150, Advertising and Marketing Matters."
Featured item:
(Andrews, Charles McLean).
Printed for the Author, ( 1815), New York. 18 cm. 283 pp. b/w folding frontispiece plate. Also, a particular detail of all occurrences relative to that horrid massacre at Dartmoor, on the fatal evening of the 6th of April, 1815.”
Howes A-251, first edition, second issue, with prisoner's name given on the title page. During the War of 1812 thousands of Americans were warehoused at Dartmoor. The horrid massacre referred to was the killing of seven prisoners and the wounding of thirty-one during an escape attempt. Bound in later full calf with front board detached but present. Folding plate and text fresh and clean. A scarce book. Last copy at auction sold for $499 in 2016. This copy is housed in a custom clamshell box with leather spine label.
Offered by Ten Pound Island Book Company and found in "Martiime List 351."
MICHAEL R. THOMPSON RARE BOOKS
- Fall Miscellany: New Arrivals *New*
- Classics: Including Greek and Roman Philosophy, History, Literature, Science and Illustration
- List #103: African American Women, Prisons *New*
- E-list #102 *New*
- E-list #101: Punk, poet and artist ephemera *New*
- E-list #99 *New*
Featured item:
Camel 1984 Speed Skiing. Test Your Limits.
Winston Salem, NC: R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, 1984. Color poster [84 cm x 61 cm] / [33" x 24"] Some chipping to extremities with minor losses.
Lightly worn poster for the event at Mammoth, California - March 7th to the 10th in Spring of 1984. These events were downhill bombs, where racers would try and break 200 km an hour. "At one time speed skiing was an experience available only to an elite group of daring skiers who blaze down a mountain faster than most people even think of driving a car. Today, the sport of speed skiing is open to the recreational skier. The Camel Sprint Series, will come to Mammoth Mountain March 7-10. Wednesday through Friday is reserved for clinics and training runs. The competition will be held Saturday, March 10. Making a bid for mass appeal, International Speed Skiing Inc., the sanctioning body for the sport has set up guidelines to ensure safety." - Mono Herald and Bridgeport Chronicle Union (3/1/1984).
Offered by Tschanz Rare Books and found in "List 157: New Arrivals."
- Making Children's Books II *New*
- Boston Book Fair 2024 *New*
- E-List 20, Sales, Marketing & Merchandising in the United States 1886-1973
- E-list #19: Western Americana
Featured item:
Collection of 19th Century European Women’s Magazines Fashion Plates.
Collection of 27 hand-colored steel engraved fashion plates from four early/ mid-19th century European women’s magazines. Plates vary in size, with an average of 27x20cm. Most plates appear to have been meticulously cut out of their original magazine page and then mounted on cream stock paper, with a hand drawn double-line border and handwritten date along the top and the name of the originating magazine along the bottom, all in black ink. Stock paper mounted on to brown loose scrapbook pages, about 30.5x25cm. The plates were taken from the following magazines: World of Fashion (20 plates), La Belle Assemblée (1 plate), and Lady’s Magazine (1 plate), which were published in London, and Petit Courier des Dames (5 plates) published in Paris. This collection contains plates from a variety of months and years ranging from November 1824 to June 1849, with nearly half from 1832. Light foxing and toning to several plates. One mounting cardstock with a tear along the bottom, not impacting the plate. Chips and tears to scrapbook pages, some more heavily chipped than others, but generally not affecting the plates or mounting cardstock. Better than Very Good.
Fashion plates became popular in the early to mid-19th century, Usually produced through etching, line engraving, or lithography and then colored by hand, the fashion plates showed the high fashion of the day; not the everyday style, but the aspiring style of the upper class. Beyond the latest fashion, the magazines also advertised the names of dressmakers, hair stylists, and jewelers that offered the featured designs.
While such plates are not uncommon, we have not previously seen a collection this large, this early, and preserved in this manner.
Offered by Walnut Street Paper and found in "E-list: By / About Women."
JOHN WINDLE ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER
- List #1223: Holiday List
- List #1222: Holiday List (December, 2022)
- Book Arts (November, 2024) *New*
- October 2024
- Portland & Environs -- catalogue issued in conjunction with the Rose City Book & Paper Fair
- Dreaming of the Open Road: Automobile Dealer Literature, Catalogue Two
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