LEO AFRICANUS, Joannes
De Totius Africae Descriptione Libri IX. Antwerp: Joan. Latium, 1556. Full description: LEO AFRICANUS, Joannes. De Totius Africae Descriptione Libri IX. Antwerp: Joan. Latium, 1556. First Latin edition of this famous description of Africa, first published in Italian as "Descrittione dell"Africa" in 1550. A translation by J. Florianus. Octavo (6 1/2 x 4 1/8 inches; 165 x 105 mm). [16], 302 leaves. Bound without the final two blanks [Pp7-8]. Woodcut device to title-page and woodcut initials. Bound in early limp vellum over limp marbled paper boards. Spine with tan morocco spine label, lettered in gilt. Covers a bit wrinkled. Spine with some minor repairs to vellum. Some occasional light foxing. A number of pages towards the end with some dampstaining to lower outer corner. Author's name in early ink manuscript on bottom edge of text block. Overall very good. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell. "Born al-Hassan ibn Muhammad al-Wizzaa al-Fasi, Leo Africanus was a native of Granada, Spain, and was educated in Morocco. As a young man he traveled all over North Africa and West Africa on trade and diplomatic missions with his father, visiting the Songhai Empire in 1513-1515. On the way home from a 1516-1517 trip to Egypt, he was captured by Christian pirates, who gave him to Pope Leo X as a slave. Impressed with his slave's intellectual abilities, the Pope set him free and in 1520 convinced him to convert to Christianity, baptizing him Johannis Leo (John Leo). The Pope also persuaded Leo to write an Italian account of his travels, which he completed in 1526. Published in 1550 as 'Descrittione dell"Africa' ('Description of Africa'), the book became the most famous and most widely quoted European work about Africa. It remained the most important source of European knowledge about West and North Africa for the next four centuries. The name by which Leo is known today, Leo Africanus (Leo the African), stems from his reputation for writing the "definitive" European book on Africa. Through his descriptions, Europeans formed an image of Timbuktu as an exotic, mysterious, ancient, and inaccessible locale, making it the subject of fantasy and legend for years to come." (Encyclopedia dot com), Adams L-480. HBS 69056. $22,500.
SCHAEFER, Jack
Full Description: SCHAEFER, Jack. Shane. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949. First edition of this scarce title, with the date printed on the title-page. Signed by Schaefer on the title-page. Octavo (7 1/2 x 5 1/8 inches; 192 x 133 mm). [viii], 214, [2, blank] pp. Original light brown cloth, front cover and spine lettered in dark brown. Some light toning to pastedowns. In original unclipped dust jacket with $2.50 on flap. Jacket has some minor chipping to top and bottom of spine and some rubbing to top and bottom edge. Overall, a near fine copy of this very rare and sought-after title. This novel was the basis of the beloved film of the same title (1953, directed by the legendary George Stevens) which starred Alan Ladd in the title role and with Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, and a youthful [Walter] Jack Palance. HBS 69237. $9,500.
The Sack of Gold". [N.p.: n.d., ca. 1949-1950]. Original watercolor drawing. Signed by Dulac at lower left. This watercolor was produced for the illustration on the front cover of The American Weekly, Published January 28th, 1951. Visible image size: 11 1/2 x 10 1/4 inches; 290 x 260 mm, but paper extends under the mat. Matted, framed and glazed in a beautiful gilt frame. Frame size: 21 7/8 x 20 inches; 550 x 510 mm. This vibrant watercolor depicts a scene from "The Arabian Nights" where "Ali Baba dumps bags of gold before his amazed wife." "In 1923, 'Edmund Dulac, the Distinguished English Artist,' as he was billed on the covers, was contracted by the Hearst Organization to paint watercolors for The American Weekly Sunday magazine. The contract lasted 30 years and Dulac painted 107 watercolors for thirteen series until his last Arabian Nights in 1951." (Alamy Images). HBS 69236. $15,000.
Full Description: [DUNCOMBE, John]. The Dens of London Exposed. Third Edition. London: Printed For and Published by the Author, 1835. [also printed on recto of title page] [DUNCOMBE, John]. A Peep into the Holy Land; or, Sinks of London laid open! Forming a Pocket Companion for the Uninitiated. : Cadging Made Easy I, Doings of the Modern Greeks. Unfinished Gentlemen at Home! Snoozing Kens Depicted. Description of the Cribs. City Aldermen Outdone. Stakes and Beef Steaks. Crockford's in Miniature. What's Trumps? -"flats to be Sure, what Tips!" A Picture of the Literary Fund Society. The He-she Man. The Common Lodging House. a Model of a Regular Cadger. The Thieves School. The Brothel! Good Advice from an Old Ranger. A Lesson to Lovers of Dice. The Cadging House Gallant. The Gaming Table. Saturday Night in St. Giles's. The Ladies of the Pave. The Wind-up. A Free and Easy. A Picture, Etc. London: John Wilson. [n.d.c.a.1835]. Third edition. Small octavo (6 1/2 x 4 3/16 inches; 166 x 106 mm). [2], 106 pp. With hand-colored frontispiece. Recto of frontispiece is page xv of contents from "Dens of London." We could find no other copies of this edition at auction in the past forty years. Contemporary quarter brown morocco over marbled boards. Boards bumped and rubbed. Title-pages leaf a bit soiled and toned. A repair to upper outer corner of page [1]. Internally very clean. A very good copy of this rare item. "One of the first exposés of the 'cadging houses' in St Giles Rookery, an area that influenced Dickens's creation of Tom-All-Alone's in Bleak House. This book gives an account of the living conditions of 'cadgers', street workers and 'that class denominated unfortunate.' The children living in such lodgings were often runaways and orphans and, although safer than some options, living alongside the men and women of the 'lowest classes' in these dens was seen to inevitably lead to a life of crime and ruin. The book is an example of the Victorian appetite for works documenting the lives of the poor for the enlightenment, or possibly entertainment, of the middle classes. (University of London). HBS 69227. $1,000.
BEDE, The Venerable
First edition of Bede in "Modern English" along with the first edition of the Stapleton. Two works in one quarto volume (7 1/8 x 5 1/4 inches; 182 x 134 mm). [14], 192, [4]; 5-162, [2] leaves. The second work, "A Fortresse of the Faith" is bound without title-page and the three following leaves (author's dedication), but the text is complete. Bede's work with four engravings in the text, three of which are full-page, including the armorial seal stating "God save the Queen" on the verso of the title-page. Title-page with engraved vignette. Engraved initials throughout both works. 17th or 18th-century full red calf, rebacked to style with original spine. Spine ruled in gilt and lettered in blind. Front and back board ruled in gilt and stamped in gilt with the armorial crest of "The Society of Writers to the Signet." Board edges gilt. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Two bookplates to front pastedown. Old ink ownership name-stamp to front fly-leaf. Title-page for Bede work with a repair along bottom margin, touching imprint but with no loss. Leaf TT3 of Bede work with old ink marginalia. Top edge trimmed close, occasionally touching headline. Overall a very good copy of these two works. Housed in a custom full red morocco clamshell. "The first translation of Bede's influential Ecclesiastical History of the English People into "modern" English, by the Catholic writer Thomas Stapleton (1535-1598), alongside his polemical supplement to Bede entitled A fortresse of the faith. Stapleton's English prose style is considered to be superlative." (Sotheby's) "St Bede - also known as the Venerable Bede - is widely regarded as the greatest of all the Anglo-Saxon scholars. He wrote around 40 books mainly dealing with theology and history. His scholarship covered a huge range of subjects, including commentaries on the bible, observations of nature, music and poetry. His most famous work, which is a key source for the understanding of early British history and the arrival of Christianity, is 'Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum' or 'The Ecclesiastical History of the English People' which was completed in 731 AD. It is the first work of history in which the AD system of dating is used." (The BBC Historic Figures). Stapleton appears to have made this translation for use as a controversial weapon against the Reformation divines of the Elizabethan establishment, and, although the translator was acknowledged to be one of the most learned men of his time, this text has been censured as not altogether true. It was several times reprinted by the seminarists, but always on the continent. Laet also published the same year (the imprimaturs bear the same date) Stapleton's A fortresse of faith. The two books sometimes occur bound together and may well have been originally so issued. This book was included among the 'unlawful' books found in John Stowe's library (Arber I. 394) and also among the 'Trayterous and popish bookes intercepted' (Arber 1. 492). (Pforzheimer 55). The Society of Writers to the Signet is a private society of Scottish Lawyers which dates back to 1594. According to their website "The Society owns and operates the Signet Library, a magnificent example of neo-classical architecture from the Enlightenment era, located in the heart of Edinburgh's Old Town. The Signet Library is adjacent to St Giles' Cathedral and connected to Parliament Hall where Scotland's Supreme Courts are located. The Signet Library is not only a law library but a repository of books, manuscripts, newspapers, journals and other texts on all aspects of human knowledge and literature. Our archives are a treasure chest of Scottish history and culture." Pforzheimer 55. STC 1778. STC 23232. HBS 69073. $20,000.
Full description: TOULMIN, Alfred Harper. Rogues & Vagabonds of the Racecourse. Full Explanations of How They Cheat at Roulette, Three-Cards, Thimblerig, &c. And Some Account of the Welsher and Money-lender in Connection with the Turf. London: John Camden Hotten, [n.d.c.a. 1872]. First edition in book form. Small octavo (6 3/8 x 4 1/8 inches; 163 x 104 mm). [8, publisher's ads], [1]-98, [[20, publisher's ads] pp. With half-title and frontispiece included in the pagination. Verso of title-page reads "Reprinted from Baily's Magazine." Publisher's pictorial printed wrappers. Lower wrapper lacking and rebacked. Front wrapper with some rubbing and creasing. Inside of front wrapper printed with more publisher's ads. Leaves a bit toned. Still a very good copy of this rare item. "I am not naturally of a vindictive nature, far from it, but if there is any one thing that I nourish a fierce hatred for, it is a thorough racecourse scoundrel; you may call him what you like, welsher, three-card man, roulette-table keeper, pickpocket, thief, for his vocation merely varies with opportunity." (Toulmin, pg 11). HBS 69228. $1,250.
DEFOE, Daniel
Full Description: DEFOE, Daniel. The Life, and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner. Who lived eight and twenty Years all alone in an un-inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck, wherein all the Men perished but himself. With an Account how he was at last as strangely deliver'd by Pyrates. Written by Himself. The Fourth Edition. London: Printed for W. Taylor, 1719. The rare fourth edition, second issue (Hutchins 4B). With a comma after 'Life'; The tail-pieces at the bottom of page 364 with a bowl of fruit, page "317" incorrectly numbered "217", the two ship vignettes slightly different and no "Part I" on leaf T. The fourth edition was published the same year as the first edition. Octavo (7 5/8 x 4 9/16 inches; 194 x 116 mm). [4], 364, [4, ads] pp. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Robinson Crusoe by Clark & Pine. Folding map is present in the accompanying first edition of volume 2. Decorative woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials. Volume I of this work was so popular that it went through four editions within the first four months of it being printed. [Together with:] [DEFOE, Daniel]. The Farther Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Being the Second and Last Part of his Life, and of the Strange Surprizing Accounts of his Travels Round three Parts of the Globe. Written by Himself. To which is added a Map of the World, in which is Delineated the Voyages of Robinson Crusoe. London: Printed by W. Taylor, 1719. First edition, second issue (Hutchins "B3"), with the verso of leaf A4 printed with an advertisement for the 4th edition of Volume I. With "Breaking," "Dif-/ference," "Punish-/ment," and "wanting" on the recto; with "Farther" on the recto of leaf B1. Octavo. [8], 373, [11, ads] pp. Folding engraved map of the world on a stub, facing title-page. Decorative woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials. Two volumes uniformly bound in full contemporary speckled, paneled calf, rebacked to style. Boards tooled in blind. Spines ruled in gilt. Both volumes with red morocco spine labels, lettered in gilt. Newer endpapers. Volume I with previous owner's old ink very light notes on blank recto of the frontispiece. A small library stamp to verso of title-page. Frontispiece of volume I with the bottom margin restored, not affecting image. Volume II with repair along inner margin of the title-page. With minor paper flaw to top margins of leaf K3, not affecting text and X5, just touching page number bracket. Title-page is lightly soiling. Some minor occasional finger soiling. Overall an excellent copy of this set. Beginning with Captain William Dampier's enormously popular A New Voyage Round the World (1697; seventh edition 1729), English travel literature enjoyed a second Renaissance. Circumnavigators and privateersDampier and Woodes Rogers being preeminentpublished accounts of their adventures. In at least three of the most popular instancesDampier (1697), Rogers (1712), and Edward Cooke, one of Roger's mates (1712)the frontispiece to their volume of voyages was a folding map, a planisphere by Herman Moll upon which a dotted line traced the route of the voyager. This then was the convention which lies immediately behind "A Map of the World on which is Delineated the Voyages of Robinson Cruso." Crusoe's folding planisphere has been attributed to Moll, but though it is similar to the map employed by Dampier and Cooke and is even closer to that employed by Rogers, it is not identical to either, and lacking an "H. Moll fecit," its origin remains indefinite. It first appeared in the first edition of The Farther Adventures; it was added to the fourth and later editions of The Strange Surprizing Adventures": (Newberry Library) "After twenty years of enormously prolific pamphleteering, political and sectarian, sometimes in verse, Defoe suddenly disclosed a genius for devising a tale of adventure. The special form of adventure that he chose, and even the name of his hero, have been adopted by countless imitators.This influence is not yet dissipated, for much of science fiction is basically Crusoe's island changed to a planet. At least equally relevant.is the figure of the lonely human being subduing the pitiless forces of nature; going back to nature, indeed, and portraying the 'noble savage' in a way that made the book required reading for Rousseau's Emile. Robinson Crusoe has long since been more widely read in the abridged versions for young people, in which his breast-beating and philosophizing are less prominent than the footprint in the sand, Man Friday, the threatening savages, and the endless ingenuity and contrivance that make the hero's life more tolerable. But the pious sections of the book are also relevant in the religious inferences drawn by Crusoe from his communings with nature" (Printing and the Mind of Man). Crusoe 250 27. Grolier, 100 English, 41. Hutchins, pp. 78-80, Hutchins, pp. 97-112. Hutchins, pp. 122-128. Printing and the Mind of Man 180. HBS 69079. $13,500.
8220;Untitled Portrait" Original Lithograph. [N.p.]: 1967. A beautiful, brightly colored lithograph, signed "Henry Miller" and dated "1967" in the lower right corner in brown ink. Additionally inscribed in the lower left corner "For Dean" in blue ink. No edition statement at bottom but according to another instance of this lithograph, this is probably from an edition of 200. Matted, framed and glazed. Image size: 20 3/4 x 15 3/4 inches; 522 x 400 mm. Frame size: 24 1/4 x 18 1/2 inches; 610 x 475 mm. Image is an semi-abstract portrait in broad strokes of blues, greens, yellows and oranges. Colors are very vibrant and beautiful. Bottom edge has a portion trimmed off, not affecting image. A small piece of paper is adhered to blank bottom edge, perhaps covering something written in the margin. Image is tipped on to the mat, with no back covering. Back of paper very slightly toned. Housed in a gilt frame and matted in blue. Overall a very nice piece. HBS 69243. $1,250.
DICKENS, Charles
Full Description: DICKENS, Charles. The Chimes. A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In. London: Chapman and Hall, 1845 [i.e., December 1844]. First edition, second state (imprint below engraved title). Small octavo (6 1/2 x 4 1/8 inches; 165 x 105 mm). [viii], 175, [1, colophon] pp. With the second state additional engraved title and with frontispiece after Daniel Maclise, by F.P. Becker. Eleven in-text black and white illustrations after Doyle, Leech, and Stanfield. With the publisher's advertisement leaf for the tenth edition Christmas Carol bound at the front. Publisher's vertically ribbed red cloth. Covers stamped with blind-stamped borders and gilt vignette to front board. Spine with gilt vignette and lettering. Pale yellow endpapers. All edges gilt. Spine slightly browned with minor wear and repairs to spine head and tail, and some chipping and cracking to cloth along hinges. Cloth with a small amount of soiling. Corners slightly bumped. Hinges cracked but firm. Previous owner's neat inscription on front free endpaper. Overall, very good. "Although the title-page is postdated 1845, "The Chimes" was published on December 16th, 1844." (Smith) Gimbel. Hatton and Cleaver, Smith, Dickens, 5. HBS 69234. $500.
n.p.: 1953. Full Description: STEINBECK, John. Manuscript draft for essay entitled "My Short Novels". [n.p.n.d ca: 1953]. Manuscript draft in Steinbeck's hand for the essay entitled "My Short Novels, which served as a preface to the Literary Guild's 1953 edition of "The Short Novels of John Steinbeck." A near word for word representation of the essay which was originally published by The Literary Guild Review and found in their magazine "Wings" in October 1953 (Pages 4-8). This manuscript is exciting because it is an close representation but still a draft of what was finally printed. In comparing the two documents, you can see that the published piece was trimmed down a bit from what Steinbeck wrote in this manuscript draft. Many of the edits are eliminations of a few words here and there, but there are a few places where whole sentences and ideas have been cut. Most of these are some what self-deprecating, which is interesting to watch him ultimately play down. Apart from punctuation changes, the parts of this manuscript that are not found in the final publication have been indicated by us below by being housed within brackets. Four foolscap legal-sized pages (12 1/2 x 8 inches; 318 x 202 mm). Written in pencil on recto only of each page. With a few notes and corrections. Each page is approximately 28 lines long. Lacking a final leaf which would go on to discuss the final two stories. Some minor toning and a small bump to bottom left corner of all leaves. Still a near fine example of a wonderful Steinbeck manuscript. Housed in a blue quarter morocco clamshell. Another manuscript draft version of this essay was sold at auction in 2023 for 32,500 Euros and was also incomplete. [Together with] A copy of the The Literary Guild Review Magazine "Wings" which includes the entire essay. In the four present pages he discusses the origins of the stories The Red Pony, Tortilla Flat, Of Mice and Men, and The Moon is Down. The final page which is lacking goes on to discuss Cannery Row and The Pearl. The Manuscript reads: "I have never written a preface [nor a comment] to one of my books before believing that the work should stand on its own feet even if it's legs ankles were slightly wobbly. When I was asked to comment on the [five] short novels of this volume, my first impulse was to refuse. And then, thinking over the things that have happened to these stories since they were written, I was taken with the idea that [the things that] happen to a book are very like [those that happen] to a man. These stories cover a long period of my life. As each [one] was finished, that part of my life [it represented] was finished. It is true that while [he is doing it], the writer and his book are one. When the book is finished, it is a kind of death, a matter of pain and sorrow to the writer. [And] then he starts a new book and a new life, and if he is growing and changing, a new life starts. [And] the writer like a fickle lover, forgets his old love. It is no longer his own- the intimacy and the surprise are gone. So much I knew but I had not thought of the [poor] little stories, thrust out into an unfriendly world to make their way. They have experiences too, they grow and change or wane and die just as everyone does. They make friends or enemies, and sometimes they waste away from neglect. [Remembering the careers of these short novels, has been interesting to me. All of the have been experiments. That is why no two of them are remotely alike. And experiments are rarely accepted all at once.] [My stories have been slow starters almost like shy young men who do not make friends quickly. Indeed most of my books have succeeded without trying in making quick and fierce enemies at first. It is pleasing to me that they do in time make lasting and loyal friends.] The Red Pony was written a long time ago when there was desolation in my family. The first death had occurred- and the family which every child believes immortal, was shattered. Perhaps this is the first adulthood of any man or woman- the first tortured question why, and then acceptance and [your] child [was] a man. The Red Pony [then] was an attempt, an experiment if you [must] to set down loss and acceptance, [death a the transfiguration the adult mind must create for itself.] At that time I had had three books published and [all of them had failed to] come any where near selling their first editions. The Red Pony could not find a publisher. It came back over and over again until at last a [foolishly] brave editor bought it for The North American Review and paid 90 dollars for it. [This was] more money than I thought the world contained. What a great party we had in celebration. [The Magazine went broke almost immediately and my story disappeared for a good number of years. That it ever came back is the remarkable thing. But it not only did but it seems to gather friends as it goes.] It takes only the tiniest pinch of encouragement to keep a writer going, and if he gets none, he sometimes learns to feed even on the acid of failure. Tortilla Flat grew out [of a reading of the sources] of The Arthurian cycle- [from Mabinogion Through Geoffrey and through the ? to Tennyson.] I wanted to take the stories of my town of Monterey and cast them into a kind of folklore. The result was Tortilla Flat. It followed the pattern. Publisher after publisher rejected it until Pascal Covici finally published it. But it did have one distinction the others had not. It was not ignored. Indeed, the Chamber of Commerce of Monterey, fearing for its tourist business, issued a statement that the book was a lie and that certainly no such disreputable people lived in that neighborhood. But perhaps the chamber did me a good service for this book sold two editions, [I think] and this was almost more encouragement than I could stand. I was afraid I might get used to such profligacy on the part of the public and I knew it couldn't last. A moving picture company bought it and paid 4,000
HILDRETH, James
Full Description: HILDRETH, James. Dragoon Campaigns to the Rocky Mountains; Being a History of Enlistment, Organization, and first Campaigns of the Regiment of the United States Dragoon; Together with Incidents of a Soldier's Life, and Sketches of Scenery and Indian Characters. By a Dragoon. New York: Wiley & Long, 1836. First edition. Octavo (7 5/8 x 4 5/8 inches; 193 x 117 mm). 288 pp. Publisher's pebble-grain plum cloth. Spine lettered in gilt and stamped with a gilt vignette of a mounted dragoon. Fore-edge uncut. Early owner's ink figure "8" on title-page. Spine sunned. Corners bumped. Cloth with some puckering and sunning to boards. Some foxing and toning to leaves as usual for American sheets of this age. Overall, a very good copy. "The birth of Poker has been convincingly dated to the first or second decade of the 19th century. It appeared in former French territory centred on New Orleans which was ceded to the infant United States by the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Its cradle was the gambling saloon in general and, in particular, those famous or notorious floating saloons, the Mississippi steamers, which began to ply their trade from about 1811. The earliest contemporary reference to Poker occurs in J. Hildreth's Dragoon Campaigns to the Rocky Mountains, published in 1836. Pages 128-130 describe a late-night game of poker in the soldiers' barracks, beginning 'The M- lost some cool hundreds last night at poker.'. Hildreth refers to it as popular in the South and West but little known in the East. He does not specify whether it was played with the 20-card or full 52-card pack" (Historic Card Games by David Parlett). "First active service of this newly organized regiment, commanded by Col. Dodge: from St. Louise to Ft. Gibson and the Pawnee villages. According to the third edition of Wagner-Camp, the real author was an Englishman, William L. Gordon-Miller, Hildreth being merely the man who arranged publication" (Howes). Howes 460. Sabin 31769. Wagner-Camp 59. HBS 69229. $1,500.
Full Description: CHURCHILL, [Sir] Winston S. The Story of the Malakand Field Force. An Episode of Frontier War. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1898. First edition, first state, without the errata slip tipped in preceding the first folding map. Octavo (7 1/2 x 5 inches; 190 130 mm). xiv, [1], [1, blank], 336, [32 publisher's catalogue] pp. Photogravure frontispiece portrait, with tissue guard, and six maps (including two color folding maps). With half-title. Publisher's apple green cloth ruled in blind and lettered in gilt on front cover and ruled and lettered in gilt on spine. Black coated endpapers. Previous owner's old ink inscription on half-title, dated 1898. A tiny bit of rubbing to cloth at bottom os spine. Internally very clean, and partially unopened. Overall, a near fine copy of Churchill's first book. "Sir Winston Churchill's first published work of non-fiction, it details an 1897 military campaign on the Northwest Frontier (an area now part of Pakistan). Churchill participated in the campaign as a second lieutenant in the cavalry; he volunteered for the posting, having become bored of playing polo in India. His experiences in this campaign meant that, unlike most military thinkers of the time, he could better understand the stalemate of WWI trench warfare." (Amazon Synopsis). Woods A1(a). HBS 69240. $3,500.
DUNCOMBE, John
Full description: [DUNCOMBE, John]. The Dens of London Exposed. London: Printed For and Published by the Author, 1835. First edition [?]. Small octavo (6 3/4 x 4 1/4 inches; 172 x 110 mm). xv, [1, blank], 106, [2, blank] pp. With half-title. Hand-colored frontispiece by Joe Lisle entitled "The Cadgers Home." We could find no other copies of this edition at auction in the past forty years. Contemporary quarter green paper over publisher's drab boards, rebacked to style. Printed paper labels on front board and spine. Leaves uncut. Inner margin tight at frontispiece, slight;y obscuring the caption. Boards bumped, rubbed and a bit soiled. Internally very clean. A very good copy of this rare item. "One of the first exposés of the 'cadging houses' in St Giles Rookery, an area that influenced Dickens's creation of Tom-All-Alone's in Bleak House. This book gives an account of the living conditions of 'cadgers', street workers and 'that class denominated unfortunate.' The children living in such lodgings were often runaways and orphans and, although safer than some options, living alongside the men and women of the 'lowest classes' in these dens was seen to inevitably lead to a life of crime and ruin. The book is an example of the Victorian appetite for works documenting the lives of the poor for the enlightenment, or possibly entertainment, of the middle classes. (University of London). HBS 69226. $1,250.
Full Description: [CARADOC OF LLANCARFAN, Saint]. The Historie of Cambria. now called Wales: A part of the most famous Yland of Brytaine, written in the Brytish language aboue two hundreth yeares past. Translated into English by H. Lhoyd, and edited by David Powel. London: Rafe Newberie and Henrie Denham, 1584. First edition of this rare and important history of Wales and Welsh royalty, illustrated throughout with woodcut portraits and woodcut frames for coats-of arms (presumably to be filled in by hand). Octavo (7 11/16 x 5 7/16 inches; 195 x 138 mm). [16], 22, [2, blank], 401, [1, errata], [12, table]. With the blank at B4, but with without final blanks. Printed in Roman and black letter. Title-page printed within ornate architectural woodcut border. Also illustrated with woodcut portraits, initials (some historiated), tailpieces and printer's device. This work was the first to attribute the original discovery of America to the Welsh in the 12th century and contains two very early references to King Arthur, including a description of the discovery of the bones of King Arthur and his queen. Nineteenth-century (?) paneled sheep. Boards ruled and stamped in blind. Spine stamped in blind. Dark red morocco spine label, lettered in gilt. Top edge dyed brown. A small amount of early ink marginalia and underlining. Front outer hinge repaired. Some minor rubbing to spine and along hinges. Some light marginal dampstaining. Leaf H8 trimmed a quarter-inch short at bottom margin with no loss of text. Small bookseller sticker to bottom of rear pastedown. Overall a very good copy. "The first and rarest of all the editions" (Sabin 40914) of this famous history of Wales and Welsh royalty from the 7th to 13th centuries and the "Princes of Wales of the blood royall of England" from Edward I to Elizabeth. Caradoc of Llancarfan, a 12th-century Welsh ecclesiastic and historian, "was a friend of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who at the conclusion of his famous 'British History' [one of the earliest and most important sources for the legends of King Arthur]. says: `The princes who afterwards ruled in Wales I committed to Caradog of Llancarvan, for he was my contemporary. And to him I gave the materials to write that book'. Caradog's chief work ["Brut y Tywysogion"] was a sort of continuation of Geoffrey's fictions from the beginning of really historical times down to his own day. In its original form Caradog's chronicle is not now extant" (DNB). The work was translated into English in the 16th century by Humphrey Llwyd but remained in manuscript. David Powell (1552-1598), a Welsh historian, "was requested by Sir Henry Sidney, lord president of Wales, to prepare for the press an English translation. The work appeared, under the title 'The History of Cambria,' in 1584, with a curiously admonitory dedication to Sir Philip Sidney, the president's son; though Llwyd's translation was the basis, Powell's corrections and additions, founded as they were on independent research, made the 'Historie' practically a new work. and later historians of Wales have to a large extent drawn their material from it" (DNB XVI: 238). This work also contains two very early references to King Arthur. The first reference, on page 13, is a note about the creation of Glastonbury monastery on the Isle of Avalon by Ivor in the 7th century. According to St. Gildas, Joseph of Aramathea converted the Britains to Christianity "about the yeare of Christ 53" and built a church on the Isle of Avalon, "which Church, this Iuor. converted to an Abbey, and endowed the same with large possessions which was the more famous, because the bodies of the said Ioseph of Aramathia and King Arthur were there buried" (p. 13). This reference is presumably derived from Caradoc's Vita Gildae (Life of St. Gildas), the first known text to associate King Arthur with Glastonbury, leading to the association of Glastonbury with Avalon. Lacy, 83. The second and more dramatic reference occurs on page 238, describing the discovery in 1179 of the bones of King Arthur and Guinevere: "This yeare the bones of noble king Arthur and Gwenhouar his wife were found in the Ile of Aualon, (that is to saie, the Ile of Aples) without the Abbie of Glastonburie, fifteene foote within the earth, in a holow elder tree, and ouer the bones was a stone and a crosse of lead, with a writing turned towards the stone, wherein were ingrauen these words. Hic iacet sepultus inclytus rex Arthurus in insula Aualonia. The bones were of marvelous bignes, and in the scull were ten wounds, of which one was great, and seemed to be his deaths wound: the Queenes haire was to the light faire and yellowe, but as soone as it was touched it fell to ashes." (p. 238). Of "special interest. for the American collector," this was the first work to attribute the original discovery of America to a Welshman (Sabin 40914). "On page 227 begins a detailed account of the voyage of Madoc ap Owen Gwyneth to America in 1170, crediting that Welshman with the discovery of the New World. Montezuma told Cortez that he was descended from a group of white men who had come to Mexico many years before, and Caradoc claims that these were the followers of Madoc whom he left in America. A most interesting contribution to the pre-Columbian voyages of exploration, cited by Hakluyt" (Rosenbach 19: 107). Sabin 40914. HBS 69241. $8,000.
MAYHEW, Henry
Full Description: MAYHEW, Henry. London Labour and the London Poor: the condition and earnings of those that will work, cannot work, and will not work. Vol. I. London Street-Folk. [Vol. II. III.]. London: Charles Griffin and Company, [n.d., 1864]. Second edition (undated, but with the plates in Volume I dated 1864 and the single imprint of Griffin and Company throughout; the first edition carried the imprint of Griffin, Bohn and Co., and the third edition was published in 1865) but first edition of the "extra" fourth volume which has an emphasis on thieves, prostitutes, swindlers and beggars. Four octavo volumes (numbered I-III and "Extra Volume"; the fourth subtitled, "a cyclopædia of the condition and earnings of those that will work.," etc.). (8 1/2 x 5 3/8 inches; 215 x 135 mm and 9 5/8 x 6 inches; 245 x 153 mm). [6]. 543, [1, blank], [2, index], 35, [1]; [8], 576, 35, [1]; [6], 452, 35, [1]; xl, 504 pp. With ninety-seven wood-engraved plates (including one plate not called for in Volume II, "the London Scavenger" and one plate not called for in Volume III, "Street Porter with Knot.") and sixteen statistical maps. Text in two columns. Half-titles for each volume. Original purple cloth. Covers decoratively blocked in blind and front covers stamped in gilt. Spines decoratively lettered and stamped in gilt. Volumes I-III in morocco-grain cloth with gilt stamping of a street sweeper on front covers, fourth volume in patterned-sand grain cloth, slightly larger in size, with title stamped inside a gilt crest on front cover, slightly variant blindstamping. All endpapers coated yellow. Spines very slightly sunned. Some minor rubbing to cloth. Very fresh with gilt extremely bright. An excellent set of this important work. Author, editor, sociologist, and co-founder of Punch, Mayhew is best known for this ground-breaking journalistic study of the London working classes. This is the revised and final edition of his great work. Mayhew was "the first to strike out the line of philanthropic journalism which takes the poor of London as its theme. His principal work, in which he was assisted by John Binny and others, was 'London Labour and London Poor,' a series of articles, anecdotic and statistical, on the petty trades of London, originally appearing in the 'Morning Chronicle.' Two volumes were published in 1851, but their circulation was interrupted by litigation in chancery, and was long suspended, but in March 1856 Mayhew announced its resumption, and a continuation of it appeared in serial monthly parts as 'The Great World of London,' which was ultimately completed and published as 'The Criminal Prisons of London,' in 1862. The last portion of it was by Binny. 'London Labour and the London Poor' appeared in its final form in 1864, and again in 1865" (DNB). HBS 69230. $2,000.
The rare deluxe autograph edition, published two years after the trade edition. Signed or inscribed by each of the six poets. Small octavo (7 1/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 180 x 147 mm). [2], 35, [1, blank] pp. With a sheet signed by each of the authors inserted to face the beginning of their respective poem. With frontispiece, historiated initials and engraved vignettes throughout. Publisher's original red-brown cloth binding bound in at the back. Beautifully bound by Grabau in full nineteenth-century brown morocco. Boards stamped in gilt with green and red morocco floral onlay. Spine lettered and stamped in gilt with red and green morocco onlay. Gilt board edges. Gilt dentelles. Tan watered silk endpapers. Top edge gilt. With previous owner's armorial bookplate on front free endpaper, and inscription in old ink on front fly-leaf. Housed in a brown cloth slipcase. An about fine copy. Provenance: The bookplate in this copy is or Roy Arther Hunt. The inscription on the facing page reads "To Roy Arthur Hunt, a descendant of Reverend Thomas Thacher the first Pastor of the Old South Church. Born in England, May 1, 1620. Installed as Pastor of Old South, February 16, 1670. Died in Boston, October 15, 1678." "The Old South Meeting House, also known as the Old South Church (Boston, Mass.), was built in 1729 as a Puritan meeting house. It was an assembly spot for prominent meetings from colonial times through the American revolution. The building was restored after the revolution and remained an active church until 1872. It was saved from demolition in 1877 when it was established as a museum. A volume was published to help raise funds for the preservation entitled, Poems of the "Old South" (Boston: William F. Gill & Co., 1877). It was published again in 1879 by the Old South Fair Committee. Both published versions include a note on verso of the title page: 'Published for the benefit of the Old South preservation fund.'" (Harvard, Houghton Library). It is estimated that less than 100 copies of this edition were produced, and has been considered the rarest limited signed edition of nineteenth century American literature. "The book was first published in 1877 and features works that reflect the culture, history, and traditions of the American South during the antebellum period. The poems in this collection cover a wide range of themes, including love, nature, patriotism, slavery, and the Civil War." (Amazon). BAL 9134. HBS 69242. $4,500.
BOCCACCIO, Giovanni
Il Decamerone di Messer Giovanni Boccaccio. Connove e Varie Figure Nuouamente Corretto per Antonio Bruccioli Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Heirs of Bernardino Stagnino, 1542. Full Description: BOCCACCIO, Giovanni. Il Decamerone di Messer Giovanni Boccaccio Connove e Varie Figure Nuouamente Corretto per Antonio Bruccioli Venice: Gabriele Giolito de Ferrari & Heirs of Bernardino Stagnino, 1542. This 1542 edition of Il Decamerone follows Giolito's first edition of 1538. This is the second of Giolito's editions of the Decamerone to have annotations and commentaries tailored for the lay reader by the Florentine humanist Antonio Brucioli and is dedicated to Madalena de Buonaiuti, a noblewoman from Florence who worked in the French court of Catherine de' Medici. Octavo (7 13/16 inches; 5 1/2 inches; 199 x 140 mm). [12], 260 leaves. With historiated initials and 10 woodcuts in the text. With an engraved title-page with medallion portrait of Boccaccio. Beautifully bound by Bedford in full red morocco. Boards paneled and ruled in gilt and blind. With gilt central lozenge device on both boards. Spine is stamped and lettered in gilt. Gilt board edges. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Some minor cracking to joints at head and tail of spine. Still a near fine copy. "By choosing female dedicatees, Brucioli and Giolito implied that the book was meant for female readers. Giolito's next edition of Il Decamerone, issued in 1546, sought again to engage their interest, this time with a dedication to the Dauphine herself. In that book, Giolito reminds Catherine that he had dedicated his 1542 edition of Orlando Furioso to her husband, Henri II. and says it is only just, that his new edition of the Decamerone, containing things mostly about women, and written by its author for the sake of women, should bear the name." (Sotheby's) "Decameron, [a] collection of tales by Giovanni Boccaccio, probably composed between 1349 and 1353. The work is regarded as a masterpiece of classical Italian prose. While romantic in tone and form, it breaks from medieval sensibility in its insistence on the human ability to overcome, even exploit, fortune. The Decameron comprises a group of stories united by a frame story. As the frame narrative opens, 10 young people (seven women and three men) flee plague-stricken Florence to a delightful villa in nearby Fiesole. Each member of the party rules for a day and sets stipulations for the daily tales to be told by all participants, resulting in a collection of 100 pieces. This storytelling occupies 10 days of a fortnight (the rest being set aside for personal adornment or for religious devotions); hence, the title of the book, Decameron, or "Ten Days' Work." Each day ends with a canzone (song), some of which represent Boccaccio's finest poetry." (Brittanica). "This Italian edition of the Decameron has as its official title Il Decamerone, and was edited by a certain Gabriel Iolito di Ferrarii in Venice in the year 1542. Printed in Roman moveable type, the single volume text contains ten woodcut illustrations inserted into the text, one at the beginning of each day. The first and second days appear to illustrate the members of the brigata themselves, sitting, playing music, dancing and singing. The subsequent eight days commence with illustrations depicting scenes from the first story of each respective day. The prints are approximately 2 by 2 ½ inches in area, and they are printed on the same paper as the text, with no extra plates or cover sheets to protect them (as colored or hand-tipped prints sometimes have). The paper is fairly thin, and text from the verso of the paper is visible through the illustrations. There is not even the slightest attempt at cross-hatching in the prints, indicating either a lack of time or expertise on the part of the cutter - or perhaps a lack of significant value assigned to the prints themselves, as compared to the text and its relative value or prestige. A certain amount of value can be assumed regarding the volume as a whole, though, because the edges of the pages are gilded. The woodcuts themselves are relatively simple in composition. Most stories are illustrated with a single scene, with the exception of the story of Ruggieri (X.1), which is shown in two scenes within the usual size frame: on the left is shown Ruggieri on his mule as it relieves itself in the river, and on the right are Ruggieri and King Alfonso before two chests, one of which is opened to reveal a pile of earth." (Decameron Web, Brown University). HBS 69238. $3,500.
BROADSIDE. Transportation of the Mail on the Sabbath. In the Senate of the United States. Kentucky: 1829. Full Description: [UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION]. [BROADSIDE]. Transportation of the Mail on the Sabbath. In the Senate of the United States. [Kentucky]: January 19, 1829. An important and interesting broadside supporting the separate of church in state, in so as it applies to the delivery of mail on Sunday, the Sabbath. Broadside, folio (16 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches; 428 x 266 mm). With a caption title, printed above three columns, separated by rules. All within a decorative woodcut border. Mounted at the top edge within a portfolio mat. Some minor toning and a few small spots of dampstaining. A One and one half-inch closed tear at right-hand margin, just touching the border. Overall very good. This is a significant document in the history of the United States Constitution, in relation to the concept of the separation of church and state. Christian leaders demanded that the Government institution of the Postal Office not work on Sunday as their God had deemed this the Sabbath. The following document discusses that while many Christians observe the Sabbath on Sunday, others, including their Jewish neighbors observe the Sabbath on Saturday. Demanding that the government institution not work on Sunday for religious reasons goes directly against the Constitution. The report states "With these different religious views, the committee are of opinion that congress cannot interfere.It is not the legitimate province of the legislature to determine what religion is true, or what false. Our government is a civil, and not a religious institution. Our constitution recognizes in every person, the right to choose his own religion, and to enjoy it freely, without molestation. Whatever may be the religious sentiments of citizens, and however variant, they are alike entitled to protection from the government, so long as they do not invade the rights of others." It goes on to powerfully state "Extensive religious combinations, to effect a political object, are, in the opinion of the committee, always dangerous. This first effort of the kind, calls for the establishment of a principle, which, in the opinion of the committee, would lay the foundation for dangerous innovations upon the spirit of the Constitution, and upon the religious rights of the citizens. If admitted, it may be justly apprehended, that the future measures of government will be strongly marked, if not eventually controlled, by the same influence. All religious despotism commences by combination and influence; and when that influence begins to operate upon the political institutions of a country, the civil power soon bends under it, and the catastrophe of other nations furnishes an awful warning of the consequence." The five-person committee for this report consisted of Richard Johnson of Kentucky who later went on to serve as the country's 9th vice president under Martin Van Buren, as well as future President John Tyler of Virgina, Ellis of Mississippi, Silsbee of Massachusetts and Johnson of Louisiana. "The opening of post offices on Sunday led to a national debate about the relationship of the federal government to the Sabbath day. The argument, which raged from 1810 to 1830, involved whether the national government would exist as a secular commercial republic committed to a separation of church and state or as a Christian commonwealth. The U.S. postmaster general, Gideon Granger, responded by persuading Congress in 1810 to pass legislation to open all 2,300 post offices seven days a week and transport mail every day. Congress immediately began to receive petitions from numerous religious denominations urging repeal of the law. Under strong public pressure, House and Senate committees formed to study the postal law. While the chair of the House committee waffled on the subject, the head of the Senate committee swayed Congress to keep the law. Gen. Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, a devout Baptist, wrote in the committee's 1829 report that congressional action to stop Sunday mail would be unconstitutional. Johnson reminded Americans that they had religious freedom and that government had no right to coerce the religious homage of anyone. The invention of the telegraph in 1844 ultimately spelled the end of Sunday mail. It was now possible to get market information without the mail system. By the 1850s, postmaster generals were eliminating the movement of most mail on Sunday." (Free Speech Center, Caryn E. Neumann). HBS 69246. $1,750.
DICKENS, Charles
. The Personal History of David Copperfield. With Illustrations by H.K. Browne London: Bradbury & Evans, 1850. Full Description: DICKENS, Charles. The Personal History of David Copperfield. With Illustrations by H.K. Browne London: Bradbury & Evans, 1850 [i.e., circa 1859]. First edition, later issue. This is a copy that was issued by Chapman and Hall after that firm retrieved Dickens' copyrights in 1859 from Bradbury and Evans. This copy has the inserted Chapman and Hall engraved title-page replacing the original one from Bradbury and Evans. The printed title-page is the original Bradbury and Evans 1850 first edition title-page, as are the sheets and plates. The only distinguishing factor is the inserted engraved title-page. All internal flaws of the first edition, per Smith, show in this copy with the exception of replacement "screwed" on page 132 (but this first issue point is only present in the very earliest copies). Octavo (8 5/8 x 5 5/8 inches; 218 x 140 mm). xiv, [1, errata], [1, blank], 624 pp. Complete with forty etched plates by Phiz including the frontispiece, the vignette title-page and the dark plate "The River." Original publisher's variant binding of green fine-diaper with the blind stamping on the boards matching that of the primary binding of Dombey and Sons. Newer peach endpapers. Edges uncut. Spine lettered in gilt. Spine slightly sunned. Small professional repairs to joints and top and bottom of the spine. Corners lightly bumped. A few spots to cloth. Previous owner's bookplate and small bookseller sticker on front pastedown. Some minor foxing and toning. This is an exceptional example of one of the significant Dickens octavo novels in original publisher's cloth. Housed in a quarter brown cloth over orange paper clamshell. The binding on this copy has different blindstamping on the covers and spine: a wider ornamental frame is present on the covers around a blank center (without the globe-shaped design); the spine has no ornaments, just simple panels. Spine also reads "Chas. Dickens." Hatton and Cleaver, pp. 253-272. Smith, Dickens, I, 9. HBS 69239. $3,000.
Full Description: SCHULBERG, Budd. What Makes Sammy Run? New York: Random House, 1941. First edition, first printing of the author's first novel. Inscribed by the author to actor Joe Pantoliano aka "Joey Pants" on half-title. Octavo (8 x 5 3/8 inches; 204 x 135 mm). [vi], 303, [3, blank pp]. Title-page printed in blue and black. Inscription reads: "For Joe Pantoliano,/ whose acting career I've/ followed with enthusiastic interest, and whose Hoboken roots/ fascinate me./ Onward,/ Budd Schulberg/ 5/5/06." Original light blue and dark blue cloth. Boards ruled in center in gilt. Spine lettered and stamped in gilt. Top edge dyed gray. Cloth with some minimal rubbing to gilt. Endpapers with some toning from glue. In publisher's dust jacket. Jacket has some professional restoration along creases and top and bottom edge. Some of the gilt on boards is a bit rubbed. Still, a beautiful, about fine copy of this classic. Budd Schulberg, Academy Award-winning writer (for the screenplay for On the Waterfront,1954) wrote this novel about the hyper-ambitious and mercenary Sammy Glick in 1941, four years after he began his writing career in Hollywood (with uncredited writing on A Star is Born). The novel is told from the standpoint of one of Glick's colleagues (he doesn't have any real friends), Al Manheim, who watches Sammy with a mixture of awe and disgust, much in the way narrator Nick Carraway watches Jay Gatsby in Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. HBS 69247. $3,500.
