Inscribed and Signed Business Card / First Day Cover
(JOHN DEERE). BOND, William H. (?-?) This painter served as graphic artist for The National Graphic Society for 36 years and his work appears in a great many of their books, magazines and other publications; his work appears on an extraordinary 58 United States postage stamps, including fifty stamps commemorating World War Two. On his heavy stock 3½" X 2" business card (showing "Geographic Art Division / The National Geographic Society / Washington, D.C. 20036" as address at lower left), he boldly inscribed and signs "To Paul Johnston / My best wishes / Bill Bond" in black fineline along top. Fine. Accompanied by a First Day Cover for the 1987 14-cent "Self-scouring steel plow, 1837" postal card designed by Bond, 5½" X 3½", cancelled in Moline, Illinois on 22 May 1987 and with "First Day of Issue" noted. Typed recipient name/address and at left a small graphic and John Deere quotation. This FDC is housed in a 6" X 4¼" leather folder with "1837-1987 / 150 / John Deere" giltstamped on front cover. Opening it, the FDC appears at right, under clear mylar cover, while at left is a reproduction on cloth of an artist's rending titled "Blacksmith Shop, Grand Detour, Illinois" showing farmers testing a self-scouring steel plow in front of a workshop with signage reading "JOHN DEERE PROP." A superb sesquicentennial keepsake in pristine condition, accompanied by small printed presentation slip from the Deere & Company chairman. Quite unusual.- $75
- $75
Autograph Note Signed
BARING-GOULD, Sabine (1834-1924) This insanely prolific English novelist, folklorist, hagiographer, antiquarian, scholar, travel writer and Anglican priest during his free time reputedly authored some 1,240 works -- but today is remembered as author of hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers." ANS, 1p, 4½" X 7", Lew Trenchon, near Devon, 19 May 1907. Addressed to Mr. Routhi. Very good. Lightly age toned, with faint mounting traces. "I am very much obliged to you," he writes, "what you tell me helps me very much." He continues: "I send you my last book just out for your Masters Club & reading room. It will interest the men more than Pabo." Boldly signed. His "last book just out" would be his 1900 nonfiction release "A Book of Dartmoor," and "Pabo" references his 1899 novel "Pabo the Priest." Clearly, Baring-Gould thinks men would prefer a book of travel and exploration over a yarn about King Henry Beauclark's rule with his beautiful wife.- $145
- $145
Photograph Signed
MOORE, Roger (1927-2017) The suave British actor of film, television and stage was the third and most prolific James Bond, portraying .007 in seven films between 1973 and 1985. PS, 3½" X 5½", n.p., n.y. Fine. Glossy half-length portrait of Moore in unbuttoned white shirt wearing gun holster, pistol clutched in right hand. He signs boldly in black ballpoint in a blank area at lower left. An early example, possibly a publicity pose for Moore's first Bond film, the 1973 "Live and Let Die."- $95
- $95
Memories of a Non-Jewish Childhood
BYRNE, Robert 8vo. Red paper over boards with black spine lettering, price-clipped dust jacket. 192pp. Near fine/near fine. Tight and handsome first edition of this (to cite front jacket panel) "Most Unusual Novel," a comedy about growing up Catholic in Dubuque, Iowa -- signed large and bold by Byrne in black ballpoint on title page. Byrne (1930-2016) was a writer and billiard master who wrote a great many novels, nonfiction and pool/billiards guides -- but "Memories" is his first and by far his best-known book. Surprisingly scarce, especially signed.- $150
- $150
Galena Guide
(WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION -- Galena, Illinois) 8vo. Stiff blue pictorial wrappers. 79pp. Frontispiece, illustrations, linoleum-block engravings, small color foldout map at rear. Near fine. Lightest of wear to outer wrappers (only) else super tight and bright. Quite handsome first edition of this Federal Writers' Project city guide, written largely and anonymously by then-obscure young writer Nelson Algren (1909-81), who went on to far greater fame as the "Poet of the Chicago Slums," author of "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1949) and other classic Chicago fiction. One of the most desirable of the WPA city guides. The Richard Delson plates are simple but striking and powerful; the often-absent color map at rear is bright and handsome. A superb copy. DYKES 81.- $125
- $125
Modernity
MILLETT, Fred B. 16mo. Stiff blue wrappers. (26pp). Fine. Published in December '31 and thus possibly as a Christmas keepsake, this pristine self-published pamphlet is the first separate printing of an essay originally published in "The University of Chicago Magazine." Waxing poetic on the occasion of a new decade, Millett discusses "modernism" largely from the literary point of view. He boldly inscribes and signs the inside front wrapper in dark blue ink "To / Mrs. Gilman / with best wishes / for Christmas / & the New Year, / F.B. Millett." Millett (1890-1976) was a Chicagoan and distinguished professor of English at Wesleyan University (1937-58) who taught broadly (including University of Chicago) prior to Wesleyan and was always a fierce educational reformer and liberal humanities advocate. "Mrs. Gilman" was Regina Rayman Gilman, wife of Chicago chemistry professor Albert F. Gilman (1900-?). With original mailing envelope, addressed by Millett. An odd, intriguing item.- $45
- $45
Gene Autry and the Thief River Outlaws
HAMILTON, Bob Illustrations by Dan Muller. Small 8vo. Brown leather-pattern paper over boards with orange lettering, pictorial dust jacket. 248pp, (2pp ads). Frontispiece, illustrations, pictorial endpapers. Very good/very good. Lightly age toned pages, as usual. Tight, attractive example of Whitman #2303 -- and a remarkably unusual copy, for on the front flyleaf "the singing cowboy" himself signs and dates it boldly in black fineline: "Gene Autry / 8-26-85." Exceptionally unusual thus -- copies of this title signed by Autry are almost never seen.- $100
- $100
Autograph Note Signed
BALL, Robert S. (1840-1913) Sir Robert was an Irish astronomer whose lectures, articles and books such as "The Story of the Heavens" (1885), "The Story of the Sun" (1893) and "The Great Astronomers" (1895) popularized this science; he served as Royal Astronomer of Ireland from 1874 to 1892. ANS, 6¼" X 4" (lettersheet), n.p., n.y. Near fine. Faintly age toned. Below a large and bold full signature at top, he adds: "With many thanks for / your very kind words / RSB / And the shamrock!!" A charming piece, both signed and initialed. Rather uncommon.- $125
- $125
Death Is Incidental: A Story of Revolution
BOWMAN, Heath, and DICKINSON, Stirling Small 4to. Red cloth with black spine lettering and decoration, pictorial dust jacket. 111pp. Woodblock prints, decorated endpapers. Near fine/very good. First edition. Dickinson's powerful woodblock prints illustrate this novel about four people caught up in the Mexican Revolution. Signed by author and illustrator in blue ink on inner flyleaf. Laid into this copy is an additional woodblock print, "Market in San Miguel," signed in pencil by both. Uncommon.- $75
- $75
Burro Alley
Small 4to. Decorative paper over boards, decorative dust jacket. 270pp. Minor binding edgewear, with corners a tad bumped; jacket complete but a bit edgeworn, with small chips at extremities, large chip at spine head and a bit rubbed and age toned; 1949 ownership signature on inner flyleaf. Nice, tight first edition of the first book by this American writer (1906-56) of fiction and nonfiction, much of it Native American focused. Colophon at front notes limitation of 1500 numbered copies (this #921) signed boldly by Corle in blue ink. This unusual Santa Fe tale (to quote front jacket panel) "occurs during twelve hours on a Saturday night in August, 1938 -- from five o'clock in the afternoon until five o'clock in the morning." Striking book and jacket designed by noted designer Merle Armitage. The Game Is Afoot: A Travel Guide to the England of Sherlock Holmes
12mo. Full terra cotta leatherette with gilt lettering, ornate rules and decoration. 253pp. Numerous illustrations, maps, map endpapers. Near fine. Superb and tight first edition of Hammer's first book -- a Sherlockian travel extravaganza, boldly inscribed and signed "With the compliments / of the author -- / David Hammer" in black ballpoint on half-title page. Hammer (1929-2018) was a Dubuque, Iowa attorney and hardcore respected Sherlockian who carved a second career writing and publishing 26 volumes of nonfiction, poetry and two novels. A quite uncommon title, especially signed. Typed Note Signed
Influential English mathematician, physicist and astronomer at Cambridge and Princeton, Sir James made his mark with advanced research on stellar evolution, quantum theory and theory of radiation, multiple star systems and the like, reported in numerous books; he is considered co-founder of cosmology, that branch of physics concerned with the origins of the universe; but he also sought to popularize science as a lecturer and broadcaster and with such books as "The Universe Around Us" (1929) and "Through Space and Time" (1934). TNS, 1p, 8" X 10", Dorking, U.K., 20 June 1931. Addressed to S.J. Woolf. Very good. Original folds (not weakened). On letterhead of "Cleveland Lodge," the Surrey abode he purchased in 1918 where he lived the rest of his life, Jeans thanks the popular "New York Times" portraitist Samuel Johnson Woolf (1880-1948) "for the two photographs you were so good as to send us. I am very glad to have them as I think you have made an exceedingly good sketch." Bold signed. With original envelope. Johnson no doubt sent Jeans photographs of his pencil portrait of Jeans, which appears on page 71 of his 1932 book "Drawn from Life." The Church and Freemasonry in Brazil, 1872-1875: A Study in Regalism
8vo. Heavy manila card stock wrappers with front wrapper mounted. viii, 287pp. Very good. Minor wear to outer wrappers (only), else tight and internally near fine. First and likely sole printing of this "Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of the Catholic University of America in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy." Generally printed in modest quantities and seldom seen, this particular example hails from Thornton's home turf, bearing a bookplate on inside front wrapper of a Dubuque public library as a "Gift of Sisters of Charity, B.V.M." at Clarke College in Dubuque -- Thornton's own affiliation. Quite unusual. British Cartoonists: Caricaturists and Comic Artists
8vo. Pictorial paper over boards, pictorial dust jacket. 48pp. Numerous illustrations (some color). Near fine/very good. Minor jacket edgewear; bit of offsetting to page 48 from small laid in newspaper cartoon by Bruce Bairnsfather (whose work also appears in this book). A tight, handsome first edition of this volume in general editor W.J. Turner's delightful "Britain in Pictures" series. Spanish Sixteenth-Century Printing
Small 4to. Orange decorative paper over boards with paper labels, decorative dust jacket. 50pp. Frontispiece, numerous illustrations. Near fine/very good. Jacket a bit edgeworn and lightly age toned. Attractive, tight first edition of this volume in general editor Stanley Morison's "Periods of Typography" series. (Jacket title: "Typography of the Spanish XVI Century.") Quite a lovely copy. Inscribed Photograph Signed
Prolific French writer, novelist, poet, essayist and literary critic, elected to the Academie Francoise in 1946; he was the son of noted French caricaturist Henri Henriot. IPS (in French), 8" X 11", n.p. [Chicago, IL], n.y. Good only. Heavy horizontal crack extends across bottom from ½" up from lower left edge to 2½" up from lower right edge, easily visible but not terribly disfiguring. Attractive sepia-tone closeup portrait of a youthful mustachioed Henriot, mat-finish and soft focus, gazing soulfully to upper right. Boldly inscribed and signed in black ink at upper left "a' l'Université / de Chicago," with lengthy inscription near bottom; aforementioned crack runs below this inscription and just above the signature, but touches neither. Full translation: "To the University / of Chicago / It's nice to know something the others / don't know; but it's even nicer / to know something without someone bragging about it," handsomely signed. NOT to be confused with the French chemist of the same name who was born a few years ahead of the writer and died the same year. Despite unfortunate crease, an appealing item. Typed Letter Signed
The finest of the fine arts auctioneers was Sir Alec, who began as an office boy at Christie's in London in 1897, by 1930 had become partner and by 1940 was managing partner, leading that firm as chairman until 1958. TLS, 5" X 8" (both sides, London, England, 11 December 1952. Addressed to Pauline Spender Clay. Very good. Faintly age toned, with minor edgewear. Writing on Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd. letterhead to the daughter (1880-1971) of William Waldorf Astor and brother of John Jacob Astor, Martin discusses with this socialite and aristocrat a photograph of an unidentified John Singer Sargent painting she owned -- perhaps the full-length portrait Sargent painted of her in 1898? "I think it is an extraordinarily fine example of Sargent's work and I think that some time it will be appreciated for what it is. But at the moment Sargent is out of fashion and large pictures also are difficult to sell. For these reasons I hardly like to advise you to offer the picture at auction as I think you are not likely to get more than a small price for it. If you wish me to do so, I can, I think, find a home for it at the Birmingham Art Gallery if you are willing to lend it to them." Large, bold signature at the close in blue ink. Piney Woods and Its Story
Introduction by S.S. McClure. Small 8vo. Green blind-embossed cloth with ivory lettering. 154pp. Frontispiece, full-page plates. Near fine/good. Jacket is complete and overall fairly attractive, despite some edgewear, rubbing and a few small chips at extremities. Quite handsome third edition of this chronicle of the African-American school known as Piney Woods School in Utica, Mississippi -- founded and presided over by Jones (1881-1975), a groundbreaking African-American educator who modeled his school after Tuskegee Institute and trained his pupils in useful trades and professions. Front flyleaf bears his large and bold inscription and signature: "To the Dubuque / Chapter D.A.R. / In the joy of / spraying a human / orchard / Laurence C Jones / Braxton, Mississippi." Among the institutions that awarded Jones honorary doctorates was the University of Dubuque, which may be where his connection to the Dubuque Daughters of the American Revolution came about. A delightful, bright copy, handsomely inscribed and wearing the rarely-present jacket. Collected Reprints of the Medical Staff of Finley Hospital
12mo. Red cloth with gilt lettering. 8pp, 10pp, (2pp), 8pp, 6pp, (2pp), 10pp, (2pp), 8pp, 10pp, (2pp), 11pp, (1p), 8pp, 11pp, (1p), 8pp, 11pp. Illustrations. Near fine. Homely dampstain to four preliminary leaves (only), rest is tight and bright. Physicians at Finlay Hospital of Dubuque, Iowa, contributed "Clinico-Pathologic Conferences" articles to every issue of the Journal of the Iowa State Medical Society between January and December, 1942, gathered together here. The editor boldly inscribes and signs the inner flyleaf "With Best Wishes of the / Editor / F.P. McNamara M.D. / 1943" and he contributes five of these dozern articles. First separate edition and apparently the dozen articles from 1941 were likewise thus gathered and published. Unusual. Signature
Influential English mathematician, physicist and astronomer at Cambridge and Princeton, Sir James made his mark with advanced research on stellar evolution, quantum theory and theory of radiation, multiple star systems and the like, reported in numerous books; he is considered co-founder of cosmology, that branch of physics concerned with the origins of the universe; but he also sought to popularize science as a lecturer and broadcaster and with such books as "The Universe Around Us" (1929) and "Through Space and Time" (1934). On a 6½" X 3½" envelope from "The Biltmore" hotel in New York, the astronomer boldly pencils his British address large and sloppy: "JH Jeans / Cleveland Lodge. / Dorking, Surrey Eng." Near fine. Most unusual in this form -- "Cleveland Lodge" was the home he purchased in 1918 and lived in for the rest of his life. Typed Note Signed
The colorful Mexican artist is as famed for his fiery relationship with Frida Kahlo as for his inspired fresco murals and his controversial Communist connections. TNS, 1p, 8½" X 11", San Francisco, CA, 29 December 1940. Addressed to Quinby Self. Good only. Although fairly attractive overall, the upper of the two folds is heavily chipped (but not separated; see image). Rivera and Kahlo first lived in San Francisco for six months in 1930 shortly after marrying, but by 1939 they had divorced. On December 8, 1940 they remarried in San Francisco and set up house at 42 Calhoun Street, from where this letter was written three weeks later. Rivers notes, ". I have been rather undecided as to my plans. I am sorry I was not able to be in Mexico during the hollidays [sic] to that I might have been able to meet your wife and see her paintings, but I am just now able to start toward the south." Boldly signed. Quinby Self (1909-91) was an insurance agent whose wife Jess Edith (1914-2001) was an art instructor whose work was exhibited in many exhibitions -- it seems likely he was trying to advance his 26-year-old wife's career by establishing a relationship with the influential artist. As the married Rivera at age 42 became involved with 22-year-old Kahlo in 1928, he certainly enjoyed meeting much younger female artists. Rather scarce. The Story of Cuba: Her Struggles for Liberty. The Cause, Crisis and Destiny of the Pearl of the Antilles
8vo. Grey cloth with gilt lettering and blue/black/red/gilt pictorial stamping. 668pp. Frontispiece, illustrations, map, floral endpapers. Very good. Mildest of binding edgewear and touch of spotting to spine, else tight and internally fine. Sixth revised edition, bright and handsome, of this thick popular account of Cuban history leading up to the Spanish-American War.