A complete set of one of the finest bibliographical undertakings in the last half century. 4to, 21 volumes in 40 (all published -- volume XXII, Indexes, was meant to be forthcoming, however since the passing of Robin Alston on June 30, 2011 it may never be published); volume I limited to 1000 copies, the rest limited to 500 copies each, illustrated with many facsimile pages throughout, many folding; several volumes with wear, 2 volumes with some cracking of the cloth at the joints, otherwise generally a fine set in original blue cloth. Vol. I: English Grammars Written in English and English Grammars written in Latin by Native Speakers; II: Polyglot Dictionaries and Grammars, Treatises on English written for speakers of French, German, Dutch [et al.]; III, part 1: Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English; III, part 2: Punctuation, Concordances, Origin of Language, Theory of Grammar; IV: Spelling Books; V: The English Dictionary; VI: Rhetoric, Style, Elocution; VII: Logic, Philosophy, Epistemology, Universal Language; VIII: Short-Hand; IX: English and Scottish Dialects, Cant and Vulgar English; X: Education and Language Teaching; XI: Place Names and Personal Names; XII, part 1: The French Language: Grammars, Miscellaneous Treatises, Dictionaries; XII, part 2: The Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Romansh Languages: Grammars, Dictionaries, Miscellaneous Treatises; XIII: The Germanic Languages; XIV: The Slavonic, Oriental, African, & Other Languages; XV:L Latin (1500-1650); XVI (in 2 parts): Latin (1651-1800); XVII (in 2 parts): Botany, Agriculture, Horticulture; XVIII, part I (in 2 volumes): Zoology, Chemistry, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine; XVIII, part 2 (in 2 volumes): Law, Art, Architecture, Heraldry; XVIII, part 3 (in 2 volumes): Military and Naval Arts & Sciences; XVIII, part 4 (in 3 volumes): Commerce, Classics, Cookery, Technology, Religion, Recreation, Music; XIX (in 3 parts): Periodical Literature; XX: Materials in Manuscript (in 2 parts); and XXI (in 3 parts): Addenda to Volumes I-XVIII; plus, Additions and Corrections to Vols. I-X, List of Libraries and Cumulative Indexes.
10 vols. in 1, large 4to, being a corrected reprint of vols. I-X, with many (printed) manuscript additions in the margins; fine in original blue cloth gilt. With locations, collations, and occasional annotations, extensively indexed and cross-referenced. "A systematic record of writings on English, and on other languages in English, based on the collections of the principal libraries of the world . The indices are of subjects, authors and anonymous titles, with a new preface and a cumulative list of libraries on whose collections the entries are based."
Edition limited to 270 copies, 12mo, pp. 8vo, pp. 77, [3]; fine in original gray cloth, and without the publisher's slipcase which was apparently not with all copies. From the library of Kim Merker, with his initials in pencil on the front free endpaper, and the date "12-75." Berger, Printing & the Mind of Merker, 20: "The title of the book and the titles of each section of the text are enclosed in double rules hand colored in yellow; the open initials that begin each poem are hand colored in gray . I had my daughter, Megan, color all the initials by hand in gray."
Edition limited to 220 copies (this, no. 19), 8vo, pp. 62, [2]; fine in original brown paper-covered boards, printed paper label on spine; tiny spot at the bottom of the front joint, else generally fine throughout. From the library of the printer Kim Merker. Also with a Stone Wall Press address label laid in addressed to Merker's parents, Mr. & Mrs. H. K. Merker, Great Neck, Long Island. This copy no doubt sent to his parents in 1963, which would have come back to him after their passing. This is Levine's first published book. Later, he won the National Book Award twice, the Pulitzer Prize, and was the U.S. Poet Laureate 2011-12. Berger, Printing and the Mind of Merker, 12.
First edition of the first abridged English dictionary, 8vo, unpaginated, collating: A2 B-Z4 2a-2h4 2A-3N4 4A-4O4 4P2 4Q-4X4; contemporary paneled calf, neat 20th century rebacking, red leather label on spine; front free endpaper and title page guarded; else very good and sound. With the ownership signature of Eliza Beale 1708 on both the front and rear pastedown, and Eliza Alston 1726 (same hand) on front free endpaper. Later ownerships signature of Vincent Novello, Bayswater, on front pastedown. Novello (1781-1861) was a noted English musician and music publisher. Alston V, 91 ("an unconfessed abridgement of Kersey's revision of Phillip's dictionary" - the New World of English Words, 1706 - "although it contains much dialectal material not found in that work"); Starnes & Noyes, pp. 95-97 ("Kersey's vocabulary, estimated at 35,000 words, far surpasses that of any preceding dictionary, with the single exception of the folio Kersey-Phillips, which, amazingly enough considering its difference in physical size, it almost equals"). Kennedy 6203; Vancil, p. 138.
12mo, pp. [8], 251, [3]; title page printed in red and black, frontispiece, 6 illustrated initials, portrait of the author tipped in on a flyleaf, bookplate of J. Cheever Goodwin; original pictorial green cloth stamped in gilt on both covers an spine, t.e.g., the others uncut; front hinge cracked, but on the whole a very good copy. Later blue cloth slipcase. This copy is signed by Garland on the third preliminary leaf. Most copies were not signed. John Cheever Goodwin (1850-1912) was an American musical theatre librettist, lyricist and producer. He was "one of the earliest American writers dedicated to musical theatre librettos and lyrics" (Wikipedia). Kramer 4b. See BAL 9680.
First edition, 12mo, pp. 305, [3]; engraved frontispiece portrait of Poe by F. Halpin, wood-engraved vignette title page, 2 wood-engraved plates; original terracotta cloth stamped in gilt and black; hinges cracked, spine ends chipped, the whole somewhat shaken, but the text and illustrations are clean. The 8-page "Introductory Letter" addressed to E. L. Didier and dated July, 1876 is by Sarah Helen Whitman. With the printed blue bookplate of "L. B. Gray's Library . My books are always willing to receive visitors, but they never go a'visiting." BAL 16221 (Poe) and 21378 (Whitman).
Pauker, John
Edition limited to 230 copies, large 4to (approx. 13" x 10"), pp. [24]; printed by hand in red and black throughout from Spectrum types on Rives paper; zinc plate illustrations from linoleum cuts throughout; illustrations original red cloth stamped in gilt and black on the upper cover; fine. From the library of Kim Merker. Berger, Printing and the Mind of Merker, 24: "The book was produced with A. D[oyle] Moore of the Finial Press, though that information does not appear in the book . John Pauker was a poet, a crazy man. He lived in Washington and worked for the U.S. Department of Information. But he had written this manuscript and I liked it very much. Doyle [Moore] took a year off at Illinois and came here and spent the winter, at least, working with me and we did most of this together . With respect to the invention and inventiveness in the design of the text, I think it's one of the best books I've ever done."
Clemens, Samuel, Joel Chandler Harris, Henry James, et al.
Large 8vo, pp. viii, 975, [1]; text in double column; illustrated throughout by artists such as Henry Fenn, A. B. Frost, E. W. Kemble, W. Taber, and others; original half brown morocco; spine faded, edges rubbed; all else very good and sound. Includes the first appearance of Mark Twain's "English as She is Taught," Henry James's "Coquelin," "Little Compton," by Joel Chandler Harries, and a host of other contributors including Theodore Roosevelt, George W. Cable, Edward Eggleston, Frank Stockton, Joaquin Miller, and many others, including the first installment of Nicolay & Hay's Abraham Lincoln: A History.
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