[Economics of Marriage] [Get Rich Quick] Anonymous
A Scheme for a New Lottery: or, a Husband and a Coach and Six for Forty Shillings. Being very advantageous to both Sexes; where a Man may have a Coach and Six and a Wife for Nothing.
Printed for T. Dormer, London: 1732
Modern quarter morocco over cloth with gilt to spine. Measuring 180 x 111mm and collating complete including frontis, folding game board, and concluding woodcut: [2], 62, [2]. Bookplate of the Ricky Jay Collection to front pastedown. Top margin trimmed close with consistent loss to running headers and occasional loss to page numbers, with no other text effected. Pages somewhat toned with minor marginal chips, but otherwise unmarked. A scarce satire playing both on the rising popularity of get-rich-quick schemes and on the economics of the marriage market, the present is the only example to appear in the auction record. In the abscence of ESTC, we have used OCLC, which identifies only 12 institutional copies. The present is the only example currently in trade. A Scheme for a New Lottery satirically warns readers against the dangers posed by get-rich-quick schemes, targeting large-scale scams like the recently burst South Sea Bubble and the pawn-broking swindle of the so-called Charitable Corporation. It also takes its shot at the everyday "Methods of Change-Alley Brokers, or Jockies.at the Hiring of which many middling Tradesmen run off many Thousands of Pounds in small sums, for which they now labour under great Necessities for want of it." More than the developers of scams, A Scheme places blame on the lack of critical thinking and the resulting gullibility of those who participate. Unrealistic and large-scale promises to rapidly improve peoples' financial lives and assist them in changing social classes were appealing at a time when few were "successful in using wealth from trade to found a landed family" that could become ensconced among the gentry (Rapp). But at the same time, they were typically only enriching for those running the scams. To that end, as soon as A Scheme critiques tradesmen for their slow but significant payouts through gambling, it turns around and proposes "Another Lottery, which may prove a general benefit to all concern'd; as there is no better Remedy for a Bite from a Mad Dog than the Liver of the Dog that bit." The proposed lottery, filled with so many rules, exceptions, and convoluted promises ensures that the cycle continues. The basis for the present lottery also notably satirically targets the greatest systemic economic scam of the period: marriage. While marriage among the elite during the century was a means for consolidating wealth and ensuring the success of the future (male) offspring in a family, for the lower classes it represented opportunities "to create new, economically stable" or upwardly mobile situations for whichever partner married up (Knoll). Equally, because such marriages relied on the fiscal responsibility of the male partner or the honest financial disclosures of both families involved, it could also result in financial ruin. Ultimately, few marriages of the period met the romantic ideal of companionate partnership set by popular novels. A Scheme's lottery particularly plays on the latter facts -- and especially how they affect women's future financial prospects. By providing "Fifty Thousand tickets to be deliver'd to Maids, or Widows, or any that appear to be such" in the hopes of winning a financially stable husband represented by the tickets drawn. Such a match could be a good one: "A Ware-House Keeper with the Salary of a Hundred Pounds per Annum and if he is a fair trader he may make it One Thousand," or "the Governour, salary unknown but sufficient to keep a coach-and-six." It could also, by virtue of lottery, be a loss: "2 Scotchmen, both Pedlars, 500 Broken Booksellers," and a range of other ruinous bounders are also listed as prizes. For those who desire an advance attempt, the folding game bound in the book invites blindfolded women to stick a pin in the board to claim their prize. The present copy was played (gently), with pin marks revealing a Blacksmith and a Valet de Chambre among those husbands won. The popularity of A Scheme resulting in a reissue the same year, with a canceled title page as The Ladies Lottery and falsely attributed to Swift. ESTC N20921.
More from Whitmore Rare Books, Inc.
The Petticoat: An Heroi-comical Poem. In two books
Bound to style in quarter calf over marbled boards with gilt to spine. All edges marbled. Measuring 185 x 112mm and collating complete including half title: [4], iii, [1, blank], 39, [1, blank]. With catchword 'behold' on page 27 and floral ornament above 'Finis' on page 39 as called for. A Fine example, unmarked and fresh. A scarce piece of erotic satire, ESTC records copies at 11 U.S. institutions. It last sold at auction in 1929, and the present is the only first edition on the market. "Begin my Muse and sing in Epick train The Petticoat; Nor shall thou sing in vain, The Petticoat will sure reward thy pain!" So opens a satire composed under the pseudonym Mr. Gay (used by several of those hacks in Edmund Curll's employ), which traces how the amorous adventures of Thyrsis and Chloe were made possible by the latter's fashionable hooped skirt. Finding both humor and seriousness in women's fashion, The Petticoat points out how some of the clothing designed to hinder women's movement could actually be adapted to their advantage -- in this case, the pursuit and fulfillment of illicit sexual affairs. For just as Thyrsis is able to hide beneath his lover's skirt to conceal himself while pleasing her, Chloe is able to share this information with her female coterie (including the work's readers). Thus, women desirous of hiding lovers of any gender might deploy this ingenious method, allowing them to engage in affairs without traveling far from home. An acknowledgement of women's own sexual desire and agency. ESTC T43929. Unspeakable Curll 241-242. Not in the Register of Erotic Books. Infinite Jest
A Near Fine copy in like dust jacket, with discoloration from publisher's glue on the front endpaper (as always). Top-edge of the text block a bit spotted. Jacket nearly Fine with no chips or tears. First state with the "Vollman" misprint on the rear panel. "Infinite Jest is more or less evenly split between the story of the Incandenza family, dysfunctional proprietors of a tennis academy, and that of the residents of a halfway house for addicts, separated from their luckier counterparts by 'a tall and more or less denuded hill.' One houses America's winners; the other, its losers. The two groups rarely interact, and the sections of the book dedicated to them differ in tone: the first is more comic, the second more realist, even heart-string-pulling. The unique feel of the novel comes from this juxtaposition.but what may be most special about it is its experimental quality. Infinite Jest is a novel about the narcotic power of language" (The New Yorker). Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. The Sketch Book (Signed ltd. edition)
Two volumes bound in one. Each volume one of just 30 copies printed on Japanese Vellum (both number 25), signed by the illustrator, Edmund Sullivan. Bound for Brentanos by the famous English bookbinder, Cedric Chivers, in full red morocco with his signature vellucent painted illustration to the font panel. Spine with inlaid morocco details. Spine very subtly toned, otherwise a fine copy overall. A lovely example of book arts for both this handsome printing, as well as the expertly crafted binding. Complete with 2 frontispieces and 18 plates by Edmund Sullivan. A collection of Washington Irving's short stories, including his most famous and beloved tales, Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (narrated by the fictional Dutch historian Diedrich Knickerbocker). "The Sketch Book was a celebrated event in American literary history. The collection was the first American work of short stories to gain international success and popularity" and while "most of the book's 30 off pieces concern Irving's impressions of England, six chapters deal with American subjects." (Britannica) Patented in 1898, Chivers's "vellucent" bindings departed from traditional methods of creating hand-painted vellum bindings. In the 18th century Chivers's great predecessor, Edwards of Halifax, painted in reverse on the underside of translucent vellum, thereby providing a layer of protection for the design. His technique almost vanished with his death, and it was not until the 1890s that Chivers developed his own similar method for protecting the design underneath the vellum itself - the backing sheet of the vellum was painted, which was then covered in vellum which had been shaved to transparency, the vellum was then tooled in gilt. The books which Chivers thus bound have always been a favorite of collectors, and usually still present well, the vellum having served its purpose of protecting the design for many decades, as Chivers intended. Ulysses (First edition – Large Paper copy)
Exquisitely bound in full navy morocco by the Chelsea bindery. Gilt details on the boards, spine and turn ins, top edge gilt, silk moire end papers and paste-downs, original front wrapper bound in. One of 150 large paper copies, this copy number 231, originally sold to John Clark. Binding Fine. Internal contents are generally in excellent condition, a bit of toning to the front wrapper and the ocassional marginal spot. Joyce's masterwork of modernism, one of the great books of the 20th century. Though it follows a single day in the life of Dubliner Leopold Bloom - June 16th, a day which has since become a worldwide holiday - Ulysses' complex structure is actually inspired by Homer's Odyssey. The book's stream of consciousness prose and its experimental nature were groundbreaking, and many of the techniques Joyce used have since become standard fare. Ulysses took Joyce over seven years to write, and the story of its publication became an epic in itself. The work was first released in serial from 1918 to 1920 in the magazine "The Little Review," and published in Paris in a limited first edition in 1922 by Sylvia Beach, the owner of the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. It was not, however, released in the UK and United States, where the book had quickly been banned. In fact, copies were smuggled into both countries until a landmark obscenity trial cleared the book for American publication in 1934. Joyce claimed that he "put in so many enigmas and puzzles [into Ulysses] that it will keep the professors busy for centuries arguing over what I meant, and that's the only way of insuring one's immortality." Time has certainly proven him correct. "Ulysses is the most important contribution that has been made to fictional literature in the twentieth century. It will immortalize its author with the same certainty that Gargantua and Pantagruel immortalized Rabelais, and "The Brothers Karamazov" Dostoevsky. It is likely that there is no one writing English today that could parallel Joyce's feat." (Contemporary NY Times Review, 1922). Slocum and Cahoon A17. Fine. Dubliners
One of 746 copies printed for Grant Richards. Original dark red cloth, gilt lettering on spine and front cover. Very Good+ copy with a few small blemishes to the cloth and a bit of penciled bookseller notations on the end papers that could be removed. A handsome copy of a scarce and important work. Joyce's first work of fiction, comprising fifteen short stories, including "Dubliners," "The Dead," and "Araby." The collection was initially submitted to Richards in 1905, after which two attempts to publish it were thwarted by censorship before this first edition in 1914. According to Day, Joyce "intended âto betray the soul of that hemiplegia or paralysis which many consider a city'; the paralysis is intellectual, moral, and spiritual." The work "is militantly opposed to the contemporary Celtic Renaissance. To the dreamy or patriotic effusions of his fellow Irishmen, Joyce countered with uncompromising depictions of the Irish decay, banality, and tawdriness." Slocum and Cahoon A-8. Very Good +. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court
First state with the two main issue points: "The S King" on p. 59 and no damage to type on p. 72. This copy with floral end-papers (others with geometric no priority assigned). A lovely, Fine copy overall, with clean boards and bright gilt, without repair or restoration. Bookplate of Arthur Swann on the verso of the first blank. Housed in a custom quarter-leather clamshell. One of the great humorist's classic works. "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" follows the adventures of an engineer who's sent backwards in time to the Middle Ages - and the realm of King Arthur. Twain worked on the book in stops and starts in the 1880s, before finishing it in 1889. Strangely enough, along with some contemporary works by H.G. Wells and Edward Bellamy, "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" is considered one of the early works in the science fiction, "time-travel" genre. ".we feel that in this book our arch-humorist imparts more of his personal quality than in anything else he has done. Here he is to the full the humorist, as we know him; but he is very much more. The delicious satire, the marvellous wit, the wild, free, fantastic humor are the colors of the tapestry, while the texture is a humanity that lives in every fibre. At every moment the scene amuses, but it is all the time an object-lesson in democracy. It makes us glad of our republic and our epoch; but it does not flatter us into a fond content with them" (William Dean Howells in the Atlantic). Fine. The Old Man and the Sea
A Fine copy in Near Fine dust jacket. A previous owner's name written discretely on the front end paper, otherwise clean and unmarked. Spine gilt complete with no flaking. Dust jacket with a small snag on the lower flap fold (no loss or repairs), spine a bit toned and slight wear at the ends, but a handsome copy overall. The final work of fiction published in the author's lifetime, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and cited by the Nobel Prize Committee, The Old Man and the Sea cemented Hemingway's legacy as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. The story follows the tribulations of an aging and suddenly unlucky fisherman, Santiago, as he tries to catch a gigantic marlin in the Straits of Florida. Ultimately, Santiago's story is an existential metaphor through which Hemingway explored in a seemingly simple way the dignity and biblical nature of an old man's trials at the end of life. It was a massive success. The book was originally published in full in an issue of Life Magazine, which subsequently sold 5 million copies in less than a week. "No outbursts of spite or false theatricalism impede the smooth rush of its narrative. Within the sharp restrictions imposed by the very nature of his story Mr. Hemingway has written with sure skill. Here is the master technician once more at the top of his form, doing superbly what he can do better than anyone else" (contemporary New York Times Review). Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. The Manchurian Candidate
A Very Good+ copy of the book in like dust jacket. Book with the spine a bit cocked, some rubbing along the spine edges and ends, and a small previous owner's name on the front end paper. Dust jacket with just a bit of chipping at the spine ends, and slight fading. An extraordinarily cogent political thriller about a member of an influential family who is brainwashed by Soviets into becoming a Communist assassin. Adapted to film in both 1962 and 2004, Condon's novel continues to be relevant to audiences today. When Eleanor Iselin is contacted by Soviets about the possibility of installing her McCarthy-esque husband and senator Johnny into the presidency, she works with the KGB to program her son Shaw as a sleeper agent. Unbeknownst to Shaw, he has been hypnotized and is under the control of Eleanor, who can activate him for violent assignments that never enter the front of his consciousness. Unaware of the actions he takes, Shaw never feels guilt and can never publicly betray what he is. By the novel's end, when it is Shaw's mission to assassinate the president so that his father, now VP, can gain office and assume dictatorial powers during national emergency, Shaw turns the gun instead on his parents and himself. Very Good + in Very Good + dust jacket. Franny and Zooey
A Near Fine copy in like jacket. Book spine toned, otherwise clean and unmarked, likely unread. In a Near Fine jacket that shows some toning to the spine and one short tear at the crown (no loss or repair). A handsome copy overall. Salinger's intriguing work on the Glass family, following Franny's emotional and spiritual collapse and her brother Zooey's attempt to bolster her spirit. Rife with meaning and subtext, the work has been open to several interpretations, but throughout, the author's talent and mastery are evident. Of his work, Salinger once wrote, "I love working on these Glass stories, I've been waiting for them most of my life, and I think I have fairly decent, monomaniacal plans to finish them with due care and all-available skill." Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. The Life and Adventures of Tristram Shandy (in 9 vols.)
First editions, first state throughout, signed by Sterne in vols. V, VII, and IX as called for, to protect his book from piracy. 9 volumes, small octavo (158 x 103 mm). Finely bound in early 20th-century panelled calf by Zaehnsdorf, spines and covers decorated in gilt, twin black morocco labels, board edges and turn-ins gilt, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Half-titles in vols IV, V, VI and IX as issued; vol. I with E5 printed black on both sides, extra-illustrated with frontispiece from the second edition; vol. III with the unsigned leaf, marbled on both sides, inserted between L4 and L5. Bookplate of the lawyer and bibliophile Charles Plumptre Johnson (1853-1938) to front pastedowns. Light rubbing to joints and extremities, occasional faint spot to contents, but an excellent set overall. The episodic nature of its publication means that Tristram Shandy is rare in first edition throughout. A masterpiece of English literature, and a work of extraordinary novelty, Tristram Shandy overturned numerous conventions of how novels should be written, structured, and - with its playful marbled, black, and illustrative pages - printed. The work is widely seen as a precursor of modernist and post-modernist fiction, and was an acknowledged influence on various 20th-century writers, including Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. Rothschild 1970. Our Common Insects. First Steps in Entomology
Original publisher's cloth binding with bright gilt to front board. Brown coated endpapers. Previous owner's name excised from the top margin of the title page. Glue to rear paste-down and remnants of a bookplate, otherwise a pretty tidy example. Internally unmarked and complete, collating [iv], 4-120, [3], [1, blank]. A pleasing and bright copy of a scarce book, and a lovely example of Victorian women's efforts to draw a more diverse group into the study of science by making it local and accessible. The only first edition on the market, OCLC reports 10 copies worldwide (only 3 of those in North America). One of a growing number of women citizen scientists of the period, Rosalinda Cox used her slim volume to open up a field of science to children of all classes and genders, encouraging them to be excited and curious about scientific discovery within their own gardens. "The authoress has intended to give, in as condensed a form as possible, under the most recently received system, a sketch of the common insects of this country, with their proper names, as well as their less familiar titles of foreign derivation." In this sense, new entomologists can quickly learn the terminologies and taxonomies required for comfortably conversing with other scientists or performing their own inquiries. But for Cox, the study of insects also poses opportunities for teaching children social lessons about humans as well. "Few branches of science have suffered as much from neglect and derision as entomology," she begins the opening chapter, and she argues against the minuteness of the objects or a derision for their form as justifications. Ultimately, she concludes that entomology's unpopularity has been out of a human-centrism that encourages prejudice against them "on account of the injury they do to our property." But study, she asserts, can lead to a more complex view, also uncovering "whether the many benefits we receive from them more than counterbalance the evils of which they are the cause." While still an anthropocentric claim, Cox's position urges children to see themselves within a larger and more complex ecosystem rather than an overly simplistic one. With detailed illustrations throughout and a useful index at rear, the slim volume was perfectly designed to fit in a pocket or a hand as one began outdoor exploration and needed reference. Very Good +. I, Me, Mine (Signed ltd. edition)
Harrison, George Number 1899 of 2000 copies, signed by George Harrison on the limitation page. An exceptionally clean, fresh copy, still with the original plain paper dust wrapper and in the original publisher's shipping box (also numbered 1899). Book pristine. Slipcase with one little spot to paper the label, otherwise Fine. Paper dust wrapper with some creasing and small tears at the spine due to the raised bands of the book underneath. With the publisher's letter to the subscriber. Rare to find in such an original state. Taking its name from the last track the Beatles recorded on before their breakup, I Me Mine is a nontraditional memoir by one of rock music's greatsâ"the singer-songwriter and guitarist George Harrison. Interspersed with photographs and including an important section of reproductions of his handwritten lyrics accompanied by an explanation of each song, the book is a window into Harrison's artistry and ideology. The book also caused some controversy at the time of its publication: John Lennon was displeased that he was not given more credit as a musical inspiration or collaborator, Harrison felt the charged could be equally levied at Lennon. Fine in Fine dust jacket. Les Miserables (in 3 vols)
Hugo, Victor An attractive set of Hugo's masterpiece and the first completed English language translation. 3 volumes, octavo (182 x 116 mm). Contemporary red quarter roan, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, red pebble-grain cloth sides, marbled endpapers and edges. Ownership inscription dated 1865 to half-title. Head of vol. I spine expertly repaired, bindings a little marked, edges rubbed, minor corner wear, scattered foxing, inner hinge cracked at last page of vol. I. An excellent set. First authorized English edition. Released in October within months of the original French-language book, it was preceded only by the first two instalments of the American pirated version (Fantine in June and Cosette in July of the same year). The British edition remains considerably scarcer than its US counterpart. Sir Charles Lascelles Wraxall, a military historian, was an eccentric choice of translator. He was recommended to Hugo by Alphonse Esquiros, a controversial French politician and author exiled to Britain, where he taught at the Royal Military Academy. Wraxall "fancied himself an expert on Waterloo", and "did not hesitate to alter the meaning of Hugo's novel whenever he disagreed with passages pertaining to Napoleon Bonaparte's downfall" (Grey). Widely regarded as one of the greatest novels of the 19th century, although contemporary reviews were mixed. Hugo's massive work follows the struggles of ex-convict, Jean Valjean, as he seeks spiritual redemption, despite the past ever following upon his heels. It is a social commentary not just on modern France, but upon all communities where there is crime, hunger, poverty and injustice. Moreover, Hugo inserts his own commentaries throughout the work, whether they relate to the current action or not. Successfully adapted to the screen and the stage, most recently by Tom Hooper in 2012 for Universal Pictures. A work that speaks across time and place and continues to touch and inspire its readers. Tobias Grey, "The Legacy of âLes Miserables': Charting the Life of a Classic", The New York Times, accessible online. A Century of Dishonor: A Sketch of the United States Government’s Dealings with some of the Indian Tribes
[Helen Hunt Jackson] H. H. Original publisher's cloth binding with bright gilt to spine and front board. Brown coated endpapers. A pleasing copy, with some spotting to boards and bumping to edges and extremities. Front hinge starting, but binding sound overall; minor staining to closed textblock (with staining to fore-edge extending slightly into page margins, else internally unmarked). Contemporary gift inscription to front endpaper: Martha Goddard to Mrs. Chenoweth." Measuring 187 x 122mm and collating complete including the adverts to the rear: x, 457, [1, blank], 6. An important activist work difficult to find in collectible condition, Helen Hunt's account of the U.S. government's crimes against indigenous communities intended to raise awareness and generate a push for legislative and ethical change. Novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and activist for the improved treatment of first nations people of the U.S. "Her greatest achievement was her pioneering work for Indian rights. After hearing the Ponca chief Standing Bear speak about the dispossessed Plains tribes, she vowed to write an expose of the government maltreatment of Indians. Her months of research in the Astor Library of New York resulted in A Century of Dishonor, a copy of which Jackson presented to every U.S. Congressman. This is an impassioned account of the various tribes since white contact, beginning with a discussion on the rights of sovereignty and occupancy, and ending with massacres of native peoples. It shocked the public, and within a year, the powerful Indian Rights Association was born, followed by the Dawes Act of 1884" (Blain and Grundy). As with her previous works of fiction and poetry, Jackson chose to publish under her initials H.H. in order to avoid revealing her real identity and to stay removed from larger women's rights movements. Despite her doubts about women's suffrage, however, she ultimately became a public voice on behalf of tribal rights. By 1883, her Report on the Condition and Needs of the Mission Indians of California was the first publication to bear her full name. A year later, she would issue her most famous work of fiction, Ramona, which emulated the work of Harriet Beecher Stowe to dramatize the plight of the first nations tribes and emotionally sway white readers to push for social and legislative change. BAL 10444. Feminist Companion to Literature 564. Cultural Landscape Foundation. Oxford Companion to Women's Writing. Near Fine.
Democracy in America. Part the First
de Tocqueville, Alexis Two octavo volumes, collating xliv, 333, [2 ads]; vi [of viii], 462, [2 ads]: with the folding map to the front of volume 1; half-title in volume 1, lacking half-title in volume 2 and lacking the second leaf of the table of contents. Bound in contemporary half-calf over marbled boards, marbled end papers, rebacked but retaining the original spines. Folding map, outlined in color, with a few cracks along the folds, some repaired on the verso, otherwise an excellent set internally. The second edition in English of Part I, which was originally released in French and English a year earlier in 1835. Part II of Democracy in America would not appear in first edition in the Paris or London imprints until 1840. De Tocqueville, a French aristocrat, visited America between 1831 and 1832, ostensibly to study the penal system, although his interest was considerably broader. It seems logical that France would look to America as a beacon of hope for a successful democracy. After France embraced the goals of equality and democracy in 1789 at the start of the French Revolution, it found itself first in a dictatorship under Napoleon and then in one constitutional monarchy after another during the years following. De Tocqueville's astute observation of several aspects of American society and culture provides an invaluable lens of foreign perspective on our young nation's political growth. Democracy in America was an immediate and sustained success. Almost from the beginning it enjoyed the reputation of being the most acute and perceptive discussion of the political and social life of the United States ever published. Whether perceived as a textbook of American political institutions, an investigation of society and culture, a probing of the psyche of the United States, or a study of the actions of modern democratic society, the book has maintained its place high within the pantheon of political writing. "No better study of a nation's institutions and culture than Tocqueville's Democracy in America has ever been written by a foreign observer; none perhaps as good" (The New York Times). Howes T-278, 279. Sabin 96062, 96063. Clark III:111. Cosentino (Washington 1989). A Night in a Balloon. An Astronomer’s Trip from Paris to the Sea in Observation of Leonids
Klumpke, Dorothea Extracted from The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (Volume LX, Number 2), pages 276-284. Disbound but complete; dampstaining to lower third of all pages. This first-hand account of aeronautical astronomical study by a key female scientist is scarce. "Dorothea Klumpke was the first woman to earn a PhD in astronomy -- a feat she accomplished in 1893 at the University of Paris, with a dissertation about the rings of Saturn.She began working at the Paris Observatory in 1887, just as the international all-sky charting project known as the Carte du Ciel was getting underway, and she contributed mightily to that effort" (Linda Hall). The American scientist's French career was a success from the get-go. In 1889, she became the first recipient of the Prix de Dame from the Societie des Astronomique as well as the first woman to become an officer of the Paris Academy of Scientists. Not satisfied there, she broke through yet another glass ceiling in 1891, when she was appointed the first female Director of the Observatory's Bureau of Measurements. Among her peers she was recognized as a keen scientific observer. "Hopes for a brilliant Leonid meteor shower in November of 1899 prompted French astronomers to propose observing the display at altitude, from a hot air balloon. Jules Janssen, director of the Meudon Observatory, chose Klumpke to make the ascent" (Linda Hall). The present account, which appeared in New York one year later, documents Klumpke's first-hand experiences on the Leonid expedition. In addition to her scientific observations, several images and a map of the balloon trajectory, Klumpke reveals her excitement to readers. Skilfully she takes a scientific expedition and transforms it into an accessible journey akin to something from Jules Verne, wherein she and her crew launch into the sky to observe extreme celestial beauty. "Never before had nature seemed so grand to me, so beautiful." A scarce firsthand narrative about aeronautical astronomical study, from a woman who broke through every barrier she could. The Grey World
Underhill, Evelyn Original gray publisher's cloth binding embossed in gilt and black. A pleasing, square copy with some sunning to spine and light foxing to the closed edges of the text block and title page. Early gift inscription to front endpaper: "With warmest good wishes for Dec. 22, 1926 from Alice Herbert." The first novel by the prolific writer, pacifist, and philosopher, it has become quite scarce with no other copies on the market and OCLC reporting holdings at only 6 institutions in the U.S. "Evelyn Underhill was a prolific writer who published 39 books and more than 350 articles and reviews. In her early years she wrote about mysticism; in her latter years on the spiritual life as lived by ordinary people.Underhill began writing before she was sixteen, and her first publication (a collection of humorous verse about the law) appeared in 1902" (Evelyn Underhill Society). Only two years later, she released her first novel The Grey World. Drawing on tropes of Greek mythological heroes' missions to the underworld, and referencing Dante's Divine Comedy, Underhill's narrative is a psychological study that begins with the hero's death, moves through reincarnation and finally beyond the "grey world" to a space of happy reflection and peace. For her, it was a call for individuals to choose to appreciate the temporal beauty of the every day that so often goes unnoticed. "It seems so much easier these days to live morally rather than to live beautifully. Lots of us manage to exist for years without ever sinning against society, but we sin against loveliness every hour of the day." Among the most important English female religious writers of her time, Underhill was also "the first woman to lecture at Oxford.and the recipient of an honorary degree from the University of Aberdeen" (Greene). Her ideas about individual freedom as it applied to religion and politics even became a cornerstone of her debates with her contemporary C.S. Lewis. In their correspondence she argued that Lewis' "ideas about salvation depended too much on animals being 'tame.' This is perhaps why Lewis later emphasized that Aslan [in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardobe] was not tame" (Armstrong). Her work, so focused on the human spiritual connection to others and the world, eventually led a previously apolitical writer to embrace pacifism and speak out at the rise of the Second World War. The Grey World, which remains under-studied compared to her later philosophical texts, gives insight into her evolution. "Her early insights deepen and mature and take on new expression. Her thought shifts from illumination of the mystic way to an exploration of the spiritual life and how it is to be lived in the world. This redirection follows from her early work and results in writing which eloquently argues for the importance of the spiritual life and how it is to be lived.The issue of war forces an articulation of one's most fundamental assumptions about reality.she calls for a deeper, more profound understanding of what it means to be a religious person in the mid-twentieth century" (Greene). Sanctuary
Faulkner, William A lovely, Near Fine copy of the book with a previous owner's bookplate on the front paste-down and some minor dampstaining to the rear end leaves, otherwise a bright, crisp copy. In a Very Good+ to Near Fine dust jacket with the spine panel a bit toned and two clean tears on the rear panel, without loss (the larger about an inch long and a corresponding crease across the panel). Completely unrepaired and unrestored, and presenting very well. This copy with grey pattern on the magenta end-papers, and price of $2.50 on the bottom of the front flap. Faulkner's controversial prohibition era novel was a commercial and critical success; and along with his novels The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary led to his Nobel Prize for literature in 1949. "The theme of Sanctuary is the discovery of reality with the concomitant discovery of evil.instead of victory and moral vindication, [the characters] receive a stunning kind of defeat.the traditional society has given place to a modern world in which amoral power is almost nakedly present" (Brooks). A stirring exploration of the modern world and the fall of men. Near Fine in Very Good + dust jacket. En attendant Godot [Waiting for Godot]
Beckett, Samuel A Very Good copy of the first trade edition, following the 35 signed copies. A fragile softcover book. Front wrapper reattached and a tear repaired on p 29. Spine creased and a bit toned, text block also a bit browned, as often. One of the masterpieces of 20th century theatre - Beckett's hugely influential tragicomedy. Beckett had originally written the play in French between the Fall and Winter of 1948-1949. (Beckett would not translate the play into English until its London premier, in 1955) In fact, this edition of the play - the Minuit edition - was released in 1952, before the play's first performance the next year. Beckett was thought to have been inspired to write the work after viewing Caspar David Friedrich's painting "Mann und Frau den Mond betrachtend" (Man and Woman observing the Moon). Upon its French premier, the play was met with positive reviews and though it was first received somewhat coldly in London, it would soon become a popular and critical success there and worldwide. Some critics, like Norman Berlin, credit the play's wide appeal to its "stripped down" nature - its simplicity encourages a myriad of readings and interpretations that otherwise could not exist. Beckett would later win the Nobel Prize for Literature and "Waiting for Godot" appears on Le Monde's list of the "100 Books of the Century." "It arrives at the custom house, as it were, with no luggage, no passport and nothing to declare: yet it gets through as might a pilgrim from Mars. It does this, I believe, by appealing to a definition of drama much more fundamental than any in the books. A play, it asserts and proves, is basically a means of spending two hours in the dark without being bored." (Contemporary Observer review from the famed drama critic Kenneth Tynan.). Very Good. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens] A Very Good copy of the book. Inner hinges repaired and first blank excised, otherwise a fairly clean, bright copy overall. With all three generally accepted first printing points. Frontis bust of Twain in the first state. Recounting the adventures of Huckleberry Finn as he flees his own abusive father and aids Jim in his escape from slavery, Twain's novel has been praised for its "distinctly American voice," putting at its center two common people who find an uncommon friendship. "Today perhaps the novel's greatest significance lies in its conception of childhood, as a time of risk, discovery, and adventure. Huck is no innocent: He lies, steals, smokes, swears, and skips school. He accepts no authority, not from his father or the Widow Douglas or anyone else. And it is the twin images of a perilous, harrowing odyssey of adventure and perfect freedom from all restraints that so many readers find entrancing" (Mintz). A metaphor for a young and rebellious nation, as well as its individualist inhabitants, Huckleberry Finn defies genre by being simultaneously an adventure story, a road novel, a coming of age tale, an expression of nostalgia for the expansive natural spaces lost to industrialization, and an exploration of race and class. Listed on the American Scholar 100 Best American Novels and one of the 100 Best Novels Written in English. BAL 3415. MacDonnell, 31. Very Good.
A Scheme for a New Lottery: or, a Husband and a Coach and Six for Forty Shillings. Being very advantageous to both Sexes; where a Man may have a Coach and Six and a Wife for Nothing.: https://rarebookinsider.com/rare-books/a-scheme-for-a-new-lottery-or-a-husband-and-a-coach-and-six-for-forty-shillings-being-very-advantageous-to-both-sexes-where-a-man-may-have-a-coach-and-six-and-a-wife-for-nothing/