Mandeville, Bernard.
The Virgin UnmaskÕd: or, Female Dialogues Betwixt an Elderly Maiden Lady and her Niece on several Diverting Discourses on love, marriage, memoirs, and morals, &c. of the Times.
London: Printed, and sold by G. Strahan. 1724.: 1724
- $1,500
Bernard Mandeville (1670 Ð 1733) was born in Dordrecht, Holland. After attending the University of Leiden and earning a medical degree, he came to England to learn the language, but ended up staying. He is best known for The Fable of the Bees, which was first published as a 433-line poem The Grumbling Hive, or Knaves TurnÕd Honest in 1705 and was expanded into a prose work in 1714. The work was controversial upon its publication, being criticized as cynical and degrading, but it was popular for years and has since been praised by critics for the cuteness of MandevilleÕs perceptions and the strength of his style. It influenced George Berkeley, who responded to it in the Alciphron, as well as Samuel Johnson, Adam Smith, and the Utilitarians. Octavo. [24], 200 pp. Late nineteenth century half calf over brown pebbled cloth. Black leather spine label titled in gilt. Slight edgewear. Marbled endpapers. Two contemporary ink ownership signatures to title-page. Toning and some staining and foxing. A good copy. Second edition of MandevilleÕs first prose work in English and his first foray into social commentary. Originally published in 1709. The second edition was the last published during MandevilleÕs lifetime. All editions are scarce in commerce. The Virgin UnmaskÕd is a dialogue between an elderly spinster, Glen Ñ who may have been modelled after English feminist and philosopher Mary Astell (1666 - 1731) Ñ and her niece, in which Glen advises her niece to remain unmarried. Glen argues that marriage is an oppressive and abusive trap for women, and that women should prioritize education and independence over reliance on a husband. In the Oxford DNB, M.M. Goldsmith notes that the work begins with Òan initial suggestion of pornographic contentÓ before Òthe discussion turned to the undesirability of marriage and the harmful effects of childbearing on women, two proto-novels, and a discussion of the dangers posed byÊLouis XIVÊto EuropeÕs peace and security.Ó
More from Michael R. Thompson
Lizzie Nutt’s Sad Experience. A Heart Broken, and a Family Plunged in Grief. WRECK AND RUIN! The Shooting and Tragic Death of Noble-Hearted Captain Nutt, LizzieÕs Brave Father, Who Flinched Not, Like a True Soldier, to Die in Defence of His DaughterÕs Honor. The Great Dukes Trial at Uniontown, PA. Full Account, and all ÒThose Terrible Letters.Ó
In 1882, when Lizzie Nutt was in her early twenties, she was engaged to aspiring Democratic politician Nicholas Lyman Dukes (b. 1851). Their engagement was tumultuous, and Dukes sought to end the relationship by sending a letter (reproduced in the present item) to NuttÕs father, Captain Nutt. In the letter, Dukes alleged that Nutt had been unfaithful and promiscuous, and claimed there were rumors of her behavior going around the city of Uniontown. Captain Nutt reacted poorly, and he and Dukes exchanged hostile correspondence until Captain Nutt took matters into his own hands and confronted Dukes at his home on Christmas Eve of 1882. After a fight between the two men, Dukes shot Captain Nutt. In March of 1883, Dukes was tried for the murder of Captain Nutt and found not guilty. Controversy surrounded the trial due to what many saw as an unjust verdict. 6 x 9 in. [2], 19-64 pp. With seven-full page illustrations. PublisherÕs pale blue pictorial paper wrappers. Some chipping and soiling. Back cover illustrated with an imagining of the murder. Some dustsoiling to leaves, mostly to pp. 61-62. A very good copy of a fragile item. McDade #718 calls this the second edition.ÒThe Dukes-Nutt affair was an internationally famous murder case of romance, betrayal and honor. What started out as a small dispute and an unwanted engagement led to multiple murdersÉ[T]he passion and recognition of this grandiose affairÉat times seems fictitious, due to its many plot twists and scandals,Ó (Uniontown Public Library website). In the aftermath of the killing and the trial, Lizzie NuttÕs reputation was destroyed. During the trial, Dukes alleged that Nutt was pregnant by another man, and that he had pressed her to get an abortion. The claim of her pregnancy was never verified, and it was later revealed that DukesÕ motive for ending the relationship was likely his affair with another local woman.
Dialogues in Chemistry, Intended for the Instruction and Entertainment of Young People, in which the First Principles of that Science are Fully Explained. To Which are Added Questions and Other Exercises for the Examination of Pupils.
Joyce, [Jeremiah]. Jeremiah Joyce (1763 - 1816) was a Unitarian minister, writer, and political radical. In his opposition to the war against revolutionary France, became involved with Thomas Hardy and John Horne Tooke of the London Corresponding Society. He was arrested at the same time as HardyÕs and Horne TookeÕs treason trials, though was soon acquitted and released. Joyce earned most of his income from his literary output, publishing scientific, mathematical, and religious works (often under the pseudonym ÒJ.J.Ó). His major work was the six-volume series Scientific Dialogues (1800-1805), plus A Companion to the Scientific Dialogues (1809); the popular series went through various revised editions up until his death. He also wrote Letters on Natural and Experimental Philosophy (1810), another science text for young readers. Two volumes, twelvemo. [10], 288; [4], 300, [21, index], [3, ads] pp. With eight plates (two in each volume) and tables and equations throughout. Dedicated to chemist Humphrey Davy. Contemporary tree calf. Gilt-ruled spine with red morocco labels. Some cracking at hinges, but binding remains sound. Clean throughout aside from some foxing to first and last few leaves. A very good, attractive set. Second edition, corrected, with additions. First edition published in 1807. All editions are scarce in commerce.- $950
- $950
Up the Amazon and Over the Andes. With an Introduction by Admiral Sir William Goodenough, G.C.B. (President of the Royal Geographical Society).
Cressy-Marcks, Violet O. Cressy-Marcks was already a world traveler by the time she visited South America. She had traveled around the world three times, completed an overland journey from Cairo to Cape Town in 1925, traveled through the Balkans and Saudi Arabia in 1928, and spent the winter of 1929-30 north of the Arctic circle travelling by sledge in Spmi (then known as Lapland). As a journalist during the 1930s and 40s, Cressy-Marcks filmed the Eritrean and Ethiopian war fronts, interviewed Mao Zedong, and worked as a correspondent for the Daily Express in Chongqing during World War II and at the Nuremberg trials. Cressy-Marcks was broadly skilled and well-educated, and maintained a scientific grounding to her travels: she was well-respected as an archaeologist and ethnologist, having conducted widespread studies across Southwest Asia and Latin America, and was a fellow of both the Royal Asiatic and Zoological Societies. Octavo. 336 pp. With thirty-six photo reproductions (including frontisportrait) and three maps showing the Cressy-MarcksÕ routes. PublisherÕs teal cloth. Some toning and foxing. Some foxing to edges and margins. A very good copy in the original pictorial dust jacket (very good). First edition. The South American travel account of British explorer, journalist, and Royal Geographical Society member Violet Olivia Cressy-MarcksÊ(1895 - 1970). She also recounts the experiences that led to her embarking on her voyage to South America: partying in a Chicago jazz club, meeting Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks in Los Angeles, and a trip to Mexico. She then traveled on a ship from New York to Brazil, where she began a voyage by foot and canoe down the Amazon River. She trekked over the Andes to Peru, surveying part of the northwest Amazon Basin on her journey.- $250
- $250
Bee Keeping for Profit. A New System of Bee Management.
Cotton, Lizzie E. Lizzie E. Cotton wrote the present work to accompany her ÒControllable HiveÓ invention, which is illustrated in the plates. In the words of Wyatt A. Mangum in the American Bee Journal, CottonÕs hive consisted of Òglass honey boxes on top, over the brood framesÉthe location of a honey super on a modern hive. Cotton also situated glass honey boxes on the sides of the hive, knowing that bees stored honey on the periphery of the brood nest.Ó Surviving examples of CottonÕs Controllable Hive are rare today, and the specifications included in the present work seem to be the only published designs. Mangum continues, ÒCottonÕs spring management [of her hives] sought to grow the colony so the bees covered all the brood frames by feeding the colony with her special syrup feeder situated on top of the frames. Cotton described early spring feeding to produce early swarming to increase hive numbersÉIncreasing hive numbers by swarming was an old method before LangstrothÕs frame in America, which dated back to European skep beekeeping. Increasing by swarming would have been familiar and acceptable to beekeeper customers buying her book and hives.Ó Octavo. 150 pp. With four plates (including frontisportrait) and eight vignettes illustrating bees and beehives. Illustrations include a beehive design developed by the author. Contemporary purple cloth. Spine faded, some dampstaining to cloth. Early ink ownership signature to front pastedown (Marcus J. James, agricultural and mining engineer in Colorado). A good, clean copy. Second edition. First published in 1880. All editions are uncommon in institutions and rare in commerce. Mangum, Wyatt A. ÒMrs. Lizzie E. Cotton: Beehive Designer from the 1880s.Ó American Bee Journal, June 1, 2022.- $350
- $350
Germany in War Time. What an American Girl Saw and Heard
McAuley, Mary Ethel. During World War I, journalist and painter Mary Ethel McAuley (1882 Ð 1971) spent two years in Germany as a correspondent for the Pittsburgh Post-Dispatch. Her time in Germany resulted in not only extensive investigative reporting on wartime life, but also numerous paintings based on her personal observations. In 2020, the University of Pittsburgh hosted an exhibit of McAuleyÕs paintings, which the university website describes as such: ÒThe paintings that form the core of this exhibition were created around 1919 to illustrate McAuleyÕs first-hand account of life in wartime Germany. McAuleyÕs paintings depict scenes that she witnessed as an American woman. Her paintings depict German soldiers in uniform standing alongside chimney sweeps in town squares, women shoveling coal, mothers and children alone on the streets while fathers and brothers were on the front line. She captures the nuances of quotidian life at that time, paying special attention to women in wartime.Ó Along with her descriptions of labor and industry, McAuley also details the economic hardships of wartime, including the rationing, dramatic inflation, and shortages of food and supplies faced by civilians. She also highlights the experiences of wounded soldiers returning from battle, prisoners of war in Germany, and refugees seeking shelter in the country. Octavo. 297 pp. With over a hundred full- and half-page photo reproductions, particularly highlighting industry, manufacturing, and commerce in Berlin during the war. Includes many photos of women at work (as carriage drivers, mail carriers, surveyors, laborers, and more). PublisherÕs blue cloth with white printed paper labels. Binding is clean and attractive. A fine, bright copy, scarce in the original dust jacket, illustrated in color by the author (very good). First edition. Mary Ethel McAuley: Behind the German Lines. University of Pittsburgh exhibition (February 13-March 28, 2020). Accessed on the University of Pittsburgh Art Gallery website.- $350
- $350
Up. A True Story of Aviation.
[ Aviation ]. Jack [Edith Jacqueline] Stearns. In the foreword, Jack Stearns Gray (1890 Ð 1961) writes, ÒMy first flight was over a part of the Adirondack Range in 1912; my last flight over Washington, D.C. in 1927. The first was made sitting on the wingÑthe last in a cockpit.Ó Gray was the first Virginia woman aviator to fly from Virginia soil and, along with her husband George A. Gray, traveled all over the eastern United States as barnstormers in their Wright Model B. Gray knew many of the major aviation pioneers, including Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Glenn Curtis, and the Wright brothers, and she records their stories in the present work. She also discusses her contemporary woman aviators including Elinor Smith, Ruth Nichols, Ruth Elder Camp, Opal Kunz, and many others. Gray writes in the foreword: ÒÔJackÕ is my nickname. I have borne with it, flown with it, and now I feel like it. Edith is my real name, but on only three rare occasions have I used it,Ó including Òwhen I visited Ethel Roosevelt at the White House in 1908.Ó The present work was also praised by Lieutenant Commander Earle Ovington, the first U.S. Air Mail pilot, and Congressman R. Walton Moore. Octavo. xv, [1], 384 pp. With frontispiece and dozens of illustrations throughout, including many full- and half-page photo reproductions PublisherÕs pictorial blue cloth stamped in silver. Binding is clean and attractive. A remarkably bright and fine copy, signed by the author (ÒJack Stearns GrayÓ), in the very good original dustjacket. First edition of this history of early aviation.- $300
- $300
The Housekeeper’s Scrapbook.
Perrett, Louise, illustrator. Louise Perrett (fl. 1905 - 1920) was educated at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied with Impressionist painter John Carlson, and was influenced by the art of illustrator Howard Pyle. Perrett eventually taught at the Art Institute of Chicago, and was a member of the Chicago Society of Art and the Austin Art League of Illinois. Two of her paintings, Mother and Child and Resting, were exhibited in Chicago. Quarto. 125 pp. Each page blank except for a heading and, on about a third of all pages, half- or full-page illustrations in orange and black. The headings correspond to different locations in a house (kitchen, attic, nursery, etc.) and the illustrations show housekeepers tending to the home and caring for their employers. Brown leaves. PublisherÕs tan pictorial cloth illustrated in black and orange. Binding is bright and attractive. With four newspaper clippings (recipes, other information about food, and a guide to keeping aphids out of a garden) laid into the ÒkitchenÓ section and one clipping laid into the attic section (ÒHome Brightener: Finishing the Attic RoomÓ). A fine, clean copy. First edition. As the laid-in newspaper clippings indicate, the present work was intended to preserve recipes, instructions for home improvement, and other information that would help housekeepers better tend to the homes and families of their employers. OCLC records only two copies (one in Missouri and one in Ohio).- $250
- $250
Sierra Nevada Sequence. A Series of Sonnets. Illustrated with Original, Signed Wood Engravings by Kirk Martin.
Walker, Ardis Manley. Ardis Manly Walker (1901 - 1991) was a California-born engineer, civil servant, local historian and poet. He was educated at Fresno State College, UCLA, and USC. After graduating from USCÕs School of Engineering, he relocated to New York City, where he was employed as an engineer. He eventually returned to Kern County, California, where he became active in civil affairs and served as a justice of the peace. He also became a conservationist and wrote about local history. Walker published many books, works of prose and poetry. His papers are currently housed at Syracuse University. Sierra Nevada Sequence contains thirty-two of WalkerÕs sonnets. Folio (13Ó x 711Ó). 35 folded sheets (unbound, as usual). Thirty-two tipped-in wood-engravings by Kirk Martin, a student of Paul Landacre, depicting the beauty and grandeur of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, each signed by the artist. Additionally inscribed by Walker on verso of table of contents, dated January 1968: ÒFor Hugh, Jean Nancy, and Katy. Good friends and gracious forty-niners.Ó Wood engraved ornaments and initials. Engravings printed from the original blocks. Handset in Goudy Light and Hadriano. Printed on Ticonderoga Text. Housed in a dark green cloth chemise with gilt-lettered spine and front board, handmade by Bela Blau. Minor wear to corners minor tonign to a couple leaves. A near-fine copy. With eight pieces of related ephemera, including five Christmas keepsakes, one of which (a printing of WalkerÕs sonnet ÒHigh Choice,Ó illustrated with the same headpiece used on the title-page of the present work) is inscribed on the verso in ink by Walker: ÒFor Hugh and my girlfriend because in the past, they found time for my poetryÉSeptember 7, 1969.Ó Also, with a prospectus (7 x 10 Ó) and a publication announcement (5 x 4Ó) for the present work and a card announcing the publication of the Castle Press book Sierra Trails. One of 107 copies, numbered in ink on the colophon. Kirk Martin (1906 - 1991) was a Southern California-based artist, best known for his western paintings and wood engravings, and the brother of artist Fletcher Martin. He spent his early years learning printing from his father. After five years at Occidental College and the University of Southern California, he began his career as a wood-engraver under the tutelage of Paul Landacre.- $950
- $950
Ted Shawn. Season of 1921-1922.
[ Dance [. Shawn, Ted. In 1915, Ted Shawn (1891 Ð 1972) and Ruth St. Denis (1879 Ð 1968) founded the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts in Los Angeles, which would go on to achieve international renown. Denishawn grew from St. DenisÕ own Ruth St. Denis Company, with which Shawn toured, and the small company that had supported Shawn during his first individual concert tour in 1913. Shawn and St. Denis operated the school together until 1919, when Shawn took over (though St. Denis was still influential on the business). DenishawnÕs many elite students included performers like Doris Humphrey, Louise Brooks, Lillian Powell, Evan-Burrows Fontaine, and Charles Weidman. St. Denis and Shawn were also instrumental in the founding of the JacobÕs Pillow dance center and the festival hosted there. Single leaf folded to thirds. Season program with photo portraits of the dancers and musicians involved in Ted ShawnÕs company. Front cover printed with an illustration of dancers by Ray F. Coyle, with a gold ink accent. Very good condition. [With: ]Shawn, Ted, and Ruth St. Denis.Photo postcard of Shawn and St. Denis in Coronado, signed by Shawn. Coronado, California, n.d., ca. 1920s. 5 x 3 in. Fine condition. The program included here notes that the 1921-22 season offerings include ShawnÕs ÒDance Church Service,Ó in which Òa composite of the familiar Protestant church rituals is presented entirely in rhythmic movements.Ó The other offerings included Òmusic visualizations,Ó Òa term invented by Ruth St. Denis to replace the much-abused word Ôinterpretation.Õ- $300
- $300
Lessons on Shells, as Given to the Children Between the Ages of Eight and Ten, in a Pestalozzian School.
[ Mayo, Elizabeth. ] Elizabeth Mayo (1793 Ð 1865) was an educational reformer and writer who played a major role in popularizing the theories of Pestalozzi in England. Mayo and her brother Charles (1792 Ð 1846) also ran an evangelical school based on theories that Charles had learned from Pestalozzi. Mayo wrote her two most successful books, Lessons on Objects (1830) and the present work, based on the Pestalozzian method of the object lesson, which developed observational skills through the careful examination of objects. These two books were the first of their kind in England, and popularized the use of the object lesson for generations of teachers. While running the school in Cheam with her brother, Mayo developed a lifelong interest in early childhood education and the teaching methods best suited for that age group. In 1843, Mayo began working at the Home and Colonial Infant School Society in London, where she became the first woman in England to be employed in teacher training. She developed lesson plans, supervised curricula, and acted as a general consultant at the institution. The institution offered a broad course to prepare students to teach grammar, math, geography, the arts, and physical education. By the late 1840s, the Home and Colonial Society provided teachers to early childhood education programs all across England, and was widely distributing lesson plans and teaching materials to schools as well. Octavo. xiii, [2], 228, [16, publisherÕs ads] pp. With ten lithographed plates of shells. Preface by Charles Mayo, the authorÕs brother. Also, with the authorÕs preface to the second edition. Contemporary brown straight-grained cloth. Dustsoiling to cloth and some chipping to head and tail of spine. Very clean and fresh throughout, aside from some light foxing to plates (as usual). Ink gift inscription (dated 1909) to a Helen Wigham on front flyleaf. A very good copy. Third edition. First published by Seeley in 1832. In the Oxford DNB, Janet Shepherd writes, ÒElizabeth'sÊemphasis on structure, at a time when early years teaching tended to be unsystematic, secured her importance in the history of infant education.Ó- $450
- $450
The Virgin UnmaskÕd: or, Female Dialogues Betwixt an Elderly Maiden Lady and her Niece on several Diverting Discourses on love, marriage, memoirs, and morals, &c. of the Times.: https://rarebookinsider.com/rare-books/the-virgin-unmaskod-or-female-dialogues-betwixt-an-elderly-maiden-lady-and-her-niece-on-several-diverting-discourses-on-love-marriage-memoirs-and-morals-c-of-the-times/
