Muir, John
The Writings of John Muir. Manuscript Edition. [10 volumes].
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston and New York: 1916
First edition ["Manuscript Edition"], publisher's maroon leather binding. Number 192 of 750 sets. 10 volumes. Each volume with frontis photogravures with numerous photogravures, halftones and maps. Extra-illustrated (as issued) with added hand-colored gravure frontispieces in the first eight volumes. Portion of an original leaf of manuscript by Muir inlaid to front flyleaf of volume I. Publisher's handsome three-quarter maroon levant morocco with maroon cloth sides, gilt-stamped lettering and floral ornaments on spine, four raised bands, top edges gilt, marbled endpapers. Bound by hand at the Riverside Press. Spines uniformly toned to a dark golden brown. A bit of minor wear or rubbing to some corners with a few just showing. Overall, a beautiful set. "The Writings" were sold by subscription only and could be bound to order. The publisher's normal binding was green buckram with leather spine labels. Copies bound in morocco are excessively rare. Our set corresponds to Kimes' number 342, with the levant morocco binding, and with the additional and delicately hand-colored frontispieces in each of the first eight volumes. The first eight volumes were published from 1916 through 1918. The ninth and tenth volumes did not appear until 1923 and 1924. [Kimes, John Muir, a Reading Bibliography: 342].
More from Argonaut Book Shop
Ford Instruction Book. For Owners and Operators of Ford Cars
[FORD MOTOR COMPANY] Small Octavo. 7½x5 inches. 35pp. Detailed photographic illustrations throughout. Dark tan stiffer wrappers printed in black. "L. C. Firestine" (Ford dealer) stamp to front cover. Some soiling to wrappers and a few internal leaves. A very good copy. Covers it all: Starting the Engine; The Ford Lubricating System; the Ford Engine; Cooling System; Gasoline System; Ignition System; The Ford Starting and Lighting System; Transmission; Running Gear; Care of Tires, etc.The Pioneers: or, the Source of the Susquehanna, a Descriptive Tale
Cooper, James Fenimore Original period binding with drawings by F. O. C. Darley. Octavo. Pp. [2], 199. Extra-illustrated title and numerous full-page illustrations by F. O. C. Darley. Original blind and gilt-stamped dark blue cloth, beveled edges. Rubbing to corners, light surface rubbing to rear cover. A fine and clean copy. Originally published in 1823, this was one of Cooper's first efforts and the first of what became the group of Leatherstocking Tales. A nice copy of this American frontier classic, illustrated by a very collectible illustrator. Darley (1822-1888) was one of America's great nineteenth-century illustrators. One source states that The Pioneers was not the first American novel but the first that Americans actually read by Americans. Cooper's "presentation of a socially marginal hero as the essential American" gave Americans a reason to read." The Pioneers was widely popular in the United States, selling 3500 copies by noon on the day of publication.California Bankers, 1848-1993
DOTI, Lynne Pierson and Larry Schweikart First edition. Small quarto. Pp. viii, 263. Numerous photographs throughout. Appendices, Bibliography, index. Gold pictorial boards printed in black and red. Signature of original owner on inner cover. A very fine copy. Signed on inner cover by Bob Chandler, late Wells Fargo historian. Laid in is a typed letter, signed by Larry Kurmel, Executive Director of the California Bankers Association, presenting this copy to Bob and stating, "This project couldn't have been completed without the generous contributions of people like yourself." Also laid in is a typed letter, signed by Robert (Bob) J. Chandler to co-author Schweikart: ".At last you and Lynne have replaced Ira Cross as THE word on California banking." Bob is referring to the standard on the subject for years, Ira Cross' Financing an Empire. A History of Banking in California, 4 volumes, 1925. From the Bob Chandler collection. Excellent reference.The Voyage of the Resolution and Adventure, 1772-1773
Beaglehole, J.C. [editor] First edition by the Hakluyt Society. Thick octavo. Pp. clxx, 1,021. 82 plates, maps, facsimiles, many folding. Calendar of Documents, index. Blue cloth, gilt portrait of Cook on cover, gilt-lettered spine. A very fine copy with somewhat tattered and stained printed dust jacket. First edition by the Hakluyt Society. Scarce as a first. This work is volume II (complete in itself) of the six-volume set of The Journals of Captain Cook, published between 1955 and 1974. The first edition of this second volume is quite scarce. What is normally found is the reprint. The Hakluyt Society volumes are considered the definitive edition of Cook's three voyages from his own journals, supplemented with journals of officers and scholarly notes and introductions to the voyages by the editor, J. C. Beaglehole. Our volume II covers Cook's second voyage which was designed to circumnavigate the globe as far south as possible to finally determine whether there was any great southern landmass, or Terra Australis.Private Gold Coinage of California, 1849-55, Its History and Its Issues
Adams, Edgar H. First edition bound in the original four parts, as issued. xxviii, 110pp. plus numerous photographic plates of coins, portraits, etc. Original maroon cloth, gilt lettering on spine. A few inner hinges just starting (as usual), previous owner's bookplate and address label on inner front cover, minor offsetting to inner cover, light general wear to covers. Overall, a very good copy of this classic title, clean throughout. This is the extremely scarce first issue of all four parts, originally issued in The American Journal of Numismatics in 1911 and 1912. This work is considered the rare definitive reference on the subject of California's pioneer gold coins, and remains the "central information source for numismatists and scholars." The four parts cover Private Gold Coinage: I, The State Assay Office of California, 1850; II, The Moffat & Co. Issues, San Francisco, 1849-53; III, Various California Private Mints, 1849-55; IV, Pattern and Experimental Pieces of California, 1849-53. [Cowan: p.2; Rocq: 8027].A Cartograph of Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay. Golden Gate International Exposition
Taylor, Ruth First edition, first issue. Large folding map in color. 16 x 19¼ inches. Printed in dark blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, pink, and purple. Minor creases where folded. A very fine copy. Scarce. Originally folded and bound with the Official Guide Book to the Exposition. This wonderful Art Deco style map shows the entire island and all the buildings and exhibits (keyed by number or letter), with a portion of San Francisco in the foreground and the East Bay in the background. The verso of the cartograph shows detailed sections of the island and its exhibits, printed in blue.History of Contra Costa County, California.
First edition. Pp. xiii, [3], [17]-710. Illustrated with numerous portraits. Index. New brown cloth, black leather spine labels. Minor stain to upper gutter of first three laves, else a fine and clean copy. Includes geography, geology, topography, climatography, and historical descriptions of the Mexican grants, the Bear Flag revolt, the Mount Diablo coal fields, early history and settlement, names of early Spanish and Mexican pioneers, legislative history, separate histories of the various townships, population, agriculture, churches, fraternal societies, biographical sketches of leading citizens and pioneers, etc.Letter of Hon. Whiting Griswold, in Reply to the Speech of Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, Delivered a Lowell, May 15, 1860, on the Proceedings of the Charleston Convention
GRISWOLD, Hon. Whiting First edition. Scarce. Octavo. 16pp. Sewn. Self-cover lightly soiled, 2 light horizontal creases to leaves, tiny light stain to fore-edge of text block. A fine copy. This speech was delivered at the official proceedings of the Democratic National Convention in Charleston, South Carolina. At Charleston, a number of nominations were made, and voting took place to decide the presidential ticket. However, delegates, at logger heads over the issues of slavery, failed to successfully reach the 2/3 vote necessary to nominate a presidential candidate at the 1860 Democratic Convention in Charleston. Whiting Griswold (1814-1874) was an American abolitionist, lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and in the Massachusetts Senate. The following, from part of this speech, says it all: "In conclusion you say you voted for Jefferson Davis of Mississippi. Among the chief reasons for this vote was the fact that he assisted Massachusetts in securing her just dues, which she ought to have had and which Mr. Davis if within his power, ought to have Obtained for her years before. Now I have nothing to say against Mr. Davis. Massachusetts thanks him for his exertions in doing tardy justice to our State. Mr. Davis is a man of courage, a statesman of the extreme Southern sectional school, honest I doubt not, and patriotic in his views. But it is a curious fact, that, after the long struggle, so honorable to you, in favor of non-intervention, you should select as a candidate the only prominent statesman, almost in the country, who never indorsed the Cincinnati Plat form, who entered his protest in the outset, against the great doctrine of popular sovereignty in the territories. You may be able to reconcile his course of action in your own mind. I cannot do it myself" (Griswold, Letter of. p.11). [Sabin: 28909].The Beginnings of San Francisco from the Expedition of Anza, 1774 to the City Charter of April 15, 1850 [2 volumes]
Eldredge, Zoeth Skinner 2 volumes. First edition. 837pp. Numerous illustrations, portraits, maps, etc., some folding; extensive notes, appendices, index. Small bookplate on inner cover of each volume. Contemporary signature on blank flyleaf of volume I. Green cloth, gilt. Spines faded to brown (as usual). A very good set. A standard and sought-after work on the early Spanish and Mexican period of San Francisco, with a vast amount of general history. Covers the period from the discovery of the Bay of San Francisco in 1769 by Don Gaspar de Portola up to the period just after the Gold Rush. One of the best on the subject.History of Contra Costa County
Purcell, Mae Fisher First edition. Very scarce, especially in decent condition. 742pp. Illustrated throughout with plates, maps, portraits, etc.; bibliography, index to illustrations. Original light brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine. Minor extremity rubbing. A fine, tight copy. Covers early California history, historical geology of Mount Diablo, geography, climatology, Indians, Mexican land grants, early ranchos and cattle, American period, political history, water resources, the Central Valley Project, mining, mineral springs, agriculture, historical and modern transportation, education, organizations, library system, sports and recreational facilities, historical and modern banks and banking, county newspapers, history of manufacturing, towns and historic settlements, etc., etc. This work is extremely thorough and surprisingly elusive for the collector. [Rocq: 1491].Thomas Christy’s Road Across the Plains. A Guide to the Route from Mormon Crossing, now Omaha, Nebraska, to the City of Sacramento, California. Together with his Diary of the Same Journey
Christy, Thomas First edition. One of 2000 copies. Edited and Cartographically Interpreted, with a Foreword by Robert H. Becker. 210pp. Frontis portrait, numerous maps. Pictorial cloth. A very fine copy with spine-darkened pictorial dust jacket. A handsome book designed and printed by Lawton and Alfred Kennedy. Robert H. Becker describes and interprets Thomas Christy's route in 1850, and includes 94 detailed day-by-day maps by Becker of the emigrant trail, showing the complete route through Wyoming and Nevada into California. " Some of Robert H. Becker best known works include Diseños of California Ranchos, and its companion volume, Designs on the Land, and of course his editing of Wagner-Camp's bibliography Plains and the Rockies. An important addition to any collection concerning the overland experience. The book combines three elements: Christy's overland guide and diary printed on one page, with accompanying maps illustrating the traced route on each facing page. An interesting introduction by Mr. Becker precedes the overland diary" (Mintz). Becker also includes a good listing of 1850 overland diaries. [Kurutz: 129; Mintz: 90].Official Guide Book – 1940. Revised Edition. Golden Gate International Exposition on San Francisco Bay (cover title)
Small octavo. 8x5½ inches. 96pp. Profusely illustrated with photographs (some in color) ads, etc. Large folding color "cartograph," 16x19½ inches. Index. Slighter stiffer pictorial wrappers printed in color; gray cloth spine. Interior leaves toned. A very good copy with the original folding cartograph in fine condition. First Revised edition. Scarce with the folding map intact. The official guide book for the Treasure Island exposition. How to get there, what to see, services and rest rooms, food and refreshments, courts and gardens, outdoor art, etc. Printed with an Art Deco style cover, this guide includes the large folding color oblique bird's-eye-view "cartograph" by Ruth Taylor showing the entire island and all the buildings and exhibits (keyed by number or letter), with a portion of San Francisco in the foreground and the East Bay in the background. The verso of the cartograph shows detailed sections of the island. First Revised edition. Scarce with the folding map intact. The official guide book for the Treasure Island exposition. How to get there, what to see, services and rest rooms, food and refreshments, courts and gardens, outdoor art, etc. Printed with an Art Deco style cover, this guide includes the large folding color oblique bird's-eye-view "cartograph" by Ruth Taylor showing the entire island and all the buildings and exhibits (keyed by number or letter), with a portion of San Francisco in the foreground and the East Bay in the background. The verso of the cartograph shows detailed sections of the island.[ADVERTISING POSTCARD]. Velvet Velox: Single Weight – Double Weight Post Cards.
Real Photo Advertising Postcard. 3¼x5¼ inches. Undivided back. Original silver-print photograph measures 2x2¾ inches. Slight silvering to the photograph. A very fine example. A very scarce real-photo advertising postcard for "Velvet Velox: Single Weight, Double Weight Post Cards, Velox Liquid Developer and Velox Liquid Hardener." The entire card is a "Sample of Velvet Post Card." Addressed and sent (with Postal cancellation) to "Dr. Deal. 22nd and Valencia St., City." The card is sent by "Charles Perry, 20th & Mission St." and advertises a "Demonstration at our Store" from 2 to 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19/'04. We're pretty sure this particular silver-print photograph shows an early San Francisco Bay ferry boat.[ALAMEDA GOLD AND SILVER MINING CO.]. Stock Certificate.
ALAMEDA GOLD AND SILVER MINING CO.]. Stock Certificate. No. 996. Unused. 3¾x9¼ inches plus borders. Slightly toned. Minor wrinkling to center. Small thin spot to upper right corner, but fine and crisp. Oakland, California: printed by M. E. Mathews San Francisco, c.1877. The works of The Alameda Gold and Silver Mining Company were located in the Cornucopia Mining District, Elko County, Nevada. The company's offices were in Oakland, California. The company was incorporated April 24, 1876. Quite scarce.Unwritten Literature of Hawaii. The Sacred Songs of the Hula. [Bulletin 38 of the Bureau of American Ethnology]
Emerson, Nathaniel B. First edition. Bulletin 38 of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Octavo. 288pp. Frontis, 24 photographic plates3 figures and 16 musical scores. Index. Original dark brown cloth, gilt-lettered spine. A very fine copy. This work is the first title in the Bureaus' Hawaiian series. Prior to this, only titles on American Indians were issued. The material was "collected and translated, with notes and an account of the Hula." The author was born July 1, 1839 in Waialua, Oahu, the son of Protestant missionaries. Well-educated, Emerson was a well-known historian and writer of Hawaiian mythology.A History of C. Brewster & Company Limited. One Hundred Years in the Hawaiian Islands, 1826-1926
Sullivan, Josephine First edition. Number 264 of an unknown limitation for this company history. Edited by K. C. Leebrick. Octavo. Pp. xiv, 193. Illustrated with head and tail chapter illustrations and 35 photographic plates not included in the pagination. Original green cloth, gilt lettering to spine and front cover. Stain to lower half of front cover fore-edge, spine dulled and spotted. Small stamp "264" to upper corner of half title. A very good copy, internally very fine, tight and clean. C. Brewer was one of the so-called "Big Five" companies in Hawaii, handling 25% of the territory's sugar by 1925.Carl Moon. Photographer and Illustrator of the American Southwest. Catalogue 83: A Selection of Vintage Photographs, Original Art and Related Material
Haines, Jr., Robert D. First and only edition. Although not indicated, printed in a limited edition. Quarto. [48]pp. plus covers. Illustrated throughout with photographs and illustrations. Bibliographic Checklist. Stiff glossy pictorial wrappers, duotone reproduction on cover. As new. This catalogue was the result of a surprise purchase in the very early 1980's. It is the first major catalogue of the original photographs and artwork of Carl Moon who photographed a total of twenty-nine tribes and villages throughout the American southwest, c.1907-1914. The complete and "fun" story behind that acquisition will be related to those that care.The Innocents Abroad, or the New Pilgrims’ Progress.
Twain, Mark Pp. [2], xviii, [19]-651 plus 3 pages of ads. 2 frontis illustrations and 14 plates. Text illustrations throughout. Original three-quarter publisher's light brown morocco, marbled endpapers and edges. Front and rear free marbled endpapers removed, dedication leaf at front duplicated. Old wear to extreme fore-edge of front cover. With the exceptions noted, a fine, clean and bright copy throughout, bound in the publisher's deluxe leather binding. First edition, mixed issue, with the page reference numbers present on pp.xvii-xviii, and the illustration present on p.129. First issue points include the last entry on p.xviii reading "Thankless Devotion."; the heading on p.643 reading "Chapter XLI"; and p.654 headed "Personal History." The Innocents Abroad was Mark Twain's first really commercial success. The book was issued by the American Publishing Co., who specialized in subscription books. On the basis of the success of this title, for a number of years following, all the Mark Twain books were published on the same basis. [BAL: 3316; Johnson: p. 9].Mark Twain’s Autobiography
Twain, Mark First edition, first issue with the copyright notice stating, "First Edition," and with the code letters "H-Y" on the copyright page. One of 100 special bound copies. With an Introduction by Albert Bigelow Paine. 2 volumes. Pp. xvi, 368 + [6], 365, [2, ads], [1]. Gravure frontispieces in each volume. Contemporary three-quarter tan pigskin, raised bands, tan cloth sides, gilt-lettered spines, top edges gilt, other edges untrimmed. Minimal scuff marks to spine. Light, unobtrusive stain to spine of volume II. Overall, A fine set. First edition, first issue with the copyright notice stating, "First Edition," and with the code letters "H-Y" on the copyright page. Half title duplicated in volume II. Also includes the two pages of Books by Mark Twain after the index (volume II) noting that this title was issued as a "special edition." There is a typed statement tipped-in to volume I from the San Francisco bookselling firm of Newbegin's Books stating, "First issue of the first edition hand-bound in three-quarter pigskin. This is one set of 100 issued for Mark Twain collectors." Stamped at the bottom edge of the inner rear covers is the statement, "Hand Bound for Newbegin." Neither BAL or Johnson mention this special edition. However, Johnson states, "About three hundred copies in sheets, uncut and untrimmed, were variously bound by individuals but no known copy issued by the publishers varied from the above collation" (as per our collation of this copy). "This is not the formal autobiography one expects and gets from a Grant or a Roosevelt. Rather it is a rambling group of reminiscences, which might jump in one moment from boyhood to middle age" (Johnson). [BAL: 3537; Johnson, Bibliography of Mark Twain: p.101].The American Claimant
Twain, Mark First edition. Small octavo. Pp. xv, [1], 17-277 plus 8 pp. of ads at rear. Frontis and 25 text illustrations by Dan Beard. Gray-green pictorial cloth stamped in black and gold. Some extremity rubbing, especially the spine ends but overall, a fine, clean and tight copy. First edition of Twain's comedy of mistaken identities and multiple role switches between British and American characters. Of particular interest is Twain's attempt to write a story without ever once mentioning weather, which is fully detailed both in a page of explanation at the beginning of the book and in the appendix. [BAL: 3434; Johnson: p. 53].[Original Drawing] Two Navajo Children with Campfire
Original Detailed Pencil Drawing. 11x9½ inches. Unsigned. Matted in non-acidic board. Very fine. An original pencil drawing by this artist of the American Southwest. Although not titled, the Navajo kids look like Moon's characters, Naw-Wee and Datsay. The Book of Naw-Wee was published in 1932. The drawing shows a teen-age Navajo boy standing over the campfire warming his hands while a teen-age Navajo maiden kneels at the fire cooking a piece of meat on a stick. This work is most definitely by Carl Moon and the provenance is impeccable. [Argonaut Book Shop: Carl Moon. Photographer & Illustrator of the American Southwest: item 96].Memoirs of the Hawaiian Revolution. [3 volumes].
Thurston, Lorrin A., Sanford B. Dole, and Andrew Farrell First edition. Although not noted, one of 600 sets published for subscribers. This set lacks the limitation slip normally mounted to the endpaper. 3 volumes. Octavo. Pp. vii, [1], 168 + xvii, [1], 664 + xxiii, [1], 188. Plates and illustrations throughout. Indexes. Publisher's red patterned cloth lettered in gilt. Just a bit of extremity rubbing. Inner hinges of the second and third volume cracked. A very good set housed in the original three-decker slipcase (lightly worn, etc., but it does its job). This set provides the memoirs of Sanford B. Dole and Lorrin A. Thurston and is comprised as follows: Writings of Lorrin A. Thurston (vol. I); Memoirs of the Hawaiian Revolution by Lorrin A. Thurston (vol. II) and Memoirs of the Hawaiian Revolution by Sanford Dole (vol. III). This 3 part work is essential for understanding the history of Hawaii from the 1840's to the period just before the Second World War.Honolulu. Sketches of the Life, Social, Political and Religious in the Hawaiian Islands from 1828 to 1861
Judd, Laura Fish Pp. xii, 209. Frontis portrait. Appendices, index. Red cloth stamped in gilt on spine and front cover. Mild darkening to gutters of endpapers from publisher's glue, lower corner lightly jammed. A fine and clean copy with pictorial dust jacket (jacket slightly chipped and soiled). Reprinted from the original edition by the families of Gerrit and Laura Judd's children to celebrate the centenary of the Judd's arrival in Hawaii on March 31, 1828. Includes a supplementary sketch of events to 1880. This copy with a Presentation Inscription, Signed to Major General William Lassiter from Laurence M. Judd, dated 1931. Lawrence McCully Judd (1887-1968) was born in Honolulu, the grandson of Gerrit P. Judd and the author. He was the seventh Territorial Governor of Hawaii (1929-1934). Devoted to the Hansen's Disease-afflicted residents of Kalaupapa on Molokai, having made several fact-finding tours during his tenure in the Hawaii State Senate and having overhauled the system of governance in the leper colony as Territorial Governor, Judd became Kalaupapa's resident superintendent in 1947. He temporarily served as Territorial Governor of American Samoa from March 4 to August 4, 1953. Major General William Lassiter was the Commander of the Hawaiian Department of the U.S. Army Pacific Command, 1930-1931. A wonderful association copy!Report of Hon. T. Butler King On California
King, Thomas Butler Second and best edition, first published in Washington earlier the same year but with only 32 pages. Our copy is complete with original printed wrappers and the often-lacking errata slip. 72pp. Printed wrappers. Cover title within ornamental borders. Errata slip tipped-in. Minor crease to upper corner of cover, lower corner of cover chipped off, small reinforcement to verso of cover fore-edge, slight wear to spine. Overall, a fine and clean copy. King was the personal adviser to President Taylor on the statehood situation in California. He arrived in California on June 4, 1849 by way of the Isthmus of Panama (after resigning his seat in Congress). He became Collector of the Port of San Francisco, but left permanently in 1852. A prominent economist and politician, he touched, in his report, on every aspect of California's social and economic potential. King presents facts and figures on the region's climate, soil, agricultural products and population as well as, of course, gold. King discusses mining techniques, and seems to have visited the diggings himself. He also provides information about the various routes to reach California. An "outstanding report" (Wheat). "This report to the government by the Collector of Customs at San Francisco gave Washington its first official information on the gold strike" (Howes). "King reported on the conditions of California and its potential, and gave Washington its first official information on the gold strike King also recognized the serious plight of the miner: 'Those who purchase and ship gold to the Atlantic States make large profits: but those who dig lose what others make.'. King's text was appended to or translated for inclusion in several Gold Rush publications, including Bayard Taylor's Eldorado and Carl L. Fleischmann's Neueste Officielle Berichte" (Kurutz). [Cowan: p.330; Howes I: K-153; Howes II: K-153; Kurutz: 377b; Rocq: 16970; Wheat, Books of the California Gold Rush: 118].The Writings of John Muir. Manuscript Edition. [10 volumes].: https://rarebookinsider.com/rare-books/the-writings-of-john-muir-manuscript-edition-10-volumes/