Ephemera from Main Street Fine Books & Manuscripts, ABAA

The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique's best known and largest ocean liner was launched by this French firm in 1916 and this "Aristocrat of the Ocean" crossed from Le Havre, France to New York with cruises elsewhere until 1939. Collection of five menus, each small 4to (8½" X 11", opening to 17" X 11"), with 1936 issue dates of 1 July,… Read more about this item

Warren, IL: Jo Daviess County Soldiers' & Sailors' Association, 1885. Handbill (or small broadside). 5" X 10½". Very good. Milld overall wear and light age toning, several folds. About a month and a half after General Grant's death, this regional military association from northwest Illinois whose county seat, Galena, became the Union hero's adopted hometown, held their third annual… Read more about this item

N.p.: N.p., 1965. Hardcover. 4to. Blue padded leatherette folder with black cloth tape spine. Gilt-bordered recto opening with clear mylar window. Near fine. Presentation folder given to then-U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Adlai Stevenson (1900-65), formerly Illinois governor and two-time Democratic presidential candidate. Window at right bears insert with (top to bottom) printed caption, two mint 4-stamp blocks and… Read more about this item

Chicago: Rand McNally & Company, 1970. Folio (24" X 18", folds down to 6" X 9"). Heavy stock beige. Very good. Original mailing folds, else bright and nice, without edgewear. This promotional poster issued by Disabled American Veterans features numerous color artist renderings chronicling Lincoln's life from "Birth in Kentucky" to "The Last Full Measure," each with descriptive paragraph… Read more about this item

N.p.: Hallmark, n.y.. Small 4to (7" X 9½"). Heavy stock single-fold card with printed glassine overlay in original transmittal envelope. Near fine. This undated (circa 1970) keepsake greeting from the Kansas City businessman (1892-1981) who founded Hallmark cards bears a large head-and-shoulders portrait by artist Donald Edward Dubowski (1947-2020) of a bearded Lincoln on front wrapper, with heavy glassine… Read more about this item

N.p.: N.p., n.y.. Broadside. 4to (9½" X 12"). Illustration. Very good. Faint original folds (none weakened); tiny inoffensive stain at lower left (not touching text). Interesting if bibliographically cryptic handbill with title in four lines in a variety of large typefaces. At center is a graphic depicting a cutaway view of a small brick structure (labeled "Tank House") with… Read more about this item

Rockford: Taggart Enterprises, n.y.. Paperback. 4to (8½" X 11"). (4pp). Illustrations in blue (front and rear wrappers). Very good. Lightly age toned. Sheet music for the official song for Illinois' third largest city, undated but typographically clearly a 1970s-80s production (confirmed be pencilled "10-2-81" date at upper right of front wrapper). Supposedly composed in the early 20th century, this… Read more about this item

Richmond: Adjutant and Inspector General's Office, 1864. 12mo. Self-cover. 1p. Very good. Minor soiling. Scarce Confederate General Order dated August 26, 1864. Three measures: first amendments "to provide for the establishment and payment of claims for a certain description of property taken or informally impressed," second "Requisitions may be made by any Commissioner... for a reasonable supply of stationery… Read more about this item

Hardcover. Folio (14½" X 11"). Grey cloth, front board bearing large ornate "ALBUM" in gilt and extensive black and gilt decorations, with small color plate at lower right. (31pp), (55pp blank). Very good overall. Binding rather edgeworn and rubbed, but tight and sound; text leaves heavy, age toned thick stock typical of Victorian album leaves, with some showing more… Read more about this item

The Woman's Missionary Society, more formally the Woman's Baptist Home Missionary Society, was formed in Chicago in 1877 in order to train and send women to missions both at home and abroad; later it joined with other similar societies to form the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. Printed card, heavy stock 3¼" X 4½," n.p., 20 March 1902. Near… Read more about this item

New York: The Rotograph Co, 1908. Heavy stock 24mo (3¼" X 5½"). Very good. Mildly creased, but edges strong and no chipping. Attractive example of this Katharine Gassaway signed color postcard (marked as "F.L. 152) featuring a pigeon-toed young man full-length in horse riding getup: jodhpurs, tall boots with spurs, riding crop tucked under arm. Addressed, penny stamp cancelled… Read more about this item

New York: The Paul C. Koeber Co, 1908. Heavy stock 24mo (5½" X 3½"). Very good. Mildly creased, but edges strong and no chipping. A lovely example of this charmer, a color closeup of "Gibson Girl" type at left, hands folded in anticipation under chin, and dashing young man in tuxedo and white gloves, index finger nervously touching his… Read more about this item

Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1943. Printed hand bill. Heavy stock 6 3/4" X 4½". Very good. Faint edgewear. Obverse consists of a chart with three columns across top ("Gas," "How to Detect," "Protection and First Aid"). "Gas" types consist of "Blister Gases," "Choking Gases," "Blood and Nerve Poisons," "Vomiting and Tear Gases," "Screening Smokes" and "Incendiaries" --… Read more about this item

12 covers, each 5½" X 3", New York, NY, n.y. Near fine. Unused and with faintest of age toning only and original gum present. Exceptional complete set, printed entirely in brown ink by Charles Magnus at 12 Frankfort Street in New York. Undated, although Steven R. Boyd in his "Patriotic Envelopes of the Civil War: The Iconography of Union… Read more about this item

In 1935 the American Communist Party formed this motley group of writers -- poets, playwrights, critics, novelists, etc. -- who sympathized with their ideology and supported their view, with Writer Waldo Frank their first president and a stellar "Who's Who" membership of "fellow travelers"; they issued a newsletters, published titles and were active in various causes such as the… Read more about this item

Proof copy of the lineoleum-block custom bookplate, 4" X 6½" (framed to 5" X 7¼"), n.p., n.y. Fine. Handsome proof pull of this rectangular (rounded corners) striking example by a talented practitioner known only by the tiny "V.G." initials, an ornate image noting "Ex Libris / Arnold Larsen" in crossing banners and other typical bibliophilic features, a rose-clutching hand,… Read more about this item

London: Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, n.y.. Printed broadside. Folio (13½" X 8¼"). Very good. Mild wear, mainly about the edges, which show discreet, expert expert archival mends on verso; tiny "DUPL NYPL" inkstamp on verso. Printed on ultra-thin pale green tissue paper by S.G. Fairbrother, undated but likely 1833, this scarce broadside advertises a number of upcoming productions in… Read more about this item

This Boston businessman was partner in the firm of Winslow, Rand & Co. Wholesale Grocers. ALS, 1p, 8" X 10½", Boston, MA, 23 December 1881. Addressed to "Friend Nutter." Very good. Original folds; single archivally closed (on verso) edge tear. On imprinted company letterhead listing the four principal officers, Watson comments interestingly on the use of soap: "I shall… Read more about this item

Boston: Rust Craft, n.y.. Heavy stock 6" X 3½" printed envelope that opens to reveal two pockets, one containing 16 heavy stock 5" X 3" printed cards and the other containing a single heavy stock bifold 6" X 5" printed card. Very good. Printed envelope faintly age toned and lightly edgeworn, with small discreet archival mends along couple of… Read more about this item

New York: Time, Inc, 1956. Circular diecut glossy card stock wheel with riveted center. Near fine. Faintest of mild edgewear. Printed in red and black on white glossy stock, recto is subtitled "The 48 States" and notes, "This wheel gives you 818 useful facts about U.S. Presidents and election campaigns, past and present. Dial this side to cover the… Read more about this item