Search Results: Titles starting with S from Auger Down Books

New York: Elias Dexter, 1862. Small folio, later black cloth, viii, 104 pp. Complete with sixty-three plates, as well as a photographic title page. One of 100 copies. Very Good. A very scarce and important reference on Saint-Memin, also important as one of the earliest books illustrated with unique sets of photographic prints. This copy generally well preserved, with some occasional fading to plates. Some dampstaining to text portion at margins. Light marginal creasing to corners of plates, not affecting images. The photographic title page appears to be a copy of an earlier edition, reading: Partie de la Collection des 818 / Portraits graves / par / Ch. Balt Julien Fevret de Saint Memin, ancien Officier / aux Gardes Francaises, pendant son emigration aux Etats-Unis. 1793 - 1814, and includes sixteen portraits surrounding the text. This title page detached, all other pages soundly attached, with a sound 20th-century cloth binding in generally excellent condition with some slight bowing to boards. A… Read More

[New London]: Likely Timothy Green, 1776. First Edition. Broadside, small folio measuring 11 x 6 ½ inches, [2] pp. Light wear, near fine overall. Near Fine. Recent scholarship on the American Revolution, such as David C. Hsiung's Environmental History and the War of Independence: Saltpeter and the Continental Army's Shortage of Gunpowder (Spero, The American Revolution Reborn, Philadelphia, 2016. Pp. 205-230), has explored the role of environmental history in the conflict, arguing that "the shortage of gunpowder affected the Continental Army''s ability to wage war." Faced with shortages, and a ban on the export of saltpeter outside of Great Britain, the situation grew more direthis period, before trade with France eased the shortages somewhat. Offered here is a very uncommon broadside from Connecticut, encouraging the production of saltpeter in Connecticut per a law passed on December 14 of 1775, during a period which saw similar laws passed in various other colonies. The act established a… Read More

San Francisco, 1905. Loose photographs in box, images measuring 5 x 7 inches. 251 Half-Tone images, generally fine condition, box torn with missing panel. Fine images and good-only box. Fine. James D. Givens had a studio in San Francisco's Presidio for many years, and traveled to the Philippines in 1903 on an Army transport ship, where he took photographs of the Philippine-American War. This collection, with Givens' studio's imprint on the box, contains a mix of Givens work as well as many photographs by Perley Fremont Rockett, and many photographs by uncredited photographers, copied and sold by Givens without attribution. According to an article in the Spring, 2002 issue of Prologue, Givens would publish several different later books claiming credit for other photographers' work. This collection - of which we find no record, save for a similar assemblage with a different title housed at Stanford - seems to be earlier, likely pre-1905. Despite the title on the box, all but a couple of images show… Read More

New Orleans: Various Photographers, 1870. Twenty-four cartes-de-Visite and three ninth-plate tintypes, all bearing New Orleans photographers' marks to versos. Very good to fine. Very Good. A curated group of images of New Orleans subjects, with an emphasis on women, children and religious imagery, including one uncommon image of a rosary and another of the interior of a church. Most photographs document the city's wealthy residents at a time when elite culture changed due to the abolition of French instruction in schools and the general forces of reconstruction. The images include several with identified subjects. Overall an evocative group worthy of study by scholars of the city.

V.P., 1905. Twenty five silver gelatin photographs measuring 3 ⅜ square on slightly larger mounts. Slight fading to images, excellent overall. Very Good. A collection of travel photographs, most captioned, likely taken by a N.E.A. delegate on a 1905 tour of the Southwest which ended in San Antonio, and also including some photographs taken in Mexico in a presumed continuation of those travels. Several images mention delegates, one sign on the side of a train car reads "welcome N.E.A. delegates," and the route matches one found in contemporary newspaper accounts of a trip through the Southwest in 1905. The images are mix of candid shots and tourist attractions, with the Alamo represented, as well as several events, and some street scenes taken in Mexico.

Costa Rica, 1890. Albumen photographs, 9 x 7 ½ inches on larger mounts, with credits to Rudd y Paynter and the Paynter Bros. Near Fine. H.N. Rudd and the Paynter Brothers, Richard and John, were photographers who were active in Costa Rica in the 1890s, operating out of San Jose. Five of these views show the Rudd y Paynter mark on versos, with their address at the Parque Central in San Jose. The Paynters were from the United States, arriving in 1874 and first establishing Rudd y Paynter out of a shop in the Parque Central, where they also sold marble and art objects. In 1895 the studio changed its name to Paynter Bros. Collected here are nine scarce albumen views of Costa Rica from the 1890s. Five of them document a trip up Mt. Turrialba (these bear the Rudd y Paynter mark). Of the other other four, one image shows a building likely in San Jose with a gathered crowd; one shows a very striking mural and is captured "Corpus Christi / Cartaga, Costa Rica, June 4 / 96 (this shows no photographers mars… Read More

San Francisco, 1968. Fourteen silver gelatin prints measuring 8 x 10 to 6 x 8 inches, mounted on grey 20 x 16 inch artist's board. All initialed "J.P. / 68" on board. Some wear to boards, photographs generally fine with fine contrast. Near Fine. An evocative series of portraits likely taken in San Francisco in 1968. The photographer is unknown - possibly a student? - but is likely a peer of the subjects, as evident from the relaxed and candid nature of most of the portraits. One sign in the background appears to be the Alamo theatre, and the general scenery in the background suggests San Francisco as well. The zeitgeist of the time is conveyed in spades, with a more humane and less fiery portrayal than is often seen in portraiture of the New Left.

Chicago, 1940. First Edition. 4 x 3 inch glossy silver gelatin photographs on three 6 x 11 inch disbound album leaves. A series of fifty-nine photographs taped onto three leatherette boards. A wonderfully vibrant group, showing the joyful life of an off -duty soldier in Chicago. Boards in rough shape, pictures very good with some fading.

Washington, D.C., 1970. [3] pp. stapled mimeograph program for a service commemorating King's birthday at The Washington Cathedral, January 15, 1970. Stapled together with a [1] pp. letter from Bishop Henry C. Bunton to the Interreligious Committee on Race Relations (ICRR) notifying members of the event, and including a [1] pp. copy of the minutes from the ICRR board meeting on January 7, 1970, at which the details were agreed upon, and a [1] pp. announcement for the event. Program worn at corners, two bent; letters originally folded, creases beginning to split. Overall good. The first observance of King's birthday was sponsored by the newly created King Memorial Center in Atlanta in 1969, only eight months after his death. In its "Making of the King Holiday" chronology, the Center describes this service as "the model for subsequent annual commemorations of Dr. King's birthday nationwide, setting the tone of celebration of Dr. King's life, education in his teachings and nonviolent action to carry… Read More

Jerusalem, 1920. Silver gelatin photographs measuring 11 ½ x 9 ¼ inches, hand colored. Some light normal wear, near fine overall, quite attractive and suitable for framing. Fine. The American Colony in Jerusalem, started by 1881 by members of a Christian utopian society led by Anna and Horatio Spafford of Chicago, developed in the next fifty years into one of the primary photographic historians of the city prior to Zionism. The Spaffords were joined by the Swedish, American, and Swedish-American Christians. They eventually moved into the former residence of Rabbah Effendi al-Husseini, who served as an official during the Ottoman era. The building is the site of the current American Colony hotel. Collected here are seven hand-colored photographs, taken and sold during their period of prolific output. They are particularly well preserved examples, showing the group's skill for hand coloring. Little is known about the photographers themselves or their processes, and the group's history continues to… Read More

New York, et al., 1960. Five 8 x 10 and two 5 x 7 inch gelatin silver prints, with Bradley's estate marks to versos. Excellent. Jack Bradley was a Cape Cod native who, after graduating from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, fell in love with Jazz after seeing Louis Armstrong perform at the Boston Armory in 1956. In 1958 he moved to New York from Cape Cod and began dating Jeann Failows, a member of Louis Armstrong's inner circle. Through Failows, Bradley gained access to Armstrong, eventually becoming very close friends with the trumpeter and his inner circle. Bradley already had amassed a large collection of jazz material, much related to Armstrong, and he augmented his own collection by photographing Armstrong and his Jazz circle for the next decade. The bulk of Bradley's collection now resides at the Louis Armstrong House Museum in Queens. This collection is of seven photographs of jazz musicians from Bradley's estate, showing a wonderful window into the tail end of the Classic Jazz era.… Read More

Montana or Wyoming, 1910. Silver gelatin photographs on thick paper mounts, photographs measuring appx. 4 x 5 inches, mounts 8 x 10. Very Good. A series of photographs of Crow, taken circa 1900-1905 by an unknown photographer, possibly acquired at a Wyoming street festival. The images bear some resemblance to the work of Heyn and Rinehart, though we find no record of these images in their respective catalogues. We can guess by the age of the subjects and the silver gelatin prints that these were taken at this time, and they arrived in the same collection as a documented collection of Crow images taken by Burt Buffum in Sheridan, Wyoming, in 1903. The close frame, somewhat elaborate presentation and romantic nature of the images suggest that they could have been printed for sale in Sheridan, where Crow often partook in street festivals in the early part of the 20th century. White Swan - famous for his role as one of the scouts who travelled with George Armstrong Custer - is one of the identified… Read More

New Hampshire, 1857. Broadside advertisement, 5 ½ x 11 inches. Very Good. An unusual advertisement for a penmanship instructor, a Mr. Chadbourn, announcing the opening of his academy on September 15, 1857 in Wolfborough, New Hampshire. The broadside states, "Inspired with the confidence of more than five years experience as a Teacher of Writing, now offers to the Ladies and Gentlemen of Wolfborough his universally admired system of Penmanship, which for beauty of style, ease of acquisition, rapidity of execution, and ready adaptation, to the wants of business and private correspondence, stands unrivalled by any system extant." An interesting relic from the middle of the Bleeding Kansas period, which would serve as a harbinger for the bloodiness of the American Civil War. A very good example with a chip with loss to upper corner and some toning to head, but attractive and well preserved. Unrecorded in OCLC.

Baton Rouge: Typographical Union Label, 1936. First Edition. Broadside, 16 ¾ x 9 ¼ inches. Some wear, a few small holes at creases, slight foxing, very good minus overall. A broadside advertising the Share Our Wealth Program, which had been championed by the late Huey Long prior to his death in 1935, printed when the program was under the direction of Gerald L.K. Smith, who was widely considered a political demagogue and who ran the program into the ground following Long's death. Long had made it his trademark piece of proposed legislation in his potential run for the presidency, proposing a progressive tax on wealthy Americans up to 100% of fortunes over 100 million dollars. Following his death, the program languished under the direction of Smith, who joined a third party coalition in support of William Lemke in 1936. Long's program is often credited in helping push Roosevelt leftward, with some historians positing that some of the New Deal programs were created in response to the political threat… Read More

Callao: Alsop and Company, 1850. Folded ship manifest measuring 15 ¼ x 12 ½ inches. Fine condition with slight normal wear. A very scarce Gold Rush period shipping manifest for the Barque Equator, captained by William Weir, listing the passengers and cargo for a voyage to San Francisco in December of 1850, with notations showing the vessel's arrival in San Francisco in May of 1851. Alsop & Co. was the work of Joseph Alsop, the grandson of Continental Congress delegate John Alsop, and his friend Henry Chauncey. Originally from Middletown, Connecticut, the pair established Alsop & Co. in New York City in 1824, and would eventually play a large role in the gold trade in California and trade extensively in South and Central America. Chauncey, Alsop and others were among the partners in the trans-Panamanian railway that helped transform trans-continental trade in 1850. One of Alsop & Co.'s treasure boxes was aboard the S.S. Central America when it sank in 1857, carrying gold to the Eastern United States… Read More

Tennessee, 1870. Carte-de-visite photograph measuring 3 ¾ x 2 ⅜ inches on larger mount. Some foxing, very good overall, signed by Knabe as "Proff Knabe" on recto. Very Good. Gustav Knabe was born in Leipzig and formally educated in music in Germany before emigrating to the United States and serving as a "principal musician" in the Company H of the Second Regiment of the Ohio Heavy Artillery. Following the war he moved to Tennessee, where he worked as a professor and band director and established Knabe's Musical Academy in 1873. He composed several works, including a funeral march for Andrew Johnson, and was given an honorary degree by the University of Tennessee in 1881.

N.P.: Treasury Department, 1793. Partially printed document signed by Hamilton and finished in another hand. Fine condition. With the original receipt from Ben Boomfield Autographs, sold in 1954 to the previous owner. Fine. Among Hamilton's many signal achievements as the first Secretary of the Treasury under the new Constitution was his creation in 1791 of the First Bank of the United States. Founded on British models - the Bank of England had been established in 1694 - this new institution would be vital to the development of the postwar economy. The Revolution caused profound disruptions to commerce and industry, and the new country began its saga under the weight of enormous debt, a devalued currency, and high inflation. A central bank, tasked with collecting tax revenues, holding public funds, paying government debts, and issuing paper currency, was Hamilton's solution. Starting with a 20-year charter and a capitalizaion of $10 million, the First Bank of the United States opened for business on… Read More

Mexico, 1833. First Edition. Mexico: May 23, 1833. Letter and chart on watermarked single folio sheets, approx. 13 x 16-½ inches, letter: [3] pp.; chart: [2] pp.;. Near Fine. Rare first-hand documentation of the growing trade tensions that eventually led to the French-Mexican "Pastry War" of 1838. Consul Hersant's gossipy report surveys the "commercial movement of the port [of Tampico] since it's opening in 1824 until the end of 1832." Hersant complains to his superiors that Mexican trade with the US and England far outpaces France; even the Hanseatic League has become a problem. The Consul includes a hand-drawn table tallying foreign ships and the weight of goods by country, a visual aid supporting his claim that French trade lags considerably behind other partners. Ultimately it is civil disorder that most disturbs the Consul; that is, smuggling assisted by the Mexican customs officers themselves: "se fait impunément et avec l'aide des douaniers eux-mêmes et peut porter au double la quantité… Read More

Boston [Paris]: J.P. Whitney, 1867. First Edition Thus. . 8vo, publisher's green cloth, 107 pp. Some tearing and fraying to boards, particularly at head of spine, text block excellent, very good minus overall. Very Good. The scarce Paris Universal Exposition edition of J.P. Whitney's early title on the silver mines of Colorado. Whitney, a wealthy sportsman from Boston with investments in Colorado, traveled as the sole commissioner from Colorado to the Paris Universal Exposition in an effort to entice foreign investment in the mining industry, which was suffering from a poor reputation as the costs of extraction grew higher. Whitney had published this title in pamphlet form a year earlier. Whitney shipped his own collection of Colorado minerals to France, where it was the most extensive of any of the North American regions to be displayed, receiving a gold medal from Napoleon III. A new title on Colorado minerals, Colorado, in the United States of America: Schedule of Ores Contributed by Sundry… Read More

Mexico City, 1950. First. Gelatin prints, each 17 x 13 cm with studio stamp verso and editorial marks, including one typed caption "Prostitucion". Date stamped 18 Enero 195[0], possibly 195[3]. Two with red editorial pencil marks recto, some minor wear to surfaces, overall very good. Very Good. Los Hermanos Mayo. The Hermanos Mayo photographic collective adopted their nom de guerre in reference to May Day labor protests in Madrid in the early 1930s. Comprising five brothers from two families, the group's pseudonym "Mayo" affirmed their individual commitments to the struggle of the working class and the Spanish Second Republic. The early influence of Republican anarcho-syndicalism set the tone for the extraordinary body of work they produced in Spain, as war photographers, and in exile in Mexico, where Foto Hermanos Mayo was a successful agency for fifty years. Together, they pioneered the use of Leica street photography in Mexican photojournalism, producing more than 5 million negatives working for… Read More