Search Results: Just Arrived Books - Rare Books

Fort Randall, D.T.: February 12, 1862. Very good.. [4]pp. on a folded folio sheet. Old fold lines. Minor soiling and wear. An interesting letter addressed to the governor of Iowa signed by seven officers of the 14th Iowa Infantry stationed at Fort Randall in the Dakota Territory. Fort Randall was charged with keeping peace with the Sioux, and the 14th Iowa Volunteers had made a difficult winter march to their post in order to guard the civilians in the territory. In their missive, they lay out complaints against the territorial governor, as well as the postmaster who is accused of secessionist sentiments. The soldiers include Captain George H. Wolfe and Dr. Samuel N. Pierce, the company's surgeon, as well as four lieutenants and a sergeant major. They write: "We the undersigned, would like your advice on certain points connected with our welfare, and (we might say) that of the state which we have the honor to serve. ... Soon after our arrival at this post there were vague rumors afloat to the… Read More

Nueva-York: Baker & Godwin, 1855. About very good.. 40; 36; 79pp. Quarto. Contemporary half cloth and marbled boards, spine gilt. Corners lightly worn and bumped. Original front wrapper from first work bound in. Contents slightly foxed, second work lightly dampstained; some scattered soiling and wear. Three collected plays issued by Baker and Godwin in New York for the Spanish-speaking community. All three were translated by Rafael Felix, "Director de la Compania Francesca de M'lle Rachel." The text is printed in two columns, in Spanish. All are rare -- we locate four copies of the first work (Brown, Newberry, Harvard, and the Biblioteca Nacional in Spain); two of the second work (Harvard, Biblioteca Nacional); and a single copy of the third work, at the Bibliotheque Nationale in France.

Philadelphia: Prichard & Hall, 1789. Good.. [1]p. in a slightly incomplete omnibus volume. Quarto. Contemporary sheep. Some chipping and wear to boards. Scattered foxing throughout. A notable American periodical appearance by the first African American poet, Phillis Wheatley, in an issue of the first sectarian magazine published in the United States. Page 403 of the present volume includes Wheatley's poem, "On the Death of a Child, Five Years of Age. (By Phillis Wheatly, a Negro)," first collected in 1773. Published five years after the poet's death and hinting at her literary connection to the Methodists, the poem here has a variant title (changed from the original "On the Death of a Young Lady of Five Years of Age," and inextricably cuts the final sixteen lines. Sadly, Wheatley's literary reputation cooled in America in the last decade of her life though the Methodists in America and England did much to keep her verses in front of the public in those later years. The Arminian Magazine was founded… Read More

[Chuquicamata, Chile, 1919. Very good.. [33] leaves, illustrated with 236 mounted photographs, most with neatly-written manuscript captions within the image or on the album leaves. Oblong folio. Contemporary limp black pebbled cloth. Spine perished, edges chipped, some dust-soiling to boards, cloth covers partially detached but holding along spine. Contents generally clean, with bright, sharp images. An informative collection of original photographs documenting various structures involved in the commercial mining activities of the Guggenheim Family's Chile Exploration Company just after World War I. The same structures are pictured at various time periods over the course of the album, which is arranged in chronological order, in many cases showing the progress of construction. The manuscript title on the inside front cover reads: "Chile Exploration Co. Construction Department. Progress Pictures Dec. 1, 1917 to [blank]," with the final photographs dated in the early months of 1919. The photographs… Read More

[Various places, 2016. Very good.. Approximately 400 items, including almost 200 photographs in varying formats, seventy manuscript letters and cards, three address books, and about 100 pieces of printed material and ephemera, as well as a signed baseball. Varying light wear. The archive of Tatsuo Nakase (1916-2003) who brought his love for baseball with him to the Japanese internment camp in Arizona where he was imprisoned with his family during World War II. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which set into motion the expulsion of 110,000 Japanese Americans from the West Coast. This collection includes personal and professional photographs, ephemera, correspondence, an autographed baseball, and more material from the 1930s to 2016. Most notably, the archive documents Nakase's baseball experiences, both inside and outside the prison camp. While baseball is traditionally viewed as an American pastime, it has been equally… Read More

[San Francisco, 1863. Very good.. [23],180pp. Folio. Contemporary suede, leather spine labels, spine title in gilt. Moderate scuffing to boards, corners worn. Minor occasional thumb-soiling to text. An informative and useful stockman's ledger containing five years of transactions between California cattle kings Dunphy & Hildreth and their numerous customers in San Francisco just before and during the early years of the Civil War. The ledger begins with an alphabetical listing of the company's customers who appear in the ledger, followed by almost 200 pages of entries recording detailed transactions. The ledger shows primarily beef sales (but also offal, tongues, tallow, and so on) from Dunphy & Hildreth to a wide variety of local and regional firms such as Stockton Street Market, South End Market, San Jose Market, Nevada Market, Broadway Market, the Salsipuedes Ranch, Hensley & Howard, Robin & Gray Metropolitan Market, and more. Some customers are identified by name, such as Herman Hertz, Herman… Read More

Mexico City: Imprenta de Ignacio Cumplido, 1856. Still very good.. 17pp. Original printed wrappers, bound into full calf, front board gilt lettered. Some toning and scattered, light foxing. This law was promulgated at the end of 1856 by the new liberal government of Mexico following its ascendancy in the mid-1850s, and preceded the reform Constitution of 1857 by two months. Its statutes defined "crimes against the independence and security of the nation," including various forms of treason, rebellion, and foreign military service or assistance, and made them punishable by death. The law anticipated conservative resistance and revolt against the new policies of the liberal faction that aimed to strip power and influence from the church and traditional aristocracy of the country. Their efforts indeed led to full-scale civil war in 1858 and the second French intervention in the early 1860s. OCLC locates a small handful of institutional copies and we locate just one in available sales records. Scarce,… Read More

[Oberlin, Oh.], 1850. About very good.. 54pp. 16mo. Original brown publisher's cloth, stamped in gilt. Light wear to binding. Contemporary ownership inscription on front flyleaf. Some light scattered foxing, faint tideline to upper margin. A narrative poem of an enslaved couple who attempt to escape north. Lucy dies en route, and is buried by William in a forest grave in eastern Maryland. The author notes that "It is said that the following narrative is true, and that W. is now a respectable citizen of Canada in good business." The author dedicates the work to "the pioneers in the cause of freedom, who blushed not mid infamy and shame to be called the friends of the slave." Scarce -- we locate five copies in OCLC, at Oberlin College, Western Reserve Historical, the Library Company, Brown University, and the American Antiquarian Society.

Indian Territory: January 8, 1907. Good.. Partially-printed document, completed in type, and signed in ink at bottom by several officials. Printed docketing on verso, completed in manuscript. Original folds, some foxing, a few edge nicks and small chips not affecting text. An intriguing document issued to Eliza Ann Williams, a "Chickasaw Freedman," by the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations in early 1907. The document grants forty acres of land to Williams in the Chickasaw Nation of Indian Territory (soon thereafter the state of Oklahoma), in accordance with the Curtis Act of 1898 and a supplemental Act of Congress dated July 1, 1902, which granted "inalienable" land rights to the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations. The document states that the "Said Commission of the Five Civilized Tribes has certified that the land hereinafter described has been selected by or on behalf of Eliza Ann Williams, freedman, as an allotment." Williams' status as a "freedman" indicates she was the descendant of a person or persons… Read More

Navy calf spine with red title plate, gilt banding, decoration and lettering. Red and blue marbled boards.
A very nice copy
John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667). Written in blank verse, Paradise Lost is widely considered to be one of the greatest works of literature ever written. Writing in English, Latin, and Italian, he achieved international renown within his lifetime; his celebrated Areopagitica (1644), written in condemnation of pre-publication censorship, is among history's most influential and impassioned defences of freedom of speech and freedom of the press. His desire for freedom extended into his style: he introduced new words (coined from Latin and Ancient Greek) to the English language, and was the first… Read More

Full Navy binding with gilt banding and title on the spine. Embossed design on both boards, also a brown oval and gilt figure with raised leaf halo on the front board.
A good rendition
William Wordsworth (7 April 1770 – 23 April 1850) was an English Romantic poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romantic Age in English literature with their joint publication Lyrical Ballads (1798). Wordsworth's magnum opus is generally considered to be The Prelude, a semi-autobiographical poem of his early years that he revised and expanded a number of times. It was posthumously titled and published by his wife in the year of his death, before which it was generally known as "the poem to Coleridge". Wordsworth was Poet Laureate from 1843 until his death from pleurisy on 23 April 1850. The Prelude or, Growth of a Poet's Mind; An Autobiographical Poem is an autobiographical poem in blank verse by the English poet William Wordsworth. Intended as the introduction to the more philosophical poem The… Read More

Green calf spine with red title plates, gilt banding, decoration and lettering
This volume is extremely well illustrated by William McConnell A book that deserves to be read with a story modelled on the life of the author
Andrew Halliday (born Andrew Halliday Duff; 1830 – 10 April 1877) was a Scottish journalist and dramatist. Andrew Halliday Duff was born at the Grange, Marnoch (near Huntly), Banffshire, early in 1830, was son of the Rev. William Duff, M.A., minister, of Grange, Banffshire, 1821–44, who died 23 September 1844, aged 53, by his wife Mary Steinson. Andrew was educated at the Marischal College and the University of Aberdeen. On coming to London in 1849 he was for some time connected with the Morning Chronicle, the Leader, the People's Journal, and other periodicals. He soon became known as a writer, and discarded the name of Duff. In 1851 he wrote the article Beggars in Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor. His work having attracted the notice of Thackeray, he was… Read More

Doubleday, Page and Company. New York. 1910. FIRST SEPARATE EDITION (U. S). IN PUBLISHERS DELUX LEATHER BINDING. Precedes the first U. K separate edition by 4 years. Oblong 8vo. (4.4 x 6.4 inches). 8 double leaves, uncut at the top. The pages are sewn in with the original yellow cord. Each double leaf has a green rule and dot border, the text printed in black with green initial letters. Half title has "IF" printed in green within an ornamental black panel, the same stamped in gilt onto the front board, with the addition of the author's name. This version with the green colour printing is Richards' variant a. The Publishers note on page 5 appears in four different variants, with priority unknown, and this copy has variant iii. In the very rare original delux publishers dark green morocco leather binding with gilt ruling and lettering to the front panel (Richards binding variant i). Crack to the hinge of the front blank endpapers, but the book still firmly in the casing, otherwise a fine example of this… Read More

. Papeback. New.

N.p.: N.p., 1967. Archive of over 100 vintage color photographs and over 80 vintage color contact sheets from the 1966-1967 ABC television series. Nearly all of the photographs include a small label affixed to the top right corner with a production number in ink, and many of the contact sheets bear annotations in manuscript pencil. Unseen since the series' production, the photographs and contact sheets in the archive are likely the only set produced, thus unique. An extensive archive of over 840 images, many featuring a young Bruce Lee and his co-stars Van Williams and Wende Wagner. Archive includes reference, portrait, publicity, and on-the-set photographs, set and location photographs, prop photographs, and several photographs of Lee and Williams at home with their families. Created as a radio series in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, the green-masked superhero and his confidant and driver Kato have since appeared in numerous films, television shows, comics, and books, though none… Read More

NY: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1998. First edition. Hardcover. Fine/Near fine. An association copy, inscribed to Russell Chatham, Harrison's great friend, fellow writer, and the renown contemporary landscape painter whose works adorned most of Harrison's book covers, including this one: "To Russ, another from friend Jim." From Chatham's estate in Marin, California. Chatham spent most of his career in Livingston, Montana, to which Harrison moved from Michigan. Like Harrison, Chatham was a devoted outdoorsman and wrote eloquently about fishing in particular; he founded Clark City Press that published some of his own works and anthologies as well as many books by others in the "Montana Gang" of writers. Harrison is of course best known for The Legends of the Fall. The Road Home continues Harrison's story of Dalva from his acclaimed earlier novel. Gray paper boards with blue cloth spine, map endpapers. A fine copy in a near fine jacket with some rubbing to front panel. A marquee Harrison association.

New York: M. Evans and Company, Inc, 1972. First edition. First edition. Signed by David Morrell on the title page. 252 pp. Bound in publisher's boards with black cloth backstrip, spine lettered in metallic red and orange, blue topstain. Very Good with slight lean to spine, a little staining to top edge, former owner's name on half title, in Very Good dust jacket, unclipped ($5.95), worn at extremities, spine a bit sunned. The novel that inspired the acclaimed 1982 action film Rambo: First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone and another four films in the franchise.

New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1970. First edition of Didion's third book. Octavo, original half cloth. Boldly signed by Joan Didion on the second endpaper. Fine in a very good price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by Janet Halverson. Photograph of the author by Julian Wasser. Designed by Guy Fleming. An exceptional example, uncommon signed. A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays captures the mood of an entire generation, the ennui of contemporary society reflected in spare prose that blisters and haunts the reader. Set in a place beyond good and evil-literally in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the barren wastes of the Mojave Desert, but figuratively in the landscape of an arid soul-it remains more than three decades after its original publication a profoundly disturbing novel, riveting in its exploration of a woman and a society in crisis and stunning in the still-startling intensity of its prose. Time magazine included the novel in its… Read More

Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc, 1928. First edition of this classic work by one of the most decorated soldiers, basis for the 1941 film directed by Howard Hawks, starring Gary Cooper. Octavo, original cloth. Boldly signed by Alvin York on the front free endpaper. Edited by Tom Skeyhill. Near fine in the rare original price-clipped dust jacket which is in very good condition. Rare and desirable signed.

Harmony, 1980. First Edition. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. Signed and inscribed by author on front endpaper: 'Best wishes Douglas Adams' (no recipient's name). A fine copy of the first American edition, 1st printing (with complete numberline) in a fine first printing jacket (jacket price-clipped). Basis of the wonderfully odd film of the same name.