Catlin, George. Illustrations of the Manners, Customers, * Condition of the North American Indians. With Letters and Notes…

London: Chatto & Windus 1876. The First Edition of this classic with illustrations printed in color. Two small quarto volumes (6-1/8” x 10-1/8”) bound in the original red cloth with gilt-decorated horsemen and lettering against a red and black background recently rebacked with sympathetic red morocco spines with gilt-lettering and decorations and new endpapers. Complete: viii, 264; viii, 266 pages. Illustrated with 180 superb color plates containing 360 images and a folding map, with the usual plate numbering anomalies.

There was a prior edition with hand-colored plates, but it exists in very few copies and is seldom offered on the market. When it is it usually commands upwards of $30,000. This edition is generally considered to be the handsomest 19th century edition of Catlin’s important book. Catlin was the first astute and sympathetic artist to observe and accurately portray Native Americans.

Howes C241; Sabin 11536 (1841 edition); Streeter 1805 (1841); Wagner-Camp 84 (1841+ editions); Wheat, TRANSMISISIPPI WEST 84: “Offers an excellent picture of the Indian situation at the opening of the 19th century’s fourth decade.” Jenkins, A FULL HOWES: “Catlin’s record of Indian life was the first and freshest account of the vanishing American Indians as they actually lived and remains one of the chief sources for all later knowledge of the North American Indians.” Early library stamp on title page of second volume and old ink numbers on verso of title pages. Plates and text bright and fresh with the bindings quite nice. Near Fine set.

$7,500

[Disney, Walt]. Our Friend the Atom by Heinz Haber, with an introduction by Walt Disney. NY: Simon & Schuster (1956). 4to, cloth backed pictorial boards, 165p., slightest of cover soil else fine in slightly worn dustwrapper. First edition. Designed to teach children about the wonders of the atom and to get them excited about studying science and nuclear physics, it is profusely illustrated with color lithos by 21 Disney artists led by Paul Hartley. Haber, like Werner von Braun, was a German astrophysicist who served in the German Luftwaffe during World War II. In the U.S. he became the chief Science Consultant of Disney Studios helping Disney to produce the motion picture of Our Friend the Atom that was to run in the Tomorrow Land section of Disneyland. This copy is inscribed by Disney to Randy Blair and also signed on the title-page by Haber!

$4,750

[Incunabulum] Albumasar. Introductorium in astronomiam octo continens libros partials. Augsburg: Erhard Ratdolt, 7th of February, 1489.

70 unnumbered leaves, Gothic type, 40 - 41 lines, 46 allegorical woodcuts in the text, 115 woodcut initials, rubricated in red throughout. Signatures: a–h⁸; i⁶. Modern full vellum, small 4° (213 by 158 mm).

First Edition. Translated from the Arabic by Hermannus Dalmata. Abu Ma’shar Ja’far ben Muhammed al-Balkhi (787–886), the most renowned astrologer of the Arabic world, was part of a group of pro-Persian intellectuals who served the Caliph al-Ma’mun (813–833) in Baghdad. The present work is a translation of his Great Introduction to the Science of Astrology written in 849–50 and the single most important source of Aristotle’s theories of nature for European scholars. The allegorical half-page woodcuts represent the Sun, Moon, the Signs of Zodiac, a zonal world map, a diagram of the Aspects, and a diagram of the Twelve Houses. The first leaf with three line title and 22 contemporary handwritten lines in red and black representing the signs of the planets and the signs of Zodiac. Title and three subsequent leaves with brief repairs. A very good copy with wide margins.

Hain-C. 612; GW 840; Goff A 359; BMC II, 382 (IA 6683); Proctor 1880; Schreiber 3075; Essling 524; Klebs 38.1; Stillwell A 326; IGI 264; Oates 959; Zinner 346; Pellechet 415; Fairfax Murray, German 25; Rosenthal, Incunabula Typographica 54.

$24,000

The Russian “Gutenberg” Bible. The first Bible printed in Cyrillic

[Ostrog Bible. the Russian “Gutenberg” Bible. The first Bible printed in Cyrillic]. Biblia sirech knigy vetkhago i novago zaveta po iazyku [...]. Ostrog: Ivan Fedorov, 12 August 1581. Folio. 628 ff. With woodcut title border, the engraved arms of Konstantyn Ostrozhky on reverse of title, engraved initials and tail-pieces throughout and woodcut printer’s device on last page. Title, sub-headings and tables printed in red and black. Contemporary brown calf, spine gilt in five compartments, figural corner pieces (4 evangelists) and central gilt stamp depicting the birth (front) and crucifixion (back cover) of the Christ.

First edition of the first Bible printed in Cyrillic type, a complete copy with stunning provenance. Printed by Ivan Fedorow, “founder of book printing and book publishing in Russia and Ukraine,” who left Lemberg and entered the service of the Prince of Ostrog. Konstantyn Ostrozhky was the most powerful magnate in Volhynia, one of the most influential figures in the Lithuanian-Ruthenian state and even a candidate for the Muscovite throne after the death of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich, the last member of the Riurykide dynasty, in 1598. The Ostrog Bible was prepared under the auspices of Konstantyn, who obtained from Moscow a copy of the manuscript Bible of Gennadius. He also collected Greek and Slavonic manuscripts, and with the help of “competent assistants…he tested the Slavonic text by the Greek and sometimes by the Latin, and substituted modern expressions for those which were obsolete or unintelligible, and corrected errors” (Darlow and Moule).

This landmark of Russian printing served as a model for further Russian publications of the Bible and was of enormous significance for Orthodox education, which had to resist strong Catholic pressure in Ukraine and Belarus. The publication of this work “did in fact lay new intellectual foundations fur cultural awakening and for growth in scholastic endeavors where communities in Russia were desirous of education” (William K. Medlin, “Cultural Crisis in Orthodox Russia in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries as a Problem in Education and Social Change.” In History of Education Quarterly, vol. 9, no. 1 (Spring 1969), p. 37). “The importance of the first printed Cyrillic Bible can hardly be overestimated. Prince Ostrogski sent copies to Pope Gregory XIII and Tsar Ivan the Terrible.” Our copy was owned by Hedeon Balaban (1569–1607), Bishop of Lviv (Lemberg) and one of the central figures in the history of the Russian orthodox church, bearing his autograph entry, dated December 17, 1586. Only ten years later, Bishop Balaban was to deny the supremacy of the Pope and join Prince Konstantyn Ostrozhky at the 1596 Council of Berestia in opposing the union with the Catholic Church. He was excommunicated by Metropolite Mychajlo Rahoza in the very same year, but he held fast to this decision until his death. Balaban became the Exarch of the Patriarch of Alexandria, in which position he remained until his death. In 1671 the book came into the possession of the monk Samuel of Lviv. In 1714 the book turned up in the South of Ukraine, and then in Maramures (Romania), whence we acquired it.

According to our knowledge, this is the only complete copy to appear in trade (or at auction) during the past decades. The last copy sold (Valuable Russian Books and Manuscripts, Christie’s, 30 Nov. 2006, lot 3, £22,800) lacked one page, and several leaves with missing text were supplied in manuscript, as was the case with all copies we managed to trace (including several in institutional libraries). Richly gilt binding with traces of restoration to corners and spine ends; a few leaves professionally remargined without touching text or loss to letters. Overall an extraordinarily good copy in its first binding with important provenance; one of the best-preserved copies in comparison with the numerous ones in institutional possession, and certainly the finest available from private hands for a very long time.

Darlow and Moule 8370. Cyrillic Books 35. Adams B 1204 (Trinity and University Library copies both incomplete). British Library Humanities C.17.b.1. (wanting the last leaf) and G.12203 (Tsar Ivan the Terrible’s copy).

$115,000

Ferrerio, Pietro and Giovanni Battista Falda. Two major works by Ferrerio and Falda, the “Palazzi di Roma” (in two parts) and “Li giardini di Roma,” bound together in fine contemporary Roman red morocco.

Oblong folio. Fine contemporary Roman red morocco gilt, with inner fillets with floral cornerpieces, on both covers. A.e.g. Slightly rubbed at spine; occasional very light foxing; a very handsome copy. Contents as follows:

1. Palazzi di Roma de più celebri architetti. Disegnati da Pietro Ferrerio pittore et architetto. Libro Primo. [Falda, Giovanni-Battista. Nuovi disegni dell’architetture, e piante de’ Palazzi di Roma de’ più celebri architetti disegnati et intagliati da Gio. Battista Falda.... Libro secondo.] I: Engraved title incorporating dedication and 42 etched and engraved plates; II: Engraved title incorporating dedication and 59 etched and engraved plates. This set is a rare early issue, with plates before numbers (though after the addition of the mention of “Libro primo” and “Libro secondo” on the title pages, which had not appeared in the first issue). It also contains the correct complement of 103 plates (including titles) which characterizes the first issue; in contrast, later issues contain a total of 105, including two plates added by Domenico de’ Rossi to the second book after 1691.

“This is the first publication to provide systematic, measured and uniformly scaled illustrations of Roman palaces built in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By focusing exclusively on the palace, this book becomes a compendium of exempla, not only illustrating the houses of a very special city, but also establishing the typology of the residential palace.... Ferrerio’s collection of palace façades and plans provided an important model for what became a distinct type of publication.... This trendsetting book on Roman palaces is divided into two parts. Ferrerio was the author of most of the illustrations in the first part, except for one sheet engraved by Giovanni Battista Falda, who was also responsible for forty of the sixty sheets of the second part. While Falda’s work and successful career as an engraver associated with the Roman published Giovanni Giacomo de’ Rossi have been amply documented, much less is known about Ferrerio, who seems to have practiced as an architect and engraver, and whose principal claim to recognition is this album of palace illustrations” (Millard).

Gio. Jacomo Rossi/ Gio. Giacomo de’ Rossi [before 1691]. Millard IV.37; Cicognara 3719; Fowler 120; Berlin 2665; Besterman: Old Art Books 40; Brunet II.1235; Graesse II.573

2. Li giardini di Roma con le loro piante alzate e vedute in prospettiva. 21 through-numbered etched and engraved plates, including engraved title and magnificent allegorical dedication leaf, by Giovanni Battista Manelli after Arnold van Westerhout, of the garden of the “Roman Hesperides.” Both artistically and historically, a very important publication on nine of the most celebrated gardens of Rome—at the Vatican and Quirinal palaces, and the villas Borghese, Medici, Pamphili, Mattei, Farnese, Ludovisi and Savelli-Peretti—of which only three survive in anything resembling their original state. The extremely accurate and exquisite plates, which alternately present bird’s-eye views and prospects, are by both Falda and Simone Felice.

Roma (Gio. Giacomo de’ Rossi) [circa or post 1683]. Berlin 3492; Olschki 16895; Brunet II.1172; Graesse II.549

$20,000

[The Foundations of Modern Chemistry]. Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent de. Traité élémentaire de chimie, présenté dans un ordre nouveau et d’après les découvertes modernes; avec figures [A Treatise on Elementary Chemistry, presented in a new order and according to the recent discoveries]. Paris: Chez Cuchet, 1789. Volume 1: half title + TP + v-xliv + [1]-322 + 2 folding tables; Volume 2: half title + TP + v-viii + -[323]-653 + [654]-[655] = Fautes à Corriger + 13 folding engraved plates, Octavo. First edition, Second Issue

This is the so-called second issue of the first edition in two volumes. The first “trial” issue, in one volume, arranges material slightly differently and is known in only two copies. This second issue contains ten tables and several extracts from the registers of the Académie des Sciences and other learned societies not included in the single volume issue—making this in fact the first complete edition and the one noted in Printing and the Mind of Man.

With the thirteen copperplate illustrations signed ‘Paulze Lavoisier Sculp(sit)’ that were drawn and engraved by the author’s wife, Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavoisier, who was a highly skilled draftsman, engraver, painter and a student of David.

“At this moment there emerged one of those men who can stand above the whole scene, look at the confused pieces of the jig-saw puzzle and see a way of turning them into a pattern. He was Lavoisier, and it is difficult not to believe that he towers above all the rest and belongs to the small group of giants who have the highest place in the story of the scientific revolution.” (Butterfield, The Origins of Modern Science, 1949, p. 186)

Lavoisier’s revolutionary work outlined in this book had as much impact on chemistry as the French upheaval of the same year had on politics. This is a fundamental work in the history of modern chemistry containing a number of foundational ideas necessary to the progress of chemistry. Several critical ideas that appear in this book laid the firm foundation for Lavoisier’s claim to the title as “the father of modern chemistry”: (1) his use of accurate measurement for chemical research by using a balance with weight determinations being made at every possible stage of chemical change, (2) his experimental research on combustion which established that oxygen was the component in air that combined with metals during combustion and his naming of the resulting substances “oxides”, (3) his exposition of the law of the conservation of mass, proving that matter remains constant throughout all chemical change and (4) his definitive reform of chemical nomenclature, whereby every substance was named by an aggregate of its component elements.

In addition, Lavoisier finally established the modern conception of elements as substances that cannot be further decomposed. In this work, he identified twenty-three such elements—all of which are still recognized as such today. The broadest and most significant effect of Lavoisier’s treatise was that it once and for all put to rest the phlogiston theory (that had mislead scientists for over a century) and destroyed any residual belief in alchemy.

Lavoisier had extremely wide scientific interests, making important contributions to geography and stratigraphy, and he was one of the first important scientists to devote himself to public service. In spite of his decidedly progressive and liberal political opinions, his post as Fermier Général brought him to the guillotine in 1794. This was perhaps the greatest single loss to France as well as to science that was perpetrated during The Terror.

Printing and the Mind of Man 238; Dibner 43.

Contemporary half-leather, tan boards backed and cornered with sheep. The spines with gilt devices and lettering with red and green morocco labels. Occasional spotting and foxing. The lower margins of some plates a little frayed, with plate XII lightly dampstained. Overall a rather lovely copy making a handsome set.

$6,500

Erasmus, Desiderius. [Adagia:] Veterum maximeque insignium paroemiarum id est adagiorum collectanea. Paris, Johann Philippi (sold also by frères de Marnef), [shortly after 15 June] 1500.

4to. (200 x 137 mm.), 76 leaves (p4; a-i8); title printed in red and black, with Philippi’s woodcut printer’s device (Polain 151); text in roman, with quotations in a Greek fount; gothic shoulder notes to Erasmus’ poem “Prosopopeia Britanniae maioris” (see below); one initial space with guide-letter; a clean, unwashed copy, preserving several uncut lower edges, bound in nineteenth-century maroon crushed morocco with the blind-stamped Stirling-Maxwell device on covers, gilt edges, by Leighton.

First edition of the Adagia, Erasmus’ collection of proverbs and commentary, which began as a minor local success and quickly grew - in content and popularity - to become an international best-seller. Its impact on literacy and learning in the Renaissance was immense. It is Erasmus’ first real book, preceded only by the now unobtainable brief poem De casa natalitia Iesu (two Paris editions, 1495-[96], GW 9375-76, surviving in a total of six copies).

Very rare. This is the only copy to have appeared on the market since 1958 and is apparently the last copy remaining in private hands. It is missing from such major collections as the British Library, the Bodleian, and the Royal Library at Brussels. The census of recorded copies - just 21 in all - is as follows: (Britain:) Cambridge, Manchester - JRL; (US:) Harvard, Newberry, Morgan; (Belgium:) Ghent UB; (Germany: ) Freiburg i.Br. UB, Marburg UB, Offenburg StB; (France:) Besançon BM, Charleville BM (imperfect), Cherbourg BM, Orléans BM (2), Paris BN, Mazarine, Sélestat BM; (Netherlands:) The Hague RL; (Sweden:) Västerås; (Poland:) Wroclaw; (Slovakia:) Bratislava.

It is not easy for us today to recognize how and why the Adagia achieved such success. It was instantly devoured by a new genre of reader hungry for knowledge and novelty. James Walsh describes it thus: “Erasmus’ Adagia has been called one of the world’s biggest bedside books. It was certainly one of the most popular: over sixty editions, in complete or epitomized form, are recorded during Erasmus’ lifetime alone, and after his death the number increased. From a comparatively small quarto containing 818 adages in 1500, the work grew, in the last edition published by Erasmus himself, to a large folio containing 4151 in 1536. The book is a collection of proverbs taken from classical authors, both Greek and Latin, with sources given, translation of the Greek into Latin, and a commentary by Erasmus, ranging from a sentence or two to a full-length essay. For us, it is in the commentary that the true originality and value of the Adagia reside, but in its time it was equally important in serving to open windows upon the ancient world for that segment of the reading public which had a little learning, passionate interest, but small opportunity to get at texts. Public libraries did not exist, books were expensive, and, in any case, many of the ancient writers had not yet appeared in print. Thus a book like the Adagia, bringing together selections from many otherwise unavailable authors, found a ready market and performed a great service to humanistic education.

“One of Erasmus’ great accomplishments in the Adagia was to begin his lifelong task of relating the past to the present and of showing their continuity. Proverbs are timeless. We have only to list a few treated by Erasmus to realize how much a part of the common western heritage they are and how alive his book still is: ‘God helps those who help themselves’; ‘To put the cart before the horse’; ‘To be in the same boat’; ‘To call a spade a spade’; ‘Like father, like son’ - how many times have we all heard and used these thrice-familiar tags, which, for all their familiarity, yet reflect the accumulated wisdom of generations? Erasmus himself describes them as glowing sparks of ancient wisdom that illuminate the truth much more effectively than do the philosophers” - Erasmus on the 500th anniversary of his birth (Cambridge, Massachusetts, The Houghton Library, 1969), pp. 3-5, with illustration.

Erasmus conceived and wrote the book in the aftermath of his visit to England in 1499 when he first met Colet, More, and other early Tudor humanists. Before he left he had been given a gift of money by his youthful patron, Lord Mountjoy. But on arrival at the port of departure, to his astonishment, most of this money was confiscated by the customs officials, it being illegal to export English currency. When he arrived in Paris he was broke and unwell, and furthermore was worried that his patron, who had misinformed him about his right to export the gift, would think that Erasmus was now angry with him.

“I decided to publish something forthwith. Having nothing at hand, I accumulated at random from a few days’ reading some sort of a collection of adages, guessing that this book, such as it was, might find a welcome among those who wish to learn, at least for its utility. This I used as evidence that my friendship had not grown cold” (Ep 1341A: 603-8).

The result was quickly composed (Erasmus says he dictated from his sickbed). At the beginning is a 7 pp. dedicatory letter to the young Lord Mountjoy, and at the end are a letter addressed to Prince Henry of England (Henry VIII, then a boy of nine years, whom Erasmus had met on a visit with More to the royal children’s household in Greenwich) and Erasmus’ Ode to England, Prosopopeia Britanniae maioris, filling over five pages, the first appearance of this poem.

Provenance: Ownership inscription “G. Storck a Milano, 1798 ... No. 8569” (this is the Milanese merchant and collector Giuseppe Storck, 1766-1836); subsequently in the collection of Sir William Stirling Maxwell with his armorial and “Keir Proverbs” bookplates, and a bound in note in his hand of 4 Aug. 1873; subsequently lot 804 of Christie’s sale 20-23 May 1958, bought by Quaritch.

Hain-Copinger 6663; GW 9374; Goff E101.

£200,000 (about $400,000)

Exquemelin, Alexandre Olivier. Historie der boecaniers, of vrybuyters van

America. Van haar eerste beginzelen tot deze tegenwoordige tyd toe. Amsterdam, Nicolaas ten Hoorn, 1700.

2 volumes in 1. 4to. Contemporary vellum (sl. soiled; 1 hinge rep.). With

engraved title, folding engraved map and 7 engraved plates (1 folding) by J.

Lamsvelt. (8),219; 136,(6) pp.

Second Dutch edition. - New and very much altered edition of the first edition of 1678. The whole second part is entirely new and intended for a continuation to the first. Also the plates are new, they are nicely done by J. Lamsvelt. ‘Little is known with certainty about Exquemelin (1645- ca.1707) author of one of the most important sourcebooks of seventeenth century piracy. Born about 1645, it is likely that Exquemelin was a native of Harfleur in France, who on his return from buccaneering settled in Holland, possibly because he was a Hugenot. In 1666 he was engaged by the French West India Company and went to Tortuga, where he stayed for three years. There he enlisted with the buccaneers, probably as a barber-surgeon, and remained with them until 1674. .. perhaps no book of the seventeenth century in any language was ever the parent of so many imitations and the source of so many fictions’ (CNMM IV, p.51). This famous and popular book, The buccaneers of America, is the prototype of an entire literature of books on pirates and buccaneers in all languages up to the present day. ‘It is almost the only comprehensive source of information for pirate activities in the seventienth century’ (Howgego p.357). - (Age-browned).

Cat. NHSM II, p.878; Sabin 23469; Muller, America, 580; CNMM IV, Piracy &

Privateering, 180; European Americana IV, p.371; Hill 577-579 ‘classic of

all buccaneering books’.

3,950 euros (about $5,250)

Blackwell, Elizabeth, M.D. The Laws of Life, With Special Reference to the Physical Education of Girls. New York: George P. Putnam 1852. First Edition of the first book by America’s first female doctor.

180pp. Bound in original gray-green blind-stamped cloth, all edges stained red, spine sunned to green (as usual with this cloth), small professional repair at bottom of spine resulting in loss of part of “P” and all of “U” and “T” in publisher’s name, original owner’s name in pencil on front free endpaper, “Robert Porter” and dated 1852, name in pencil repeated on page 63, else fine, a lovely copy of a scarce book that rarely turns up on the open market. Elizabeth Blackwell’s text is developed from a series of lectures she had given the previous spring and was published just three years after she earned her medical degree. These themes were to concern her throughout her life, which was spent trying to improve the lives of other women.

In this radical (for the time) treatise, Blackwell goes against the conventional wisdom of her contemporaries and advocates physical fitness for girls and women. She points out that a healthy diet is crucial for young girls as that will enable mental as well as physical development. Her arguments for these healthy life changes range from common sense to a citing of ancient Greek and Roman traditions. Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910), born in England, became an American citizen and was the first modern female to practice medicine in this country.

A member of an extraordinary family of reformers: her sister Emily also practiced medicine; her sister Anna was a newspaper correspondent, another sister, Ellen, was an author and artist. Her brother Henry married Lucy Stone and Samuel married Antoinette Brown Blackwell, first woman minister. Elizabeth opened the first U. S. hospital run by women doctors, and, during the Civil War, helped form the Woman’s Central Relief Association, spurring the formation of the U. S. Sanitary Commission. “Going off at age twenty-one to a teaching position in Kentucky, she realized that the traditional job with its inevitable culmination in marriage and motherhood was not for her, and she began consciously thinking about a way to avoid marriage in an era with virtually no employment opportunities for women. She settled on the idea of becoming a doctor - something that, for women, was wholly without precedent.”- Weatherford.

Her early medical career was a struggle against great opposition. After rejection by about ten medical schools she was accepted, as a joke (and startled the males by showing up), to Geneva College in western New York, where she graduated at the head of her class in 1849. In 1853 she opened a small clinic to treat mostly poor people and in 1857 Elizabeth’s New York Infirmary for Women and Children was established, with her physician-sister Emily and Dr. Marie Zakrzewska.

In 1868, an outstanding medical college for women was attached to the hospital - a dream long planned by Blackwell. Although a U. S. citizen, Elizabeth Blackwell lived in England from 1869 onward, had a successful practice, became a professor of gynecology at the new London School of Medicine for Women, and wrote books. In England she embraced Christian Socialism and called for “a more just distribution of income, greater governmental efficiency, workers’ insurance, and the establishment of agrarian communities by Christian joint-stock companies.” NAW I, pp. 161-65. Hersh, THE SLAVERY OF SEX, p. 171. Read & Witlieb, THE BOOK OF WOMEN’S FIRSTS, pp. 54-55. Weatherford, AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY. pp. 39-40. TIMELINES, pp. 145, 221, 222, 258.

$16,500

[Queen Elisabeth of Romania (Carmen Sylva)] ÂÈ ÍˆË˜ [On Life]. (1889–1890)

Oblong 32mo. 40 ff. A collection of thoughts and prayers beautifully written and illuminated on plates of ivory by Queen Elisabeth of Romania. Elisabeth, whose nom de plume was Carmen Sylva, was of German origin, the daughter of Hermann, Prince of Wied. In 1869 she married Carol I, the first king of Romania, and immersed herself in Romanian culture.

A prolific and respected author who penned numerous poems, operas, and fairy tales, she could write in several languages including German, Romanian, English, and, as in the case of this book, French. Elisabeth was also a talented artist, and the work contains a number of intricate illuminations depicting both flowers and Judeo-Christian iconography. The book measures over 2 ? inches thick, and is bound in ivory, with a chainmail spine. Each cover is edged with a thick strip of silver with metalwork arabesques extending in from the edges and corners. The front cover bears the title, On Life, in Greek, the letters constructed out of shaped silver forms inlaid with genuine diamonds. The large script “E” on the silver fore-edge clasp is likewise set with diamonds, and bears the hallmark of the Roumanian silversmith, Resch. The inside of each cover bears an ornate frame of metalwork, with “Elisabeth 1889” engraved on the inside of the top board and “Carmen Sylva 1890” on the inside of the bottom board. The forty ivory leaves are all edged both front and back with a strip of silver, and are attached to the binding by a strip of chain so as to move independently. This binding was likely executed by Resch, a silversmith in Bucharest that was contracted to make the medal for the Order of the Star of Roumania. This binding serves as a fitting complement to Elizabeth’s painstakingly executed writing and illumination inside. This is quite literally a book fit for a queen. Housed in a felt-lined wood box with a sliding top panel. Very fine.

$18,500

[Confederate Imprint]. Lea, James W., Capt. “To Arms! To Arms! Your Country Calls! Sixty Volunteers Wanted…” [N.p., 1862]. Broadside measuring approximately 7.5 by 11.5 inches. Folds, else near fine.

First printing. Unrecorded; not in Parrish & Willingham, Hummel, Thornton, NUC, or any available reference. This rare recruiting broadside calls for sixty volunteers for service in Company K of the 6th North Carolina Infantry, also known as the “Bloody Sixth.” The Bloody Sixth participated in all of the major campaigns in the East, from First Manassas to Fort Stedman.

Early in the war the unit was attached to the corps of Stonewall Jackson, under whom it served with distinction at Mechanicsville, Second Manassas, Harper’s Ferry, Sharpsburg, and Fredericksburg. In January 1863, the Bloody Sixth was transferred to Early’s Division in Longstreet’s Corps. It helped to hold off the federal assault on Mary’s Heights while Lee engaged Hooker at Chancellorsville. During the Battle of Gettysburg, the Bloody Sixth was positioned on the left flank of Lee’s army. On the second day of the battle it fought its way toward Culp’s Hill, only to break off the attack for lack of support. The following November the regiment was decimated in an engagement at Rappahannock Bridge, suffering a loss of almost 350 men killed, wounded, or captured. The Bloody Sixth later took part in the most severe fighting of the Wilderness Campaign, including the brutal combat at Cold Harbor.

In June 1864, Early was assigned to stop Sheridan’s march up the Shenandoah Valley, and the 6th N.C. fought at Winchester, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek. The unit surrendered with Lee at Appomattox, reduced to only 181 men. Its losses were among the greatest of any single unit in the Confederate army.

Among the terms mentioned in this extraordinary broadside are a $50 bounty to be given in addition to the regular pay and a stipulation that soldiers will be supplied with arms, clothing, and other necessary equipment free of charge. The broadside is signed in type by “Capt. Jas. W. Lea,” who has apparently signed it in manuscript above his name and has written at the bottom: “State Bounty 15.00.” James W. Lea, appointed captain on May 16, 1861, resigned from the army on July 26, 1862, by reason of “physical feebleness, a constitutional disposition to tubercular disease, and the loss of the use of one of his hands” (Manarin IV, 380).

Recruiting broadsides are among the rarest Confederate material on the market, and are almost impossible to find in collectible condition.

$9,750

image available on request

[First Medical Book Printed in America] Culpeper, Nicholas. Pharmacopoeia Londinensis; or, The London Dispensatory further Adorned by the Studies and Collections of the Fellows now Living, of the said College...

Boston: Printed by John Allen, for Nicholas Booone [sic], Daniel Henchman, and John Edwards, 1720. 8vo. [24], 305, [35] p. Contemporary sprinkled sheepskin, covers tooled in blind with a decorative roll and a two-line fillet in a panelled design with a blind ornament stamped diagonally at each corner, decorative blind roll on board edges. A remarkable copy, in superb condition: the binding is fresh and perfect and untouched, all original binder’s blanks are present, and the text exhibits very little of the foxing and browning inherent in all early American books. With the contemporary signature “Daniel Mathewson his Book.” Modern book label. In a handsome full leather folding box.

First American edition. The first herbal printed in North America as well as the first full-length medical book printed in North America. An extraordinarily well-preserved copy in a flawless period binding. The earliest known medical work printed in North America is a 1678 Boston broadside, Thomas Thatcher’s /A Brief Rule to Guide the Common People of New-England ... in the Small Pocks or Measles/, known by one copy. Following this, and also known by one copy, is a 1708 Boston printing of Culpeper’s The English Physician, a 94-page pamphlet. Of the present work there are several institutional copies, but the book is exceedingly rare in trade: we know of but one copy, and in marginally acceptable condition, in the market in the last twenty years.

The running-title of Culpeper’s book is “The Physitians Library,” and the work is essentially a medical encyclopedia, containing descriptions and medicinal properties of roots, barks, herbs, flowers, seeds, etc. While most subjects are covered, particular attention is paid to therapeutics. The book “enjoyed a wide popularity in the colonies, perhaps because of its Puritan slant and its bias toward the household treatment of illness.”—Norman. A cornerstone early American book, and an extraordinarily fine copy. Austin 591; Guerra a-48; Evans 2114; Garrison-Morton 1828.2; Norman 542 (this copy).

$22,000

Brown, Fred. Fermented Ink—Ten Poems. (N.p.), ca. 1932. First edition, just about fine in string bound wraps, as issued.

The author’s exceedingly rare first book. Produced in an unknown quantity (perhaps 100 copies), this very fragile self-published work is both numbered (#71) and signed by the author, here using his full name: Fred William Brown. The obvious cornerstone work for anyone collecting this author. Along with Shadow Suite, being fifteen poems, fine in wraps. Dated 1932, this second book of poetry is typed and not printed. In all likelihood, it is unique and was never published. (I have never seen any other surviving copy of this book. To the best of my knowledge, a copy was not to be found in the collections of Gerry de la Ree, Forrest Ackerman, nor Sam Moskowitz; three collectors who between them most likely had every conceivable work by every author of the science fiction and fantasy genre. No copies located in either the NUC nor OCLC. This may well be your only chance to acquire these rarities. $5,000

Churchill, Winston Spencer. A Collection of Churchill First Editions, Bound by Bayntun. One Volume Signed.

The Story of the Malakand Field Force, 1898. The River War.2 volumes, 1899. Savrola, 1900. London to Ladysmith via Pretoria, 1900. Ian Hamilton’s March, 1900. Lord Randolph Churchill (signed by Churchill in 1907) 2 volumes, 1906. My African Journey, 1908. Liberalism and the Social Problem, 1909. The World Crisis. 6 volumes, 1923–31. My Early Life, 1930. Thoughts and Adventures, bound with Painting as a Pastime, 1932. Marlborough.His Life and Times. 4 volumes, 1933–38. Great Contemporaries, 1937. Arms and the Covenant, 1938. Step by Step, 1939. The War Speeches. 7 volumes in 6, 1941–46. Maxims and Reflections, 1947. The Second World War. 6 volumes, 1948–54. A History of the English Speaking Peoples. 4 volumes, 1956–58. The Post War Speeches. 5 volumes.1948–1961.

All first U.K. editions, bar one—the first volume of Marlborough, which is the reprint from the same month as first published. 49 volumes bound in 47. Finely bound by Bayntun of Bath in mid twentieth century half blue morocco. Spines with raised bands, gilt. Compartments ruled and lettered in gilt. Blue cloth on boards. Top edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. The last volume of post war speeches has been expertly bound to match by Aquarius binders.

The fact that this volume was missing from the set suggests that the books were bound after 1958,when the last volume of History of the English Speaking Peoples was published, but before 1961 when this volume was issued.

A very good clean,attractive set with some uniform fading of the spines.A lovely collection of all the major works of Winston Churchill,all but one volume in 1st edition, 1st impression state, with the added bonus of an early inscription on one of the earlier works. $50,000.00

Jefferson, Thomas (1743–1826, compiler). Nathaniel Peabody Poor (auctioneer). Catalogue. President Jefferson’s Library. A Catalogue of the extensive and valuable Library of the late President Jefferson, (copied from the original MS., in his hand-writing, as arranged by himself,) to be sold at auction, at the Long Room, Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington City, by Nathaniel P. Poor, on the [27th] February, 1829.

Washington: printed by Gales and Seaton, 1829. p.[1] title (with time and date of sale added in contemporary manuscript in appropriate blank spaces,) p. [2] ‘Classification’, pp.[3-]14 ‘Catalogue,’ pp.[15-16] blank. Stitched (as issued), within modern full blue straight-grained morocco box. Provenance: Early ink manuscript marks beside 24 lots; Eric Sexton.

The Sexton copy of this famous catalogue of Jefferson’s ‘second’ library: a rare and important Jefferson and American bibliographical item, from the collection of one of the greatest 20th-century American book collectors.

Aside from his many other talents, Thomas Jefferson was one of the first great American book collectors. This is the catalogue of Jefferson’s final library, assembled after the sale of his earlier and larger collection to the Library of Congress in 1815. The catalogue reflects Jefferson’s insatiable appetite for books and a broad diversity of interests. Many of the books listed herein came into Jefferson’s possession via his friend and fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, George Wythe, who left Jefferson his library. Jefferson had originally intended this collection to go to the University of Virginia, but the condition of his estate at the time of his death made it necessary to sell the books.

The catalogue is an almost word-for-word reprint of Jefferson’s own manuscript catalogue (now in the Library of Congress,) and also reprints Jefferson’s classification chart of the library, by subject (this is printed on the verso of the title.) The differences between the manuscript and the present catalogue are slight: the sale consisted of 931 lots, whilst the final item in the manuscript is numbered 940, and the manuscript chart is indexed by page number, while the printed version is indexed by lot number. In all, this represents a valuable record of what was certainly one of the finest American libraries of its day. A copy of this catalogue realized $15,400 at auction several years ago.

American Imprints 39131; McKay 226; OCLC 1840170 & 83846058; Streeter Sale 1731.

(#19260). $ 18,500.

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. London: 1811.

First edition of Jane Austen’s first novel. Three twelvemo volumes. Complete with half-titles and the final blank in volume III.

Uncut, in the original drab blue-gray boards with gray-green paper spines and original pink paper spine labels. Volume I with small stain on front board, splits at joints, and a 0.5 inch loss at foot of spine. Volume II split at front joint, slight loss at head of spine. volume III front joint split, front bottom corner slightly bumped, some further general light chipping or rubbing to extremities of covers and labels. Text remarkably fresh, with only occasional trivial foxing. A beautiful copy, totally uncut and unsophisticated and very rare thus. Housed in chemises and a blue morocco-backed clamshell case.

To find this title in its original state, “as issued,” is nowadays just about impossible. Highly sought after, this nearly 200-year-old book is usually only available in a binding rarely (strictly) contemporary and mostly wanting the half-titles. In checking through the auction records of American Book Prices Current, we did not locate any other copy in original boards, unrepaired, apart from this one (Christie’s South Kensington, 28 July 1978, lot 105). The Jerome Kern copy, which sold at Sotheby’s New York in December 2001 was rebacked, with portions of the original spine laid down.

“Sensibility” novels had been in vogue for several decades before Jane Austen put quill to paper. They were usually written in epistolary form, and indeed Jane Austen’s early drafts were epistolary, but she soon found her “voice,” and Sense and Sensibility achieved new heights in literary style.

Altogether sharper, wittier, and consequently more accessible to readers, then and now. It is an undoubted monument to the genre and a landmark in the development of the novel.

The edition size is unknown, but Keynes estimated it may have been 1,000, or even as few as 750 copies, the smallest print run of any of Jane Austen’s novels. Gilson A1. Keynes, Austen, 1.

$300,000

[Proclamation of Equal Rights for Sephardic Jews of France in 1790] Lettres Patentes Du Roi. (Letters Patent of the King. that those Jews known in France as Portuguese, Spanish and Avignonese Jews will continue to enjoy the rights of active citizens) Bordeaux, France: chez Michel Racle, Imprimeur de l’Intendance, [January 28] 1790. Broadside measures 21 by 15 inches, with royal coat of arms insignia at top of sheet. Folds and age toning present with evidence of nail holes consistent with this notice having once been tacked up for public posting. Overall, very good condition.

The earliest proclamation in Europe of equal rights for Jews: On August 27, 1789 a newly created French National Assembly opened the doors to the French Revolution by approving “The Declaration of the Rights of Man.” Though freedom and equality were demanded of “all men” they curiously did not include Jews. It was not until six months later that King Louis XVI under political pressure issued this open letter patent dated January 28, 1790 granting equal rights to Jews, but only those of Sephardic extraction.

“Louis, by the grace of God and the constitutional Law of the State decrees All the Portuguese, Spanish, and Avignonese Jews will continue to enjoy those rights which they have enjoyed up until now, and which are sanctioned in their favor by the Lettres Patents; consequently they will enjoy the rights of active citizens, when they fulfill the conditions required by the Assembly’s decrees.”

On the eve of the Revolution approximately 40,000 Jews were living in France. Those of Spanish and Portuguese extraction had been living quietly among the southern population, including Bordeaux and Avignon, since the end of the 15th century. They had integrated for survival, spoke French and were less observant in religious ritual, in some cases pretending to be “New Christians.” The Ashkenazim, on the other hand, were concentrated in Paris and Alsace in the north of France and spoke mainly Yiddish. This may explain why the Marranos were granted equality by the King a full year before their fellow Ashkenazim.

After the great expulsion of 1492, European Jews had lived in a constant state of upheaval and insecurity but they did not vanish. England’s Oliver Cromwell readmitted them in 1655 and The Jewish Naturalization Act of 1753 finally granted citizenship but not political rights as these were still restricted by oath requirements. Surprisingly Jews were not fully protected as citizens of the United States until 1824 when the Jew Bill in Maryland was enacted.

$12,500

Lawrence, T. E. The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Privately Printed for the Author, 1926

First (or Cranwell) edition, published for subscribers. One of 170 “complete” copies, inscribed and initialed by Lawrence “Complete copy, 1.xii.26. T.E.S.” on page XIX , the author’s holograph emendation to the attribution of “The gad-fly” plate. As issued with the “The Prickly Pear” plate but not the two Paul Nash illustrations. Publisher’s full red morocco by De Coverly with elaborate gilt arabesques to the covers and raised bands with gilt decoration to the spine. All edges gilt. Endpapers by Eric Kennington. Frontispiece of King Feysal by Augustus John, 65 plates (mostly color) and 58 text illustrations by John, Kennington, Williams Roberts, Paul Nash, Blair Hughes-Stanton, William Nicholson and others. Four fold-out colour maps (two maps duplicated). A superb fine copy both internally and externally.

with

Two Autograph Letters by Lawrence to Everard Feilding, a friend and helper in the Arab Campaign who is mentioned by Lawrence in The Seven Pillars. Both letters are one side of letter paper and surround Feilding’s purchase of this copy of the of The Seven Pillars. The first, dated “26. x. 26.”, details the difference between the two states of the Cranwell edition (complete and incomplete copies), “1) The books complete text, with only a few of the coloured plates, is available for some people mentioned in it (you amongst them) gratis. I have 50 copies in this state... 2) The complete text, with about 50 coloured plates, is for sale at 30 guineas. The subscription lists were closed months back. I can get you a copy, but not easily...” The second letter, presumably follows Feilding’s reply requesting of option 2, “Very well. Far be it from me to refuse a millionaire!” and gives details of Lawrence’s bank and this “Seven Pillars Acct.”

with

Shaw, T. E. Some Notes on the Writing of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. (The Author, 1927) First edition. Single-fold leaflet. Fine. “About 200 copies distributed to subscribers of Seven Pillars of Wisdom” (O’Brian A039). All housed in a custom made quarter morocco, clamshell case.

The author’s magnum opus and famous account of his part in the Arab Revolt of 1916. The Seven Pillars was originally intended to be a simple account of the travels round seven great cities of the East, that Lawrence made in his pursuit of his interest in Middle-Eastern archaeology. The manuscript, written in 1913 was supposedly destroyed at the outbreak of the first world war. With his understanding of the Middle East and the Arabs, Captain Lawrence soon found himself working with military intelligence in Cairo and liaising between the British and Arab forces, which lead to him helping to unite Arab forces in support of the British strategy in the region and ultimately co-coordinating successful campaigns against the Ottoman army.

His account, which originally ran to over 400,000 words was printed by the Oxford Times in 1922, and the positive response given to the text by Lawrence’s friends lead him to consider publishing it to a wider audience. Lawrence never considered the text to be suitable for or of interest to the public at large and so made it available only to friends and acquaintances by subscription to this Cranwell edition.

Lawrence supervised the production at every stage and extravagantly had each copy bound in a different way by leading fine binders of the day (an act that virtually bankrupted him).

Lawrence vowed that the text would not be made publicly available in his lifetime, however, of financial necessity he authorized Jonathan Cape to publish a heavily abridged and sanitized version under the title of Revolt in the Desert, in 1927, which stirred public interest to induce Cape to publish most of the full text within two months of Lawrence’s death in 1935. It became an immediate bestseller with 100,000 copies sold in the remainder of that year alone, and has since gone on to be one of the most influential and highly regarded pieces of military and literary prose of the twentieth century.

Churchill was of the opinion, “It ranks with the greatest books written in the English language.”

The Hon. Everard Feilding, younger brother of the Duke of Flint and noted psychic investigator (and the basis for Lord Anthony Bowling in Alistair Crowley’s The Moonchild), was also involved with military intelligence in Egypt in the First World War. It was there that he met Lawrence, who refers to him at the beginning of chapter LVIII of The Seven Pillars: “... Arabia ships were esteemed by number of funnels, and the EURYALUS, with four, was exceptional in ships. Her great reputation assured the mountains that we were indeed the winning side: and her huge crew, by the prompting of Everard Feilding, for fun built us a good pier.”

$110,000

Vollmann, William T. Book of Candles. Sacramento, CA: Co-Tangent Press, 2006.

Artist’s book / First Edition, one of 10 copies, each signed by the author / artist, William T. Vollmann on a page of the text as well as in the box housing the book. Page size: 19 inches x 16 inches; 75pp; (2pp. per folio sheet, 32 sheets in all + 2 unnumbered double-page spreads). The text is a suite of eight religious and blasphemous love-poems to prostitutes and was composed in the Philippines in 1995 and relief-printed on Rives de Lin paper by the author over a period of years (1997–2003). The text is previously unpublished and there are no immediate plates to publish the poems in any other edition.

The text blocks were photo-etched magnesium plates as were some of the illustrations. Other illustrations were woodcuts done in Thailand and Cambodia on Chinese ulo wood. These were colored a la poupee and further hand colored with watercolors and acrylics. Housed in a sailcloth-covered basswood clamshell box which the artist / author has painted, collaged with hand-painted woodblock prints, and suitably adorned with gewgaws. The outside dimensions of the box are 31 inches high x 24 inches wide x 2.5 inches deep. The woodcut image on the underside of each box is different. Four Japanese “doughnut hold” coins have been screwed in to the underside of the box to comprise protective feet. Inside each box, a narrow channel, collaged with painted paper, runs around three edges, leaving the spine side open. Within this are set two wooden corner blocks mounted with selenium-splotched flower-engraved brass plates, a strip of painted walnut engraved with a print of a female nude, two engraved beeswax candles on engraved brass supports wrapped round with brass wire. Even the brass screws of these assemblies are engraved and rubbed with oil-based ink. On the inside of the spine are one engraved and inked aluminum plate and one engraved and inked brass plate which is signed and numbered. This is certainly the most labor-intensive project undertaken so far by William T. Vollmann’s Co-Tangent Press but it is also the most beautiful.

William T. Vollmann, awarded the National Book Award in 2005 for his novel, EUROPE CENTRAL, has created a book unlike anything else we’ve seen. The box and the woodcuts are hand-painted as well as printed making each copy of the book unique. The naive aspect of the art of this “journal” brings to mind Gauguin’s NOA NOA, which was a book for the 19th century. This is most definitely a book for the 21st century. Using the sexual metaphor of male subjugation of women for the West’s exploitation of the more “primitive” East, Vollmann creates imagery that we ignore at our peril. The beauty of the prints, which includes the vibrant colors, lead the reader / viewer to understand that a less sophisticated life has a beauty that cannot be extinguished. $15,000

Jefferson, Thomas. Autograph Letter Signed as President. Jefferson on Barbary pirates’ tribute demands, planning a limited Mediterranean war, noting that “neither economy nor prudence permits to keep in actual service all the force which might be necessary in the worst state of things.” Signed as President on Feb. 23, 1803. $50,000

Ziegler, Hans Severus. Entartete Musik: Eine Abrechnung von Staatrat Dr. Hans Severus Ziegler. Generalintendant des Deutschen Nationaltheaters zu Weimar. Düsseldorf: Völkischer Verlag G.m.b.H., 1938. 8vo. 32pp. Illustrated throughout.

Hans Severus Ziegler (1893-1978) was a German publicist, NS official and theater director. A strong supporter of the Nazi ideology from the very beginning, he founded the journal Der Völkische in 1924. It later became a daily journal by the title Der Nationalsozialist. Upon his suggestion (while serving as Gauleiter for Thuringia), the Nazi Youth movement was named Hitlerjugend. In 1930 Ziegler formulated a degree titled “Wider die Negerkultur” (against the Negro culture). After the war, Ziegler continued to work as a theater director, actor and as a private teacher. He kept publishing, mostly in the Neo-Nazi scene. Ziegler died unmarried and without children in Bayreuth in 1978.

On the exhibition: In 1936, Severus was appointed as general director of the Nationaltheater (national theater) of Weimar. Inspired by the Munich exhibition Entartete Kunst, and in the context of the Reichsmusiktage in Dusseldorf (celebrating Richard Wagner’s 125th birthday), Severus organized an exhibition entitled Entartete Musik, whereby he polemicized against music and musicians that were considered degenerate by the Nazis, mainly jazz and Jewish musicians. Among the speakers at the opening was propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. Richard Strauss composed a festliches Vorspiel specifically for this event, which he conducted. While Goebbels wanted the music event and the exhibition to become a permanent institution, his plans were not realized due to the outbreak of WWII in 1939.

On the brochure: The original exhibition in 1938 did not have a catalogue. What did exist, however, was an illustrated brochure, in which Hans Severus Ziegler’s speech was reprinted. (The present book). The cover of this brochure shows “Negermusiker Johnny,” a character from the opera Jonny spielt auf by the Czech-Austrian musician Ernst Krenek (1900-1991). It depicts a black musician playing the saxophone. However, it replaced the flower on the tuxedo’s lapel with a star of David. Also, the face is disproportionately big (in contrast to the tuxedo). This illustration seemed to personify what the Nazis defined as “degenerate:” A Jewish Negro who combines the primitiveness of the jungle with European culture. Furthermore, it reminded the Nazis of Ernst Krenek’s successful opera, which they disdained. The brochure is illustrated throughout with many b/w photographs of “degenerate” musicians like Schoenberg, Alban Berg, etc. In German. In fine condition.

$4,500

Caspary, Vera. Laura.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1943.

First edition. Basis for the classic film noir directed by Otto Preminger and starring Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, and Vincent Price. A very good copy, some age fading to spine and upper and lower edges. In a very good dust jacket with rubbing to front corners and spine fold, rubbing to heel of spine panel, affecting the lettering of “Company,” rubbing and chipping to head of spine panel affecting title lettering, spine ends re-enforced on the verso with cello-tape; some small closed tears. Scarce in dust jacket. $10,000

[Mozart] [The Sequel to the Magic Flute]

Winter, Peter von (1754–1825). Die Zauberfloete zweiter Theil: Das Labyrinth, oder der Kampf mit den Elementen... Bonn: N. Simrock [1798].

Vocal score, engraved, oblong folio. PN 86. 2ff., pp. 3–201, [202 publisher’s catalog]. Title-page illustrated by Koch. Worming in the gutter towards the end, otherwise very good. Contemporary boards. Second edition. CPM 61 p. 381. Loewenberg 54. First published in Vienna, 1798. Opera in 2 acts, libretto by E. Schikaneder, written as a sequel to Die Zauberflöte, first performed on June 12, 1798 at the Theater auf der Wieden. All of the principal characters return in this sequel. Very rare — the only copy we’ve seen on the market in over thirty-five years. $1750

[Crandall, Reuben]. The Trial of Reuben Crandall, M.D. Charged with Publishing and Circulating Seditions and Incendiary Papers, &C. in the District of Columbia, with the Intent of Exciting Servile Insurrection. Carefully Reported, and Compiled from the Written Statements of the Court and Counsel. By a Member of the Bar.

Washington City: Printed for the Proprietors. 1836. 48 pp, disbound. Title leaf with a lower margin spot, light dusting, and a few blank foremargin chips. Widely scattered light foxing, Good+ or better.

The case is an excellent illustration of pro-slavery forces’ reliance on government to restrict free speech and a free press as the means of stifling criticism of slavery and diminishing the circulation of abolitionist literature. This pamphlet calls the trial of Crandall, a Washington D.C. physician and brother of the Connecticut abolitionist Prudence Crandall, “the first case of a man charged with endeavoring to excite insurrection among slaves and the free colored population that was ever brought before a judicial tribunal...No trial has ever occurred more important to travellers from the North, or to the domestic peace of the inhabitants of the Southern States.”

Crandall had allegedly caused the distribution of anti-slavery literature. Francis Scott Key, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and author of the Star Spangled Banner, indicted him for seditious libel. An advocate of colonization, Key hated, like many of his fellows in the American Colonization Society, abolition and the Anti-Slavery Societies whose literature was flooding the South. He opposed bail; Crandall languished in jail for eight months until trial. The pamphlet contains summaries of the indictment, evidence, testimony, and arguments of counsel. Key bitterly attacked the Anti-Slavery Societies and the dangers and strife they provoked; Crandall’s counsel argued, not only the government’s failure to prove the allegations of the indictment, but the injustice of slavery. The jury acquitted Crandall after “a short deliberation.”

McCoy C627. Finkelman 166. LCP 2787. II Harv. Law Cat. 1053. Marke 984. Dumond 45. AI 36951 [5].

$2,750