Americana

Concord N.H.: G. F. Bemis, 1835. First edition, first state with signature mark 3 absent. Bound with the ORIGINAL BLUE WRAPPERS present. Recent cloth backed marble boards, uncut as issued. Scattered foxing throughout, several leaves with slight tears to fore edge, wrappers archivally backed but still a nice copy of Emerson's first separately published book or substantial publication preceded only by contributions to journals and a broadside. The rarity of this pamphlet can be explained by the small number of copies and the fire in the town clerk's office that destroyed many of them. Quite scarce in any condition but especially so with the wrappers as most copies were rebound and the wrappers discarded, losing printed elements important to scholars and collectors. Two elusive pieces of paper, being to Mr. Emerson's Discourse what dust wrappers are to modern first editions.

Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1887. First edition. hardcover. Very Good. Large folio. [18" X 15"] Spine and corners rebound over original brick red boards. Original gilt titles on front cover. New gilt title on spine. New end papers. 339 numbered pages, including text, plates (with b/w lithographs depicting Kansas ranches, livestock, architecture, and other scenes), and approximately 300 hand colored maps, with 25 colored folding maps. "Compliments of The Bankers Loan & Trust Co., Kirwin, Kansas" stamped in gilt above title on front cover. Rear cover shows wear. Light damp stain to top of title page. Slight edge wear to initial and last pages. A very solid, and handsome copy of the original edition one of the grand state atlases of the 19th century. Due to size and weight, international shipping will require additional postage.

1664 1st ed NEW YORK George Downing Discourse on DUTCH Settlements Indians 2v
Two exceedingly rare first editions of George Downing's defense of New York!
George Downing was an Irish preacher and political apologist known for his service under Oliver Cromwell in Scotland. In 1664 he wrote a short political letter describing the details of his arrangement of the acquisition of New York from the Dutch. 'A Discourse', as it is called, was written to clear his own name from any misconduct in the exchange. One of the most notable discussions in this work is a report on the miserable interactions of the Dutch settlers with local Indian tribes, as well as business and trade in New York. It should be noted that this work is considered one of the earliest works relating to New York in English! (Stevens).
A year after his first letter was written, he wrote his own reply – a work, which according to 'Rare Americana', was
"privately printed, and relates principally to the affairs of the English and Dutch West… Read More

1798. Late Eighteenth-Century Account Book of a Notable New York Attorney [Manuscript]. Remsen, John H. [c.1770-1798]. [Account Book]. New York, 1795-1798. [xxiii], 326 pp. Quarto (9-1/2" x 7-1/2"). Reverse calf, blind fillets and panels to boards, rebacked retaining parts of existing spine, raised bands, blind ornaments and lettering piece (reading "Register") to spine, marbled endpapers. Moderate rubbing with wear to extremities, a few stains and slash marks to boards, hinges cracked, front free endpaper and preliminary leaves loose, one leaf and parts of two others removed. Moderate toning to interior, text in neat hand to rectos and versos of most leaves, a few early manuscript jottings to front endleaf, small library stamp and marks to its verso. $6,500. * With a thumb-tabbed index of cases. John H. Remsen was a New York lawyer and notary public who served as private secretary to New York governor John Jay. This volume records work done and fees charged by Remsen on hundreds of cases in the… Read More

Vintage original 41 x 27" (103 x 67 cm.) one sheet poster, USA. James Ellison, Frances Dee, Tom Conway, Edith Barrett, James Bell, dir: Jacques Tourneur; RKO. Preserved on linen. There has been touch-up to the folds, with some extra touch-up in the "H" of "WITH" and the "O" of "ZOMBIE". There has also been some touch-up and repair to the blank white margins and at corners, and there were a few tiny bits of missing paper along the top edge, near fine.The story (based on Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre) of a nurse who ventures to the West Indies to care for the wife of a plantation manager. She falls in love with him and seeks to cure the wife of her mental paralysis by involving herself in a native voodoo ceremony. A brilliant and atmospheric tale produced by master Val Lewton, the horror suggested by the use of lighting, shadows and camera work. The images on this poster are scary and the graphics bold, reflecting the feel of this suspenseful classic.

Richmond: Published by Peter Cottom, And for sale at his Bookstores in Richmond and Lynchburg, and by M. Carey & Son, Philadelphia, 1817. Second Edition. Leather. Very Good -. 2nd edition, stated, 1817. A Very Good - copy. 16mo., 215, (1), pp., illustrated with an engraved title page, frontispiece, and engraved folding plate. Bound in full period leather, with title and spine decoration in gilt. Spine has a small loss at the foot. The front board has been reattached. Some light toning to the text. Previous owner's name on a front end paper. Frontispiece of "Bombardment of Fort Mc.Henry", captioned with "And this be our motto, in God is our trust; And the star spangled banner in triumph shall wave. O'er the land of the free &' the home of the brave."Frontis. signed: "Kneass, sc." "The Star Spangled Banner," by "Francis Key, Esq.," appears at page 4, as the second song in the book. This is the first songster (songbook) to publish Key's name as the author of the song. Filby B-32, Sabin 1224.

Pittsburgh. Printed for David M'Keehan & London, Re-Printed for J. Budd, Bookseller to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, Pall-Mall. 1808. 8vo, 21.8cm, the First London edition. iv.381,16p., (ads., for Longman's catalogue, dated June l, 1808), in the original quarter-vellum backed light blue fine grain linen over boards, black stamped spine title, slight shelf wear on the boards, vellum slightly dust worn (maybe less than normal), all edges untrimmed (deckled), small brown stain (2.5cm) on the front cover, contemporary manuscript notes on front free endpaper, old signature at upper comer of front paste-down. as well as later signature of W[ilberforce] Eames, eminent bibliographer, librarian, and collector of Americana. This first English edition is scarcer that the first American edition of the previous year, with better typography and on better paper. With wide margins this is a tall copy and totally uncut. (cgc). WCB 6:2. Graff I517. Howes G-77 ("best edition"). Sabin 26741. Beckham, Eric, et… Read More

xviii+443 pages with folding copper-engraved map. Octavo (8¼" x 5"), early half calf-backed boards, morocco lettering piece. Translated by A.J.N. Lallemant. (Graff 1519; Howes G77; Wagner-Camp 6:3; Wheat Transmississippi 300.) First French Edition.
First publication in a foreign language of any detailed information of the Lewis and Clark expedition, of especial interest to the French, since it was through lands they had so recently laid claim to. Perhaps more notable, however, is the presence of the map by J.B. Tardieu, "Carte Pour servir au Voyage des Capes. Lewis et Clarke..." which seems to be the first one published that mentions Lewis and Clark and locates parts of their route. It measures (9½x7¾"). Wheat notes that "Tardieu had no Lewis and Clark map to assist him, but he apparently had at hand Meriwether Lewis's brief letter-report to Jefferson, and he did his best to locate on his map at least a few of the Expedition's points of geographic interest. His available topography, based as it… Read More

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973 First printing of the stated first edition. Presentation copy (signed and dated in year of publication on the half-title page) to famed civil rights lawyer and activist, Jack Greenberg (1924–2016): "For Jack Greenberg / long in the / Storm. / Sincerely, / Alice Walker / 2-26-73." Provenance: the personal copy of Jack Greenberg, consigned by his adopted son William Cole.
Light rubbing to edge of boards, else book in fine condition; dust jacket with light toning to cover margins, light wear to spine ends, and light shelf wear.

Jack Greenberg was an American attorney and legal scholar. He was the Director-Counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund from 1961 to 1984, succeeding Thurgood Marshall.

Greenberg represented Martin Luther King Jr., but was best known for his role in litigating Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark 1954 civil rights case in which the high court rejected “separate but equal” public schools for blacks and… Read More

5+[3]-277+[5]+65+[1]+53+[1]+87+[1] pages with frontispiece, 3 folding tables, a chart (on 5 separate leaves) and 6 maps (5 folding). Octavo (8 1/2" x 5 1/2") rebound in red cloth with gilt lettering to spine and lettering in gilt with five raised spine bands in custom enclosure. (Howes P-373, "b"; Wagner-Camp 9:1; Graff 3290; Wheat Transmississippi 297, 298, 299; Field 1217; Streeter Texas 1047C; Bradford 4415; Rittenhouse 467; Sabin 62936; Jones 743; Braislin 1474; Jenkins Basic Texas Books 163; Hill 1357; Reese, Best of the West, # 32) First edition.

Zebulon Pike, U.S. army officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado was named. In 1805 Pike, then an army lieutenant, led a 20-man exploring party to the headwaters of the Mississippi River with instructions to discover the river s source, negotiate peace treaties with Indian tribes, and assert the legal claim of the United States to the area. Pike traveled 2,000 miles by boat and on foot from St. Louis, Missouri, to Leech and Sandy lakes, in… Read More

Founding document and constitution of the Republic of Colombia
Simón Bolívar (1783-1830).
Constitucion de la Republica de Colombia.
Rosario de Cucuta [but Bogotá], Bruno Espinosa, Impresor de Gob. Gral., 1821.- 11°.
4°. 66 pp. (lacks V pp. preliminaries). Collates: π, B-I4, [K1].
Later half calf with decorated paper sides.
First edition of the first constitution of Gran Colombia, known as the Constitution of Cúcuta. A monument of post-colonial liberty and arguably the most important book ever printed in Latin America. Gran Colombia consisted of current Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Panama, northern Peru, western Guyana and northwest Brazil. This is one of the very few copies that were printed of the first edition. A decree in this volume prints the order to reprint the constitution at Bogota in two or three thousand copies and to print one thousand copies of a Caracas edition. Rio and Philadelphia would also print editions in 1822.The publication of this document meant the realization of Simón… Read More

NY : E.J. Hale & Son, 1878 Alexander Means was an inventor, physicist, poet and a past Emory College president at the original campus in Oxford GA. Many say he was the father of modern electricity. His famous light bulb experiment preceded Tesla and Edison by decades. This is a very rare first edition (1878). The book is in sound condition. Blue cloth cover intact as well as binding. Minor cloth fray on spine and damp stain on rear cover. What is most remarkable about this book is that it is inscribed by one of his former slaves after his freedom. The inscription reads " Susie , Accept this cluster of Poems by one of my old masters from your affecionate husband A.F.P Decatur Ga, Apr 1878. A most precious inscription to a valuable 19th C book.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Good.

NY : E.J. Hale & Son, 1878 Alexander Means was an inventor, physicist, poet and a past Emory College president at the original campus in Oxford GA. Many say he was the father of modern electricity. His famous light bulb experiment preceded Tesla and Edison by decades. This is a very rare first edition (1878). The book is in sound condition. Blue cloth cover intact as well as binding. Minor cloth fray on spine and damp stain on rear cover. What is most remarkable about this book is that it is inscribed by one of his former slaves after his freedom. The inscription reads " Susie , Accept this cluster of Poems by one of my old masters from your affecionate husband A.F.P Decatur Ga, Apr 1878. A most precious inscription to a valuable 19th C book.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Good.

1804. Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804. 3 vols.. Philadelphia: Lorenzo Press, 1804. 3 vols. Includes Early Commentaries on the U.S. Constitution by One of the Framers Wilson, James [1742-1798]. Wilson, Bird [1777-1859], Editor. The Works of the Honourable James Wilson, L.L.D. Published Under the Direction of Bird Wilson, Esquire. Philadelphia: At the Lorenzo Press, 1804. Three volumes. xvi, 467; vi, 497; iv, 439 pp. Volume I has a copperplate engraved portrait of James Wilson with a tissue guard. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5"). Contemporary sheep, blind fillets and red and black morocco gilt lettering pieces to spine, small embossed owner stamp, "D.A. Smalley," to centers of front boards. Light rubbing, a few faint stains and a few minor scuffs to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, corners bumped and somewhat worn, front joint of Volume I just starting at head, owner signature (George Ashburn, dated 1856) to front pastedowns, foxing and dampstaining to frontispiece, foxing and offsetting to title-pages.… Read More

1774. Providence, 1774. 2d Am. ed. Providence, 1774. 2d Am. ed. A Profound Influence in Pre-Revolutionary America [Care, Henry (1646-1688)]. N[elson], W[illiam] [b.1653], Editor. English Liberties, Or The Free-Born Subject's Inheritance. Containing Magna Charta, Charta de Foresta, The Statute De Tallagio, Non Concedendo, The Habeas Corpus Act, And Several Other Statutes; With Comments on Each of Them. Likewise, Of Ship-Money: Of Tonnage and Poundage. Of Parliaments, and the Qualification and Choice of Members: Of the Three Estates, And of the Settlement of the Crown by Parliament. Together with a Short History of the Succession, Not by Any Hereditary Right: Also a Declaration of the Liberties of the Subject: And of the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy. The Petition of Right; With a Short but Impartial Relation of the Difference Between King Charles I and the Long Parliament, Concerning the Prerogative of the King, The Liberties of the Subject, And the Rise of the Civil Wars. Of Trials by Juries, and… Read More