AMERICAN

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The Pilgrim Fathers (1620-1920).

Author: 
W. J. Douglas-Hamilton [Pilgrim Fathers Records Society]
Publication details: 
Published by Commonwealth Fine Art and General Publishers, Ltd., For the Pilgrim Fathers Records Society, 4, Vernon Place, London, W.C.1. 1920.
£120.00

8vo, [ii] + 8 pp. Unbound stitched pamphlet. Lightly aged, and with short closed tears at head and foot of outer leaves. Dogeared corner to rear leaf. A 116-line 29-stanza poem, beginning 'The Pilgrims loved Old England, | Their hearts fed on her sod, | Their souls clung close to England, | But closelier [sic] to God.' and ending 'And through those centuries strenuous | In services to Man, | If sometimes sadly tenuous, | We claimed, and kept the Van.' Scarce: no copy on COPAC, in the British Library or Library of Congress.

Long playing record entitled ' "Precinct to President", an interview with former President Harry S. Truman answering questions put to him by Mr. Edward R. Murrow' ['PRIVATE RECORD [...] (For private use only)'.

Author: 
Harry S. Truman (1884-1972), 33rd President of the United States of America; Edward R. Murrow; The Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government
Publication details: 
[London:] The Hansard Society for Parliamentary Government. [no date, but 1958]
£250.00

Good, in original brown-paper sleeve with white printed 7 x 27 cm label. On thick black vinyl with white printed labels on both sides. The disc is numbered TLO.54460-2. The record is in a transparent polythene sleeve stamped in red 'B.B.C. RETURN RECORD TO SLEEVE'. It would appear that this recording of Murrow's interview was produced for distribution to the British (European?) press. No other copy of this item traced.

Discourse, On the Objects and Importance of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, Established at Washington, 1840, Delivered at the First Anniversary.

Author: 
Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War and Senior Director of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science [Smithsonian Institution]
Publication details: 
Washington: P. Force, Printer. 1841.
£35.00

8vo: 52 pp. Stitched pamphlet in marbled paper wraps. On aged, damp-stained paper, with foxing to last leaf. The Institution was later renamed the National Institute and eventually became a part of the Smithsonian Institute.

Aklla.

Author: 
Inti Illapa' (pseud. of Santiago Pereda Hidalgo) [Peru; Peruvian]
Publication details: 
Peru [Santiago de Chuco]: Editorial INTI, '1950' and '16 de Febrero de 1951'.
£250.00

8vo: xii + 64 pp. In original green wraps, printed in red with illustration on front, with printed signature of 'Inti Tupac', and large distinctive publisher's device on back. Good, on yellowed high-acidity paper, in faded wraps, with Yapp edges a little chipped. Inscribed on fly-leaf 'Para el gran rotativo The Times. Inti Illapa. | Direccion: Inti Illapa | Santiago de Chuco | Dep. La Libertad | Peru.' No copy in the British Library. COPAC only lists one copy, at Cambridge, whose catalogue entry does not explain that 'Inti Illapa' is a pseudonymn.

The conference. Instructions given to Sir Robert Ladbroke, Knt. William Beckford, Esq; the Right Hon. Thomas Harley, Esq; and Barlow Trecothick, Esq; representatives of the City of London: by their constituents.

Author: 
The City of London [Alderman William Beckford; Sir Robert Ladbroke; Thomas Harley; Barlow Trecothick; Charles Clavey]
Publication details: 
(Signed) CHARLES CLAVEY, Chairman of the Common Hall. Guildhall, Feb. 10, 1769.'
£280.00

Printed on one side only of a piece of watermarked laid paper, dimensions 32.5 x 19.5 cm. Folded twice for insertion in the magazine. Good, apart from strip of approximately 0.5 x 5.5 cm loss along top fold, affecting one word of text, and neatly repaired with archival tape. At head of page clean impression of satirical engraving (roughly 8.5 x 13 cm), showing Beckford (father of the connoisseur), in Lord Mayor's robes, telling Harley to 'Receive Instructions & not Silver'. Harley, holding a jacket, tailor's iron and shears, replies 'Teach us our Lesson! Are we then School Boys?

Autograph Letter Signed to Dr [Albert] Gunther.

Author: 
Arthur Donaldson Smith
Publication details: 
24 January 1895; Barre.
£150.00

American physician and explorer of Africa (1866-1939). The recipient (1830-1914) was Keeper of the Zoological Department at the British Museum, 1875-95, and Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1875-6. Two pages, 12mo. Very good, on slightly discoloured paper with a little light spotting. Traces of previous mount adhering to one edge. He is sending some 'spirit-specimens' from his collection and has written to Sir William Flower 'as to the disposition of the entire collection'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Fevret e St. Mémin | Consr. du Musée de Dijon'), in French, to an unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin (1770-1852). French engraver painter and Conservateur du Musée de Dijon [Fevret de St. Mésmin; Févret de St. Mesmin; Fevret de St Mesmin; St. Mémin]
Publication details: 
Dijon le 1r. octobre 1842.'
£125.00

4to: 2 pp. 26 lines. He is totally flattered by the obliging comments of the recipient in sending the first three issues of 'l'Artiste'. Discusses the merits of this 'intéressant ouvrage'. Describes the limited 'coopération' he will be able to provide. 'J'espere ainsi que vous voudrez bien vous contenter de l'envoi que j'ai l'honneur de vous faire de la notice, dernièrement publiée, du musée que je dirige, dont la 1re et la 4e.

Signature only, clipped

Author: 
Henry James
Publication details: 
no date
£56.00

James's signature is on a triangular piece of paper, c. 2" x 1.5 x 1.5

Autograph Letter Signed ('Bob. Crosby') to 'Dear Ken' [Ken Ryan].

Author: 
Bob Crosby (1913-1993), American dixieland bandleader and vocalist, best known for his group 'Bob Crosby and the Bob Cats'
Publication details: 
New Years Eve, 1955.' On letterheads of The Aladdin Hotel, Kansas City, Missouri.
£56.00

4to, 4 pp. Good, on lightly creased paper. From the Ken Ryan collection. Long, rambling, good-humoured letter on the . 'Here it is New Years Eve and I'm at home, and being quiet. - I was tired as we have worked hard all week. - and its good to be quiet. [...] London must have been interesting during the holiday season - I hope to some day see it but when I ever will is the question I'm never to [sic] good to save money. - Next week we have the Monte Carlo Ballet. Russe. and I am looking forward to seeing it. with pleasure. I've always been so fond of ballet.'

Autograph Subscription signed.

Author: 
Virginia Frazer Boyle, American Science Fiction writer, novelist.
Publication details: 
No place or date surviving.
£120.00

Scrap of paper,3.5 x 1", with the words, in Boyle's hand, "you and believe me / with sincere regard, / Your friend / Virginia Frazer Boyle". Paper partly laid down on card, unevenly and crudely cut, staining, corners have remnants of a laying down, and another hand has added "Author of 'Devil Tales' &c. Memphis, Tenn." (the word "Author" partly obscured. The text is clear if a little faded. Items in Boyle's hand appear to be scarce.

Some Reminiscences and Reflections on Collecting Autographs.

Author: 
Charles King Wadham [autograph collecting; Yale University Press]
Publication details: 
Dalton, Massachusetts: Maisonette. ['Privately printed, The Printing-Office of the Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, March 1931'.]
£45.00

Octavo: 32 pp. Stitched. In original printed wraps. Internally clean and tight, but wraps dogeared and grubby, with closed tear and pen mark. Tissue-guarded frontispiece of Wadham, with small dogear to top corner (not affecting image). Facsimile of Whittier's autograph. Read before the 'Saturday Evening Club of Dalton'. 'My collection today is so comprehensive [sic] that I have no hesitation in soliciting the most distinguished personages; in fact, I feel that I am conferring an honor rather than offering an insult in asking them.

At Private Sale, November, 1859. Catalogue of the Entire Private Collection of Autograph Letters, &c. gathered during several years, with much care and expense, by Mr. T. H. Morrell. [..] nearly every Prominent Character in the Revolutionary War [..]

Author: 
T. H. Morrell [Bangs, Merwin & Co, auctioneers; autograph collecting; auction catalogues; Declaration of Independence; American Presidents]
Publication details: 
New York: Bangs, Merwin & Co., At the Trade Sale Rooms, 13 Park Row. 1 November 1859.
£150.00

Octavo: 28 pp. Stabbed. In original blue printed wraps. Advertisements on back. On browning high-acidity paper, in chipped and worn wraps with damp staining to edges at rear. 298 items. Items 95-141: 'Signers of the Declaration of Independence and Presidents of the United States.' Scarce: no copy on COPAC, which does record one copy of a catalogue of a sale of Morrell's books by the same firm in 1866, and two copies of a catalogue of a further sale in 1869.

Typed Invoice (docked in manuscript 'Copy') from Francis Edwards Ltd to Wreden.

Author: 
William P. Wreden; Francis Edwards Ltd, London booksellers
Publication details: 
6 December 1954; on Francis Edwards letterhead ('Booksellers since 1855') in red and black ink.
£30.00

One page. Dimensions of paper roughly six and a half inches by eight wide. Spotted, aged and creased, and with some closed tears. Addressed to Wreden at 'Box 56, Palo Alto, Cal., U.S.A.' For '3 reg'd bookpost parcels', and headed 'Hodgson's Sale 25th Nov. 1954'. Lots 204 and 205 purchased for a total of £27 9s 9d, including an apparent commission of 15% on an item under ten pounds, and 10% on one over that sum. Items ('French Documents & Autograph Letters' and 'Autograph Letters from Lord Brougham and contemporaries') described in nine lines.

[Sale Number 63.] Great Events in American History Described by Participants [...] Manuscripts by Famous American Authors [...] The William Randolph Hearst Collection, Part I.

Author: 
William Randolph Hearst [George Washington; Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc.; auction catalogues; Americana]
Publication details: 
New York: Parke-Bernet Galleries Inc., 742 Fifth Avenue; 1938.
£100.00

Quarto: xii + 168 pp. In original grey printed wraps. Numerous facsimiles. Printed order slip loosely inserted. Good, with grubby prelims and creasing to last few leaves at rear. Including a twenty-four page description of an 'extensive collection of Washington letters and documents [covering] every phase of his eventful life'. Participants named in the title: 'Cotton Mather, George Washington, William Penn, Benjamin Franklin, Signers of the Declaration of Independence, Generals of the American Revolution, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Robert Fulton'.

Autograph Note Signed to S. C. J. Freeman-Matthews, [autograph hunter of] Cape Town, South Africa.

Author: 
John Fiske (1842-1901), American philosopher and historian
Publication details: 
31 May 1900; Cambridge, Massachusetts.
£40.00

One page, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. 'It gives me much pleasure to add my autograph to your collection.' With a 38-line biographical cutting on Fiske.

Autograph Note Signed ('Pearl Mary-Teresa Craigie') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
John Oliver Hobbes' (Pearl Mary-Teresa Craigie, nee Richards, 1867-1906), Anglo-American Catholic novelist
Publication details: 
12 December 1901; Steephill Castle, Ventnor.
£50.00

One page, 12mo. On aged and spotted paper, with traces of previous mount on reverse. Craigie's 'PMTC' monogram in top left-hand corner, and a red '45' in a red circle in top right-hand. Fourteen-line biographical cutting laid down along one edge. Reads 'Dear Sir | I have much pleasure in sending you my autograph. | Yours faithfully | Pearl Mary-Teresa Craigie.'

Autograph Note Signed [to Chapman].

Author: 
John Bigelow (1817-1911), American lawyer, newspaper editor (New York Evening Post) and statesman
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£56.00

8vo: 1 p. Good, on lightly creased and aged paper. Good firm hand. Five lines of text and large, bold signature. Reads 'Enclosed please find the note of the General | With compliments to Madam and to Miss Chapman I remain | Very truly yours | [signed] John Bigelow'.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male autograph hunter.

Author: 
Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), Senior, American diplomat, son of President of the United States John Quincy Adams
Publication details: 
8 April 1867; on letterhead of 54, Portland Place [London].
£28.00

12mo: 1 p. Very good. Reads '8 April 1867 | Sir | I am happy to oblige you in signing myself | Yours &c | [signed] Charles Francis Adams'. Adams was Abraham Lincoln's Minister to the Court of St James's [i.e. English ambassador] from 1861 to 1868.

Autograph Signature ('J. R. Lowell').

Author: 
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), American poet, essayist and literary critic
Publication details: 
22 December 1883; on letterhead of 10, Lowndes Square. S.W. [London].
£28.00

12mo: 1 p. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. Very good, with pin hole at head. Reads 'Faithfully yours | [signed] J. R. Lowell. | 22nd. Decr., 1883.' Written during Lowell's time as minister to the Court of St James (i.e. English ambassador), 1880-1885.

Signed Fragment of letter ('J. de Marcoleta') to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
José de Marcoleta y de Casaus (1802-1881), Nicaraguan diplomat after whom the country's highest destinction is named
Publication details: 
3 November 1850; 13 Old Cavendish Street, London.
£45.00

On piece of paper roughly 11 x 10 cm, ruckled and with stains from previous mounting on recto. Seven lines (cropped at right) on recto, and eight lines and signature on reverse. In French. He would have liked to have put 'un peu plus d'exactitude' in the matter he promised to send her, but 'l'xpedition du courrier d'Amerique' prevented it. For his part, he considers himself very happy to be able to please her.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. James' [the novelist Henry James?].

Author: 
William Dean Howells (1837-1920), American novelist and literary critic
Publication details: 
7 February 1886; Auburndale.
£200.00

12mo: 2 pp. Good, with thin strip of glue and grey paper from previous mounting adhering at foot of reverse (not affecting text). While it is possible that Howell may have given 'Mr. Gill' [tMichael Henry Gill, later of McLashan & Gill?] 'letters [of introduction]' when he 'went to New York ten or fifteen years ago', it is unlikely.

Autograph Signature ('Bernardino Rivadavia').

Author: 
Bernardino de la Trinidad Gónzalez Rivadavia y Rivadavia (1780-1845), first President of Argentina
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£56.00

On piece of paper roughly 5 x 8 cms. The signature is clear and firm, on a piece of lightly discoloured grubby paper, with a spike hole to the right (not affecting any text). Reads '[in another hand] Bernardino Rivadavia | [signature] Bernardino | Rivadavia' | [in another hand, in pencil] President of Buenos Ayres'. Laid down on irregular shaped piece of paper removed from autograph album, on which is written, in a nineteenth-century hand 'President of Buenos Ayres'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. L. Kingsley') to 'Mr. <Dekler?>'.

Author: 
William Lathrop Kingsley (1824-1896), proprietor and editor of the 'New Englander and Yale Review'
Publication details: 
21 July 18<91?>; New Haven.
£56.00

8vo: 4 pp. Good. Difficult handwriting. He wants him to keep the cheque, which he considers 'only a compromise between our different expectations'. 'I know that you deserve the larger sum that you spoke of - but it is a tight squeeze to make the & expenses for the year of the New Englander come out even, and I do the best I can.' With seven-line postscript.

Catalogue of Fourteen Thousand Portraits of Authors, Actors, Legislators, Ministers and Celebrated Men and Women of All Countries. The Largest Sale that has ever taken place in the United States. [...] by Edelinck, Lemperour, Bause, Schidt, Doo [...]

Author: 
Banks, Merwin & Co., Auctioneers, Broadway, New York [Auction Catalogue]
Publication details: 
New York: To be Sold at Auction [...] 8th, 9th and 10th of March, 1864, By Banks, Merwin & Co., At the Irving Buildings, Nos. 594 and 596 Broadway].
£150.00

Octavo: 18 pp. Unbound: stabbed and unstitched. First leaf and leaves with pp. 15/16 and 17/18 loose. Leaves with pp.3/4 and 15/16 half-separated. Paper discoloured and chipping at edges. Extends to 918 lots. The odd number of leaves implies the loss of a final leaf, possibly bearing text. Stamp of the Public Library Ford Collection. Docketing in pencil notes a duplicate at the New York Public Library. No other copy traced.

Autograph Letter Signed to (Charles Edward) Fagan.

Author: 
Arthur Donaldson Smith
Publication details: 
25 January 1895; Barre.
£250.00

American physician and explorer of Africa (1866-1939). The recipient was Assistant Secretary at the Natural History Museum, London. One page, 12mo. Good, on slightly discoloured paper, and with remains of stub still neatly attached to one edge. A significant letter, sent on the eve of Donaldson Smith's most notable expedition. 'Just a line in haste to tell you I & Dodson [a taxidermist engaged for the expedition] are ready to start for Rudolph Gillitt [another taxidermist] having left for England after hearing of his father's death.

[CATALOGUE] Modern Publications, and New Editions of Valuable Standard Works, Printed for M. Carey . . ."

Author: 
M[atthew]. Carey, American bookseller and publisher
Publication details: 
121 Chesnut Street, Philadelphia, May 1816.
£580.00

[24]pp., 12mo, unbound (formerly bound into a book?), crude repair to spine, partly detached leaves, foxing, text clear and complete. Subjects; Voyages, Travels, Geography, and Topography; Miscellaneous; Divinity; Medicine, Surgery and Chemistry; Novels, Romances, etc.; Education (most substantial section); Books to be published. Note: I have yet to trace another copy but the major American libraries have microform copies, as does CUL, the only holding library listed on COPAC.

Typed Letter Signed to Eimar O'Duffy, Irish author.

Author: 
Ben Abramson, American bookseller and publisher (1898-1955).
Publication details: 
The Argus Book Shop Incorporated, 333 South Dearborn Street, Chicago,6 Dec. 1933.
£60.00

One page, 4to, good condition. He gives belated thanks for writing to them "and sending us your contribution for our catalogue." They delayed so that thanks would accompany a copy of the catalogue. They have sent the catalogue under separate cover and "hope you will find it enertaining. Too, we hope that you will find our comments on your work not unworthy of your talents." See Donald C. Dickinson, "Dictionary, for discussion of the "rambunctious" bookseller, including his interaction with major literary figures.

Coloured advertisement featuring cartoon by P. Webb.

Author: 
C. A. Stonehill, Inc., booksellers of New Haven, Connecticut [Charles Archibald Stonehill]
Publication details: 
Undated; 'PRINTED BY BROWN & BIGELOW, ST. PAUL, MINN., U.S.A.'
£45.00

Dimensions roughly nine inches by three and a half wide. Creased and somewhat aged, with traces of previous blue paper mount on reverse. The cartoon, which occupies just under the top half, shows three hillbillies watching a fourth chalk crosses onto a farmyard wall, with the caption 'Somebody told him 'bout a old age pension . . . he's practicin' to sign up fer it.' Beneath this 'ATTENTION! | C. A. STONEHILL, Inc. | Rare Books and Manuscripts | IS NOW LOCATED AT | 198 1/2 YORK ST. | SECOND FLOOR | NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT | Come In and Browse'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J L Motley') to the English historian James Anthony Froude (1818-94).

Author: 
John Lothrop Motley (1814-77), American historian, author of 'The Rise of the Dutch Republic' (1856).
Publication details: 
Paris; 28 March [no year, but between 1856 and 1870]. 'My address is always Baring, brothers & Co.'
£85.00

Three pages, octavo. Very good on lightly aged paper. Interesting communication from one of the nineteenth-century's leading historians to another, with an evaluation of Froude's work by Motley. He is disappointed that Froude's visit to London precedes his own. He has been in Brussels since January, 'occupied with an important <?> correspondence', and is on his way to join his family in Nice. Gives plans for the summer (Switzerland, Germany and London). Thanks the Warrens for their kind remembrance.

Autograph Note Signed ('J. M. Weston') to James Rees, with the latter's docketing addressed to 'F Powell'.

Author: 
J. M. Weston, 'comedian', playwright and stage manager of the Charles Street Theatre, Baltimore [James Rees; F. Powell]
Publication details: 
[6 April 1847]; place not stated.
£23.00

One page. On piece of paper roughly seven inches by three and a half wide. Bottom part of letter cut away. Reads 'Dr Sir | In compiance with your wish | I subscribe myself | truly yours | [signed] J. M. Weston | To/ | Jas. Reese Esq'. Docketed by Rees 'The above autograph is that of my friend J M Weston, Stage Manager of the St Charles Theatre - he is the Author of Several popular pieces, among which is the beautiful drama of Lucretia Borgia'. Dated in another hand on reverse. Not much appears to be known about Weston, whose translation of Victor Hugo's play was first published in 1850.

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